Vampire Weekend

Q&A With Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig

Last Night...Vampire Weekend and YACHT @ Bluebird Theater

Monolith Line Up Announced

Monolith Announces 22 More Acts

Q&A With Wes Miles of Ra Ra Riot

Over the Weekend...the Chain Gang of 1974, the Heyday, Laylights, Swayback, Born in the Flood, Ra Ra Riot and Drive-By Truckers @ Westword Music Showcase

Monolith Festival Live Blog, Day 1

Chairlift continues its ascent... upward, of course.

Photo: Jason Klauber All right so how freaking rad is this? The mailman just laid the new copy of Spin on me, the Best of 2008 issue with TV on the Radio on the cover. And as I'm thumbing through it, I notice very few surprises: Black Kids, Vampire Weekend, Deerhunter and Santogold, all receive ... More >>

In case you missed it: Backbeat's ten most-read blogs of 2008

The Mile High Music fest drew a lot of interest from local music fans in '08. This blog churned out more than 1,400 posts in 2008, about life, death, plastic surgery, and even some music. Here, in case you just joined us or are really taking stock of your year, a quick-clicking guide to the ten mo ... 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 >>

Vampire Weekend

Most bands would kill for the buzz surrounding this NYC quartet.

Vampire Weekend

Vampire Weekend
XL Recordings

The Fest of Times

Vampire Weekend
XL Recordings

Westword's favorite national albums of the year

Vampire Weekend
XL Recordings

Riot Squad

Ra Ra Riot cheers on the rebirth of college rock.

Vampire Weekend Takes on Its Buzz

Hot on the heels of SXSW, the nation’s hottest buzz band returns to Denver.

Breaking: Monolith Festival on the ropes

​Just received word from Josh Baker, co-curator of Monolith, that the future of the indie-centric festival is uncertain. (Read Baker's full statement after the jump.) Although the turnout for this year's festival seemed to increase slightly from year's past and the lineup itself seemed more solid ... More >>

This Just In: Vampire Weekend, Owl City, Alkaline Trio shows announced

​Although New York-based indie act Vampire Weekend isn't releasing its highly anticipated sophomore effort, Contra, for another week, NPR is streaming the entire album until it hits the stores on Tuesday, January 12. Touring in support of the album, the band will trek across the UK and Europe in F ... More >>

Vampire Weekend on top at Twist and Shout

​Vampire Weekend's Contra, released last week on XL, follow-up to its 2008 self-titled debut, was one of the most highly anticipated records of the new year, so it's no surprise the album claimed the top slot at Twist & Shout for the week ending January 17. Blakroc's self-titled debut, Phoenix ... 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 >>

Faith restored: Coachella 2010 lineup announced

Fucking A. Ask and ye shall receive, eh? (Well, it's not Denver, but close enough.) Just glimpsed the lineup for this year's Coachella. As far as headliners go, you've got your Jay-Z and your LCD Soundsystem and, uh, let's see here, Thom Yorke and ... yada, yada, yada. Whatever, dude. Five words: Fa ... More >>

Vampire Weekend top seller at Albums on the Hill

​Vampire Weekend's sophomore effort, Contra, released last week on XL, grabbed the top spot at Albums on the Hill for the week ending January 17. The reissue of Ween's The Pod came in second, while OK Go's latest, Of the Blue Colour of the Sky, released last week on Capitol, nabbed the third spot. ... More >>

Poptimystic: 3OH!3 and Vampire Weekend

Welcome to Poptimystic, our latest feature where we lead you on a leisurely stroll through the world where pop music actually means popular. This week, hometown goofboys 3OH!3 make a return to the top of the Hot 100, and early returns have Vampire Weekend besting all comers. Huh? ​ The 3OH!3 ... More >>

Young Money still on top at Independent Records

​While Vampire Weekend's Contra is dominating the charts nationally and locally, it came in second to the Lil' Wayne-produced Young Money's We Are Young Money, which has sat at the number one slot at Independent Records for a month now. Snoop Dogg's Malice N Wonderland, Gucci Mane's State vs. Radr ... More >>

Spoon top seller at local record stores, while Vampire Weekend holds steady

​While Vampire Weekend's Contra captured the top spot at a lot of local record stores the previous week, Spoon's seventh album, Transference, released last week on the Merge imprint, topped the charts for the week ending January 24. The album grabbed top spots at Albums on the Hill, Independent Re ... 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 >>

Moving Units: Spoon still strong seller at local record stores

​Although Spoon's latest effort, Transference, didn't have quite the pull it did the week it came out, it was still a strong a seller among local record stores for the week ending January 31. Magnetic Fields' Realism, released last week on Nonesuch had a decent debut, and Vampire Weekend's Contra ... 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 >>

Moving Units: New releases from Album Leaf, Lil Wayne and Vampire Weekend top local sales charts

Vampire Weekend's Contra claimed the top spot at Twist & Shout last week.​Although Spoon has dominated the local charts over the past few weeks, there were no clear winners across the board for the week ending February 7. New releases from Album Leaf and Lil Wayne -- his ill advised rock album ... 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 >>

Moving Units: Sade top seller at local stores

​Soldier of Love, Sade's first album in a decade, grabbed the top spots at Independent Records and Twist & Shout, while coming in at second at Albums on the Hill for the week ending February 14. Yeasayer's Odd Blood, released last week on Secretly Canadian, and Spoon's Transference, which came ... More >>

Alec Ounsworth

Saturday, February 20, Larimer Lounge, 303-291-1007.

