Concerts

To a certain cross-section of Coloradans, Aaron Hobbs’s scratchy, aching cry is the voice of a generation. As high-blown as that may sound, it’s true: While plenty of local bands have come and gone over the past decade and a half, Hobbs’s Small Dog Frenzy and Acrobat Down have stayed…

Reminiscent of noise-jazz-spazz rockers Total Shutdown and the Low Down, Crack Magic also seems steeped in the abbreviated brutality of hardcore and early screamo. Opening with the abrasive “Missed Connections,” the band sounds as though its singer were engaged in some kind of weird BDSM asphyxiation play with a psychotic…

It’s just a week before Dualistics guitarist and singer Tyler Despres is slated to release the debut five-song EP of his new side project, Science Partner (which features Charley Hine from Dualistics on bass and Carl Sorensen on drums), and he isn’t even close to having the disc finished. He…

Since the dawn of the ’80s, Scott “Wino” Weinrich has sung and played guitar in a string of revered bands, including Saint Vitus, the Obsessed, Spirit Caravan, Place of Skulls and the Hidden Hand. In all that time, though, he’s never put out a solo album — until now. Punctuated…

Dubstep is slowly but surely becoming one of the hottest flavors of dance music out there, and U.K.-based producer/DJ wunderkind Skream has been at the forefront almost since its inception. He’s grown and evolved with the movement as it changed from its dark, gnarly, tech-driven roots to a more organic…

Update: Congrats Mike Shapiro and Courtney Ozaki. Both are going to see Mayer Hawthorne at the Larimer Lounge tonight. Have a good time!It’s fitting that Mayer Hawthorne originally hails from Michigan, the sacred soil that birthed Motown, as his throwback sound evokes the trademark brand of soul that iconic imprint…

All right, better be careful what we say about this one, lest we get sued by one of these litigious bastards. Tonight at La Rumba five bands — with criminally underwhelming monikers as the Hip Replacements, the Propane Daisies, Togad, Not Mona Lisa and the Downtown Girls — made up…

RainTemple Buell TheaterSeptember 22, 2009Better than: Watching someone else play Beatles Rock Band.There is no denying Rain’s skill at recreating the sound of Beatles recordings. The tribute band offered close copies of a host of tunes during their performance at the Temple Buell on Tuesday night, playing close approximations of…

Scout Niblett, Oh My God, Wye Oak The Hi-Dive September 22, 2009 Better Than: Getting punched in the face. Sounds like a bad thing, I know, but think about it – that’s kind of exciting, and I said the show was better than getting punched in the face. Besides, this…

Wow. Ran into Kam from Chain Gang several times since he returned from tour with 3OH!3 and he said that he’d been writing new material and that it was different from the old stuff. And how, daddio. On the brand new track that he just premiered a bit ago on…

Update: Congrats Ted Alvarez and Carly Billings. Both are going to see Autolux at the Bluebird tonight. Have a good time!The Los Angeles trio known as Autolux hits the Bluebird tonight in the company of Mini Mansions and Gangcharger. Should be a rad show. Wanna go? We’ve got two pairs…

​Jen Korte & the Loss The Walnut RoomFriday, September 18, 2009Jen Korte and the Loss recorded most of the tracks on her new self-titled album live in the studio and there’s an immediacy and cohesion on those tracks that can usually only be captured with everyone playing at the same…

Life is completely kicking my ass at the moment. My bank account is overdrawn, I’ve been dragging ass all day from staying out way too late on a Monday night, drinking whiskey at Sancho’s after the Sunny Day show, talking up random strangers. The weather sucks … eh, you get…

With the annual CMJ fest kicking off in just a little less than a month, Brooklyn Vegan has announced plans to have Nathaniel Rateliff & the Wheel — one of the Denver acts slated to make the trek; the Photo Atlas, the Knew and Jim McTurnan and the Kids That…

Just received word that Widowers are heading into the studio to record a follow-up to their excellent self-titled debut. According to the band, this means no more new shows while they concentrate on recording. Anyone who caught the group’s set at the UMS this summer knows why this is exciting…

Sunny Day Real Estate, The Jealous Sound Monday, September 21, 2009 Ogden Theater, Denver Better Than: Most of the descendents of this style of music have been. Sunny Day Real Estate’s current tour is a bit of a reunion tour for the Jealous Sound from Los Angeles as well. The…

This weekend I went and watched the Broncos beat up on the perpetually bottom-of-the-barrel Browns in my annual debt-inducing, professional-sports pilgrimage. The game was fun, but I couldn’t help but notice that the music was … well, my parents would consider most of it oldies, and they aren’t exactly hip…

Like his past two albums, Taking Up Your Precious Time and Filling Up The City Skies, Derek Vincent Smith, who performs under the Pretty Lights moniker, has announced plans to release his next effort, Passing By Behind Your Eyes, digitally. Originally set to drop tomorrow, the disc has been pushed…

Before unceremoniously calling it quits with after a Halloween show last year, Hearts of Palm was arguably one of the brightest acts to emerge from the Denver music scene in the past decade. An outfit with boundless potential, the group, which got its start as Nathan & Stephen, was known…