Tom Waits

Indigenous Robot

Fire Ball
Self-released

Marc Ribot on collaborating with David Hidalgo of Los Lobos and recording with Tom Waits

Los Lobos singer and guitarist David Hildago clearly knows his away around Latin music, and so does guitarist Marc Ribot, who's played with a ton of folks over the years, from Tom Waits and Elvis Costello to John Zorn and the Lounge Lizards. When the two bring their Border Music duo to the L2 Arts a ... More >>

Backbeat's top five spins: This is what we're listening to this week. What's on your playlist?

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 >>

The Waitsian Range

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 moe., the Bag Raiders and Jane's Addiction were announced; Monroe Monroe, Elway, Shel and Fierce Bad Rabbit got spins on local radio; and new releases from Florence and the Machine, Drake, Childish Gambin ... 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 Rammstein, Kelly Clarkson, Kenny Chesney and Tim McGraw, Kraddy, Peter Frampton, Umphrey's McGee and Henry Rollins were announced; Caleb Slade, Force Publique, My Body Sings Electric and the Outfit ... 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 >>

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: Brad Paisley's at the Pepsi Center in January, Salt-n-Pepa's at the Gothic in December and Donavon Frankenreiter comes to town in March. Air Dubai, In the Whale, Jen Korte and Saints got spins on local radio. And new and recent re ... More >>

Tom Waits tribute this weekend at Gold Hill Inn

​Although Anti just released "Back in the Crowd," the second single from Tom Waits' forthcoming disc, Bad as Me, there's still close to another month before the album hits the stores. So if you're looking to your Waits fix in the meantime, Gold Hill Inn in Boulder is hosting a Tom Waits tribut ... More >>

The original Japanese robot, Tom Waits and more in new releases this week, August 2, 2011

​We have reached the absolute lull of the summer as far as new releases are concerned. But while nothing coming out on DVD this week appealed to us, we did manage to track down a few books, games and comics that should provide some nice indoor entertainment while everyone else is off getting s ... More >>

So long, sweater weather. Bring on the sun! Top 10 songs for your spring soundtrack

Spring flowers bring sweet effin' jams!​It's that time of year -- time to trade in those stinky wool sweaters for T-shirts and tanks. Time to toss off those boots, slip on your sandals and start prepping for the sunshine. Bust that picnic basket out of the basement, air out the old blanket and ... More >>

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame class of 2011: Apathy and antics

Getty Images​A bunch of old white dudes and Darlene Love got trophies yesterday at a fancy hotel in New York. We're referring, of course, to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, an institution that exists to reaffirm our canonical certainties. This year's class: Love, Tom Waits, Alice Coo ... 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 >>

Death Rides West

Denver does Denver, but who's doing the rest? A list of our five dream covers.

The act we've chosen for Magnetic Fields to cover is so obvious, it just might work.​With Denver Does Denver now safely in the rearview, we've been pondering what an expansion of the concept beyond the Colorado borders might look like. More to the point, we've been thinking about what some of ... 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 >>

Astronautalis on over-the-top comparisons, hip-hop's progression and fans "getting it"

​Andy Bothwell, aka. Astronautalis, has oft times been labeled as the Tom Waits or Hunter S. Thompson of underground hip-hop. Like many others in his position, he began honing his skills in high school, battling on corners while climbing rank amongst industry-friendly peers. His unhurried and ... More >>

Ten eleven albums for your summer road trip

With the passing of Memorial Day we can finally say summer is here. And with summer comes summer camp, vacations and tours -- and how do we get there? We drive. That's how. This is America, after all. In celebration of seemingly endless sunny days and left-arm tans, we've picked some of our favori ... More >>

Ten musicians we'd like to see teach elementary school

David Shankbone​ This weekend in New York City, Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth is evidently slated to give a lecture to kids between the ages of eight and twelve titled "A Dissertation on White Noise." This news got us to thinking: What other musicians would we like to see teaching our childre ... More >>

The Muppets cover "Dust in the Wind." Here's five more songs we'd like to see 'em tackle.