Moving Units: Sade grabs top spot at local stores again

​ While there weren't any clear winners across the board at local stores for the week ending February 21, Sade's Soldier of Love did grab the top spots at Independent Records and Twist & Shout for the second week in a row. Beach House's Teen Dream and Yeasayer's Odd Blood were also strong sell ... More >>

The Weekend Showdown: We're hanging out with The Jim Jims

​We would hate for you to miss out on all the awesome that happens every weekend in our fair city, so we've decided to run down five of the best shows in one easy-to-swallow post, with video and audio. Tell us -- and the rest of the world -- what we missed in the comments. This week, Larimer ... More >>

Vampire Weekend at the Ogden: Shake it, white boy

​ Vampire Weekend • The Blow 03.19.10 | The Ogden Theatre A lot of people accuse Vampire Weekend of not being original. "It's Paul Simon but smirkier," they say, or: "It's Afro-pop but whiter." And maybe it is those things. But you know what we're willing to bet no Afro-pop band, Paul Sim ... More >>

Busting beers at home and in Austin: Over the Weekend

​Another Monday. Ugh. Not sure if reliving the weekend will make it better or worse, but we don't have much of a choice, do we? So, without further ado, some shit that happened between last Friday and now: • Kate Levy threw down at the Wrangler's Sunday Beer Bust. • Kiernan Maletsky shoo ... More >>

Top 10 Summer Jams for 2010

Kiernan Maletsky​The cover's off the grill, the windows are down and sweet freedom is on the horizon. Ahh, summer is coming. And while it's still early, there have already been more than enough entrants in the summer jam sweepstakes to make a short list. A few ground rules: 1. Must have been ... More >>

Vampire Weekend, Alice in Chains, Jonas Brothers shows announced

​After selling out the Ogden Theatre in March, Vampire Weekend returns to the area for more spacious digs at Red Rocks Amphitheatre on Friday, September 3 with Beach House and Dum Dum Girls opening. General admission tickets ($39.50) go on sale Friday, May 21 at noon.

Album Sales Are In The Crapper, But The National Is Doing Just Fine

This week's signs of the music industry's apocalypse: 1. The National had the highest selling debut album in the country this week, good for number three overall (behind Justin Beiber and Lady Antebellum). 2. This was the worst week for album sales since SoundScan started keeping track in 1991. ... More >>

Win tickets to see Chromeo tonight at the Ogden

Angela Boatwright Update: We've picked a winner. Congratulations to Fletcher Davis! Thanks to the fine folks at Mtn Dew's Green Label Sound, who set us up with the tix, he and a guest will be our guests tonight at the Ogden. A big shout-out to everyone who entered! Be sure to check back next week w ... More >>

Win tickets to see Vampire Weekend, Beach House and Dum Dum Girls at Red Rocks

Esther WhiteUpdate: Tickets are gone! We've picked and notified four winners, who will each be receiving a pair of tickets for the show this Friday. Thanks for the all the entries and even more, for reading Backbeat! Keep your eyes peeled for more giveaways.

Beach House

Friday, September 3, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 303-830-8497.

While we chill, musicians put the "labor" in Labor Day this weekend

​Ah, Labor Day weekend: Time for us to chill and do nothing like it's our job. Our musician friends, however, well, they'll be putting the "labor" in Labor Day. To that end, there's a ridiculous number of options if you're looking to do something compelling and music related, and we've writt ... More >>

Justify My Love: Submitting to a Vampire Weekend obsession

Catch Vampire Weekend tonight at Red Rocks with Beach House and the Dum Dum Girls​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 that nobody else knew about. Guilty pleasures is what most people term these sort of ... More >>

Photos: Vampire Weekend, Beach House, Dum Dum Girls at Red Rocks, 9/3/10

Vampire Weekend​If you missed it last night -- you can't blame us, we we're giving away tickets -- here photos (shot by Aaron Thackeray) of the indie tour that swung through Red Rocks Amphitheatre last night: Vampire Weekend (for whom we can Justify Our Love), Beach House and Dum Dum Girls. Se ... More >>

Vampire Weekend at Red Rocks Amphitheatre - 09.03.10

Aaron Thackeray​ Vampire Weekend Dum Dum Girls • Beach House 09.03.10 | Red Rocks Amphitheatre view full slide show Dum Dum Girls opened the show with a notable display of confidence and music reminiscent of Elastica with more of a '60s girl group vibe. The combination of chiming textures ... More >>

Labor Day weekend photos gone wild: Electric Avenue Music & Arts fest and more

​For some of us, Labor Day weekend was positively electric -- especially those who attended the Electric Avenue Music & Arts Festival. Westword photog Eric Gruneisen captured all the high-voltage action. Check out his shots, plus lotsa photos of Sleep at the Gothic Theatre and Vampire Weekend ... More >>

Slim Cessna, A. Tom Collins, Serious Moonlight and DJ MU$A 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 >>

Hearsay bits: Lipgloss turns ten, Royal Talons formed from the Skeleton of God and Joe Thunder prepares Lazy Sundayz 5

Aaron ThackerayMiike Snow at Lipgloss April 2010​ Once upon a time about a decade ago at 60 South -- in the space now occupied by the almighty 3 Kings Tavern -- a trio of DJs got together and launched a night that happened one Monday a month and was devoted solely to playing their favorite so ... More >>