In June 2001, Alex Lemski — then-president, visionary and chief benefactor of Creative Music Works — sent Westword a rather scathing letter in response to a review of Ken Burns’s ten-part Jazz documentary. “If listeners are just as scarce (scared?) as the industry and media are in covering jazz,” he…
Reed Foehl isn’t a household name yet. But you’ve probably heard his work just the same. Every song from his last record, 2004’s Spark, and a few tunes from his latest, Stoned Beautiful, have been licensed by a slew of TV shows — everything from Dawson’s Creek and Joan of…
Ryan Adams has been called many things: brilliant, temperamental and more. But the famously prolific tunesmith, who records solo and with his group, the Cardinals, is also something of a new-breed hippie who’s comfortable sharing big-picture musings of the sort many performers keep to themselves. An example? “This is a…
It would be inaccurate to call Marc Broussard a soul man. One listen to his new album of soul covers, however, might make you think otherwise. A Southern Louisiana native, Broussard was raised on gospel, blues, jazz, swamp boogie, Cajun and plenty of soul. His homegrown songs are a voodoo…
Solon Bixler and Rachel Stolte were driving to Mendocino, California, about three hours north of San Francisco, when they came up with the name for Great Northern’s debut. The pair had just gotten off the highway and were heading down a narrow road lined by redwood trees when inspiration struck…
Because plenty of French artists wear their reputation for pretentiousness like a particularly tony beret, the decision by Justice’s Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay to name their latest disc after a cross-like symbol doesn’t bode well. Fortunately, the duo’s electro-fiddling on † tends toward the egalitarian, not the exclusionary,…
Four presidential administrations later, socio-political firebrand Bad Religion is still making enemies and influencing imitators with its trademark melodic pop punk. Although guitarist/Epitaph founder Brett Gurewitz was suspiciously absent during the Clinton/Atlantic Records era, he re-upped in time for Dubya. One of the most recognizable and replicated voices in the…
It’s been less than a year since Dark Songs of the Prairie, Across Tundras’ most recent full-length, swept into stores — but the band’s already readying a successor. Full Moon Blizzard, an EP available through the act’s MySpace page, includes demos of three tracks slated for the next recording, plus…
Epileptinomicon’s latest is kindred to the more cutting-edge releases on the Kranky label or even Denver’s own Pteranodon: It’s not music so much as an arty vehicle that captures moods and expresses things that are difficult to get across with words. It’s remarkable to think that Mike Reisinger and Kevin…
Nathaniel Mayer, Why Don’t You Give It to Me? (Alive Records). Forty years removed from his R&B hits, Detroit’s Nathaniel Mayer fuses soul with psychedelic rock. His co-conspirators on this effort include members of the Black Keys, the Dirtbombs and SSM — kids half his age. The guest stars relentlessly…
There’s a live recording of alto saxophonists Richie Cole and Phil Woods playing Charlie Parker’s “Scrapple From the Apple” at breakneck speed, each thoroughly versed in the ways of the Bird, both propelling each other at Denver’s Paramount Theatre. That was back in 1980. It was one of those shows…
Growing up is hard to do. Between its lauded 2003 debut, Charm School, and this year’s followup, The Broken String, Bishop Allen went through a very public adolescence. Throughout 2006, the Brooklyn quartet released an EP every month, logging nearly sixty songs for the year. This twelve-EP project generated plenty…
Dudes insecure about their sexuality, be warned: Release the Stars, the latest Rufus Wainwright disc, is one of the gayest recordings since the Communards sang “There’s more to love than boy meets girl.” Still, Wainwright’s love of excess and willingness to push his compositions too far — and then a…
Covering Jimi Hendrix is ill-advised for just about any artist. And those who’ve taken the material on have seldom added anything of value. Patti Smith, however, is a completely different story. A rock icon, poet and punk princess, Smith, who is often covered herself, adds a new twist to “Are…
Although the overwhelming majority of nascent punkers who attended the recent Warped Tour stop at Invesco Field don’t know Rush from Russia, those who caught several of the day’s more adventurous sets, including the standout performance by Coheed & Cambria, unwittingly absorbed more than a few of this comparatively ancient…
I arrive at Parallel 17 (1600 East 17th Avenue) late, just missing the happy hour that runs from 10 p.m. until midnight. By day a Vietnamese restaurant, on Wednesday nights this place transforms into a pretty frickin’ hip “club.” Even this late, there are maybe fifty or sixty people —…
No one burns bridges with as much unwitting determination as Goodbye Time Bomb’s David McGhee — except for maybe Roky Erickson and Daniel Johnston. While he’s not in the same league as those two genius songwriters, McGhee does share a frustrating knack for self-implosion. Known mainly for peppy, punky pop…
David Waxman has been on the scene for fifteen years, racking up residencies and guest spots at prestigious clubs such as Twilo in New York, Crobar in Chicago and Space in Miami. He’s bounced among styles from progressive trance to chillout, with stops at most points in between. When he’s…
Daft Punk July 31, 2007 at Red Rocks Amphitheater Better than: A four-story-tall Light Bright The French electro/house duo Daft Punk descended on Red Rocks last night, dressed in their now-iconic robotic garb and encased in a radiant pyramid of light. The pyramid exploded with vivid imagery fueled by the…
Blitzen Trapper, Smoosh and Aqueduct July 31, 2007 The Hi-Dive Better than: You’d think three bands with such silly names would be. Blitzen Trapper started the night off with a set of deliriously giddy, loose-limbed indie pop built on a foundation of rattling drums, overdriven guitar, fuzzy synths and sunshine…
Emerge: Carnival of Shadows July 27, 2007 Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom Better than: A real circus Slide show Emerge: Carnival of Shadows was an interesting attempt to put a circus theme on the standard rave set up. It’s not an obvious mix, but it turned out that the erotic-tinged circus aesthetic…
Better than: Sleeping the rest of the night away would have been. Slide Show Due to an early evening nap and a faulty alarm clock, I missed all but the last half of the last song of Amphibious Jones’s set. By the time I was fully awake, Little Fyodor and…
