So barefoot-boogie hippies rub you the wrong way. Or maybe you’re more open-minded than the typical cranky-pants, scene-sucking elitist. Either way, hopefully you’re savvy enough to realize that shortcut labels like “jam band” and “indie rock” better describe a band’s business approach and fan base than its sound. This year,…
In 2005, Nashville hunks-in-arms like Toby Keith tuned down their jingoist jingles, the Muzik Mafia treaded water, and most of alt-country’s best contenders simply looked back. But as these ten albums from country’s mainstream and underground demonstrate, such quiet scenes were still full of ferment beneath the surface. Only the…
While hip-hop continued to get mo’ live in ’05, and indie rock further honed post-punk/emo’s affectations into something more genuinely affecting, the arch-paradigms from the last twelve months of electronic composition seemed more concerned with looking in than locking in. For the most part, top producers haven’t seemed as worried…
Listening to every single thing that comes across my desk is by and large a painful, if not soul-killing, experience, but occasionally a few diamonds land in my lap that wouldn’t get there any other way. Although most of these CDs are by artists you’ve probably never heard of (I…
2005 was a year of exploration and expansion in urban music. Against a Matrix-like background of corporate-controlled radio and TV, iPod-enabled consumers demanded more musical choices and were rewarded by indie labels that stepped in to provide an alternative to mainstream mediocrity once again. For every lackluster commercial effort (like…
As far as music goes, I am not a tribal person. I am not prodded by Pitchfork, nor narcotized by Relix, nor are my spirits lifted by No Depression. Not to say that those media sources are entirely flawed — indeed, each has its virtues. But each of these influential…
According to Rose Hill Drive drummer Nate Barnes, someone at the Boulder Theater suggested that, during its Friday, December 30, show at the venue, the band reinterpret a classic album in its entirety as a precursor to a set of original material. And once the idea was hatched, there was…
Led by Tim Burgess, the Charlatans UK were one of the key acts to help resurrect British rock during the Madchester craze of the early ’90s. Their jangly blend of psychedelic rock and dance beats was unique (not to mention catchy as hell), setting them apart from the majority of…
This year, more and more listeners beyond Colorado’s borders have discovered what area fans have known for a long time: There are some damned fine performers here. But for every act that’s receiving a national push, there are a lot of others making music that deserves to be heard by…
Don’t downgrade musicians just because they live somewhere other than Colorado. It’s not their fault that their parents or guardians raised them in different states, or even foreign countries. Many of them would have objected if they’d been old enough to talk, no doubt, but by the time they’d mastered…
Sometimes people get lost in circumstances that don’t quite make sense, and they’re left to wander through time in a search for meaning. Individuals in such situations will undoubtedly relate to The Reals, whose members force dreamy alt-country through their guts by way of documenting their own philosophical wanderings. Vocalists/siblings…
Yahel Sherman, who hails from Israel, is one of the more popular artists to rise from the emerging psy-trance scene. Along with his fellow Israelis in Infected Mushroom, DJ Yahel has spent the past few years traveling the globe and spreading his sound to ravers and clubbers alike; in addition,…
Counting the similarities between the Mansfields and the Ramones is like going down a list of Lincoln/ Kennedy coincidences. Primal pop-punk anthems? Check. Oldies covers? Check. Members who take the same fictitious last name? Check. Drummers called Tommy? Check. But there’s another list they could be associated with — the…
Robert Salyers is a geek. Most people would be put off by this designation, but not Salyers. He wears the title like a badge of honor, proclaiming his geekiness on the website (www.pcfdp.com) that he maintains with his buddies, who also happen to be geeks. “We’ve got some pretty geeky…
Neil Diamond’s 1966 debut single was “Solitary Man.” Since then, though, he’s been anything but. While there’s no denying the chart giant’s ability to appease the hoi polloi, he’s relied on everyone from Robbie Robertson to Burt Bacharach to revive him whenever his career started to flatline. For 12 Songs,…
A couple of Christmases ago, in a now-infamous installment of the Beatdown (December 18, 2003), I wrote some pretty harsh shit about Blister 66 frontman Chris Dellinger. I accused him of aping every trend for the past decade, said that Vanilla Ice and Jonathan Davis had called asking for their…
In an unfortunate confluence of the Hebrew and Christian calendars, Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 25, which means that we Jews will have to deal with the ol’ “Hanukkah? Isn’t that the Jewish Christmas?” thing from those unenlightened goyim a lot more than usual this year. Still, when it…
Fox News’s Bill O’Reilly has been yammering for months about a “war on Christmas” being waged by politically correct zealots who want to strip all mention of the holiday from the marketplace. Yet there’s zero evidence that the music industry is participating in this alleged campaign. Only two of the…
Despite Grammy nominations and Prairie Home Companion appearances, Greg Brown has mostly flown under the radar, like Townes Van Zandt before him. The folksinger’s fan base, however, is stacked with high-profile admirers like Shawn Colvin, Jack Johnson and Joan Baez. The devotion speaks to Brown’s knack for creating perfect arrangements…
Over the past several months, the Radiators have received more national and international exposure than at any point since their late-’70s launch — but the attention has come at a heavy price. The bayou-rock band calls New Orleans home, and after that city was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, reporters sought…
Unlike the Radiators, Halifax didn’t need a natural disaster to capture MTV’s attention. The Southern California quintet had issued just one disc, the 2004 EP A Writer’s Reference, when the network offered the group a plum role on The Real World: Austin. As one of their “jobs,” cast members such…
There are two types of DJs: battle DJs and club DJs. Usually, the nimble-fingered scratch junkies who spend months perfecting precise battle routines are either uninterested in working clubs or don’t have the ear for matching up tracks. Miami’s DJ Craze, a three-time winner at the DMC world DJ championships,…
