The Decemberists

Colin Check

Colin Check

Festival alert: Sasquatch! Monolith and Westword Music Showcase

Vintage Q&A With the Decemberists' Colin Meloy

Q&A With Colin Meloy

Q&A with Stephen Malkmus

The Westword.com blog shortcut, February 11 edition

It's a day that probably won't live in infamy. But you never know... Today in Backbeat Online: • The Fray tops Billboard 200. • The Decemberists, Thievery Corporation, John Prine shows announced. • Young Coyotes to release pair of EPs next month. • Watch DJ Chonz mix live every day at 11 ... More >>

Week in Review: 2/9/09 - 2/13/09

The biggest news of the week in Denver music was obviously the Fray being the biggest selling band in the country. But aside from that, there was a ton of other news, like word of SleeperHorse parting ways, Gregory Alan Isakov touring with Brandi Carlile, Single File being featured on Spin.com, the ... More >>

The Decemberists grab top spot at Twist & Shout

The Decemberists' new album Hazards of Love grabbed the top spot on Twist & Shout's bestseller list for the week ending March 29. Mastodon's Crack the Skye came in second, while Neko Case's Middle Cyclone and U2's No Line on the Horizon stayed in the top 10 for the fourth week in a row. See the ... More >>

The Westword.com blog shortcut, March 30 edition

What are you? Chicken? Dig in. Today in Cafe Society: • Fried chicken at White Fence Farm. • Soup's back on for hospice benefit, and other class acts. • A Milking It review of LiveActive Nut Harvest Crunch. • Lenny's Sub Shop now open on Lincoln. • Coffee Spot: Ink! Coffee. • Fine past ... More >>

Record Store Day preview: April is the month for the Decemberists

The Decemberists. The latest Decemberists album, The Hazards of Love, is a challenging yet rewarding song cycle. Yet "The Rake's Song," which serves as the recording's centerpiece, is as musically compelling as it is lyrically unusual: Lead singer/tunesmith Colin Meloy portrays a widower who bumps ... More >>

Yeah Yeah Yeahs top seller at Twist & Shout

Yeah Yeah Yeahs' brand new album, It's Blitz, topped the best seller charts Twist & Shout for the week ending April 6 while new albums by Diana Krall, PJ Harvey & John Parish, Leonard Cohen and the Decemberists also grabbed slots in the top five. See the full breakdown after the jump.

Colin Meloy Sings Live!

The Decemberists frontman relishes the chance to play more intimate shows.

Laura Gibson

The Decemberists frontman relishes the chance to play more intimate shows.

On the Record

Weighing in on ten of 2006’s most stellar releases.

The Decemberists

Tuesday, November 14, Paramount Theatre, 303-830-8497.

Laura Gibson

Tuesday, January 23, hi-dive, 720-570-4500.

Various Artists

To: Elliott/From: Portland (Expunged Records)

A Pack of Mutts

The Lone Wolves of 2005

Days in December

Getting dramatic with the Decemberists frontman.

Death Cab for Cutie

Saturday, October 8, Fillmore Auditorium, 303-830-8497.

The Decemberists

The Tain (Kill Rock Stars)

The Long Winters

Tuesday, June 1, Gothic Theatre, 303-788-0984

Prose and Cons

The Decemberists make smart music, and damn the consequences.

The Decemberists

Castaways and Cutouts (Hush/Kill Rock Stars)

Bob Dylan top seller at Twist & Shout

Bob Dylan's Together Through Life, released last week on Columbia, grabbed the top spot at Twist and Shout for the week ending May 3. Depeche Mode, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Neko Case rounded out the top five. See the full breakdown after the jump.

Bob Dylan grabs top spot at Twist and Shout

Bob Dylan's latest disc, Together Through Life, was the top seller for the second week in a row at Twist and Shout, while new releases from Ben Harper, Isis, Peaches and St. Vincent rounded out the list for the week ending May 10. See the full breakdown after the jump.

Beyond Playlist: Eminem and more

Eminem Relapse (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope) The haters have been laying for this one, and there's no denying that Eminem has provided them with plenty of ammunition. Devoting an entire album to his drug problems and rehab struggles invites accusations of solipsism (yeah, yeah, it's a hip-hop trad ... More >>

The Decemberists

Tuesday, May 26, Fillmore Auditorium, 1-877-598-6659.

Prints Charming

These artists are poster children for concert promos.

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 >>

Monolith Q&A: The Thermals

Photo by Alicia J. Rose​The Thermals new album, Now We Can See, represents more than simply a fresh recording for the Portland-based trio. After an amicable departure from the iconic Seattle label Sub-Pop, the group released their new disc on Kill Rock Stars. According to frontman Hutch Harris ... More >>

Dialed In: This week's local music radio playlists

​Here what the area's local-centric specialty radio shows were spinning this week. We're currently tracking the playlists a number of different shows, including Radio 1190's Local Shakedown, KTCL's Locals Only, the Colorado Sound, which originates at KRFC and is re-broadcast all over Colorado, and ... More >>

Deferred Hat Tip: The Original Brothers and Sisters of Love "The Legende of Jeb Minor"

I love songs that tell stories. I'm partial to them in a way that if I got jury duty to pick the best of them, I'd be kicked out due to my relentless love of any and all songs conveying even a semblance of plot. ​ Knowing this, I still feel comfortable saying that the 1999 release of The Leg ... More >>

Nick Cave is supposedly penning The Crow remake -- here's five musicians we'd like to see tackle other movies

​Rumors have been swirling recently that Nick Cave may have signed on to rewrite the screenplay for The Crow remake (ouch that sentence hurts our heads). Cave is a favorite around here for his music, but we're a bit hard pressed to find anyone who's actually made it through a piece of his fict ... More >>

Is the entire notion of a band "selling out" even valid anymore in this day and age?

