Catch Good With Grenades at Martini Ranch Tonight

Pop-rock AZ boys Good With Grenades will be playing an early show Friday at downtown Scottsdale’s Martini Ranch (7295 East Stetson Drive). The group will be playing with locals Hollywood Heartthrob, Idle Red and Lyra the Harp for this 21-and-older performance. The show starts at 8 p.m. Good With Grenades…

iTunes Update: Sales May be Down, but Revenue is up

On Monday I wrote about a report from Billboard on the initial effects of iTunes increased prices. That report showed that the increased prices hurt a song’s chart positions on iTunes top 100 singles charts compared to those songs that did not see a price increase. Well Billboard has a new…

Five Reasons to Support Record Store Day

In case you’ve somehow missed the propaganda popping up around town and the Internets, Record Store Day is Saturday, April 18. In honor of the third-annual national event, New Times talked to owners and employees of local indie music businesses and compiled five reasons why you should give two poops…

Coachella 2009: Sunday Picks

Music Editor/Ambassador of the Funk Martin Cizmar got things kicking with his Friday picks for this year’s edition of the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, so I figured I should divulge my picks for Sunday’s lineup. My sensibilities are different than most people’s. Last year’s Coachella lineup was my…

Coachella 2009: Friday Picks

So I know Coachella isn’t quite the planning nightmare SxSW is — given that there’s less than a tenth of the bands playing, and it’s at a single site — but I’ve learned my lesson and have planned things carefully. I thought I’d share it with you. I’ll be there…

The Arizona Republic is Laughably Out Of Touch With Local Music

I actually try to keep Republic-bashing to a minimum here on Up on the Sun, but, as you’d probably expect of one of the largest papers in the country to never win a Pulitzer, the Gannett-piloted drone just keeps embarrassing itself.The latest example? Their “Best Local Band” category in the…

No Doubt Tax Day Special: $15 Lawn Seats

Right now, if you were to amble over to Live Nation’s No Doubt page you’d see that lawn tickets for Gwen Stefani’s band’s show at Cricket Wireless Pavilion are $25. Not tomorrow. In a promotional effort tied to tax day they’ll be a more modest $15. For the band that…

Outside Lands Festival Dubs Beasties, Pearl Jam Worthy Headliners

As we all eagerly await the set times to be announced for this weekend’s Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, San Francisco’s Outside Lands Festival announced its initial lineup. The headliners for the second edition of the festival, set to take place August 28-30, are the Beastie Boys, Pearl Jam,…

iTunes Price Hikes Hurt Some Track Rankings

The big music news today is a report from Billboard on iTunes price changes and their negatively affecting chart positions for the top 100 songs.Last week, iTunes introduced variable pricing, with some newer and more popular singles priced at $1.29 while other songs remaining at 99 cents and some older…

Wilco Is Coming . . . to Tucson

First, the good news: Wilco is coming to Arizona for the first time in five years on June 18. Now, the band news: to Tucson. A two-hour drive really won’t affect the most die-hard fans (like me) of the Americana-turned-jam-turned-soft rock band, which tours extensively and once wrote a song about how…

Download New Shiny Toy Guns Track “Major Tom” For Free

Hot on the heels of their Tempe Music Festival performance, future-forward, electro-rock band Shiny Toy Guns have released a free download of “Major Tom” their cover of Peter Schilling’s song of the same name which is a continuation of the Major Tom character as told about in the David Bowie…

Austin’s The Meat Puppets Have New Album, Tour

Austin, Texas based-band The Meat Puppets (How much do you old Mill types hate seeing that? But that’s how they bill themselves!) have a new album, Sewn Together, coming out next month and will tour extensively in support of it, playing everywhere in the continental United States. Well, everywhere except…

Benefit for Lit Drummer Saturday at Club Red

I know a lot of people are planning to go out to The Loveblisters’ last show Saturday night, but there’s another cool show that night, this one for a good cause. Allen Shellenberger, drummer of the California band Lit, was diagnosed with brain cancer a year ago and the age…

For Folk-Rock Trio Sisterbrother, Music Is a Family Affair

With a name like Sisterbrother, it’s probably not surprising that family has played a big role in the Gilbert-based band’s musical development. The three members of Sisterbrother aren’t actually siblings, but their respective families have been instrumental in the band’s early success. Drummer Chris Albers’ father plays both guitar and…

Conor Oberst’s Chemistry Set

Conor Oberst is a man known to take on any and all musical ventures, starting when the 13-year-old Omaha singer-songwriter self-released an album, Water, recorded on his father’s four-track. Most know Oberst as lead man in Bright Eyes, his most popular project, which cemented its spot in the indie consciousness…

Lazarus A.D. is Bringing Thrash Back from the Dead

For a genre that never received much attention, even during its heyday, thrash metal is enjoying one of music history’s more unlikely renaissances. In the past few years, a slew of retro-thrash bands has emerged from the underground. With names like Municipal Waste, Toxic Holocaust, and Merciless Death, these bands…