Animal Collective

Animal Collective Denver show postponed

Bad news for Animal Collective fans. We just received word that the band will not be coming to Denver as planned this Friday, March 22. The reason: Avey Tare (aka David Portner) is suffering from a severe case of strep throat and is unable to perform. No word yet on when the date will be rescheduled ... More >>

Hater vs Homer: The Lumineers are the worst band ever. No, wait, they're the best band ever.

The Lumineers are the most simultaneously loved and loathed band to come out of Denver since the Fray. You know why, right? They're also the most successful act to call this place home since the Fray. Last we heard, the Lumineers are about a dick hair away from being platinum. Success, as we all kno ... More >>

New Denver shows: Zac Brown adds third show at Red Rocks, plus Sting, the XX and more

Okay, hands up if you knew the Zac Brown Band was so popular. He's wildly popular, in case you're wondering. Dude just added another show at Red Rocks, thanks to the fact that the first two have already sold out. Oh, and speaking of the Rocks, Sting has announced a June date up there, and we've got ... More >>

The 25 best concerts this winter/spring

As the winter chill finally thaws (work with us here -- we know it's still below freezing right now) and gives way to the hopefulness and fertility of spring, the upcoming concert season is likewise bursting with promise. Coming off one of the best years for live music in recent memory, the lineup i ... More >>

New shows: Animal Collective at the Ogden, the Avett Brothers at Red Rocks, the Revival Tour

After the comforting lull of the holidays, things are starting to ramping back up nicely on the concert front. Some big announcements this week, including Animal Collective, who is slated to return to Denver for a show at the Ogden Theatre with Dan Deacon, and the Avett Brothers who are set for a tw ... More >>

déCollage

The Telos Amaranthine
Self-released

(UPDATE) New Concerts: Skrillex vs Knife Party, Bob Dylan and Green Day at 1STBANK

A bunch of new shows this week. The two biggest of the bunch: Bob Dylan, whose new album, Tempest , hits the stores today, is coming to the 1STBANK Center for a two-night stand in late October, and Green Day, due for a date at the Broomfield venue in February. Trans-Siberian Orchestra, meanwhile, br ... More >>

Moon Tides plays January 7 at the hi-dive

Gauntlet Hair's "Keep Time" video will scare the crap out of you -- or at least really creep you out

​To celebrate the release of its new, self-titled record, Gauntlet Hair (confirmed as the headliner for the Larimer Lounge's New Years Eve show) has dropped a video for the album's lead track, "Keep Time," and despite Halloween having come and gone, this sucker will still scare the bejeesus ou ... More >>

Free music: Two and a half hours' worth, from one-man shoegaze-cum-folk-act Irene's March

​Local one-man shoegaze-cum-folk-act Irene's March, aka Jeff Minter, has decided to drop a 268-megabyte bomb on our ears right before Thanksgiving. The collection, titled Awakenings, spans three volumes and includes 38 songs recorded over five weeks. All together, it clocks in at over two and ... More >>

Interpol, Animal Collective, Eminem and the Heads top sellers this week

​While there weren't any clear winners across the board at local record stores for the week ending September 12, !!!'s Strange Weather Isn't It made it into the top ten at Albums on the Hill and at Wax Trax. Elsewhere, Interpol's self-titled album, released last week on Matador, took the top s ... More >>

Five artists begging to be riffed on by the new Beavis and Butthead

​We're sure you've heard by now that Beavis & Butthead, the staple of '90s-era MTV, is returning in a new series to help break up the monotony of the reality-show based programming choices on the network. While MTV hasn't yet officially confirmed what the NY Post reported two months ago, they ... More >>

Kría Brekkan on múm, Animal Collective and Uterus Water, her latest album

​Kristín Anna Valtýsdóttir was part of the popular Icelandic dream pop group múm, which she fronted with her twin sister Gyða. Before leaving the band in 2006, Valtýsdóttir, also known by her stage name Kría Brekkan, performed on the 2005 Animal Collective album Feels. A talented mul ... More >>

Analog Space presents a special screening of Animal Collective's Oddsac at the Meadowlark

Mario Zoots/Modern Witch​Ah, looks like we're finally going to get around to screening Oddsac, Animal Collective's twisted take on cinema verite (see trailer after the jump), thanks to the lovely chaps from Analog Space and their esteemed counterparts at Research & Development, who will be tre ... More >>

Gauntlet Hair at the Larimer Lounge

The tranquil beauty of Roger, Roll's ambient pop is as soothing as it arresting

Now on a major indie, Ariel Rosenberg upgrades his abstract, lo-fi, 8-track aesthetic

Sorry, Amnesiac, you were way ahead of us

​ I was fifteen when I heard Radiohead's OK Computer for the first time. This was shortly after seeing "Karma Police" on MTV and knowing I had to have the album right away. Like Pablo Honey, OK Computer was straightforward enough for my undeveloped palette, but the band had also gotten notice ... More >>

Lil Slugger brings their comic book to life at Rhino

Tom MurphyGood Old Fashioned Sinners delving into some good old fashioned sin.​ Lil Slugger • Hot White • Good Old Fashioned Sinners 05.22.10 | Rhinoceropolis Evidently, this was some sort of reunion show for openers Good Old Fashioned Sinners, or perhaps just a coming out of hibernation ... More >>

Fang Island

Monday, April 26, Larimer Lounge, 303-291-1007.

