Fiona Apple

The ten traits of the perfect frontperson

The best frontmen and women all have something in common. Whether it's their ability to connect with a crowd or the swagger with which they carry themselves, their fashion sense, the intrigue that surrounds them or their reckless disregard for their own well being, they all have that ineffable "it" ... More >>

Ten Grammy awards that you don't see on TV but that are totally worth being televised

The Grammys are supposed to be "music's biggest night." Unfortunately, the only person who truly believes this is the copywriter who came up with that tagline. There are easily five festivals every year with stakes to the same claim. One of the highlights of this year's Grammys was a Bruno Mars/Stin ... More >>

Backbeat writers sound off on the year's best national albums

See also: Moovers and Shakers 2012: Backbeat writers praise the year's best local albums

Aimee Mann on Fiona Apple, Portlandia, and performing with Common at the White House

Three decades into her career, Aimee Mann remains as consistently fresh and challenging a singer/songwriter as in her days fronting the mid '80s new wave band, 'Til Tuesday. Since then, Mann has had a strong solo career, delivering one of the greatest film soundtracks in recent memory with P.T. Ande ... More >>

The five best concerts this week: October 8-12

Happy Monday, amigo! Another great batch of shows this week to help you get through the work week. We've got all this week's shows listed in our concert calendar if you're so inclined. Otherwise, keep reading to get a full rundown on the five best concerts this week, the ones we think are worth stay ... More >>

New Denver Concerts: Gov't Mule two nights in September, Primus in November and more

See Also: - The Who, New Order, the Script, Minus the Bear, Cursive lead this week's shows - Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Odd Future, Atmosphere and XX lead this week's shows - Afghan Whigs, Amanda Palmer, Aimee Mann and Seether lead this week's shows - Mumford and Sons, Brother Ali, Henry Rollins an ... More >>

New Denver concerts: The Who at Pepsi Center, New Order at 1STBANK, the Script and more

See Also: - Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Odd Future, Atmosphere and XX lead this week's shows - Afghan Whigs, Amanda Palmer, Aimee Mann and Seether lead this week's shows - Mumford and Sons, Brother Ali, Henry Rollins and Melvins Lite lead this week's shows - Morrissey, Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube, Dinos ... More >>

Fiona Apple at the Paramount Theatre, 7/20/12

FIONA APPLE @ the PARAMOUNT THEATRE | 7.20.12Any Fiona Apple concert is a study in contradiction. The audience last night at the Paramount Theatre show was privy to a vast frontier of human emotion, Apple braiding herself in and out of binary worlds, slipping from robust woman in command of a top-sh ... More >>

Bonnie and the Beard

Cascavel
Self-released

Rob Zombie, Marilyn Manson, Odd Future, Atmosphere and XX lead this week's shows

See Also: - Afghan Whigs, Amanda Palmer, Aimee Mann and Seether lead this week's shows - Mumford and Sons, Brother Ali, Henry Rollins and Melvins Lite lead this week's shows - Morrissey, Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube, Dinosaur Jr., Jackson Browne lead new shows - Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller, Shinedown, Godsma ... More >>

Bonnie and the Beard

Cascavel
Self-released

Afghan Whigs, Amanda Palmer, Aimee Mann and Seether lead this week's new shows

See Also: - Mumford and Sons, Brother Ali, Henry Rollins and Melvins Lite lead this week's shows - Morrissey, Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube, Dinosaur Jr., Jackson Browne lead new shows - Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller, Shinedown, Godsmack, Steve Vai and Kimbra lead new shows Oh, man, what a fall we have to look ... More >>

Peaches, Kottonmouth Kings, Why?, Warrant, Cinderella and Skid Row lead this week's shows

Now that we're moving into the thick of summer concert season, the fall schedule is starting to take shape with new dates from Peaches, Kottonmouth Kings, Why?, Warrant, Cinderella and Skid Row on the books. Page down for the full rundown on this week's new show announcements, as well as local radio ... More >>

Chartbreaker: Justin Bieber's 'Believe' has year's best-selling week for an album debut

Say what you want about Justin Bieber -- "he looks like a girl," "he's annoying," "he's only relevant to thirteen-year-old girls" -- but the pop star sensation is doing something right. His new album, Believe , sold 374,000 copies in its first week. That number may not seem like a lot for a number- ... More >>

Mumford and Sons, Brother Ali, Henry Rollins and Melvins Lite lead this week's shows

While things are slowing down a bit somewhat with summer concert announcements, the fall show season is beginning to shape up nicely with new shows from (updated) Mumford & Sons, a trio of dates with Brother Ali in October, as well as the Melvins Lite and Henry Rollins in September and an October da ... More >>

Wiz Khalifa, Mac Miller, Shinedown, Godsmack, Steve Vai and Kimbra lead this week's shows

A fresh batch of new shows announced this week, including Wiz Khalifa and Mac Miller at Red Rocks, the Head and the Heart and Blitzen Trapper at the Boulder Theater, Kimbra at the Ogden Theatre, Shinedown and Godsmack at Comfort Dental and Steve Vai at the Ogden. Page down for a full rundown plus lo ... More >>

Jane's Addiction, Swans, Aaron Freeman lead this week's shows

Things might be slowing down a bit with the bigger concert announcements, but there was still a fair amount of activity over the last week, including Jane's Addiction at the Pikes Peak Center in Colorado Springs, Swans and Xiu Xiu at the Gothic Theatre, and Aaron Freeman (aka Gene Ween) at both the ... More >>

Gotye, Silversun Pickups, 3OH!3, Matisyahu and Justin Bieber lead this week's shows

