Like major-league closers, modern-rock musicians tend to specialize in the high hard stuff. Still, that doesn’t mean fans of the genre reject any and all softer sounds — and that’s where Kevin Devine comes in. A generation ago, Devine, who’s opening for Annuals, Manchester Orchestra and New Frontiers, wouldn’t have…
The Swell Season, with Martha Wainwright November 13 Ogden Theatre For fans of the film Once, a population that encompasses pretty much everyone who’s viewed it, the prospect of seeing the movie’s stars, Markéta Irglová and recent Westword profile and Q&A subject Glen Hansard, singing and playing their music live…
The Blood Arm, Art Brut, the Hold Steady November 11, 2007 Fox Theater Better than: Spending yet another Sunday evening learning Art Brut and Hold Steady lyrics from the CD tray to impress people with the stupid things you say. Last night’s show at the Fox Theater in Boulder was…
Here’s a selection of the best of last week’s music blogging from around the Village Voice media empire: Music, context and a dictatorial personality in a diminutive frame: A live review of MIA in San Francisco. What is the sound of one head banging? The http://blogs.clevescene.com/cnotes/2007/11/punkturnedpriest_brad_warner_t.php” target=”_blank”>tale of a punk…
Hip-Hop Live Featuring Brother Ali, Ghostface Killah, and Rakim Thursday, November 8 The Ogden Theatre Better Than: Seeing some hippie group ironically cover “Microphone Fiend” Hip-hop may be known for many things, but musicianship is not one of them. So last night’s “Hip-Hop Live” show – which featured Brother Ali,…
I didn’t know Bob Dooney. But judging from the slew of messages that started flooding my e-mail box last week, the guy somehow knew me. The missives weren’t identical, but they all had one thing in common: Bob Dooney. “Hey, Dave, this is such and such from such and such,”…
Not long ago, Dublin’s Glen Hansard was a little-known quantity in the entertainment industry. His main band, the Frames, has been around since 1990, and during that span, the group has put out numerous first-rate albums, including 2004’s Burn the Maps and this year’s The Cost. But while the collective…
For all capitals, change is very good. Originally salvaged from Broken Down Autos in 2004, the group has since switched bassists and dropped a singer/songwriter/guitarist. From the sound of the group’s latest effort, a self-titled EP, all the personnel changes have yielded some much-needed artistic growth. In the past, the…
The opening song on Sea Wolf’s debut, Leaves in the River, is a tale of a guy who meets a girl on Halloween. He was drunk, she was lost, and it was cold, dark and raining. The song sets the tone for the album. Sound like an ideal soundtrack for…
Rakim is among the most universally revered MCs. Growing up in Long Island, the self-described microphone fiend teamed up with Eric Barrier to form Eric B & Rakim, one of the most formidable duos in hip-hop history. In 1987, the group dropped the timeless Paid in Full, and Rakim’s flow…
Steve Schalk, owner of the Gothic Theatre (3263 South Broadway), had been eyeing the nearby Sport Bowl Lanes & Billiards for a long time before he finally bought it in August. By then, he knew just what he wanted to do with the joint. An ardent Star Wars fan, he’d…
Those more used to the blues-rock buffoonery of Machine Gun Blues and the breezy pop-rock leanings of the Laylights may be taken aback by The Horace Van Vaughn (due at the hi-dive this Thursday, November 8). While this all-instrumental outfit shares membership with both of those bands, there is no…
The genre-hopping, boundary-defying mixes of DJ Chloe are like a long, scenic trip through the fringes of dance music. At one point she’ll luxuriate in the spacey, wide-open arrangements of ambient, letting gurgling filter sweeps push things along. Seconds later she’s transitioned into the kind of unadorned synthesizer tones and…
Nicole Atkins, Neptune City (Red Ink/Columbia). Nicole Atkins’s 2006 EP, Bleeding Diamonds, was so stirring that her debut full-length seemed doomed to disappoint. Instead, she more than matches expectations thanks to sweepingly melodic material, like “Together We’re Both Alone,” that’s sturdy enough to support ornate arrangements and Atkins’s rapturous vocals,…
Though Tim Pourbaix’s solo debut includes contributions from his Killfix bandmates Andrew Solanyk and Peter Glenn, the personality present on A Pony Craig, Not Greg is all his. The EP contains its share of the inevitable weeping-white-man angst, but its gravity is leavened with gentle humor, sparkling melodies and plenty…
Most retro groups either tinker with vintage sounds so music lovers can hear them from a new perspective or stick to the verities. The latter course is generally less rewarding, but such combos can still succeed if the musicians are good enough and their affection for the form comes through…
The most-viewed YouTube clip starring Puscifer, Tool leader Maynard James Keenan’s twisted side project, is “Cuntry Boner,” which features MJK, his drawers distended by a massive faux erection, twanging out lines such as “I’ve fucked Minnie Pearl” over a stomping hoedown beat. “V” Is for Vagina’s title promises more of…
In case you just emerged from a coma, Soulja Boy’s entry in the minstrel-rap sweepstakes is called Souljaboytellem.com, and it’s been virally marketed in a savvy way. Nonetheless, it’s about as stripped down as a record can be. This is what rap would have sounded like if it had been…
While it could be argued that Canadian post-rock was birthed in Montreal, its artistic ferment resides in Toronto. Whereas Godspeed You! Black Emperor perfected the art of writing sweeping epics of sound and fury set to experimental cinema, Do Make Say Think takes a more impressionistic approach. Mixing electronic, electric,…
All too often, contemporary performers who wave the Americana banner squeeze the juice from the music they venerate, presenting dry, academic variations on rootsy styles as if fearful that having fun with them might appear disrespectful. Fortunately, Mississippi-bred singer-songwriter Cory Branan knows better. On his most recent CD, 2006’s 12…
At a show this past spring, opening for Adult. and Erase Errata, Brooklyn trio Parts & Labor launched a volley of digital noise that seemed to presage a sense-assaulting experience. Then suddenly, the sound waves turned tuneful —structured, even — and the threesome pushed through a high-energy set of sometimes…
Metal has always been a little cartoonish, so it’s no surprise that the biggest, best, most brutal metal band of all time is literally a cartoon. Utter masters of shreddingly awesome metal, Dethklok, stars of Adult Swim’s Metalocalypse, have descended to utterly destroy college campuses across the nation. This may…
