The best EDM in Denver this weekend

FRI | WINTER WARMER FESTIVAL at FILLMORE | 2/14/14 Since dropping his debut solo album Dreaming of a Bigger Life, Michal Menert has been steadily touring the country building a grassroots following in the same way Derek Vincent Smith of Pretty Lights did when he first hit the scene. Menert…

Artist Drowning

Artist Drowning doesn’t stick to one kind of sound or formula on Driving Home In Reverse, the debut studio album from the Boulder-based indie-rock outfit. That diversity is for the best, considering that the record weighs in at an ambitious nineteen tracks, which include understated instrumentals like “Darkness Coming” as…

The Hayward Strangers

While the Hayward Strangers have a few high-octane foot-stomping bluegrass cuts, like “Drinkin’ Ain’t Hard to Do” and “Standing in the Kitchen,” on their fifteen-song debut, Making Ground, it’s fairly clear elsewhere on the disc that the six-piece isn’t solely a bluegrass act. Sure, these folks have an affinity for…

Project Aspect

On Hyperspace, Jay Jaramillo’s fourth 1320 release as Project Aspect, he keeps things pretty status quo. On “The Beat Drops,” which features fellow Mile High Sound Movement member Kruza Kid and Boss Miller, the vocals are chopped and repeated until, well, the drop. Some of the tracks seem a little…

Paw Paw

“Fox,” the opening track on Paw Paw’s new three-song EP, 3 Eye, immediately separates this release from the band’s 2012 album, Lay Down In the Flower Bed. Whereas that effort was bright and glistening with luminous, uplifting tones, these songs are darker and more organic. They’re the next step in…

Brian Blade journeys through Landmarks with the Fellowship Band

On every album that drummer Brian Blade has made with his group the Fellowship Band, from the act’s 1998 self-titled debut to its forthcoming release Landmarks, there’s a cohesive group sound that’s immediately recognizable. “I have to attribute that evolving oneness to everyone in the band,” Blade says. “I’m thankful…

Paul Simon and Sting at Pepsi Center, 2/11/14

PAUL SIMON & STING at PEPSI CENTER | 2/11/14 When Paul Simon and Sting took the stage together, they were each accompanied by their full bands, which often appeared on the stage with them at the same time throughout the set, working together to create an even more lush and…

Lotus at Fillmore Auditorium, 2/8/14

Taking jazzy grooves and elevating them to frenzied funk levels through samples, synths and heavily textured percussion, Lotus played two sets of high energy dance to the younger skewed crowd Saturday night. Though no surprise MCs showed up to perform any songs off the act’s latest hip hop release, Monks,…

The best concerts in Denver this week

TUES | STING & PAUL SIMON at PEPSI CENTER | 2/11/14 Sting and Paul Simon have had a hand in producing some of the most memorable pop and rock songs of the past four decades (five, in Simon’s case). Sting, of course, was the lead singer of the Police, but…

The best concerts in Denver this weekend

FRI & SAT | LOTUS at FILLMORE AUDITORIUM | 2/7-2/8 The jazzy electronic quintet Lotus, known for its precisely timed improvisations during live shows, is celebrating its thirteenth year together. This weekend, fresh off the release of its most recent effort, Lotus, the band, which is signed to Boulder’s SCI…

The best EDM in Denver this weekend

SAT | DIGITALISM at VINYL | 2/8/14 After a stripped­-down U.S. tour last May, the Hamburg­-based duo Digitalism is coming back across the pond. The electro musicians are a prime example of why two heads can sometimes be better than one when it comes to creating music. The pair, Jens…