Ke$ha

Why Music Fans Should Be Watching RuPaul's Drag Race

Call it the chief paradox of modern pop culture: Most reality television shows blow, but we keep watching, because in a weird way they're as compelling as they are mindlessly entertaining: The exploits of Honey Boo Boo's family may be exploitative, but dammit if they don't love each other. The Karda ... More >>

Pink @ US Airways Center

Matisyahu and The Dirty Heads Offer Non-Traditional Reggae

Blood on the Dance Floor @ Nile Theater

Five Summer Releases We're Excited About

To our extreme delight, there are quite a few artists that are dropping new music this year for the first time in a long time. We've been waiting seemingly forever for No Doubt's next album. Thankfully a few other artists didn't leave us hanging for as long. We've selected five albums you definitel ... More >>

Blood On The Dance Floor at Nile Theater, 4/5/12

Blood On The Dance Floor Nile Theater Thursday, April 5, 2012 It's "Holy Week," and this week I accepted a challenge not to criticize or gossip. I've been doing pretty well, reserving judgement on others, but I think it's okay to put all of that on pause for work. Besides, if Blood on the Dance Flo ... More >>

Club Candids: Van Gogh Blue Friday at Blue Martini

North Scottsdale houses some of the nicest bars in the valley, and Blue Martini is no exception. This swanky lounge attracts a posh Scottsdale clientele and serves delicious drinks at a reasonable price. It's worth it to make an early trip to Blue Martini for the happy hour drink specials that ear ... More >>

Top 10 Songs of 2011: Christina Caldwell

White Denim​Welcome to another installment of Up on the Sun's 2011 Review. Over the next week, we'll be counting down our favorite songs, shows, national and local releases of 2011. This installment comes from Christina Caldwell, who came on board as a major contributor to Up on the Sun this y ... More >>

Ke$ha Does Bob Dylan; Plus Three Other Pop Artists You've Probably Misjudged

​Ke$ha is sort of awful, but not for the reasons you think. Yeah, her music is terrible. It's fun music you don't really need to think about. But it's alleged that the songstress is smarter than people give her credit for. It's rumored that she scored a 1500 on her SATs and has a 140 IQ. She even ... More >>

Ke$ha @ Comerica Theatre

The New F-O's, Broloaf, Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes, and More in This Week's Issue

​ In this week's issue Nicki Escudero brings you the story of The New F-O's, who are taking the Old Town Scottsdale scene by storm with dance-friendly hip-pop. In our Shrapnel section Mike Escoto pontificates on the Bon Iver/Fleet Foxes gig (which may well be the Superbowl of indie concerts), and ... More >>

KONGOS "I'm Only Joking" Video is a Sexy, Stylish Clip

KONGOS: Sexifying up the local scene one video at a time​ Phoenix band KONGOS may be no-frills when it comes to their rock performances, but the indie rock group with African influence created a dang sexy spectacle with their newest video for their current single, "I'm Only Joking".The clip looks ... More >>

Alice Cooper's Welcome 2 My Nightmare

​You've got to wonder when Alice Cooper even finds time to play celebrity golf tournaments. Not only is he busy inspiring attractions at Universal Studios, feeding Adam Richman Big Units at Cooperstown, and hosting a popular radio show on KDKB 93.3 FM, but Cooper's prepping release of a new record ... More >>

Ben Folds at Marquee Theatre, 7/18/11

Kholood Eid​ Ben Folds Marquee Theatre Monday, July 18, 2011 Ben Folds has been writing piano rock oscillating between sardonic humor and commentary on the human condition since his beginnings with Ben Folds Five. Along the way, he's been cast as many things -- a father, a joker, a pis ... More >>

Rolling Stone Chooses New Queen of Pop

A new queen of pop has been crowned by Rolling Stone, according to Idolator.Rolling Stone put 16 female pop stars head to head in the ultimate statistical showdown to see who would reign as queen. Competitors included Adele, Beyonce Knowles, Britney Spears, Carrie Underwood, Christina Aguilera, Katy ... More >>

Britney Spears @ Jobing.com Arena

T-Pain Parts Ways With Auto-Tune, Does the World a Favor

​The world is now a better place thanks to T-Pain. He recently declared that he has sworn off using auto-tune, according to Prefix.He better keep his promise! If he doesn't, Jay-Z will have something to say about it. Along with his new vow to do away with auto-tune came the unfortunate introductio ... More >>

Jonathan Sakas Isn't Your Typical Pop Tart

Local Band Born Loser And The Hangers On Launch LGBT Awareness Campaign

JFREEBorn Loser And The Hangers On​Phoenix-based indie rock band Born Loser And The Hangers On have launched a new promotional campaign -- but it's not simply to promote their new EP, BLATHO. The five-piece band has signed on for a campaign called "I'm a Loser" to support lesbian, gay, bisexual, ... More >>

