Even with rumors rumbling that the Big Four (soon to be three?) will cease producing CDs at the end of 2012, Seattle-based label Light in the Attic has teamed with Rhino Handmade to help distribute ultra-deluxe compact discs. Turns out, certain people (collectors) still want some physical, musical products, provided…
After Thanksgiving comes and goes, it seems like just about everyone gets into the holiday spirit. Even the creepy, strange and misguided among us (which describes most of the lovely Up on the Sun staff, now that we think about it). We’re not sure what these artists were thinking when…
Like most of you, I was pretty surprised by that Radiohead concert announcement, but you know, this one might actually take the cake: Guns N’ Roses is coming to Comerica Theatre on Tuesday, December 27. G N’ R fans might be soured by the current lineup (Axl backed by DJ…
In “Take it Or Regret It,” one of my favorite pieces of music writing this year, songwriter and Seattle Weekly columnist John Roderick wrote: Music writers aren’t engaged in a conspiracy of bitterness and bad taste (at least not most of them), they’re just trying to make their deadlines. When…
The ’70s stunna is going to help you get your adult contemporary groove on when he comes to Phoenix.Neil Diamond, Social Distortion, Handsome Furs and other bands will be bringing some stellar performances to the Valley soon.The rest of this week’s shows after the jump…..
Jacki Orr The multi-media artist, humorist, performer and publisher of the ladies’ indie adult naughty mag PoolBoy Magazine hosts First Friday Night Live Friday, December 2 at The Firehouse at 11 p.m. Tickets are $7 at the door or $5 online here. $7 tix at the door or $5 online here…
Although no one in the music industry with a whiff of official about them is on record as saying so, it’s been widely reported throughout the blogosphere that the remaining three major record labels will cease manufacturing CDs before the end of 2012. For those who came of age during…
From Keith Richards’ blood transfusion to Ozzy Osbourne’s bat-biting, rumor and lore have been critical to rock music’s appeal, and no act maintains a more infamous collection of legends than Norwegian black metal pioneers Mayhem. To make a long and bloody story short (but still bloody): In 1991, Mayhem singer…
For a while, Eric Bachmann decided he was done with music. No matter that he’d made a name for himself as frontman of ’90s indie icons Archers of Loaf. No matter that he’d gotten acclaim for Crooked Fingers, his moody, Americana-influenced second act. No matter that he still had yet…
The cynical among us (ahem) might view Sting’s “Back to Bass” tour as a way to cash in on The Police experience without having to deal with the other two guys who make The Police so awesome. But we’re the critics? What did you, the loyal reader have to say…
The death of the CD may be neigh, but as Serene Dominic tells us, the format’s demise probably won’t impact punk trios like Rumspringer much. The band acts a lot like it doesn’t care much, but the poetic melodic punk rock on records like Empty Towers betrays otherwise. Of course,…
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. What are your 100 favorite Arizona songs? What bands names might you find on your Thanksgiving…
It’s a sad day when we have to comment on the passing of two Valley musicians, but over the weekend Phoenix lost two members of its music community. Tony Richey, who played in heavy bands like Nihil, Grum, and most recently sludge-rock favorites ZiRoh, was killed on Saturday, November 19…
Black Friday. One of those days when people like me hole up for one more day of food-coma bliss, fearing the heightened level of commercialism that turns consumers into zombified shopping maniacs, out for blood over $30 plasma televisions. But the upside to Black Friday is when the words Record…
It’s been a little over a year since Tempe-based pop-rockers The Maine released Black and White, the band’s major label debut. And while the paint still seems wet from that album’s promotional blitz (view “the Maine Wall” on Roosevelt downtown on Tumblr), the group is already gearing up for a…
“Beam me up, Scotty.” “There’s…somethingonthewing. Some…thing!” “Rock-it-man.” Get your best/worst Shatner impression ready, because Phoenix Comicon announced today that none other than Captain James T. Kirk himself, William Shatner, will be the esteemed guest at the convention on Saturday, May 26, 2012. Fellow nerd Benjamin Leatherman alerted me to the…
Opera might not be your thing, but Il Divo could very well change that. These guys have got some major pipes, and crossover ever-so-slightly into the pop music realm.Il Divo, Rammstein, Yip Deceiver and other artists plan to deliver some bangin’ shows in the coming months.The rest of this week’s…
Anyone who’s ever picked up a guitar and tried to play along with another human knows that that process if a whole lot of “miss” and the occasional “hit.” In this week’s exciting installment of Record Heat, Brad Dwyer examines the difference between rock ‘n’ roll fantasies and rock ‘n’…
David HilkerHilker is the CEO of Fervor Records. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? KWSS, of course. What’s the first album you bought? Miles Davis, Bitches Brew. What’s the first concert you saw? I’m dating myself here, but it…
Road-worn, exhausted, wiped out. There’s no way of getting around it: Devin Fleenor, frontman of Phoenix-bred glitch-rock band Mr. Meeble, looks like shit. To be fair, there shouldn’t be anything glamorous about someone who, less than 48 hours ago, hopped off a plane from Europe, where his band has been…
First: A Scene from a Movie Setting: a bowling alley. WALTER SOBCHAK, a volatile Vietnam vet finally reaches his breaking point. (Well, one of many, many breaking points.) He pulls a gun on a competitor who’s quibbling over sporting minutiae. Technically, Walter’s correct in his claims, but he’s overreacted. Later,…
Off all the fabled “new Dylans” of the early ’70s, none has been as transparent, prolific, and open as Loudon Wainwright III. 40 Odd Years, a box set released this year and produced by Knocked Up and Funny People auteur Judd Apatow, covers 1969 through 2010, from Wainwright’s first songs,…
