Concerts

Fruit Bats frontman Eric Johnson, who’ll take the Larimer Lounge stage following Death Vessel and Achille Lauro, joined the Shins shortly after contributing to a track on the latter’s 2007 album, Wincing the Night Away. Fortunately, though, he didn’t respond to this opportunity by shutting down his previous project. The…

Despite the fact that he once recorded Aleister Crowley-influenced songs with prog master Robert Fripp — seriously, we can’t make stuff like that up — Daryl Hall has never been given the credit he deserves. Of course, you can’t blame the public for its perception of Hall and his sidekick,…

When Arrington De Dionyso formed Old Time Relijun in the late ’90s, the group’s reliance on the deconstructive glee of free jazz and the mutant skronk of Captain Beefheart was a bracing formula. But over the years, De Dionyso has proven to be more than a mere dabbler in the…

Before joining Nick Houde to form BDRMPPL, Ryan Mcryhew performed under the name Thundercade. This latest release from that project weaves together eight-bit composition with house beats, analog synth pop and a touch of trance. “Autosuggestion” feels like a lost OMD track until a hip-hop vocal sample bursts the bubbling…

The jam with which YMSB’s music has been flavored since its 1998 founding is spread thinner than usual on The Show, a new album being given to attendees of a Friday, August 28, Red Rocks concert co-starring Xavier Rudd (August 27’s Fox Theatre preview is sold out). Working again with…

Fort Collins outfit GasHead began as a solo project by guitarist Mike Lopez, then branched into a full, albeit instrumental, band — which then blossomed into a full-on, five-headed metal juggernaut with the addition of vocalist Josh Purdy on 2007’s The Isolationist. With the group’s new EP, though, things have…

During the opening track of Sonnenblume’s self-titled debut, Liz Forster pleads: “Stay with me/for all time.” That line portends the power over listeners within nearly every song to follow — eleven unforgettable, moody pop melodies draped in thoughtful atmosphere, quality musicianship and dreamy vocals. Do not mistake accessibility for simplicity,…

The Kissing Party is a band masterful in the writing of upbeat, melancholy pop songs and wry wit. Although the lyrics reveal the romantic and sentimental outlook of the group’s primary songwriters, Gregg Dolan and Deidre Sage, it is the rhythm section of Lee Evans and Shane Reid, coupled with…

John Eriksson was groomed from an early age to be an orchestral musician. He began taking lessons at age eight, earned a degree in classical percussion at the University of Stockholm and spent years playing in the Swedish Radio Symphony Orchestra. But something got in the way of his boyhood…

DJ Sneak (due at Vinyl on Saturday, August 29) is an icon of second-wave Chicago house music. Coming up in the early ’90s, his pioneering filter-disco style helped define a new sound for Chi-town, tied to the past but looking to the future. Some fifteen years later, Sneak has evolved…

The Johnson family never ceases to amaze us with their extraordinary talent. From making music (Nathan Johnson, musician, Cinematic Underground) to making films (Rian Johnson, auteur, Brick and Brothers Bloom) to making records (Aaron Johnson, producer, God or Julie/ and the Fray), the Johnsons are an exceptional bunch. We were…

So hot on the heels of StubHub listing Denver at number ten on its list of twenty most rockin’ cities, comes word that the Society of American Travel Writers — evidently the largest consortium of traveling journos and photographers — have also deigned the Mile High City as the tenth…

Okay, so is it just us or has anyone else noticed that Gregory Alan Isakov seems to have a way with the ladies? First he caught the notice of Brandi Carlile, who made a cameo on his latest record, This Empty Northern Hemisphere — which, incidently, you can begin pre-ordering…

Update: Just received word that the new 3 the Hardway video will be screened for the very first time in its entirety on Friday, September 11, at Tooey’s on Colfax and Marion. The premier party, which kicks off at 9 p.m. is free and will feature performances from 3 the…

In the tradition of now classic releases like 1997’s Get Up Kids/Coalesce split 7-inch, in which both groups covered each other’s songs, Epilogues and the Photo Atlas have announced plans to embark on similar effort with a twist — namely each band will record two new songs in addition to…

Progressive Nation Dream Theater, Zappa Plays Zappa, Big Elf, Scale the Summit August 25, 2009 Buell Theater Better than: Reliving high school memories by flipping through a yearbook. Let me admit to a strong bias up front: I spent at least three of my teenage years with a diet almost…

Oh, Magic Cyclops, how do we love you? Let us count the ways. Although he’s had a spate of bad luck recently, namely being completely shafted by Hotels.com, who maxed his credit card while he was in New York, which ultimately left him penniless and starving for a few days…

So, don’t know if you’ve heard or not yet, but Tauntaun, an almighty titan of Denver metal, is playing a very special show this weekend at the Bluebird with Ian Cooke and Alan Alda. (Yeah, we know. Pretty sweet bill, right?) Word has it, Mr. Cooke will be joining Tauntaun…

Looks like congratulations are due Come Forth By Day, who just inked a deal with Statik Factory Records. Although a release date hasn’t been set yet, the Orlando, Florida-based imprint, which specializes in death metal, hardcore and grindcore and is home to acts such as And Hell Follwed With, Atila,…

The nearly departed Rabbit Is a Sphere — we say nearly, because although by all appearances the outfit has disbanded, the members prefer to say they’re on hiatus rather than putting a finer point on it than saying its over — has made yet more of its music available. As…