Song: The Strokes, “Under Cover Of Darkness”Context: Today’s pick was actually chosen on account of how annoying it is. Why would The Strokes choose to release a stupid 30-second snippet of a single they’re going to “give away” for two days next week? I guess they really want to up…
Rumors were flying around last week that the Gorillaz had broken up. However, they haven’t split just yet, according to Consequence of Sound.During a performance in New Zealand back in December, vocalist Damon Albarn gave a lengthy speech about how the show might end up being the band’s last ever…
Zonoscope is quite a departure from 2008’s far-too-brilliant In Ghost Colours. The band pretty much had no choice on the matter. Almost anything similar would pale in comparison — it’s rare to hear a band hit their stride in such a magnificent fashion as Cut Copy did on In Ghost…
Hey there,Today Up On The Sun is stoked (YES, “STOKED” IS THE RIGHT WORD) to debut a new music-related comic by local artist/musician/venue operator Robbie Pfeffer.It’s called Noise Complaint and is awesome.That’s really all the introduction this new feature needs. Come back for more weekly.You can view the entire comic…
Kathryn Elizabeth Hetrick, the teenage driver allegedly responsible for the accident that killed Phoenix hip-hop artist Carnegie last fall was indicted this past week.According to Jerry Cobb, spokesperson for the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office, a grand jury handed down three indictments on February 1 against Hetrick, including one count of…
Mixed in amongst this week’s indie rock plethora is a Slick Rick show at The Clubhouse. The British born, New York raised M.C. is best known for being a story-rap innovator, coming of age in what many consider to be the Golden Age of hip-hop. Songs such as “Children’s Story,”…
Song: Tennis, “Take Me Somewhere”Context: This buzzing Denver band comes to Rhythm Room tomorrow night. Tennis – Take Me Somewhere by forcefieldpr…
Song: Authority Zero, “Movement”Context: Authority Zero plays Club Red tomorrow night for New Times Soundcheck — a festival which features a bunch of local bands. Authority Zero – Movement by renanvec…
Lil Wayne will be rooting for the Green Bay Packers in this year’s Super Bowl, according to SPIN.Weezy’s all about reppin’ the green and yellow, stating in his newly released Wiz Khalifa rip-off “Green and Yellow,” “I’m a cheesehead/Y’all n****s cheese whiz.” He posted the song on his blog Weezy…
Welcome to What Are You Listening To?, a new weekly feature on Up on the Sun where notable locals talk about their favorite music. Damon BraschBrasch is the owner and chef of Green restaurant in Tempe with a new location coming soon to Phoenix. He is also the guitar player…
Eleven countries, and possibly more to come, have already restricted any airplay on television. Even BBC 1 radio refuses to play Rihanna’s song during most hours of the day since the lyrics aren’t too clean. Meanwhile, YouTube users are required to confirm that they are at least 18 years old.Rihanna’s…
In this week’s big feature, Nicki Escudero looks at the burgeoning career of North Scottsdale crooner Dawn Jameson — examining whether she’s just another no-talent slutwave star along the lines of Ke$ha or if she’s got talent to match her looks. Whether you agree she’s got the goods or not…
Song: Calexico, “Crystal Frontier” (Live in Nuremberg)Context: When I spoke with Calexico frontman Joey Burns in the wake of the Giffords tragedy we discussed this song, which he suggested as a wake-up tune aboard the space shuttle for the astronaut husband of a famous fan of his band, Gabby Giffords…
Playing for a room full of record store geeks sounds like a nightmare assignment for most bands — imagine Christian Bale being forced to reenact scenes from The Dark Knight in a room full of Comic Book Guys. That’s exactly what Calexico is up against at this weekend in Laveen,…
It’s a cliché, but there’s a reason people say that being in a band is a lot like being in a relationship. In fact, a lot of times, being bandmates can be even more straining than being husband or wife. At least when you’re married to someone, you (probably) have…
Questing for female pop stardom? It’s not so hard, really. First, make sure you can sing decently well. Don’t sweat it too much — though it’s now mostly thought of by the masses as a gimmick, Auto-Tune is actually a useful tool for fixing anything Randy might describe as “pitchy.”…
Although they’ve been good friends for many years, Elton John has finally revealed that he’s sick of Billy Joel’s light stints in rehab, according to People.John told Rolling Stone in this week’s cover story that he has recently been upset about Billy Joel’s unstable lifestyle. He said that they’ve had…
In this week’s issue of Phoenix New Times, we profile local pop singer Dawn Jameson (read the story here.) Since we last talked to the singer, Jameson has partnered with Lost Angels Foundation of Hope, a charity that raises awareness about child prostitution. She wrote a track for the foundation…
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. Why did Coachella sell out so fast? Why does Keller Williams love Yo Gabba Gabba! so…
It’s not often that a Brooklyn-based band takes up an interest in Arizona. In fact, it’s usually the other way around. But for punk rockers Outernational, our desert home is of particular fascination. Their members see Arizona as both a real and symbolic frontier, representing most of the political unrest…
The White Stripes have officially broken up, according to Pitchfork.This is bad — but not unexpected — news. Jack seemingly starts a new project every year or two and the Stripes simple, punky songs have seemed increasingly at odds with the Zeppelinesque arena rock of The Dead Weather and, to…
Song: Zoë Keating, “Escape Artist”Context: The Compound Grill in north Phoenix just announced a show featuring former Rasputina cellist Zoë Keating, who has also played with DJ Shadow and Dresden Doll Amanda Palmer. Apparently she now tours solo, using “a foot-controlled laptop to turn herself into one-woman orchestra.” Sounds pretty…
