With Arizona politics an ever-increasing mix of insanity and idiocy, it’s nice to know that some folks are still out there fighting the good fight. Alicia Porter, 24, is busy enough with her full-time job as outreach specialist at the Arizona Science Center and pursuing her master’s in museum studies…
Since the emergence of the term, “emo rap” has been a pejorative shunned by any artist to whom the tag was applied. But it’s a useful label nonetheless, aptly encompassing a particular brand of emotive, borderline-sensitive hip-hop that emerged full-force after Kanye West’s flawed but important 808s and Heartbreaks. Canadian…
Florida punk-rockers Against Me! have always made honesty a policy, discussing scene politics, social politics, and issues of justice and hypocrisy with an insight and power. But who saw this one coming: After a long battle with gender dysphoria, Tom Gabel of Against Me! has decided to start living his…
It still feels hard to believe. Friday’s news about the passing of MCA (Adam Yauch) of The Beastie Boys shocked nearly everyone, forcing us to confront mortality and look back on the group’s lasting legacy. “At first, I didn’t want to believe it, then came shock and, lastly, my heart…
It felt like kind of a big deal when indie soft-rocker Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) won a Grammy Award. But that’s nothing compared to his status as the world’s unlikeliest sex symbol. I mean, have you ever fantasized about Justin Vernon?Perhaps you’ve envisioned yourself in a romantic scenario with him,…
See also: Record Heat: The Hangover by Brad Dwyer If you’ve ever purchased a vinyl record in Arizona, you’ve got at least one sob story about leaving a record in your car and having the brutal, unrelenting sun turning the thing into black vinyl bowl. The thing is, Arizona is…
Like The Beatles, Johnny Cash is a risky musician to cover. Do you stay true to the Man In Black’s style, or do you put your own twist on his songs? The Tommy Ash Band made the bold choice to put their own spin on “Folsom Prison Blues.” The Tommy…
You one of those people who sits around bemoaning the fact that “rock ‘n’ roll has, like, totally lost its spark, man?” Well, allow us to introduce you to theatrical rockers Foxy Shazam. Entertaining barely scratches the surface; Eric Nally and his circus of musicians put on one hell of…
If you pay a visit to AZ/88 tonight, its urbane décor and trendy drinks won’t be the coolest thing going on inside the haute Scottsdale hangout. DJ Akshen will be working hard on the wheels of steel providing a fitting tribute to the late Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys…
Beastie Boys aren’t supposed to die, and they certainly aren’t supposed to succumb to cancer when they’re only 47. But that’s what happened today: MCA has passed away. The Beastie Boys seemed eternally youthful — from their punky beginnings to their prank-rap stardom, to their string of genuine and soulful…
Memorial services have been set for fallen Arizona musician Marco Holt. On Sunday, May 6, family and friends will gather to commemorate the passing of The Tremulants singer/guitarist, who lost a bout with cancer last month. The service will be held at the Sister Cities Garden at Kiwanis Park in…
Where we’re going, we don’t need roads; just a synthesizer, eyeliner, and a touch of androgyny. Welcome to Flashback Friday. The post-punk and new wave bands that emerged from the late ’70s began their emotional cutting long before it was actually cool to be a self-loathing sycophant; sprucing up the…
Daron Sutton Sutton is a broadcaster for the Arizona Diamondbacks. His 7th Annual Sutton’s Strokes for Little Folks will be held on Thursday, May 10, at Arizona Grand Resort. Proceeds benefit the Southwest Autism Research and Resource Center. Find more info at Suttongolf.org. When you put your key in the…
Hip-hop superstar Nicki Minaj is bringing her “Pink Friday” tour to Phoenix on Tuesday, August 7, at Comerica Theatre. The 14-date North American tour finds her skipping some pretty big cities (L.A. and Philadelphia get radio shows) on her first headlining tour, but returning to Phoenix after supporting Britney Spears…
Local rapper Jaron Ikner has a varied palate when it comes to musical tastes, but it’s a little-known fact that the man who calls himself Black One has roots in turntablism and EDM. Ikner released a new track Wednesday called “Turning Out the Lights.” The song which he says is…
We’ve been having fun examining various one-hit wonders and FM curiosities of the ’90s each week with our Throwback Thursday columns, but now it’s time to get serious and examine one of the biggest records on the ’90s: Dookie by Green Day. Dookie was a game-changer, both for young millennials…
See also: Colorstore Brings Film and Rock Together at FilmBar With a Little Help From Their Friends Colorstore’s “My Life As a Beaver” starts with a fuzzy guitar, just like “Revolution” by The Beatles, then erupts into a blown-speaker pop opus. Whatever you do, don’t snicker at the title, though…
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. Does Phoenix need a heavy metal strip club? How did the “Real Coachella” festival compare to…
“Hiatus” is a tricky word. More often than not, when a band tosses the term out there, it’s shorthand for “we’re breaking up, guys.” Dustin Kensrue of influential post-hardcore, post-metalcore, post-pop punk, post-pretty much everything O.C. rock band Thrice insists this isn’t the case when it comes to the band’s…
From the late ’90s through the early ’00s, modern-rock radio was ruled by Creed, with singles like “Torn,” “One” and “With Arms Wide Open.” Three straight albums, My Own Prison, Human Clay, and Weathered, sold millions upon millions of copies each. They were labeled a Christian band even as they…
Hanging out with the guys from ENOVA is a lot like being inside a kick drum: There’s excitement and tension; limits are stretched. It’s a constant shift of high and low energy frequencies, just like the insistent force on a drum’s tightly drawn skin. Let’s call it a challenge. The…
See also: Record Heat, “Meta Commentary” Like haiku, the classic comic strip is simple, direct, and brief. There’s not room for the kind of exposition or development found in full-size comics or graphic novels. It’s direct and to the point, a quick shot at a joke or a feeling. Like…