You know the world is going to shit when the Muppets have to step up and offer commentary about something. In the case of this video, we have to admit, we agree with the underlying sentiments. In case you haven't seen yet: Beaker's delicate and inspirational attempt at Kansas' "Dust in the Wind," ... 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 >>

Nick Cave & Warren Ellis grab top spot at Wax Trax

​Nick Cave and Warren Ellis nabbed the top spot at Wax Trax this week with their evocative score of John Hillcoat's film The Road, based the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name. Tracks from the soundtrack also appear on the two-CD White Lunar, a compilation of the duo's soundtrack work fro ... More >>

KKHi's Smooth Sound of Colorado top seller at Twist and Shout

​KKHi's second volume of The Smooth Sound of Colorado, featuring Walter Beasley, Craig Chaquico, Euge Groove and other smooth jazz artists, grabbed the top top at Twist & Shout for the week ending December 27. Tom Waits' Glitter and Doom Live remained in the second spot, while Susan Boyle's I ... More >>

Susan Boyle on top again at Twist and Shout

​Susan Boyle continues to dominate the charts at Twist & Shout and once again grabbed the top spot with her debut, I Dreamed a Dream. Tom Waits is still putting up a fight with Glitter and Doom Live and came in second while Christmas records from Sting and Bob Dylan came in third and fourth fo ... More >>

Susan Boyle top seller at Twist and Shout

​Susan Boyle and Tom Waits continue to duke it out at Twist & Shout. Three weeks ago, Boyle took the top spot with her debut, I Dreamed a Dream, and Waits grabbed the top spot with Glitter and Doom Live two weeks ago. Well, Boyle's back on top for the week ending December 13, while Bob Dylan's ... More >>

Neil Young Top Seller at Wax Trax

​Neil Young's Dreamin' Man Live '92, which includes a complete live performance of Harvest Moon before the studio album was released, grabbed the top spot at Wax Trax this week, while Mars Volta's Omar Rodriguez-Lopez claimed the second slot with his latest effort, Xenophanes. Tom Waits, meanwhile ... More >>

Tom Waits top seller at Twist and Shout

​Apparently there was a bit of a fight between Tom Waits' Glitter & Doom Live and Susan Boyle's I Dreamed a Dream last week at Twist & Shout, and fortunately, Waits, who turned sixty yesterday, was the victor. Blakroc, the Black Keys' new hip-hop project, came in third, while Them Crooked ... More >>

Tom Waits top seller at Wax Trax

​Tom Waits' Glitter and Doom Live, which includes tracks from last year's Glitter and Doom tour, grabbed the top spot at Wax Trax for the week ending November 29. The Black Keys' hip-hop project Blakroc, which features rappers like Raekwon, RZA and Mos Def, came in second with their self-titled de ... More >>

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 >>

Bottesini Project to set up shop in San Francisco for the night

The Bottesini Project, the completely improv project spearheaded by Creative Music Works' Paul Riola, is taking its unique show on the road. Riola is taking the concept -- spontaneous compositions created by like-minded musicians in a formal jam context -- to San Francisco on Friday, May 15, at the ... More >>

Top Sellers: Twist & Shout

Neil Young's live recording from 1968, when he was just 22, tops Twist & Shout's bestsellers list, with a strong showing from local acts Everything Absent or Distorted (a love story) and Paper Bird. Also good to see Tom Waits in the Top 10 with an album he released just over four years ago. The ... More >>

KBCO Studio C celebrates its twentieth anniversary with two-CD set

Just received an advance of KBCO's Studio C 20th Anniversary Edition. The 38-song two-disc set, celebrating two decades of in-studio performances, gathers tracks from a few of the usual suspects (Dave Matthews Band, Sheryl Crow), alongside some rare gems from the likes of Jeff Buckley, Dr. John an ... More >>

Weezer Coming Back to Denver... Uh, We Think

Last Night...Tom Waits @ Orpheum Theatre, Phoenix

Tom Waits for No One

Letters to the Editor

Letters from the week of 11/29/2007

Whiskey Dick’s

Tom Waits would enjoy this bar talk.

This Just In...

The latest nightlife news

Tom Waits

Orphans
Anti-

Man Man

Saturday, June 10, Walnut Room, 303-292-1700.

The Blind Boys of Alabama

Saturday, August 20, Universal Lending Pavilion, 303-830-8497.

Man Man

Saturday, April 2, Climax Lounge, 303-292-5483.

Sum of Their Parts

With a twisted vision, Reverend Glasseye and His Wooden Legs get a leg up on the competition.

Tom Waits

Alice and Blood Money (Anti-)

Best concert (since June 1999)

Tom Waits at Paramount Theatre on October 12 and 13, 1999

Tin Hat Trio

Helium
(Angel)

Critic's Choice

This week's concert pick: New Orleans Klezmer Allstars.

Playlist

Quick-Change Artist

Don't try to pigeonhole vocalist Holly Cole.