The Velvet Underground

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 >>

The Warlocks

Saturday, March 9, Walnut Room, 303-292-0529.

The Stooges' Raw Power turns forty today

Great art does not always move units. Case in point: The Stooges' 1973 album, Raw Power, was a complete flop commercially. But, as with the story about the Velvet Underground, it seems that everyone who did buy it must have been inspired to start a band, because forty years after its initial release ... More >>

Gateway acts: How Beck opened up a whole new world to an evangelical boy from the Midwest

Gateway acts is a new ongoing series on Backbeat in which we examine the music that served as an entry point for our burgeoning musical obsessions, a gateway drug that tuned us in and turned us on. Today, Josiah Hesse gives up the goods on his Beck jones. There is no way to listen to the music of ... More >>

Ten essential albums of the 1960s

If someone wanted to learn more about the sixties, but didn't know where to start, these are the albums we'd recommend. While they aren't necessarily the best selling, or the most critically acclaimed, they are certainly the ones that float to the surface all these years later, providing a rough blu ... More >>

Backbeat's five most listened-to songs and albums, week of September 5, 2012

As people who think about, talk about, write about, listen to and make music, it shouldn't be too surprising to find that the most common (and our mutually favorite) topic of conversation among all of us is the same: "What are you listening to right now?" Stick a quarter in us, and boy, wouldn't you ... More >>

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 >>

Good Friday: Titwrench Fest, Cass McCombs, Cold Cave and more on tap this weekend

Jacob TeitelbaumMarried In Berdichev​Kicking off last night, Titwrench Fest 2011 is now in full-swing at the Mercury Cafe tonight with bands, dance performances and informational workshops running through the weekend. The four-day festival brings avant-garde, experimental and (mostly) female m ... More >>

Candy Says

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.

Tonight: The Black Angels at the Fox

​One listen to The Black Angels (playing tonight at the Fox Theatre with Sleepy Sun) and it is almost unfathomable that the band was concieved in 2004. The Austin quartet isn't a tribute to the psychedelic rock -- it defines the decades-old genre with dark organ echoes, heavy percussion and th ... More >>

Stuart Braithwaite of Mogwai on musical roots and the awful Margaret Thatcher

Steve GullickMogwai​ Formed in 1995, Mogwai quickly made a name for itself with adventurous guitar work and a sound that loosened and opened up the imagination. Over the course of the next sixteen years, the Scottish band very much plotted its own course through exploring every sonic whim wit ... More >>

Your favorite albums of all time, now with tacos

​If you were desperately hoping for a Tuesday afternoon diversion that combined your love of music with your love of tacos, have we got great news for you. Welcome to the wonderful world of Album Tacos. WTF are Album Tacos, you ask? It's exactly what it sounds like: Your favorite album covers ... More >>

The Black

Wednesday, August 25, hi-dive, 720-570-4500; Thursday, August 26, Astroland, Boulder, myspace.com/ASTROLANDD.

Night Owl at Old Curtis Street

The Strange Boys

Tuesday, March 9, hi-dive, 720-570-4500.

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of October 5, 2009

​​As music critics, the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation, our latest feature. For the benefit of those who happen to be curious, we've compiled a list ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of August 24, 2009

​As music critics, the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation, our latest feature. For the benefit of those who happen to be curious, we've compiled a list of ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of August 3, 2009

As music critics, the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation, our latest feature. For the benefit of those who happen to be curious, we've compiled a list of al ... More >>

MP3 Freeloader: Tonight, Hawks of Paradise at the Oriental

If you miss the halcyon days of blues-based rock with just a hint of psychedelic haze, then tonight's CD-release party for the Hawks of Paradise album Skeleton Key will make you very happy. We've compared this outfit to Bob Dylan and the Velvet Underground, but what you really need to know is that ... More >>

Women

Wednesday, March 25, Rhinoceropolis, 303-641-9809.

I love a cover

I love a good cover. Today, I ran across this list of the best and worst covers of all time and it got me thinking about the art of covers. I know people who hate them, regardless of quality and a lot of people just don't seem to get the point. To some degree it goes back to that punk ethos of DIY, ... More >>

Spiritualized

Hawks of Paradise at the Larimer Lounge

Teeth Mountain

Sunday, August 10, Rhinoceropolis, 303-641-9809.

Week Five in Hell's Kitchen: Ballroom Blitz

Black Lips

Saturday, February 16, Bluebird Theater, 303-291-1007.

Slight Harp

Rhinoceropolis

Necro Loves Violence, Hates Women and Other Assorted Goodies

Various Artists

Juno: Music From the Motion Picture
Rhino

May Riots

Larimer Lounge

Yo La Tengo

Tuesday, October 10, Boulder Theater, Boulder, 303-786-7030.

Primal Scream and Kasabian

Riot City Blues (Columbia) and Empire (RCA)

Cherry Creek, Phone Home

First Round the Corner disappeared. Now Tattered Cover. What's next?

The Warlocks

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

John Cale

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

Various Artists

OHM+: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music: 1948-1980 (Ellipsis Arts)

The Dandy Warhols

Odditorium or Warlords of Mars (Capitol)

Ambulance LTD

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

The Beatdown

Setting the stage for 2005.

Club Scout

The Blue Mule

The Velvet Underground

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

Fiery Furnaces

Blueberry Boat (Rough Trade)

The Strokes

Room on Fire (RCA)

Film Exposed

The International Experimental Cinema challenges viewers with a mixed bag from Warhol to Teutonic auteurs.

Discmania

Backbeat writers revisit their favorite albums of the year.

Thrills for the week

UP FROM THE UNDERGROUND

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

HIT PICK

Playlist

The Velvet Underground, Big Star, Guru, The Drop Nineteens