​In a Q&A with GQ posted earlier this week, Steve Albini takes Sonic Youth to task for selling out when they signed to Geffen in 1990. He contends that when Sonic Youth entered the mainstream machine, it encouraged other bands to follow suit. It's kind of confusing logic if you think too lon ... More >>

Ke$ha and the Decemberists shows announced

​As part of her first North American headlining tour, Ke$ha stops at the Fillmore Auditorium on Saturday, February 19. Cannibal, the companion album to her debut, Animal, drops next week and will be available individually and bundled with Animal as a special repackage dubbed Animal Cannibal. ... More >>

Social Distortion and the Decemberists top sellers at Independent, Twist and Albums

​Social Distortion's Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes, released last week on Epitaph, claimed the top spot at Independent Records this week and came in second at Twist & Shout, while the Decemberists' latest effort, The King is Dead , released last week on Capitol, debuted at number one at both A ... More >>

BLKHRTS, Wu-Tang top our weekly playlists

​As people who think about, talk about, listen to and make music, the most common question we encounter is, "What are you listening to right now?" Whether you're looking for recommendations, trying to get a feel for our individual sensibilities, or are just curious, we've compiled a list of al ... More >>

Iron & Wine, Decemberists, Nicki Minaj are this week's top local sellers

​Iron & Wine's first studio effort in three years, Kiss Each Other Clean, released last week on Warner Brothers, debuted at number one at both Twist & Shout and Wax Trax, while coming in at number two at Albums on the Hill for the week ending January 30. The Decemberists' latest effort, The Ki ... More >>

The Decemberists

Wednesday, February 9, Boulder Theater, 303-786-7030.

Sasquatch 2011 line-up announced: Vanilla bands covered in vanilla sauce

​Sasquatch became the second major summer festival to announce its lineup last night. The George, Washington (kills us every time) indie-fest is always heavy on the hipster-bait, but this year is egregious. The top of the bill looks like this: Foo Fighters, Death Cab for Cutie, Modest Mouse, W ... More >>

The Decemberists, Nicki Minaj, Gregory Alan Isakov top sellers

​The Decemberists' latest effort, The King is Dead, moved back up to claim the top spot at Twist & Shout, while moving in the opposite direction at Albums on the Hill to the seventh slot for the week ending February 6. Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday held on to the number one spot at Independent Rec ... More >>

Earth, Deca, DeVotchKa, Mogwai, Hindershot, Warsaw and Adele top our weekly playlists

​As people who think about, talk about, listen to and make music, the most common question we encounter is, "What are you listening to right now?" Whether you're looking for recommendations, trying to get a feel for our individual sensibilities, or are just curious, we've compiled a list of al ... More >>

The Decemberists at the Boulder Theater, 2/9/11

Editor's note: Two of our writers were at the Decemberists show last night in Boulder, and so today we present you with two different accounts of the show from two different perspectives. Two for the price of, uh, none, as it were -- well, unless you count the cost your Internet connection. Adam Pe ... More >>

Decemberists, Akron/Family, Gregg Allman, Nicki Minaj top sellers at local stores

​The Decemberists latest effort, The King is Dead, continues to hold on the top spot at Twist & Shout, while Gregg Allman's Low Country Blues, released last month on Rounder, came in first at Albums on the Hill for the week ending February 13. Akron/Family's new album, meanwhile, S/T II: The C ... More >>

PJ Harvey, Drive-By Truckers, Nicki Minaj top sellers at local stores

​PJ Harvey's Let England Shake, released last week on Vagrant, took the top spot at Twist & Shout and claimed the sixth spot at Albums on the Hill for the week ending February 20. The Drive-By Truckers, meanwhile, debuted at number one at Albums with their latest effort Go-Go Boots, also relea ... More >>

Will Oldham narrating an audiobook? Here's 10 more musicians we'd like to see narrate classic books

​Audio books are all about finding the perfect actor with the perfect voice to read to you while you drive across the country. So, when we heard Will Oldham had taken on the narration of Rudolph Wurlitzer's Slow Fade, we started thinking about what other artists should venture into the same bu ... More >>

Adele, Stockholm Syndrome, OFF! top sellers this week at local record stores

​Adele's new album 21, released last week on Columbia, debuted in the number one spots at both Twist & Shout and Independent Records, while coming in third at Albums on the Hill. Stockholm Syndrome, meanwhile, claimed the top spot at Albums on the Hill with its latest, Apollo, released Februar ... More >>

Mile Highlights: Denver/Boulder area concert news, local radio playlists and top album sales

​Here's what's happening in music on the Front Range this week: On the concert front, shows from Radiohead, Roger Waters, the Descendants and Los Lobos were announced. Nautical Mile, Tennis, Churchill and Dressy Bessy got spins on local radio. And new and recent releases from Tom Waits, Wale a ... More >>