David Tyda, What Are You Listening To?

David Tyda Tyda is the owner of EATERAZ.com, Arizona BBQ Festival and Arizona Taco Festival. He invites you to Flavors of the West Sunday, Feburary 17. For more information, go here. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now?…

The Wild Flag and Portlandia Star Had One Hell of a 2012

Carrie Brownstein had a pretty awesome 2012. Her band Wild Flag mounted a successful tour, her IFC comedy series Portlandia won a Peabody and got renewed for a third season, and her voice just appeared in an episode of The Simpsons. We caught up with the Seattle-born multi-hyphenate to chat…

Kronos Quartet, Coming to Phoenix MIM, Discusses Philip Glass

Editor’s note: In early 2012, our sister paper the Village Voice ran writer Steven Thrasher’s interview with Kronos Quartet violinist David Harrington about the influence of composer Philip Glass. In anticipation of the Quartet’s two-night stand at the Musical Instrument Museum, here is that conversation. In addition to several collaborations…

Lifers Phil Anselmo and Bruce Corbitt Rep the Metal Underground

In his blustery way, Phil Anselmo has embodied everything that is right and wrong with the heavy metal lifestyle. Fronting the legendary Pantera, he raised the bar with one timeless album after another. In Down, he combined soul and sludge. With Superjoint Ritual, he brought forth a mix of hardcore…

Warren G’s Show at Martini Ranch Has Been Postponed

Were you looking forward to seeing what West Coast G-funk pioneer Warren G on Thursday, February 10? Looking forward to seeing if he could bring that old hutzpah to classics like “Regulate” and the curiously titled “Party We Will Throw Now?” Well, we were — we crowned the guy king…

How to Reel in a Big Name Producer

Are you a musician? Is your group having issues? Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist, and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you stop…

Zero Zero Signs to 80/20 Records

Local record label 80/20 has been on a roll lately. The label signed Future Loves Past, PALMS, and Captain Squeegee last month, and announced the acquisition of local electro fuzz poppers Zero Zero yesterday. Zero Zero, like the other three bands, is set to release a new album this year…

MAN-CAT’s Pussy Cola Antics Grabbed Attention of Pepsi’s Lawyers

Lana Del Rey’s “Cola” put some interesting visuals in our heads, especially that line about the particular flavor of her labia – “My pussy tastes like Pepsi Cola,” she sings. As we’ve already gone into, local pranksters MAN-CAT took the vulgarity one step further, creating their own ad campaign, complete…

Matt Anderson, What Are You Listening To?

Matt Anderson The local comedian performs at Monkey Pants Bar and Grill at 8:30 pm, Thursday, January 31. Follow him on Twitter @MattAnd3rson. When you put your key in the ignition, what station would play right now? I am an FM guy because I’m the poorest of them all. So,…

River Jones Music Adds Five Bands to Roster; Here’s Our Breakdown

The New Year promises to bring excitement to River Jones Music, as the label just added five bands from around the nation to its roster. From Portland comes Bike Thief and Alameda, from Austin comes the Technicolor Hearts, from Seattle comes Sophia Duccini and from Tempe comes local music scene…

Download Frank Ocean’s Django Unchained Outtake

By now you’ve probably formed an opinion about Django Unchained, the controversial new Quentin Tarantino film starring Jamie Foxx, Christoph Waltz, Samuel L. Jackson, and Leonardo DiCaprio. But don’t let that stop you from diving into Karina Longworth’s excellent Phoenix New Times cover story this week, which features the writer/director…

The 10 Best Things I Heard in 2012

Gospel Claws, Put Your Sunshine Away (Common Wall Media/President Gator Records): The men of Gospel Claws had a rough time in 2011 and 2012. Songwriter Joel Marquard fought (and beat) testicular cancer, and the band tragically lost guitarist Mark Erickson. But there’s no mourning on their second LP, Put Your…

That Was 2012: Our Year-End Lists

As I type this, it’s still 2012, but by the time we hit “publish,” it’ll be 2013. So I’ll turn to the great poet Kanye West to sum it all up: “I’m livin’ in the future so the presence is my past. My presence is the present, kiss my ass.”…

Record Heat: NYE by Brad Dwyer

Once a week Up on the Sun features a new comic strip from punk rocker, cartoonist, and full-time dad Brad Dwyer. See the New Times print edition to check out the strip in glorious, inky newsprint each Thursday…

New Year’s Resolution: Take Some Musical Chances, Phoenix

Is it possible to have a New Years Resolution for a whole city? Not sure, but I have one. One for Phoenicians one and all, myself included. So here goes: Let’s take some musical risks, Phoenix. Let’s look for opportunities to try new things. No sticking to known quantities. We…

Top 5 Punk Albums of 2012

Happy New Year loyal punk fans. If you really tied one on and you’re nursing your hangover by chugging some Pedialyte, punk music may be the last thing you want to listen to. But 2012 was a great year for punk releases, which made this list difficult to narrow down…