The Chicago-bred, Brooklyn-based rapper Common (born Lonnie Rashid Lynn) has never been one to follow doctrines — or to shy away from voicing his opinions, even when those opinions differ radically from the general American party line. Consider his thoughts on the case of Assata Shakur, an African-American woman who…
It’s November 9, two days after the American presidential election, and the media is simply delirious, scrambling to provide the latest updates on the as-yet-undecided race, reveling in the chance to use words like “historic” and “unprecedented.” Almost everyone in the United States has their eye on Florida, waiting –…
Kristina Ingham was in the Austin, Texas, airport a few years ago, waiting for a flight to somewhere or other with her guitar slung over one shoulder. Three fashion-conscious, almost-teenage girls ran up to her and shrieked, “Are you Sheryl Crow?” “I was like, ‘No I’m not,'” says Ingham. “This…
Born in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Adrian Romero spent many years in Denver as the frontman of Love Supreme, an enigmatic outfit whose embrace of myriad styles — from introspective and richly textured melodicism to a carnivalesque kind of fusion — earned it a sizable local following, an invitation to…
With the release of Sweet Bird of Youth, the Rock*A*Teens, Wednesday, November 29, at the 15th Street Tavern, with Kudzu Towers and Witter Cofield Conspiracy, again demonstrate that strange art sometimes comes from strange places. The bands fifth full-length CD was recorded in its Cabbagetown, Georgia, home, and is a…
The Denver Barn Dance, November 25 at the Gothic Theater, showcases Denvers emerging underground country music scene with performances from Marty Jones and the Pork Boilin Poor Boys, Chester Everett and his Ranch Rythmaires, and Halden Wofford and the Hi-Beams (pictured). The evening seeks to reconcile the gap between new…
Actor Woody Harrelson and marijuana always seem to find themselves side by side, and the film Grass brings the two even closer together. Harrelson, an advocate for vegetarianism, the use of hemp in mainstream products and the sheer enjoyment of the herb, narrates this humorous documentary directed by Ron Mann…
Kay (pronounced kai, like sky) — who, like the other members of mostly punk outfit Sunshine prefers to go by his first name — keeps apologizing for his English. “I’m sorry, it’s very difficult to speak on the phone with me,” he says for the third time. “Many people tell…
As much ink as underground rock acts waste bemoaning the constraints that genre-geared fans and media inflict upon them, many still fall into forms that readily lend themselves to easy definitions. For every hundred bespectacled Jawbreaker wannabes who stamp their feet and cry about being called emo, or Mohawked crust…
Many rock historians (a rather portentous title for people who write about their favorite bands for a living, but what can you do?) tend to gravitate toward narrative extremes. Either the chronicle of a performer is a tale of unabashed triumph over a series of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, or it’s…
Joan of Arc was signed by Jade Tree records, sound unheard, as a result of the posthumous popularity of Cap’n Jazz, a teen project that included three-fifths of the Arc contingent. One EP and four full-lengths later, the players continue to exhaust the freedom afforded by that initial license: To…
The “cool” West Coast sound of the ’50s and ’60s is perhaps Southern California’s foremost contribution to the development of jazz during the century we’re just concluding. Yet the style didn’t spring full-blown from the brow of Gerry Mulligan; its smooth, often muted feel was heavily influenced by the jazz…
Fifteen fuckin’ songs! Bang for your buck! Puttin’ fuckin’ bounce in the mosh pit, motherfuck! Rollin’ wit Napster! Get the fuck back! Freddy D. is still pissed (yeah) — an’ he’s bustin’ out the smack! Cargo pants be saggin’ — spray-paint can be taggin’! Phat-mad mike skillz. Say: Fuck, yeah!…
A friend of mine commented this morning that a George Bush presidency might actually be good for the arts world — not because, as some have suggested, a conservative commander-in-chief would unite the fringe in fighting a common enemy. Rather, my friend would be so wary about catching a glimpse…
Idaho is best known for two things: potatoes and militias. Caustic Resin, with Rainbow Sugar, Monday, November 20, at the Lions Lair, doesnt have a lot in common with either of those, but its still a worthwhile addition to the states export list. Though the band hails from the same…
Just because each one of the guys in Tinker’s Punishment, Wednesday, November 22, at the Soiled Dove, is just about as cute as a button, dont write them off as just another Backstreet Boys-like boy band. With the release of If This Cant Last Forever — a CD thats filled…
The chances of running into an old-world-style traveling carnival in Denver are pretty slim, but Rock Island will offer its best approximation with Muse, a theatrical family of freaks that it will house on Friday, November 17. Its a good thing the Ringling Brothers have left town, as Muses seedy-sided…
For avant-garde composers Chris Cutler and Thomas Dimuzio, musical ideas are kind of like eggs in an earthquake: They hatch, they crack, they shatter and ooze, and they can leave your senses scrambled. One thing’s certain, ladies and yolks: The best place to be when the tectonic plate hits the…
The lineage of the African diaspora resonates in the raps and sounds of Reflection Eternal, a duo consisting of Brooklyn-based Talib Kweli and Cincinnati-bred DJ Hi-Tek. Combining raps about the middle passage, shout-outs to Nina Simone, jazz-inflected B-boyisms and streetwise jams, Reflection Eternal traces a musical journey from the present…
Albert Ayler would be ‘acid jazz’ to me,” says William Yale, bassist for the Denver- and Boulder-based United Dope Front. Ironically, the point helps explain why Constant Elevation, United Dope Front’s second full-length recording, released last month, establishes the band as one of the area’s finest purveyors of acid jazz…
The problem with a lotta power pop (aside from its frequent lack of both power and pop) is the exaggerated sugariness of its words. The honeyed quality of the hooks and harmonies inspires too many of its practitioners to go lyrically gooey as well, resulting in a musical sameyness that…
It’s pretty easy to dismiss the bulk of neo-swing acts as sentimental revivalists, especially when the biggest hits to surface from the swing revival so far have either hinged on historic themes (“Zoot Suit Riot”) or been hands-down covers of yesteryear’s favorites (“Jump, Jive and Wail”). For all the noise…
