In a celebration of fifteen years of music, Stones Throw Records is bringing its crew to Denver for what will most definitely be a party. Stones Throw, founded by Peanut Butter Wolf in 1996, is the quintessential underground label, with a roster filled with promising and diverse talent. Known for…
It’s been tough to avoid the sounds of the Weepies since the indie-pop duo signed with Nettwerk Records in 2005. In the past six years, the outfit’s folky song structures, stark instrumentation and poppy hooks have earned soundtrack spots in television shows and feature films alike. The mass exposure makes…
The term “DJ” gets thrown around a lot these days, which is why Deadmau5 (aka Joel Zimmerman) prefers to avoid the term altogether. The Toronto native doesn’t use CDs and doesn’t play other people’s music, so he doesn’t fit the traditional definition of a DJ. Instead, he simultaneously runs Ableton…
Ever since the days when Skee-lo wished he was a baller, it’s been a universally accepted truism: Every rapper wants to be an athlete, and every athlete wants to be a rapper. On the other hand, Skee-Lo also expressed his somewhat more baffling wish for “a rabbit in a hat…
On Almost Famous, Anxious zips through his rhymes — battle-rap, tempo-driven joints mostly about his hustle and his constant striving to be the best — with notable ease, over stuttered beats with bass-heavy overtones. The MC almost out-raps himself on tracks like “Rocket Science” and “Put It in the Air,”…
Audio Voyeur, the Dirty Lookers’ debut, is a raucous, revved-up ride straight out of the garage. The band’s main strength lies in frontwoman Pammy Puente; at times she channels the screaming angst of Courtney Love, at others she sounds like a more punk version of Patti Smith. A further testament…
The intentionally low-fidelity approach to the rich soundscaping of this cassette helps personify the project’s namesake. Sonically, think Nada-era Death in June and Cabaret Voltaire circa 2X45. With the vocals buried deep in a mix of robust bass tones worthy of Bright Channel, alongside surprisingly organic-sounding and dynamic electronic percussion…
When Bees No Longer Fly We’re All Going to Die and Oh What a Death It Will Be is the full name of this release, and like its title, the music contained within can be dauntingly dense, but it’s also engaging, enthralling and enjoyable — especially if you’re not one…
Nashville’s Madi Diaz has been preparing to be a musician her whole life. A Berklee College of Music grad who started playing piano at age five, Diaz is touring in support of her recent three-song EP, Far From the Things We Know, which previews tracks from her upcoming album. In…
P.U.N.C.H.I.S. has been filling Beta with solid underground techno tunes every Friday night, and this week’s edition features a special appearance from Pleasurekraft (Kaveh Soroush and Kelle Ronngardh). Normally, you’d have to travel to Miami or Stockholm to check out Pleasurekraft, but this Friday, August 26, you’ll be able to…
Kreayshawn versus Rick Ross, part deux: So last week, Kreayshawn — the rowdy, door-knocker earring wearing, n-bomb dropping, pill-pushing, white-girl rapper from Oakland, who talks a lot of a smack and proclaims to back it up with the swag oozing from her ovaries — was taken to task for a…
There is definitely a niche audience for MC Frontalot (appearing tonight at Herman’s Hideaway with White Fudge, Brandon Patton and An Hobbes), who has been in the game since the early ’00s. The Brooklyn-based lyricist’s songs circle around self-deprecation and Internet tales, told through the MC’s uber-intellectual wordplay…
KIMYA DAWSON & AESOP ROCK at SUMMIT | 8.21.11Toward the end of her set, Kimya Dawson brought Aesop Rock back to the stage for one of the most powerful performances in Denver this year. Although “Walk Like Thunder” has been available as a free download for close to five months…
CU WELCOME FEST at FARRAND FIELD | 8.20.11The University of Colorado at Boulder held the annual Welcome Fest for students attending the institution this fall. The student-only event was closed off to the general public, but it still managed to pull big numbers to see Big Gigantic, Paper Diamond, Robotic…
YONDER MTN. STRING BAND at RED ROCKS | 8.20.11Wowzers, what a difference a single night makes, eh? In stark contrast to the soggy set from Atmosphere the night previous at Red Rocks, Yonder Mountain String Band played a hometown set with Railroad Earth to the sheer delight of a considerably…
STIFF LITTLE FINGERS at SUMMIT | 8.20.11″This is an old Irish folk song,” announced Stiff Little Fingers frontman Jake Burns before the very last song of the show. After an entire set of some of the band’s best material, it could only be “Alternative Ulster,” and as the song began,…
ATMOSPHERE at RED ROCKS | 08.19.11In case any further evidence is required to bolster the notion that Rhymesayers Entertainment is indeed bigger than guns, behold Exhibit A: the fact that this Red Rocks performance purportedly sold out, and that despite the persistent hovering rain clouds, which soaked the capacity crowd…
Every week in an effort to pay tribute to those dedicated to the old-school way of promoting shows by hanging up posters, we make our way around the Mile High City to get a gander of all the eye candy affixed to light posts and such. Here’s the fliers we…
AWOLNATION at SUMMIT MUSIC HALL | 8/18/11If you were at the Awolnation show last night and you didn’t have fun, you are dead inside. The band played in shorts, for fuck’s sake. Shorts pretty much always mean fun. The band brought its A game from song one — opening with…
When copyright law was revised in 1976, there was a provision that gave artists control of their work after 35 years, provided they applied two years in advance. The law didn’t go into effect until 1978, but now artists like Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Tom Waits and Loretta Lynn can…
Taking its name from a Colorado pop culture behemoth like John Elway could be a blessing or a curse for a band. But Elway, making an appearance tonight at the Hi-Dive with Michael Dean Damron, St. Fall Apart and The Holy Mess, gets the joke, and fans do too. Besides,…
We love this city, because when it comes to dance music, there’s always something fresh going down — and this weekend is no exception. Whether you’re a bass-head or a house-lover, we’ve got somewhere for you to get your dance on! Keep reading to see what’s on this weekend’s Dance…
