Justin Bieber

Girls Gone Godard

Playing cover songs is a sign of creative fatigue

There's nothing wrong with cover songs. In fact, before Sam Cooke and the Beatles shifted the established paradigms, singer and songwriter were two entirely separate professions. And there's also nothing wrong with a musician recording a cover album in the twilight of their career (Johnny Cash's Ame ... More >>

Ten effective ways to fake an orgasm (NSFW)

I love that we live in a country that's sexually open enough -- not as much as some European countries, but that's another list for another time -- to allow for public education on how to have and give orgasms. Denverites, you have an upcoming class available at Anythink Library Wright Farms: The ap ... More >>

New shows: Lotus three nights at Boulder Theater, Crystal Castles at the Gothic and more

A perennial favorite in Colorado, Lotus is making its way back to the Centennial state for a trio of shows at the Boulder Theater, while Crystal Castles is set to return for a date at the Gothic Theatre and Anthrax tops the Metal Alliance tour, a stacked bill at the Summit Music Hall this April that ... More >>

New shows: SnowBall Music Festival adds STS9 and other acts, the Pharcyde at Fox and more

New week, new year, new show announcements -- the biggest one this week involves STS9. Fresh off a three-night New Year's Eve run at the Fillmore comes word that the outfit has been added as a headliner at this March's SnowBall Music Festival. We've got the full run down on that below, as well as wo ... More >>

Ten sad, strange and sexy Christmas songs

It's less than a week until the fat man in the red suit shimmies down the chimney, and we've already heard "White Christmas," "All I Want For Christmas Is You" and every other traditional song you can think of at least a thousand times since Thanksgiving. But there are a few songs out there, well-wr ... More >>

New shows: Cat Power, Lucero, Mike Cooley of the Drive-By Truckers solo show and more

It's less than a week now until Christmas. Did you get all your shopping done yet? Ah, don't beat yourself up. Neither have we. If you're like us, you've probably got some people on our list who are just impossible to buy for, yes? If so, here's an idea, one that won't require you to brave the masse ... More >>

Falcon "Balloon Boy" Heene and his brothers are flying high in a heavy-metal band

See also: Richard Heene, Balloon Boy's dad, invents crazy stuff, makes crazier infomercials

Aurora theater shooting threat, NYC Twitter subpoena coverage tells incomplete story

This morning, headlines are screaming about the New York City Police aiming a subpoena at Twitter in regard to tweets about launching an Aurora-theater-shooting-like attack on a Broadway theater. But little of the coverage I've seen has given a complete context of the alleged threat from the @obamam ... More >>

Missy Franklin wins Olympic gold -- and tweet from Justin Bieber

Local teen-queen-of-the-pool Missy Franklin has won her first gold medal, in the 100 meter backstroke -- and pretty much no one thinks it'll be her last. Now the question: Which means more to her -- that medallion or the congratulatory tweet she received from Justin Bieber?

If you're going to watch the Olympics on TV, at least do it at the gym

I often go to the gym to watch television. The primary reason is because, at my commune, the Witch House, we haven't figured out how to hook up the flat-screen we scored in an awesome barter situation (someone we know was going on a "life journey" and had to get rid of all earthly possessions.) But ... More >>

Photos: Eight all-American alternatives to fireworks

Thanks to a statewide fireworks ban, Independence Day could be a real downer for most of Colorado's children and pyromaniacs. Luckily, there are options -- some of which can be made at home in your kitchen! Searching for homemade explosives is a good way to get a virus on your computer -- so we've s ... 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 >>

Chartbreaker: Gotye and John Mayer spend yet another week at the top of the charts

Another strong week for Gotye, who held on to number one with "Somebody That I Used To Know." If you haven't kept track, that's a tally of eight weeks at the top now. However, that could change next week, as strong pushes from both Rihanna and Katy Perry, not to mention Carly Rae Jepsen, who could ... 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 >>

Chartbreaker: John Mayer's new album, Born and Raised, takes the top spot this week

