Buke and Gase

Brooklyn’s Buke and Gase (formerly Buke and Gass), an outfit comprising Arone Dyer and Aron Sanchez, who played together in the post-punk band Hominid, took its name from two of the instruments the pair created and use to make their music: A buke is a baritone ukulele and a gase…

Night Beds

Winston Yellen, the Nashville-by-way-of-Colorado tunesmith who makes music under the Night Beds moniker, is immediately captivating, and his music bears a distinctive familiarity. With an absolutely gorgeous voice that’s a little bit Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes, a little bit Justin Vernon of Bon Iver and a little bit Ryan…

The Who

In 1964, drummer Keith Moon approached Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend and John Entwistle about being in their band, the Who, which had been named the Detours until the outfit found out another band with that name already existed. The foursome went on to become one of the most beloved and…

Tea Leaf Green’s Reed Mathis on the soul of improvisation

Reed Mathis talks about improvisation like it’s a mystical religion. The bassist for the San Francisco-based quintet Tea Leaf Green and former frontman of the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey sees a great deal of power in making music on the spot, and that passion will likely be front and center…

Like magic, Carlo Lio perfectly melds house and techno

Although Carlo Lio has released a number of EPs and singles on various labels, it wasn’t until last May that his first commercial mix (the highly anticipated SCI+TEC back-catalog blowout Past, Present, Future — Vol. 2) saw the light of day. That might tell you something about the priorities of this…

Jon Wirtz

While Jon Wirtz has lent his piano and keyboard skills to a variety of singer-songwriters, from Matt Morris to Angie Stevens to John Common, he’s also a fine jazz player, as evidenced on his stunning 2010 solo piano debut, Sea Level. There are elements of jazz on Tourist, and Wirtz…

The Trubelos

There’s a lot of energy in the first three cuts of the Trubelos’ debut long-player, Boomerang Girl, including the up-tempo countrified rocker “All I Want to Do is You,” the blues shuffle of Little Walter’s “Little By Little,” and the twangy title cut. But while the vigor is there, it…

Jahni Denver

If there’s one thing Mountain Lion, Pt. 1 succeeds in doing, it’s putting a song in your head and keeping it there, whether you want it or not. While Jahni Denver’s flow is only okay and his subject matter is rarely original, he is a master of the hook, and…

The Bedsit Infamy

A bit of an odds-and-sods collection, this set of songs covers the entirety of the Bedsit Infamy’s existence, including its first formal demo. Recalling XTC’s 1992 compilation Rag and Bone Buffet in terms of purpose and content, this “leftover” work is anything but inferior. Billy Armijo may be a writer…

R.I.P., Marcus “Arrilius” Hayes

The local scene has suffered another tremendous loss this week with the passing of Marcus Hayes (aka Marcus Arrilius), one of the founding members of the emerging Welcome to the D.O.P.E. Game crew. Hayes, an esteemed father, husband, brother, friend, mentor, thinker, MC and visionary, passed away this past Friday…

The five best shows in Denver this week

Welcome back to the work week. How was the weekend? A bunch of great shows, eh? Icelantic’s Winter on the Rocks with Macklemore, Eli Goulding at the Ogden Theatre, Brother Ali and Danny Brown at Cervantes’ and Hot Water Music at Summit Music Hall. What did you catch? Bunch more…

The six best metal shows in Denver this month

So you like your music hard and heavy, do ya? Good news: You’re in for some serious brutality this month. There’s a ton of shows happening in February, all of which are listed in our concert calendar, but here, we’ve singled out the six best metal shows in Denver (well,…

Hot Water Music at Summit Music Hall, 2/3/13

HOT WATER MUSIC @ SUMMIT MUSIC HALL |2/3/13 Last night’s Hot Water Music show at the Summit was the kind where the crowd pretty much knew all of the songs. But the song that got the strongest reaction, bar none, was “Rooftops,” which came in toward the end of the…

Brother Ali at Cervantes’, 2/2/13

BROTHER ALI @ CERVANTES’ MASTERPIECE BALLROOM | 2/2/13 Brother Ali commands the stage like a political figure, only one who’s less concerned with appearance and more concerned with the impact of his speech. In the nihilistic rap world of uncountable monies, untraceable guns and impregnable bitches, Ali has remained a…

Ellie Goulding at Ogden Theatre, 2/1/13

ELLIE GOULDING @ OGDEN THEATRE | 2/1/13 The Halcyon Days Tour that Ellie Goulding’s currently on does not seem to change from night to night. Her set at the Ogden Theatre began with “Don’t Say a Word,” and was followed by “Halcyon,” “Figure 8” and “Salt Skin” — the same…

The twelve best shows in Denver this weekend

Ah, yes, what a, uh, super weekend we have on tap. Welcome! You made it! Not only is the big game going down, but the weather is supposed to be favorable with a high in the fifties, and there is an abundance of music to look forward to — so…