The top five music podcasts

Music podcasts are a difficult breed. With the current outdated copyright law, most podcasts can’t utilize full songs in their recordings, making anyone but the best sound like boring music nerds. Of course, we love boring music nerds, but being able to speak eloquently or interestingly about music is a…

Westword Music Showcase 2010 headliners announced

Mark our words: This year’s Westword Music Showcase is going to be absolutely SICK! — SICK, we tell you! Yesterday on KTCL, as you might have heard, we revealed part of the lineup. The best local acts spread out over ten stages across the Golden Triangle? Of course — that’s…

Over the Weekend: Artopia 2010

See more of Aaron Thackery’s photos on the slideshow page. As I weaved my way from Bar Standard to Mo’s on Saturday, nearly being trampled by some sort of circus act, it hit me: This Artopia thing never stops. Broadway — at least the section north of 10th and south…

Cassette scratching is weird … and awesome

Never let it be said that a lack of funds, a lack of instruments or a callous disregard for what most people consider to be appealing sounds will stop someone from doing some insanely creative music. As a matter of fact, it’s arguable that the best ideas happen when all…

OK Go’s Damian Kulash weighs in on viral marketing

There was an interesting op-ed in the New York Times this weekend by OK Go’s lead vocalist Damian Kulash that dealt with his label’s inability to update their business model to incorporate YouTube. It’s worth a read for his insiders perspective, even if it’s a problem most of the Internet…

Over the weekend: Extra Kool at Leela’s European Cafe

Extra Kool, with Joshie Juronimoe, Damon JeVon and Doctype Saturday, February 20, 2010 Leela’s European Café Despite the nasty weather and biting cold of the evening, a good number of people made it out to Extra Kool CD release show. Leela’s is a little odder place than most venues in…

Over the weekend: Huun Huur Tu at Swallow Hill

Huun Huur Tu Friday, February 19th, 2010 Swallow Hill, Denver Physicist Richard Feynman and his friend Ralph Leighton spent a great deal of time trying to visit Tuva, a remote land that inspired some unusual postage stamps and gave us a unique style of vocal performance called xöömei. Unfortunately, Feynman…

Over the weekend: Put Yo Money Where Ya Mouth Is Finals

Put Yo’ Money Where Ya’ Mouth Is battle Finals Saturday, February 20, 2010 The Walnut Room A.V.I.U.S. from 3 the Hardway and some other cats getting their cipher on on the back patio before the finals. They came, they rapped and somebody won — that’s pretty much the gist of…

Over the Weekend: Mehko & Ocean Birds at the Larimer Lounge

Mehko & Ocean Birds, Petals of Spain, Chella Negro, Sour Boy, Bitter Girl, Marcus Church, Dustin Reid, Bokonon Saturday, February 20, 2010 Larimer Lounge Sundays at the Larimer Lounge are pretty much guaranteed to be a mulligan, with the decidedly un-rock ‘n’ roll start time of 4pm. This is not…

Last Night: Artopia

Westword’s Artopia, our annual celebration of art, fashion, music and drunkenness, went down last night at more or less every bar on Broadway — Moe’s, Bar Standard, Vinyl, City Hall and the Living Room. See more of Aaron Thackeray’s photos at westword.com/slideshow…

Joe Satriani stops by Musician’s Superstore next month

Not only is Joe Satriani a hell of a shredder on the guitar, early in his career he taught a bunch of guitarists like Steve Vai, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett and Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello. Now Satriani’s giving away free half-hour lessons. Well, the only catch is that you…

The Weekend Showdown: We Are the Dot

We would hate for you to miss out on all the awesome that happens every weekend in our fair city, so we’ve decided to run down five of the best shows in one easy-to-swallow post, with video and audio. Tell us — and the rest of the world — what…

Dikeou something different this weekend

Just in case you’re not already planning on being at Artopia tomorrow night (you are planning on being at Artopia, right?), here’s another sweet way to spend your Saturday night. How about listening to sweet tunes and literary works while sipping wine beneath two inflatable bunnies? Sound like a bad…

Nathaniel Rateliff’s Rounder debut set for late April

Finally! On the last Tuesday in April, the rest of the country will finally get a chance to hear the extraordinary songs and expressive vocals of Nathaniel Rateliff, when the celebrated local songwriter’s Rounder Records debut, In Memory of Loss, hits stores on Tuesday, April 27. Rateliff and his bandmates…

The Foodchain’s Corpses coming to life

Wow! Corpses, the new album from the Foodchain, a group profiled in these pages last week, has been out just over a week now, and it’s already generating a swelling buzz across the nation. The blog 2DopeBoyz posted a track from the new album featuring Talib Kweli, as did XXLMag.com…

3OH!3 working on new album, calling it Streets of Gold

Hide your daughters/little sisters: Nat Motte and Sean Foreman are preparing to drop their third third full-length on eager hindquarters everywhere. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Foreman says they’re tentatively shooting for a June release date. After a 10-day writing session somewhere here in Colorado, they’re in LA working…

Haiti Benefits: Here’s what’s coming up

The Haiti earthquake happened months ago, but there are still people in our community reaching out a helping hand. We’ve posted all the benefits we’re aware of that have been organized by local artists and cultural organizations that are pitching in to help. And rest assured, we’ll continue to add…

Die Antwoord take us deeper down the zef rabbithole

Our first encounter with South African Internet sensation Die Antwoord saw us categorize them as just another bizarro novelty for the Freaky Friday canon. But then a funny thing happened — as we dug a little deeper, we started to kind of like it (well, some us did — we…

Last night: Put Yo Money Where Ya Mouth Is preliminary

The art of freestyle can be ugly and difficult for even the most seasoned rappers. A necessary evil for street cred, if not lyrical exercise, it’s the easiest way to separate the the Pros from the Joes. The battle that took place last night at the Walnut Room emphasized the…

Chella Negro at the Larimer Lounge

Michelle Caponigro’s backstory reads like something you’d see on Behind the Music. After moving to Denver a decade ago from La Crosse, Wisconsin, Caponigro joined a jam band called Purple Buddha, but found that artistic context a little stifling to her creativity. Adopting the stage name Chella Negro, Caponigro subsequently…