Moovers and Shakers rounds up our favorite local releases of the year

Various Artists, Hot Congress Vol. 1 (Hot Congress). The whole is greater than the sum of its parts because the collective is open to creativity of all sorts and willing to share talent in any way it can. Remarkable in that there are exactly zero duds in eleven tracks, the debut comp establishes Hot Congress as a deft curator for all manner of Denver's creations. — Maletsky

Various Artists, Rocky Mountain Low: The Colorado Musical Underground of the Late 1970s (Hyperpycnal). The title of this ambitious, lavishly annotated compilation pretty much speaks for itself — but it still doesn't quite capture the years of research, dedication and love that went into it. And the music itself? Alternately raw, polished, anarchic, ridiculous, sublime and bizarre. The songs by these mostly forgotten Colorado rock pioneers should serve as a lesson — in both ethics and aesthetics — for the Denver scene of today. — Heller

Related Content

• Moovers and Shakers 2012: Backbeat writers praise the year's best local albums
  December 27, 2012
• A look back at past Best New Band winners
  March 28, 2013
• Best of Denver 2013: A look back at the Best New Band winners from the past decade
  March 27, 2013
• Backbeat writers sound off on the year's best national albums
  December 20, 2012
• The music scene supports songwriter Mike Marchant as he battles cancer
  April 11, 2013

More About

• Tom Murphy
• Dave Herrera
• Jason Heller
• Punk Rock
• Indie Rock and Indie Pop

Vitamins, Songs for Stem Cells (Self-released). Representing a shift into edgier musical territory, Songs for Stem Cells references darkness, fear and violent renewal. The vocals likewise reflect an uncertainty mitigated by a developed faith in the self to weather life's storms. With this album, Vitamins perfectly melds its experimental streak with its knack for emotive, vital pop songs. — Murphy

Wentworth Kersey, (O) (Plastic Sound Supply). Wentworth Kersey scored a thematic success with (O), picking up where 2008's O left off with relative ease. The soft, sinuous vocals are just as subtly suggestive, and the instrumentation seems even more sophisticated: Hints of flamenco guitar, epic carnival soundtracks and phantoms of a string section are all part of the album's appeal. — Goldstein

Whygee & Sunkenstate, Sambodextrust (Self-released) This dynamic duo takes back the slur "Sambo" and turns it into a vicious lyrical assault riddled with jabs at puffy paint-sporting MCs, unsympathetic females and pill-poppers. Production by BrikAbrak is richly orchestrated as layers of woodwinds and brass are interwoven over a solid drum foundation — smooth, captivating and damn near spiritual. — Thomas

The Widow's Bane, The Widow's Bane (Self-released). Face paint should be used sparingly in rock and roll. But if you do wear it on stage, you'd better walk the walk — and Boulder's Widow's Bane does indeed. Macabre, literate and shamelessly theatrical, there's real vision behind the group's death-folk howl. Not to mention courage — a rare commodity lately in the local scene. — Heller

Yonder Mountain String Band, The Show (Frog Pad). Yonder started 2009 with a sold-out New Year's Eve slot at the Pepsi Center, sold out Red Rocks (again) this past summer, released a total bad-ass rock-and-roll-meets-bluegrass album aptly titled The Show, and close out 2009 with a trio of sure-to-sell-out Fillmore shows. — Seyfarth