Song: Social Distortion, “California (Hustle and Flow)”Context: Social D’s rescheduled shows at Marquee Theatre are next Thursday and Friday. The band will have a new album, Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, out the Tuesday after their Tempe show. So far this track has been warmly received — “[Singer Mike] Ness…
Dick Dale is the King of the Surf Guitar. Actually, the Boston kid turned OC beach bum pretty much invented the guitar sound associated with everyone from Brian Wilson to Wavves.So it makes sense that Phoenix’s Musical Instrument Museum is super stoked about his January 29 show, an acoustic/electric affair…
Now that the song has been out for a while, Soulja Boy is claiming he wrote Willow Smith’s “Whip My Hair,” according to Idolator.Yeah right, I’m calling bullshit. On Sunday, Soulja Boy (@SouljaBoy) tweeted in self-important all caps, “YES ITS TRUE I WROTE ‘WHIP MY HAIR’ FOR WILLOW SMITH. THATS…
I don’t think I’ve ever been this excited for such a fortuitous list of just announced shows. Joining Smith Westerns in the frenzy are Rocky Votolato, Quiet Riot and The B-52s.The rest of this week’s non-overly-biased-by-myself just announced shows:try{for(var lastpass_iter=0; lastpass_iter…
How does the band follow up their previous album, a revamped score to the 1934 documentary The Man From Aran? By getting back to grandiose guitars and dense lyrics, a formula that made the band’s 2003 debut The Decline of British Sea Power such an intriguingly different album. The band…
Colin Meloy and company are back to their usual folk-inspired roots, keeping their whimsical air about them even though The King Is Dead is the band’s third major-label release. Harmonicas and twangier-than-normal guitars join the fold this time around, while Meloy’s trademark vocals are at perhaps their best. But don’t let…
New album releases don’t really get going until next week, but there are still plenty of January/February releases generating a lot of buzz. Here now are ten songs from those releases — one being from an already-released album — complete with embedded Soundcloud versions for your listening pleasure…
It’s official: Dispatch will be touring this summer. Indeed, a reunion is in order.The band made the announcement after an ongoing countdown on their website that ended at midnight on New Years Eve.Sorry, Phoenix, but they’re not coming here. They will be at Red Rocks though…
Paramore have recruited two new band members, according to NME.Recovering quickly from guitarist and drummer Josh and Zac Farro’s recent split from the band, Paramore have announced that Justin York and Josh Freese will temporarily fill the Farros’ spots for the duration of the band’s South American tour.In addition, the…
I listened to more than 3,000 songs in 2010, so I was asked to come up with a list of the best of the year. But you’ve probably heard “Swim” by Surfer Blood and “Boyfriend” by Best Coast and “Helicopter” by Deerhunter and “Hustle and Cuss” by the Dead Weather,…
If you’ve heard that song “Love Like Woe” and wondered if Owl City had somehow transformed into a teeny bopper, that was actually Jordan Witzigreuter, aka The Ready Set.His solo project played Mesa’s the Nile Theater recently, and Witzigreuter sat down to give Up on the Sun readers the low-down…
Late night television was packed with some pretty memorable musical moments in 2010. With the craze over young Willow Smith’s first single “Whip My Hair” came an unforgettable cover by Jimmy Fallon featuring Bruce Springsteen on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon back in the middle of November. Fallon played the…
Name: Thomy Hoefer AKA: Prince $$ Current gigs: Right now I do random spots at The Vig, but that’s like if someone needs me to fill in. Otherwise, Fridays I do Sticky Fingers with William Fucking Reed and then Cheap Thrills with Jared Alan on Saturdays at Brick. Genres spun:…
If ever you wondered what Kanye West would look like as some sort of pseudo-Van Helsing, then look no further:…
In the final issue of the year we’ve got some great year-end recap stories. There was always someone or something shaking up the Phoenix music scene in 2010, including the Sound Strike, the unfortunate death of Carnegie of rap duo Silver Medallion, openings and closings, and more. On a lighter…
This week’s cover story features a root vegetable version of Lady Gaga. Have you seen it? Did you think it was frightening? Then get a load of the above video. A director who identifies himself as Darth Tater directed us to this parody music video presumably taken during the cover…
Despite what you may have concluded from yesterday’s list of the stupidest music stories of 2010, this year in music wasn’t all that bad.In fact, a funny blog of Photoshopped album covers was created, a concert for dogs was proposed, and musicians exchanged some choice words.As promised, here are the…
Name: Jason P. Woodbury Most played song on my iTunes: “Shangri-La” by M. Ward Best concert I saw in 2010: Elvis Costello at Scottsdale Civic Center Favorite single of 2010: “Round and Round” by Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti Favorite album of 1970: Velvet Underground’s Loaded 1. Deerhunter: Halcyon Digest —…
NEW TIMES’ OVERALL TOP 25 Based on rankings of the top 25 albums of 2010 as picked by 13 New Times staffers and contributors. 1. Kanye West — My Dark Twisted Beautiful Fantasy (10 ballots) 158 points 2. Deerhunter — Halcyon Digest (6 ballots) 122 points 3. Arcade Fire —…
You know that Person of the Year thing where Time magazine profiles a person who “for better or for worse has done the most to influence the events of the year”? If I were doing something similar for the Phoenix music scene, Zack de la Rocha would get the nod…
Naming Phoenix’s best records is always a tough task. As far as year-end lists go, it’s exponentially more difficult than naming the best albums overall. Why? Well, for a national list, I have no problem just going with what I enjoy. But when it comes to the local list, I…
Every year a few ridiculous stories get squeezed in between the serious ones. In honor of the year coming to a close, it’s time to poke some fun at those who entertained us by making the stupidest headlines in music news in 2010.In no particular order, here are some real…
