Sian Alice Group

Sian Alice Group’s dusky, contemplative songwriting is intense and vibrantly electric, with layers of percussion, non-traditional and otherwise. Although this avant-garde soul outfit borrows liberally from the aesthetics of electronica, jazz and experimental rock, it has crafted a sound all its own — like a band of the recent past…

The Intelligence

Like a jerkier, dirtier version of avant-rockers Clinic, California’s the Intelligence hijacks indie rock with an arsenal of skin-peeling distortion, jackhammer repetition and oxymoronic moronism. And that’s a good thing: On its latest full-length, this summer’s Fake Surfers, the group accordingly mutilates reverb-slathered surf riffs using post-punk nihilism, garage-rock rawness…

The Postmarks

Miami has more than its share of nice Jewish girls — but few of them can sing like Tel Aviv-born Tim Yehezkely, who consistently delivers as frontwoman for the Postmarks, currently touring with Brookline. Memoirs at the End of the World represents the players’ fourth release in as many years:…

Ivory Drive

Nearly half the cuts on Ivory Drive’s debut album sound as though they were ripped from the pages of the Ben Folds Five songbook, only with sax and trumpet added on top. What’s more, Van Wampler’s vocals and piano playing bear an uncanny resemblance to Folds’s. That’s not a bad…

Accordion Crimes

Before nerds took over the world, they weren’t so meek. Watch almost any ’80s nerd-centric movie, Revenge of the Nerds included: Some were mild-mannered, but just as many were horny, twisted and even downright aggressive. Denver’s nerdy Accordion Crimes — featuring former members of the defunct Hot IQs and the…

Black Sleep of Kali

Tracing the lineage that Black Sleep of Kali evokes on this record isn’t all that difficult. Listen closely and there’s some of that hard-edged sludginess of Black Sabbath, the razory psychedelia and inexorable sway of Sleep and the progressive drive of Isis across these five songs. But Kali makes it…

Maree McRae

“Urgency,” this album’s title track, was inspired by the chronic illness of Maree McRae’s youngest son, so it makes sense that her performance is sincere and heartfelt. But her delivery of lines like “Baby, I’m just burstin’ at the seams” doesn’t match their content. Her relaxed, honeyed vocals are best…

Meet Coles Whalen, a burgeoning Nashville Star from Denver

Four year ago, Coles Whalen moved out of her apartment and into a pickup truck with a camper. She says she decided if she was going to make anything work, she had to be on tour. She set up shows at Borders bookstores around the country, sold enough copies of…

The Endotrend Festival has some great ideas worth latching onto

Jeremy Gregory had some innovative ideas for this weekend’s endOtrend Festival — such as silk-screening T-shirts for admission rather than issuing hard tickets. Unfortunately, it’s going to take a little while longer for some of those ideas to take flight. Just a week before the event — billed as the…

Daedelus at Bluebird Theater

The music of Daedelus sounds like steampunk IDM, chock-full of strange boops and loops that would sound right at home recorded on wax cylinders. Perhaps it’s only appropriate that an artist who looks like a foppish dandy from the Victorian era would produce dusty, antique tunes from a make-believe time…

Chad Price shaves, embarks on daylong brew tour

Trying to decide which is more noteworthy — Chad Price playing ten breweries in one day, or Chad Price, clean shaven? (Seriously. We didn’t know dude came without a beard. Cleans up pretty nicely, doesn’t he?) We’re guessing you’re more interested in the latter. To that end, on Saturday, October…

Flier of the Week: Paper Bird at the Boulder Theatre

It’s not always artful images or striking use of typography that catches our eye for a flier of the week. No, sometimes it’s just something simple, comforting and downright inviting — something like this grade-school arts-and-crafts flier for Paper Bird’s upcoming date at the Boulder Theatre this Friday, October 2…

Kanye West, John Fogerty, Reverend Horton Heat shows announced

Kanye West and Lady Gaga are taking their 34-city Fame Kills tour on the road, and that includes a stop at the Pepsi Center on Wednesday, December 2. Word has it that the two, who share equal billing on the tour, will integrate their performances. Ticket run from $39 to…

Be a b-boy or just look like one

Have you always wanted to be b-boy? Here’s your chance. No more faking the funk! This Saturday at Cherry Creek Dance on Third and Clayton, three bona fied floor wreckers — Visa from Dance2Live, Mattlock from the Groproject and BREAKERONE9 from Lordz of Finesse — will be on hand to…

Julox is “Rollin'” and “Rips em’ up” in new video

Julox has one of the most recognizable voices in the Colorado hip-hop scene and some out-of-state entities are taking notice. Julox’s Ugly Azz Entertainment has partnered with Hezeleo of UGK Records out of Houston for a new mixtape, Julox: Facially Challenged. Mixed by Desert E, the collection features contributions from…

Watch how Colorado dominated Scion’s Hypeman Contest

Back in January, two locals dominated Scion’s 2008 Hypeman Contest. DJ Sabotage and Hypeman P took first and second place in the competition, respectively, showing the judges and the nation that the Colorado hip-hop scene is on the rise. (Ed: No question Sabo and HP dominated, regardless. When you see…

Over the weekend: Vendetta Festival

VENDETTA FESTIVAL Saturday, September 26, 2009 Bar Standard Sunday, September 27, 2009 Exdo Events Center This past weekend marked the third annual Vendetta Festival, a gathering of some of the best industrial and dark dance acts from around the world. We made it to two out of three days of…

Beer today, gone tomorrow: Synthetic Elements shoot new video at LoDos

Tap, tap, tap. Ahem, attention: We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this important message about free beer. We’ve just received word that the band Synthetic Elements is shooting a music video this evening at LoDos in, well, uh, LoDo. And evidently, the shoot, which is happening at…

Katie Herzig and Frito-Lay are evidently Made for Each Other

It’s been a few years since Katie Herzig hung her hat here, but we still very much consider the former Newcomers Home singer to be one of our own. The Fort Collins native has made quite a name for herself since moving to Nashville, including having a number of her…