Music

While touring Nigeria and Ghana four years ago, Arthur Lee Land, a Boulder transplant, came up with the idea for Afrograss: a synthesis of West African percussion and bluegrass in a folk-rock format. Less indebted to King Sunny Ade than David Grisman (guest fiddle and mandolin ace Joe Craven is…

Originally alternating between the somewhat prosaic handle Five Guys Named Moe and the more esoteric Haggis, in 1991 this quartet eventually settled on the monosyllabic moniker moe. (That’s right, race fans, lowercase and with a period.) The Buffalo-based act boasts an assortment of cap feathers, including a stint on the…

The idea of a two-person, retro-roots combo is about as played out as Stooges T-shirts at American Outfitters. There are only a couple of ways to convincingly pull off such a project in the age of the White Stripes and the Black Keys: Do it over the top and larger…

It’s generally assumed that rock music without guitars doesn’t exactly rock. The Apes (above) know otherwise. The Washington, D.C., band eschews Rickenbackers and Stratocasters, filling out its sound with Paul Weil’s singing, Jeff Schmid’s drums, Amanda Kleinman’s heavily amplified keyboards and Erick Jackson’s bass, which is regularly cranked to jet-engine…

Some of the original British punk bands of the 1970s went on to stardom, critical acclaim, even the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: the Sex Pistols, the Buzzcocks, the Clash. Even less successful ones like the Damned and the Undertones are still cited as influences and revered. Then there…

Guitarist Aaron Dalbec is no punker-come-lately, having first made a big noise in the ’90s with a terrific collective dubbed Converge. He contributed to fierce, unforgettable discs such as 1998’s Petition the Empty Sky and When Forever Comes Crashing, both of which were reissued earlier this year by Equal Vision…

The ratio of bands that play emo to the ones that have any clue about the genre’s rich tradition is pathetically small. But the Forecast serves up more than a history lesson. With its debut album, Late Night Conversations, this coed quartet from Illinois resurrects the taut, melodic urgency of…

What’s in a name? A whole hell of a lot, if yours sucks. After starting life in 2003 with the awkward moniker Tobias Jupiter, The FlashBangs adopted their current tag a few months ago — and picked up a Best of Denver award for Best Band Name Change in the…

DJ John Acquaviva has been blazing a trail in the dance scene since its earliest days. From launching the Plus-8 imprint with partner Richie Hawtin in 1989 to his involvement in pioneering Final Scratch technology (and his subsequent stake in Beatport.com), Acquaviva has been all about pushing the scene forward…

From their perch on the stage of the Bluebird Theater, the members of Matson Jones look almost like shadows. Drummer Ross Harada, limbs splayed, pounds a beat as bare as a rattling skeleton. Next to him, Matt Regan coaxes groaning notes from the belly of his upright bass. Seated before…

After draining a fifteen-dollar bottle of cabernet sauvignon with Eddie Turner, it’s hard not to laugh when he jokingly refers to Park Hill as a “bluesman neighborhood.” Just blocks east of the Denver Museum of Nature & Science, the renowned electric guitarist shares an upscale home with his girlfriend, Terri,…

In a tiny, cramped bedroom studio in east Denver, producer/MC Solpowa scrolls through beats on his computer while his cohort, MC Fist of Fury, aka Shunfist, alternately scribbles on a notepad and quietly recites the lines of verse he’s just penned. The warm smell of colitas hangs in the air,…

It takes balls to put out a DVD of your band superimposed over historic footage of the Beatles at Shea Stadium. But testicular fortitude has never been in short supply when it comes to Denver’s Wanker. Brains, perhaps — but that’s another kettle of one-eyed fish. On Saturday, June 25,…

It takes a lot more than just being able to mix records and look cool doing it for a DJ to stand out these days. Even well-established jocks like Steve Lawler are aware that to stay ahead of the pack, you’ve got to do something to make your sets special…

Don’t get a Chevy,” warns Sonya Decman, bassist for the Symptoms. “Bad crash-test ratings.” Sprawled in the living room of guitarist Josh Bergstrand’s Highland home, Decman is giving advice to Bergstrand’s roommate, Eli Mishkin, who is shopping for a tour van for his own band, Hot IQs. But like some…

I’m disappointingly normal,” Craig Finn insists. “I watch a lot of baseball. I’m a huge Twins fan. I listen to music, hang out with my wife, drink beer, whatever. It’s very average-American.” The Hold Steady frontman may indeed be normal, but his band is anything but. In fact, the New…

As Brave Combo founder Carl Finch talks about polka from an office phone in Denton, Texas, his passion for the multicultural art form knows no bounds. But get him going about the mainstream perception of his chosen trade (he plays accordion, guitar and keyboards and handles most of the singing…

“People pay me well to work them out, and then they avoid me,” Christophe Cranberri says with a laugh. “You can tell me your goal is to lose fifty pounds — you’ll lose seventy just trying to get away from me.” It’s 2 p.m. on a sweltering Wednesday afternoon, a…

Perhaps the only thing more self-indulgent than issuing a double album is planning a surprise party for yourself and then feigning astonishment when your guests emerge. Many such releases have been ostentatious excursions of masturbatory significance, while others (Bitches Brew, London Calling, Sign of the Times, Life After Death) have…

BEP’s commercial breakthrough, 2003’s Elephunk, may have been a sellout, but the relentless catchiness and gleeful stoopidity of its hip-pop moves generated guilty pleasure. This time around, however, the guilt’s often by association, and the pleasure’s in shorter supply. Several of the cameo-laden tunes here are moderately effective, including “Like…