In Better Senses leaves a tree on a platter

Wow! It’s our first flier of the new year with the year 2011 inscribed on it. Looks kind of weird. Who knew the future would come so quickly? Anyway, this In Better Senses flier keeps things simple but still manages to be a nice combination of the psychedelic and the…

Tonight: the Slackers at the Bluebird

Living through the third-wave ska movement of the mid-’90s and still keeping an admirably visible profile in 2011, the Slackers are a musical anomaly. Like labelmates Hepcat and Stubborn All Stars, the Slackers’ success hinges on a penchant for the swing of blue beat while ditching the silliness made popular…

When it comes to hip-hop, it’s a man’s world

You know,” confides Sherie Cole, “it’s not the biggest part of it, but I definitely had a breast reduction because of the names I used to get called — they would call me ‘Big Titty Rie Rie.'” While music in general has always been a male-dominated field, hip-hop, in particular,…

Ashes of Ruin, January 8 at Cervantes’ Other Side

When you hear death metal or any of its offshoots, you either appreciate its technical precision or you hate it. Ashes of Ruin (due this Saturday, January 8, at Cervantes’ Other Side) combines elements of that kind of metal with more melodic guitar leads, yet the rhythms are no less…

Dave Aude

House heavyweight Dave Aude’s credentials read like an impressive who’s who of both pop and electronic music. He’s produced tracks for Barenaked Ladies, Korn, Britney Spears, the Pussycat Dolls, Faith No More and Madonna, and back in the ’90s, he formed Lunatic Fringe with Steve Levy, a partnership that eventually…

Cowboy Mouth

Since its inception in 1990, New Orleans-based Cowboy Mouth — named after Sam Shepard and Patti Smith’s play about misfits musing on the foibles of the American Dream — has produced the kind of eclectic sound that defines most of the music coming out of that town. The group delivers…

Jeff Tweedy

Thin White Rope and Green on Red may have been some of the early artists in what became known as “alt-country,” but Uncle Tupelo took that style to much greater prominence. Along with his friend Jay Farrar, Tweedy led that band for seven years before the former left to form…

Cell Injection

Two of the most visible figures in West Coast techno, Drumcell and Audio Injection rose to prominence during the past decade as promoters of Southern California’s infamous Interface warehouse parties. Occasionally performing together as Cell Injection, the Los Angeles-based DJ/producers champion a distinctive style of the genre that is more…

Constellations

These two singles represent a further shift from even the boundary-pushing material heard on 2007’s Necrogeister. “Bicycle Tropics” sounds like a Can tune pulled apart to its basic components and reworked into an IDM pop song. “Savage Orb,” meanwhile, seemingly dispenses with all connection to conventional rock instrumentation. A chillingly…

History Of…

While everyone else in the pop-punk scene was getting old and singing faux R&B, History Of… was just getting better. With six years and plenty of rough demos under its belt, the band emerged in 2010 with a clear vision and a clearer sound, thanks in no small part to…

Mike Wird

Mike Wird is a well-known name in the local hip-hop scene. A bona fide B-boy, he’s one half of Babah Wird, a member of Denver Avengerz and a producer — all wrapped up in an Adidas jumpsuit. His debut solo project, Afronaut Funk Volume 1, isn’t quite as funky as…

Quentin Young

Passion of the Loose Cannon, With Remarks, the followup to Do-Si-Do for Your Girl, is a bit disorienting at first. There’s a lot going on here. The album opens with a gal talking about seeing the Quentin Young Band at some seedy dive and remarking that the show was amazing,…

BLKHRTS brings three MCs together for some really good rap

The members of BLKHRTS — FOE, Karma and Yonnas Abraham of The Pirate Signal — are blazing into the new year with the same fervor and furor that drives their individual careers. The project has great cohesion, which isn’t too surprising, considering the three MCs have frequently featured on each…

Octave spins live on January 8 at Casselman’s Bar & Venue

Up-and-coming minimalist techno artist Octave hails from Paris and is gaining traction at clubs in Germany, Greece and the Netherlands, as well. On this side of the pond, meanwhile, his “Past Flash” track was included on techno god Richie Hawtin’s album Sounds From Can Elles. Octave’s version of techno is…

Fox Theater & Boulder Theater selling VIP laminates for 2011 shows

The folks at Z2 Entertainment, who operate the Fox Theatre and Boulder Theater, are selling VIP laminates that are good for two tickets to every Z2 show for the coming year. Five of the ten laminates, which run $2,500 and are non-transferable, will have the person’s photos on the passes…

Tonight: Autococoon at Yellow Feather Coffee

As Autococoon, Caitlin Payne Roberts takes the very personal and makes it public, cramming paragraphs of thought and emotion into simple song structures with fluttering vocal grace. Unlike most touring musicians, the singer-songwriter will be passing through Colorado by way of Greyhound bus tonight, as part of a fundraiser for…

Paper Bird at the Oriental, 12/31/10

PAPER BIRD Dovekins • Pee Pee 12.31.10 | Oriental Theatre The New Year’s Eve traditions on display at the Oriental Theater went beyond the noisemakers and the balloons. For the second year in a row, Paper Bird shared the bill with Dovekins to ring in the new year. The young…

Warlock Pinchers at the Gothic, 12/31/10

WARLOCK PINCHERS with Il Cattivo 12.31.10 | Gothic Theater Around 9 p.m., the safety videos started up and it looked and sounded like something straight out of Wonder Showzen. Puppets and people in a gorilla and a robot costume interacted as they would on a warped, faux kids’ show: surrealistic,…