My favorite people watching moment at Phoenix Comicon had to be spotting a crew of teens dressed as Hogwarts students smoking outside of the Convention Center. I liked to imagine I had found the “bad kids” of the school, looking bad-ass in their school uniforms, puffing away with magical indifference.The…
It’s been quite a year for local indie band The Whisperlights. Their debut EP, Wake up Dead , has been out for about a year now. “Death” was ranked number one on Michael Lopez’s Top Ten Best You Asked For It Songs. Former music editor Martin Cizmar included the album…
Local hard melodic rock band Digital Summer, whom we profiled in 2008, continues making strides outside Arizona.After having a local hit with their song “Just Run” (which made the rotation at 98 KUPD for seven weeks) and touring with national acts like Sevendust and Drowning Pool, Digital Summer will be…
For £7.50 ($12.27), fans can download ten out of a possible twenty tracks, create their own album art and then sell the album — earning £1 every time their particular version is downloaded. Every one of the twenty Tony Visconti-produced tracks can be listened to before being chosen.Drummer Rick Wilson…
Devin BerkoThe director is the co-founder of Ber Co. Productions, specializing in music videos, commercials, and creative content. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? 103.9-FM. What’s the last song played on your music player? “Jack Sparrow” by…
, according to NME.Australian scientists have concluded that the behavior of great whites was affected in different ways when different kinds of music was played in the water around them.When a diver played the music of AC/DC, the sharks’ behavior became “more investigative, more inquisitive, and a lot less aggressive,” said…
It was just a few weeks ago that we profiled Danny Zelisko Presents, the new venture by the longtime Valley concert promoter and radio DJ. DZP has announced a whole slew of new shows, all scheduled to take place at new downtown venue The Foundry on First boasting a 1,500-capacity…
Veteran Mesa punk band Authority Zero recently released a new video for the track “Big Bad World” from their 2010 album, Stories of Survival. The reggae-tinged song and accompanying video were inspired by the ongoing economic crisis. In a recent blog post on Buzznet.com, lead vocalist Jason DeVore described the…
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.Why is local band Born Loser and the Hangers On launching an LGBT awareness campaign?Were Tegan and Sara…
Bjork has finally started dishing out the details of her upcoming iPad-inspired album, Biophilia, according to Paste.The Icelandic singer made her initial announcement about the album back in March but didn’t say much about it at the time. Now she has revealed that the album was partially made on an iPad.The…
Front Line Assembly founder Bill Leeb cut his musical chops in one of the most influential industrial bands of all time, Skinny Puppy. While Skinny Puppy’s known for its dark, gloomy tunes, Front Line Assembly’s taken a flashier (but still ambient) tack. If Leeb’s old band was Dracula, Front Line…
Winter’s Bone, the 2010 film adapted from Daniel Woodrell’s 2006 book of the same name, tells the story of Ree Dolly, who must navigate the treacherous, meth-ruined landscape of the Ozark Mountains in Missouri, in search of her erstwhile father, Jessup. The bank is closing in on the home she…
“Gather around, ugly children, and uncle Mushroomhead will tell you a story.” But these are no ordinary stories. The tales told on Cleveland industrial/metal outfit Mushroomhead’s latest album, Beautiful Stories for Ugly Children, are the stuff of nightmares. The band has stated the album title came from an ’80s comic…
The first song on the EP, “Girl Not Gonna Leave,” is quite possibly the best song — it’s also a song that the band has been working on and playing at their live shows for quite some time. Singer/guitarist James Mulhern recently took some time to share some tidbits on…
, according to Yahoo News.The hacker group, which calls itself Lulzsec and the Lulz Boat, posted a fake story on the PBS NewsHous page of the company’s website saying that everyone’s main man of the ’90s, Tupac, is alive and well in New Zealand. They wrote and posted the article…
What does a drive from Phoenix to the Big Bend area of Texas sound like? Well, according to psych-rock band Pontiak (who are from some place called Holtzclaw, Virginia), a road trip through the landscapes of the southwest sound like a stripped-down, four-part country-blues jam. Pontiak’s upcoming EP, Comecrudos (scheduled…
This month marks the two-year anniversary of Michael Jackson’s death. Though the King of Pop passed away June 25, 2009 at the age of 50, he left behind an incomparable body of work, one that stands among the greatest contributions to entertainment of the past century. It’s okay if you’re…
Bolstered by lead single “Hangin’ On To Black Metal,” Circuital finds Jim James and company yet again refining their Americana rock roots. The titular track “Circuital” is a delightful give and take between an all-out rock offering and its meandering, folk-twinged prelude. “The Day Is Coming” harkens back to MMJ’s…
When the people behind the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival — Paul Tollett and Goldenvoice — announced they had a big announcement set for 10 a.m. today, my curiosity was piqued. I have been attending the festival for six years now, and no two years were under as much scrutiny in…
Good news for fans who are still miffed at Bob Dylan for canceling his appearance here in 2009: he’s scheduled to play Comerica Theatre on July 18, and the stage is indoors and air-conditioned. Back in 2009, Mr. Dylan and co. canceled a stop at Camelback Park in Glendale due…
, according to the Fab Life.Winehouse is still up to her old tricks. After her father confronted her about drinking too much, she agreed to check herself back into rehab Wednesday night to get clean before her upcoming European tour, which starts in June. She plans to be out of…
Legendary spoken word, soul, jazz and hip-hop pioneer Gil Scott-Heron has passed away at 62, according to a report by NPR Music.As of yet, no cause of death has been released. Scott-Heron is most widely known for his song “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.” After spending time in jail…
