Salvia sales in Los Angeles have rapidly increased since a video of teen pop star Miley Cyrus allegedly smoking salvia from a bong leaked early Friday morning, according to NME.Apparently the video has triggered salvia sales to triple overnight.It seems many lots people than usual went to L.A. shops over…
Local pop/rock band This Century recently stopped by Arizona for a hometown show at the Nile Theater with Hey Monday, The Ready Set, Cartel and We Are the In Crowd. While they sadly had to cancel their concert (singer Joel Kanitz had vocal issues), the band was kind enough to…
Alternative/acoustic hippie band Dispatch, part of whom you might know now as the band State Radio, has a big upcoming announcement.Here’s the catch: Nobody’s heard from them in so long that it’s tough to guess what the announcement is going to be. Will the band be reuniting after an extensive…
It’s amazing how much music is released in a year. I’ve listened to nearly 270 records in their entirety this year, yet I still have a huge stack of unlistened CDs on my desk, several unlistened digital downloads in my iTunes, and a lengthy list of high-profile stuff I never…
Song: Gay Blades, “Try To Understand” Context: The Gay Blades play Rogue Bar in Scottsdale Saturday night. Their new record, Savages, is excellent even if Jay Bennett liked it barely better than Kanye. The Gay Blades – Try To Understand by Alexandre Diogo…
Santa as a Hatchetman? That’s how’s depicted in this Christmas card from the good folks at Insane Clown Posse’s label, Psychopathic Records. I have to say, this really warms the cockles of my heart. In fact, I don’t think eggnog flavored Faygo or a moderately attractive Juggalette in red and…
Welcome to Obscuro, a new weekly feature where Up on the Sun dives deep into the world of vinyl oddities: private press jobs, major label cast-offs, and general thrift shop clutter that’s thus far escaped anyone’s attention. These LPs have been hiding out, collecting dust, until we come along, investigate,…
Miley Cyrus decided to have a little fun not long after her 18th birthday. She was caught on video smoking out of a bong, according to TMZ.First of all, this absolutely made my day even though Miley was only smoking salvia, a natural herb that is legal in the state…
Name: Michele Chinichian AKA: DJ Roya Current gigs: Obscura, held at Rips Bar every second Saturday of the month. Genres spun: I play a blend of indie, New Wave, and Britpop at Obscura. I also enjoy spinning ’80s pop, old school, electro, and the occasional Top 40 guilty pleasure. How…
Artist: Mini Mansions Title: Mini Mansions Release date: November 2 Label: Ipecac One of the biggest musical curveballs of the year has to be the debut record by the Southern California trio Mini Mansions. I say it’s a curveball because I wouldn’t have guessed such a Beatles-esque display of psych…
Although there isn’t particularly an abundance of ska bands in Arizona, local ska band the 2 Tone Lizard Kings are keeping the genre fresh. They incorporate the energy of Fishbone frontman Angelo Moore, a maturing sound, and the vibes of a raucous crowd into their performances, and they put on…
Song: 2 Tone Lizard Kings, “The Bail Song”Context: Here’s a little taste from the local ska band that was the subject of this week’s New Times music feature in our print edition. The Bail Song — from Primeval Itch…
Method Man made a lot of Arizonans happy last night at the Wu-Tang Clan concert at Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix. Not only did he smoke a blunt on-stage, he also dissed SB 1070, calling it whack and inviting local politicians to suck his dick. He wasn’t the only one smoking…
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 are the keys to deciphering any music critic’s list of the top 10 albums of the…
Aretha Franklin’s family has confirmed that the singer has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, according to Billboard.After being ordered by doctors to cancel six months of appearances and going through a very successful recovery from an unknown surgery last Thursday, we can only hope she’ll beat this cancer.The soul and…
Evolution is a tough trick for any band. Savages, the sophomore record by New York duo The Gay Blades (think Errol Flynn, not Glee) shows a marked progression from their debut, Ghosts. The record finds them trying to blend glam rock, janky blues riffs, and arena-ready melodrama into their post-emo…
Everlast is coming to town on December 9. He is playing Toby Keith’s I Love This Bar & Grill. First of all, these two sentences put together . . . pretty hilarious. The fact that Toby Keith has a bar and grill is funny, and calling it “I Love This…
It’s a chilly night in early November, but the crowd of kids gathered outside 910 Live in Tempe is feeling plenty warm. It isn’t surprising, given that they’ve spent most of the past hour skanking up a storm to the beats of local ska septet 2 Tone Lizard Kings. Bathed…
Artist: Sun City Girls Title: Funeral Mariachi Release date: October 26 Label: Abduction Sun City Girls’ last-ever record — they’ve made dozens since forming in Phoenix way back in the early days of West Coast punk — comes off as a more somber affair. And some of it is downright…
Song: T.I., “How Life Changed” Context: Everyone’s apparently too busy wetting themselves over the new Kanye West record that they’re not thinking much about the fact that T.I. just dropped a new album, No Mercy, yesterday. It’s excellent. This track, “How Life Changed,” stands up to anything on My Beautiful…
Heather Mills may be the one to thank for getting the Beatles’ music catalog up on iTunes, according to Consequence of Sound.Mills, Paul McCartney’s ex-wife, claims she talked to Steve Jobs and organized the deal to finally get the digital Beatles albums onto iTunes.Also, she said she won’t be going…
Things are about to get real religious up in here, thanks to a just announced Amy Grant show this coming February.Other artists may have released their own successful Christmas albums in the past, but Grant’s 1992 yuletide juggernaut Home For Christmas resides in the upper echelon of holiday albums –…
