“Brilliant” is a term that gets thrown around far too casually and liberally, but when used to describe If This Thing Should Spill, it’s indisputably applicable. Over the course of thirteen tracks, Born in the Flood presents an overwhelmingly convincing case for why it’s one of Denver’s most vital bands…
Back in the ’90s, there was an In Living Colour sketch about a Jamaican family of workaholics who each held down at least a dozen jobs. Priding themselves on their insatiable work ethic, they’d chide the notably less ambitious for their laziness. “You only have one job,” they’d sneer incredulously…
Dear Bandicoots, I have been playing guitar for years now and have always aspired to be in a band — although now that I have graduated I am working at this monotonous financial reporting job. When and how did you make the commitment to say fuck the 9-5 and be…
Last Saturday will go down as a historic night for music in the Mile High: We paid our last respects to Planes Mistaken for Stars at the Marquis, watched the Flobots turn in the performance of their young career before a sellout crowd at the Gothic — and heard that…
Fischerspooner The Best Revenge EP Kitsune 01:45-02:30 of “The Best Revenge” It appears that Fischerspooner is back on the dance train, trying to gain popularity back by releasing a single that is uninspired and sounds kind of like an electronic Peter Gabriel song. It’s hard to “update” a sound you…
Your taste in music is a cultural bullhorn. In a genre obsessed culture, what you listen to can project your overall aesthetic more than your fashion sense or the car you drive. Accordingly, there’s a part in our brains that organizes types of people based on the music they like…
Having a conversation with the members of Redline Defiance is like trying to keep a bucket of puppies from spilling: They’re young, enthusiastic-like rockets. And they’re hyper-stoked about their upcoming CD-release party. The act has performed on the Warp Tour, had its music snapped up by FSN and ABC is…
INSANE CLOWN POSSE RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE SATURDAY, MAY 17 That’s the headline for a press release that just popped into my e-mail box a bit ago from the fine folks at Live Nation. Oh, man, this should be good! Remember back in the day, when the Phish Heads stirred the…
EXTREMELY FRAGILE. PLEASE BE GENTLE. Watching Gared O’Donnell retrieve his guitar, I can’t help but laugh a little as I catch sight of those words painted on the outside of his hard-shell case in bright, safety-orange-colored letters. Fragile? Really? Explosive, sure. But fragile? Imagine such a timid plea slapped on…
I’ve always promised myself that I’ll quit this gig — or at least seriously re-evaluate things — the minute I feel myself becoming jaded. After nearly five years of covering the same beat and sorting through band after band, day after day, I figure it’s bound to happen at some…
The ongoing concert promotions battle in Denver just became a little more heated. Just received word from Live Nation that Eric Pirritt has been named Vice President of Booking. Pirritt joins fellow VP of Booking, Peter Ore, and will now go head-to-head with his former associates at AEG Live, vying…
By my count, there are nearly 600 active bands on the Front Range now — 600! And those are just the ones I’m aware of. With that many acts crowding the landscape, an artist has to be compelling as hell to stand out. But as I marveled in my year-end…
The Glendale prostitution sting case covered in these pages this past November (Glendale Prostitution Sting Has Fringe Benefits, November 27, 2007) will now be going before a grand jury…
The music business as we know it is dying. And as I witness its continued collapse, it’s gratifying to see a shift in the balance of power. For once, artists actually have some leverage, and it’s about damn time. If you ask me, the tail has been wagging the dog…
Herbert Beck – one of the men behind the infamous rattlesnake murder plot (pictured above on the left) – got off Tuesday with five years probation and strict instructions not to gamble. Beck had been a player and investor with the Wheat Ridge-based Amateur Poker Tour, which is currently being…
Alright, I’m as positive as Jamie Lynn Spear’s pregnancy test that tix for this thing are going to be gone quicker than a free flat screen on Craigslist, but I figured I’d put it out there for you just in case the Fray isn’t one of your friends on MySpace,…
Update: A memorial service celebrating the life of Nick Williams is scheduled to take place at 4.p.m. this Sunday, January 20, at the Paramount Theatre. The gathering will feature a video montage, as well as words and memories offered up by many of Nick’s lifelong friends and those from his…
Peña w/ Side-Fi Noise, Blue Angels. Wednesday, January 16, 2008, Larimer Lounge Better than: Doing trigonometry at a bus stop. One chord. Yes, one chord. One sweet, loud, savory guitar chord. That’s all it took. And the next thing everyone knew, “Blitzkrieg Bop” took over a nation. So what is…
I’m going to double-check the calendar just to be sure, but I think this could be the year of the Swayback. At least, that’s the sense I get from listening to Long Gone Lads, the act’s absolutely killer new platter, which Eric Halborg blessed me with last week. More than…
Z-Trip January 15, 2008 Sutra Better Than: Going to bed early on a school night. Without a doubt, Z-Trip is still the unequivocal master of the mash-up, as evidenced by his energetic set last night at Sutra, where he threw down at a private party sponsored by Red Bull. From…
On the Brotherhood of Dae Han’s MySpace page, there’s a picture of the guys standing on the front lawn of a mammoth house with cans of gasoline in their hands and their backs to the camera. The house is engulfed in flames, and the fellas are just watching it burn…
Over the holidays, when Jon Solomon spoke with Ingrid Michaelson, she said she was looking forward to finally getting some rest. The singer has been caught up in whirlwind of activity ever since her song “Breakable” was used on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy. Three more of her songs were…
