Vernon Wray: Wasted (1972)

Welcome to Obscuro, a 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, probe and…

Alice Cooper Got To Meet Lady Gaga

Alice Cooper got what we imagine to be the thrill of his life over the weekend when he got to meet the one and only Lady Gaga.The news broke yesterday. Gaga, of course, was in Phoenix over the weekend for a concert at US Airways (review + video here).Someone let the…

Filardo, “I Can Love You More”

​Song: Filardo, “I Can Love You More”Context: Tom Filardo, who used to be in Asleep in the Sea and now lives in Portland, has a cool new project that kinda reminds me of Jens Lekman. Tom is also the brother of Christian Filardo, the kid behind that super weird Dunkwave…

Death Cab For Cutie to Stream New Music Video as They Shoot It

, according to Pitchfork.Death Cab has chosen to make a live stream available to allow their fans to watch the music video creation process as the video is actually being shot. Schwing!The band will be streaming on www.youareatourist.com on Tuesday, April 5 at 7p.m. EST. Bing and Facebook will be posting some…

Peter Bjorn and John: Gimme Some

That last-ditch effort would be Gimme Some, the sixth album from Swedish indie rockers Peter Bjorn and John. Much like The Strokes the week before them, PB&J have to live up to their most prized album — 2006’s Writer’s Block. On that particular album, the trio joined forces with the Shout…

Mercury Records Will No Longer Produce Physical Singles

, according to Telegraph.Now that the digital era has taken over, vinyl has become a niche market, which generally makes sales insignificant enough that they aren’t generating a profit for Mercury anymore. Furthermore, handling excess stock causes Mercury Records some monetary loss in the market for music singles as well.Physical…

Odd Future, “Sandwitches”

Song: Odd Future, “Sandwitches”Context: Just reading over a feature about Odd Future for this Thursday’s paper — you’re gonna love reading about the group’s Arizona connection. Odd Future – “Sandwitches” by brooklynvegan…

The Baseball Project, “All Future And No Past”

Song: The Baseball Project, “All Future And No Past”Context: The Baseball Project, an indie rock band featuring members of R.E.M. and Golden Smog which writes songs about baseball, will be at Martini Ranch tonight. It’s a super-cool project, having featured contributions from guys like Death Cab For Cutie/Postal Service singer…

From Print: Blogs Teased in our 3/24 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… When you want to wage jukebox warfare, what are the best songs to take into battle?…

B.o.B. Burns Odd Future on ‘No Future’

, according to Billboard.B.o.B. has just dropped his hot new diss track “No Future,” in which he’s quite adamant about standing his ground as an established rapper.”Body blow, upper cut, I do more than bruise ya / Keep f*ckin’ with me, you ain’t gon’ have no future,” B.o.B. sings about…

Tony Morales, What Are You Listening To?

​Tony Morales Morales is the pit master at Big Earl’s BBQ and owner of Desert Smoke BBQ. Cheer him on at the Arizona Barbecue Festival this Saturday, March 26 at the Scottsdale Waterfront. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play…

Meat Puppets, “Up On The Sun”

Song: Meat Puppets, “Up On The Sun” Context: Have you ever heard the song this blog takes its name from? If not, here you go — it’s mentioned in this week’s music feature so this seems as good a time as any to remind everyone why Up On The Sun is…

Five Japanese Bands For Your Heavy Rotation

U.S. fans of Japanese Music face one, ever-present obstacle in their quests to discover new J bands: They’re not here. Up on the Sun constantly monitors upcoming concerts from Japanese bands. In good years, that means three or four shows; not exactly a great variety of acts.No, the best bet…

Tempe Danced the Night Away With Girl Talk’s Endless Remixes

You’ve never danced your ass off harder than you thought you ever could until you’ve been to a Girl Talk concert.Everyone at the Marquee Theatre was going nuts throughout Greg Gillis’ entire set. Gillis kept up with the crowd’s energy and nearly exceeded it as he kept the remixes coming.Read…