Well, give Fall Out Boy the award for most appropriately titled new single, “The Phoenix.” Four years after they broke hearts around the world by announcing an indefinite hiatus, the pop-rock group is back with a new album, Save Rock and Roll, due for release April 16. This isn’t the…
Singer/songwriter Angel Olsen skipped out on SXSW 2013. Though she’s hardly indignant about it, the industry showcase just doesn’t speak to the sensibilities displayed on Olsen’s gorgeous noir-folk Half Way Home, released by Bathetic Records in 2012. Those songs, like the wounded but sensual “Lonely Universe” and the earthy “Tiniest…
Once a week, Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See New Times’ print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday…
By Reyan Ali Realistically, a young Thao Nguyen was going to play guitar wherever she could, so why not do it at a laundromat? Growing up in “deathly suburban” northern Virginia, Nguyen was about 12 when she started learning pop covers (“Everybody Hurts” and Brown Eyed Girl” were her first),…
After beefing it up last summer, Tempe meme rap ace Glass Popcorn (a.k.a. 16-year-old Will Neibergall) goes hard for Google+ in his new video for the slow-mo syrup haze of “My Circle.” But don’t hold your breath for the “My Top 8” MySpace remix: The track may well be Glass’…
http://www.voiceplaces.com/bar-smith-phoenix-2563616-l/
Alas, after three years of asking Valley dwellers about their musical tastes, What Are You Listening To? is coming to an end. Today, Up on the Sun has been gracious enough to feature my own tastes as the farewell blog, and after week after week of putting this blog together,…
Proud adult/indie rock musician John Roderick managed to puff down some hefty straw men in his March 6 rant for Seattle Weekly titled “Punk Rock Is Bullshit”: “It’s time we stopped hating ourselves, our ambition, and our sincerity, guarding our integrity credentials in fear of interrogation by the secret punk…
So, Jeff Mangum’s playing a show here this week. What just a few years ago seemed like an impossibility (or at least an extreme improbability) is becoming a more common thing — less “Hey, didja read that new Salinger story?” and more “So there’s a new Terrence Malick movie coming…
Max Cavalera of Soulfly is a mellow speaker. His Brazilian accent is thick, and there’s a lilting quality to the way he punctuates his sentences with phrases like “You know?” or “It’s killer, man.” He’s buzzing about a lake house in unincorporated Phoenix, a second home to go along with…
Last week, Swedish experimental pop duo The Knife released a deeply flummoxing and obfuscated (confusing) manifesto to promote their upcoming album, Shaking the Habitual. Now, someone cool* has uploaded the whole thing to RapGenius, a website that originally was meant for deciphering hip-hop lyrics but now is used for practically…
It’s been three short months since Keith Walker and Brett Davis came together to form the brooding, synthesizer-inflected sounds of The Holy Coast, but in that time they’ve released two singles and have become a trio. Dead Wildlife’s Braden McCall has officially joined the team. The boys initially planned on…
She’s a multimillion-selling crop (country-pop) artist, a perfumer, and a maneater. Head over to your local Albertsons and take a gander at the greeting cards section and you’ll discover Taylor Swift is also adept at slapping pictures of cute puppies onto cardstock and writing gems such as “Wow. Just Wow,”…
Once a week, Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See New Times’ print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday…
Lately, we’ve had to report on far too many deaths in the Arizona music scene. But alas, it’s our terrible duty to report that Rick Martinez, better known as DJ Essential, passed away on Thursday, March 21, around 2 p.m. due to complications from cellulitis. Martinez was 43 years old,…
Doug Hopkins Hopkins is the star of the Discovery Channel show, Property Wars. For more information, go here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? Definitely Howard Stern. If I am not listening to Stern, I’m usually listening…
Justin Timberlake’s reunion with music is causing some weird flashbacks and leaving a miserable taste in my mouth. His new album is the pinnacle of mediocrity and exemplifies all that can go wrong when commercialism meets music. “Suit and Tie” makes me want to burn a stack of Esquire magazines…
Update: Tickets are now available from Luckyman Online. Each night will feature two shows from Prince, an early and late show, and tickets are available for $277. Folks, the time has come to purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka. Or, uh, Tempe Tempe Lake.* Because Prince is coming…
Tiger Army has replaced Against Me! on New Times/KUKQ’s recently revived That Damn Show music festival at Mesa Amphitheatre, which includes Bad Religion, Awolnation, The Faint, and more. The news of Against Me! leaving the festival isn’t too surprising, as the band canceled its spring tour with Bad Religion. See…
Pick up a copy of this week’s issue of New Times, and you’ll learn all about Haley Grigaitis, frontwoman for the feel-good, reggae-infused local band Ruca. Though she and her band are climbing the music ranks now, having played the TMI Radio Showcase at South by Southwest last week, she…
Early last week, Kevin Pate — a valued member of the Phoenix music community — was fighting for his life in a hospital in Yuma, where he was serving a six-year jail sentence for DUI and violating parole. Misinformation was spreading across online social networks that he’d passed away, but,…
Haley Grigaitis was in the closet. Literally, in the closet. The 17-year-old hung heavy coats around her, ensuring she was shrouded in pure darkness and any sound she made would go unheard. Even though she grew up with music-freak Deadheads for parents, she didn’t want them to hear her sing…
