Quick: When you think of classical music, what are the first things that come to mind? Okay, time’s up. We’re gonna guess you conjured up images of stoic academicians playing stodgy, archaic music by dead guys for a roomful of well-heeled intellectuals within the impeccable confines of a sterile music…
Battling is a fundamental aspect of emceeing, one of the four essential elements of hip-hop. An underground ritual that rappers engage in to develop their wordplay skills and increase their stature, battles are often pressurized situations, in which the rappers ad-lib against other MCs, spitting rhymes off the top of…
You know how there are certain institutional brands whose mere association serves as an unspoken endorsement? The renown is such that even a slight mention implies quality. In music, for instance: Matador’s releasing the record? Oh, then it’s gotta be good. Or: That guitarist is playing Orange and wearing a…
American Idol fans who visit the show’s website right now in search of which 24 contestants have been chosen to compete for the chance to become the next American Idol will notice that Lilly Scott and Haeley Vaughn’s mugs are conspicuously missing. But that’s only because the program is still…
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…
There’s a few ways to tell how good an open stage is going to be when you walk in. The most obvious, of course, is by the caliber of talent the night attracts, followed closely by how the number of people that have signed up to perform. To that end,…
As far as startling revelations go, news that MTV has dropped “Music Television” from its brand ranks right up there with the shocking results of Michael Jackson’s recent autopsy, which revealed that the King of Pop was indeed rather gaunt at the time of his death. Anyone who’s caught even…
If not for her vocal prowess alone, Lilly Scott deserves to advance on the sheer merit of her unconventional — at least in contrast to the other contenders — song selection. She made it to this round with her version of “Lullaby of Birdland,” and last night, while seemingly everyone…
OMFG! If you’re wondering what the coolest thing we’ve seen all day is — well, ahem, aside from ourselves in the mirror this morning (har-de-har!) — it’s this: Vintage clips of Prince rehearsing crica1984. Not sure how these clips (which, be forewarned, resemble surveillance video) were procured or why/how they…
“crazy fast difficult hardest custom song ever on drums cephalic carnage death metal guitar hero rock band fun double bass.” Those are the tags listed on YouTube in association with the custom drum chart for this Cephalic Carnage song, “Divination & Volition.” But those same words could just as well…
Aside from Red Rocks, there’s only a handful of stages that merit inclusion on any performer’s bucket list. We’re talking about places that are so revered they’re considered hallowed ground, the type of places in which artists dream of performing at for their entire lives. CBGB’s before it became a…
File under: Required reading from the Denver music blogosphere. The hifalutin scribblers at the Donnybrook Writing Academy introduced a brand new column today that we can only assume will also become required reading: Backlog is the handle Rbt. B. Rutherford, he of Everything Absent or Distorted (a love story) fame,…
Scott Borchetta. Name ring a bell? Not really? How about this: Remember the record exec who came to Taylor Swift’s defense a few weeks ago when the whole world was up in arms over her supposed catastrophically pitch-friendly performance at the Grammys? That guy? Yeah, that’s Scott Borchetta. He’s the…
Over the weekend during All-Star Weekend festivities in Dallas, MTV approached Jay-Z at the Two Kings party he hosted with LeBron James, and asked him about We Are the World 25. Looking dapper as always, the rapper explained as plainly and as respectfully as he could that he simply considers…
Here what the area’s local-centric specialty radio shows were spinning this week. We’re currently tracking the playlists a number of different shows including, Radio 1190’s Local Shakedown, KTCL’s Locals Only, the Colorado Sound, which originates at KRFC and is re-broadcast all over Colorado, 99.5 the Mountain’s Homegrown Show, KBCO’s Local…
On a related “We Are the World” note: We just came across this video of an acoustic version of the song that Tyler Ward recorded, comprised of a batch of fiercely talented mostly local artists (two of the folks are from Texas and another is from Oregon) that he’s worked…
All right, so we were admittedly skeptical of how this whole “We Are the World” remake was going to turn out with the seemingly random cast of characters organizers assembled. When we first glimpsed the initial list of those present the night of the recording, there were some head scratchers…
Love is a many splendored thing. Sure. But there’s a flip side to that coin. It’s also a very complicated thing. A very taxing, laborious and often tedious thing. Not to mention, a frustrating, depressing, tumultuous, inexplicable thing. It’s been often said that it’s better to have love than to…
Every Friday we spotlight the hottest cats (and kittens) behind the decks in the MHC, grilling them to gain some insight on what it takes, exactly, to get the party rocking, to find out about their most treasured crate digging experiences and what they really think when we stumble up…
Alrighty then. The tongue is so far in cheek on this one that it’s forced its way through the flesh and is wagging freely on the outside. But then, you probably gathered that from the name of this track. No spoilers here. What we have here is a purposefully (we…
You know that thing Abraham Lincoln once said (it was Abe, right?) about it being better to let people think you’re an idiot than to open up your mouth and remove all doubt? Words to live by. To that end, we’ve kind of always had a sneaking suspicion that you…
If you’re anywhere near the idiot box tonight, be sure to set your dial to MTV around 8 p.m. — and if you’re not, then at least set your DVR. This is big. In a week when some other homegrown hopefuls are showcasing their wares on American Idol, select members…
