Since the early ’90s, Insane Clown Posse has built itself into what is arguably the most successful independent band of all time. The cult of fandom surrounding ICP is unprecedented and notorious (the FBI considers Juggalos to be a gang). Outside its home state of Michigan, the polarizing act has…
Soilwork formed in Helsinborg, Sweden, in 1995 and developed out of the Gothenburg melodic death metal mold, incorporating aspects of NWOBHM and other styles of music to forge an angular yet flowing sound of its own. Though clearly rooted in prog, there is enough of punk frayed edges in the…
SIGUR ROS @ 1STBANK CENTER | 4/6/13 Sigur Rós could have ended the night on any of the expected high points from its various albums, but it opted to go out with “Popplagið,” the finale of its 2002 album ( ). That song could almost be a show in itself…
SPIRITUALIZED @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 4/4/13 With little more than the lights dimming to indicate the band was about to take stage, Spiritualized walked on stage and went right into “Here It Comes (The Road, Let’s Go),” which began an evening of music with no breaks or banter to break…
NICK CAVE & THE BAD SEEDS @ OGDEN THEATRE | 4/3/13 The most mythical moment of Nick Cave’s set last night at the Ogden Theatre came at the end when the band performed “Stagger Lee,” a re-casting of the Mississippi John Hurt classic “The Ballad of Stagger Lee.” With lurid…
On Hope, the Twilight Garden’s Todd Loomis makes no bones about the stylistic and sonic debt he owes to the Cure and other acts. Opening track “Falling Rain” has a Disintegration-like lush grandeur; “Falling in Circles” bears a jubilant yet emotionally raw quality akin to the Sound’s Shock of Daylight…
Jason Pierce formed Spiritualized after the split of his previous band, the influential and fuzzily psychedelic Spacemen 3. In the move, Pierce shed most of the jagged, cutting guitar tones of his old group and went much further into dreamy atmospherics. Spiritualized’s full-length debut, 1992’s Lazer Guided Melodies, served as…
The Sugarcubes and Björk garnered tremendous exposure for Iceland as a source of significant and innovative pop music, but it was Sigur Rós that gave the island nation’s music a bit of mystery. It is too simplistic to call this music post-rock, because it’s also ambient, symphonic and accessibly avant-garde…
Shady Elders started as a two-piece fronted by Britt Rodemich in 2011. Rodemich found a kindred spirit in guitarist Miles Eichner; the former Tulip Wars guitarist shared her love of dreamy, pop-oriented post-punk, as well as blues and jazz singers. When the Don’ts and Be Carefuls started winding down, Casey…
Based on its name alone, you might expect Dead Orchids (due at the hi-dive this Thursday, April 4) to be some heavy, dark, eyeliner-sporting band. Instead, the outfit plays a blend of blues rock, hard rock and smoky psychedelia. The music is familiar from years past, but the act has…
KVELERTAK @ LARIMER LOUNGE | TUES, 4/30/13 Kvelertak formed in 2007. Completely disregarding a line between metal and punk, the Stavanger, Norway-based act brings the sonic intensity and violent and frayed dynamics of bands like Breather Resist. The band’s song “Mjød” appeared in the end credits for the 2010 film…
Before Yoko Ono even met John Lennon, she was an active and influential figure in international avant-garde art and music. In the 1950s, she went to school at Sarah Lawrence College, during which time she rubbed shoulders with the likes of La Monte Young. Her mentor was the godfather of…
Exodus was founded in 1980 by a group of high school friends that included a pre-Metallica Kirk Hammett and Tom Hunting, the sole remaining original member of the act. The classic line-up also featured Paul Baloff on vocals and Gary Holt, who moved over to guitar when Kirk joined Metallica,…
There’s a bit of dusky psych-Americana flavor to this Number Station release, on songs like “Cinnamon and Cherries” and the title track. But the album’s overall bluesy vibe is also given a bit of a jazzy atmosphere with some well-placed Rhodes piano. “Naughty” finds singer Kate Whysner breathily intoning in…
Billy Bragg formed the rock band Riff Raff in 1977, during the height of punk rock in England. Four years later, when making music didn’t turn out quite like he thought it would, Bragg did a brief stint in the military. Fortunately, he later returned to songwriting, but instead of…
Cephalic Carnage was started in 1992 by singer Lenzig Leal and guitarist Zac Joe. Since then, the self-styled “hydro-grind” outfit has carved a niche for itself as a brutal, complex act that seamlessly welds together elements of death metal, grindcore and jazz with fierce musicianship. But as imposing as it…
I remember the first time seeing Boldtype,” recalls drummer Manny Lopez. “That was when I was in Gina Go Faster. I was dating a girl at the time who remarked, ‘Wow, all their songs — everybody knows the words, and everybody seems to be singing along.’ I said, ‘You’re right.’…
KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid) started as a performance-art one-off in 1984 that evolved into an ongoing endeavor. Founding member Sascha Konietzko was joined by drummer and vocalist En Esch, who formed the core of the band until its temporary split in 1999. With various collaborators, KMFDM developed…
Jonathan Rado and Sam France met as teenagers and formed Foxygen in 2005. After releasing a handful of EPs on its own, the band, which plays a cross breed of collage sound art and psychedelic pop that recalls “White Album”-era Beatles and Obscured by Clouds-era Pink Floyd, signed with Jagjaguwar,…
The Soft Moon started out in 2009 as the solo project of Luis Vasquez. The band developed over the next few years from a stark, Suicide-eque, minimalist post-punk band into something with a dark urgency and expansive song dynamics that recalled Chrome and Cabaret Voltaire. The Soft Moon’s 2011 EP,…
Il Cattivo formed when veterans of the punk and metal scenes in Denver came together to form a band that wasn’t trying to fit distinctly in an already established rock subgenre. The five piece band sounded like it had been influenced by post-punk crossover bands like the Cult but also…
“Repressed Memories,” the lead track on this latest release from former Gang Charger drummer Dan Barnett, sounds like something at the nexus of industrial and IDM. Spectral synths haunt the album’s stridently mechanical beats and textures. “Gate” is more overtly musical, but its dense composition suggests Giorgio Moroder trying his…
