Mike WestAs expected a great show last night. Ended on a totally unplugged version of Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks that came off really well.The National proved why they’re veterans in the music business last night at their show at Marquee Theatre. The band didn’t even need a microphone for their final…
Those with an obsessive wealth of useless, trivial knowledge (read: me) know that Rooney is lead by Robert Schwartzman, younger brother of former Phantom Planet drummer Jason and romantic interest in the 2001 coming-of-age Disney movie The Princess Diaries. Frankly, I’m surprised Rooney is still kicking around — I haven’t given the…
Local music duo Gomi is among the first artists to participate in America’s grunge revival. In fact, they’re loosening the genre’s boundaries by playing shows with alternative artists in addition to other grunge bands. They’re even experimenting with a post-punk indie rock sound on their next album. It remains to…
Song: Sufjan Stevens, “I Want To Be Well”Context: I’m finally getting around to hearing the new Sufjan Stevens record while editing a feature on him for next week’s paper. Am I the only one that noticed you could slip an of Montreal song in the middle of The Age Of…
Artist: The Corin Tucker BandTitle: 1,000 YearsRelease date: October 5Label: Kill Rock Stars Who else loves Sleater-Kinney and was disappointed to hear they’d gone on indefinite hiatus after the release of one of their best records, The Woods, in 2006? In my opinion, we’re one of the finer bands of…
Remember when Henry Rollins was the best punk rock apologist ever? His spoken word shows were funny, intimate, and inspiring. His stories and jokes were still new to you. That was a great era, indeed, but now he’s a sickly-looking old hypocrite with terrible tattoos.So now there’s a new guy…
Free show? Video with cats playing instruments? What’s not to love? The video for “Red Lights” is after the jump…
Milwaukee singer-songwriter Peter Mulvey has an odd gimmick: He rides his bike on tour. Like, across state lines and stuff. He’s apparently biked around to about 120 shows over the last three years and will be cycling into Cave Creek on Saturday, October 30 for a show at the new…
The Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne made a poster using his own blood as ink, according to Consequence of Sound.Wayne poured four vials of blood that he had drawn in early September into a cup, spilled his hemoglobin onto a screen print, and went to town on an Austin City…
Is the world ready for a grunge revival? At first blush, that might appear to be a ridiculous question. For Gen Xers, it seems it wasn’t even that long ago that Nirvana, Soundgarden, and Alice in Chains were the toast of MTV and modern rock radio. Then there are bands…
“Who says we can’t go to Africa?” Those immortal words are uttered by Nas’ character, Sincere, in the gripping (if narratively challenged) 1998 film Belly. They’re words of hope, a desire to return to something original, a home you’ve never seen. Belly is a modern camp classic unmatched in its…
Do you remember the rousing, anthemic song you heard sound-tracking key moments in Barack Obama’s presidential bid? This was long ago, in the halcyon days of late 2008, when the feeling was one of indefinable rush, belief that maybe the process could work and we could make history simply by…
Pop-folker Courtney Marie Andrews, a former New Times covergirl, isn’t releasing her new record, For One I Knew, until January but her label is already streaming it.Hear the album in its entirety below or you can go to to her bandcamp page.It’s obviously no great departure — CMA’s powerful, occasionally…
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’s up with the Dodge Theatre’s new name?Is Kanye West the busiest mofo in America?How were concerts…
Artist: The MoondoggiesTitle: TidelandsRelease date: October 12Label: Hardly ArtWell, well, well, whaddaya know? There is something called the “rock canon,” and it’s right here in one handy bound volume. There’s also this less-formal version, which is mostly the favorites of the white old guard. But we’ll get back to that…
How much you enjoy Tucson’s Mostly Bears depends on how high your tolerance for shirtless press photos, warbling falsetto vocals and anthemic indie-prog is. If the idea of Muse barn-storming with The Mars Volta sounds like something you could get down to, by all means, catch the band when…
Song: David’s Lyre, “Heartbeats”Context: This artist’s name, combined with the opening of this song, made me sincerely worry we had a male Joanna Newsom on our hands. Whatever your feelings on Ms. Newsom (mine? “Over-Rated! clap, clap, clapclapclap”) you can probably agree the last thing on earth we need is…
Eminem has clarified that there’s a borderline between what he raps about and what his opinions actually are, according to NME. Em told CBS in a recent 60 Minutes interview that he doesn’t have anything against gay people and that he’s on good terms with all groups of people.He went…
Brooklyn-livin’ Phoenix-leavin’ indie-pop band Miniature Tigers have done a second Daytrotter session.The Chicago-based Quad Cities-based taste-making website writes: “Miniature Tigers are one of the best examples America has of a young band working a something new, something old and something borrowed mentality with its songwriting. With each album they make…
Artist: Belle and SebastianTitle: Write About LoveRelease date: October 12Label: MatadorSometimes, after a hard day spent arguing with co-workers about which records people who write about music should be exposed to, you just want something breezy, something feel-good. Enter the new record by longtime indie darlings Belle and Sebastian. Write About…
Song: Dr. Dog, “Nobody Knows Who Are You Are”Context: This is a free song the band has up for free download here. Dr. Dog – Nobody Knows Who You Are by cizmar…
South African hip-hop group Die Antwoord has five albums up its sleeve that are ready to go, according to Consequence of Sound.The first album in their line of releases is $O$, which they named “because if we didn’t make it with this album we were gonna be f*cked,” Ninja said.The…
