Neil Young

We Found a 36-Year-Old KDKB Local Compilation -- Here's What We Thought Of It

Doing some crate digging at Tracks in Wax, I uncovered a rather strange relic: an album showcasing local music. The cover was a faded license plate with the words Arizona Sounds Vol. 1, sponsored by KDKB 93.3 FM. It was printed in 1977. As a Phoenix native, I've always had an interest in this spraw ... More >>

Eddie Vedder, Comerica Theatre, 10/4/12

Eddie Vedder @ Comerica TheatreEddie Vedder lists his tools. In the booklet handed out to concertgoers at last night's packed performance, the Pearl Jam frontman laid out a detailed list of gear he'd be using during the evening: guitars, ukuleles, amplifiers, a modified kick drum made from a Coron ... More >>

Jesse Malin Links The Clash and The Grateful Dead

See also: Chasers Sold to New Owners and Becomes Pub Rock, A Music Venue With an In-House Radio Broadcasting Studio Jesse Malin has done it all, or most of it at least. In his barely-teens he was fronting Jersey-based hardcore ensemble Heart Attack, then spent the '90s in glam-punk wreckers D-Gen ... More >>

The Maine: With Pioneer, the Mesa Rockers Step Away From Warner Bros.

The Maine, What Laura Says, NOFX, and More in This Week's Issue

What happens when a promising young pop band's album gets rejected by the major label they've signed a seven-album contract with? In the case of The Maine's Pioneer, the band says "screw it," and releases it anyway. Of course, the story is more complicated than that, which singer John O'Callaghan ... More >>

Pegi Young @ Celebrity Theatre

Sound Off: Audioconfusion's Jalipaz on Brian Chartrand, Gay Kiss, and Brown G.O.D.

Brad Dwyer and Jalipaz at Audioconfusion Studios ​Welcome to the latest installment of our weekly feature, Sound Off, where Jason P. Woodbury is joined by a different guest each week to listen to and discuss three tracks from local Phoenix artists. If you would like your songs to be considered ... More >>

Flashback to 1972: Happy Birthday Eminem and Wyclef Jean

​America's Got Talent host Nick Cannon, N'Sync singer Chris Kirkpatrick and Beavis and Butt-Head creator, Mike Judge have something in common. Besides making us laugh, they all share a birthday with music celebrities Eminem and Wyclef Jean. That's right, Slim Shady and the Lead Fugee enter th ... More >>

Black One on Sampling Artists, Kanye West, and Why Phoenix's Hip-Hop Scene Reigns Over Tucson's

​Expat RecordsJason Ikner is Black One​I had never met a rapper who claims to like Adele, the Black Keys, and dubstep. That is, until I spoke to local hip-hop artist Jaron Ikner, commonly known as Black One. Black One draws from different sections of the record store than your average backp ... More >>

Kurt Vile and the Violators at the Rhythm Room, 7/31/2011

Jason P. WoodburyKurt Vile -- kind of like a Muppet. ​ Kurt Vile and the Violators The Rhythm Room July 31, 2011 I spent the day in Flagstaff on Saturday, and shortly after having lunch at Mountain Oasis International Restaurant, a woman approached me with a small flier which read: "Real Free ... More >>

Kurt Vile Plugs In and Zones Out

Woods @ The Trunk Space

What's Selling: Stinkweeds Top 10 Selling Albums of the Week

http://www.flickr.com/photos/letfunbegin/2162038913/​Remember when you used to buy your music from, you know ... an actual music store? We do too. Valley storefronts like Stinkweeds, Revolver Records, Hoodlums, and Zia Record Exchange continue to be reliable sources for music fans to find their mu ... More >>

Underground Cities Tour Kick Off at The Sail Inn, 6-29-11

Photos by Melissa FossumJake Arrington and Brent Bachelder of Underground Cities​ Underground Cities The Sail Inn Wednesday, June 29 No amount of preparation or wishful thinking guarantees a successful tour, but certain measures will improve a band's odds. That old adage about "being in a band i ... More >>

Country Funk (1970)

​ Welcome to Obscuro, a 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, ... More >>

Leon Russell

Beastie Boys to Release Star-Studded Short Film 'Fight For Your Right Revisited'

​In addition to releasing their highly anticipated upcoming album, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, on May 3, the Beastie Boys will be releasing a short film in a few weeks, according to Pitchfork.Fight For Your Right Revisited is the Beastie Boys' new star-studded 22-minute short film directed by th ... More >>

