Editor’s Note: An abridged version of this article appears in this week’s issue, featuring 100 Songs that Defined Arizona. In celebration of Arizona’s centennial, we spoke with local music icon Sara Cina about one of the earliest songs of renowned Tempe band Gin Blossoms. “All the lines you wrote to…
We’ve got some bones to pick about this. While Lambert said he’ll be doing this “to pay tribute to Freddie and the band by singing some fucking great songs,” that can’t possibly be his only motive. If he wants to pay tribute to Queen, he should start a tribute band.Lambert…
Unwritten Law Roxy Lounge Thursday, February 9, 2012 Unwritten Law has had an interesting career. Lineup changes are to be expected with any band that’s been around for over 20 years, but most frontmen don’t have “physical arguments” with (soon-to-be-former) bandmates. That leaves Scott Russo, the only original member of…
Arizona is pretty much as Southwest as it gets. What other state can claim Southwestern staples like the OK Corral, Grand Canyon and SB 1070. (We said claim, not be proud of.) It’s only natural that our local bands get some serious stage presence at SxSW, Austin’ yearly arts and music…
Without music education, it’s safe to say there would be no Bears of Manitou. To help foster the local talent of the future, the band is pairing with Ear Candy Charity, a local nonprofit that seeks monetary and musical instrument donations to help with Arizona’s dismal arts education funding, for…
Joey BradfischBradfisch is a producer for the Johnjay and Rich radio morning show on 104.7 KISS-FM. His segment, What’cha Doin At The Courthouse?, airs on the station every Friday at 7:40 a.m. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play? I’m…
Who doesn’t love indulging in a metal show every now and then? If the show turns out to be anything like the flier looks, then it’s going to be a gruesome, bloody metal showdown.Silent Civilian will be bringing the heat tonight at 910 Live. Mureau, Failing to Fly, Levels of…
When we last touched base with Hooves, they were splitting town, cramming into the Bikini Lounge for a goodbye celebration before heading to Washington. I noted “…we can take comfort in knowing they’ll be back to visit. It’ll be “Party Time” then, but it’s hard to imagine it all feeling…
Editor’s Note: An abridged version of this article appears in this week’s issue, featuring 100 Songs that Defined Arizona. In celebration of Arizona’s centennial, John “Johnny D” Dixon, host of Mostly Vinyl with Johnny D on KWSS 106.7 and unofficial Arizona music historian, shares a little history about Sanford Clark’s…
With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, it seems like everyone is scrambling to find a hook up way to impress a crush or a significant other. A dozen roses and a box of chocolates may seem like a cheesy and overdone gift, but it’s a safer bet than some other ideas…
Metal legends Metallica recently announced the two-day Orion Music and More Festival, where the band will headline each night by playing a different classic album, Ride the Lightning and The Black Album, in their entirety. There’s a super-long video on the festival site featuring an interview with the band, conducted…
It’s been a minute since we’ve mentioned Cypress Hill and Arizona in the same sentence. The last time we were on talking terms was back on April 22, 2010, the day before SB1070 passed. The puff, puff, pass rappers performed at the Martini Ranch in Scottsdale that night, but no…
We knew the daunting (impossible, really) task of picking 100 songs that define the sound of Arizona was going to be tough, but lucky for us, we had a lot of help, from you, our readers. We opened up a Gmail account and took submissions from you, reading through liner…
This week, New Times ran a list 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 does Sweetbleeders handle performing PJ Harvey songs? Will Noel Gallagher play any Oasis songs at…
“Not alone for gold and silver / Is Arizona great / But with graves of heroes sleeping / All the land is consecrate!” — “Arizona March Song” The goal of finding Arizona’s 100 greatest songs was hardly easy. We asked our readers to tell us what songs have defined Arizona…
Hardcore bands are kind of like the Tea Party: Both have strong opinions and are keen on shoving their righteous agendas down as many throats as possible. The genre can be off-putting, but local thrash-hardcore act American Standards proves that the preachy positivism isn’t always a bad thing. The band’s…
You know, if Bob Larson, the Scottsdale-based exorcist who tried to draw the devil out of Mayhem’s bassist last August, were into expelling demons from every metal band that visited Arizona, he’d have a mighty full plate. Arizona loves its metal as much as Larson loves Jesus. But if he’s…
Seeing Parenthetical Girls for the first time, via their Bergman-esque video for “A Song for Ellie Greenwich,” induced the same chills I got when I saw Devo’s TV debut on SNL — a smart, robotic band of art students is taking familiar pop music motifs, running them through a shredder,…
It’s a pretty good time to be soft. You know, like Adult Contemporary soft, the kind of stuff that 95.5 KYOT played before it started playing “old school” funk and soul. Bon Iver’s Bon Iver, arguably the biggest indie-rock record of the year (with its Grammy nominations and its domination…
Does any label evoke doubt more than “white rapper?” For every Eminem, there are a dozen Vanilla Ices. “I agree there are authenticity issues with white rappers, and I think just rappers in general have some authenticity issues,” says Phoenix’s Moe’Z Art. Good thing Morley Simon Gordon, a.k.a. Moe’Z Art,…
Skrillex ain’t the only one getting rich and famous off EDM’s recent resurgence and 2011 crossover into the mainstream. Witness the rise of Wolfgang Gartner, whose pulse-pounding electro-house joints have been invading both pop culture and the consciousness of clubgoers over the past year. Not only did the Grammy-nominated DJ…
Wordplay is essential for a rapper. Without it, what more is he than a dude who talks with music in the background? A love of language suggests a lot, and those who stayed awake through high school English class should be familiar with the rapper’s bag of tricks: simile, metaphor,…
