Many, many years ago — before the age of digital music mojo and studio wizardry, and right around the time “rock ‘n’ roll” was deemed a dirty term by apple-pie America and you couldn’t see Elvis’ hips gyrating on TV — what we now call “garage rock” was literally just…
Most people don’t think of the bass player as being integral to any band, especially when the band is named after the singer. When Otep, the namesake nu-metal group of vocalist Otep Shamaya, lost original bassist Jay “Evil J” McGuire last year, they lost the only remaining original member of…
After suspending print issues last August, Paste magazine returned yesterday with a new and improved digital format. Readers will now be treated to weekly issues of the music and culture magazine, via a new mPlayer.The mPlayer will include the popular Paste New Music Sampler, as seven weekly music downloads paired…
It’s logical for a band from the U.K. that’s been compared to Coldplay and Snow Patrol and received more than a thousand spins for their first single on Sirius-XM’s Alt Nation channel to move to the U.S. seeking stateside success. But Phoenix seems like an unlikely relocation choice compared with…
Some things just go together: peanut butter and jelly, rock and roll, cause and effect — and especially the unholy trinity of heavy metal, skulls, and tattoos. This week’s flier of the week, for the Wild West Summer Fest at Club 910, includes all three, which is fitting because the…
Valley rockabilly trio The Limit Club knows how to throw a party. For evidence, look no further than the band’s brand new video, for their song “Shake.” “Shake” is from The Limit Club’s latest album, This Is Cutthroat Business, and the video features the band — vocalist and guitarist Nick…
Music and musicians have been around for centuries, and every day, new music news breaks. Every Monday, we’re going to take a look back at the notable music stories, births, and deaths that took place that week.This week saw the saxophone being patented (in 1846), as well as the births…
Yesterday, a close friend of British prime minister David Cameron died in a port-o-potty in the VIP area of the Glastonbury Festival.Christopher Shale, chairman of the Conservative Association in West Oxfordshire, was staying in an exclusive VIP area of the festival, which is a huge annual music event in Britain…
Sole, one of the founders of indie rap collective Anticon, has released a new mixtape titled Nuclear Winter Volume 2: Death Panel, and there’s a reference to Arizona. Dubbed “rap as journalism,” Sole’s using this mixtape to make statements about various things, including the assassination of Osama Bin Laden, the…
Phoenix-based garage rock trio The Cosmeticators draw from their real-life experiences to create short, snappy punk songs. The three ladies who comprise the band — vocalist and bassist Chela, guitarist and vocalist Dee Moreno, and drummer Amy Young — say they mostly write “hate songs,” with an occasional love song…
As we’ve already pointed out, rock stars like to write and star in comic books. The best of these comics contain original story lines and fantastical heros and villains, but sometimes, they take a more straightforward, biographical approach.The comic Female Force: Madonna, scheduled to be released in August, falls in…
I love colorful rock ‘n’ roll concert posters that double as works of art (as seen in books like Art of Modern Rock: The Poster Explosion), especially when the look of the poster fits the music or personality of the performer. This week’s Flier of the Week is for Vespertine…
When it comes to hot, sweaty, outdoor indie shows, it doesn’t get any better than Conspire. The folks who hang around this downtown cafe collective and performance space are just as colorful as the graffiti-slathered building, and the bands that rock the makeshift stage out back are usually eclectic, under-the-radar,…
“I’m stymied to come up with anything funnier than people who think animals have rights. Just stick an arrow through their lungs”; “Obama’s a piece of shit, and I told him to suck on my machine gun”; “Our failure has been not to Nagasaki [Iraq].” To read some of the…
The late godfather of punk, Joey Ramone, once said that one of the cool things about the Ramones’ first album was its brevity — at just 30 minutes long, you could blast the entire record at a party before the cops showed up. Joe Queer, frontman of pop-punk band The…
Arizona resident and legendary singer/songwriter Glen Campbell will release his last album on August 30, titled Ghost On The Canvas.Campbell was recently diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, which is apparently a factor in his decision to stop recording and touring after this album. Campbell discussed his career and health with People magazine,…
Beautiful South, Welcome to the Beautiful SouthThis image of back-to-photos — one of a woman holding a gun to her mouth, the other of a man smoking a cigarette — pretty much says it all. The band may not have intended it, but the cover presents a morbid (albeit apt)…
Massachusetts metalcore band Unearth’s upcoming album, Darkness In The Light, is probably the quartet’s most progressive record to date. It’s chock full of the brutally heavy guitar chords and pummeling drums of the band’s previous works, but incorporates more guitar melodies and vocal harmonies than ever before. Recorded by producer…
Aside from perhaps Lynyrd Skynyrd, you’d be hard pressed to find a classic rock band that’s been through more tribulations than Mountain. The Long Island, New York-based band is perhaps best known for their 1970 hit “Mississippi Queen,” but there’s some ugly lore in the band’s story, too. After leaving…
Music and musicians have been around for centuries, and every day, new music news breaks. Every Monday, we’re going to take a look back at the notable music stories, births, and deaths that took place that week. This week was a doozy: Columbia Records introduced the LP, Brian Wilson of…
Like everyone else on the Internet, we here at Up on the Sun have a serious thing for the hilarious and wonderful Tumblr blog, Dads are the Original Hipsters. On the blog, fantastic vintage photos, all submitted by fans of the site, are coupled with exquisitely snarky captions that detail…
The dreamy, danceable, synth-heavy music of Fate of the Galaxies sounds more like something that would come out of early-to-mid ’80s England (The Cure, Joy Division) than downtown Phoenix. But that’s where the trio that makes up Fate of the Galaxies — Mandel Moreno, Oompa Pavone, and Chris McClay –…
