Don’t let the warm, wooden tones of the marimba fool you: Every sound, shade and nuance heard on this disc originates from an electronic drum (Ed for short). And through the calculated miracle of digital touchpads and proper fingertip placement, Ed chirps and urps its way through an infinite combination…
Tech N9ne has a gun. File that little detail under “No shit.” After all, the Kansas City-based rapper (below) is named after an illegal semi-automatic weapon. Yet the guy with the red Medusa hair and penchant for color coordination says he hates being strapped, but as an upshot to his…
What with eight bandmembers clad in matching jumpsuits and rubber masks, and the bludgeoning cacophony those bandmembers have produced over the years, it’s easy to dismiss Mushroomhead as a bargain-basement knockoff of Slipknot. Shroomco, however, was founded in 1993; Slipknot didn’t come together until 1995. And Mushroomhead donned the getups…
“Are you ready? Are you ready?!?” howls Valentine, vocalist of Portland’s The Get Hustle, as spidery piano and slinky percussion shudder like a death knell all around her. The thing is, it’s too late: You’re already three songs and two changes of underwear into Dream Eagle 1, the trio’s 2002…
A recent Denver performance by Portland’s The Planet The brought heckles of “pretentious asshole” that were aimed at singer/guitarist Charles Salas-Humara as he pouted, pranced and robot danced his way through a brief set of utterly brain-fucking rock. The Planet The knows how to polarize a crowd; the trio doesn’t…
After seeing Sonic Youth perform in Kiev as a teenager, Eugene Hütz caught a glimpse of his own future: fronting a multi-national New York-based band of ragtag immigrants. Raised on gypsy street music, plus any black-market recording that he could find from the Birthday Party or Einstürzende Neubauten, the Ukrainian…
Back in 1980, when REO Speedwagon’s Kevin Cronin promised to “Keep On Loving You,” he meant forever. Which is why he and the rest of the band are still out there, making good on their vow to “Keep the Fire Burnin’.” Singer Cronin’s hair may be a little shorter and…
The main men of Uversa (due at the Mercury Cafe this Thursday, April 29) are no strangers to each other. Guitarist Tim Edwards and bassist Tom Sublett, plus Bruce Crisman and Kenny Ortiz — who share drum duties on Electric Jazz, the band’s provocative new disc — are veterans of…
I just want to share my sadness with the world,” sighs Shane Montgomery Ewegen, singer and guitarist of Denver’s Fifth Utility. There’s a problem with talking to the guys in the Fifth Utility: They’re dead fucking serious. Even more serious, in fact, than their music might lead you to believe…
Right now, the song stuck in my head is ‘Send in the Clowns’ — the Judy Collins version,” says Mark Kozelek from a hotel phone in New Orleans, where he’s scouting for real estate. “I heard that in an antique shop yesterday down on Magazine Street, and everything just kind…
I think there is so much that can be done with samples, but fewer people are making an effort to raise the bar,” says DJ Shadow via phone from somewhere in the Midwest. “So it just makes the evolution of the sound slower.” Even though the art of sampling seems…
Any seven-year-old will tell you: Lying is easy. Screw all that “What a tangled web we weave” crap. All you have to do is keep up that poker face, look people dead in the eye and — most important — believe your own bullshit. Of course, the biggest rule of…
Cops and white men beware: Dead Prez has secured another record deal and is ready to unleash its onslaught once again. Four years ago, the act’s debut, Let’s Get Free, criticized the government, the school system, the police force and other artists for using music to talk about nonsense. MCs…
Among the most popular heirs to the throne of scruff music, Widespread Panic has the uncanny power to pack venues (to the point of bursting) full of faithful, doped-up and ecstatic road warriors. With a little darker vibe than its musical forebears, the Grateful Dead, the band is led vocally…
Far too many musicians are scared to death of “What the hell?” moments — those times when a song’s sudden shift into unexpected territory leaves listeners puzzled and slack-jawed, for good or ill. In contrast, Gary Cobain and Brian Dougans thrive on such reactions. Since the early ’90s, the electro-obsessed…
Don’t believe the hype. Chuck and Flava said that back in the day, and how right they were. Losing your virginity: overrated. Lord of the Rings: whatever. Hockey: Don’t even get me started. And this admonition is particularly useful when considering music. I mean, the Von Bondies? C’mon. Still, every…
Otis Taylor Double V (Telarc) From a songwriting perspective, Otis Taylor, who joins Taj Mahal at the Boulder Theater on Monday, April 26, has been astonishingly prolific; he’s cranked out a CD’s worth of original material each year since 2001. Double V features another slew of Taylor ready-mades, but with…
Dark Star Orchestra Thursday, April 22, Boulder Theater, 303-786-7030; Friday, April 23, and Saturday, April 24, Cervantes’ Masterpiece Ballroom, 303-297-1772. Crank up the Waybac machine, Sherman, ’cause Mr. Peabody needs to take another long, strange trip to catch the Dead, back when they were still Grateful. Maybe we should trip…
Some people prefer their beer in a can, while others wouldn’t touch the stuff and keep a plastic-ringed six-pack on hand just for visitors they don’t much like. But both of these groups keep showing up for .38 Special concerts, which could be why the Southern-fried band that’s been the…
Tons of bands shine on CD but lack luster (not to mention lust) when thrown on a stage. With Curious Yellow, it’s the opposite: The group’s 2003 debut EP, 1-2-3 Go Go Go, in no way preps you for the piercing incandescence of its live show. The disc’s five songs…
For Tunde Adebimpe, frontman for the intriguingly contradictory act TV on the Radio, the last couple of years have been like an extended version of Opposites Day. He trained to be a visual artist, but now he works mainly with audio. He thought of music as a hobby, but it’s…
If you want to make a change, then you should vote,” says Rock the Vote spokesman Paul van Dyk from his home in Berlin. “If you want to prevent that other people make a change, then you should vote as well. I’m not telling anyone what to vote. I’m telling…
