Since rising to international fame in 2002 with the rowdy, inventive Original Pirate Material, British MC Mike Skinner — a.k.a. The Streets — has released a series of increasingly sincere albums. Starting with his 2004 narrative-heavy masterpiece A Grand Don’t Come for Free, he has turned his attention to simple,…
Amie Miriello sounds strangely familiar at times. Spinning her record, you get a comfortable feeling, as if you’ve known her since the late ’90s, when many similar female artists hit the scene — think Sheryl Crow, Tori Amos, and Alanis Morissette. One can definitely hear angry grrrl echoes of Morissette…
When you’re a new band, one of the biggest challenges can be describing the style of music you play to journalists, especially if it doesn’t fit into a neat and tidy category. Take the case of the Montreal trio Plants and Animals: Though their songs evoke several classic-rock styles (psych…
Born Ruffians, a nascent Toronto trio, move with mesmerizing twitch, shouting with childish abandon, as if they were Hot Hot Heat stuck in an elevator with the Go! Team. Frontman Luke Lalonde’s guitar tone is thin and shrill, switching between jagged Pixies pulses and more lugubrious indie noodling, like that…
Somewhere in the course of making his mark as a mastermind behind Cartoon Network’s smartass Adult Swim programs, Christopher Ward found time to concoct a junk culture/computer nerd rap persona that sounds like Eminem strung out on whippits. On his 2002 debut (Life’s a Bitch and I’m Her Pimp, free…
Hope you’re in the mood to shake a tail feather this weekend, as the PHX is being invaded by a trio of top-shelf EDM talent. SoCal house maestro DJ Dan, a boffo beat-mixing protégé of Donald Glaude (who’s been rated one of the best in the biz by BPM), visits…
By Lilia Menconi It’s a very classy slideshow (for once). It’s no secret that we are all about hitting some of the scummier places in town for our partying desires but, every once in a while, we crave a nice place that actually has toilet seat covers and more than…
By Martin Cizmar
Every Tuesday, we here at Up On The Sun do a little feature called You asked For It where we review local CDs. Here’s the thing with You Asked for It: If you ask for it, we give it to you. Pretty much every CD we get in here goes in the queue for review, thereby committing me to listening to it at least once all the way through.
By Martin Cizmar
Maybe it’s that I recently read John Sellers’ Perfect From Now On, a memoir which ends up being all about indie outfit Guided By Voices, but I couldn’t help but think about the band who gave We Are Scientists their name Monday night.
By Martin Cizmar It’s nearing 3 p.m. Monday and I’m still recovering from an amazing weekend in Rocky Point, where web editor Jonathan McNamara a few friends and I traveled to see Roger Clyne and the Peacemaker’s Circus Mexicus extravaganza. See more photos in our Roger Clyne and the Peacemaker’s…
By Yvonne Zusel Afro-wigged men in kilts and beanies, tiared-and-fishnetted ladies and 27 Waldos converged on Tempe Town Lake this weekend for one reason: to promote the benefits of the bicycle. See more shots in our Tour de Fat slideshow. Well, that, and to drink copious amounts of beer. Sponsored…
By Benjamin Leatherman Sybris is scheduled to perform on Sunday at the Rhythm Room. This weekend’s concert calendar is loaded up quite heavily with talent, with such marquee-level names as Twista, Neil Diamond, Patti LaBelle, and DJ Irene will be performing at venues around the Valley (and that’s just tonight)…
By Jonathan McNamara Friday, October 10: Circus Mexicus Anyone else tripping down to Rocky Point for the three-day jam fest that is Circus Mexicus? If not, be sure to keep checking back with Up on the Sun for updates featuring Roger Clyne and all the wacky mayhem. Saturday, October 11:…
By Jonathan McNamara Local bands echoed through the night as bachelorettes hung out near the stripper poles on Thursday, October 9, 2008. See more photos in our Thursday Night Out slideshow…
By Martin Cizmar
There were a bunch of upcoming shows announced this week, but nothing super high profile. For my money, the top announcement was Flo Rida, which will come to the Venue of Scottsdale on Nov. 1.
A long-haired Henry Rollins (circa 1983) sings with Black Flag in Tucson. Photo by Ed Arnaud. I was fortunate enough to attend Henry Rollins’ incredible spoken word gig last night at the Marquee Theatre in Tempe. As staff writer Niki D’Andrea detailed in her review of the show, the punk…
When will Republican politicians learn that most musicians are Democrats? At the very least, they could make a couple calls before using particular artists’ songs in their campaigns. That would prevent musicians getting bitchy about their songs being used without their permission by politicians they don’t endorse.
By Steve Jansen Full disclosure: A contributor to this blog is currently in a relationship with a member of Miniature Tigers. Just received word this morning that the new Miniature Tigers music video was just added to MySpaceTV Videos today. The featured tune, “Cannibal Queen,” is most definitely one of…
By Martin Cizmar There’s actually a lot of pretty decent fliers up right now, but Mesa’s Treble Hook Company really outdid itself with this dark beauty. The band, which plays grinding metal, will be at Hollywood Alley tomorrow ($5) and also has dates scheduled at Big Fish Pub and Club…
THURSDAY 9 Axis/Radius: Red Bull Ladies Night with DJ MCB (hip-hop, rock, Top 40) Bikini Lounge: DJ HFE (rockabilly, surf, jazz, classic country, indie, obscuro) Blooze Bar: DJ El Dedo (rockabilly) Bunkhouse: DJ Doom (dance) Club Red: The Blunt Club with EPMD, Pickster Uno, DJ Element, & more (hip-hop) Crabby…
By the ripe old age of 7, Opeth leader Mikael Åkerfeldt already considered himself a metalhead. So the disappointment he felt when his grandmother gave him a classical guitar at that age seemed only natural. Like many an aspiring headbanger, Åkerfeldt pined to rock out with screaming, amplified distortion. “I…
Experimental indie-rock quartet Portugal. The Man — which alternates rocking hard, bluesy, and soulful, like an unhinged Zeppelin, and getting mellow and chamber-poppy with strings, brass, and organs — is led by singer-guitarist and chief songwriter John Gourley, who hails from Wasilla, a small town in southeastern Alaska not far…
