The latest release from A Shoreline Dream is an exploration of broader sonic vistas than those of the dream-pop wunderkinds’ three excellent previous efforts. Essentially a single with two remixes, Neverchanger is a collaboration with noted German composer Ulrich Schnauss. The original track is a work of breathtaking depth that…

The grandeur and cosmic intensity of a band like Bright Channel are both nearly impossible to live up to. But somehow, Jeff Suthers and Shannon Stein have assembled an unwieldy group of eleven people to write and perform songs that make them excited to be creating music again. Many acts…

With a name borrowed from the journal of wholesome living habits and literary good taste, Good Housekeeping plays music that is both good and good for you. Displaying an adventurous use of layered atmospheres and breezy, ethereal melodies, this Boulder outfit’s sound mates kraut-rock drone with the loungey pop pioneered…

With so many syllables in the band’s name, you would totally expect it to be an emo band or purveyors of instrumental post-rock. Although there is a bit of the former in its sound, Chapel Hill’s I Was Totally Destroying It is really a power-pop band of the sunny, upbeat…

As a composer of lush, ambient soundscapes in the vein of mid-era Tangerine Dream and the later recordings of Slowdive, German-born composer Ulrich Schnauss has made quite a name for himself in the international dream-pop underground. In addition to playing keyboards in Long-view, Schnauss has collaborated with Robin Guthrie of…

One of the furthest edges of avant-garde underground music at the moment is inhabited by the harsh-noise-and-bent-circuit contingent and its proclivity for making interesting sounds that are more an art statement than strictly music. Oakland, California’s Social Junk incorporates elements of that aesthetic with experimental dub and ambient soundscaping. The…

Another twenty-something singer-songwriter from Los Angeles? No way? Really? For his part, Johnathan Rice is more than a cut above most. His songwriting, in fact, is strong enough to have caught the attention of Peter Buck and earn him some opening spots on R.E.M.’s recent tour. Sure, he’s had something…

Gloam’s online bio references Carlos Castaneda’s notion — undoubtedly culled from his mystical experiences and practices — that on the borderlands of night and day, magical things can be understood and effected. Indeed, the music of Gloam (due at the Larimer Lounge on Wednesday, July 2) sounds as though it…

The origins of Sleepercar’s music is said to date back to the last days of At the Drive-In. The former’s oldest song is said to have been written during a sound check at one of the latter’s final shows. At the Drive-In guitarist Jim Ward had long been interested in…

This deluxe re-release of the VSS’s final album probably would have benefited from some remastering, since the levels seem somewhat uneven and often flat. However, these flaws are easily ignored when compared with the fiery, churning intensity of the music presented. With Nervous Circuits, the VSS became one of the…

With the demise of Motheater last year, the Denver scene lost one of its brightest lights. Because of its artier, more adventurous use of sound and volume, the outfit never fit in with the post-hardcore scene or the experimental metal scene. Thankfully, Michael Reisinger and Weston Wilson bring that vision…

Denver has long been a home to intelligent, sophisticated pop music. In their relatively brief time together, the Pseudo Dates have established themselves as purveyors of thoughtful, ambitious, infectious pop, with songs that recall the Kinks, early Floyd and various acts from the Elephant 6 collective. On the eve before…

You know your band is in trouble when it’s being covered by MTV and lumped in with a movement called “Lo-Fi Punk.” Fortunately, the music of Columbus, Ohio’s Times New Viking does not lend itself well to vast commercial accessibility. In both recordings and live performances, the group brings a…

When I’m a Boy kicks into its set, you may start to wonder exactly what year it is. Not because the music is dated, but because the band’s music has the lean, focused quality that characterized early songs by the Who. The group’s shows may make you flash back to…

Though Joe Preston is better known for his tenures in the Melvins, Earth and High on Fire, his most musically interesting venture is perhaps his solo project, Thrones. With this act, Preston is free to let his imagination roam free, and the variety of his recorded output under this name…

R.E.M. is a household name. The band’s rapid rise from the American underground is well documented. But what is often forgotten is the fact that, from the beginning, R.E.M.’s music combined sensitivity and intelligence with straight-out rock and roll, giving it both power and tenderness. Accelerate, the act’s latest album,…

Many bands who try to mix the aesthetics of rock and electronic music do so more clumsily than not. But The Life There Is seems to have the hang of it. With a lush, haunting sound akin to that of Lake Trout and Depeche Mode sans the adolescent angst, this…

Cindy Wonderful has come a long way since her days as a lo-fi pioneer in the mid-’90s. From her time with Denver rap-punk legends Rainbow Sugar to her Julie Ruin-esque solo effort, The Double V Album, to today, Wonderful has explored more facets of her musical creativity than most people…

When most people think of the early ’90s, they instantly think of grunge. But there was a larger phenomenon of non-mainstream music that often gets overlooked on those TV music retrospectives. Swervedriver emerged from the same loose scene, which included the likes of My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Catherine Wheel, Lush…

Some bands try to throw all of their influences into the mix, and it rarely works. Somehow, Amphibious Jones manages to do it without sounding like it’s trying to pull off too much at one time. It’s also one of the few bands that are funny without seeming like a…

Pleistocene began as a solo project for guitarist/vocalist Eric Gangloff in 2002. Over the years, it has evolved into a nine-piece ensemble on the way to realizing Gangloff’s ambition of creating the music he fondly refers to as “glacial rock,” so coined because it moves slowly yet is monumental. Blurring…