In the beginning, Perry Farrell envisioned Lollapalooza, an event he helped create, as a traveling circus that would expose just-outside-the-mainstream styles to the public at large. A few seasons later, this goal had been largely forgotten: Last year’s disastrous tour, headlined by Metallica (not exactly an obscure cult group) and…
By New Year’s Day of 1970, a hefty number of baby boomers were already nostalgic for the Sixties–and since then, they’ve kept their myth-making machines working overtime. The romanticization of the period has become a cottage industry, with everyone from rock stars to onetime protest leaders profiting mightily by creating…
Reviews of local recordings–and nothing but reviews of local recordings. Vicki Taylor, whose most recent platter is Out of the Blue, has a voice that’s both smoky and solid, and her songs set it off beautifully. She operates in a blues mode, but that’s not to suggest that she’s one-dimensional…
Journalists know that most musicians will gush about their latest projects no matter how tepid they may actually be. So it comes as a pleasant surprise when Wil Masisak, one-third of Boulder’s You Bastard, says of the group’s just-issued eponymous debut CD, “I think it’s a series of really bad…
Despite his tender years, singer-songwriter Ben Lee, age eighteen, is no stranger to the interview process; rave reviews and cult stardom have ensured that. But at this point in his career, the young Australian seems more comfortable discussing his hobbies than his music. And what is his favorite time-waster? “I…
Even though Tim Prudhomme, vocalist and guitarist for Fuck, has been a card-carrying member of the music industry for several years, he insists (in the most disingenuous manner possible) that he still does not understand how it works. “I watch the MTV and try to figure out what the hell’s…
Assembling the members of Convergence for a gig is easier said than done. You see, bassist Mark Simon, keyboardist Eric Gunnison and drummer Paul Romaine call Denver home, while trumpeter Greg Gisbert and saxophonist/composer John Gunther are former Denverites who currently reside in New York City. But despite the distance…
Last week in this space, I promised a batch of local reviews, and they’ll show up eventually. But in the meantime, enjoy this tale of big stars, powerful egos, thin skins, nasty remarks and–oh, yeah–radio. The setting for this fable is the wonderful world of Jacor, a Cincinnati-based corporation that…
Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Forever (Loud) Anyone who doubts that the Wu-Tang Clan has effectively made the transition from band to corporate entity is hereby advised to scope the notes included with this package (two CDs, natch); in addition to a roster of 900-numbers personalized for each member and an offer…
Not long after Tim Foljahn, guitarist, vocalist and principal creative force for the woeful, noirish outfit known as Two Dollar Guitar, relocated to Hoboken, New Jersey, much of his personal history went up in flames. “I had this storage space when I moved here because I had way too much…
Youth fades. That’s a given. But if you’ve got it, flaunt it. For the members of Bis, a staggeringly ebullient trio from Scotland, this bit of common sense isn’t simply a good idea; it’s the stuff of which manifestos are made. What pop music needs today, they argue, is an…
Okay, let’s get this out of the way right from the start. For years, I’ve had a crush on Keanu Reeves. My infatuation hasn’t blinded me to Reeves’s limitations: I didn’t come out of the 1994 film Little Buddha, in which Keanu portrayed Prince Siddhartha, declaring him to be the…
When Chuck Tinsley, guitarist for the Denver-based bluegrass act High Plains Tradition, talks about close-harmony singing, the accent is on “close.” In performance, Tinsley and his mates (mandolinist Doug Elrick, bassist Kenny Pabst and banjo player Dan Carter) croon while standing around a lone microphone. This approach makes for tight…
On the surface, the hip-hop revolution seems to be making precious little progress along the Denver-Boulder corridor. While national artists pass through on a semi-regular basis (witness the July 21 Smokin’ Grooves festival at Red Rocks), the area has not spawned an indigenous rap act that’s achieved anything like widespread…
Foo Fighters The Colour and the Shape (Capitol) Like most of you out there, I figured that the self-titled debut by the Foo Fighters would be on par with a Ringo Starr solo album, so the quality of the disc came as a pleasant surprise. However, the recording’s strength meant…
Like most Colorado jazz musicians with a taste for experimental sounds, multi-instrumentalist Geoff Cleveland puts food in his belly by playing mainstream and straightahead jazz in area clubs. Doing so is not a chore for him: “When I’ve been away from it for a while, like I have been recently,…
For the first time in months, the Apples are back in town–but if you miss their appearance Sunday, July 20, at the Fox Theatre with Neutral Milk Hotel and Sissy Fuzz, you won’t get another chance to see them for a while. “Oh, my gosh, we’ve got so much to…
Ahmir Khalib-Thompson, aka ?uestlove, drummer and bandleader of the hip-hop combo called the Roots, has been among the few rap personalities to actively criticize some of his peers for talking trash, endorsing anti-intellectualism and promoting a criminal lifestyle guaranteed to result in the bodies of more young men littering inner-city…
Sleater-Kinney Dig Me Out (Kill Rock Stars) When a band has been hyped as relentlessly as this one has, there’s always a risk that heightened expectations will lead to profound disappointment. After all, Sleater-Kinney’s Carrie Brownstein, Corin Tucker and Janet Weiss aren’t doing anything that won’t be done tonight at…
Long before the word “Americana” defined a radio format, guitarist Dave Alvin was leading a musical cattle drive whose path is still being followed by performers caught up in the current alt-country groundswell. The Blasters, which Alvin formed in 1980 with his brother, vocalist Phil Alvin, delivered rousing romps that…
Whether you love him or loathe him, you can’t deny that South Africa-born Dave Matthews has become one of the most popular performers in contemporary music, inspiring the sort of fanatical support that has led to comparisons of his self-named band with the grandfather of all cult acts, the Grateful…
The most recent Denver appearances by Spell, including a June 28 date at Seven South, were the band’s first as a free agent in quite a while. Which means, as you might have guessed, that the act’s relationship with Island Records is over. Guitarist Tim Beckman, who plays with bassist…
