Eight more of Denver’s best sound engineers

Do know what the difference is between a good show and a great show? The sound. It’s always the sound. When it’s bad, you certainly know it. On the other hand, when it’s a great mix, you might not even notice, unless you’re a particularly astute listener. You might just…

All you need is love on Something Underground’s new EP

Music is in the Larson brothers’ blood. “It’s what we’ve known the longest,” declares Seth Larson. “I feel as comfortable on stage, maybe more comfortable on stage, then I do just walking around in life.” Seth and his brother Josh, two-thirds of Something Underground, were born to musical parents. A…

Krooked Drivers

Right Beneath Your Feet , the new six-song EP from Krooked Drivers, is packed with big-beat styles that take a hip-hop head’s sensibility for sample chopping and merge it with the kind of thick synth bass and pad washes that have taken over the post-dubstep world. The duo’s intricately layered…

4H Royalty

It’s tough to find moments on Liars & Outliers where 4H Royalty frontman Zach Boddicker takes himself and his music too seriously: As on the outfit’s last two albums, there is plenty here in the way of levity. That light mood comes in the airy titles and lyrics of tunes…

Soul School

Soul School, one of the busier acts in town, has dozens of covers in its repertoire, everything from Motown and R&B tunes to soul and funk to disco and hip-hop. On Chapter One, Soul School’s ten-song debut of original material, the group draws from the same genres it covers, opening…

Prism Waves

The title track of Courage, the new Prism Waves EP, establishes an overarching aesthetic of melancholic yearning, which can be heard not just in the plaintive singing, but in the way the guitar notes are plucked, arranged and paced. The song sounds like something the Cure might have done for…

The best punk shows in Denver in December

JELLO BIAFRA & GUANTANAMO SCHOOL OF MEDICINE at SUMMIT | 12/31 Jello Biafra first came to the attention of the world as the charismatic, hyperkinetic and relentlessly intelligent frontman of the Dead Kennedys. Never one to mince words, Biafra became a lightning rod with his unapologetic critiques of the regressive…

The Toad Tavern in Littleton gets new owners

After more than two decades of being in the local music scene, from playing in Rubber Planet to booking places like the Cricket on the Hill to owning the Toad Tavern for the last five years, Brice Hancock is selling the venue and moving on. On Friday, December 13, a…

The best metal shows in Denver in December

SAT | DENVER BLACK SKY at GOTHIC THEATRE | 12/14/13 December is a leaner month than usual with regard to the number of metal shows booked. But quality more than makes up for quantity thanks to Denver Black Sky. This absolute must-see metal festival is being curated by Sherwood Webber,…

What we’re all listening to right now

Music is life — or at least it is for us. When we’re not writing about it, we’re thinking about it, talking about it or listening to it. These are the things that were in heavy rotation for us this week. What are you listening to? What should we be…

The best jam-band shows in December

SAT-TUES | STRING CHEESE INCIDENT at 1STBANK | 12/28-12/31 String Cheese Incident will be presenting its twentieth-anniversary celebration with various openers during its New Year’s run at 1STBANK Center. The group has Bootsy Collins joining forces on Saturday, December 28, and confetti rockers Flaming Lips on Sunday, December 29. Past…

The best DIY shows in Denver in December

FRI | ALPHABETS at RHINOCEROPOLIS | 12/13/13 When Colin Ward was thirteen years old, he was already making an impression on older members of the underground music community in Denver with his project Pocket Dove. With Nick Peelor, Ward formed the experimental indie-pop band Tudaloos and made music that seemed…

The best EDM shows in Denver in December

DECADENCE NYE at COLORADO CONVENTION CENTER | 12/30-12/31 Just to tease a few of the artists: Bassnectar, Beats Antique, Keys and Krates, Tiesto, Dada Life, Pretty Lights, Odesza, Above & Beyond, Paul Basic and 12th Planet. Need we say more? Decadence landed in Denver as a result of Triad Dragons’…

The best rap shows in Denver in December

MON | JAY Z at PEPSI CENTER | 12/2/13 Ever since Reasonable Doubt was released, Jay Z’s esteemed career has continued on a path of lyrical and stylistic mastery that leaves no doubt whatsoever. Well beyond the need for braggadocio, the rapper’s confidence and long-sustained commercial success are self-evident, which doesn’t…