“Victory” is a great example of Biggie’s flow and tenacity

Biggie Smalls — who died fifteen years ago today at age 24 — was most famous for his mafia style and lyrics tinged with his famous “don’t give a fuck” style. The track “Victory,” released posthumously, is the best example of this. When this joint dropped, it was clear that…

Foodchain tapped to rock Shady Records stage at SXSW this year

Boom! That’s our first reaction to the Shady Records lineup for this year’s SXSW. Take a look at the poster. Look closer. Uh-huh. There it is, right there: Next to all the boldfaced names, Yelawolf, Slaughterhouse and a Get Rich or Die Tryin’-performing 50 Cent, is Denver’s own Foodchain. These…

Dazzle Recordings Artist Festival next month

Tyler Gilmore helped launch Dazzle Recordings while he was Dazzle Restaurant and Lounge’s music director, and since releasing the debut of his seventeen-piece jazz ensemble, Ninth & Lincoln, in late 2007, the label has gone on to put out a number of albums by local jazz artists. Gilmore is now…

Ready to Die still one of the best hip-hop albums of all time

Notorious B.I.G. died fifteen years ago this week, on March 9, 1997, at age 24, and Ready to Die is the only studio album released during his lifetime. (Life After Death was released fifteen days after his death, on March 25, 1997.) But Ready to Die album contained hits that…

Vail Soul Music Fest returns August 17-19, 2012

Although no acts have been announced yet for the Vail Soul Music Fest, which runs Friday, August 17, through Sunday, August 19, at the Gerald R. Ford Amphitheater, pre-sale tickets go on sale today at 10 a.m. through TicketHorse. In the meantime, there’s more information at the festival’s website. Check…

Review: American Idiot at the Buell, 3/6/12

AMERICAN IDIOT @ BUELL THEATRE | 03.06.12 See also: Interview with Gabrielle McClinton (Whatsername) The first murmurs of canned news clips and talking heads began before the house lights went down and the curtain went up on the Buell stage last night. They started as hints and whispers, really –…

BoomBox at Ogden Theatre on 5/5

Well, how about that? Another act fresh off its appearance at this year’s SnowBall Music Festival and another Westword Music Showcase alumni, is coming back to the Centennial State. We’ve just received word that BoomBox, an act that’s built up a sizable following in these parts, is slated to make…

Celebrating the life and rhymes of Biggie Smalls

This week, we’re celebrating the life of the late, great Christopher Wallace, aka the Notorious B.I.G., who died fifteen years ago this week. One of hip-hop’s most important teachers, Biggie Smalls, as he was affectionately known, empowered corner boys everywhere to tell the story of their struggle through eloquently violent…

Garbage at the Ogden Theatre 4/25

While Butch Vig is probably best known for his work as a Grammy-winning producer who’s worked with the likes of Nirvana or, more recently, the Foo Fighters, he’s also a member of Garbage, an alt-rock act (and a rather decent one at that) that formed in the mid ’90s and…

Pictureplane bidding farewell to Denver

It was bound to happen. Travis Egedy is leaving Denver. When Egedy moved here in 2003 to go to art school, his one-man experimental music project, Pictureplane, was just getting off the ground. For a handful of years, he mostly played to his immediate group of friends, often at DIY…

Men in Burka mix it up at Rhinoceropolis on March 8

You may have seen Kamran Khan playing bass and other instruments in Modern Witch — and while that band was one of a wave of acts that got lumped under the inside-joke genre “witch house,” it also explored electronic minimalism, dark house music, dub and performance art, all informed by…

Gogol Bordello

You can listen to Gogol Bordello’s albums, watch videos, see photos or read about the gypsy punks, but none of it can really compare to the act’s vigorous, highly charged shows. Fronted by wiry frontman Eugene Hutz, who’s a whirring ball of energy on stage, the band usually blasts through…

Los Lobos

Is any band in America more revered or respected than East Los Angeles roots vatos Los Lobos? The core members of this American musical treasure — David Hidalgo, Cesar Rosas, Steve Berlin, Louis Perez and Conrad Lozano — have produced nineteen albums and played everywhere from an Angeleno quinceañera to…

Youth Lagoon

It hasn’t been that long that Trevor Powers has been playing out live with his band Youth Lagoon — or even very long since he started posting his early bedroom recordings and the blogosphere started writing about his music. While that’s a typical story these days, Powers’s music has struck…

Odd Future

The last time they were in town, the little hip-hop hellions known as Odd Future had people jumping from second-floor balconies and raising Cain long before they took the stage. Tyler, the Creator, Hodgy Beats and the rest of the crew still don’t give a fuck, and their gore rhymes…