Kid Hum charts on CMJ

Another Colorado hip-hop artist has charted on CMJ’s hip-hop chart. Massive props go out to Kid Hum, who checks in this week at number eighteen, just one spot being J Dilla, with his latest effort Offshore Drilling. Certainly a good look for the Kid, who now shares the distinction of…

Over the weekend: Here We Go Magic at Larimer Lounge

Here We Go Magic, Vitamins and Achille Lauro Sunday, June 28, 2009 Larimer Lounge Better Than: A straightforward interpretation of a band’s album. This show opened with Denver’s own Vitamins. Since coming to the Mile High City from Greeley two years ago, it seems Vitamins have shed a bit of…

Over the Weekend: White Rabbits at Bluebird Theater

White Rabbits, Crocodiles, The Subjects Friday, June 26, 2009 The Bluebird Better Than: Speeding down a deserted highway on a summer night. You get my bias up front for White Rabbits. These are hometown boys to me, formed in Columbia, Missouri, where I learned to love music. They’d already left…

Zombie Hate Brigade sign with Crash Music

Just got word that local grindcore band Zombie Hate Brigade have signed with Crash Music, a national label out of Phoenix that focuses on heavy metal and rock. The band’s debut release on Crash will be an expanded, multimedia-enhanced CD of their recent self-released self-titled album. Fans will get the…

Show off your shoe game at the ‘Sneaker Prom’

PULSE Arts, the folks behind the annual Shoe Shine event, are taking their appreciation for art and sneaker culture to another level. This Saturday, June 27, the organization will host their first annual Sneaker Prom at the Denver Athletic Club (1325 Glenarm St.) in an effort to raise money for…

L.A. Weekly speaks with MJ’s lawyer

Last night, our counterparts over at the L.A. Weekly posted an exclusive interview with Bob Sanger, Michael Jackson’s attorney for sixteen years. It’s a good read. A candid conversation, the exchange offers some interesting insights about Jackson, like how well read he was, and is fully worth checking out if…

Last Night’s Show: Phoenix at The Bluebird

Phoenix, Amazing Baby Thursday, June 25, 2009 The Bluebird Better Than: Every show I’ve seen in the past year. Something happened last night at the Bluebird. I’m not sure exactly what the chemistry was, whether it was the world’s trendiest band or the fact that we are all feeling gooey…

R.I.P. Michael Jackson, 1958 – 2009

By now you’ve heard that Michael Jackson died today at his home in California. Evidently, he had rented a place out in Belaire and was rehearsing for fifty sold out shows at O2 in London, the first four of which he had already reportedly postponed. Dubbed “This Is It,” the…

Tonight: Phoenix with Amazing Baby at the Bluebird

The Bluebird should be buzzing with energy tonight when Phoenix stops by the Bluebird. Guaranteed to be a show that everyone’s talking about for a good little while — Phoenix is in the midst of riding a substantial buzz right now — the outfit joins Amazing Baby for a sold…

One Eyed Jacks gets burglarized

On Tuesday night, One Eyed Jacks, which sits on 4th and Sante Fe in the space previously occupied by the Continental Club, was burglarized. According to owner Desiree Gonzalez, the thief (or thieves, as the case may be?) made off with at 15K worth of stuff. In an effort to…

Ascaris considers itself a punk band that plays metal

Last year we played this show at the Roxy,” remembers Taylor Kirgan, singer/guitarist of Ascaris. “We played with three hip-hop groups that night. We were the only band with amps; everyone else was up there with turntables and laptops. We opened up that show with full stacks. At the end…

Follow the bikes to the British Bulldog

Two decades ago, a buddy and I were eating burritos on the patio of a place in downtown Isla Vista, California, home of the University of California’s Santa Barbara campus, when a sixty-something guy started chatting us up. His cheeks were leathery, and his hair, bushy eyebrows and beard were…

Gangcharger at the hi-dive

After Boulder’s melodically atonal Mansfield Ghost broke up, it was entirely possible that the band’s unique guitar sound would follow it into the annals of local music. Fortunately, two thirds of Mansfield went on to form the decidedly noisier and more beautifully abrasive Gangcharger (due at the hi-dive on Friday,…

Princess Superstar at Beta

Funny, sexy and slightly insane, Princess Superstar is unquestionably a distinctive talent. As a recording artist, she takes a clever and far-out approach that mashes hip-hop, pop and electro into funky, overtly sexual and hilarious anthems such as “Bad Babysitter,” with its lyrics about sending the kids to bed so…

Fierce Bad Rabbit: yet another promising act from Fort Collins

After fronting the Fort Collins-based indie-rock band the Jimi Austin for three and a half years, Chris Anderson was at a bit of a crossroads. Drummer Shane Zweygardt and guitarist Ian Haygood were pushing for more of a progressive dance-rock sound, while Anderson wanted to explore mellower songwriting. Before Anderson’s…

Witch Hunt

In an era when genuine political dissent has been considered treason — or, at the very least, seditious — it’s entirely appropriate that a punk band would form under the moniker Witch Hunt. Hailing from Philadelphia, this foursome plays the kind of raw, socially conscious punk that usually gets the…

Phoenix

Phoenix, appearing with Amazing Baby, is generating a buzz nearly a decade in the making. The electro-tinged French group, whose lineage has links to both Air and Daft Punk, released United, its diverting Astralwerks Records debut, back in 2000 — and the imprint issued two more impressive long-players, 2004’s Alphabetical…