It’s easy to get lost in the long list of concert festivals that drive music fans from the Valley, but when it comes to jazz, it’s best to keep it local. After all, that’s how every style of jazz, from ragtime to funk, got its distinct sound – by keeping…
It’s a secret go-to cliché of publicists everywhere: If a band’s biography says its music “defies categorization,” it usually can be pegged in four words or fewer. In other words, it’s code for “I’m not into this band enough to sit back and contemplate what this music really is.” PAWL…
Bob Marley once said that “One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain.” Reggae music, especially, has a way of making you forget your problems. Maybe because the kinds of people who listen to it are the usually same kind of people who enjoy getting…
Now you and your kids can dance to social activist music as performed by 99% of the bands in the Phoenix area. Not really, but the music roster at The 99% Unityfest on November 5 is looking pretty full, packed with talent from rock, hip-hop, funk, indie, folk outfits and more…
Back in May, Lydia announced that they’d be coming back from hiatus… sort of. The Gilbert-formed band is returning as a shell of itself, with co-founder Leighton Antelman leading the effort. He and drummer Craig Taylor decided to bring the band back after nearly everyone else in the group quit last…
It’s hard to believe that the same year that brought the bone-chilling beauty of Fleet Foxes’ Helplessness Blues and Bon Iver’s self-titled release produced the musical pairing pictured above. Yes, Jack White and ICP, the combination that no one — not their fans, not the critics, not even the Loutallica…
Just in time for Halloween, Tugboat has managed to creep the internet like it has never been creeped before. (That’s counting “Two Girls, One Cup,” by the way.)Just last week we told you about the series of creeptastic videos Tugboat released to promote their October residency at Long Wong’s. But…
The works of Edgar Allan Poe are inherently creepy. Call us crazy, but a raven tapping on your door in the middle of the night, and then proceeding to speak in riddles, is more terrifying than any slasher flick. The master of macabre is honored Halloween night by the lit-crazed…
Over the past 50 years, there have been walks for just about every group of people who have seen injustice or adversity. Nerds, however, found it difficult to break out of those pesky lockers. They faced an awful lot of ridicule on the playground, in the school lunchroom room and…
Child stars get a bad rap. Sure, many become damaged, ruined by mothers like those on Toddlers and Tiaras, but Nikka Costa’s father, Don Costa, didn’t exactly thrust his daughter into the spotlight. Don, a record producer best known for his work with Frank Sinatra, knew music was in her…
When you look up the definition of “viral video” in the internet dictionary, The Black Keys new video for “Lonely Boy,” the first single off the highly anticipated El Camino, would be the prime example, complete with links to other articles awkward hand claps and hip gyrations. The new video features…
A few months ago we brought you the story of Bryan Lightningrod, a 98- (38)-year-old vampire (dude) from Cairo (Chandler) who makes music (noise with titles like “I Want to Fuck Your Butt”) and creepy-ass music videos with young girls’ butts being (unknowingly?) taped at skate parks. …
As much as my inner-feminist resents a show called “Boobapalooza,” last night’s Rhythm Room breast cancer benefit was rather respectful. Uh, in its own way. I guess if you consider vintage footage of pinups dancing with bouncing, healthy breasts on white sand beaches respectful, then that works. Even the flyer shows…
Herman Cain was served a tall order when this video leaked a few days ago. He’s got a reputation to protect. That reputation: Future Chief Executive Pizza Man and past Godfather’s Pizza CEO. Damn it, Americans love pizza. Who is he to hide his affection toward the garnished bread? He…
Whether you like Jimmy Buffett’s music or not, there’s something about dressing like a Parrothead that’s exhilarating. It’s probably the not-give-a-fuckedness of the whole situation. Parrotheads, I imagine, are usually tied to desk jobs and family life, and getting the opportunity to dress like a total asshole is pretty fun and exciting…
You have to hand it to the food truck industry. They’ve managed to undergo a full image makeover in the last few years. Typically banned to the back of parking lots, they were once deemed “roach coaches” and other equally horrific nicknames that ensured they would never get any business…
“The Nauga is ugly, but his vinyl hide is beautiful.” At least that’s what an ad campaign for the faux leather Naugahyde suggested in the ’60s and ’70s. This little creature can be blamed for pleather pants and some of IKEA’s ugliest furniture, but that grinning, wide-toothed monster, wasn’t ugly…
Three Halloweens ago, Radio Phoenix launched an alternative to corporate radio in the Valley. After three years of thriving online, the listener-supported station is celebrating its success with a little shindig. Phoenix might be far from the Bayou, but that doesn’t meant we don’t have our share respectable blues and Cajun-style…
The most common accusation of the Occupy protests has been that those gathered don’t have one main voice; a streamlined, focused goal. It’s a fair criticism, but it’s a little difficult when you’ve been screwed over from every direction to pin down exactly what you want change. At the center of…
Do you ever feel like you’re just not creeped out enough by the local music? Well, Tempe rocksters Tugboat intend to change that. A series of videos promoting their October Long Wong’s at The Firehouse residency shows the band in all of their glory. Their ballsy, ballsy glory. …
DJ Name: World Famous Rani “g.”Real name: Rani GharfehGenres spun: House, global soul, afrobeat, ancestral soul, jazz, hip-hop, rap, R&B, funk, worldbeat, disco, indie dance, UK garage and whatever else feels right at the moment.Current residencies: Mabel’s On Main on Friday and Saturday, Retro Hi-Fi [at] Sidebar with fellow residents/co-founders…
Here at Up On the Sun, we have a whole lot of faith in the local scene. So much so, we try to devote at least 50 percent of our daily blog space to it. We’ve been hyping Stateside’s Crescent Ballroom for the past few months. We’ve even touted it as…