John Mayer knocks Adam Lambert from the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart this week as Mayer's new record, Born And Raised, lands at number one. Lambert's Trespassing, meanwhile, drops all the way to number twelve. Born And Raised is Mayer's third number-one album, joining 2003's Heavier Things ... More >>

Chartbreaker: In a clash of Idols, Adam Lambert unseats Carrie Underwood with Trespassing

It's a big week for American Idol this week. Besides the crowning of the season 11 winner, Phillip Phillips, the singing talent show sees another of its alums rise to the top of the Billboard 200 chart. The first time in chart history, one Idol is succeeded by another, as Adam Lambert's Trespassi ... More >>

Chartbreaker: Another strong week for Carrie Underwood and Gotye, thanks to moms

Many of previous weeks' big-performing albums have rebounded on the Billboard 200 chart, thanks to a Mother's Day sales surge. Adele's 21 is the best example of this boost, as the album shoots up from number four to number two this week. It's still not enough to reclaim the top spot from Carrie Unde ... More >>

Chartbreaker: Competition is Blown Away on the charts this week by Carrie Underwood

Carrie Underwood debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 albums chart this week with her fourth album, Blown Away, selling 267,000 copies. Underwood's latest trails only Madonna's MDNA, which sold 358,000, as the biggest-selling debut of 2012. Another noteworthy feat for Underwood this week: She f ... More >>

Chartbreaker: Lionel Richie bests Madonna and Nicki Minaj, Maroon 5's "Payphone" cashes in

See Also: • Madonna's MDNA falls harder than Lady Gaga's Born This Way did • Madonna's MDNA outsells Lionel Richie's Tuskegee (what year is this again?) Madonna and Lionel Richie -- who would have thought that after four weeks on the Billboard 200 albums chart, only Richie would remain in the t ... More >>

Twenty most memorable mug shots of March 2012

The photography models featured in our March mug shot roundup found themselves before the camera for a wide variety of crimes, ranging from the weird (the embalmer accused of pawning gold teeth) to the shocking (a man thought to be Colorado's most prolific serial killer). Check them out below, and c ... More >>

Is One Direction ready for Saturday Night Live? More than Lana Del Rey, but less than Karmin

With a slew of odd choices for musical guests lately, it's not much of a surprise that Saturday Night Live has booked boy-band explosion One Direction to perform on Saturday, April 7. At this point, it's not a question of why -- as the group of male Brit heartthrobs is like a Justin Bieber five-pack ... More >>

Michael Jackson, the King of Pop: Remembering the greatest performer of all time

Lauded as the greatest performer of all time, Michael Jackson was a dancing, singing, performing phenomenon, and we are not likely to see another performer of his caliber ever again. The life of Michael Jackson is well documented, his struggles, imperfections and sometimes bizarre behavior, but one ... More >>

Santa on Twitter: Top ten jerky tweets

​ In real life, Santa is jolly. But on Twitter, he can be an a#$hole. There are dozens of fake Santa Twitter accounts. While some of them are earnest -- like this tweet from @NorthPolePost: "Ho ho ho! What a busy few days. First chance to put my feet up in a while! Thought I'd see what you're ... More >>

Fall premieres and season-openers: Five more plays to catch this week

P. Switzer"Ragtime," Arvada Center.​ Denver's fall theater season is already off to a hot and heavy start with offerings of every stripe, from classically funny (The Liar and Unnecessary Farce) to explosive (Justin Bieber Meets Al Qaeda) to thought-provoking (Clybourne Park) to just plain sill ... More >>

The 10 worst smelling rock star-branded perfumes or colognes

Now you can smell like a teen girl in love with Justin Bieber.​Smelling like a rock star wasn't always considered a good thing. But now that The Strokes' Julian Casablancas is the face and inspiration of Azzaro's new perfume, Decibel, and Prince has to pay $4 million to a company over his fail ... More >>

