Time at the Rex Lounge

Among the most literate of hip-hop artists, Chris Steele, aka Time, is a seemingly endless wellspring of clever turns of phrase and creatively illuminating pairings of words and ideas. The guy certainly has silly, fun-loving songs, but even these are written with a playful intelligence. Time’s true genius can be…

Everything Absent or Distorted calling it quits

We heard some rumblings a month ago that this might happen, but we were hoping against hope it wouldn’t. Well, hope got played, because today Everything Absent or Distorted (a love story) officially announced that they are calling it quits. The poetic and obscure post names “built-in contradiction” as the…

Top Five Mile High Music Fest Artists I Kinda Want to Lick

The author is a Denver-based music junkie and quasi-music writer of the female variety, and not she’s afraid to admit that she sometimes wants to make out with the bands she writes about. This year’s Mile High Music Festival billed some of the hottest bands around. But since I sometimes…

Last Night: Kid Cudi and Asher Roth at the Ogden

See more photos at westword.com/sldeshow. Tuesday, July 21, 2009 Ogden Theatre Better Than: Chaperoning an unchaperoned prom. Not that different, but definitely better. It’s not often someone asks you, during the first song of a headliner’s set, “Who is this?” It’s even less often that when you answer with the…

Get a taste of Suicide Watch 2: Sambodextrust

Back in December, Colorado MCs Whygee and Sunkenstate connected with Colorado producer Kid Hum to create Suicide Watch, one of the better Colorado hip-hop releases of 2008. And it was free! Now Whygee and Sunk have reconnected for Suicide Watch 2: Sambodextrust, a seven-song collection that features production from Nigel…

Piece of Rainbow Music Hall lives on at Twist & Shout

Last month, we wistfully reflected on the final razing of Rainbow Music Hall, specifically, the iconic marquee that outlived the venue itself and served as a reminder of the early years of Denver music. As we remembered the many shows we saw there growing up, we became somewhat outraged that…

Last Night: Tori Amos at the Paramount

Tori Amos and eskimOTuesday, July 21, 2009Paramount TheatreBetter Than: The last time I saw Tori Amos at Red Rocks in 1998.London-based One eskimO opened the show, and at first, I was concerned it might be one of those bands favored by modern rock stations that border on the adult contemporary…

Ideal Fathers branch out into chiptunes

I like Denver-based, danceable post-punk outfit the Ideal Fathers a lot. I like the bleepy, chirping 8-bit soundscapes of chiptunes a lot. So you can imagine my excitement today when I stumbled upon a completely kickass chiptunes remix/reimagining of one of my very favorite Ideal Fathers tracks whilst wasting time…

Live Nation offers two-for-one ticket special tomorrow

On Wednesday, July 22, Live Nation is offering buy one, get one free lawn tickets for Fiddler’s Green Amphitheatre shows including Creed, Crue Fest II, Def Leppard with Cheap Trick and Poison, Toby Keith with Trace Adkins, Brad Paisley with Dierks Bentley and Jimmy Wayne, and Rod Stewart. The two-for-one…

Free, daily (more or less) tracks from One Track Mind

If you like free music — and I know you like free music — point your web-browsing machine over to One Track Mind, a newish blog offering a daily song review and download of said reviewed song. It’s a Denver-based operation and, according to its About page, it’s staffed by…

The very sexy dance of a very sexy performer

The highlight of the Mile High Music Fest — at least for the guy who was stuck in the media tent uploading photos and reviews — had to be the moment when photographer Brian Landis Folkins returned to the tent armed with photos from the early-Sunday performance of honeyhoney, the…

More band photos from Mile High Music Fest

It took me a bit, but I finally was able to sift through the hundreds of photos our photogs took over the weekend and cull out some of the best. So on the slideshow page, you’ll now find slideshows of full of concert photos for Day One and Day Two…

Updated: Danielle Ate the Sandwich on TV today

Update: So you don’t have to scour the YouTubes, we’ve helpfully embedded the video, direct from KDVR into this post. After the jump, enjoy a brief interview with Danielle (she explains that whole “Ate the Sandwich” bit if you’re curious and haven’t heard the story yet) before she plays her…

Unnet delivers dance music info on the go

Venerable Colorado dance music resource Unnet has been going through some changes lately, revamping the site to make it even more of a hub for Colorado’s dance music scene. One key addition was the introduction of a mobile-friendly site for all you folks that like to read the ‘Nets from…

Yo La Tengo, Rob Thomas, Carbon Leaf shows announced

New Jersey-based indie rockers Yo La Tengo hit the road this fall, which includes a stop at Ogden Theatre Saturday, October 10, in support of the band’s forthcoming album, Popular Songs, due September 8 on Matador. Tickets, which are $20 advance and $25 day of show, go on sale Saturday,…

Relive the Mile High Music Fest on YouTube

If you missed the Mile High Music Fest — and I did too, thanks to a wedding that was occurring simultaneously — or if you were there, but were just so trashed your memories are hazy, you can relive it in glorious lo-fi, shaky-cam glory on YouTube. A quick search…

Over the Weekend: The Black Keys at The Fox

The Black Keys, Jerry Joseph & The Jackmormons Friday, July 17 The Fox Better Than:Engine oil under your fingernails, sweat running down your back and your car in good working order once again. Zero frills. A white drum kit with two toms and three cymbals, a bag of extra sticks…

Mile High Music Fest Live Reviews: Day Two

See photos of the day’s fans and crowds on the slideshow page. We’re back for Day 2, which looks to be shaping up a little hotter, and not just because of HoneyHoney’s frontwoman (above). Check back throughout the day for more photos and reviews. For coverage from Day One, see…

Was India Arie’s brother arrested at Mile High Music Festival?

Scalping is illegal in Commerce City, too, as Jon Simpson could tell you.While there were a number of arrests at the Mile High Music Festival yesterday, Simpson’s may well be the most high-profile. He appears to be the brother of Grammy Award- winner India.Arie, who was known as India Arie…