Deferred Hat Tip: Belle & Sebastian's Dear Catastrophe Waitress

There's probably a specific type of hell for people like me: I who can name drop a Belle & Sebastian song off the top of their head, can toss their songs onto mix tapes, have owned the majority of their catalog for several years without ever once even thinking about the possibility of maybe listenin ... More >>

The Antlers

Saturday, February 13, Ogden Theatre, 303-830-8497.

Animal Collective: The Movie. The Soundtrack. The Trailer.

In case you were unaware, the darlings of the music industry have decided a regular music album wasn't enough and moved into the visual arena. Yep, America's favorite eukaryotic organism-themed band, Animal Collective, has teamed with filmmaker Danny Perez to make what it's coining a "visual album" ... More >>

Rodrigo y Gabriela top seller at Twist and Shout

​Rodrigo y Gabriela's 11:11 claimed the top top spot at Twist & Shout, while Phoenix's Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix came in second for the week ending January 3. Them Crooked Vultures' self-titled debut and Tom Waits' Glitter and Doom Live grabbed the third and fourth spots, while Tom Petty's Live ... More >>

Backbeat writers weigh in on the year's best national releases

Freaky Friday: Tuesday religious mania edition

​Welcome to the final Freaky Friday of 2009. And yes, we know it isn't even close to Friday, but like all of you, we will be far too busy nursing a wicked hangover Friday to come anywhere near a computer. That being the case, we couldn't resist bringing you this final bit of freakiness a few d ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of December 21, 2009

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. For ... More >>

The Music Industry's 11 Saviors of 2009

As with every year since 2001, the music industry in 2009 was kept barely alive by a ratag crew of baffling one-offs, mediocre hit makers and a few cameos from the dead. If dollars are votes, we have some weird taste in representation. In backwards order, this year's 11 saviors of the establishmen ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of December 7, 2009

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. For t ... More >>

Tom Waits top seller at Twist and Shout

​Apparently there was a bit of a fight between Tom Waits' Glitter & Doom Live and Susan Boyle's I Dreamed a Dream last week at Twist & Shout, and fortunately, Waits, who turned sixty yesterday, was the victor. Blakroc, the Black Keys' new hip-hop project, came in third, while Them Crooked ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of December 1, 2009

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. For t ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of November 23, 2009

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. For t ... More >>

The Dodos

Thursday, October 22, Bluebird Theater, 303-830-8497.

Freeloader: Win tickets to see the Dodos tonight at the Bluebird

Charlie Villyard​More Freeloader tickets. Today: The Dodos at the Bluebird. Heard of 'em? They're great. If you haven't, here's what Jason Heller had to say about them in this week's issue: Unlike their sonic brethren the Animal Collective on the East Coast, San Francisco's the Dodos keep it simpl ... More >>

Beyond Playlist: Modeselektor Body Language Vol. 8

​Modeselektor Body Language Vol. 8 Get Physical Music On Modeselektor's Body Language mix, the duo show an inventive and exciting approach to track selection and mixing. It's not easy to pull together a set that includes everything from Missy Elliot and Busta Rhymes to Animal Collective, with ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of October 12, 2009

​As music critics, the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation, our latest feature. For the benefit of those who happen to be curious, we've compiled a list of ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of August 24, 2009

​As music critics, the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation, our latest feature. For the benefit of those who happen to be curious, we've compiled a list of ... More >>

NPR's All Songs Considered weighs in on the best music of 2009

​Last time we checked, there's still a good four months left until the end of the year. Regardless, that hasn't stopped Bob Boilen and company from NPR's All Songs Considered from weighing in on the best music of 2009 (so far). Actually, check that -- the results, which were posted on the show's b ... More >>

Candy Claws

In the Dream of the Sea Life
Self-released

Last Night: Animal Collective at the Boulder Theater

Alexis Johnson Tuesday, June 2nd, 2009 The Boulder Theater, Boulder Better Than: Most shows going through Boulder these days. Brooklyn's Black Dice opened this show in what has lately become their typical fashion. Long gone, I suppose, were the harsh, brutally abrasive textures of old, replaced by ... More >>

Last Night's Show: These Are Powers at Rhinoceropolis

These Are Powers, Extra Life, Bad Weather California, Zach Kahn, Masculine, Neon KnightsTuesday, March 3, 2009RhinoceropolisBetter Than: A show that doesn't feature gratuitous nudity on the rooftop of the venue. Ah, another chaotic night at Rhinoceropolis. The first of six groups to take the, uh, fl ... More >>

Shockingly, the Fray captures top spot at Twist & Shout

The Fray dominates Twist & ShoutOkay, clearly we're being sarcastic with that headline, for it comes as very little surprise that the Fray captured the top spot at Twist & Shout this week. We're not privy to the actual SoundScan numbers yet, but suffice it to say, we're eager to see if inter ... More >>

Yeasayer and Icy Demons at the Bluebird Theater

Yeasayer and Icy DemonsSaturday, November 29, 2008Bluebird TheaterBetter than: Flashbacks.Druggies, take notice: Yeasayer is a band you need to know. Between the trippy, hypnotic visuals provided by the lightball tree sculptures on stage and the wall-of-sound performance, this is a band that will he ... More >>

Live Review: UMS Day Two, Baker District

45 Second Reviews

Live Review: Animal Collective at Cervantes'

Review: Animal Collective @ Cervantes

Animal Collective

Monday, May 21, Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom, 303-297-1772.

The Octopus Project

Thursday, May 18, Larimer Lounge, 303-291-1007.

Oblio Duo

Oblio Duo (Self-released)