Anon fogets about the lulz, lulz ensue

Anonymous: Now with less legion.​For a group that made its name pulling such dumb pranks as sending "Justin Bieber syphilis" to the top of Google search results and collectively lowering the rating of Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger's signature Gibson, Anon's been getting awful serious lately ... More >>

Tim Tebow, Lindsey Vonn (& LaLa Vasquez?) bring Colorado to the ESPYs (VIDEOS)

Videos below.​Last night's ESPY Awards sported an unexpected amount of Colorado flavor. Tim Tebow wasn't a nominee, but he probably got more face time via crowd shots than most people who took home trophies. And when he gave the Best Female Athlete award to Vail's Lindsey Vonn (who asked Justi ... More >>

The strangest social networking sites that would benefit from Facebook video chat

​In case you haven't heard, Facebook got two very cool upgrades recently, with the introduction of group chat and video chat -- thanks, in large part, to a partnership with Skype. Props to Mark Zuckerberg though -- being able to video chat with friends who are "online" on Facebook is not only ... More >>

La Toya says Michael Jackson was murdered: Top five other music myths and conspiracies

​In an interview with CNN yesterday, La Toya Jackson stated rather bluntly that she believed her brother was murdered. "I would never, ever think differently," she said. "Michael told me that they were going to murder him." It's not that outrageous of a claim, but it's also one of those things ... More >>

Lady Gaga's tour chaperoned by Ma'ga: Other acts who could use the watchful eye of mom

​In case you haven't heard, Mama Gaga is going on tour with Lady in hopes of preventing her from going on the "drinking diet." Apparently, Ma'ga, concerned about her egg-dwelling offspring, demanded she accompany her daughter on tour. We love the idea. Frankly, we think more parents should tak ... More >>

SXSW Travelogue: Danielle Ate the Sandwich checks from the road in route to Austin

​ Thursday, March 18 Uh, hey. It's Danielle Ate the Sandwich. I've been on the road and away from home a couple of days now, and am officially one hour from Austin and ready to go. Today, I play at Bar 512 for the Spokesbuzz Showcase. I'm excited to play with a lot of great bands from Fort C ... More >>

Tonight: Mike Relm at Cervantes'

​There is no way Mike Relm could be confined by the simple title of mash-up DJ -- the San Fransisco-based artist not only cuts and pastes music together in mutated forms, but he deftly brings video to disjointed life, too, with on-the-spot edits. The multi-media performer manipulates music vid ... More >>

Chris Brown is an ass who doesn't deserve another chance

​It's been a big week in the inexcusable career resurgence of Chris Brown. Rihanna allowed her restraining order against him to be eased. Apparently someone sitting on some unreleased photos of the damage Brown inflicted on his former girlfriend thought this would be a good opportunity to shar ... More >>

Eli Odell, exec chef of Highland Tap and Burger, on what he learned from Matt Selby, and what might happen if you wear chile-pepper pants in his kitchen

Lori Midson​Eli Odell Highland Tap and Burger 2219 West 32nd Avenue 720-287-4493 www.highlandtapdenver.com This is part one of Lori Midson's interview with Eli Odell, executive chef of Highland Tap and Burger. Read part two of that interview, in which Odell dishes on hammering eighty pounds o ... More >>

Rihanna, Gareth Emery, the fickle internet and the problem with Next Big Sound's Social Charts

Gareth Emery: Next big sound?​Billboard recently debuted a pair of new charts compiled by Boulder-based company Next Big Sound, the subject of a recent Westword feature. The charts, called the Social 50 and the Next Big Sound 25, track bands' online presence, whether it's Facebook "likes" or ... More >>

Warlock Pinchers at Gothic, 12/31/10

Aaron Thackeray​ WARLOCK PINCHERS with Il Cattivo 12.31.10 | Gothic Theater Around 9 p.m., the safety videos started up and it looked and sounded like something straight out of Wonder Showzen. Puppets and people in a gorilla and a robot costume interacted as they would on a warped, faux kids ... More >>

