Email Author Michael Roberts

Awards

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

  "The Rocky Mountain News is Going Down"

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2005 Stories by Michael Roberts

• Q: Are They Old Men?

  published August 18, 2005

  Since the '70s, Devo has specialized in subversion, and the more twisted, the better. Early on, for instance, the band prompted unwitting fans to... More >>

• The New Pornographers

  published August 18, 2005

  As its moniker implies, Twin Cinema essentially doubles the theatricality of previous Pornographers efforts. While the title track... More >>

• Destiny's Child

  published August 18, 2005

  In a recent interview on Today, Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland and Michelle Williams described the decision to bust up Destiny's... More >>

• The Message

  published August 11, 2005

  The Rocky Mountain News's home page features the usual items most surfers look for on the websites of mainstream dailies: links related to... More >>

• Jesse's Girls

  published August 11, 2005

  Pity Jesse McCartney? Are you kidding? The eighteen-year-old heartthrob looks like a 21st-century update of Mattel's time-tested Ken doll, and... More >>

• Various Artists

  published August 11, 2005

  Artist-salute discs make plenty of sense from a business standpoint, since they let labels milk material that was paid for long ago. Problem is,... More >>

• Dana Landry

  published August 11, 2005

  Dana Landry, who heads the jazz program at the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley, isn't some creaky relic who found refuge in academia... More >>

• Spoon

  published August 11, 2005

  In May, Time, a magazine whose dedication to indie rock is on par with Cooking Light's commitment to covering geopolitics, devoted... More >>

• Chile Night

  published August 11, 2005

  SAT, 8/13 Videographer Juan Downey, who died in 1993, is remembered as one of Chile's most innovative talents. It's appropriate, then,... More >>

• The Message

  published August 4, 2005

  According to Steve Kelley, his July 25 debut as impresario of Good Day Colorado, Channel 31's morning program, went so smoothly that... More >>

• Crüe Cuts

  published August 4, 2005

  A mid-July teleconference with Nikki Sixx, Mick Mars and Vince Neil of Mötley Crüe provided plenty of answers to the question "Why does mainstream rock jou... More >>

• Various Artists

  published August 4, 2005

  Elitists may dismiss discs in the Now That's What I Call Music series as K-Tel comps for the new millennium, but they're actually a clever... More >>

• Scream Tour IV

  published August 4, 2005

  Rumor has it that the young lookers on this bill are planning to sing and rap as part of Scream Tour IV, not just stand around and display their... More >>

• Iron Maiden

  published August 4, 2005

  During Iron Maiden's '80s heyday, positive notices for the band from reviewers not affiliated with the hard-rock specialty press were rarer than... More >>

• Percussion Perfection

  published August 4, 2005

  SUN, 8/7 To Fara Tolno, tradition is everything. Born in the former French colony of Guinea, he's spent most of his life dedicated to... More >>

• Maniacal

  published July 28, 2005

  In Drew Massey's world, there's not much separating confidence from cockiness. The 35-year-old entrepreneur tosses around names like Ted... More >>

• Love and Death

  published July 28, 2005

  When singer/guitarist Mikael Åkerfeldt pits what he calls his "death voice" against the most brutal backdrop his bandmates can construct,... More >>

• The Message

  published July 21, 2005

  On July 8, confessed serial rapist Brent J. Brents, who'd received an epic 1,319-year sentence in Denver two days earlier, appeared in... More >>

• Shakira

  published July 21, 2005

  "Whenever, Wherever," Shakira's 2001 English-language breakthrough, managed to irritate much of the planet's populace, thanks to its moronic hook... More >>

• Planetary Nebula

  published July 21, 2005

  Truth be told, most bands here and elsewhere fall into a few narrow categories. Planetary Nebula, in contrast, busts through descriptive barriers... More >>

• Deep Dish

  published July 21, 2005

  As indicated by George Is On, a just-released set on the Thrive imprint, Ali "Dubfire" Shirazinia and Sharam Tayebi are eager to cross over... More >>

• Holly Golightly

  published July 21, 2005

  More people have heard Holly Golightly duet with Jack White on "It's True That We Love One Another," a highlight of the White Stripes' 2003 disc... More >>

• Chemical Reaction

  published July 14, 2005

  Singer and provocateur Gerard Way considers My Chemical Romance to be the "odd band out" on the Warped Tour bill. "A majority of indie bands, emo... More >>

• Frank Black

  published July 14, 2005

  For this particular fan, the Pixies' reunion tour, 2005 edition, was a bit underwhelming. It was nice to see the group receive some long overdue... More >>

• Black Mountain

  published July 14, 2005

  Jagjaguwar wants to make damn sure this disc is heard by as many people as possible. The imprint released the CD in January but plans to launch it... More >>