Before he got involved in the U.K.’s acid-house scene during the late ’80s and early ’90s, George Evelyn was a hard-core hip-hop fan. He joined a breakdancing group in 1988 with Kevin Harper, and the two formed Nightmares on Wax. Mixing beat-making with turntablism and live music with electronic production,…

Jason Corder and Carl Ritger will perform as Offthesky & Radere this Saturday at the Sidewinder Tavern. Each has been a prolific composer of entrancing sounds for more than a decade. Chances are you haven’t heard their work in a club, but they’ve performed at the Communikey Festival in Boulder…

The latest installment in the nascent Red Bull Sound Select Series probably could have happened at a venue three times the size of 3 Kings. And The Joy Formidable kicked up a glorious racket that was big enough for a stadium rock event. Before getting on stage, the trio seems…

When Lorde became widely known following the release of her hit single “Royals,” the term “goth” was quickly attached to her music, and even more to her visual style. Vanity Fair referred her as the Queen of Darkness. Well, the goths didn’t get that memo, and Lorde’s sold-out show over…

With its streams of tone possessed of a slippery physicality, “0001 capillary,” the first song on Formant’s Amino, is reminiscent of the recent work of German electronic artist Pole. There’s a spacious and luminous quality to it, like that of a secret subterranean dance club lit only by dim floor…

A loose aesthetic unifies the crackling, fuzzy melodies of the songs on American Haiku’s debut EP, called, simply, e.p. Imagine a band like noise-pop phenom Versus writing lo-fi power pop. Or one of those Louisville, Kentucky, bands from the early ’90s, like Squirrelbait — except with the influence of emo…

At this show at Seventh Circle Music Collective, Tim Holland (a.k.a. Sole) commanded a crowd that stretched well beyond his (storied) hip-hop roots. In addition to those fans, there were supporters of the punk bands that played on either side of his own set, there were people involved in the…

“Brightness,” from Cody Yantis’s new album, Resonant Memory, begins with pastoral guitar work and samples of birds and other ambient sounds, giving the track the feeling of a Daniel Lanois song. But by the time “Brightness III” comes through your stereo, the tone has darkened. On “Brightness IV,” the music…

“All Mom Blues Band,” the second track on I Sank Molly Brown’s The Age of Pretzlcoatl, starts out with a Slint-like bass line but quickly escalates into more dissonant sonic territory as the song progresses. The band also continues to deliver its signature tempo shifts on the just-released album. Caleb…

I look at it like I’m leaving a trail of crumbs,” says artist, label founder and Denver transplant Tim Holland about the dense, politically informed content of his lyrics. “I’m referencing books, authors, ideas, concepts and historical moments the same way that Boogie Down Productions, X Clan and Public Enemy…

Rarely have a project and album name fit their music as perfectly as Weed Problem and its self-titled release. “Noddy Drug Kits” flows with a buzzy drone that is never fully resolved but just continues to build while hazy, echoing chants undulate amid syncopated crashing guitar and drums. The sprawling…

Though Angel Olsen’s music is often dubbed folk or indie rock, it is too diverse to fit neatly into such broad categories. Whatever it’s filed under, her music, especially her latest album, Burn Your Fire for No Witness, is informed by a delicacy of feeling that allows her to channel…

Sat | Propagandhi at Summit Music Hall | 3/8/14 In an era where many punk bands form and release their first album less than a year after starting, Propagandhi’s development seems remarkably long. Formed in 1986, playing its first live shows in 1989, the band released its early demos a…

Hall & Oates @ 1STBANK Center | 3/3/14 With no opening act, Daryl Hall and John Oates took the stage with their six backing musicians. Parts of this band have been together for a long time, including sax player Charles DeChant and veteran studio and touring guitarist Paul Pesco. It…

Pentagram @ Summit Music Hall |2/28/14 Pentagram took the stage with a spooky soundscape coming through the PA, Bobby Liebling looking like a puppet woken up from a nap and blinking. He was all but twitching to life, pulled along by invisible strings. But when Liebling took the mic, an…