10 weirdest music news stories of 2010

​2010 has been an aggressively weird year in music news. It seemed like no matter where we turned musicians were saying and doing the strangest damn things. From decrying the most popular thing in the world to talking people off of buildings, it was a wacky year to report. There was so much we ... More >>

How poop is smarter than Jesus: Google Reading Level ranks 100 random things

​​ Google introduced a new way of filtering search results last week: By reading level. You type something in and it tells you how many results fall into one of levels. Fair enough: if you're writing a research paper on sexual health or something, and thoughtful information would normal ... More >>

Giga Pudding! Giga Pudding! GIGA PUDDING! Is moot on a troll roll?

​The internets are alive with the sound of music today. Specifically, they are alive with the music of Giga Pudding, some sort of obscure Japanese gelatin product that sports one of the most bizarre, irritating ad jingles of all time; the two-minute ad appeared embedded at the top of every boa ... More >>

Tonight: Kina Grannis at the Soiled Dove

​Justin Bieber, Anton Dodson -- every individual who devoted a special solo dance to Ginuwine's "Pony" -- they all have YouTube to thank for providing a free entertainment platform to millions of viewers. California-bred singer and songwriter Kina Grannis, who plays the Soiled Dove Undergrou ... More >>

Carmelo Anthony and Lala Vazquez tie the knot in New York City -- and Lala crowd surfs?

via the Los Angeles Times​ As readers of this blog no doubt know -- if only because we incessantly mentioned it last week (along with news of a proposed pickup game involving junior dreamboat Justin Bieber) -- Carmelo Anthony and Lala Vazquez tied the knot in New York City this past Saturday. ... More >>

"Chill in my Vein" will chill your brain, possibly fatally

​The Internet is full of amateur musicians with big aspirations. The talented ones can be truly inspiring and occasionally even rise to superstardom (hello, Justin Bieber!). The less-talented ... well, they are awesome in their own, special way and the very best/worst of them become famous in ... More >>

Joe Nacchio busts out after resentencing with Prison Rapper: Kenny Be's Fotochop Friday

Full fotochops below.​Poor Joe Nacchio! The Denver U.S. District judge who handled his resentencing hearing just shaved two months off of his six-year, all-expenses-paid vacation at a plush Pennsylvania Country Club Prison. But don't feel sorry for him: He still gets to keep all of the money ... More >>

What would the industry do without Glee?

For the second week in a row, album sales reached their lowest point in the history of the SoundScan era. "Indie" bands, meanwhile, continue to chart unexpectedly high: This week, The Black Keys are number three, Band of Horses is number seven and LCD Soundsystem is number ten. But these are fl ... More >>

Album Sales Are In The Crapper, But The National Is Doing Just Fine

This week's signs of the music industry's apocalypse: 1. The National had the highest selling debut album in the country this week, good for number three overall (behind Justin Beiber and Lady Antebellum). 2. This was the worst week for album sales since SoundScan started keeping track in 1991. ... More >>

This Just In: Phish, Yonder Mountain String Band, Green Day shows announced

​Phish, which kicks off its summer tour in June, is slated to play back-to-back dates at Telluride Town Park on Monday and Tuesday, August 9 and 10. An online ticket request period is currently underway and ends March 26. After that, tickets go on sale to the general public starting Friday, Ap ... More >>

We Are the World 25/2010 performers pull off impressive performance

All right, so we were admittedly skeptical of how this whole "We Are the World" remake was going to turn out with the seemingly random cast of characters organizers assembled. When we first glimpsed the initial list of those present the night of the recording, there were some head scratchers in the ... More >>

We Are the World 2010: List of performers seems a little underwhelming -- the idea is to get people to buy the song, right?

Our friends over at CNN just posted a partial list of performers appearing on the "We Are the World" remake. From the looks of it, we put more thought into this whole thing than the organizers did. Okay, sure, there were a handful of bona fied stars that took part -- and we're assuming they've be ... More >>