Early in her career, during four years of solid touring, Coles Whalen sold thousands of CDs out of her truck — and since issuing her self-titled debut EP in 2005, she’s released five recordings and toured almost constantly. After wrapping a tour last December, Whalen was completely (and understandably) worn…
Logistixx is a technically sound rapper. With his ability to rhyme and ride the beat, he complements the music like a lead instrument would; on New Paradigm, this talent mixes with really dope beats to make the album a chill listen all the way through. As a lyricist, Logistixx is…
Project Aspect has dropped a remix album every year since 2011, and each one shows his diverse taste in music. Remixes Vol.3 is no exception. The producer has honed his glitch-staccato sound, and it’s noticeable on the opening track (his take on Lil Flip’s “Game Over”), but not nearly as…
Although trumpeter Terence Blanchard and saxophonist Donald Harrison, both New Orleans natives, were part of Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers when the two released 1983’s New York Second Line, it didn’t take too long for them to form their own group and release five albums as co-leaders. In the early ’90s, Blanchard…
MUDHONEY @ UMS | 7/19/13 Mudhoney didn’t spend a lot of time joking with the audience between songs at this show, but after the borderline cartoonish menace of “Judgment, Rage, Retribution and Thyme,” Mark Arm said, “I feel like Colorado and Washington are sister states. There’s no reason to play…
40TH DAY @ LARIMER LOUNGE | 7/20/13 The whole 40th Day set felt a bit like me traveling and a creative resurrection at the same time. For whatever reason, it just didn’t feel like a reunion show. The felt show felt like the five members of the band were playing…
ADAM ANT @ OGDEN THEATRE | WEDS, 7/24/13 Adam Ant, the charismatic post-punk British pop star responsible for a generation of pirate shirts, returns to the U.S. after a long absence. Now 58, he’s picked up more tattoos and a smoking habit since we saw him last. Despite being battle…
TENNIS @ UMS DAY PARTY | SAT, 7/20/13 Just a block off of Broadway, in a nondescript Baker-neighborhood house lived in by Tennis’ sometimes drummer-sometimes bass player Patrick Meese and his wife, we saw a very different side of UMS. The party felt like it was thrown together in a…
STEVE MARTIN & EDIE BRICKELL @ DENVER BOTANIC GARDENS | 7/20/13 Watching Steve Martin riff on stage at the Denver Botanic Gardens’ Chatfield, it was easy to see how he sold out stadiums with his stand-up comedy in the ’70s. Martin came prepared with an arsenal of one-liners and sight…
GLOBAL DANCE FESTIVAL @ RED ROCKS | FRI, 7/19/13-SUN, 7/21/13 Going strong for ten years, Global Dance Festival is the premier summer event for EDM fans. Changing things up in the past few years, Triad Dragons has expanded offerings to include acts like Beats Antique, EOTO, Big Gigantic and Empire…
“WEIRD AL” YANKOVIC @ BOULDER THEATER | SUN, 7/21/13 “Weird Al” Yankovic’s zany parodies catapulted him to fame in the ’80s, back when pop culture was in dire need of some deflation. He never got critical props for his oddball iconoclasm, though, and after his 1989 film, UHF tanked at…
Well, it’s a wrap. The nineteenth annual Westword Music Showcase Awards are now officially in the books. The Bluebird was packed, and, man, what a good time. Drinks, food, friends — what else do you need? Next to the Showcase itself, this is one of the best nights for local…
Global Dance Festival is a growing, changing phenomenon that’s taken founder Ha Hau to places he probably didn’t foresee when he found himself in an unenviable situation. In 2003, when radio station KTCL canceled Rave on the Rocks — the massive annual dance party held at Red Rocks — Hau…
I told somebody at the kitchen that I work in that it was a ‘mind-over-matter situation,'” says Caleb Tardio, talking about how his band, I Sank Molly Brown, came up with the name for its new EP, Mind Over Mothra. “She was like, ‘Did you say ‘mind over Mothra’? That’s…
For his latest release, A Color Map of the Sun, Derek Vincent Smith ventured outside the box for a unique project in which he created his own samples using handpicked instrumentalists. Here the Pretty Lights maestro explores the foundations of jazz, funk and soul, offering his own modern take using…
Connie Hong shares vocal duties in the five-piece band Reviving Cecilia, but with Ivory Circle, her solo project, she wanted to strip things down. And that’s just what she’s done here, with the help of producer and multi-instrumentalist Chris Beeble. On “Pretend,” the opening cut of Ivory Circle’s five-song debut…
On his latest album as Ancient Mith, Braden Smith has more fully integrated the synthesizer and the noisier end of his beats than he did on previous efforts. “They’ll Always Call at Nine” has the same stark but spine-tingling sound that Wendy Carlos used in her compositions for the Clockwork…
A note of confrontation underlies Bad Brad & the Fat Cats’ latest release, Eyes on the Prize. Brad Stivers kicks off the finger-pointing on “Payin’ My Dues,” the album’s first track: “How does it feel to be stuck?” he challenges as the band plays a standard blues shuffle. “You kept…
PETER MURPHY @ SUMMIT MUSIC HALL | 7/16/13 Near the end of his set last night, Peter Murphy paused a moment as the last echo of “She’s In Parties” rang out and the repetitive yet urgent bass line for “Stigmata Martyr” rolled in for a measure or two. Then the…
This Wednesday, July 17, we’ll be hosting the nineteenth annual Westword Showcase Awards at the Bluebird Theater. The votes have all been tallied, and tomorrow night, we’ll be announcing the winners and handing out the awards. Following a VIP reception for nominees (shoot us an email if you’re nominated and…
The Hate has changed its name to Wiredogs. Since we last heard from the band, the guys have been hard at work on a new EP, which is slated for release sometime this fall. The Resistance, which was recorded at Black in Bluhm by Chris Fogal, is even more aggressive…
We’ve got some sad news to share with you this morning: Tanner Seebaum, the sixteen-year-old DJ we told you about last month who was battling brain cancer, passed away this past Friday, July 12. As you might remember, a number of Denver dubstep icons stepped up to support the young…
