Alaska-bred Portugal. The Man may be the weirdest band to spring from last decade’s post-hardcore scene. Formed by singer/guitarist John Gourley and bassist Zack Carothers after the demise of Anatomy of a Ghost, Portugal quickly became the oddest band on the screamo package tours — thanks to Gourley’s slinky vocals…
For the past ten years, the Caffeine Music & Arts Festival has been the spring break destination for lovers of dance music across the state. And this year will prove no exception: Event organizers have booked several of last year’s headliners, including Dave Aude, Jon Bishop and DJ Micro, all…
Merrill Garbus is a bit of a musical polymath. Her songs could never be called strictly R&B, folk, post-punk, lo-fi pop or jazz. Nor does she merely sing, play guitar, execute unconventional percussion and hash together electronic sounds for something like a live sound collage. In that way, her music…
While based in Brooklyn, the duo of Rob Barber and Mary Pearson pioneered a sound and aesthetic that melded experimental electronic music with non-Western influences. As High Places, the outfit plumbed Caribbean and African folk to create “tropical pop,” as the early phase of the band’s songwriting — which also…
Zombie Hate Brigade’s self-titled debut from 2008 wallowed in a massive, sludge-choked groove that owed as much to (surprise, surprise) Rob Zombie as it did to grindcore pioneers like Carcass and current grind champs Pig Destroyer. But the band’s sophomore release, Hideous Beyond Belief With a Craving for Human Flesh,…
“Die Finks” sounds like the Swayback branching out from the core sound it explored so well on 2008’s Long Gone Lads. It’s a departure from the jittery punk rock of the band’s earliest days and a step away from the post-punk that defined its middle period. Eric Halborg’s vocals take…
Formerly the Running Wild Band, the members of Big Motif started out while they were in high school as a trio playing blues and blues rock. During the past five years, they’ve morphed into more of a funk jam band, added saxophonist Sam Crowe and changed their name. While all…
In the nearly fifteen years since the release of its debut album, Telephono, Spoon has grown to become one of the biggest and most respected bands in the indie-rock pantheon. This year’s Transference is arguably the band’s best record yet, a challenging, surprising and thoroughly excellent rock album that incorporates…
What do you get when you cross Rage Against the Machine with a sense of humor? For one thing, you get press photos staged on a golf course with the resulting band wearing pastels and floral patterns. You also get moments of serenity that keep Musuji’s debut EP surprisingly off…
Guitarist Tony Pacello was sixteen years old when he met drummer Jeff Jani and bassist Hunter Roberts, both fourteen at the time, at a contest sponsored by 103.5/The Fox. They had each won spots to perform in a seven-piece sixteen-and-under band. After that group dissolved, the three stuck together and…
A little taste of the New York underground will come to Denver this Saturday, March 27, when Stadenco appears at the Funky Buddha. The DJ has been honing his craft ever since he was a toddler lugging around a portable record player and playing his favorite tunes for anyone who…
Looks like a number of Denver acts caught more than just our attention this past week at South By Southwest. Nathaniel Rateliff, who played an exceptional set at Shakespeare’s Ale House last week, impressed Michael Hogan from Vanity Fair (which also previewed a song from his forthcoming record earlier this…
As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. Looking at the image on this week’s top flier, we can’t help but agree. There’s a story there, it’s worth at least a thousand words and three of them have to be WTF? The Buddha-bellied, dog-eared, blank-eyed demon is…
All right, just when you thought this year’s Showcase couldn’t get any better, it just did. Adding to an already stacked lineup (one of our best yet, even if we do say so ourselves) that includes Ghostland Observatory, Superchunk, Dirty Projectors, Neon Indian, Single File and Oh My Stars, Boombox…
Everybody loves a good fight song. You know, a boisterous ditty that makes you want to hoist your beer and rip the other team’s face off. The Rocky Mountain Rollergirls, Denver’s first roller derby league, is looking for a face-ripping song of its own to play at bouts both in…
JAY-Z @ PEPSI CENTER | 3/22/10 Jay-Z is one of the few performers that truly is larger than life. Dude has an undeniably commanding presence on stage. From the opening cut, “Run This Town,” until the fittingly titled “Encore,” which he closed out the show with nearly two hours later,…
Man, rock and roll really is dying, isn’t it? Or at the future of it is. Just received some rather disheartening news that the almighty WOXY.com, the finest station this side of KEXP, has suspended its live broadcasts indefinitely as of today due to a lack of funding. Besides the…
You might not recognize former Denverite Duncan Barlow (d.biddle), with his baby face in the video above, but the d.biddle frontman was once a young, restless, youthful guitarist in the rather remarkable hardcore group called Endpoint. The band broke up in 1994, and Duncan moved to Denver sometime after. Despite…
So, you’re starting a band, huh? Well, good for you. We hope you’re enjoying our “Making the Band” series and finding the tips on the practical aspects of bandmanship useful. As a companion, let us offer some advice on something far, far more important that practicing, recording a demo, or…
Last week we looked at how to find or build a place to practice with your new band. This week, we’re going to look at how to record a cheap demo to take around to promoters and venues so you can get your first show. Keep in mind, we’re really…
Vampire Weekend • The Blow 03.19.10 | The Ogden Theatre A lot of people accuse Vampire Weekend of not being original. “It’s Paul Simon but smirkier,” they say, or: “It’s Afro-pop but whiter.” And maybe it is those things. But you know what we’re willing to bet no Afro-pop band,…
Bleary eyed and endlessly fatigued, we caught up with the always gracious Matt Morris at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport on Sunday morning just before boarding a plane back to the Mile High City. Over breakfast tacos, Morris reflected on his very first South By Southwest experience, from the challenges of…
