Dan Allen

The latest from electrified proto-folkie Dan Allen is a throwback to local recordings that were commonplace during the bad old days, before technology improved to the degree that an album made in a bedroom could sound almost as good as one cut in a studio. The production on Here is…

Uberzone at the Rise festival

One of the many highlights of the sixth annual Rize urban art and music festival on Saturday, April 25, at the Paladium (1400 West 62nd Avenue), is a live laptop remix set of whiplash future breaks by Überzone. This California native, known as Timothy Wiles to his mother and Q…

The mysterious reappearance of John Baxter

Ahimsa. Evidently, it’s a “Sanskrit term meaning to do no harm.” It’s also the way that one Mr. John Baxter used to end all of his written exchanges. In the past few days, that word and Mr. Baxter have mysteriously reappeared, both here and on various other local blogs –…

Rowboat on the radio today

Today at 4 p.m. Rowboat (a project of Sam McNitt of Blue Million Miles) will be appearing live on KVDU Internet radio. He’s going to guest DJ for an hour, then play live for an hour at 5 p.m. If you’re like me and still haven’t caught this bleak and…

2009 Westword Music Showcase revealed

The 2009 Westword Music Showcase ballot has been formulated and will be included in this week’s paper, which will beginning hitting stands in a few hours. Online voting will also begin later this week. In the meantime, though, as faithful readers of the Backbeat blog, we’re giving you the drop…

Aerosmith, Killers, Wilco shows announced

There was a ton of action with concert announcements this week, especially some great shows at Red Rocks including Ween (Sunday, September 6), Wilco (Friday, July 3), the Killers (Wednesday, September 9), Lyle Lovett (Sunday, July 26) and Slightly Stoopid (Wednesday, July 15). Fiddler’s Green roped in a pair of…

Ichiban, Block Scholars added to URB’s Next 1000

Last month, we mentioned that both ManeLine and UmConcious made it onto URB Magazine’s Next 1000 list and were featured on the list’s main page for a week. ManeLine received the most votes, giving the act top billing for that week. We just received word that two more Colorado hip-hop artists…

A first look at Fear Before’s new video

Just finished screening Fear Before’s new video for “Fear Before Doesn’t Listen to People Who Don’t Like Them.” If you haven’t seen it yet, take a gander above. Directed by Bryan Schlam, the highly stylized clip recalls a number of similar boiler-plate alt rock performance videos from the early ‘to…

Food Chain offers debut EP for free download

The Food Chain is an amalgamation of Colorado hip-hop artists who have united under one moniker to make some high quality hip-hop music. Over the last six months or so, the crew has leaked a collection of tracks showcasing their skills as rappers and producers. Now they have compiled all of…

Ween Red Rocks show announced

Ween, who brought a ton of shenanigans to town during its two-night run at Fillmore last July, will return these parts again Sunday, September 6 when the band plays Red Rocks. Tickets, which are $44.95, go on sale Saturday, April 25 at 10 a.m. If you can’t wait that long…

Kill Paradise lands recording deal

So the music business is allegedly in dire straits right now, having endured the sharpest decline in CD sales ever this past year. Yet if you’re paying attention you can’t help but notice that act after act from Denver is being snatched up by various labels at stupefying rate, that,…

Over the Weekend: Peña at the Rocket Room, Colorado Springs

Peña, Cougar Legs and Eyes Caught FireSaturday, April 18, 2009The Rocket Room, Colorado SpringsBetter Than: Missing such a beautiful show due to Colorado’s Jeckyl and Hyde weather. Dave Kurtz and Joshua Trinidad opened the show as Cougar Legs, with the former performing arhythmic jazz percussion in masterful time with the…

Over the weekend: Iuengliss at the hi-dive

Iuengliss, BDRMPPL and Josephine and the MousepeopleFriday, April 17, 2009hi-dive, DenverBetter Than: The mixture of snow, slush and thunder that barraged the city all day. In spite of one of the most schizophrenic patches of weather in recent memory, the show went on at the hi-dive and came as a…

Green Day tour hits Denver in August

Sizzling hot off the wire: Just received word that Green Day will be bringing its 21st Century Breakdown tour to Denver on Saturday, August 15. The tour kicks off on Friday, July 3, in Seattle, and will mark the act’s first roadwork in more than three years. And it’s been…

Locals shine at Communikey Festival of Electronic Arts

The second annual Communikey Festival of Electronic Arts, one of the nation’s biggest electronic music festivals, kicks off properly tonight. In addition to a strong lineup of national and international talent — Thomas Fehlmann, Gudrun Gut, KiloWatts, Christopher Willits, for example — it also features an all-star cast of the…

Tonight’s Pennywise and Pepper show postponed

Tonight’s Pennywise and Pepper show at the Fillmore Auditorium, which was part of Jagermeister’s Music Tour, has been postponed due to severe weather conditions west of Denver. The bands plan to reschedule the show and Live Nation will announce a new date as soon as the show is confirmed…

3OH!3’s debut single, “Don’t Trust Me,” goes platinum

Looks like 3OH!3’s debut single, “Don’t Trust Me,” can now officially be considered a smash, having purportedly sold one million digital copies. For those of you who’ve recently unthawed after being cryogenically frozen for the past decade or so, that is the modern-day equivalent of selling a million CD singles…

Tim Pourbaix is Brooklyn bound

Ran into Tim Pourbaix very briefly last night. When we ducked out for a quick smoke in front of the Sputnik, he informed me that his new record is nearly finished as is the Park-Pourbaix project he’s been working on with Ellison Park. No word on when the latter will…