Former Rage Against The Machine guitarist Tome Morello has been added to the Tempe Music Festival lineup. He joins 3 Doors Down, The All American Rejects, Mutemath and Shiny Toy Guns on Saturday, April 4. Kid Rock, Cowboy Mouth, Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers and The Outlaws hold down the…
Before today I really had nothing against Bonnie “Prince” Billy. Sure, his insistence on saying he plays “Appalachian post-punk solipsist” when he’s clearly a fairly run-of-the-mill folkie is a little pompous, and I’ve always been a little skeptical of failed actors trying their hand at music, but William Oldham’s always…
When The Format suddenly broke up last year, it left a lot of people in Phoenix surprised, because they’d been one of the most influential bands to come out of this town in years.Now Nate Ruess from The Format has a new band simply called Fun. Well this video of…
The two things that get us talking here on Up on the Sun are music and sex, and if you can combine the two then it is something that is going to get written about on this blog. Well, NME is reporting a new survey in the U.K. of young people…
My good friend Albert Ching at our sister paper in Orange County penned a real gem this week: “Seven Unsexy Songs About Sex.” From Bruce Springsteen talking about anal sex with a hooker to the Liz Phair song that’s more lewd than “Flower” these songs are guaranteed to kill any…
Tempe Music Festival has bolstered their lineup with three acts that give the beachfront festival — headlined by Kid Rock and Three Doors Down — some indie cred. The Outlaws, Mutemath and Shiny Toy Guns pad a lineup that also includes Cowboy Mouth, Roger Clyne and The Peacemakers and The…
One of the things I enjoy most about reading the other music, arts and culture blogs in the Village Voice chain is seeing how they reflect their respective scenes. Take, for example, today’s porn-related posts here in Phoenix and at our sister paper in San Francisco.Last night, Niki D’Andrea covered a…
After having a humongous 2008 — and sure to be large 2009 — Santogold has chosen to change her name to “Santigold.” This comes as very little surprise; the original “Santo Gold” has been all over her ass, harassing her and threatening legal action if the singer didn’t change her name…
Most-often-heard gripe in the digital age? That there’s no regionalism in music anymore, that once upon a time, you heard a record and could tell in a second if it was from Philly or Detroit or New Orleans. Often, a record label could even reproduce a map indicating the exact…
In his bedroom, Mike Roberts has a mural comprising old gig fliers, posters, and ads in which someone has egregiously misspelled Smoky Mountain Skullbusters’ name incorrectly. “This was the flier to our first show, December 9, 2001,” he says. “And Smoky is spelled wrong. And look at this — ‘Rocky…
Joshua Radin never intended to become a musician, at least not outside of the confines of his personal life where he always quested for new ways to artistically express himself. Painting and screenwriting had largely occupied him — until 2004, when friend and singer-songwriter Cary Brothers prodded him into recording…
From The Daily Swarm:Independent artists and labels had a banner year at the 2009 Grammy Awards winning 56 of the 110 awards given or just over 50% of the total prizes.Most of this is simply major artists releasing music independently of the big four major labels. But Album of the…
Pre-sale tickets for Jack’s Mannequin’s Farther From Earth tour, slated to hit Tempe’s Marquee Theatre on Saturday, May 23, are available on the band’s Web site.The pop-rock band, which started out as a side project of Something Corporate frontman Andrew McMahon and seemed to turn into the singer/pianist’s main love,…
Ah, new music Tuesday. It’s always exciting to note what new albums come out on any given Tuesday, especially so early into the new year. While today may be a particularly slow day in the American market, one French artist has released some of 2009’s finest work to date. The…
The Colbert ReportMon – Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cTV on the Radio – Dancing ChooseColbert Report Full EpisodesFunny Political NewsChristian Bale ParodyJoke of the DayTV on the Radio appeared on The Colbert Report on Monday night to perform their single “Dancing Choose,” off their latest album, the critically acclaimed Dear Science. This was a…
I got an e-mail from our main man Murph over at So Much Silence today expressing some concern The Flaming Lips were not going to be at McDowell Mountain Music Festival after all, despite what I reported Sunday. Don’t worry folks, while Murph is right that they aren’t listed on…
Can’t say we didn’t see this coming. E! Online is reporting that Chris Brown has canceled his participation in a few of this weekend’s festivities surrounding the NBA All-Star Game. The 19-year-old R&B artist was arrested early Sunday morning in connection with an alleged assault of his main squeeze, pop…
Turns out I should go to my neighborhood hotel bars more often! Yes, that’s Pearl Jam singer Eddie Vedder doing U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” at the Best Western Dobson Ranch Inn in Mesa. Vedder was in town for the Chicago Cubs 2009 Fantasy Camp, according to Stereogum.Two…
On Friday, Tempe Music Festival announced a pretty uninspired lineup (Kid Rock, Three Doors Down) for April 3 and 4 at Tempe Beach Park. It was better than I was expecting (ahem, nothing) but it certainly didn’t pack the punch of last year’s event, headlined by Fergie and My Chemical…
It’s not often a movie with Elijah Wood, Juliette Lewis, George Clinton, Wayne Coyne and a host of other big names premieres in Phoenix, so it probably wasn’t surprising that The Heart is a Drum Machine’s opening at Phoenix Art Museum drew a huge crowd last night. Free wine from…
With so many big announcements this week, including (finally!) the bill for Tempe Music festival, Franz Ferdinand, E-40 and Il Divo we didn’t have time to give you the scoop on this one in a special post, but you’ll be happy to learn that Kings of Leon are coming to…
An interesting thing is happening. It seems these days everyone is lip-synching. It used to be the case that is was the random pop hack or teen puppet who was exposed in the act. But now it seems that some of the best and talented artists in entertainment are guilty. Take Yo-Yo…
