Interviewing Alphabets (Colin Ward) is similar to listening to his music: you’re put through the ringer of an obnoxious charm, simultaneously witty and grating, aggressive and inviting. Combining both the underground music scene with demanding academic ambitions, the hyper and endlessly talented Colin Ward keeps himself busy with a creative…
In this week’s feature on Dale Bruning, the Longmont-based jazz guitarist talks about his five years of teaching Bill Frisell, who has since gone on to be one of the world’s finest guitarists, both in the jazz realm and beyond. We caught up with Frisell, who is performing with Bruning…
At least the cheerleader theme in “Give Me All Your Luvin'” was new visual territory for Madonna, if not a bit influenced by her contemporaries. The same can’t be said for the video to “Girl Gone Wild,” Madonna’s second single from M.D.N.A., her twelfth album. Watching the clip is like…
It wouldn’t be a stretch to call DVS1 (aka Zak Khutoretsky) the biggest new thing in techno, except for the fact that he’s been deejaying for nearly two decades and promoting underground events in his native Minneapolis for just as long. He made his Denver debut in February of last…
The Hive Dwellers (due Saturday, March 24, at Yellow Feather Coffee) is the latest musical project of Calvin Johnson. Since 1982, Johnson’s K Records imprint has been one of the most influential underground labels not just for its ethos of an eternally youthful perspective and using creativity as the route…
We’ve got a slew of new hip-hop to share with you this week: BLKHRTS collaborate with Rockie and Innerstate Ike on FOE’s joint, “My Team Winning”; Six O’Clock and friends, meanwhile, represent the underground with their Mobb Deep/Alchemist-esque joint as Subculture Icons; Fort Collins MC Moss gets his drunk textin’…
Marc Broussard is happy to veer from the beaten path. The Louisiana-based singer, songwriter and bandleader just wrapped up a tour following the release of last year’s self-titled album, but he’s itching to make a detour before heading to L.A. and starting a new recording. With that in mind, Broussard…
The 1980s did not start well for Ozzy Osbourne. After being kicked out of Black Sabbath, the Prince of Darkness holed up in an L.A. hotel room, planning to remain as drunk as possible until his money ran out, and then probably move back to England to work as a…
Adele finally fell from the top this week, thanks to none other than the Boss. That’s right — Bruce Springsteen’s new release, Wrecking Ball, his seventeenth studio album, managed to end Adele’s reign at the top of the Billboard 200, shifting 224,000 units to Adele’s 195,000. Sales for Adele’s 21…
As the director of Titwrench, Sarah Slater is a staple of the Denver music scene. No, not a staple — more like a three-ring binder that holds together a massive catalogue of civic talent, a human Rolodex of artists past and present. Beyond Titwrench, Slater keeps herself busy year ’round…
You don’t want to screw with Taylor Swift. Virtually every confirmed — or rumored — romance she has ends up in lyrics to one of her songs. John Mayer? Check. Joe Jonas? Hell, yeah. Yet as much as it may hurt the doe-eyed Swift and her good intentions, having her…
“The first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought one formed a band.” This quote has been attributed to both Brian Eno and Peter Buck (of REM) — no one is completely certain who said it first, but that’s not the point. The fact remains that…
Tomorrow night at the Gothic Theatre, 20:12 — or 2MX2, as the group is now known — is set to release its new album, Case Study 20:12, and premier its new video for track “The Beast is Out,” directed by Emergency Room. We recently caught up with Role Pley and…
For over a decade, Umphrey’s McGee has been melting faces with insane covers, complex compositions and wild fan-interactive show. Ideas like the Stew-Art Series, the recently added “sUMmer School,” in which band members teach classes on songwriting, instrument improvisation and lighting techniques, and the UMBowl, are just a few of…
In the history of rock there has never been a greater example of media manipulation than the Sex Pistols. From the Stones refusing to wear ties to Bowie claiming he was gay to Ozzy biting the head off a dove, press-savvy rockers have been tricking the media into endless headline…
It’s difficult to imagine, but U2 used to be cool. Not just cool, but one of the most innovative, inspiring and mysterious bands of its generation. The group challenged the sounds, look and emotional resonance of rock music, forever redirecting the cultural stream for good or ill. Today, while many…
Watch out, Prince. Adele is about to set fire to your “Purple Rain.” One more week, and Adele’s 21 will boast the same chart record Purple Rain did in 1984 and 1985: reigning at the top of the Billboard 200 for 24 whole weeks…
This week’s rap roundup is full of drugs, nostalgia, soul samples and rapping producers. King Foe’s latest video from Junkie, “Foe” handles the drug end of things, while Wheelchair Sports Camp takes you back to when you things were simple, Spoke In Wordz takes aim at hip-hop’s authenticity with his…
Remember last year when the hacker group Lulz Security nabbed credit card data and other personal information from Sony PlayStation Network? Around the same time, two British hackers lifted unreleased songs by Michael Jackson from the Sony Music Entertainment computer system. The two hackers are so far found to be…
When he released The Ugly Truth last year, Mane Rok (aka Sam Baron) vowed to create an EP with each of the producers he worked with on the album. Staying true to his word, he released the hip-hop purist joint En Stereo with Es-Nine, whose production was stellar, and Santanamation…
Nicki Minaj’s “Starships” and “Stupid Hoe” couldn’t sound more different. We know this. The lyrical themes are light years apart, as is the production. For those like us who were wondering how Minaj could reconcile such a wide sonic divide on her new album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, the answer…
Gabrielle McClinton had to dismiss a good deal of formal training in preparing for her role in the touring production of Green Day’s American Idiot. McClinton, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, plays the character of Whatsername in the Broadway musical, which is set to open tonight at…
