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…
While many music promoters get in the business for fame or money, one local man has a much more altruistic aim with his shows: to promote awareness about Huntington’s Disease. “I’m not looking to get rich, meet a bunch of musicians and hot girl types,” says Greg Forward, founder and…
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…
Thanksgiving Eve Gravy Bikini Wrestling Girls in bikinis? Check. Girls in bikinis wrestling? Check. Girls in bikinis wrestling in gravy and mashed potatoes? Check. Hurricane Bay hosted the second annual Thanksgiving Eve Gravy Bikini Wrestling Party on Wednesday…see photos Roger Waters at US Airways Center Last Night Since it’s safe…
Welcome of Obscuro, a new weekly 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,…
Locals who decided to stay in town for Thanksgiving weekend got quite the treat this past weekend, as a slew of great Valley acts entertained people in-between bites of turkey. On Thanksgiving Eve, at The Sail Inn in Tempe, The Black Moods, Black Carl and What Laura Says performed on…
Roger Waters November 27, 2010 US Airways Center British rocker Roger Waters performed Pink Floyd’s album The Wall with style at the US Airways Center last night. It was, indeed, a “show,” as much a theatrical exercise as a musical one.Since it’s safe to say that at least most of…
The Summer Set Nile Theater November 27, 2010 As someone who reviews concerts fairly regularly I try and keep an open mind with every show I see. Being objective is part of the job. In general, giving negative reviews isn’t a lot of fun because in my opinion every band,…
, according to Spinner.It’s not that Mason, Pink Floyd’s drummer, didn’t want to support Palestinian refugee children, but rather that he was displeased with the choice of venue that was made for the event. Pink Floyd members David Gilmour and Roger Waters ended up playing the Hoping For the Children of Palestine…
Album: Fever DreamsBasics: Ryan Osterman — the man behind both Sownbones and Owl & Penny — is one of the more talented players on the River Jones Music roster.Osterman’s folk-tinged indie rock smacks of one of his admitted favorite artists, Ryan Adams.There’s also a hint of Bright Eyes-era Conor Oberst…
Song: Girl In A Coma, “Blue Christmas”Context: Congratulations, it’s officially the Holiday Season. Today is the first day I’ll listen to (or at least allow myself to enjoy) Christmas music. This cover of the Elvis staple “Blue Christmas,” by Texas group Girl In A Coma is the first new Christmas…
Damn, TSA, buy a girl a drink first. The new full-body image scanners at airports this holiday season have already stressed and nervous travelers in a tizzy. Sure, nobody wants a bomb on their plane, but it hardly seems like a fair trade-off to have all your private bidniss displayed…
Wow, an R&B star singing about marriage and commitment and true love. You’re not dreaming it–it’s happened with Jason DeRulo’s “What If,” and it’s downright refreshing to hear a guy who’s already sung about dirty fantasies belt about something more meaningful…
Name: Randell Carlton Green AKA: DJ Rolemodel Current club nights: Tuesdays at ACME, Fridays at Smashboxx, Saturdays at American Junkie. Genres spun: You name it and I have it. Origin story: Started off as a radio DJ while in college. I was actually fired for playing “Rape Me” by Nirvana…
Get ready to feel like a major under-achiever.This 7-year-old kid is living thug life to the fullest, and he will absolutely blow you away with his “cover” of Kesha’s “We R Who We R” (Perez Hilton is even raving about it.)Matty B already has an entourage of little girls (see…
When you’re born with the name Leon Blue, it’s hard to imagine life taking you down any path other than that of a badass boogie-woogie blues pianist. Blue — real name, natch — has racked up plenty of high-profile work as a sideman, manning the keys for The Ike &…
Dave Miranda might’ve been born 15 years too late. Ask the Phoenix rapper, who performs as Mr. Miranda, about his influences, and he speaks reverently about old-school hip-hop artists like Run-DMC, Gang Starr, Masta Ace, and Ice Cube. Even though Miranda was in grade school when those acts were at…
Question: What do Congratulations, Surfing the Void, Total Life Forever, and (to a lesser extent) Odd Blood have in common? Answer: All were eagerly awaited sophomore albums by rising alt-music bands (MGMT, The Klaxons, Foals, and Yeasayer, respectively) that came up just a hair short of commercial and/or critical expectations…
Roger Waters began playing in the earliest incarnation of Pink Floyd right around the time he turned 20 years old. At the time, the music was an innovative reflection of youth culture. It featured psychedelic, experimental sounds, prominent (often dissonant) guitar, and sweet vocal harmonies. We are reminded of this…
Call them “hyper,” “sugary,” “bouncy,” or just “too stoked to function,” and The Summer Set will totally thank you for the compliments. The young Scottsdale five-piece pop band knows its fan base is full of teenage girls and knows how to cater to them. Yes, these guys wear bright colors…
Most of the audience that discovered the screamo-metalcore act Atreyu in 2003 (via MySpace, of course) has gone on to college, where their musical tastes have likely matured into more sensitive indie-rock types like Sufjan Stevens or Conor Oberst. Yet Atreyu is still chugging along. As David Wooderson famously said…
For years, I was a pretty big fan of the ska-punk — a genre that aimed to marry punk’s energy to ska’s rocksteady vibe — until, at one point in my late teens, I decided that I detested ska and ska-punk and tossed out all my previous feelings for the…
