Play the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks next to Poison’s Look What the Cat Dragged In, and you’ll see what a fine line there is between ’70s punk and ’80s glam. The Black Halos, though, have known all along. Since its 1999 debut, this band of Vancouver trash merchants…
“Understated” is an understatement when talking about Tin Hat Trio. Listening to the ensemble is like looking through a keyhole into an roomful of dust-laden memories: Everything from the earthiness of blues and jazz to the austerity of Eastern European folk are spun into a swooning air of melancholy that…
Believe it or not, the Exploited is nearing a quarter-century of cutting a crusty swath of anarchist destruction across the globe. Rest easy, though: With such ditties as “Fuck the System,” “Fuck the U.S.A.” and “You’re a Fucking Bastard” to their credit, one can pretty safely assume the corrosive Scottish…
“Look Out Any Window” and you’re likely to see someone who’s been involved with Bruce Hornsby — musically, of course. Since Bruce Hornsby and the Range first slipped onto the scene with a melodic montage of medleys, the multi-talented musician has often slid past pop culture’s radar. But he’s always…
Led Zeppelin had “The Battle of Evermore.” Rush had “Rivendell.” Since time immemorial, rock bands have made music based on the wizardly works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Now Denver’s Turambar is joining that hall of heroes with its self-titled debut disc (to be released Friday, November 26, at the Larimer Lounge,…
Andy C (slated to appear at the Church on Thursday, November 25) first made his mark on the drum-and-bass world at the age of seventeen, with a track called “Valley of the Shadows” that he produced with partner Ant Miles under the name Origin Unknown. “Valley” went on to become…
It’s 7 p.m. Friday, and Love.45 is hosting a listening party at Brendan’s Pub. Although it’s one of Denver’s most prominent bands, if it weren’t for the promotional posters hanging around the bar, the four members would be indistinguishable from their fans. Right now, this is a faceless band with…
Daniel Dumile is bored with hip-hop. He’s gotta be. What else could explain the rapper’s many personas? On any given day, he’ll transform into Viktor Vaughn, King Geedorah, maybe Madvillain, King Ghidra or, if he’s up to it, the rarely seen Zevlove X. On most days, however, he’s MF Doom…
Think Jack White’s slick for reanimating the spirit of the Delta bluesmen? White’s got nothing on Shanti Shanti: Andrea and Sara Forman are breathing life into passages that have been dead for over 5,000 years. “Sanskrit provides people with an awesome experience, and we call that the Sanskrit buzz,” says…
Eminem might as well be a politician. He embodies the dichotomy well: someone who’s fundamentally reprehensible as a human being, yet represents the worldview of a huge portion — perhaps even most — of this country. With Encore, his fourth full-length, Marshall Mathers once again excels in his role as…
The concept behind Below the Radio is that you — the independent music consumer and/or poseur — admire Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle so much that you’re willing to pawn your bowling shoes for a K-Tel collection of his favorite songs. Hyped as a “mix tape,” the compilation includes Lytle-picked tracks from…
There’s nothing wrong with being a singles act, but that doesn’t stop performers like Fabolous from trying to show they can do more than make radio fodder. For proof, check out Real Talk, which places a couple of first-rate hits alongside some ill-conceived misses. Although the opening track, a spoken-word…
Not many songwriters are able to juxtapose Sunday-school hymns with a modest proposal that involves feeding unruly children to jungle cats. Neko Case, however, pulls it off beautifully. The Tigers Have Spoken, her third full-length, seesaws from country psalms to indie sass as it channels all the rapturous hoot-and-holler of…
The power of association cannot be denied. Whether Mikey likes it or not (and I can guarantee that he does not), the prevalence of tabloid headlines and news reports about his allegedly freaky behavior makes it well nigh impossible to assess this four-CD boxed set objectively. After all, nearly every…
On Leaders Not Followers: Part 2, nineteen of the most brutal speedcore, Satanic-metal and thrash songs ever recorded are drained of all life and transformed into uninspired, generic filler. Grindcore progenitor Napalm Death takes time off from its usual relentless assault to pay tribute once again to some of the…
Given the difficulty of making disparate musical elements cohere, it’s no wonder that most bands stick to a single style. Indeed, acts that can pull off the difficult mission of genre-blending are few and far between, which only makes the New Ancient Astronauts’ accomplishment that much more impressive. The various…
From ska to rock to hip-hop to funk and back again, Soapbox Jive slaps genre classification in the face with licked fingers. At one end of the spectrum is “Jump Blues,” where Jason Duffy’s sultry lower register and Michael Smith’s splashing cymbals oppose funk and bebop guitars in a frenzy…
Blag Dahlia wants to have his cake and eat you, too. The pop records that the slim, shady Dwarves frontman (who compares himself to both Jesus Christ and Jack the Ripper) makes with pop producers often sound sweet — until you pay attention to the words. With sing-alongs about statutory…
Uriah Heep woke up one morning to find itself reincarnated as two skinny Americans from Seattle who grew up on too much hardcore and Conan movies. These two men, drummer Coady Willis and bassist/vocalist Jared Warren, had previously served in a plethora of notable Northwest bands, including downright legendary ones…
Once upon a time, disc jockeys perched behind their turntable pulpits were worshiped like gods. Effortlessly blending one bone-rattling beat into another, they somehow managed to miraculously set thousands of wallflowers into nearly perpetual motion. Now that DJs are a dime a dozen, though, electronic musicians who perform some portion…
An illegitimate reminder of a barely legal one-night stand between Slayer and Botch, or the grandchild Judas Priest and Iron Maiden never knew they had, Himsa is frequently lumped into the overpopulated world of metalcore, but these five Seattle sickos have more in common with the best ’70s British metal…
Every type of music has its share of inaccurate stereotypes, but few styles are more plagued by misconceptions than hard rock. Those who aren’t sympathetic to this subset tend to view its practitioners as stimulation-craving cretins — the musical equivalent of tots who can’t stop sticking their tongues into electrical…
