This month sees the release of two records featuring Ryan “Elvis Wong” Rousseau. The first is Sonoran, by Destruction Unit, seeing release via indie label Volar Records, and the second is a reissue of The Reatards’ debut Teenage Hate, an album Rousseau played drums on in 1998 with his friend…
Calling the warehouse space where Mesa-based band The Rÿche rehearses a “practice space” doesn’t seem fair. Behind heavy metal doors, the room is equipped with a full stage, lined with couches, gig posters, and a sound system that actually puts those at some Valley clubs to shame. In front of…
The triumphs, scandals, and serial reinventions that comprise the official mythology of “Diddy” né “P. Diddy” né “Puff Daddy” né Sean Combs are compelling, indeed. But what of Diddy’s hidden history, the triumphs and mega-triumphs that he’s not yet disclosed for general consumption? We’ve meticulously compiled it here. 1969: Sean…
To some people, being cool is all about not caring if you’re cool. This week, Up On the Sun cartoonist Robbie Pfeffer explores the idea that the less effort you put into being hip, the more hip you really are — and if you’re putting more effort into putting less…
Warner Music Group — home to acts like Led Zeppelin, Green Day, and Tempe-based indie rock band The Maine — is for sale. If you think it’s tough outbidding other eBay users for a rare record, you should see the bidding battle currently underway for one of the last giants…
Who’s ready for a fight?! I’m sure that there’s not actually any bad blood between Tempe-based soul/funk band Black Carl and indie-rockers Gospel Claws, but it’s fun to imagine the two bands climbing into the vintage boxing ring at The Duce to settle a score and duke it out. Sure,…
In advance of their untitled debut full-length, local garage-pop trio The Cosmeticators released to the world Tuesday a nice-looking music video for “Roboman,” which features women in tight dresses, a dude in a robot costume, and the timeless kids game Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots. So, you’re probably gonna wanna…
The Beastie Boys have been pumping out some of the best promotional blitz I’ve ever seen for their new record, Hot Sauce Committee Pt. 2, out yesterday in stores and online. In addition to the incredible Fight for Your Right Revisited short film, staring Seth Rogen, Elijah Wood, Danny McBride,…
It wasn’t too hard a decision to christen Helplessness Blues as my favorite album of 2011. Robin Pecknold knows how to write a goddamn song and the band shows an amazing polish that many bands come across on their fourth or fifth albums — certainly not their second. Such is…
We at Up on the Sun woke up this morning thinking it would be absolutely smashing if, say, a brand new track from Smashing Pumpkins was waiting in our inboxes. As it turns out, dreams really do come true. ”Owata” from Teargarden By Kaleidyscope, the Pumpkins’ 44-track opus being released…
The 1980s dreamboat that all the girls loved, Rick Springfield, has been arrested for a reported DUI in Malibu, according to Spinner.Springfield was pulled over for speeding on the Pacific Coast Highway Sunday night. Drunk driving was the cause for his fast and furious actions. He was driving with a…
If you’ve never checked out Mantis Claw do his twice-weekly gigs at Kazimierz World Wine Bar, there’s only one opportunity left. Tomorrow night will be the last hurrah for the DJ and local music scene veteran, as he’s about to relocate to the great northwest (more specifically: Eugene, Oregon). We…
The president of Cirque du Soleil plans to recreate Michael Jackson’s Neverland Ranch as a gigantic entertainment complex within Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, according to Billboard.Cirque du Soleil president Daniel Lamarre said earlier this week that the Las Vegas recreation of Neverland Ranch will serve as a location for…
Prince wants the creativity of other artists to be partially banished. In fact, he wants covering his songs to become a crime, according to Paste.He’s always been picky about people doing covers of his songs, but now he’s taking that narcissism to a whole new level.Rules do exist at some…
Eli Kluger The film director is currently shooting a thiller about Furries. Clips can be viewed on www.youtube.com/furrymovie.When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? 103.9-FM. I alternate between three or four rock and Top 40 Stations.What’s the last song played on…
I love NPR as much as the next fella (gotta get my Car Talk on), but every now and then their media coverage highlights something truly unique –case in point, last March, Sami Yenigun ran this story about moombahton, a DC-bred brand of dance-music that encompasses elements of electro, Dutch…
In this week’s issue of Phoenix New Times, local electro pop band Peachcake catches the Valley up on what they’ve been up to the past year and how they’ve matured since they came together. Recently, the International Peace Bureau made the song “Were We Ever Really Right?”, off their upcoming sophomore…
Tell people you’re a music critic and they’re likely to get all sorts of ideas about you — some right, some wrong. More often than not, they seem to think you’re a failed musician who picked up a pen when his band’s demo failed to catch any important ears. I’ve…
Going to a Peachcake show was sort of like attending a child’s birthday party. You’d find grown men in animal costumes, stuffed animals, balloons, and even the occasional game of Duck, Duck, Goose. You never really knew who or what to expect to see on stage. Given the band’s rotating…
Kenny Chesney seems like a fun guy to hang with. You know, the dude who always has a fresh batch of margaritas chillin’ in the blender at his beach pad in the Virgin Islands, a bevy of bikini-clad babes at his beck and call, and enough money to keep the…
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros caught the eyes and ears of music audiences about two years ago with their debut album, Up From Below. A summery mix of pastoral psychedelia, the album was a Village Green Preservation Society for the desert-roaming West Coast hipster. Buoyed by the adorable, jangly…
Fresh off his awesome performance at The Big 4 Festival in Indio, Metallica frontman James Hetfield is scheduled to speak at Central Christian Church in Mesa on May 12.Hetfield will be part of a Q & A following a screening of Absent, a documentary directed by Gilbert filmmaker Justin Hunt,…
