Lou Reed

Do drugs make musicians more creative?

Do drugs fuel creativity? Is an addled mind essential to making great music? Does sobriety cause creative impotence? What if Jimi Hendrix had suddenly decided to enter a twelve-step program? Would Are You Experienced? have sucked? To answer this nagging question, you have to take a look at rock's re ... More >>

Here's what we're all listening to right now. What's rocking your world this week?

As people who think about, talk about, write about, listen to and make music, it's not surprising that the most common (and favorite) topic of conversation among us is the same: "What are you listening to right now?" Stick a quarter in us, and, boy, wouldn't you know it, off we go, on and on about t ... More >>

Ten Essential albums from the CBGB scene

It's easy to look at what's become of rock music over the last three and a half decades and find countless traces of the CBGB micro-culture and the fast-and-loud aesthetic it cultivated. During their now-legendary years at CBGB, bands like the Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie and Patti Smith were dis ... More >>

Thee Dang Dangs

Stone Coast
Self-released

Safe Boating Is No Accident

Live Without Dead Time
Hot Congress Records

Five best songs from the Summer of Love

Forty five years ago, the western world was forever changed by an overwhelming groundswell of youth rebellion known to history as the Summer of Love. There are countless factors that caused this tsunami of bohemia to sweep the globe -- everything from economics and the end of World War II to LSD and ... More >>

Laurie Anderson

Wednesday, April 25, Boulder Theater, Boulder, 303-786-7030.

Velvet Underground & Nico turns 45 today

"The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought one formed a band." This quote has been attributed to both Brian Eno and Peter Buck (of REM) -- no one is completely certain who said it first, but that's not the point. The fact remains that The Velvet Underground ... More >>

Weekend's best live bets: Big Gigantic, Jedi Mind Tricks and more

Denver's best live music bets, weekend of January 20, 2012

Garland Jeffreys on Lou Reed and "living in between"

Garland Jeffreys (due Saturday, January 21, at the Lion's Lair) should be a household name considering some of the shoulders with which he's rubbed during the course of his long career: He met Lou Reed and Maureen Tucker before the Velvet Underground were properly a band, when Jeffreys and Reed were ... More >>

Time travel, sexy video games and more new release picks for the this week, July 26, 2011

​It's a bit of a slow week again, but the media coming out today is so top-notch that it's hard to complain. Provided you're interested in things like playing god, a relationship puzzle game about love or watching a movie that's sort of about time travel, you'll have a lot to take in this wee ... More >>

JB Townsend of Crystal Stilts on the act's evolution and the influence of Velvet Underground

​A few years ago, Crystal Stilts (due tonight at Larimer Lounge), along with friends Blank Dogs, gained notoriety in the blogosphere for its reverb-drenched post-punk, which was notably different from everything that had been coming out of New York in the past decade.

Five careers Jack White could help revive next

​Jack White has been a busy bee lately, producing records for Loretta Lynn, Wanda Jackson and now, Jerry Lee Lewis. We're starting to get the feeling he might view himself as a sort of Rick Rubin-type character, but instead of making older musicians darker and more introspective, he's just mak ... More >>

What to see at Aspen ShortsFest? Here's something for each day

Lou Reed not being a dick? Crazy.​There are a lot of short films playing at the Aspen ShortsFest tonight and over the course of the next five days -- like, a shitload of them. And since many of them are foreign and all of them, pretty much by definition because they are short films, are somewh ... More >>

Who Likes Short Shorts?

Top 5 Famous Writer/Musician Feuds

​Sometimes hurt feelings and death threats bring people closer together -- that definitely seems to be the case of the former web editor at our sister paper in Los Angeles, Erin Broadley, and shock-rocker Marilyn Manson, who once threatened to kill her. After the two met, they came to the real ... More >>

Susan Boyle is an unkillable sales machine

Susan Boyle's number two is a very special gift.​It's officially the Holiday season, which is why Poptimystic is finally ready to address the Christmas albums on the charts. Even though they've been there for at least three weeks. Two of Billboard's top ten albums are seasonal, and Billboard, ... More >>

Chris Jeffries

Self Titled EP
Self-released

Emily Frembgen on Lou Reed, Hall & Oates and playing with Ian Cooke

​ This week's Rough Mixes entry focusing on Emily Frembgen contained excerpts of our recent chat with the singer-songwriter, who's packing up her guitar at the end of June and heading by to New York. Luckily she's not leaving us empty-handed: Her new CD, Always With You, is a gorgeous disc fu ... More >>

New York-bound Emily Frembgen is leaving behind some poetically walloping folk songs to remember her by

Monolith Q&A: Cymbals Eat Guitars

​According to Cymbals Eat Guitars 20-year-old frontman Joseph D'Agostino, Lou Reed didn't want a lot of cymbals on the first three Velvet Underground albums because "cymbals eat guitars," which explains the copious amounts of floor toms on those early discs. While that might have inspired the band ... More >>

Last Night: Rachael Pollard at GlobGlobGlob

photo by Marcus HuserRachael Pollard, Doo Crowder, Spoke Shaver, Rotaree, TemplesThursday, March 19, 2009GlobGlobGlobBetter than: Not falling asleep at work, which I'm now certain to do tomorrow.In military operations, planes often fly at low altitudes to avoid radar detection. If that's true in cli ... More >>

Safe Boating Is No Accident at the Meadowlark

Eef Barzelay Quiets Things Down

With Clem Snide behind him, this singer-songwriter has found happiness in a more intimate environment.

Mini Reviews

Summer Movie Preview

The season of big budget bangs uses its brain.

Wed Alert: Lou Reed Marries Laurie Anderson. Nick Forster from etown Officiates

Q&A With Laurie Anderson

Primal Scream and Kasabian

Riot City Blues (Columbia) and Empire (RCA)

The Warlocks

Thursday, March 16, Fillmore Auditorium, 303-830-8497.

Hip-Hop Sans Hova

Still no Jigga, but Kanye, some lovable limeys and a great Beyoncé substitute held it down.

John Cale

Sunday, October 30, Bluebird Theater, 303-322-2308.

Ambulance LTD

Wednesday, April 6, Larimer Lounge, 303-291-1007.

Spirited

Ghost writer Garland Jeffreys returns to his old haunt: the stage.

The Velvet Underground

Live at Max's Kansas City (Reissue) (Rhino)

This Week's Day-by-Day Picks

The Go-Betweens

bright yellow bright orange (Jetset)

Frank Black and the Catholics

Dog in the Sand (What Are Records?)

On the Records

Backbeat contributors reflect on the releases that helped them survive the year 2000.

Bang! Bang! You're Alive

Stumbling down memory lane with the late Lester Bangs.

Lou Reed

Ecstasy
(Warner/Reprise)

A Musical Feast

Denver produces a new crop of music.

Night Sweats

Scorsese's New York is alive and kicking in Bringing Out the Dead, but the vital signs are weakening.

Rubbed the Right Way

Masseuse Carla Madison keeps in touch with the Denver music scene.

Happy Lou

In concert, Lou Reed takes a walk on the mild side.

Thrills for the week

THRILLS

UP FROM THE UNDERGROUND

WHY THE VELVET UNDERGROUND MATTERS, WHETHER YOU'RE HIP TO IT OR NOT.

EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED

FORMER VELVET UNDERGROUNDER JOHN CALE IS STILL DOING WHATEVER HE DAMN WELL PLEASES.

THRILLS