But for the quality of their music, the Czars, a band that’s emerged as one of Denver’s most hypnotic live acts, would not exist. And therein lies a tale. Founding Czars John Grant and Chris Pearson met at a local nightclub in the spring of 1994, shortly after Grant had…
During performances of “Crazy Song,” a variation on the Patsy Cline favorite, Boulder’s Lisa Wagner displays an impressive voice–or maybe two. She delivers the ditty’s familiar lines in a heartfelt croon but is continually interrupted by a demonic alter-ego who recalls Linda Blair during the possession scenes from The Exorcist…
Pete Townshend, who recently came through town as part of the Who’s latest reunion tour, is rock’s most prominent sufferer of ear problems; years of exposure to loud noise has left him with tinnitus, a condition that causes a persistent ringing or roaring in his ears. But his ailment is…
Is it possible for a group to be a supergroup if very few people have heard of either the alleged supergroup or any of the other groups whose reputations make the new group so super? Jeff Mueller, singer and guitarist for the bruising, riveting combo called June of 44, doesn’t…
Cuarteto Latinoamericano is the classical world’s only full-time string chamber ensemble made up exclusively of Latin American musicians–but don’t make the mistake of dismissing the group as a novelty. Performances by the foursome (Saul Bitran, older brothers Aron and Alvaro Bitran, and Javier Montiel) have earned glowing notices from reviewers…
John Parish and Polly Jean Harvey Dance Hall at Louse Point (Island) This disc has garnered the worst reviews of Ms. Harvey’s brief career, and that’s understandable. Compared with 1995’s remarkable To Bring You My Love, it’s resolutely minor. Moreover, the work contains several of our gal’s weakest moments on…
Rock musicians who are sensitive to criticism would do well to take a lesson or two from Archers of Loaf’s Eric Bachmann. After half a decade in the music business, the guitarist/vocalist not only has learned to cope with the negative feedback that goes along with being in a band;…
Then: I first saw the Who in 1979, when I was in high school. Drummer Keith Moon had died the year before–in an unintended satire of the kick-the-habit movement, he overdosed on medication designed to help him kick his alcohol addiction. But rather than putting a knife to the band,…
Denver’s Jonathan Canady is a very disturbed young man. The recordings he makes under various handles (Dead World and Deathpile among them) are horribly dark and severe–and Canady admits that these descriptives apply to him as well. “I’m a pretty misanthropic person,” he says. “I tend to get frustrated in…
A few years ago the members of New York City’s Railroad Jerk found themselves at Niagara Falls, milling among families of fat Midwesterners, honeymooners and suicidal loners. “It was a nice day, and we were on tour and had a day off there,” elaborates Marcellus Hall, the group’s guitarist and…
For several years, John Chamie has been one of the leading personages in the Denver-Boulder dance-music universe. But lately he’s broadened his scope. Now he wants to bring the sounds he loves to the rest of the world–and the quality of the early releases on Terraform Records, the label he…
Although England’s Mad Professor claims to be sane, his many albums offer an argument to the contrary. The leading practitioner of dub music, an instrumental outgrowth of reggae that’s known for its studio effects, he makes music that’s thoroughly, wonderfully berserk. Mixing is in the Professor’s blood: This native of…
Let’s get this out of the way right at the top: The father of Evan, Paige and Preston O’Meara, who constitute three-fifths of Denver’s 8-Bucks Experiment, owns Northglenn-based O’Meara Ford Center and O’Meara Isuzu, two of the metro area’s largest and most heavily promoted car dealerships. But while Pop is…
It probably seemed like a good idea at the time. Chances for the resurrection of Talking Heads, a justly revered band that has been dormant since the release of the 1988 long-player Naked, looked slim: While Tina Weymouth and Chris Franz, the married bassist and drummer of the group, and…
“Thatcher’s gone,” notes singer-songwriter Billy Bragg. “Reagan’s gone. Some people have wondered if that’s why I disappeared off as well.” Indeed, Bragg, an England-based performer as well-known for his left-wing views as for his tunes, has maintained a low profile throughout most of the Nineties. Although he’s written articles for…
In talking about Rock Island, the LoDo club he owns, David Clamage offers kudos to a such a long list of past and present employees and associates that he sounds like Sally Field on Oscar night. But his excitement is understandable. After all, on Thursday, October 31, Rock Island will…
“We’re all about nerd lib,” declares Karl Alvarez, bassist for the recently reunited punk act the Descendents. “Be proud of your nerd.” “We are the champions of the nerds–no doubt about it,” concurs Milo Aukerman, Descendents frontman and star of the new Epitaph Records release Everything Sucks. “‘Revenge of the…
“When people are told about Stereolab,” says the band’s lead singer, French-born Laetitia Sadier, “I’ve heard that they often imagine a dance act. But when they come to our shows–well, they get some songs that can be danced to and some songs that are quite different from what they expect…
Before the Bruce Springsteen show at the Paramount on October 16, I caught a few minutes of the second and (blessedly) final presidential “debate,” broadcast live to the nation from San Diego. What I saw of the event wasn’t exactly scintillating: Bill Clinton oozed fake sincerity (he made a point…
A while back, Kim Docter, the frontwoman behind the psycho-country combo Moonshine Willy, was afraid she was running out of songwriting ideas. Rather than wait idly for her muse to return, however, she attempted to summon her back on a regular basis. “For about six months, I would force myself…
“In Japan, we saw Kip Winger,” maintains Trelvis, bassist for the Denver punk band Pinhead Circus. “He was playing next door to us. I kicked his ass again.” Don’t worry, Winger fans–if there are any of you still out there, that is. According to singer/guitarist Scooter, aka Jimmy Pinhead, this…
Carman Righteous Invasion of Truth (Sparrow) The rub with so much of today’s contemporary Christian music isn’t its focus on God with a capital G. Good songs can be written about anything–Teen Spirit, girls named “Lump,” whatever. No, the problem, simply stated, is this: A majority of the folks operating…
