You know, Radiohead, I was just about to go to sleep when I checked my email one last time. And lo and behold, the download code for your new CD, In Rainbows, popped up in my inbox. *sigh* I didn’t need sleep anyway. Since the rest of the blogosphere is…
“Did you bring it, by the way?” asks Julie Davis, glancing at Brigid McAuliffe. McAuliffe, sitting across from Davis on the Thin Man’s patio, shakes her head no. “Oh, you suck!” McAuliffe, who sings and plays accordion with Davis in Bela Karoli, recently borrowed her digital recorder. She’s had it…
Back in January 2005, I profiled the masterminds behind Beatport.com just as they were launching version 2.0 of their online music store. At the time, Beatport was a fairly modest operation, with roughly 14,000 users. But the niche concept had epic potential, even if only a small number of people…
Stephen Brackett’s intuition was unbelievably strong — when it came to Jamie Laurie, anyway. On his first day at Bradley Elementary, the wide-eyed fourth-grader took one look at the fifth-grader across the schoolyard and whispered to his father, “Hey, Dad, that guy’s going to be my friend.” “And then,” Brackett…
Arcade Fire, with LCD Soundsystem September 17, 2007 Red Rocks Amphitheatre Better than: Uh, just about anything else in recent memory. Slide Show Epic. Grandiose. Those are fitting descriptors for Monday night’s unreal double bill at the Rocks featuring LCD Soundsystem and Arcade Fire. Soundsystem got things going a little…
Monolith Festival, Day Two September 15, 2007 Red Rocks Amphitheatre Better than: Day one — and my expectations. Before I even arrived for day two I was filled with fear and loathing of the stairs. I still hadn’t recovered from the first day’s exertions, so I celebrated my arrival by…
Monolith festival, Day One September 14, 2007 Red Rocks Amphitheatre Better than: Any other reason to climb roughly sixty thousand stairs. There are a lot of stairs at Red Rocks. Usually, once you make it through the grueling hike into the place, you’re done. You settle into a spot and…
Monolith, Day Two September 15, 2007 Red Rocks Better than: Another boring workout on the Stairmaster with your iPod The first thing everyone has mentioned about Monolith so far is those infernal stairs. I, too, sweated and panted my way up the ramp into the park, then up that interminable…
Just received the following e-mail regarding Tony Krantz’s services, which are being held this evening. As mentioned at the end of this week’s Beatdown, Tony, who passed away early last week, will be remembered by fellow members of the well-regarded Krantz family, whose jazz club El Chapultepec has anchored the…
I’m a little worried about Amy Winehouse. I mean, have you seen her lately? The girl’s a mess — and I’m not talking about that godawful, steel-wool, Mistress of the Dark beehive of hers or the whoriffic, toddler-set-loose-with-a-Sharpie-smeared eye shadow with which she frames her peepers. I’ve got a sinking…
Josh Rouse cannot make a dark-sounding record to save his life. His latest offering, Country Mouse, City House, was supposed to contain the musical equivalency of a New England winter day: overcast and cold with a high probability for snow. Instead, the disc sparkles with sunshine, smiling melodies and enough…
Tim Kasher is a star in Omaha’s indie-rock scene, but he’s looking to score at the movies. The frontman for the Good Life (as well as Cursive) headed west earlier this year to work on the companion film for the band’s forthcoming Help Wanted Nights, a concept album set in…
In the hierarchy of fabled Denver bands, Christie Front Drive ranks near the top. During its brief tenure, the act delivered some of the most compelling and influential music to ever come out of this town. Helmed by singer-guitarist Eric Richter, Christie Front Drive anchored the nascent early-’90s emo scene…
Okay, I’m a sad sack, I’ll admit it. I have a thing for sad music. “Why in the hell would you intentionally listen to music that makes you depressed?” someone asked me once, completely befuddled. Simple. While I enjoy balls-out rock as much as the next guy, sometimes it feels…
There’s a lot more to Richard Swift than what’s in our August 30 issue. Swift himself said, “I think primarily people think of me as just some dude behind a piano singing, you know, like sad bastard songs.” Sure, his latest Dressed Up For the Underdog might be heavily steeped…
Rock the Bells @ Red Rocks Wednesday, August 22 Red Rocks Better than: Ninety percent of the hip-hop you see on television and hear on the radio. This acts on this bill hardly get any radio or video play anymore. It’s been almost ten years since a quality hip-hop festival…
Every time one of my boys has a birthday, I make it a point to call or send a text message, to let him know that I’m thinking about him. But it’s really Sweetie who’s doing the thinking. While the pertinent dates of all my kinfolk are stored securely in…
Although our August 23 interview with Tower of Power founding member Emilio Castillo mostly focused on the band’s new album, the sax player also talked about the early days of playing in Bay Area, coming in at the tail end of the psychedelic scene and having the group’s first record…
Danny Vegas can be a bit much when you first meet him. With a toothy grin plastered across his face and a booming voice delivering a rap that he has down cold, he has the air of someone who’s putting you on — and seems exactly like a guy who…
Generally, I have about as much use for campy music as vegans have for a steakhouse. But I’ll be damned if Rock Your Box didn’t blow my skirt up around my uptight, TV On the Radio-loving ass. If the entire Bloodhound Gang downed a Zeke smoothie every day, with chunks…
Jason Isbell is finally in the driver’s seat. After five years of riding with the Drive-By Truckers, he’s now behind the wheel of his own rig. But he says that no hard feelings fueled the decision to veer off on his own, speaking from the road during the first week…
On Sunday night at Red Rocks, Joe King told the boisterous, capacity crowd that this particular performance — the second date in a sold-out, three-night stand — marked the penultimate gig of an exhaustive two-year Stateside run supporting his band’s multi-platinum debut, How to Save a Life. And indeed, the…
