Denver’s underground rock scene is boiling over right now — and one of the individuals who’s been dutifully stoking the fires is Dan Rutherford of Morning After Records (www.morningafterrecords.com). He envisioned the label while attending South by Southwest last year, and found the perfect flagship band when he got back…
Champions of unstructured sound collage and homemade instruments, Backwards Records is home to an array of adventurous laptop jockeys and electronically minded noise artists: Page 27, Blackcell, Robot Mandala, Haunted Sound Lab, Sporadik, Kuxann-Sum and Paraclude, among others. Surviving on the distant fringes of normalcy, the unsung label creates sounds…
Yes, NorthernBlues Music is based in Toronto, but it’s got a soft spot for Colorado blues talent. The imprint has put out a number of Otis Taylor’s finest efforts, including White African and Respect the Dead, and recently reached out to two other area bluesman: Eddie Turner, who released Rise…
Since launching Hapi Skratch Entertainment ten years ago, Morris Beegle has shaped his label into a hub that supports musicians at all levels. Celebrating a decade of operations this year, this Fort Collins-based company is one of Colorado’s foremost purveyors of homegrown music. Over the years, Hapi Skratch and its…
Saxophonist Hess has been a part of Denver-area jazz for so long that it’s tempting to take him for granted. Crossed Paths, on Tapestry Records, shows how unwise that would be. The disc, which features bassist Ken Filiano, drummer Matt Wilson and trumpeter Ron Miles (another local treasure), doesn’t break…
This past year, when DJ Quote wasn’t mixing things up on the air with Troubleshooter Tom Martino, he was issuing CDs at a frenzied pace. Taking the game to a whole new level, Quote’s discs have been hosted by an assortment of noteworthy guests, including MC Serch, Pitbull, DJ Cocoa…
Cost of Living, a Denver supergroup featuring ex-members of Qualm, the Departure and Shogun, completed production on its debut in the spring of 2004. But Trample the Weak, Hurdle the Dead wasn’t released until last month — an excruciating eternity for the quintet’s fans, many of whom have been rabid…
As a showcase of new Colorado music, PS 2 isn’t perfect. But it’s closer than anyone’s ever come before. Ranging from humble to heavy-hitting, the disc amply displays the passion and attention to detail that Ben De-soto and Tim Garvey of Public Service Records bring to this project — and…
Co-founded by Rogue frontman Bill Terrell and Voodoo Productions owner Dave Zaharia, Infexious Recordz is a headbanger’s nightmare sprung gloriously to life. In addition to luring national acts like L.A. Guns, Exodus and Pissing Razors to town, Infexious has showcased over a hundred of Denver’s own up-and-coming metal acts –…
No one has worked as hard to promote the Denver metal scene as Wayne Quigley, the man behind Big Q Productions. From frequently booking shows at the Ogden, Gothic and Bluebird theaters to putting together smaller gigs at Iliff Park and Eck’s saloons, Big Q has shone the spotlight on…
Ever been down to the Soiled Dove and experienced anything other than flawless sound? Yeah, didn’t think so. In the extremely rare event that you did, chances are someone other than Chris Steele was sitting behind the mixing board. Although it would be easy to credit the Dove’s P.A. for…
Tucked away in a small warehouse studio just south of downtown, producer Dave Otero has captured some of the most ferocious music ever to be recorded — not just in Colorado, but anywhere. Anomalies, Cephalic Carnage’s release for Relapse Records, was recorded at his Flatline Audio studio and is currently…
Producer Bob Ferbrache has been the studio ace behind many of the truly exceptional releases to emanate from the Front Range over the last decade. Working from the unlikely confines of his mother’s basement in Westminster (Absinthe Studios is actually located within arm’s length of a washer and dryer!), Ferbrache…
Rudy’s Studio sits on the outer edge of north Denver, in the basement of Mark Obermeyer’s suburban ranch home. Using two tracking rooms and a slew of gear, Obermeyer has recorded some of Denver’s best-sounding records over the past few years. And although he initially cut his teeth working with…
Randall Frazier not only fronts the moody, psychedelic outfit Orbit Service, but he’s responsible for recording and mixing some of 2004’s most engaging local releases, as well. After moving from a west Denver cellar to a space that currently shares walls with the Revoluciones art space, Frazier and production veteran…
Tony and Lydia Fiore, a musician and artist, respectively, sensed that the local music community needed a high-quality, inexpensive place to record and mix music. They were right: Since opening last year, Globalsound Recording Studio has produced demos and CDs for scores of local acts drawn by its accessible atmosphere,…
The Walnut Room is a massive extension of Soundstructure Studios — a popular, musician-friendly rehearsal space on a formerly barren fringe of the Ballpark neighborhood — with its own restaurant, bar and performance venue. Since it opened, the room has netted a reputation as one of the best-sounding rooms in…
It’s no secret that the club market in Denver is oversaturated. And like crabgrass, for each spot that doesn’t make it, two or three others sprout up in its place. Nowadays, folks need a reason to search a place out — namely, cheap drinks, plenty of free parking, and great…
It’s like a full-scale ninja battle on stage: eight sweaty freaks brandishing guitars, horns, tambourines, microphones, pheromones, feedback and blood as they eviscerate everything that is decent and respectable about rock and roll. The band is Call Sign Cobra; that wet splat hitting your underpants is what’s left of your…
Fort Collins-based Matson Jones has been around for a couple of years, but it’s only in the last few months that the group has really started carving out its empire. Not that the coed quartet seems crassly ambitious; instead, it’s wholly focused on creating music that obliterates expectation even as…
While not entirely a straight-up ramen act (though lead guitarist Damon Wood can noodle with the best of them), Harmonious Junk pulls together savory parts funk, jazz, blues, psychedelic, soul and jam. The versatile outfit is equally comfortable pumping the groove at a Colfax smoke hole or loosening wallets and…
In July 2001, Tyfoid Mary lost its frontman, Vince Stott, in a fatal car accident. While such a tragedy would cause most bands to hang it up for good, Tyfoid persevered and found a new voice in Jerry Harper. He had his work cut out for him, as Stott was…