While the concert announcements have started tapering off a bit, there's still some big shows that have been announced, including Gotye's Red Rocks show in August, Channel 93.3's Big Gig in September featuring Silversun Pickups, 3OH!3, the Hives, the Wombats and others at Red Rocks. Also, Matisyahu ... More >>

Santigold at the Ogden, 5/29/12

SANTIGOLD @ OGDEN THEATRE | 5.29.12 Last night at the Ogden, there were horses and what looked like buffalo skins, elaborate umbrellas and a rhythm perfect band dressed in...we don't know what, striking red, blue, and green lights, with plenty of space for Santigold to emerge, flanked by two synchr ... More >>

Rise Against, Peter Gabriel, Ben Harper, Passion Pit, Alabama Shakes lead this week's new shows

And it don't stop. Another batch of great shows announced this week, including Rise Against, who's due for a pair of back-to-back nights at the Fillmore in September, as well as Peter Gabriel, who will be performing his album So in its entirety a few nights later at Red Rocks. Wait, there's more: th ... More >>

Skrillex and Neil Young at Red Rocks, moe., Dethklok and Lamb of God among new shows

Every week, just when we think we've seen the best of the upcoming concert season and that things couldn't possibly get any more compelling, there's a whole new batch of new shows to make us flip our lids. This week: Skrillex at Red Rocks in August, preceded a few days earlier by two Neil Young show ... More >>

Leonard Cohen, Big Gigantic, Big K.R.I.T. and Thurston Moore lead this week's new shows

A lot of big concert news this week. Really big. Emphasis on big, both in stature and some literally in name: Leonard Cohen is coming back to Colorado this fall for a date at the 1STBANK Center. Before that, though, Big Gigantic is slated to make its Red Rocks debut in September, Big K.R.I.T. will b ... More >>

Nicki Minaj, My Morning Jacket and Michael Kiwanuka among this week's new shows

And the shows just keep coming. Red Rocks, which is on pace for a record season this year, added a pair of dates from My Morning Jacket, while tickets for the Beach Boys show are finally going on sale. The biggest concert news this week is Nicki Minaj, who is bringing her Pink Friday Tour to the Mil ... More >>

Dandy Warhols, Cake, Fiona Apple among new shows, Alabama Shakes, Nicki Minaj top sellers

Here's what's hot this week in music on the Front Range: On the concert front, new shows from the Dandy Warhols, Cake, Fiona Apple and more were announced; Musketeer Gripweed, Hot Robots, and Broken Tongues got spins on local radio; and recent albums from the Alabama Shakes, Nicki Minaj, the Shins a ... More >>

Fiona Apple at the Paramount Theatre on 7/20

Fiona Apple's coming to the Paramount Theatre on Friday, July 20: With a newly revitalized career thanks to a stint wowing audiences at this year's SXSW and fresh off releasing a brand new album with a notably pithy title (in comparison to When the Pawn..., her 1999 album -- The Idler Wheel is wiser ... More >>

Five acts whose careers have resurrected

Whether you're honoring a ubiquitous egg-laying rabbit obsessed with scavenger hunts or the miraculous resurrection of a thirty-something Jewish carpenter, the Easter season is upon us once again. But regardless of your religious affiliation, in the world of music, returning from the dead seems to h ... More >>

SXSW travelogue: Take to the Oars checks in from the streets of Austin

There is a place somewhere in the pacific ocean that is essentially a cesspool for plastic waste and various other bits of debris and man-made trash. The rudimentary physics and science behind this collection is that all ocean currents from all over the world eventually whirlpool and cycle through t ... More >>

The Best of SXSW Music: Wednesday 3/14/2012

​If you're familiar with chaos theory, which in its basic form is the attempt to find patterns in the random acts of shit on Earth, then you may understand the difficulty that comes with describing a full day at SXSW. To break down the bright, scintillating chaos, Village Voice Media's roving musi ... More >>

Alert: SXSW coverage ahead

"What I want from each and every one of you is a hard-target search of every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse in that area." -- Tommy Lee Jones, The Fugitive You don't have to spend much time at South By Southwest to know that all of the above building ... More >>

The best national music releases of 2011

Bridesmaids has been "fixed" by and for dudes

She's Cho Funny

Dark, Dark, Dark

Monday, July 19, hi-dive, 720-570-4500.

Andrea Ball

Dial Tone
Self-released

Live Review: Wadirum, Elizabeth Rose, Benyaro at the Meadowlark

Sara Bareilles

Tuesday, February 12, Ogden Theatre, 303-830-8497.

Late World With Zach

Zach Galifianakis stands up in Boulder.

Core Values

Fiona Apple remains true to her deeply weird self.

Fully Charged

Despite some lineup changes, Ion is still energized.

Left Out in the Coldplay

Fiona Apple and Chris Martin have their games down Cold.

Coldplay

Sunday, February 19, Pepsi Center, 303-830-8497.

Extraordinary Machination

There's a lot of wisdom at Fiona Apple's core.

Kate Bush

Aerial (Sony)

Critical Fatwa

An Apple With Bite

Say what you want about Fiona Apple's past erratic behavior, her Denver performance showcased her considerable talent.

The Grandfathers of Punk

Denver's early punk rock pioneers are remembered

Judgment Day

Backbeat contributors offer up their favorite recordings of 1999.

Vanilla on Ice

The hip-hop trivia question wants to prove that he's still cool.

Thrills for the week

Name That Style

Do the members of Morcheeba make trip-hop? No--they make music.