Welcome to Poptimystic, our latest feature where we lead you on a leisurely stroll through the world where pop music actually means popular. This week, hometown goofboys 3OH!3 make a return to the top of the Hot 100, and early returns have Vampire Weekend besting all comers. Huh? The 3OH!3…
You’ve heard all the basic song structures in here about a million times before. Of course, simplicity is well within the spirit of punk rock, and the players in No Bueno! are hardly committing a crime by taking the first things they can think of — girls and booze, mostly…
It’s almost time for the Winter Olympics, which means we all get to pretend like we care about a bunch of sports that normally only get “televised” on places like icenetwork.com. Men’s figure skating, for example, which features one Johnny Weir. His reality show debuted last night on the Sundance…
John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light, Achille Lauro, Danielle Ate the Sandwich Casselman’s Bar & Venue Saturday, January 16, 2010 Better Than: Martinis and Red Wine John Common is too old for the slog of rock and roll. In this week’s feature, he talked about giving it up before…
We would hate for you to miss out on all the awesome that happens every weekend in our fair city, so we’ve decided to run down three of the best shows in one easy-to-swallow post, with video and audio. Tell us — and the rest of the world — what…
Already more than a dozen albums and slightly fewer years into his insanely prolific career in the Memphis scene, the major labels came calling for Jay Reatard. They told him they’d make him the next Kurt Cobain and that he was going to kill emo. Neither seemed out of his…
One possible narrative for Bass Drums Guitar: A man is chained to his life. The minutiae, the rules, the injustice is all inescapable. He struggles to free himself completely, but the binds are too strong. So he finds fleeting salvation in booze and drugs and, of course, rock and roll…
Pink Hawks, Bad Weather California, Pictureplane Saturday, January 9, 2010 Hi-Dive Ideology unites these three bands. Specifically, a belief in the importance of right now. Which makes for a set of live shows that is rough around the edges but breathing and dynamic, with the bands responding to the audience…
We would hate for you to miss out on all the awesome that happens every weekend in our fair city, so we’ve decided to run down three of the best shows in one easy-to-swallow post, with video and audio. Tell us — and the rest of the world — what…
Welcome to our weekly mountain buyer’s guide, because skiing or snowboarding is much more fun than shopping. 1. Wolf Creek Yes, it’s far away. Do you know how much snow they’ve had since December 6th? Suffice it to say it would bury Yao Ming up to about his nose. That’s…
Take a guitar part that sounds so clean it might as well be a synth. No need for the actual thing, though, because next you dab on some aching piano tinkling, written by someone not just classically trained, but classically inspired. Stick those in the plateaus between walls made of…
Aja Volkman is the pretty face, beating heart and screaming soul of Nico Vega. On stage, it is possible to underestimate her as delicate for about three seconds before she bares her teeth, sheds the smile and cuts loose that voice. She’s head-cold smooth on the soft stuff and sort…
As with every year since 2001, the music industry in 2009 was kept barely alive by a ratag crew of baffling one-offs, mediocre hit makers and a few cameos from the dead. If dollars are votes, we have some weird taste in representation. In backwards order, this year’s 11 saviors…
Hot Congress Comp. 1 Release Party Achille Lauro, The Vitamins, Fissure Mystic, Action Packed Thrill Ride October 12, 2009 The Oriental Theater Better Than: A community garden, or most other team projects you can think of. There is more than music to address here because Hot Congress is more than…
It’s actually been warmer in the mountains than in the city this week, which made for better snowstorm conditions on the hills. Some resorts got more than others, but pretty much everyone got at least a couple inches. Which means this week’s edition of our high-country highlights is neck-deep in…
We would hate for you to miss out on all the awesome that happens every weekend in our fair city, so we’ve decided to run down three of the best shows in one easy-to-swallow post, with video and audio. Tell us — and the rest of the world — what…
The inaugural Hot Congress compilation cannot be fenced by any description other than “from Denver.” There is simply too much happening, too many moods and sounds, and nearly as many totally distinct voices as there are bands (eleven). What the comp lacks in singular vision, it makes up for in…
A day of free skiing is worth a lot to a lot of people. But worth getting arrested and creeping out your boyfriend’s dad? Probably not. A woman — she hasn’t been identified — wanted to ski the other day. Her boyfriend had a ski pass to Keystone and, being…
The Don’ts & Be Carefuls, Pep*Squad, Josephine and the Mousepeople, Lungs They Burn, I Sank Molly Brown Friday, December 4, 2009 The Meadowlark Better Than: Butt Shakin’ So it was mostly a big dance party at the Meadowlark, the sort of night where you show your approval with abandon and…
On Tuesday, I asked readers to suggest where a friend should eat her first bite of meat — ideally pulled pork — in many years. After many mouth-watering suggestions, we made our choice — and went out to eat meat. Here’s her report:…
We would hate for you to miss out on all the awesome that happens every weekend in our fair city, so we’ve decided to run down three of the best shows in one easy-to-swallow post, with video and audio. Tell us — and the rest of the world — what…
Throughout the winter, we’ll weigh the options and bring you each weekend’s most magical mountains. Think of us as sherpas, only with keyboards and web browsers instead of ice picks and beacons…
