So how do you follow the worst album of your often celebrated career? Smack everyone in the fucking mouth with your bona fide best album. As much as it pains me to admit it — Kanye’s latest album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, is a solid effort that far exceeds…
Local indie rock outfit Gospel Claws’ first album is causing quite a stir.It’s not hard to see why the band has caught the ear of everyone up to and including National Public Radio’s All Songs Considered with songs like their first single, “Summer Nights Lakeside,” ostensibly about a beach party/assisted…
While music festival season is pretty much wrapped up for the year up, there’s still plenty to get excited about since next year’s festivals are being planned.Announcements have been rolling out one after another this past week. Big news has broken about dates, headliners and lineups for the biggest shows…
Song: Kanye West, “Power” (Remix featuring Jay-Z)Context: My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy was released today. Another strong effort from ‘Ye. Certainly a lot better than that shitty new Dre single, “Kush.” KANYE by ahasver1…
Stop me if you think that you’ve heard this one before: Flogging Molly is playing a St. Patrick’s Day concert at Tempe Beach Park.In what has become a tradition neither delayed nor waylaid, the Los Angeles Celtic punkers have scheduled yet another show to celebrate a day when drinking one…
Valley fans of Phoenix band This Century were let in on some disappointing news last night at their show at the Nile Theater in Mesa–due to “vocal issues” with singer Joel Kanitz, the band had to cancel their set. He explained via Twitter: “We are having to cancel again tonight…
It was a busy weekend for indie king Sufjan Stevens, according to Pitchfork.He released a music video for his song “Too Much” today. The video kicks off with a colorful visual mess that looks like it came straight out of an M.I.A. video. The rest of it is a series…
In barely more than two years, Albuquerque “crunkcore” pioneers BrokeNCYDE have become one of the most hated bands in the world.Look up one of their videos on YouTube, and you’re guaranteed to find a raging debate in the comments section between BrokeNCYDE fans and people who think it’s the worst…
Song: Dr. Dre ft Akon & Snoop Dogg, “Kush”Context: Dre’s new single really is a pile of shit. I can’t believe we waited a decade to hear single that has Akon’s overplayed ass on it. If all of Detox is this bad the Doctor needs to keep it unreleased. Dre…
We at Up on the Sun are looking forward to tonight’s performance by Usher at Jobing.com Arena. It’ll be nice to see his little song and dance while we wait for the headliner. What’s that? You say Usher is the headliner? Come on now. We all know that the only…
There’s something of an unwritten law here in the Valley that dictates the following: Anything remotely cool will eventually either die or start to suck. Don’t believe me? Try tuning into KUKQ on your car radio while heading over to the Mason Jar or Jugheads to catch a show, followed…
As Tempe self-described desert reggae rock n’ roll group The VeraGroove gears up for their Travlin’ Man EP release show Saturday, December 4 at Marquee Theatre, the guys graciously decided to share an exclusive track from the EP with Up on the Sun readers before anyone can get their hands…
Lollapalooza has expanded to Chile, according to Billboard.Perry Farrell’s music festival will be going down at O’Higgins Park in Santiago, Chile for the first time on April 2 and 3, 2011. This will be the first time that Lollapalooza has ever gone international. Presumably Chile got the honor in part…
The times, they are a’changing, and traditional wedding songs just don’t cut it for everyone anymore. That’s why we’ve suggested some more modern alternatives to keep your wedding rocking, as well as some selections to stay away from that mean you probably shouldn’t be getting married if you have to…
ddie Lebario (a.k.a. DJ Manchester) is old school, just like his favorite musical genre.As you’ll read in this week’s version of DJ Dossier, the cat has been spinning up the hits inside local clubs since the mid ’90s. And more often than not, said hits have typically been from the…
Song: Girl Talk, “All Day”Context: So you’re probably thinking it’s cheating to make Today’s Soundtrack the entire new Girl Talk album. Well, not only has been it impossible to download this damn thing from the official site since it came out, it’s actually supposed to be just one track. So…
Mos Def, the Hollywood actor who you may remember was once a respected rapper, has joined Zack de la Rocha’s Sound Strike.Yes, #69 on the official list of Stuff White People Like, will not be bringing his enlightened rhymes to Arizona because of SB 1070, a stupid anti-immigrant law which…
Want to get out of town for New Year’s Eve, but not so far out of town that you’re in California or Vegas?Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers are planning a pretty cool option: a show at Flagstaff’s historic Orpheum Theatre. Clyne’s shows are always a big drunken party, and sometimes…
Kings of Leon has stooped to a new low by bringing a potentially offensive yet interesting idea to the table, according to NME.The band posted an ad in an effort to recruit “characters with scars, pockmarked skin, physical abnormalities or deformities” for their next music video.In the ad, Kings of…
Portland-based indie band The Thermals gave the world a piece of their mind yesterday on Twitter before playing the Rhythm Room in Phoenix, going on a rant against the Arizona Sound Strike boycott and any bands who don’t play Arizona because of SB-1070.Among the Tweets that helped add fuel to…
We all agree that Nat King Cole’s 1951 version of “Unforgettable” is a wonderful piece of music. Timeless. Velvety. A real soul-warming hymn of devotion. Can we also agree that the song is more overused than Michelle Duggar’s uterus? Kenny Rogers recently covered it. So did Jackie Chan. And let’s…
It helps to have friends in high places. Just ask This Century, a Phoenix pop-rock band that, thanks to its pals in another local pop-rock group, The Maine, recently scored a record deal with a Warner Bros. subsidiary. The Maine, which released its 2010 album, Black & White, on Sire…
