Fort Collins set to debut all-local music fest in April

In recent years, Fort Collins has produced and fostered its fair share of acts, from Brotherhood of Dae Han and the Heyday to Set Forth and Roe. Now our neighbor to the north has its very own local-music festival, thanks to the fine folks at the Fort Collins Musicians Association…

Roe to play KTCL’s Keggs & Eggs on St. Paddy’s day

Stevie Wonder could’ve seen this one coming: Just received word that Roe, the winner of KTCL’s recent Hometown for the Holidays promotion, will be performing at the station’s annual Keggs & Eggs bash at LoDo’s, where the Fort Collins-based outfit will share the stage with New Found Glory. That’s great…

Limp Bizkit: the prodigal tools return

In what may be a sign of the apocalypse — or, more likely, just a sign that Fred Durst finally blew through his ill-gotten gains and doesn’t want to get a real job — Limp Bizkit has announced a reunion tour and new album. I’ll pause here to allow all…

Meet the Fraysayers

Dull. Boring. Formulaic. Uniformly bland. Uninteresting. Calculated. Inoffensive. Forgettable. These are just a few of the adjectives that various critics from across the country have used to describe the Fray’s self-titled sophomore release. As observed in this column last week, the band is clearly resonating with its fans — earlier…

An Evening With Yes tonight at the Paramount is a no-go

Just received word from the fine folks at Live Nation that the Yes show slated for this evening at the Paramount Theatre has been canceled due to a medical emergency. A rescheduled date has not been announced, and refunds are available at point of purchase…

A time-lapse video of the 2008 Westword Music Showcase

Okay, so this might be the coolest Westword Music Showcase-related item we’ve ever come across. It’s getting to be that time of year again where we start gearing up for another edition of the annual summertime local music extravaganza, which probably accounts for how our colleague Jared Jacang Maher came…

Denver DJs representing at NBA All-Star galas in Phoenix

As we write this, two of Denver’s most prominent DJs, Bedz and Quote, are holding things down in Phoenix at various high-profile galas. Bedz (pictured left), the Nuggets’ official turntable maestro, is behind the decks at the Jam Session Center Court located in the convention center in downtown Phoenix. And…

Widowers live on the (Internet) radio

Just received word that psych-pop magicians Widowers are making an appearance on KVDU, the University of Denver’s college radio station (wait, DU has a college radio station? Who knew?). Tune in to your Internet — it appears that KVDU is an Internet-only radio station (sorry commuters!) from 4 to 6…

Rumors of SleeperHorse’s demise no longer greatly exaggerated

It comes with great displeasure that we bring you news of another good Denver band hitting the rocks. Despite a blog post on its MySpace page from October of last year insisting otherwise, SleeperHorse has called it a day. Although the band hasn’t hasn’t made an official announcement, we have…

Fucked Up at the Larimer Lounge

Fucked Up, Mustangs & Madras, Guns N Rosa Parks Wednesday, February 11, 2009 Larimer Lounge Better than: The G.G. Allin documentary. Right off the bat let’s dispense with two things. One: Fucked Up is an awful name for a band. Two: If you are going to name your band Fucked…

U.S. Pipe gets funkier than an old batch of collard greens

Chris Sauthoff has learned a thing or two from George Clinton. Working alongside the legendary godfather of funk, first in the studio and then on the road, the U.S. Pipe leader, who goes by the name Citrus, picked up a few studio tricks that he used on his band’s self-titled…

You could get lucky at Cap City

“Women have a sixth sense. They know when they’re gonna get laid.” I forget where and when I first heard that, but I’ve thought about it many times since. Guys may have some idea if they’re going to get lucky, but usually only the women know for certain — and,…

Spoke Shaver at the Larimer Lounge

A lot of bands throw out the artistic trope that their music doesn’t really fit into a category — and more often than not, it’s nonsense perpetrated by those who are definitely writing music in a specific style. In contrast, Spoke Shaver shamelessly lets fly with its influences, from the…

What’s So Funny about being single on Valentine’s Day?

Being single on Valentine’s Day is a lot like being Amish in America, which is to say you are rendered completely irrelevant. You’re a roadside freak show, a meaningless distraction for gawking tourists who drive by almost mockingly to ponder your quaint ways, perhaps purchase some jam, then return to…

Yes

Don McLean famously described February 3, 1959, when Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and the Big Bopper lost their lives in an Iowa plane crash, as “the day the music died” — but that’s only because he wrote “American Pie” decades before three members of the group Yes appeared on the…

The Little Ones

When an act gets dropped by a major label, its album typically gets shelved and the band implodes. The Little Ones bucked that trend. Instead of parting in a fit of acrimonious melodrama, they decided to focus on writing songs that would only be released if everyone in the band…

K’naan

The music made by Kanaan Warsame, who performs as K’naan, is as eclectic as his background. Born in Mogadishu, Somalia, he came of age during that country’s bloody and seemingly endless civil war before emigrating first to the U.S. and later to Canada during the early ’90s. Since then, he’s…

P.O.S.

P.O.S lives up to the ambitious title of his third album on the Rhymesayers label, Never Better. Having produced two-thirds of the album on his own, this veteran of the Minneapolis hardcore punk scene melds distorted guitars, blues-holler samples, Fugazi references and the hard edges of punk with head-noddin’ hip-hop…

Obi Best

Although Alex Lilly sings backup for the well-known indie-rock outfit The Bird and the Bee, she fronts this charming lounge-pop act, whose pacing and atmospherics are reminiscent of late-’80s XTC with lush, soothing tones bolstering sharp, incisive lyrics. The odd yet entrancing melodies should appeal to fans of Helium’s rich…

Grandpa Mojo

The self-titled debut from Grandpa Mojo is a solid introduction for an up-and-coming talent. Its twelve tracks of dubby breakbeat are a showcase for Grandpa’s top-notch production skills, solid tunes and impressive musical acumen. Musically, Mojo mixes up a nice blend of stellar synthesizer timbres and organic instruments including stand-up…

Radical Knitting Circle

Over the years, the term “hippie music” has come to mean meandering jams with guitar solos that can be timed with an hourglass. But during the first generation of the 20th century’s most hirsute social movement, the phrase also applied to the tuneage of antic folk loons with a fondness…