As far as the guardians of cool might be concerned, Robert Mirabal has a couple of things working against him: First, his most recognizable accomplishment is his inclusion in John Tesh’s One World video for the Public Broadcasting System, a colorful and accidentally amusing piece of footage that finds him…
The Internet is a capitalist’s dream come true: Slap up a virtual storefront, talk someone into giving you a product to sell, then sit back, relax and watch the dollars roll in. Everyone’s getting involved — “dot-com” is almost as ubiquitous as “the” these days — but only a handful…
Ever since the Grammy Awards made Beck safe for mainstream consumption, longtime fans from the Bongload Record days have most likely watched his every slack-happy move with a mixture of awe and guarded contempt. Give a guy more greenbacks and gadgetry than Santa Claus in a bull market, and it…
In recent years, it has become clear that reggae stars rank just behind teenagers and sheep as the creatures most likely to follow the group mentality. Consider two recent trends: an explosion of Bob Marley tribute material and a shift in dancehall music to socially conscious themes. Buju Banton spurred…
The punchy, introspective melodies of Sunny Day Real Estate are often clean and pretty enough that you shouldn’t mind playing them for your mother. Yet the band has always maintained enough dark Seattle rain in its sound to wash away the sugar-coating of pure pop. Sunny Day has also cemented…
In all likelihood, nothing’s going to happen when the clock strikes midnight on December 31. Still, the government has advised us all to take a few precautions — stock up on some extra water or freeze-dried lentils, just in case. Which leads some of the more paranoid among us to…
The light will break through the Fox Theatre on Thursday, December 16, when the Jazz Quartet plays its inventive and inspired string jazz. Dubbed “dawg” music by the late Jerry Garcia, the Jazz Quartet explores a potpourri of stylistic influences including swing, jazz, bluegrass, Latin and traditional folk; the current…
Hoitoitoi, with Mono and Asphyxia, Friday, December 17, at Seven South, is the latest project from former Denver Gentleman/16 Horsepower alum Jeffrey-Paul, who has seasonally rechristened himself Holiday. With cellist Rebecca Verist, who sometimes contributes her skills on the large stringed instrument to Munly’s performances, Holiday has endeavored to create…
Perhaps it’s the strong economy or a severe case of pre-millennial anxiety. But whatever the reason, the approaching end of 1999 brings with it a veritable blizzard of seasonal albums — as many or more than any year this decade. Of course, quantity doesn’t always equate to quality, so consider…
Dateline, 1982: At the annual talent show at an elementary school, the majority of performers enjoy spinning on their heads atop pieces of cardboard. The breakdancing craze has stretched from coast to coast like one gigantic cultural rubber band, even encompassing the streets of cities like Denver. Kids are spinning…
Trumpeter Hugh Ragin could tell stories for days — if he didn’t have so many people to see and places to be. But press him a little, lend him an ear and Ragin — both an educator and accomplished performer — just might make some time to relay a tale…
In hip-hop, producers rule, but that doesn’t mean they generally receive top billing: Studio chefs such as Timbaland and Dallas Austin tend to use acts like TLC as fronts to deliver their sonic souffles while they hide in the kitchen. But Handsome Boy Modeling School, the creation of rap brainiac…
For the last decade, Kathleen Hanna has been determined to change her world by using her fists. Her latest effort, Le Tigre, indicates that she’s found feathers. The former Bikini Kill lead singer/lyricist who was charged — rightly or wrongly — with instigating much of the Riot Grrrl movement has…
On “Fear Not of Man,” the intro cut to his first solo full-length, rapper Mos Def reflects on the state of hip-hop as we enter the 21st century: “People be asking me all the time, ‘Yo, Mos, what’s getting ready to happen with hip-hop?’ Whatever’s happening with us, if we…
If evidence of eighteenth-century jazz is unearthed in, say, the 21st century, Wynton Marsalis is likely the man who will play it and talk it up. The 38-year-old New Orleanian has heaped his credentials as an archivist and popular lecturer so high upon his status as a historian and neo-classical…
A perhaps little-known fact about Slim Cessna: Despite the aeronautical implications of his surname, the Auto Club leader is, in his words, “horrified of flying.” He’s gonna have to get over that right quick. Cessna has announced that, come January, he’s moving to the East Coast — specifically, to Rhode…
Gregory Isaacs, Sunday, December 12, at the Fox Theatre, has two traits that are common to many exceptional musicians, one of them unfortunate: He’s got a voice of pure-spun gold and a substance-abuse problem to match. Call it Murphy’s Law of Great Musicians. Isaacs is perhaps the best-known practitioner of…
Chupacabra, Sunday, December 12, at the Foundry, is a ten-person band that shares little with the mythical goat-blood-sucking beast of Mexican folklore. Instead, the band aims to represent as many countries as it has members, if not more, with its danceable blend of jazz, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and other world and…
When you consider his career and accomplishments, it makes no sense that Sleepy LaBeef is tilling the back forty of America’s musical consciousness. After all, his resumé includes prolific stints on labels that virtually birthed rock and roll, such as Starday and Sun. His Fifties peers and labelmates include George…
Half of my enjoyment of music stems from listening without knowing whether or not I’m going to hate something, while many people are like radio programmers who just want the hits and rarely stray from a chosen format. And unlike most folks, I still own records. Lots of stupid ones…
So this is how the pop music of the Nineties ends — not with the angst and intellect of the grunge sound that most reviewers say defined the decade, but with a gloriously vapid hunkaroo who’s a lock for the gold medal if ass-waving is ever made an Olympic sport…
“I have a sense for Japanese filmmaking,” divulges Chris Taylor, organist/multi-instrumentalist for Denver innovators of cinematic rock the Hellmen. “Old karate films, even Godzilla. We have a Godzilla war occasionally. I could do it, but you couldn’t print it.” Taylor’s mention of Godzilla, the giant green reptilian menace of B-film…
