The best EDM in Denver this weekend

EOTO started as a String Cheese Incident side project between Michael Travis and Jason Hann, a studio musician who also played with Dr. Dre and was a member of Isaac Hayes’s band. Out of the practicality of the living situations of both musicians, EOTO began as more of an electronic…

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,…

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…

The best jazz shows in December

SUN | MILE HIGH SPIRITS JAZZ FEST at MILE HIGH SPIRITS | 12/8/13 Mile High Spirits and the Gift of Jazz have teamed up to put on this free daylong festival, which kicks off at 3:30 p.m. and runs until 10: 30 p.m. Each of the six local acts on…

The best concerts to see in Denver this week

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…

Johnette Napolitano at Soiled Dove, 11/27/13

JOHNETTE NAPOLITANO at THE SOILED DOVE | 11/27/13 After opening with “The Real Thing,” a Concrete Blonde limited edition, single, Johnette Napolitano looked down at a woman sitting in front of her next to the stage and asked if she was okay. The singer, playing her last show of the…

The best EDM in Denver this weekend

SAT | MARC HOULE at NORAD | 11/30/13 Marc Houle has attracted attention from some of techno’s finest players, from Richie Hawtin to Miss Kittin to Troy Pierce. Houle’s studio tracks get snatched up and spun by everyone who’s anyone in dance music, spanning genres and lighting up clubs and…

The best concerts to see in Denver this weekend

FRI | NATHANIEL RATELIFF at GOTHIC THEATRE | 11/29/13 From his recent stint making music backed by the Night Sweats, to the incredibly moving songs he’s crafted on his own, to his cinematic work with Born in the Flood, Nathaniel Rateliff is a man who requires absolutely no preamble –…

Confluence came together from various musical sources

It comes down to Alan introducing us to indie rock,” declares Confluence frontman Ian Gassman, speaking of bassist Alan Hubbard and summing up the eventual musical direction of the band. “I was listening to Bob Dylan a bunch, and Jack Johnson…. I’m just saying my want to get better at…

Crash Landings

The eight tracks on Crash Landings’ Tragedy tread musical ground that will be instantly familiar to fans of old-school punk and hardcore. Songs like “Burn Your Money” and “Who’s Next” summon the spirit of Jello Biafra and the Buzzcocks, with power chords, simple guitar solos and pounding drum lines that…

Dr. Izzy Band

The title of Dr. Izzy Band’s debut, Blind & Blues Bound, perfectly encapsulates this group’s sound. Throughout the twelve-song disc, frontwoman Dr. Izzy, who was born in Texas with full vision but began to go blind at the age of nine, clearly has a strong affinity for the blues. On…