“One Man Crusade” (1994), “The Inner Flame” (1997), and “The Farm” (2002) by Rainer Blues guitarist Rainer Ptacek was born in East Berlin and spent his childhood in Chicago but rose to prominence in Tucson. Though he never achieved mainstream success, his work is widely admired, with ZZ Top’s Billy…
“We Got Cactus,” Bloodspasm (1985) Bloodspasm tore up a series of now-closed Tucson clubs and house parties with blistering hardcore punk starting in the mid-1980s. But the band’s lasting mark is surely “We Got Cactus,” a song that exemplifies life as a desert rat, a local classic that’s endured for…
“Found Out About You,” Gin Blossoms, Dusted, (1989, San Jacinto) Having spent close to 15 years booking the old Long Wong’s on Mill Avenue, Sara Cina played a huge role in Tempe’s vibrant music heyday of the ’90s. She was as much a part of the venerated Mill Avenue dive…
“Out of Here,” Sleepwalker, Man on the Moon (1998, Hayden’s Ferry) “There’s just something in the vocal delivery of Jamal Ruhe. It was just Jamal singing and playing guitar, and Jon Rauhouse on pedal steel, bass, and drums. It’s not complex; it’s super-stripped down and pretty. Jon Rauhouse has played…
It turns out that he hasn’t dropped off the face of the earth after all. In fact, he’s been writing some pretty interesting blogs.This week we’re bringing you Holmes’ blog, American Aquarium Drinker (not to be confused with the equally awesome Aquarium Drunkard), so you can read up on what…
When we last checked in with Shawn Foree, the man behind synth punk band Digital Leather, he was touring in support of his Fat Possum LP Warm Brother. He’s been busy since then, releasing a mini-LP, Infinite Sun on Volar Records (which featured a song “co-written postmortem” by Foree’s friend…
Over the past year Jeff Rose and Dustin Chaffin have endured their fair share of problems in establishing Jivemind, a cooperative music lab geared towards facilitating local musicians with a central resource center and musical hub. Rose and Chaffin initially tried to set up shop in downtown Phoenix, but the…
It’s no “Dirty Little Secret” : Pop-punk band All American Rejects will be performing on ASU campus this Friday, February 10. Last time I saw All American Rejects live, the were warming up for Blink-182’s in 2009, along with Fall Out Boy. The band is back with a brand new…
PJ Harvey’s musical style suits Sweetbleeders well. These local rockers were spot on in reproducing her sound, even though a man was singing her songs. The idea to cover PJ Harvey arose when Stateside Presents’ Charlie Levy asked the band to play Cover the Crescent a few weeks ago. Vocalist…
Of all the articles concerning Madonna’s Half Time show/M.I.A.’s on air fingerbird (Finger-Gate 2: Electric Boogaloo), none was quite as hilarious as this one, from Vigilant Citizen, which alleged that the entire performance was an indicator of Madonna’s allegiance to the Illuminati (you know, that secret world order): “Laced with…
Even more Coachella runoff? That’s fine by me.Noel Gallagher of Oasis will be making his way to Phoenix on April 18. Apparently he has been playing some Oasis songs at his High Flying Birds gigs, so there’s a chance you’ll hear some material from the Gallagher boys’ good old days…
Just in case Flogging Molly’s annual St. Paddy’s Day stop in Tempe doesn’t make it abundantly clear to you, the Phoenix metro area loves Irish stuff, and it loves its Celtic punk. In 2009, Authority Zero frontman Jason Devore (who headlines the New Times Soundcheck festival this weekend) formed The…
It’s obvious music blogs have a unique place in the great big music discussion. Entire careers have been bolstered by one lone blogger posting a hot new MP3 that quickly catches fire and burns up RSS feeds. However, some of the biggest taste-makers on the Internet have combined forces and…
Brad Dwyer, who writes and draws our weekly comic strip, Record Heat, has had a hell of a week. Dwyer was hospitalized last week on Wednesday due to complications involving his asthma. Dwyer is doing okay — though keeping him in your thoughts or wishing him well certainly wouldn’t hurt…
William “Fucking” ReedWelcome to Pop Quiz, a new recurring series where we sit down notable folks about town and force them to take a geeky pop culture test. Today we feature electronic maven William Fucking Reed. Look out First Friday — Sticky Fingers, the weekly electronic bash that goes down…
Fun. seem to be the only (sort of) Arizonans on the artist roster, but at least we’re represented. Considering the rest of the lineup, it could definitely be worth the trip, especially for those who didn’t manage to snag tickets to either weekend of Coachella. After all, some of Coachella’s…
Joleen LunzerThe stand-up comedian headlines the Tempe Improv Thursday, February 23 at 7:30 p.m. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? I recently found a station that plays hip hop/R&B from the 90’s and early 2000’s, 101.1 FM…
Before the Corporatization of Mill Avenue, the Tempe party center was more about music and less about $3 Long Islands. But the Downtown Tempe Community is looking to bring the street back to its roots with Music on Mill, a weekly music series on Thursday nights that has been a…
Local rock band The Sunset Rider and the Skeleton Army are sparing no expense at their show at Tempe’s The Sail Inn this Friday, February 3. The band is hosting their 2nd Annual Rock n’ Roll Circus, complete with a packed line-up full of music plus sideshow performances by The…
With the passing of Soul Train’s Don Cornelius it seems only right that we should celebrate his life, with a little local funk. On Friday, February 3, Martini Ranch is a place to find some when Catfish Mustache take the stage. The East Valley band will be bringing their fusion…
Philadelphia indie-rockers Dr. Dog are an interesting bunch. Able to appeal as much to granola crunching jam-banders and Urban Outiftted indie kids, the band’s new record Be The Void (due out on ANTI Records on Tuesday, February, 7) finds them returning to the freewheeling looseness of their early work, aided…
This week, New Times ran a list in our print publication highlighting some of the most interesting posts published at Up On The Sun over the past week. Here are links to those posts. What does James Fella of Gilgongo Records think of songs from Nathaniel Nichols, Seas Will Rise,…
