Matt Friedman and Ross Kiser, co-founders of Denver-based Night Supply Records, are making quite a name for themselves as house duo Need & Necessity, doing everything from playing house parties at the University of Colorado in Boulder, where they went to school, to curating shows with The Hundred founder Brennen…
Though Angel Olsen’s music is often dubbed folk or indie rock, it is too diverse to fit neatly into such broad categories. Whatever it’s filed under, her music, especially her latest album, Burn Your Fire for No Witness, is informed by a delicacy of feeling that allows her to channel…
Big Gigantic’s fifth studio album in as many years is a clear sign that saxophonist/producer Dominic Lalli has truly stepped into his own world of music. “Clvdbvrst” opens the album with a plethora of styles; from there, listeners are treated to an explosion of jazzy saxophone foundations framing big beats…
With a name like Dwarf Planets and cover art that depicts the sun and two planets, you might guess that the music inside the sleeve has a prog-rock or even new-age influence. But about twenty seconds into “Ice Rain,” the opening cut on this seven-song disc, it’s evident that Boulder’s…
“Soul” is obviously the key word here, and the Soul Pros have plenty of it. Anchored by A-L, a fantastic producer and DJ with a deep understanding of sound, song progression and how to blend samples, Soul’d Out also features two excellent MCs who make A-L’s beats sound even better…
Rarely have a project and album name fit their music as perfectly as Weed Problem and its self-titled release. “Noddy Drug Kits” flows with a buzzy drone that is never fully resolved but just continues to build while hazy, echoing chants undulate amid syncopated crashing guitar and drums. The sprawling…
THU | SCHOOLBOY Q at OGDEN THEATRE | 3/27 Schoolboy Q just released Oxymoron, his latest album, to general acclaim. He has embraced a style that is dark and creative, using unique but effective beats and a persona that is difficult to put a finger on. He has definitely carved…
The world’s most maligned former Disney princess is strutting down the stage, leading a platoon of dancers dressed in (more) preposterous costumes, the most preposterous of them a pair of seven-foot foam finger outfits where the dancers’ heads stick out of the knuckles. It’s a direct reference to the moment…
It’s common knowledge that the popular music industry is dominated by a few huge companies, sometimes referred to as the Big Three: Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group. It used to be the Big Four, until EMI was subsumed into the other three. Before that, it…
American Babies at the 1Up Colfax 3/4/14 In 2007, Philly-based Brothers Past frontman Tom Hamilton went back to his roots and started American Babies, a band that focuses on songcraft and takes influences from everyone from Lou Reed to the Grateful Dead. The Babies’ live shows are high-energy, with surprise…
Sat | Propagandhi at Summit Music Hall | 3/8/14 In an era where many punk bands form and release their first album less than a year after starting, Propagandhi’s development seems remarkably long. Formed in 1986, playing its first live shows in 1989, the band released its early demos a…
THU-SUN | DENVER WINTER SHOWCASE @ BAR STANDARD & NORAD | 3/6 to 3/9 When Andy Roberts moved to Colorado a few years ago, he immediately recognized the scene here as something he wanted to be a part of, which ultimately birthed the idea for the Denver Winter Showcase. Now…
Hall & Oates @ 1STBANK Center | 3/3/14 With no opening act, Daryl Hall and John Oates took the stage with their six backing musicians. Parts of this band have been together for a long time, including sax player Charles DeChant and veteran studio and touring guitarist Paul Pesco. It…
In honor of Miley Cyrus’s gig at the Pepsi Center tonight, we here at Team Backbeat would like to honor the Princess of Twerk by providing a comprehensive guide for child stars looking to go rogue. So you’re a Barely Legal former child star. Welcome to adulthood! Legal cigarettes, voting…
Chris Thile has decided he’s bored of not selling thousands of tickets at a time, so Nickel Creek is back, and they’re coming to Denver. Rod Stewart and Santana are also into selling thousands of tickets, so they’ll be coming through as well. Incidentally, Santana has never meet a collaboration…
Dr. Dog (due Saturday, March 8, at the Boulder Theater) draws its roots back to the time that Toby Leaman and Scott McMicken started writing songs together when they were growing up in Newark, Delaware. Dr. Dog was a side project of Leaman and McMicken’s main band, Raccoon. But it…
Most people regard metal music as an anti-intellectual, chest-beating, noisy fit for cavemen. Despite this being 100 percent true, there are a few positive things that result from having an intense dedication toward one of the most juvenile forms of music out there. While listening to metal may still sentence…
Rule No. 1: Invite me to everything. I love your band — I bought your cassette, even though I don’t have a Walkman, and I bought your shirt, even though I’m getting to that age where band shirts fit me a bit like a corset, and I like your Facebook…
Editor’s note: Hall & Oates are now going as Daryl Hall & John Oates, because apparently that’s the way you add gravitas to a catalogue that will turn your pants pastel and put shoulder pads in whatever shirt you’re wearing if you listen long enough. Here’s the thing: They needn’t…
Pentagram @ Summit Music Hall |2/28/14 Pentagram took the stage with a spooky soundscape coming through the PA, Bobby Liebling looking like a puppet woken up from a nap and blinking. He was all but twitching to life, pulled along by invisible strings. But when Liebling took the mic, an…
Thug Entrancer (due tonight at the Sidewinder Tavern) is the latest musical project of Ryan McRyhew. For years McRyhew has been involved in various experimental Denver bands, including The Devil Made the Dinosaurs, Thundercade and Hideous Men, the project he helms with his wife, Kristi Schaefer. Thug Entrancer is something…
If you let the fat cats over at Google dictate your taste in cinema, then you may have avoided the 1991 romantic classic Cool as Ice (starring Vanilla Ice) for the past two decades. Most Americans think this film is worthy of but one star, when in reality, Cool as…
