The VeraGroove @ Marquee Theatre

When a band has to make up a genre name to describe its music, it’s easy to suspect said band lacks focus. Not so with Tempe-based band The VeraGroove, as their self-coined “desert reggae rock ‘n’ roll” label works pretty well. The band, which says it seeks to unite listeners…

Seven Nights of DJs and Dancing

THURSDAY 2 27th Avenue Bar: R&B Thursdays (old-school R&B) Bobby Q’s: All-Star Thursdays with DJ Nino (hip-hop, Top 40) BS West: Intravenous Thursdays (goth, industrial, electronic, ’80s) Club Trinity: DJ Knick Knack, DJ Unkown, DJ Dark Vader, & guests (hip-hop, reggae, R&B, Top 40) Dirty Pretty: Groove Candy with DJ…

Hard Dance Nation @ Madison Event Center

As winter approaches, the nights will inevitably grow both colder and longer. If you’re looking for somewhere to simultaneously get both warm and wild, consider spending a few hours amidst the frenetic bodies gathered at the Madison Event Center, 441 West Madison Avenue, for the annual Hard Dance Nation on…

Foxy Shazam – Heaven on Their Minds

Song: Foxy Shazam, “Heaven on Their Minds” Context: Foxy Shazam’s Christmas single is a cover from Jesus Christ Superstar. Good stuff! Foxy Shazam – Heaven on Their Minds by mmcizmar…

OFF!: First Four EPs

Artist: OFF! Title: First Four EPs Release date: November 23 Label: Vice Records In 2010, few things seem more ridiculous than a punk supergroup anchored by two guys who made their most indelible marks on American punk rock nearly 30 years ago. But, damn, OFF! pulled off an unlikely feat,…

Copper State Tavern in Glendale Closes Tonight

Tonight’s a big night for the Copper State Tavern, as the Glendale punk bar and music venue is celebrating its second anniversary. Unfortunately, it’s also the joint’s final night of existence, as owner Dave Wyma is closing after this evening’s celebration.It’s sort of a “best of times/worst of times” proposition…

From Print: Blogs Teased in Our 12/2 Issue

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.What long-forgotten nugget did Jason P. Woodbury unearth for the first installment of his “Obscuro” column?What did…

Jack White Angry With eBay Auction Participants

Jack White is pissed off at his own fans, according to Antiquiet. Jack’s own Third Man Records’ recent eBay auctions for one of five copies of the White Stripes’ rare first album reissue didn’t quite go as planned. He’s angry at flippers, the fans that buy these albums for cheap…

Snail Quail’s Single Is a Tribute to Phoenix

Glendale’s Snail Quail is part of the same little cybercollective that brought the world Vladee Divacc of Dunkwave fame. The singer, J, tells me he wrote the song after being asked to perform for a local radio show. “I thought that was ‘rad’ and (due to time constraints) wrote and…

Robyn: Body Talk

Artist: Robyn Title: Body Talk Release date: November 22 Label: Interscope The critics sure do love the Swedish dance-pop star Robyn, who’s been releasing Body Talk in chunks throughout 2010 and now has finally dropped the entire album as one 15-song compendium. But there seems to be a common theme…

Silver Medallion Debuts New Music Video

In the hours following the tragic death of Abay Lattin (a.k.a. Carnegie from Silver Medallion) over two months ago, his bandmate Oren J. Schauble told me the following in regards to the group’s future: “It’s going to be tough, but I’m going to keep going and come up with something…

Google Translate Turns into a Beatbox

It turns out that Google Translate can do way more than translate a foreign business documents, help confused travelers, or decode what your mail order bride is saying, according to Gizmodo.In fact, if you go to Google Translate and set both language transition settings to German, you’ve got a good…

Nicki Minaj Proves Why Parents Should Treat Their Kids Well

Nicki Minaj’s tell-all documentary, My Time Now, aired on MTV on Sunday night. She told even more in the new issue of Rolling Stone.In the documentary she discussed her crack addicted father and child abuse, and being raised by her grandparents for quite some time. In the article she talked…

Girl Talk: All Day

This dearth of new music is why I chose to give a two-week old album — All Day by Girl Talk — a shot this week. Gregg Gillis, the man behind the madness, unleashed his fourth album on an unsuspecting world two Mondays ago, giving reviewers no time to proffer…

Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3: Northern Aggression

Artist: Steve Wynn & the Miracle 3Title: Northern AggressionRelease date: November 30Label: Yep RocSorry I ever doubted you, Steve. Like a lot of folks, I sure did love the first couple of Dream Syndicate records, especially the iconic Days of Wine and Roses, a record that may have summed up…