Artist: Crystal CastlesTitle: Crystal Castles IIRelease date: May 25Label: FictionExactly 36 seconds into the new record by Crystal Castles, I said to myself, “This is way fucking better than Sleigh Bells.”I’m sure many of you are saying, “Quit being an asshole about Sleigh Bells; why do you feel you have…
This week, New Times ran a box 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. How was Brian Wilson’s show in Scottsdale? What does Pearl Jam’s protest song about the oil…
The Pixies are coming to town. Punknews is reporting that the band will play Mesa Amphitheatre on September 24 as part of a smallish tour. That means you will soon have the chance to be underwhelmed by the band’s show in person.I’ve come to believe that being unimpressed by The…
Thrash metal’s Big Four — Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax — rarely assemble. When they do, it’s in places like Bulgaria where, as we understand it, Metallica’s Black Album has not yet been released, pussifying the genre in the minds of the denim-vested masses.On June 22 that Bulgaria concert will…
Fans in the audience at last night’s Boys Like Girls concert (which included members of Scottsdale pop rock band The Summer Set) at Venue of Scottsdale weren’t the only ones Tweeting deets from the show. All Time Low singer Alex Gaskarth was quick to take to the interwebs (maybe he…
This week’s music feature traces the sociological lineage of Juggalos — the bizarre, and cultish fans of Insane Clown Posse. Craig Outhier gives ethnomusicologists a head start by pointing out some of the defining characteristics of the Juggalos, and exactly from where their traditions originated.We also take a look at…
Song: Zac Brown Band, “Chicken Fried”Context: I’m really looking forward to trying Chick-fil-A’s new spicy chicken sandwich today. I made the ‘reservation’ over a week ago, and am thrilled the day is finally here. Chicken Fried by regross67…
More than in any other genre, rappers rarely seem content just being rappers. Jay-Z is a business mogul, Diddy has a clothing line, Ice-T has played a cop on TV for a decade, and Snoop Dogg makes a lot of money simply by being a lovable goofball. Curtis “50 Cent”…
“Mass murder makes me happy / Dead bodies make me happy / Until eternity/ We’ll always have Juggalo family.” — “Juggalo Family” (2001) by Dark Lotus Consider the preceding lyric. Savor it. Swish it in your mouth. It’s puerile, no? Vulgar, vicious, toxic, all that. But embedded within the murderous…
Artist: The Cool KidsTitle: TackleboxRelease date: May 31Label: Chocolate RecordingsNoted hip-hop fan (and New Times music editor) Martin Cizmar knows I’m lukewarm when it comes to the genre, so he’s always on the lookout for hip-hop that I’ll dig. Not sure what it is about The Cool Kids that he…
How did Adult Swim’s Memorial Day edition at the Hotel San Carlos fare? To hear co-promoter Jen Deveroux describe things, it started sounding like déjà vu all over again. “The cops came by a few times and the hotel told us to bring down the volume,” says Deveroux, who organizes the…
Facepainted Detroit rap duo Insane Clown Posse is set to release their long-awaited second Cowboy movie, Big Money Rustlas, on DVD on August 17.So, yeah, that gives the average Juggalo only two and a half months to upgrade from VHS. Better try to pick up some double shifts, gentlemen. You’re…
It’s nice to have a little diversity on the Vans Warped Tour, the summer punk rock festival that’s notorious for its multitude of sweaty, shirtless guys running around on-stage.This year, following in the footsteps of powerful female singers Katy Perry, Charlotte Sometimes and Hayley Williams of Paramore, a few other…
Arcade Fire is officially one of the biggest bands in the world. Like, their latest tour dates, announced yesterday, feature a stop at Madison Square freakin’ Garden.How did it happen? If I had to pinpoint the band’s best attribute, I’d say it’s an uncompromising attention to every detail. Simply put,…
Song: Good Charlotte, “The Anthem”Context: The band is coming to town tonight. You can use that as an excuse to enjoy this little pop-punk gem. Good Charlotte – The Anthem by kylelegit08…
I could go on an on about this album, and the fine people at Pop & Hiss, the Los Angeles Times’ music blog, perhaps also recognized that Before Today is something intriguingly difficult to pin down, making the album available for stream…
Country music fans might just wind up crying a tear in their collective beers after hearing this particular bit of news: The Country Throwdown Tour has called off its stop at the Cricket Wireless Pavilion on June 18. According to Live Nation, the adrenaline-charged summertime concert tour, which was created…
What the critics are saying:…
Hope you all had a good Memorial Day weekend. Now that you’re back on the clock, use company time to give a listen to the sixth Nothing Not New podcast. In this installment, music editor Martin Cizmar and I play 11 songs from recent new releases and discuss the industrial…
It seems that since the break up of Oasis, Liam Gallagher hasn’t quite figured out what to do with himself. He has been busy working on a film about the Beatles. This really isn’t so far fetched since John Lennon is his ultimate idol, claiming both that he’s been visited…
Song: LCD Soundsystem, “Dance Yrself Clean”Context: The holiday gave me time to listen to all nine minutes of this song twice. So great…
Regardless of your politics, you have to admit that interesting things are happening musically at the White House. Since Barack took office, the First Family has hosted a number of notables in the music world. While last year included a “Jazz Studio”, a country music celebration, and a classical music…
