Email Author Michael Roberts

Awards

• 2009 - AAN AltWeekly Awards, published December 11, 2008

  "The Rocky Mountain News is Going Down"

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1997 Stories by Michael Roberts

• Playlist

  published May 29, 1997

  The Holmes Brothers Promised Land (Rounder) Most of the CD stores that stock material by the New York-based Brothers Holmes--and... More >>

• Feedback

  published May 22, 1997

  Scott Willhite is a man of many moods. He's best known in these parts as the guitarist for Turnsol, an overtly accessible modern-rock aggregation... More >>

• Rollins With the Punches

  published May 22, 1997

  "I don't want punk credibility," intones Henry Rollins, "because that would mean I'd have to have a heroin habit, shitty hair, no muscle tone and... More >>

• Beck Vs. Henry Rollins

  published May 22, 1997

  Punk icon turned burly entrepreneur Henry Rollins claims not to care what journalists think about him or his most recent album (see page 79). But... More >>

• Beck on the Highway

  published May 22, 1997

  Beck Hansen is tired. He's in England, a country where hot American acts are routinely vilified by reviewers who are suspicious of any trend that... More >>

• Feedback

  published May 15, 1997

  Notes from the local underground. The first thing you hear on pianist David London's new CD is London himself, sounding like a homegrown... More >>

• Playlist

  published May 15, 1997

  Radish Restraining Bolt (Mercury) Hate to break it to you, Kurt, but this is what the movement you popularized has come... More >>

• To Rush or Not to Rush?

  published May 15, 1997

  Okay, I admit it: I've never understood the appeal of Rush. When friends would tout the instrumental gymnastics and lyrical insights of bombastic... More >>

• Flop Mart

  published May 8, 1997

  Hubris: an overweening self-confidence that can lead to calamity. Many a hero in Greek literature met a grim fate as a result of this failing, and... More >>

• Feedback

  published May 8, 1997

  The hype surrounding the current tour by the Chemical Brothers has been somewhat less overwhelming than the hoopla associated with U2's current... More >>

• Feedback

  published May 1, 1997

  Avoid writing about Denver radio for a few months and look what happens: hirings, firings, format shifts and random bloodletting. Let's try to... More >>

• Building for the Future

  published May 1, 1997

  Doug Martsch of Built to Spill, among the few sparks on the swiftly dimming alterna-scene, is a guitarist, singer and songwriter of great skill... More >>

• Playlist

  published May 1, 1997

  The Offspring Ixnay on the Hombre (Columbia) Despite the presence of Jello Biafra on "Disclaimer," a bit o' hucksterism plopped... More >>

• Future Shock

  published April 24, 1997

  Anyone who's ever paid the slightest attention to popular music in these United States has long realized that the record industry's response to an... More >>

• Playlist

  published April 24, 1997

  Johnny Dowd Wrong Side of Memphis When I began reviewing albums, I instituted a simple rule for myself: I must listen to at least three... More >>

• Feedback

  published April 24, 1997

  Last week's column about the ruckus during the April 9 Jeru the Damaja date at Boulder's Fox Theatre contained a lot of information about the... More >>

• Playlist

  published April 17, 1997

  Veruca Salt Eight Arms to Hold You (Outpost/Minty Fresh) In my review of Veruca Salt's much-ballyhooed debut, 1994's American... More >>

• Let It Bern

  published April 17, 1997

  Singer-songwriter Dan Bern is of the rather old-fashioned belief that words--as in lyrics--actually matter. Too bad most of the ones that show up... More >>

• Feedback

  published April 17, 1997

  The Jeru the Damaja/DJ Shadow gig April 9 at Boulder's Fox Theatre should have been memorable for musical reasons. Instead, what will stick in the... More >>

• Feedback

  published April 10, 1997

  Denver's Big Mike is not a man wanting for confidence. In describing the sort-of rebirth of his best-known band, Phantasmorgasm, he declares, "On... More >>

• That Louvin Feeling

  published April 10, 1997

  At this writing, the biggest name in country music is LeeAnn Rimes, a teenager whose handlers have managed to parlay her precocious Patsy Cline... More >>

• Playlist

  published April 3, 1997

  Big Head Todd & the Monsters Beautiful World (Revolution) A new Big Head Todd album? Well, sort of. These are certainly new... More >>

• Feedback

  published April 3, 1997

  As you know, Boulder is a community that tends to attract unique personalities--like Heaven's Gate guru Marshall Applewhite, for one. But... More >>

• The Shadow Knows

  published April 3, 1997

  Josh Davis, aka DJ Shadow, is a provocateur. Plenty of hip-hop artists are dismayed by what's happening to their chosen musical form, but most... More >>

• Feedback

  published March 27, 1997

  At their Saturday, March 29, concert at the DU Fieldhouse, the Samples will consist of Sean Kelly, Andy Sheldon, Jeep MacNichol and Al Laughlin.... More >>