Tom Hanks to Bring American Idiot to the Silver Screen

​Tom Hanks has big plans to move American Idiot into movie theaters, according to Consequence of Sound.Considering that Hanks and the guys of Green Day are involved in the film, there's little doubt that it'll bring a lot of people into theaters. Plus, Green Day frontman Billie Joe Armstrong is ru ... More >>

Ke$ha To Release New 'Bit¢h' Fragrance on April 31

Sean MeyersDon't let that bit of jizz oozing out of the bottle gross you out; Ke$ha's spokesperson adamantly insisted that this perfume smells like flowery goodness.​Slutwave star Ke$ha is aiming to cash in on the lucrative celebrity fragrance market with the release of a signature fragrance ... More >>

Lords of Acid @ The Venue Scottsdale

A Recap of the 2011 Grammy Awards: A Quick, Easy Guide to What Happened

Dan MacMedan, USA TodayNicki Minaj, doing what she does best: always trying to get attention.​The 2011 Grammy Awards kept things classy this year: There wasn't even a single mention of Ke$ha during the entire show!Good job, Grammy people! Thanks for taking out the trash this year. Aside from the l ... More >>

Tempe's Super Stereo Getting Lots of Love on MTV.com

Tempe electro-pop act Super Stereo is scoring tons of views over at MTV.com. As of today, their video for "Life Passed me By" is the highest rated on the site, as well as at the top of the "most commented" catergory and second on the "most shared." The video has 12,000 views in three days and is a ... More >>

Dawn Jameson Looks the Part -- But Can She Sing It?

Dawn Jameson, Calexico, Interpol, Soundcheck and More In This Week's Issue

​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 (you ... More >>

Sufjan Stevens Releases New Music Video For "Too Much," Performs it on Jimmy Fallon (VIDEO)

​It was a busy weekend for indie king Sufjan Stevens, according to Pitchfork.He released a music video for his song "Too Much" today. The video kicks off with a colorful visual mess that looks like it came straight out of an M.I.A. video. The rest of it is a series of hipsters that are sporting a ... More >>

Five Solid Music Moments from SNL (With Video)

​From the Blues Brothers to Steve Martin playing King Tut, legendary musical moments are part of what make Saturday Night Live more than just another comedy show.SNL still holds its own sometimes but it was at its prime a few decades ago when it was lot edgier. Edginess is an, ahem, double-edged s ... More >>

Roger Waters Denies Part of His Show is Anti-Semitic

​The Anti-Defamation League is speculating that part of Roger Waters' show The Wall is anti-Semitic, according to Spinner. The ADL is concerned with the production aspect of his live performances of "Goodbye Sky Blue" because images of Stars of David and dollar signs were used in the same series o ... More >>

Bad Laugh Tracks: The Most Annoying Recorded Laughter in Pop Music

​When I heard Ke$ha's "Your Love is My Drug" on the radio the other day, aside from making remarks about how sloppy she is, I couldn't help but mention to my friend that I thought the song was terrible.I was thrilled that the song was nearly over until Ke$ha struck a chord with one of my old pet p ... More >>

Katy Perry Loses Herself on 'Teenage Dream,' But It's Still Super-Catchy

​You could never really call Katy Perry original. From the moment she broke onto the scene with her first mainstream single, "I Kissed a Girl," she was criticized for copying the title of the track by Jill Sobule. Her songs have always been sticky sweet pop that's radio-ready, but on her debut, On ... More >>

"Weird Al" Yankovic at Celebrity Theatre Last Night

Victor PalaganoWeird Al on stage at Celebrity Theatre.​Weird AlCelebrity Theatre, PhoenixAugust 12, 2010Last night, I went to a multimedia pop extravaganza: A virtual who's who of past and present Top-40 artists was represented, from Michael Jackson to the Biebs to Lady Gaga!Except they weren't th ... More >>

Kesha Starts a Marquee Theatre Dance Party...Holla!

Jody Bivens​Kesha has spawned a new trend--or, perhaps, a resurgence of an old one: glitter. Everyone and their mom at the Kesha show last night at Marquee Theatre was donning the sparkly stuff, which twinkled oh-so-prettily in the glowing lights from the stage. She also busted out some wicked c ... More >>

Slam Crunk

Darlings of the L.A. club scene come to Scottsdale

Cake

Justin Bieber Acts Like a Man on "Eenie Meenie"

​It's not often you hear or see guys imploring girls to settle down. Rather, women are all too often stuck with the rap of getting "players" to commit (it's science: just read Cosmopolitan or watch any romantic comedy), so it's refreshing to hear a song where it's the man (if you can call Justin B ... More >>

Katy Perry Swaps Substance for Sex in "California Gurls"

