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Best Ska Recording

Electric Boogaloo
Five Iron Frenzy
5 Minute Walk Records

During Five Iron Frenzy's years of existence, ska has gone in and out of style (and given the success of the No Doubt single "Hey Baby," it may be on the rise again). But the band has stayed steadily on course, developing a tight, exciting variation on the style. The membership's Christian beliefs sometimes surface overtly, as on "Far, Far Away," but tunes like "Pre-Ex-Girlfriend" ("She said she hated Kenny G/That girl is way too good for me") will hit the pleasure spot for listeners of every stripe.

Best Brand-New, Decade-Old Red Rocks Release

Live at Red Rocks
Artemis Records

The concert that singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones gave at Red Rocks on July 5, 1990, is brand-new all over again, thanks to Live at Red Rocks, Artemis Records' recent release. Although On Hold at Red Rocks might be a more accurate title, the CD is authentically enjoyable, a quick trip back to the late '80s, when Jones released her classic Flying Cowboys. Chuck E.'s in Love -- and so are a lot of other people who listen to this.

Best Metal Zine

Throat Culture Magazine
www.throatculture.net

Every few months for three years running, writer/editor/publisher Rod Brown has unleashed a new edition of Throat Culture Magazine, boosting its distribution and circulation with each press run. Brown's passion for "abrasive music" fuels this beast, a dense glossy loaded with articles, reviews and interviews regarding all things headbanging. In the case of this Throat Culture, the results usually come back positive.

Best Red-Eyed Return of a Local Zine

Modern Drunkard

As long as it pertains to getting ripped to the tits, local filmmaker/writer/boozebag Frank Rich prints all the news that's fit to drink. Whether it's the wisdom of forty-ounce philosophers, true stories from the sozzled

side or the savvy drunk's guide to low-cost quaffs, Modern Drunkard -- which took a hiatus in 1998 after a dozen issues -- covers the town like a cheap suit. Consistently funny, the monthly publication celebrates the passionate affair between language and liquor with regular columns from Giles Humbert III and the Concerned Cad. A filmic extension of the Drunkard campaign is currently in production under Rich's guidance; his prior credits include the noir-caper Nixing the Twist. The paper version includes cocktail recipes, obscure trivia and the occasional drunken doggerel from Joe or Jane Barfly. Li'l stories 'bout drinky an' hap -- hic! -- pee hour. Whudderya lookinat? Hahhgh? Gizadringk!

Best Indie Comic Collection

Captain Missiletoe: The First Collection 2000-2001

Artist/illustrator Lucas Richards's work may be familiar to buyers of local recordings: He's done covers for the Volts, the Dinnermints and the Pindowns, among others. But it's within the pages of Starving Magpie, a quarterly comic-book-style publication, that his vision is most fully realized. Richards and collaborator Soapy Argyle -- an area guitarist who crafts Starving's stories -- have compiled a year's worth of issues in a volume titled Captain Mis-

siletoe: The First Collection 2000-2001. Named for the tragicomic superhero who stars in most of the pen-drawn capers, the low-budget but creatively rendered collection is available at such cultural outposts as Wax Trax, WaterCourse Foods and the Buffalo Exchange.

Best Web Site for Music Collectors

www.music-disc.com

Founded in 1972, Music Disc has exchanged its storefront on Hampden Avenue for a warehouse space at 3895A Newport Street in Denver; 45s are available for browsing by appointment, but the rest of the stock isn't. Fortunately, though, the entire library is accessible on the Web -- and what a library it is. The site has a huge collection of rare and hard-to-find albums, singles and so on. The prices ain't always cheap, but if the one thing that would make your life complete would be finding a copy of Captain Beefheart's "Ice Cream for Crow" on 45, it's worth it.

Best Web Site With Bite

www.maristhegreat.com

"Headbanger and Zombie Fag Extraordinaire" Maris the Great is up to his neck disemboweling Denver's heavy-metal finest -- a fiendish plot that the little ghoul expects will launch his own band to the forefront of the underground scene. As a contributing critic to Throat Culture Magazine (and the now-defunct Soundboard), His Greatness has already offed the likes of Drudgery, Black Lamb, 4 Head Scream, Rubber Planet, Rachel's Playpen and Malignari, among others. An endless splatterfest, this amusing, one-stop guide through the Queen City's willfully dark side also provides plenty of information about nu metal, old metal, death metal, grindcore, sludgecore, goth, punk and wee-wees.

Best Concert (Since March 2001)

Down From the Mountain Tour
Music from the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?
Paramount Theatre
Monday, February 11, 2002

When Ralph Stanley invited the sold-out crowd at the Paramount Theatre to hold hands and join him in a call-and-response version of "Amazing Grace," few in the audience declined the offer. When else does the average country-music lover have a chance to join in a chorus with Emmylou Harris, Allison Krauss and Union Station, Norman Blake and Patty Loveless, not to mention the stately Stanley? That closing moment was one of many highlights of the Down from the Mountain concert, which brought to life music from the amazingly successful, Grammy-winning O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack. It was an evening of stellar performances from artists both legendary and lesser known. How sweet the sound.

Best David and Goliath Battle

Nobody in Particular Presents vs. Clear Channel Entertainment

Both the business world and the music industry offered a slack-jawed response to the news that Nobody in Particular Presents, the tiny local promotional firm, had filed an anti-trust lawsuit against promotional behemoth Clear Channel Entertainment in federal district court last August. Full of nasty allegations of illegal power-mongering and plain old bad behavior in the Clear Channel camp, the suit made it clear that the Denver concert battles were now an all-out war. The story appeared in media outlets around the country, from Spin to Fortune to salon.com, with most pieces suggesting that NIPP was a little bit crazy to take on the most powerful promotional force on the planet -- but honoring the company with the sort of respect accorded underdogs the world over.

Best Of DenverĀ®

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