Mercury Records Will No Longer Produce Physical Singles

​Mercury Records is moving forward with technology and sticking to digital downloads. With a few grand exceptions, the label has decided it will be doing away with producing their singles on compact discs and vinyl due to a significant decline in sales, according to Telegraph.Now that the digital ... More >>

One of 2010's Best Musical Moments on TV: "Whip My Hair" by Springsteen

Late night television was packed with some pretty memorable musical moments in 2010. With the craze over young Willow Smith's first single "Whip My Hair" came an unforgettable cover by Jimmy Fallon featuring Bruce Springsteen on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon back in the middle of November. Fallon pla ... More >>

Why Arcade Fire Is the Best Canadian Band of All Time

Odds 'n' Sods: Tom Jones, Los Lobos, Chely Wright, 36Crazyfists, and more

​Lots of CDs piling up. Let's have a listen at a few, shall we?Norman -- Hay, Hay, Make a Wish and Turn Away: These boys play Neil Young-meets-Uncle Tupelo country-folk-rock through a cloudy, green filter befitting their Oregon provenance. Mostly, it works, especially when they veer away from the ... More >>

Glee Britney Spears = More Ways to Piss Off Music Critics

Glee loves Britney. A lot.​While it may be the opinion of the majority of Up on the Sun writers that Glee represents everything that is awful about the world of popular music, and even popular culture, the show's producers seem to have found yet another way to piss off music critics everywhere. Ac ... More >>

Bonnaroo Video and Audio Footage

The Avett Brothers at Bonnaroo. Photo by NPR.​If you dared to log on to Twitter this weekend, you undoubtedly saw the onslaught of not only massive amounts of Tweets on the start of the World Cup, but also on the Bonnaroo Festival that you were not at.There's nothing like a constant influx of inst ... More >>

When Tragedy and Politics Turn into Popular Music

Top Ten Americana Albums of 2008

By Noah W. Bailey Picking the best folk and Americana records of the year isn't nearly as hard as discarding those great records that just didn't feel right stuck in the category. Releases by Calexico and DeVotchKa felt far too worldly to pigeonhole as folk or country, for instance, while Blitzen ... More >>

Warner Bros. veteran Bill Bentley launches a music site for baby boomers with SonicBoomers.com

For New Model Army leader Justin Sullivan, punk’s not dead as long as it keeps evolving.

Old Crow Medicine Show

Great Lake Swimmers

The mountain says what

Elliott Lives

Son Volt

The Search
(Red Int/Red Ink)

Living With Post-War

M. Ward's recipe for political change: Let's ignore the president

Broken Social Scene

Broken Social Scene
(Arts & Crafts)

Ray LaMontagne

Follow his bliss

Vote for Change Tour

Activism, schmactivism: where's the real rock?

Green Party

Being young and raw hasn't stopped dios from writing great pop songs

Summer Hymns

Even with new components, the band maintains its sound

Kings of Leon

Holy Roller Novocaine (RCA)

Basement Ax

Built to Spill's Doug Martsch is a guitar hero for a generation not interested in 'em

The Band

The Last Waltz (WB/Rhino)

Tucson Confessions

Mark Insley does an emotional detox in the desert and creates an Americana gem

Hatfield's the Real McCoy

Will Juliana Hatfield fans find the Beautiful Creature in Juliana's Pony, or will it be a Total System Failure?

Unconsciously Brilliant

Restless Records' Flaming Lips anthology recounts the early chapters of one of indie rock's finest

Taking Liberties

Elvis Costello's recent collaboration with Burt Bacharach restores order to his maddening decade

Critical Mass

A recap of the releases that made it worthwhile to own a CD player in 1998

Copy Cats

In the tired realm of tribute albums, imitation is the sincerest form of flatulence

Indian Uprising

Native rocker Keith Secola is big in Europe and on the rez, but scarcely known on the hometown scene

BIG WAX BUILDUP

IS VINYL REALLY THE CHOICE OF A NEW GENERATION OR ARE PEOPLE JUST WAXING NOSTALGIC?

HONESTY IS THE BEST ANODYNEUNCLE TUPELO KEEPS ITS MIDWESTERN ROOTS ON THE WAY TO LOW-TECH SUCCESS

BETTER RED THAN DEADHOW THE SAND RUBIES SURVIVED A SNAKEBITE