When news of Korn’s boycott of BP broke last week it sorta looked like a joke. I mean, at first, it was pretty much just marble-mouthed Jonathan David, his band and fellow 90s-refugees Backstreet Boys.Now, well, the lineup is not awesome or anything, but it’s getting better. One huge, relevant…
Everyone breathe a collective sigh of relief: Perez Hilton isn’t going anywhere. Or maybe you want to bash your head in a wall. Regardless, the pink-loving celebrity blogger got himself in quite the predicament this week after he posted a picture of the new Britney Spears, aka Miley Cyrus, on…
Artist: Eyes Set to KillTitle: Broken FramesRelease date: June 8Label: BreakSilenceYou learn something new every day, as they say. Today, I learned that the particularly comical genre of rock music in which one guy screams his brains out while another guy/gal croons some emotive, vaguely melodic line underneath/over the racket…
This week’s music feature is on the local hip-hop duo American Negro and their belief that good beats and socially conscious lyrics belong together, even though they claim a lot of people can only get a handle on one, and not both.Craig Outhier talks with Alex Ebert, frontman for Edward…
The CenPho.TV team is very popular with New Times, not only because of all the fun, positive stuff they say and do, but because they’re one of the few local blogger-type outlets that’ll let someone have it.So we have Dave Brookhouser’s list of local bands that don’t suck. Thus, it…
Song: Devo, “Freedom of Choice” (Josh Patrick Remix)Context: Jay Bennett’s review of the new Devo record has me excited to hear it. Devo – Freedom Of Choice (Josh Patrick Remix) by YAMAMA…
In rap music’s formative years of the 1980s and early ’90s, being a fan of hip-hop was often an all-or-nothing affair. Two decades ago, it wasn’t unusual for a rap fan to listen to gangsta rap pioneers N.W.A. or Ice-T one minute, then throw in a cassette by conscious rappers…
As the only 10-piece evangelical rock tribe in the history of the universe to publicly arouse the curiosity of Jay Z, Beyoncé Knowles, and the assorted occupants of the couple’s four-Escalade entourage, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes have some questions to answer. For starters: Who, or what, is Edward…
To the unfamiliar and/or lame, Iron Maiden may merely seem to be a nostalgia act, a once-great band holding on to the last scraps of fame, drugs, groupies and other rock ‘n’ roll clichés. Their audience consists solely of aging metalheads either unwilling or unable to move on with their…
Artist: DevoTitle: Something for EverybodyRelease date: June 15Label: Warner Bros.You may be asking yourself, “Why does Devo have a new record out?” Is it for the money? Doubtful, because how much money could they possibly make by releasing a major-label record in 2010? And, anyway, aren’t these guys still living…
This week, New Times ran a box 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. Did Insane Clown Posse really cancel a show at Marquee Theatre when their shipment of Faygo…
Song: Anarbor, “Drug Store Diet”Context: I did not realize that these Phoenix pop-rockers mentioned Sheriff Joe in this song until reading next week’s music feature. Pretty funny. Drugstore Diet by Anarbor…
Artist: The Gaslight AnthemTitle: American SlangRelease date: June 15Label: Side One DummyOkay, I’m suddenly having a hard time keeping straight my Gaslight Anthems and my Hold Steadies and my Against Me!’s. All three acts are critical darlings who have released albums in the past six weeks. All three seem to be…
Bad news, Phoenix: It will be 104 degrees today. If the heat is already starting to bother you, it’s time to start planning weekend trips to the high country. July 10 is looking like a good day to drive up to Flagstaff for the Hullabaloo music festival. The name Hullabaloo…
What the critics are saying:…
Since Slovenia is the United States’ next opponent in that sporting event we’re all pretending to care about because we’re bored the very exciting 2010 World Cup in beautiful South Africa, I paid special attention to a press release I received this morning about Magnifico, purportedly the country’s “Hottest Star.”He…
Song: Ice Cube, “Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It”Context: Hard to believe it, but Ice Cube is 41 today. Happy birthday, O’Shea. Ice Cube Gangsta rap made me do it…
Artist: Tom Petty and the HeartbreakersTitle: MojoRelease date: June 15Label: RepriseHow many of you have acts that you’d never call yourself a fan of, would never buy one of their records, or pay money to see in concert, yet recognize that the acts have been around for so long and…
If you dared to log on to Twitter this weekend, you undoubtedly saw the onslaught of not only massive amounts of Tweets on the start of the World Cup, but also on the Bonnaroo Festival that you were not at.There’s nothing like a constant influx of instantaneously updated reminders that…
Music editor Martin Cizmar and I are back with a new podcast. We’ve got new 10 songs and Martin’s musings on his favorite record from the grunge era. Here’s what’s in store from podcast #7. Crystal Castles: “Empathy” Sleigh Bells: “Infinity Guitars” The Cool Kids: “Strawberry Girls” Ariel Pink’s Haunted…
Usually things get snarkyish when Shawn takes over the reigns at Electric Mustache. You know, like the time he called the entire city of Scottsdale out.Not this time.Shawn loves this folkie Tempe two-piece called Sorry Charlie.I can’t say I’m in agreement about Sorry Charlie — I listened to the four…
Let’s clear off the desk, shall we?Stereo Total: Baby Ouh! — This band on the Kill Rock Stars label is a multi-lingual new-New Wave boy-girl band with songs sung in English, German, and French. It’s quirky with a capital “Q” and not nearly as charming as it thinks it is…
