GRiZ

Songs like “Getting Live” — which opens this album and drips with funky guitars and gritty bass lines before reaching a crescendo of futuristic sounds and robust beats — notwithstanding, it’s clear that GRiZ (aka Grant Kwiecinski) is much more interested in letting Rebel Era tell a story with emotion…

The Blue Rider

The Blue Rider’s self-titled release has a number of touchstones, among them Nuggets-era garage rock, the Stooges and the Cramps, and the resulting music sounds like something out of an early-’60s Louisiana juke joint, especially songs like the ultra-short “Innertube.” The record encompasses a variety of sounds — from psychedelic…

Indigenous Robot

Indigenous Robot didn’t waste much time in producing a followup to Fireball, the quartet’s three-song EP from earlier this year. Castles plays like a natural complement to that release, with its unpredictable time signatures, surreal imagery and bizarre sound cues. But where Fireball largely stayed true to the band’s self-described…

…And the Black Feathers

While the ellipsis in front of …And the Black Feathers might immediately draw comparisons to, well, a certain other band that has three dots before its name, that’s essentially where the similarities end. That much is clear from the slow strum of the reverb-drenched guitar on “Evol (Part 1),” the…

Kanye West Pepsi Center show canceled

Update, 12:15 p.m. 11/6/13: Bad news, y’all. Yeezus is no longer coming to Denver. The Kanye West show at the Pepsi Center, originally slated for November 3, and subsequently postponed, has now officially been canceled. The tour is set to resume next Thursday in Philadelphia, but the new routing means…

The Colorado Music Hall of Fame’s class of 2013

This Friday, November 8, at the Paramount Theatre, the Colorado Music Hall of Fame’s current inductees, which include John Denver, Barry Fey, Harry Tuft, Red Rocks, Flash Cadillac, Sugarloaf, the Astronauts and KIMN radio, will be joined by a brand-new class that includes a peer group of folksingers, including Judy…

The best rap shows in Denver in November

FRI | DELTRON 3030 at 1STBANK CENTER | 11/15/13 Deltron 3030 isn’t so much a group or an album as it is a mode of thought, and there are few hip-hop albums (or albums of any genre, for that matter) with the cinematic quality of this group’s self-titled debut. Dan the…

The best concerts to see in Denver this week

WEDS | TORO Y MOI at OGDEN THEATRE | 11/6/13 With the recent release of the latest Toro Y Moi album, Anything in Return, Chaz Bundick should be able to transcend the chillwave label that’s been assigned to him by countless critics. Like his friend and mutual mentor Ernest Greene…

Eminem zings the Denver Broncos on MMLP2

Eminem’s new album, MMLP2, comes out next week. It’s fire, from what we’ve heard so far. Anyhow, you’ll be especially interested in the opening track, “Bad Guy,” in which an associate of an old friend, a fella you might remember by the name of Stan, makes an appearance, and towards…

The best EDM shows in Denver in November

SAT | MICHAL MENERT at FILLMORE AUDITORIUM | 11/16/13 Since his debut solo album Dreaming of Something Bigger, Michal Menert has been steadily touring the country building a grassroots following in the same way Derek Vincent Smith of Pretty Lights did when first hit the scene. Menert has one fans…

Review: DeVotchKa at Gothic Theatre, 10/31/13

DEVOTCHKA at GOTHIC THEATRE | 10/31/12 Nick Urata was quite engaging throughout last night’s show, but one of the most compelling moments came when he introduced a song as one written by one of the band’s heroes. The tune wasn’t immediately recognizable, as the band had expertly reworked the song…

The best concerts in Denver this weekend

SUN | OF MONTREAL at MARQUIS THEATER | 11/3/13 Among the most popular and successful of the bands associated with the Elephant 6 collective, Of Montreal started off as a sort of indie pop band with an experimental edge. The band evolved dramatically across several records, fearlessly exploring lyrical themes…

The best EDM in Denver this weekend

FRI | BONOBO at FILLMORE AUDITORIUM | 11/1/13 Simon Green’s Bonobo project has taken chilled-out downtempo on a meandering journey through complex syncopation, sweeping strings and heavy bass lines since 1999, when he released the single “Terrapin” on the Tru Thoughts label. Since then, Green has created four full-length albums…