Last night, while at the Boulder version of Everything Absent or Distorted’s CD-release show, I had the opportunity to chat with DeVotchKa trumpeter Shawn King. In addition to appearing with EAOD and his rock-star gig with DeVotchKa, King has a new project that he was excited to talk about: Boba…

Thanks to the ever-gracious Charley Hine, I’ve had the opportunity to listen to the new six-track disc from Dualistics a handful of times this week, and I have to say it’s really freaken good. I have publicly expressed my dissatisfaction with the band’s live performances in the past, but if…

Nearly every day, I receive an email, instant message, MySpace note, Facebook missive, text or snail mail package from a local musician or band, sheepishly offering up their creations. Some of these folks want my help in getting their music out to more people, while others simply want to hear…

As promised in last Friday’s Mile High Makeout, I just had the opportunity to crash a practice session by the newly reconstituted Curious Yellow. Though founder Adam Lancaster has lost count of how many lineups have flown beneath this flag, I think it’s safe to say that this particular version…

I just received an email from Cowboy Curse’s Benjamin Bergstrand, hipping me to an exciting showcase of frontmen-turned-singer-songwriters, coming up at the Meadowlark. Jonathan Bitz and the gang at the ‘Lark have always gone out of their way to spotlight the talent of local sad bastards, but this one is…

I was very excited to receive an instant message yesterday from Adam Lancaster, of Morning After Records, announcing his return to live performance. Adherents of the Denver music scene will remember that Lancaster fronted his own loud, energetic, melodic rock band, Curious Yellow, until about four years ago, when other life priorities — like…

Photo: Adam D’Antonio Jeremy D’Antonio left Colorado a while ago, taking his beautiful acoustic project, Tiny Television, with him. Since then, he has returned a few times for a show or two. On January 16th, however, D’Antonio and Tiny Television make a triumphant return, celebrating the release of a debut…

Photo: Lucia De Giovanni Last night, I had the honor and privilege of guest deejaying at Matt Fecher’s New Music Mondays at the Larimer Lounge, playing music from my collection next to the incandescent DJ Ginger and firestarter DJ Hot to Death. Ginger played a couple of body-rocking sets, including some…

Yes, I know a lot of people like to use a new year as an opportunity to get a fresh start. It might just mean that you clean the stains out of your toilet bowl finally, or you put clean sheets on your bed, or you floss. Some people even make New Year’s resolutions. Usually, these are pledges related to self-improvement – weight loss, fitness, smoking cessation, nose picking, public flatulation and angry driving are all common targets.

If you’ve been hibernating, you haven’t heard about what happened outside of Vinyl last weekend. The one and only E-40 — one of my favorite rappers — played a set, after which five people were shot on Broadway. It is always sad and disturbing when violence erupts in the music…

(photo: Jeff Klapperich)While I was out last weekend, an unassuming gentleman approached me and asked if I had room in my pocket for a CD. We’d met before, but I didn’t remember that in the moment. I hate when I forget names and faces. Fortunately, Donny Rose was forgiving and…

Friday night’s Living Room Series singer-songwriter lineup at the Meadowlark – which read like a who’s who of Denver musicians – drew a predictably seam-bursting crowd to the intimate venue. Of course, had everyone on the bill simply brought a couple of friends, the bar would have easily been at capacity and the showcase would have had the usual mutual admiration society vibe. This, perhaps, was part of the problem.

On the third day of an alcohol, caffeine, fat and sugar binge in the name of the winter solstice and some folks’ savior, I’m feeling lethargic, unhealthy, dirty and startlingly unattractive. This is the stuff New Year’s resolutions are made of. All I want to do is eat raw foods, spend four hours in the gym and try to save my internal organs from becoming completely enrobed in a protective layer of sweet, fatty tissue. In spite of all that, I’m going tonight. And you probably should too.

Let’s face it. It’s a holiday and most of us are too busy either celebrating Christmas or pointedly ignoring it to spend much time reading music blogs. However, for those of you who are still making out on Christmas, I have a little something special for you.

I finally stopped by my post office box yesterday to pick up the mail that has accumulated over several days. Normally, I cruise by on my way to or from the day job and things don’t pile up. Life, however, has been a bit abnormal lately, so I haven’t been able to get in there, and it just hasn’t seemed that pressing. After all, in the era of online socializing, I rarely get any personal mail, so that’s not a motivator. Most of my bills come to me via email, so I don’t need to worry about those. I occasionally get a new movie from Netflix or a check from a freelance client, but those aren’t enough to excite me. Tonight, however, when I opened up my post office box, I saw the things that energize and enliven me: CDs.

While year-end lists are predominantly the province of journalists and critics, everyone can get in the act at the holidays with a year-end mixtape. These capstone compilations serve a very different purpose from the mixtapes you’ve made for girlfriends, boyfriends, spouses and – best of all – unrequited loves. Consider a year-end mixtape your opportunity to tell your friends and family (and, sure, unrequited loves) what you think they should be listening to.

One of the worst things you can do, in any part of your life, is get set in your ways and lose the willingness to revise your opinions, perspectives and beliefs. Dogmatism always stands in the way of growth and learning. As for me, I love being proven wrong.

As many of you know, I got an early Christmas present on Wednesday night when I had the honor of being a guest on Dave Herrera’s amazing new radio show, Mile High Fidelity, on 101.5 FM. Though it had been many years since my passionate college-radio days, I fell immediately…

With today’s entry, we’ll conclude our exploration of tips, tricks and techniques for dealing with year-end lists. It’s only appropriate that we wrap it up today, as Moovers & Shakers 2008, Westword’s picks of favorite local albums, hits Denver’s frozen streets.

Yesterday, we discussed two strategies for handling the myriad year-end lists with which you’ll be inundated in the coming weeks. Those tips were: (1) consider the source, and (2) consider the author. Today, we’ll consider two more techniques that will ensYesterday, we discussed two strategies for handling the myriad year-end lists with which you’ll be inundated in the coming weeks. Those tips were: (1) consider the source, and (2) consider the author. Today, we’ll consider two more techniques that will ensure you get the most out of these often overwhelming, occasionally frustrating and frequently valuable lists.ure you get the most out of these often overwhelming, occasionally frustrating and frequently valuable lists.