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…
Where we’re going, we don’t need roads; just a synthesizer, eyeliner, and a touch of androgyny. Welcome to Flashback Friday. Los Angeles-based rockers Ozomatli reminded me of a cold hard fact at last month’s McDowell Mountain Music Festival; if you’re a Latino, particularly a Chicano like myself, you have an…
I’m glad I grew up in the ’90s. I had strong, independent, beautiful women as musical role models, and they ruled the airwaves. The Spice Girls preached girl power, Lilith Fair paraded feminine gusto across the country, and No Doubt , fronted by Gwen Stefani, assured us that being treated…
Mother’s Day is all about celebrating moms, motherhood, and maternal bonds (to quote Wikipedia), but why do we stop there? What about celebrating all women? That’s what the National Day Labor Organizing Network and human rights movement Puente Arizona is planning to do on Sunday, May 13, with the event…
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 is Devo doing with instrument-maker Corey Busboom’s creations in their new video? Why are we…
How to measure loyalty, commitment, devotion? In the case of David Jensen, of Sunset Alliance Records and guiding light behind Before Braille, Art for Starters, and now Loyal Wife, his dedication to music can be physically measured in the form of actual compact disc inventory, shrink-wrapped and stacked up, in…
With Arizona politics an ever-increasing mix of insanity and idiocy, it’s nice to know that some folks are still out there fighting the good fight. Alicia Porter, 24, is busy enough with her full-time job as outreach specialist at the Arizona Science Center and pursuing her master’s in museum studies…
Since the emergence of the term, “emo rap” has been a pejorative shunned by any artist to whom the tag was applied. But it’s a useful label nonetheless, aptly encompassing a particular brand of emotive, borderline-sensitive hip-hop that emerged full-force after Kanye West’s flawed but important 808s and Heartbreaks. Canadian…
Florida punk-rockers Against Me! have always made honesty a policy, discussing scene politics, social politics, and issues of justice and hypocrisy with an insight and power. But who saw this one coming: After a long battle with gender dysphoria, Tom Gabel of Against Me! has decided to start living his…
It still feels hard to believe. Friday’s news about the passing of MCA (Adam Yauch) of The Beastie Boys shocked nearly everyone, forcing us to confront mortality and look back on the group’s lasting legacy. “At first, I didn’t want to believe it, then came shock and, lastly, my heart…
It felt like kind of a big deal when indie soft-rocker Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) won a Grammy Award. But that’s nothing compared to his status as the world’s unlikeliest sex symbol. I mean, have you ever fantasized about Justin Vernon?Perhaps you’ve envisioned yourself in a romantic scenario with him,…
See also: Record Heat: The Hangover by Brad Dwyer If you’ve ever purchased a vinyl record in Arizona, you’ve got at least one sob story about leaving a record in your car and having the brutal, unrelenting sun turning the thing into black vinyl bowl. The thing is, Arizona is…
Like The Beatles, Johnny Cash is a risky musician to cover. Do you stay true to the Man In Black’s style, or do you put your own twist on his songs? The Tommy Ash Band made the bold choice to put their own spin on “Folsom Prison Blues.” The Tommy…
You one of those people who sits around bemoaning the fact that “rock ‘n’ roll has, like, totally lost its spark, man?” Well, allow us to introduce you to theatrical rockers Foxy Shazam. Entertaining barely scratches the surface; Eric Nally and his circus of musicians put on one hell of…
If you pay a visit to AZ/88 tonight, its urbane décor and trendy drinks won’t be the coolest thing going on inside the haute Scottsdale hangout. DJ Akshen will be working hard on the wheels of steel providing a fitting tribute to the late Adam Yauch of the Beastie Boys…
Beastie Boys aren’t supposed to die, and they certainly aren’t supposed to succumb to cancer when they’re only 47. But that’s what happened today: MCA has passed away. The Beastie Boys seemed eternally youthful — from their punky beginnings to their prank-rap stardom, to their string of genuine and soulful…
Memorial services have been set for fallen Arizona musician Marco Holt. On Sunday, May 6, family and friends will gather to commemorate the passing of The Tremulants singer/guitarist, who lost a bout with cancer last month. The service will be held at the Sister Cities Garden at Kiwanis Park in…
Where we’re going, we don’t need roads; just a synthesizer, eyeliner, and a touch of androgyny. Welcome to Flashback Friday. The post-punk and new wave bands that emerged from the late ’70s began their emotional cutting long before it was actually cool to be a self-loathing sycophant; sprucing up the…
