As film critics everywhere have pointed out, the first Ocean’s Eleven, released in 1960, isn’t much of a movie. The assorted “actors,” led by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr., look as if they’re either suffering from lingering hangovers or are still tipsy (which mostly they were), and…
Poor Yoko. Born into an elite Japanese banking family and heiress to John Lennon’s estate, rock’s most famous widow seems to have tried everything under the sun to cope with the trappings of wealth: high-rent seclusion, mink coats, primal-scream therapy, tarot cards, waging peace from the comfort of bed, catching…
Living in the land of 10,000 lakes seems to do strange things to people. Take Manplanet, for instance. Aside from assuming a name that aggressively sounds like a gay-sex Web site, each member of this Minnesota-based band once fearlessly donned a snug vinyl bodysuit for a photo shoot in a…
Gwen Stefani was everywhere this year — or at least it seemed that way. Moby’s wan “South Side” became a much better song after the No Doubt singer’s spunky appearance sparked the remix, and her cred-defining cameo on Eve’s “Let Me Blow Ya Mind” made for one super girl-power single…
On Monday night, the Denver City and County Building reeked of teen spirit. During a meeting at which they were finally to vote on a much-belabored bill allowing for a new class of cabaret license — one that would allow patrons over sixteen years of age to mix with grownups…
Gigi, at the Palace Event Center on Saturday, December 22, has helped to modernize and popularize a style of pop music that thrived in Addis Ababa, the capitol of her native Ethiopia, in the late ’60s and early ’70s. Produced by Bill Laswell, Gigi’s recently released debut album abounds in…
Though they’re unabashedly spunky and devoid of pretense, the Dinnermints’ brand of bubble-punk still has its artistic leanings: The band sprang from the obtuse, intentionally difficult ambient project called the Twins, which enlisted ‘Mints singer/guitarist Sarah Mesmer and drummer Peter Carnovale. No surprise, then, that the guitar- and hook-heavy trio…
Oscar-nominated Alfre Woodard chooses to call herself an actor rather than an actress, because “actresses worry about eyelashes and cellulite, and women who are actors worry about the characters we are playing.” Adapting that comparison for a discussion of female musicians, let’s say that a pop diva is more concerned…
This year, in particular, many of us can use the sort of reassurance that traditional music offers, which is why seasonal CDs will likely appeal to more people than ever. But all Christmas platters aren’t created equal. Several of the newest albums deserve a spot under practically anyone’s tree, whereas…
The kids, it appears, will be all right after all. On Monday, December 17, Denver City Council is expected to approve a new type of cabaret license that allows patrons under 21 — under 18, for that matter — to regularly attend concerts and shows in most clubs and venues…
Pigface is: a) a deviant sexual practice akin to the “Cleveland Steamer”; b) the newest Denny’s breakfast special; or c) a loose-knit industrial-music collective based around former Ministry drummer Martin Atkins. Well, it’s mostly c), depending on what you’re into. The rotating cast that Atkins periodically assembles has included Frank…
Brenda Harp helps ring in the season, community style, as one of the musical guests at the Colorado Music Association Holiday Celebration at the Soiled Dove on Sunday, December 16. The Denver-based Harp seems a fitting choice for such an event: As a guitarist and vocalist, she brings a probing,…
A couple of years ago, Richard Buckner’s wife was fumbling through the Toyota truck in which Buckner regularly logs 70,000 miles a year touring, when she came across a curious-looking cassette tape and popped it into the deck. The tape held five bleak, chillingly Gothic tracks sung by her husband…
In 1964, a 22-year-old college dropout named Peter Rowan joined Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys for what would turn out to be a three-year stint playing guitar and singing lead vocals. Thirty-five years later, it’s clear that the father of bluegrass left an indelible impression on Rowan, even if his…
Paul Ramsey has what his fellow men of the cloth might consider a strange definition of religious music. “I think ‘Sympathy for the Devil’ is a gospel song,” says the Denver-based minister and vocalist. “I would say maybe more than anybody else, the Rolling Stones are my biggest influence because,…
Presiding over a press conference in the mayor’s office last Tuesday night, Theaters and Arenas director Fabby Hillyard gushed that she was “pleased to see that we’re all sitting at the same table.” It was quite the understatement, considering the congregation she was addressing: Seated around a large table were…
Virgil Shaw, who opens for Angels of Light on Tuesday, December 11, at the 15th Street Tavern, is what you might call an unsung singer-songwriter. He’s not exactly well-known for his work with Dieselhed, a first-rate California roots band that’s still striving to reach Wilco-like cult status after twelve years…
Shoegazers sometimes get a bad name. There’s something to be said for bands that investigate the more restrained spaces of ethereal, dreamy pop — rather than attempting to shatter the passageways of their listeners’ inner ears — while contemplating issues of the heart. On its self-titled debut CD, Breathing Eve,…
About 24 hours before arriving at a friend’s home in Ann Arbor, Michigan, for a rare day off following a string of live dates in the northeastern United States and Canada, Dan Bern is happy about a couple of things: that he’s touring behind his fourth and best album, the…
Harlan Hendrickson has issued a challenge to all the closet lovers of ’80s metal: It’s time to step up — fist held high, pinkie and index fingers extended — and get ready to rock. “There’s no need to be embarrassed any- more for loving Mötley Crüe,” he says proudly. Grab…
It’s probably safe to say that no one really predicted a second generation of pleasant lo-fi bands that emulate heroes such as Elliott Smith and Built to Spill. You start a band in hopes of becoming the next Beatles or Rolling Stones, not the next Death Cab for Cutie. And…
Back in the 1980s, singer Shelby Lynne was supposed to be Nashville’s Next Big Thang — she even recorded a duet with George Jones — but the girl from Alabama never quite jibed with Music Row’s by-the-numbers approach to music-making. After putting out five critically acclaimed but poorly selling albums,…
