The Avengers may still be kicking plenty of ass at the box office, but don’t get it twisted — superheroes are not easy to come by. As luck would have it, though, the closest thing to a hero Phoenix has will be making an appearance at this weekend’s Comicon. He…
See also: Three Nerd Concerts to Celebrate Phoenix Comicon A lot of the time, I open Record Heat with some flimsy parallel between the world of comics and music — worlds that have been well connected forever, from Crumb’s brilliantly scuzzy album covers to Adrian Tomine’s classic Weezer poster to…
See also: Up on the Sun’s interview with Chick CoreaOne of America’s jazz great and Grammy Award-winner, Chick Corea, is coming to town. The jazz legend has played alongside people like Miles Davis, but his own catalog is rife with creative explorations. With a little help from Gary Burton, the…
We’re not going to come out and say that the Sound Strike — the commercial boycott of Arizona by a group of bands, musicians, and artists launched in May, 2010 — is over, but we’re not not saying that the Sound Strike is over. Chicago punk band Rise Against, one…
See also: Isaiah Toothtaker Discusses the Hood Internet-Produced Tooth Wavy It’s been tough for us to stop spinning Toothy Wavy, the collaboration among Tucson-based Isaiah Toothtaker, Max B, and The Hood Internet, so it only makes sense that we’d wind up spending a some time with The Hood Internet’s official…
Where we’re going we don’t need roads; just a synthesizer, eyeliner, and a touch of androgyny. Welcome to Flashback Friday. When I got the green light to revisit some of my favorite ’80s music for this series, it kind of felt like I was going to start making a really…
Seattle guitarist Bill Horist has been making records since the early ’90s, and he’s racked up the kind of avant-garde credentials any would-be guitar mangler would kill for. He’s worked with John Zorn, Bill Frisell, Reggie Watts, Kinski, Six Organs of Admittance, Secret Chiefs 3, Master Musicans of Bukkake (with…
Carrie Benton Benton is an improviser with The Torch Theatre and invites you to the Skewed News Hour, Friday nights at 7 p.m. at The Torch Theatre. She also performs with Chaos Comedy at Dearing Acting Studio at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Saturday’s. When you put your key…
It’s been a week of sad news: The auto world lost Carroll Shelby, Vidal Sassoon’s passing shook up the fashion realm, and Mary Kennedy is once again stirring up rumors of the Kennedy curse. Today, the world of music has lost another great voice. Donna Summer, the Queen of Disco…
We’ve taken a look at the bands that dominated the ’90s with chart topping singles and one hit wonders, but this week, we’re doing something different. The term “orgcore” may have you scratching your head more than a cultural institution like Green Day, but it’s always been my favorite subgenre…
You don’t need us to remind you that temperatures are rising fast in the Valley, but lucky for us, local musicians like Arizona rapper Savant, have responded with some hotness that is actually music to our ears. (Soak up the cheese, people, I’m here all week.) In all seriousness, though,…
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. Ever wonder what’s acceptable in a mosh pit? We discuss. How did Chilean MC Ana Tijoux…
In 2008, NBC tried to reboot the legendary ’80s program Knight Rider, casting Justin Bruening as the son of David Hasselhoff’s Michael Knight, and casting Val Kilmer as the voice of KITT, a hyper-intelligent car. Ty Patterson — the Phoenix-based MC who raps as Trap — was not onboard with…
“Legendary” might be a diluted description for a band these days, but there’s no other way to label Mexican rockers El Tri and their frontman Alex Lora. The dude is — how do we put this? — kind of a big deal. The names may not ring immediate bells, but…
Jason Pierce doesn’t really remember where he was while piecing together his band’s newest psychedelic wonder, Sweet Heart Sweet Light. The Spiritualized leader knows the album took three years in three different cities to complete; it’s just that the medication he was ingesting for liver disease left him in an…
See also: KUKQ Returns to Phoenix (Via the Internet) See also: KUKQ Phoenix Launches Online; We Speak With Nancy Stevens, Craven Moorehead, and Jonathan L KUKQ Phoenix — the Internet radio station bearing the classic call letters of a bygone Phoenix institution — launched in March, but as station director…
See also: A Hot Ghetto Mess of Hip-Hop, Art, and B-Boys – The 10-Year Journey of The Blunt Club This is proving to be a great time for the Valley’s hip-hop circuit. Mouse Powell’s music video for his Arizona anthem “Holding Home” dropped only a week ago, and already the…
Before Ryan Adams was winning (and breaking) hearts with albums like Heartbreaker and last year’s strong Ashes & Fire, he was a member of the seminal alt-country act Whiskeytown. Whiskeytown had a good six-year run and helped define the genre’s sound and influenced a number of bands. “A lot of…
See also: Six Against Me! Songs We Can’t Wait to Hear Tom Gabel Sing as a Woman In an election year, it’s normal for the national conversation to get heated. “War on Women,” “War on Marriage,” “War on Healthcare” — you get the idea. Last week, Tom Gabel of Against…
In the early 2000s, Sean Paul’s dutty rock dominated the airwaves and party playlists all over the world. Sean Paul is making somewhat of a comeback with a new album that nobody knew was released this year. We’ll see if the tracks on Tomahawk Technique are good enough to still…
Turns out local concert promoter Jeremiah Gratza has more on his plate than just putting on shows, passing out flyers, helping run Crescent Ballroom, and hanging out at hip dance nights. The 29-year-old, who’s a promoter with Stateside Presents, occasionally has performed as DJ President Gator over the past four…
Mr. ORNGMr. ORNG is the official Phoenix Suns Fan Ambassador — and an avid Suns fan. When you put your key in the ignition and turn on the radio, what station would play right now? Ha-ha — no key, keyless start. But to your point, 98.3 FM or 101.1 FM The…
