Thorin Klosowski

2012 Westword Music Showcase Ballot

Update 3/14/12: The polls are officially open. Please feel free to make your way to the 2012 Westword Music Showcase ballot and register your vote! The 2012 Westword Music Showcase ballot is here -- no more waiting. Well, that's not entirely true: You will have to wait another day or so before the ... More >>

10 things to do for $10 this weekend, January 27-29, 2012

As the end of the month approaches -- and the rent is due -- other expenses fall by the wayside. We start making bizarre food concoctions out of whatever is left in the fridge and skimp on luxuries, like shampoo. But even though the landlord is looking for us, it's no reason to skimp on fun. Here's ... More >>

Reader: Being a scary man is very creative and noble

​It's not all that easy scaring people, insists Mythica von Griffyn, who's very busy these days acting at a haunted house. In fact, as he told Thorin Klosowski in yesterday's "How to Get My Job," the gig is a lot of hard work, what with make-up, costuming and the constant need to frighten peop ... More >>

What's the first music you bought with your own money?

Can you guess which member of Team Backbeat bought this record?​Do you remember the first album you bought with your own money? Of course you do! It's like the first person you kissed or the first one who broke your heart -- it's a monumental, life-changing moment in your life that's unforgett ... More >>

Reader: Neal Stephenson's right -- those cheating sites just cheat you out of fun

​Neal Stephenson will be at the Tattered Cover LoDo tonight to talk about video games, farming gold and his new book, Reamde. But first, he talked with Thorin Klosowski for an extensive Q&A, which prompted this response from Rick: I concur in re: Cheating... Oddly, I spent years only letting ... More >>

Reader: "You could have spent time in an inner city and been murdered instead"

Shoes are for the corporate overlord, man.​There's an element of truth to every stereotype, and that particularly goes for Boulder, a place so preoccupied with its own righteousness that even its Pop Tarts must be certified organic. Our man Thorin Klosowski recently returned from a stint in th ... More >>

2011 Westword Music Showcase: Backbeat scribes' travelogues

Every year, we enlist our Backbeat writers to host various stages at the Westword Music Showcase, and in addition to their emcee obligations, we ask them to pull double duty and write up the acts that appear on their individual stages. Click through to read travelogues from Thorin Klosowski, Ru John ... More >>

Top ten tweets from Westword Music Showcase, a.k.a. #wms11

The Sword ​You can't be everywhere at once, especially during events like Saturday's Westword Music Showcase, with more than a dozen venues across a few blocks in the Golden Triangle. Thankfully, we've got Twitter to read about people complaining and dancing and high-fiving across the festival ... More >>

Comment of the day: The way I see it it's very safe sex

​Being a phone sex operator is actually kind of boring. At least, that's the gist of what we learned from Crystal (that's a pseudonym, by the way), a phone sex operator Thorin Klosowski interviewed back in March for How to Get My Job -- there, Crystal tells us that, ultimately, the world of ph ... More >>

Star Wars Day: May the Fourth Be With You... and everyone at Denver StarFest (VIDEO)

Not-Leia & Not-Han.​Today is Star Wars Day -- a date celebrated with the phrase "May the Fourth be with you." Get it? Over at our Show and Tell blog, Thorin Klosowski marks the occasion with a collection of weird Star Wars memorabilia. But we didn't want to be left out. So unleash your inner g ... More >>

Comment of the day: "A little information can indeed be a dangerous thing"

​Bobby Fischer was one of the greatest chess players of all time, and he was also one of the craziest -- not that he didn't have competition on both counts. In fact, the history of chess reveals a long legacy of crazy-ass chess masters, a legacy Thorin Klosowski took a look at last week in his ... More >>

Green Up Colorado highlights Colorado's sustainability movement tonight on PBS

​While we're pretty much terrified of shrubbery now after Thorin Klosowski's earlier post on murderous fictional plants, it's important to remember that even if in movies plants bring certain death, in the real world, they bring life. And tonight on Rocky Mountain PBS, the locally produced doc ... More >>

Comment of the day: Watch your back, Neustifter

Neustifter got lucky.​Contrary to popular cultural belief, not all cosplayers are mouth-breathing weirdos with no social skills -- in fact, the vast majority of them are just normal folks who like to represent their fanhood by dressing up, and what's so strange about that? That's the gist of T ... More >>

Photos: Ogle the weird and the wonderful of StarFest

​Presumably because of the large cross-section of Star Wars and Star Trek fans within the nerd community, StarFest is at least in name dedicated to the stars -- but if the costumes on display this weekend were any indication, it should probably just be called "EverythingFest." Literally every ... More >>

2011 Westword Music Showcase Ballot

​Seventeen years! It's hard to believe we've been doing the Westword Music Showcase for that long. I can still remember being at the first one in LoDo nearly two decades ago. And when I think back, it seems like that cold, rainy Sunday night was just a few years ago.

