Mile High Makeout: The Power of Focus

Photo: Liam Maloney On more than one occasion in this column, I’ve sung the praises of shows that include two, four, six different bands. I just love the orgiastic excess of catching a litter of great acts all in one night and in one venue. It’s like going to a…

Ichiban charts on CMJ

Looks like big ups are due to Ichiban, whose latest platter, Psycle Analysis, checked in this week at #39 on CMJ’s Top 40 hip-hop chart. That feat puts the rapper, who took home honors in the Hip-Hop MC category at this year’s Westword Music Showcase, in damn fine company. The…

Montell Jordan and Q Da Kid due at Nuggets opener

Montell Jordan. Just received word that old school R&B crooner Montell Jordan and Brooklyn rapper Q Da Kid will both be on hand for the Nuggets home opener against the Lakers this Saturday night at the Pepsi Center. Q will perform “On a Mission,” his current single, before the game,…

Chain Gang of 1974’s tour vlog

Photo: Dave Gaslin Speaking of 3OH!3, Kam from the Chain Gang of 1974 is on the road right now with those cats and has filmed a series of vlogs from the road, which we’ve dutifully posted for your viewing pleasure after the jump. Looks like Kam’s having the time. From…

3OH!3 sells nearly 50K. Not everybody’s stoked.

To date, 3OH!3 has reportedly sold 48,254 copies of Want, its Photo Finish Records debut, released this past July. While that may be music to the ears of local boosters, Jason Tate, the esteemed founder of AbsolutePunk.net, penned a thread on his site titled, “And to think of all the…

Hot IQs reschedule vinyl release and video premier party

Photo: Sarah Cass Hot IQs have announced a new date and a revised bill commemorating the release of its forthcoming Rococo Records 7-inch. The act, which was originally slated to issue its new record on Friday, November 7 at the Bluebird, will now drop the needle on Friday, December 19,…

Magic Cyclops makes a cameo (sort of) in the Centro-Matic video

Illustration: Unique Ink After sixteen attempts, Centro-Matic filmed its new video for “Rat Patrol and DJs” in one continuous shot with no edits. While that in itself is beyond noteworthy and impressive, it was equally as rad to spy one of the members sporting a Magic Cyclops shirt in the…

Heather Browne name dropped by Nick Hornby in New York Times

Gonna go out on a limb here and posit that today is perhaps one of the coolest days of Heather Browne’s life. This morning, Browne and her excellent Colorado Springs-based blog, I Am Fuel, You Are Friends, was name dropped by Nick Hornby as part of his Living with Music…

This Just In 10/30-11/05

The Killers invade Magness Arena on January 17. The big news in this slow week of concert announcements is the Killers January 17 show at DU’s Magness Arena. Good news for fans of the Gibbons brothers: some amazing seats for ZZ Top’s sold out Halloween show at the Paramount have…

Live Review: Ray LaMontagne at Macky Auditorium

Ray LaMontagne Macky Auditorium Monday, October 27, 2008 Better than: than the last time I saw him. A lot better. Nearly four years ago I saw Ray LaMontagne for the first time at New York City’s Bowery Ballroom. His impressive debut, Trouble, had been gaining a lot of traction and…

Live Review: Diplo at Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom

Diplo, Abe Vigoda, Telepathe and Boy 8-Bit Monday, October 27, 2008 Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom Better Than: You’d expect for a Monday night show. Things were pretty grim when I first got to Cervantes’, but as the night wore on, a sizable crowd eventually showed up. For the first hour and…

Live Review: Wovenhand at Mercury Cafe

Wovenhand Saturday, October 25, 2008 Mercury Café Better than: Most shows I’ve seen in the last decade. After Wovenhand’s show, there was a guy sitting on a chair near the stage. His head was in his hands and when a girl asked if him he was all right, he looked…

Weekend preview: ManeLine and Only Thunder CD release parties

This is a big weekend for CD release parties. First up tonight at the Oriental, ManeLine will unveil its latest effort, & Sew Its Seams, in the company of its compadres, 3 the Hardway, 9th Street Choir, Infinite Mindz, FOE, Kano, Venus Cruz and Dizy Pixl. And then tomorrow night…

Mile High Makeout: Serendipity Happens

Mike Neff makes a stranger smile In a town like Denver, you should never underestimate the power of serendipity. On more than one occasion, I’ve been out wandering the city, on my way to something or other and have ended up stumbling on a remarkable musical experience…

R.I.P. Wendi Wikstrand, aka Grandma Dynamite

Wendi Wikstrand, aka Grandma Dynamite Earlier this morning, I was sitting in a folding chair inside the Reflection Pavilion at Crown Hill Cemetery, waiting for the memorial service to begin for my friend Wendi Wikstrand, who passed away on Sunday, when I heard a guy seated behind me say, “Ok,…

Live Review: Kings of Leon at Fillmore Auditorium

Kings of Leon Thursday, October 23, 2008 Fillmore Auditorium Photos by Chad Fahnestock Better than: Fiery sex. Well, almost. Kings of Leon had already plowed through seven songs before frontman Caleb Followill told the few thousand fans packed in the Fillmore that the dry air was really getting to him…

Q&A with Diplo

In the October 23 issue we posted excerpts of Tom Murphy’s recent conversation with Diplo (aka Wesley Pentz). The quotes used in that piece were taken from the following interview posted after the jump, in which Diplo Mad Decent, his record label and Heaps Decent, a program devoted to underprivileged…

Live Review: Legendary Pink Dots at Bluebird Theater

The Legendary Pink Dots Tuesday, October 21, 2008 Bluebird Theater Better Than: Anything that pretends it’s dark and intense but isn’t. Nearly thirty years into its career, the Legendary Pink Dots are still among the most unique and evolving bands to have come out of art and psychedelic rock movements…

The Flobots acheive platinum status

Dave Nesi The Flobots have officially been certified platinum for one million downloads of “Handlebars.” The announcement really comes as no surprise. After the single was shipped to radio a few months after the first of the year, it reached “Crazy”-like ubiquity almost immediately. The Flobots are only the second…

3OH!3’s “Don’t Trust Me” video makes its debut

A few weeks ago, we got a sneak peek of the brand new 3OH!3 video in the October 3 edition of Entertainment Weekly. Alas, we finally get to see what the grease paint and loin cloths were all about. Yesterday, the 3OH!3 hooligans premiered their new video, posted after the…

Live Review: Steve Lawler at Beta

Photo: Chad Fahnestock visit slide show for more pics Steve Lawler and Audiofly October 18, 2008 Beta Better than: The first/last time I saw Steve Lawler Dance music doesn’t need much to succeed. A steady beat, a killer bassline and something, anything, to serve as an occasional hook and you’re…