Press PhotoDave Grohl is one of my favorite dudes in the world but he needs to hop off my radar for a minute. I’m a mega Nirvana fan and I’ve always admired Dave for his talent and humor, but lately I can’t seem to get him out of my face…
The transportive power of music never ceases to amaze me. Whenever I hear the Verve’s “Bitter Sweet Symphony,” it’s suddenly 1997 inside my head; I’m back in high school, daydreaming while sitting on my bedroom floor, and my little blue boombox’s dial is tuned to my favorite radio station, which…
As the previous infrastructure of the music industry collapses around us, individual artists and small groups are charged with an array of roles they never held before. Every band or artist must also find a way to either be her own manager, publicist, engineer, filmmaker, etc. or find a close…
“Skypin’ with Jesus on the Eagle Hotline. Flyin’ so high, looking for a good time? Dial 8-1-3, EAGLE 69.” The Bald Eagles Hotline is real. If you dial 813-EAGLE-69 and Arthur Jimenez, a.k.a. Pimp Eagle, and Dominic Esparza, a.k.a. Sun-Ray Eagle Boi happen to be in the same room, they…
Laurent Garnier has been producing music longer than most of the electronic music fans have been alive. Growing up in the European scene, Garnier has proven that staying true to yourself as a musician is still one way to ensure career longevity. In advance of his appearances at Beta next…
Hip-hop label Upset Records is celebrating the state’s new unofficial pastime with the release of Colorado Smoke. The compilation is due out April 15th with an in store at Angelo’s downtown. Recorded in 72 hours in the Upset Records studio with various of the label’s stable of artists, these eleven…
Imagine you’re on a date and you’re telling a story. It’s a long one, but you know it’s a winner. Everyone always loves this story. Three quarters of the way to the punch line, you notice a shift in your date’s behavior. She’s glancing at the door, bouncing her leg…
There’s a sign posted near the front door of the hi-dive that lists Esme Patterson as the headliner. The opener is listed simply as “Friends of Esme.” There have been rumors and even informal announcements about which friends those might be, but all the crowd filling the dark room on…
Ivory Circle’s five-song debut EP, Entropy, was a poignant and heartfelt effort that showcased Connie Hong’s strong songwriting skills while also demonstrating the dynamism of her vocals, which can be wispy and delicate at times and quite powerful at others. Equilateral, the first of a three-EP series to be released,…
It’s evident from the start on Euforquestra’s fourteen-track LP, Fire, that the cats in this sextet are serious about the funk. The Fort Collins-by-way-of-Iowa City act kicks into gear on the up-tempo, groove-heavy opening cut, “The Price Is Right,” and follows up with the sticky funk of the title track…
If IDM artists like Plaid and Squarepusher had access to less complicated equipment and were born in the 1990s, they might come up with something like Lockbox’s Prince Soul Grenade. Is it composition? Cut-and-paste? Sound collage? It sounds like all of the above, with each song constantly shifting in texture,…
Deep Dreams can be viewed as a semi-transitional album for Sara Century, as it was written in part after she started incorporating keyboards and samples into her songwriting. Still intact, however, are the imaginative, demented stories that recall early-’80s Residents records. “iveknownyouforsolonggg” has a somber, spacious quality, like that of…
Editor’s note: Each week, illustrator Noah Van Sciver asks a Colorado band or musician four questions and then draws their conversation. We call the resulting comic “4 Questions: Comic Strip Interview” because we have no use for obscurity. You can see more of Van Sciver’s work and even buy it…
Communikey Festival starts this Thursday, April 10, and runs through Sunday, April 13. Though Communikey is in its tenth year as an organization, this will be the seventh time it has hosted the festival, bringing in some of the most innovative and visionary artists in the realm of electronic music…
When Kava Lounge opens at 1915 Broadway in Boulder near the end of April, it will be the first of its kind in Denver’s northwest neighbor. It will be open seven days per week and until 5 a.m. on Thursday through Saturday night (Sunday morning, really). Anyone over 18 years…
HARD, the producers behind the HARD Haunted Mansion, HARD Summer and Holy Ship!! cruise, is big again for another installment of HARD Red Rocks on Thursday, July 31. This time around, Nero, Dillon Francis, Rudimental, Destructo, Julio Bashmore are on the bill. Tickets ($55) go on sale on Friday, April…
Critic Jessica Hopper has played in and managed bands, toured internationally, booked shows, produced records, worked as a publicist and is the author of The Girls’ Guide to Rocking, a how-to for teen ladies. She is here to help you stop doing it wrong. Send your problems to her –…
The Denver Botanic Gardens has just announced its 2014 lineup, and it is hefty. Starting June 24 with March Cohn and Mavis Staples and concluding on September 6 with St. Vincent, the Garden’s two locations (on York Street and in Chatfield) will also host Joan Baez, Barenaked Ladies, B.B. King…
Colorado Governor John Hicknlooper has long been invested in the culture of the state. As Denver’s Mayor, Hickenlooper was a common sight at things like art gallery openings and concerts, and his roots in the community include co-founding Wynkoop Brewing Company in LoDo. He has spent the past three and…
I love electronic music. I love the sound, the artists, the parties, the people, the scene — in fact, I’m into pretty much everything about this particular genre of music. But there’s one thing about electronica that I’m really, really not into. At all. It’s the term “EDM.” I hate…
So news is spreading quickly about this year’s Mad Decent Block Party, a fledgling festival tour heretofore specializing in the kinds of hip-hop and dance acts whose members were likely to be wearing floral print hats. It was mostly found in large clubs with outdoor spaces, that sort of thing…
Some of SnowBall’s best artists weren’t even on stage. Among the young and the variably sober in the crowd on Saturday was a small group of artists, busily painting murals. They were situated between the two main stages, putting the eight-by-twelve feet wooden canvases at maximum visibility. The goal was…