​Welcome to FemPop, a weekly feature that examines a current popular song and its message to women--whether that's empowering or demeaning, or both.Oh, Katy Perry.It's probably to be expected that the hottest woman alive, as named by Maxim magazine, would have a titillating new single, too, and th ... More >>

Ke$ha Claims To Not Use Autotune, Might Actually Be Deaf

"I am the worst"​I did not wake up this morning feeling like P. Diddy. No sir -- but then I saw this video of Ke$ha (pronounced "Kay dollar sign ha") claiming that she doesn't use autotune, and I totally felt like P. Diddy. I am convinced that this Ke$ha person is now just fucking with us. Not onl ... More >>

Jimmy Eat World Show Off How to Fly on Dogs, and Other Local Music News

If you're craving a little vintage Jimmy Eat World, you're in luck. The Arizona rock band has a vintage video on YouTube from a performance way back in the day, at the 1997 Mind Over Matter Fest in Detroit. And if you happened to miss the band when it performed on the hip kids' show Yo Gabba Gabba!, ... More >>

Pink Floyd's The Wall Turned Into a Musical? The 30th Anniversary Tour Might Not Be the Only New Wall Project

Roger Waters: Writer of musicals and graffiti artist?​So I guess it's officially time for every superstar rock musician who was once edgy and cool to make a fucking musical. As if it wasn't enough for The Who to do it in the '70s or Green Day now, TwentyFourBit reports that Pink Floyd's Roger Wat ... More >>

Is Bob Dylan a 'Fake?' Joni Mitchell Sure Thinks So

Bob Dylan's fake? Them's fightin' words, Joni Mitchell​In an interview with the LA Times, noted folk singer Joni Mitchell called out Bob Dylan, telling the interviewer she thought the celebrated musician was  "not authentic at all."The two folk artists are no strangers, having spent plenty of ... More >>

Ke$ha Creates Major WTF Moments on Saturday Night Live

In case you were at Coachella this past weekend, or don't watch SNL any more because it's lost all its humor, here are two delightful (gag) performances by trashy singer Ke$ha that would make even Ashlee Simpson cringe. They are so incredibly awkward, they might actually make you feel sorry for the ... More >>

Spin's Best & Worst Moments of Coachella

​So if you weren't fortunate enough to make it to Coachella this year -- I along with several of my fellow disappointed New Times staffers fall into that category -- and you're not too broken up about it to find out how it actually went, Spin offers up the high and lowlights of the fest, both from ... More >>

April 15 In Blogs: Lady Gaga, David Lujan, Cocktails, and James Ray

​​​In the 24-hour news cycle it can be difficult to keep up. We have the solution. Check back on Valley Fever every evening for highlights from each of New Times' blogs. Today's entries: Feathered Bastard: Russell Pearce's SB 1070 a Topic in Democratic AG Debate; David Lujan Apologizes fo ... More >>

Beat Mass DJs Talk fauxShow, Coachella, Prince, Flying Lotus, Gorillaz, and More

BeatMass DJs: Jake Brennan (left) and Mike Dwyer​Names: Mike Dwyer & Jake Brennan AKA: Beat Mass Current club nights: Guest appearances at fauxShow at Club Sanctum and Ransom and Philthy Phil's. Preferred genres: Electro, disco, funk and a dash of old school hip-hop. What is Beat Mass? It' ... More >>

DJ Tsunami Talks Phoenix's LGBT Club Scene, Ke$ha's Animal, F.Y.E, and More

Name: Jeff Phoenix AKA: DJ Tsunami Club Nights: Tuesdays at Charlie's, Fridays at Z Girl Club, Saturdays at Incognito. Preferred genres: Rhythmic pop urban dance How did you get started DJing? Ever since I was born, my family raised me on music. I began making DJ tapes when I was 8, doing voice ... More >>

From Print: Blogs Teased in Our 3/11 Issue

​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. Why did Howard Stern give Phoenix band The Heartless $5,000? Why is John Lennon Advertising cars? Why did th ... More >>

Karen Dreijer Accepts Award, Puts Gaga in Her Place

Fever Ray and The Knife's Karen Dreijer shows just how you accept an award and freak people out​Karen Dreijer is one half of the Swedish sibling duo The Knife and the sole proprietor behind Fever Ray. She is a very talented musician who is not afraid to stretch the boundaries of what's weird and r ... More >>

Ke$ha Rips Off Lady Gaga

It's really sad that Ke$ha's single "TiK ToK" has reached number one on the Billboard charts and is refusing to go away. I actually liked the girl the first time I heard her in Flo Rida's song "Right Round," but now I'm getting drained listening to her on the radio singing about brushing her teeth w ... More >>

Local Vintage

The legendary Doug Hopkins.​This opening of Long Wong's on Apache and McClintock has certainly stirred up conversation. Its authenticity in regard to the original Long Wong's is in question, and there's even debate as to whether it should be referred to as a "re-opening" or a "grand opening." No ... More >>