The five best jazz shows in Denver this month

Like fans of pretty much every other genre in this town, the jazz connoisseurs here are spoiled with a steady stream of great shows. In the past few months, we’ve been treated to shows from the likes of Esperanza Spalding, Ron Carter, the Bad Plus, the Vijay Iyer Trio, Keith…

The ten best concerts this week: November 5-9

Another week, another batch of great shows on tap. We’ve got all of the shows listed in our concert calendar if you’ve prefer to take a more hands-on approach to planning your itinerary. If you’re looking for a more curated experience, however, as always, we’ve put together a list of…

Leonard Cohen at 1STBANK Center, 11/03/12

LEONARD COHEN @ 1STBANK CENTER | 11/3/12 There were no low points in Leonard Cohen’s perfectly paced show at the 1STBANK Center — impressive, considering it went on for three and a half hours. The high point came when Cohen and his band went into “Hallelujah.” The crowd sang along;…

Aaron Freeman at the Fox Theatre, 11/2/12

AARON FREEMAN @ FOX THEATRE | 11/2/12 Aaron Freeman’s set at the Fox felt decidedly familiar. The former Ween frontman may have officially shed the musical alter ego of Gene Ween since his last appearance in Colorado, but a lot about his act has stayed pretty much the same. That…

Matt & Kim at the Ogden Theatre, 11/02/12

MATT & KIM @ OGDEN THEATRE | 11/02/12 Matt Johnson and Kim Schifino are no joke. Really. The two of them have a reputation to uphold, garnered by countless rave reviews — and uphold that reputation they have. And then some. With a face-fucking set at the Ogden, Matt &…

The ten best concerts this weekend: Nov. 2-4

Welcome to the weekend! We made it. And as we already noted in Dance Card, there’s an extra hour for you to enjoy. Depending upon how hard you go, this will either give you more time to imbibe or an extra hour to sleep off the effects of the night…

The Head and the Heart at CU Boulder, 11/1/12

THE HEAD AND THE HEART @ COORS EVENT CENTER | 11/1/12 President Obama’s speech last night at the University of Colorado’s Coors Event Center marked the umpteenth time the Commander in Chief has stopped in the Centennial State this campaign season — just last week, he was touting his record…

Skrillex and Knife Party at 1STBANK, 10/31/12

SKRILLEX AND KNIFE PARTY @ 1STBANK CENTER | 10/31/12 As a katana of turquoise and green lasers sliced through the Skrilliens on the second level of 1STBANK, the tag-teaming headliners Skrillex and Knife Patty traded licks on the crowd with effortless chemistry. First it was Dillon Francis’s “Masta Blasta,” and…

Dan Deacon at Bluebird Theater, 10/31/12

DAN DEACON @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 10/31/12 Before going into “Guilford Avenue Bridge,” Dan Deacon told us to gather as much to the west side of the theater as possible to create a pathway on the left side stage ramp to the back of the theater. He then told us…

Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe at Ogden, 10/31/12

KARL DENSON’S TINY UNIVERSE @ THE OGDEN THEATRE |10/31/12 Things witnessed last night at the Ogden Theatre, in no particular order: Rosie the Riveter breakdancing with a samurai; a priest making out with Little Orphan Annie; Milli Vanilli’s Rob and Fab sharing a smoke outside; and a drunk monk. On…

Father John Misty brings humor and hard topics into balance

Until this past January, Josh Tillman was the drummer for Fleet Foxes. When I meet him at Good Luck Bar in Los Angeles, it’s two weeks after the announcement of his departure from the band. Slumped over the bar, beer in hand, the bearded, 6′ 4″ singer-songwriter stands out; through…

Doo Crowder’s show at West Side Books will not be boring

Doo Crowder (due at West Side Books on Sunday, November 4) first gained renown as a member of indie-pop outfit the Dinnermints. But he’s most well known for his tenure as frontman of the anarcho-orchestra Pee Pee. Since Pee Pee went on indefinite hiatus a few years ago, Crowder has…

Sera Cahoone

Sera Cahoone grew up in Colorado — Littleton, to be exact. By the time she was in middle school, she was playing drums for gigging bands, and in the early ’90s, she formed the experimental-rock band Idle Mind with her friend Roger Green. Although one of the more promising local…

Robert Hood

Considered the originator of minimal techno, Robert Hood is also regarded as one of the style’s most influential producers and is a highly accomplished album artist. As an early member of the staunchly anti-mainstream Underground Resistance musicians’ collective and record label (founded by Jeff Mills and Mad Mike Banks in…

Matt and Kim

If Matt and Kim had never made it as a musical duo, they probably could’ve found success as therapists. The indie-punk band is sickeningly sweet and happy, putting just as much emphasis on their perma-smiles and interaction with fans as on the music they play. They dance on their instruments,…

Heidi

Heidi is one of the few acts in recent years to rise to the upper echelon of the dance-music world through deejaying alone. While most DJs today initially make their names producing original tracks, Heidi secured her reputation as a top-notch jock with her infectious energy and obvious talent. She…

PrettyMouth

Momentarily abandoning her rock roots, former Ghost Buffalo singer Marie Litton leads her dark-folk three-piece PrettyMouth on its debut album, Satan in Clothes. Here Litton lays bare the personal gloom she’s endured over the years, packaging all of it in songs with a ’90s acoustic simplicity wrapped in musically rich…

Bizarre Learning Center

Kicking off with the bubbling and feisty “Bigger,” this EP finds the mostly instrumental Bizarre Learning Center channeling the distorted, glittery melodies of the Pastels or Black Tambourine, only at double speed. Robin Walker’s soothing vocals are mixed at a level comparable to the rest of the instrumentation, resulting in…