Eidolons @ Trunk Space

Portland’s Eidolons have just released their first full-length recording, China. The cover photo features a slightly out-of-shape guy in socks and tighty-whiteys but reveals nothing about the music inside — that the band operates with an independent frame of mind. The music is a mixture of airy, atmospheric wanderings that…

Culture Jam @ The Roxy Lounge

No one is going to blame you for feeling squeamish when you hear the words “rock” and “rap” used together. Crazy Town, Limp Bizkit, and Methods of Mayhem pushed out more than enough bad musical juju to completely erase any goodwill earned by the Judgment Night soundtrack or The Clash’s…

Sadisco* [Tank] @ Chasers

You won’t see any furious fisticuffs taking place at Chasers this weekend when the industrial-loving freaks of Sadisco* invade the Scottsdale music venue. Ditto for any sort of cage-fighting shenanigans or Tyler Durden references. While the DJ collective and party crew has typically put on its annual Fight Club event…

Club Candids at Roxy Lounge

If there’s one constant in Scottsdale’s club scene, it’s that drunken and debaucherous behavior will always be in abundance. This proves particularly true at Old Town clubs around 11 p.m. on weekend nights. Some have called it “primetime” or “the magic hour,” but regardless of its official designation, it’s when…

Are Local Residencies Really Necessary?

Editor’s note: Occasionally, Up on the Sun contributor Christina Caldwell chimes in on local music, tackling topics like “how to get press” and asking questions like “What makes the ideal music venue?” This week, she addresses a topic we’ve looked at before — the concept of local clubs doing month-long…

Is Dubstep the New Nu-Metal?

Love it or hate it, it’s looking inevitable: dubstep isn’t going anywhere for awhile, and a lot of ambitious metalheads are pairing their riffs up with wobble wobble sounds in a bid for commercial success. It reminds me of a coked-out Paris Hilton making a sex tape with Slayer’s Kerry…

YACHT @ Crescent Ballroom

A band that shares a name with a fancy boat, sometimes includes a triangle instead of an “A” in the spelling of its names, and uses music to preach a cultish philosophy sounds like something to avoid like the plague. But despite Portland electropop act YACHT’s inherent weirdness (including a…

Suicidal Tendencies (POSTPONED)

The early 1980s were a good time to be in a hardcore punk band. Music and reputation spread through underground circles, and if you added a little controversy — maybe some supposed gang affiliation — your band could go national quickly. This is how it worked for Venice Beach’s Suicidal…

The Cave Singers @ Sail Inn

Drawing heavily on folk and blues, The Cave Singers hail from the woody Pacific Northwest and play a rock ‘n’ roll reflective of that region’s geography — and of distant ones, too, though geographies no less American. There are a bevy of bands finding common ground between Appalachia and the…

Van Halen @ US Airways Center

Curious why Van Halen — reunited with original singer David Lee Roth — canceled a whole bunch of dates on its triumphant 2012 reunion tour? The band offered fatigue as the reason, but Sammy Hagar, the other singer known for his time in Van Halen, offered a different explanation to…

DJ’s Tranzit’s CD Release Party @ Madison Event Center

Steven Chung (a.k.a. DJ Tranzit) tends not to do anything small. The 31-year-old electronica artist crafts heavy-duty house-music tracks filled with huge beats and titanic turntablism tricks, and he has remixed some of the biggest EDM superstars ever (including Congorock, Wolfgang Gartner, and Dada Life). So it’s apropos that Chung’s…

Robbie Fox’s Public House Club Candids

Oh, how we love the Irish pub. It’s a great place to go to boast about one’s Irish lineage (or the lack thereof) while spouting off innuendos like “would you like some more Irish in ya?” It’s also the perfect place to enjoy a pint of Guinness and feign interest…

Mastodon’s Bill Kelliher on Covering Feist and The Flaming Lips

Mastodon is old-school American heavy metal at its finest. The band is known for a distinctly sludgy sound, mixing stripped and distortion-heavy instrumentals, intricate grooves, and vocal harmonies that alternate between clean melodies and harsh screams. The band has five full-length albums under its belt to date, with its latest,…

Flier of the Week: Snail Quail

We can’t tell a lie: We’re always amused by Snail Quail’s humor and antics. (The band’s handwritten notes sent to the New Times office have served to endlessly amuse us.)It’s only natural that we’re looking forward to the band’s upcoming show on June 16 for the release of their new…

Top Five Reasons Electric Daisy Carnival Rules

Christopher VictorioSee more EDC Vegas coverage: EDC 2012: House Music Beef With DJ Sneak Plays Out in Steve Angello’s DJ Set EDC 2012: Coachella or Electric Daisy Carnival: Which One is Better? EDC 2012: Calvin Harris Plays CDs of Himself Singing Slideshow — EDC Day 1 Slideshow — EDC Day…

EDC 2012: The Underground Has Left The Building

Christopher VictorioEDC girls give PLUR.See more EDC Vegas coverage: EDC 2012: House Music Beef With DJ Sneak Plays Out in Steve Angello’s DJ Set EDC 2012: Coachella or Electric Daisy Carnival: Which One is Better? EDC 2012: Calvin Harris Plays CDs of Himself Singing Slideshow — EDC Day 1 Slideshow…

Lazer Sword @ Monarch Theatre

Some things in life are totally worth the wait. Like, for instance, a return visit to the Valley by electronica wizards Lazer Sword. It’s been almost two years since the team of L.A.’s Lando Kal (a.k.a. Antaeus Roy) and Berlin-based beathead Low Limit (better known as Bryant Rutledge) hypnotized locals…

One Direction @ Comerica Theatre

There just aren’t enough musical groups out there that allow grown women to cheer for barely legal eye candy. So thanks, One Direction, for filling that void. The British-Irish boy band has conducted a hysteria-inducing worldwide invasion that has won over fans of all ages, with Justin Bieber-esque good looks…

Destroyer @ Crescent Ballroom

It’s a whole two minutes before the airy New Age flutes break the waves of ambient, billowy synth sounds and plucked nylon-string acoustic guitar that opens “Suicide Demo for Kara Walker” from Canadian art-rock crew Destroyer’s 2011 release, Kaputt. Then the drums — as canned and processed as the synth…