Concerts

In 2010, John Grant’s debut solo album, The Queen of Denmark, was named album of the year by Mojo, and it earned universal praise across Europe. Here in the States, meanwhile, the record was criminally overlooked, as was the former Czars frontman himself, whose spring 2011 tour was unceremoniously canceled…

In recent years, while way too many bands were opting for a more stripped-down form of rock and roll via the garage/surf route in an attempt to make music from a more pure and primal place, Negative Degree (due at the hi-dive on Sunday, May 12) was embracing hardcore. And…

There are plenty of DJs out there who are skilled at crafting upbeat dance sets to high-tempo music — after all, it’s easy to keep the dance floor moving when you keep the beats-per-minute at a fast-paced 160-180. Even dubstep only slows the tempo to around 140 BPM. It takes…

Prince became a household name after the release of his third album, 1982’s 1999. Over the years, his perfectly realized blend of rock, pop, funk and jazz has proved equally popular with audiences and critics. Throughout the ’80s, Prince released hit records that broke genre barriers, not just in terms…

The Dillinger Escape Plan came out of the hardcore scene of Morris Plains, New Jersey, in 1997. Former members of Arcane — including Dillinger’s remaining original member, guitarist Ben Weinman — got together and wrote songs with a savagely mathematical precision, adding a more adventurous sonic spirit than what was…

Pusha T and his brother No Malice rose to prominence as Clipse with the single “Grindin’,” which sported a minimal Neptunes beat of simple snaps and bangs, allowing its re-creation on lunchroom tables across America. Now, more than a decade later, Pusha T is on Kanye’s G.O.O.D. Music label. Thanks…

Mobb Deep has had an illustrious career that’s spanned seven albums and more than a decade, but, really, this pair will forever be remembered for a single, legendary song: “Shook Ones, Pt. II,” which took an unlikely Herbie Hancock sample and transformed it into a nihilistic anthem. With tracks like…

Jim James is probably best known as the frontman of My Morning Jacket, a band that crossed over from the underground to the mainstream by virtue of its haunting yet richly melodic and expansive songs. The success of MMJ has given James the opportunity to collaborate with like-minded artists such…

Any song that manages to tell a story is impressive, but when a story is carried through an entire project, when the words are dedicated to a single plot and a clear ideological focus, it’s a substantially ambitious and adventurous undertaking. Whereas the media has struggled to be the first…

The song structures on A. Tom Collins’s new album, Stick and Poke, are mostly built on easily digestible formulas, bluesy designs that feel vaguely familiar and rely on four or five chords. Happily, though, the timeless blues, honky-tonk and funky New Orleans cues give the band the proper space to…

While there are still a number of big bands out there drawing inspiration from swing groups of the ’30s and ’40s, there are also a number of adventurous composers who put a more modern spin on the big-band concept. Composer and bandleader Adam Bartczak does it on Grass Is Greener,…

There was a time in the ’80s when certain films had a gritty realism infused with a dreamlike, introspective quality — William Friedkin’s To Live and Die in L.A., Michael Mann’s Manhunter, Martin Scorsese’s After Hours, even Brian De Palma’s Body Double. That sense of disembodied hyper-reality, in which you’re…

All right, so we’ve already tantalized you with the acts that are performing on the main stage this year at the Westword Music Showcase (Dada Life, Trampled by Turtles, P.O.S., Nick Waterhouse, the Mowgli’s, the Colorado Symphony with Nathaniel Rateliff and Otis Taylor, Hunter Hunted and My Body Sings Electric)…

Ah, yes, this should be dope. If you’re a hip-hop head, clear your calendar: Spoke In Wordz is set to battle J-Money on Saturday, June 1, at McDonough’s Irish Pub, 10395 East Iliff in Aurora. J-Money, who’s from Aurora, of course, is a seasoned battle rapper, whereas this MC match-up…

Some more sad news to report for a music community that’s still grappling with the losses of some other dearly departed friends: If you haven’t heard, Joe Cahill, Leftover Salmon’s lighting designer, passed away last week in New Orleans. According to an item filed by the New Orleans Times-Picayune, Cahill,…

DEVENDRA BANHART @ GOTHIC THEATRE | 5/5/13 Devendra Banhart marches to the funkiest army ever, a fact that was prominently in evidence during his abbreviated set at the Gothic Theatre last night. The man does not know how to keep still. By turns joking and serious, Banhart showcased an array…

SHABAZZ PALACES @ LARIMER LOUNGE | MON, 5/6/13 In the first half of the ’90s, Ishmael Butler went by the moniker “Butterfly” as part of the rap trio Digable Planets. After the outfit’s 1995 split, the group performed one-off shows here and there, but since 2009, Butler has released music…

If last Friday night’s party is any indication, the Denver Disco dudes have put together one helluva party. And tonight, the crew will continue to crush it. If you already checked out our rundown of the best EDM in Denver this weekend, you probably noticed that we have Mike Deez,…

CRYSTAL CASTLES @ GOTHIC THEATRE | 5/2/13 Last night’s Crystal Castles show at the Gothic was not one for epileptics, with all the rapid flashing, seizure-inducing colored lights. The vivid visualizations kept pace with the accelerating tempos and deftly matched the dynamism and mood of the music itself. The blossoming…

FLOBOTS @ AGGIE THEATRE | FRI, 5/3/13 Half a decade after releasing the platinum single “Handlebars,” which made rounds on radios across the country, the Flobots have grown significantly, both as a musical group and as a philanthropic force within the Denver community. Since parting ways with Universal Records after…

HANEYSTOCK @ GOTHIC THEATRE | FRI, 5/3/13 Although the lineup for this show would otherwise be considered pretty great, with Havok, Speedwolf, the Limbs and Lola Black, the reason everybody will be heading down to the Gothic Theatre tonight is to celebrate the life of Chris Haney, a dearly departed…