Some bands wear a style like a trendy fashion statement, and others embody what that music is about by creating their own artistic identity while expanding and building upon what has come before them. The Prids, from Portland, Oregon, are among the latter. Incorporating elements of synth-inflected new-wave dream pop within a framework of post-punk's desperation, melancholia and rhythmic momentum, the Prids write music that is a catharsis, an exorcism of personal demons and an upswell of heighte
Photo by Autumn DeWildeDoug Martsch, foreground, and the rest of Built to Spill.
Doug Martsch, whose band, Built to Spill, headlines this year's Westword Music Showcase on June 12 (click here for more details), is a rarity -- a indie-rock musician who signed to a major label in the mid-'90s who's still inked to the same imprint today. He's also a rare, if modest, talent with interests that go well beyond music to family and pro basketball, as he demonstrates in the following Q&A, conducted for
Built to Spill back in the day.
Our new profile and Q&A with Built to Spill's Doug Martsch, whose band headlines this Saturday's Westword Music Showcase (click here for more information), are built on a sturdy foundation -- an interview conducted with Martsch back in 1997, shortly after his band, then a three piece, released Perfect From Now On, an album that's achieved classic status in the indie-rock universe. Plenty of things have changed since then, not the least of which is Martsch's son,
Photo by Autumn DeWildeBuilt to Spill.
You think you're so smart....
Today in Backbeat Online:
• Q&A with Built to Spill's Doug Martsch.
• Mini Q&A with the Fluid's John Robinson.
• A first look at FOE and Karma's "Tic-Toc" video.
• Atmosphere, Bat for Lashes, Brad Paisley shows announced.
• MP3 Freeloader, Showcase Edition: Astrophagus -- and MP3s of many other Showcase bands are available at the main link above, too.
Today in Cafe Society:
• Top Denver chefs play with fire for c
Skinny Puppy stops at the Ogden Theatre Saturday, November 7 as part of the industrial band's In Solvent See tour, which kicks off October 30. Tickets are $30 in advance and go on sale Friday, August 15. Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt team for an acoustic evening Wednesday, October 7 at the Pikes Peak Center in Colorado Springs and Thursday, October 8 at CU-Boulder's Macky Auditorium. It's been a while since Urge Overkill has released an album, but the Chicago-based rockers will hit the Larimer L
