Best Music Meetup 2017 | The Rocky Mountain Synthesizer Meetup | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Music Meetup

The Rocky Mountain Synthesizer Meetup

Founded in 2012 in the Boulder area, the Rocky Mountain Synthesizer Meetup gives synth enthusiasts the opportunity to meet, network and share ideas, methods and gear. Group founder Mark Mosher has performed his own synth music nationally and is a gifted practitioner of visual synthesis, which combines audio with a visual component. The Meetup was small in the beginning, but when the meetings moved to Denver in 2015 (first to the Walnut Room, then to Globe Hall), the group expanded to include over a hundred members, demonstrating an undeniable enthusiasm for synthesizers and electronic music that goes beyond the dance floor.

meetup.com/rocky-mountain-synth

Best CD/Vinyl Bargain Bin

2nd and Charles

Yes, 2nd and Charles is a chain — but the bargain bin at the Broomfield branch is overflowing with CDs, most priced at about $1, which means that gems can be had for the cost of a single iTunes track. There are 2nd and Charles locations all over the country, and they all work the same way: Bring in your used CDs or DVDs, and a cashier will figure out their cash or store-credit value while you browse. Afterward, use your trade-in money wisely: While there are plenty of pricey items to choose from, including new CDs, DVDs and comic books, the bargain bin up front is a treasure trove.

Best Album Art

No Big Deal Wheelchair Sports Camp

Wheelchair Sports Camp debuted its first full-length album in September 2016. No Big Deal includes contributions by late keyboardist Isaiah "Ikey" Owens, who worked with acts including Jack White and the Mars Volta before his death in 2014. But Owens's mark on the album isn't the only thing that makes it special. Wheelchair Sports Camp enlisted Pat Jensen to design a CD package that includes a 3-D pop-up house, akin to the pop-up art in children's books. The design was meant as a touching send-off for Owens, who pushed Wheelchair Sports Camp far beyond what the group's members thought they were capable of musically, making this record a must-buy.

Best Label

Greater Than Collective

Fronted by Denver's own "Mr. Music," Virgil Dickerson, the Greater Than Collective organically morphed into a record label, taking the place of Dickerson's previous foray into that world, Suburban Home Records. "It's been really neat, because the goal with the Greater Than Collective is to help these artists achieve that next goal, whatever that may be," Dickerson told us in December. Greater Than has unleashed releases by Snake Rattle Rattle Snake, Adam Cayton-Holland, the Epilogues, and Bud Bronson & the Good Timers, among others, and it's become one of those labels whose releases are worth checking out, even if you don't know anything about the artist.

greaterthancollective.com

Best Cassette Label

First Base Tapes

The resurgence of cassettes may seem like a de-evolution of music listening to some consumers. If you agree, let First Base Tapes change your mind. The Boulder-based label cranks out limited runs of albums on tape, which go for $5 and are available for purchase through the First Base Bandcamp page. Acts like American Grandma, Male Blonding and Beat Soft Pop have put out colorful cartridges, which can also be streamed or downloaded, through the imprint. Many of its releases are recorded at independent, nonprofit station Radio 1190, located on the University of Colorado Boulder campus, where First Base Tapes was born. The label is a network of bands, sound engineers, visual artists and music fans who believe that DIY really means Do It Affordably and Do It Together.

firstbasetapes.bandcamp.com

Best Online Record Label

Black Box Tapes Trading Company

When indie hip-hop label Anticon co-founder Tim Holland, aka Sole, moved to Denver more than a half-decade ago, he immediately became immersed in his new town's music scene. Fast-forward to 2017, when the MC and activist is knee-deep in new releases, this time under his newish online label, Black Box Tapes Trading Company. Along with being a home for Holland's own recordings, Black Box Tapes puts out work by underground giants Church Fire, Echo Beds and Paperbark, and national acts like Jared Paul, Skyrider and Egadz. Far from just a passion project, the record label gives Holland the ability to do what he believes in most: help other artists get their music out into the world and get paid for it. The MC takes supporting his adopted home town seriously by cultivating musicians who make Denver the cool, interesting and weird place that it is.

blackboxtapes.bandcamp.com

Best Home-Recorded Album

Darkmoonwhiteout, Pale Sun

Jeff Suthers makes magic in his home recording studio. He recorded there as Bright Channel, which strongly influenced Denver's shoegaze and psychedelic scene, and has opened the space up to groups like Volplane, Orbiteer and Pteranodon. One of the most arresting albums to come from his studio — last year's Darkmoonwhiteout, from Suthers's new group, Pale Sun — taps into daydreams, deep emotions and a sense of wonder, proving that homemade is, indeed, better.

flightapproved.com/palesun

Best Provider of Live Visuals

Orchidz3ro

Travis Sturm has established himself as the go-to guy for live visuals in Denver's experimental music scene. An industrial- and experimental-electronic musician himself, Sturm creates visual representations of music where others might just hear a tune. Armed with a projection machine, he's worked in DIY spaces, warehouses, bars and movie theaters, easily adapting to each space. Sturm has focused mostly on experimental music, but we hope 2017 brings opportunities to expand his art beyond the niche scene and into a wider variety of musical events.

orchidz3ro.com

Best New Radio Station

105.5 FM The Colorado Sound

Barely a year old and already pushing boundaries,105.5 FM The Colorado Sound has embraced a refreshing music-for-many-tastes mentality. From just-released tracks to classic hits, local musicians to global artists, this nonprofit, KUNC-affiliated FM station isn't afraid to take chances with its programming; the Talking Heads, Lumineers, James Brown and the XX all find a home on 105.5. Familiar voices from the state's vast radio landscape can be found here, too, including Ron Bostwick and Keefer, who are just some of the bright personalities lighting up the station. In a time when major-player stations rely on monotonous, recycled playlists, The Colorado Sound is a welcomed entity that makes the FM dial a better place for discerning listeners.

coloradosound.org

Best Radio Host

Arturo Gómez

From the moment he opens his show with the gleeful announcement that it is "lunchtime at the Oasis!" it's clear: Arturo Gómez is the best — and happiest — voice on Colorado's airwaves. Each weekday afternoon from 12 to 1 p.m., the disc jockey lays down classic-, modern- and Latin-jazz cuts, peppered with his own deep knowledge of musicians' backstories and the history behind each track. The award-winning music director's influence and experience can be heard all over KUVO's many genre-bending shows. But it's his genuine on-air enthusiasm for the music and his insightful, informative commentary between songs that captures what the nonprofit radio station is all about: jazz. This colorful state is home to one of the few remaining all-jazz stations in the country — with a unique emphasis on local jazz artists, too — and Gómez is an integral part of what keeps KUVO fresh, relevant and enjoyable to listen to.

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