DJ Cavem Moetavation (aka Ietef Vita) is out to green the ‘hood, one hip-hop element at a time. Activist, b-boy, DJ, MC, graffiti artist, beat-boxer, film maker and journalist, Cavem plays many roles, all geared toward empowering the ‘hood with tools that facilitate evolution of the mind. And musically, Cavem…
Whether or not these Park Hill natives rode the short bus to school is irrelevant, because there is no doubt that these crazy bastards are the ones your mom told you not to play with. This eclectic group of MCs, producers and DJs use Shortbus as their outlet for their…
H*Wood: Heard of him? If not, in the words of my man Clinton Sparks, better get familiar. H*Wood — or Brandon Bordeaux, as he’s known to his family — may be among the first Colorado-bred hip-pop dudes in the new decade to make a splash nationally. Born in Aurora and…
Boonie Mayfield (aka Solomon Vaughn) is one of the hottest emerging hip-hop producers in the game. And that’s not just us talking. While it’s true: He is one of our favorite beat makers; it’s not just us who are smitten Boonie’s beats. For the past two years, Boon Doc has…
Xperiment (aka Courtland Urbano) is an out of this world supersonic architect of sound. His beats are a perfect synthesis between a test to discover or prove the unknown and the balance of validating tried and true methods, threading analog sounds through digital components. Xperiment’s beats are accessible to the…
In this week’s Rough Mixes entry, we got a much needed introduction to Ariel Rosenberg, the creative force behind Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti. He has a reputation for being a bit of a pistol, but now that we’ve felt him out, we feel comfortable digging a little deeper. In this…
Founded in 2009, the Dead Weather had a bit of a leg up for a new band. But then all its members came together from other well-known projects: Jack White, who decided to take up the drums once again for this band, is famous, of course, for his stints in…
Navigating the turgid, contentious waters of hip-hop in Colorado as a DJ isn’t easy. Discussions involving radio play and “breaking records” plague conversations daily. Whether real or perceived, there is a fear that the DJ’s role has all but disappeared into ringtone oblivion. The days of DJs on the block…
If you haven’t seen the 1959 film On The Beach, you might want to tune out now before we spoil anything. It’s a post-apocalyptic emotion-drain that chronicles the last days of humanity in a painstakingly slow manner — which is to say it’s a bit slow in the hips but…
When it comes to hip-hop, Denver has a rich and vibrant history that extends back to the ’80s. From seminal b-boy crews like D&S Connection, Radio Active and Dancers Unique to latter day torch bearers like LOF (Lordz of Finesse), Our Scenario, GWT (Get With This). Can’t forget the first…
Hailing from Montbello, Graffiti Black is a 23-year-old producer, writer and graphic designer known for creating sharp and distinct sounds that are both vibrant and accessible. He flips familiar elements and samples with flair and an experienced ear. Artists such as Innerstate Ike, Mr. Midas, and Mystic have found lyrical…
Kevin Boyer knows how to run a punk rock band. He has a clear vision for what he wants from Tyvek (playing tonight at the hi-dive), while steadfastly avoiding any rigidity that might try to latch on to that vision. In this week’s Rough Mix we discovered that there was…
You could say the Say So kind of sounds like the Killers in the aggressive drums and quick stabs of guitar, or you might say the band calls to mind At the Drive-In in the vocal acrobatics and the way it plays with tempo-changing breakdowns. You probably would not compare…
Update, 11/08/10: See cover art and get other details regarding Cape Dory, Tennis’s eagerly-anticipated forthcoming debut on Fat Possum Records. Remember a couple years ago when the Young Coyotes first hit the scene and the almost deafening insta-buzz that followed? Meet Tennis, this year’s Young Coyotes — not to mention…
Founded in 2003 in Paris by sisters Bianca “Coco” Casady and Sierra “Rosie” Casady, CocoRosie has been responsible for making music that combines otherwordly electronic pop with organic sounds, hip-hop and conceptual art. As a whole, it’s the musical equivalent of a magical-realism novel featuring mythological creatures and situations –…
Reprise might have given up on these guys, but judging from the massive crowd assembled for its mid-afternoon set, the local fans haven’t given up on, nor forgotten about, Single File. Leave it to a major label to drop the ball, eh? And as you’ll hear after the jump upon…
As promised, thanks to our good pal Lance Stack at The Flat Response, here’s the first of four exclusive Denver Boot downloads: Tickle Me Pink getting its rocks off at the 16th Annual Westword Music Showcase. Have at it. …
Our periodic feature, The Denver Boot, has been conspicuously dormant for the past, oh, six months or so. Perhaps you’ve noticed. Excellent reason for that: The master taper guy supplying the recordings, the illustrious Lance Stack from The Flat Response blog, has been a face on a milk carton for,…
If you’ve listened to KTCL even briefly in the past year, you’ve heard the handiwork of Lee Miles. You’ve either heard his band, Oh My Stars, who has one of the top played songs on the station, or you’ve heard his production on songs by Colorado-based acts like Tickle Me…
From the beginning, Ghostland Observatory has gone into its musical endeavors with a certain level of personal ambition to make it the kind of band they’ve always loved themselves. Mixing a variety of electronic music styles with rock, soul and funk, this Austin-based outfit is often compared to Daft Punk…
Superchunk never tried to be the biggest band in the land, but it did make music on its own terms and became an iconic outfit in its own right by embodying what it means to be an indie rock band. While the band didn’t enjoy nearly the same level of…
These days, there are dozens of well known electronic-based bands of all shapes and sizes. Back in 2003, though, the very mention of a band that took a DJ and fused it with live instrumentation would’ve conjured up thoughts of Linkin Park or worse, Limp Bizkit. When it formed, however,…