Contest: Tell us your cat stories and win two free tickets to the Springtime in the Rockies Cat Show

Yep, they are some weird-ass looking animals.​Here's a fun fact: Bald cats can get sunburned. Like, really sunburned. I know this because I used to live with a bald cat; my ex-wife randomly decided she wanted one for reasons I never really figured out. His name was Frances. He was a bizarre cr ... More >>

Comment of the day: "I would love to do some phone sex"

Denise? Is that you?​The popular perception may be that they are either fat slobs or oversexed vixens, but for most phone sex operators, it's just a job -- that's according to (pseudonymed) Crystal, the phone sex operator Thorin Klosowski talked to yesterday (in a strictly professional capacit ... More >>

20 things to do solo in Denver on Valentine's Day

Who needs people with all their talking and opinions? Not you, you're a lone wolf who doesn't need a pack of yapping furballs to cramp your style. Here's what to do on Valentine's Day. Alone.

Moovers and Shakers: Our favorite Denver music releases of 2010

Split Decision: Kanye West, young man. Or not.

​Kanye West is about as polarizing a figure as there is these days. The mere mention of his name inspires a variety of reactions, everything from exasperated eye rolls to passionate rants or equally passionate raves girded with an apologetic undertone for all of his often inexplicably brazen b ... More >>

Aloe Blacc, Harry Nilsson, Kid Cudi fill our playlists this week

​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 >>

Pretty Lights, Ween and Jay-Z filled our playlists this week

​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 National, Bassnectar, Sleigh Bells, the Slits filled our playlists this past week

​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 >>

Air Dubai, Lil Wayne and DJ Krush fill our playlists this week

​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 >>

Grinderman, RJD2 and Dismemberment Plan fill our playlists this week

​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?" So 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 ... More >>

Justify My Love: Defending '50s and '60s country

​Okay, we all have some skeletons in our closet, shit we dig -- be it music, movies or television shows -- that we'd just as soon nobody else knew about. "Guilty pleasures" is what most people term these sort of inclinations. Well, here at Backbeat, there's no shame in our game -- assuming, of ... More >>

Five artists begging to be riffed on by the new Beavis and Butthead

​We're sure you've heard by now that Beavis & Butthead, the staple of '90s-era MTV, is returning in a new series to help break up the monotony of the reality-show based programming choices on the network. While MTV hasn't yet officially confirmed what the NY Post reported two months ago, they ... More >>

Cee Lo Green's inescapably charming (and shamelessly profane) kiss off tops our playlists

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

Big Boi, the Roots, Rick Ross, FOE & Whygee dominate our playlists this week

Jason StoffBig Boi, shown here at this past weekend's Pitchfork Festival, dominated our 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?" So whether you're looking for recommendations, ... More >>

Presenting the 2010 Westword Music Showcase Ballot

​ This past February, when we started putting together the 2010 Westword Music Showcase, we posted an item asking you how we could improve our annual music festival, this year set for Saturday, June 19, in the Golden Triangle (if you haven't already purchased your tickets, you can still buy d ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of March 8, 2010

​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?" So 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 ... More >>

Heavy Rotation: Pretty Lights, Liars, Gorillaz top our weekly playlists

Pretty Lights. Photo by Aaron Thackeray​ ​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?" So whether you're looking for recommendations, trying to get a feel for our individual sensibilities, o ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of March 8, 2010

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of February 8, 2010

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of February 1, 2010

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of January 25, 2010

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. ... More >>

Backbeat writers weigh in on the year's best national releases

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of December 1, 2009

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. For t ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of November 23, 2009

​As music critics -- and people who generally think about, talk about, listen to and make music -- the most common question we get asked (and ask each other, for that matter) is, "What are you listening to right now?" The pervasiveness of this query is precisely what inspired Heavy Rotation. For t ... More >>

Heavy Rotation, our top spins for the week of October 12, 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 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 >>

Over the Weekend...The Photo Atlas, Epilogues and Set Forth @ the Walnut Room

45 Second Reviews: British Sea Power, The Heavy Circles, Simple Plan, Xiu Xiu

My Calculus Beats Your Algebra

Shackleton's Dogs (Ash From Sweat)

My Calculus Beats Your Algebra

My Calculus Beats Your Algebra (Self-released)

Westword Music Showcase 2004

Fifty bands. Ten stages. Five bucks. Be there.