From Blonde to Black: When DJs Attack

On Monday night, while I was enjoying the turntable stylings of DJ Hot to Death (aka the Monolith Music Festival’s Matt Fecher) and those of his co-horts for the evening, Heather Powell Browne (writer of the “I Am Fuel, You Are Friends” music blog), and Nathan and Patrick Meese at…

Meese finishes new album and lands mugs in Spin

All right, so what are the chances of this: Last week, we reported seeing the Fray on the inside cover of Rolling Stone. Last night, I cracked open the new issue of Spin, and right there on page 86 is the smiling faces of Meese staring back at me. As…

Has hip-hop dance crew BreakEFX met their match?

Last year, BreakEFX was officially crowned Colorado’s Best Dance crew. And with anyone who rises to the top, there will be challengers who will want their spot. Over the weekend at the Hip-Hop Congress’ Beat Down Session event at Sigi’s Cafe in the Tivoli Student Union on the Auraria Campus,…

Leftover Salmon’s Bill McKay arrested

Not quite sure how we managed to miss this one, but Bill McKay, who sings and plays keys in Leftover Salmon, was arrested at his home on Tuesday morning by Eagle County Sheriff. The musician, who also leads the Bill McKay Band and Double Parked, is accused of drugging and…

A first look at the Fray’s new documentary

Just attended a private screening at Starz FilmCenter of Fair Fight, a brand-new documentary focusing on the Fray that chronicles the making of the act’s forthcoming album. The film was directed by Rod Blackhurst, a onetime merch guy who’s been trailing the band for the better part of three years, essentially…

Is The Food Chain getting ready to break out?

About a month ago we introduced recently formed hip-hop group The Food Chain on this here blog along with a track for the trunks. Now the group has smoothed it out a bit with it’s recently leaked track, “Auto Pilot.” The cut sounds like it could get some decent radio…

Cacheflowe teams with Brer Rabbit for dubby goodness

Denver’s own glitch-hop/dub-step/experimental electronic music wunderkind Cacheflowe has just dropped a killer platter of tracks called Cache, Stacks & Queues. It features a jungle-influenced neo-dub sound and some excellent guest appearances, most notably by Brer Rabbit of the Flobots on the cleverly named “Flowebot,” and a Machine Drum remix of…

Leo Kottke, Shawn Colvin highlight RootsFest

Swallow Hill just released the lineup for its third annual RootsFest, coming Saturday, March 28, to the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. The highlights of the show are the legendary Leo Kottke and Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Shawn Colvin. Also appearing are the Boulder Acoustic Society, Hot Rize, Tallest Man on Earth, Joe…

Q&A with William Elliott Whitmore

“William Elliott Whitmore Stretches the Definition of Hardcore,” a profile in the January 22 edition of Westword, only scratches the surface of an enjoyable and revealing Q&A with this deep-voiced roots-and-folk purveyor, who shares more in common with punk rockers than just his record label. (He’s signed to Anti-, an…

Adele Faces the Music…and So Much More

British singer-songwriter Adele Adkins, who’s in town for a sold-out show at the Bluebird Theater tonight, is having a moment. She’s been nominated for four Grammy awards, including Song of the Year and Best New Artist, in conjunction with 19, an album named for her age upon the time of…

James Han’s Solo Sortie

If you get out to see live music in Denver, chances are that you’ve seen James Han perform. The soft-spoken, unassuming keyboardist regularly provides the tinkling shimmer of piano and the haunting murmur of organ for Bela Karoli, the Wheel and Recess, and occasionally appears with other acts as well. His tasteful,…

There’s a roomful of sophisticated blues at Blues on Blake

Jimi Hendrix once said that the blues are easy to play but hard to feel. And how right he was. Technically, the blues can be broken down into a simple formula: twelve measures, three chords and a five-note pentatonic scale for soloing. Guitar players basically just need to know a…

Los Dos and the New American Ramblers at the Meadowlark

Some musicians wear earnestness like a badge, and it becomes as much a pose as anything KISS has ever done. But Los Dos and the New American Ramblers are the geniune article, with no need for airs, and that quality has meant that the act has flown largely under the…

George Acosta at Glo 4

As a general rule, the top trance DJs are all European. One of the few exceptions that proves the rule is Florida-based trance hero George Acosta. He may not have quite the same cultural cachet as Tiësto, Ferry Corsten or Sasha, but he is certainly capable of spinning the same…

William Elliott Whitmore stretches the definition of hardcore

Although William Elliott Whitmore typically performs solo, with just a guitar or a banjo to keep him company, he didn’t get his start playing alongside fellow acousticians. Instead, he opened shows for “the loudest, fucking craziest hardcore bands you’ve ever heard,” he says — and he not only survived, but…

Wetlands

My copy of Babies Teeth features one of the most irritating packages ever: The light cardboard sleeve is fastened by multiple pieces of thread wrapped around a button that are a tangle waiting to happen. Thank goodness the music helped compensate for the aggravation. “The Bluefooted” kicks off with retro…

The Construct

Although roughly half of this album was recorded at the legendary Inner Ear Studio in Arlington, Virginia, and the other half at Denver’s Helmet Room, there’s an impressive consistency throughout. In an era when many artists try to fit into a narrow niche, the Construct splices together elements of ambient…

Matt Skellenger

Bassist Matt Skellenger pulls double duty on Parentheticals, simultaneously laying down the pulse and the lead, taking cues from Victor Wooten and Michael Manring (both masters of two-hand tapping) on a bulk of the songs, which are steeped in funk, jazz and world. Trumpeter Ron Miles lends his gorgeous tone…

Spaceflight Orchestra

Spaceflight Orchestra’s debut album is ten tracks of dubby downtempo and funky breaks perfect for your next blunted journey into inner space. It’s reminiscent at times of the Orb and Royskopp, with a clean, uncluttered aesthetic and impeccable production. The disc starts off a little slow but hits its stride…

Millionaires

Few acts have used their MySpace page more effectively than Millionaires, appearing with Cash Cash, Kill Paradise and Watchout! Theres Ghosts. Hot sisters Melissa and Allison Green, supplemented by their equally photogenic pal Dani Artaud, used Apple’s GarageBand program to assemble a novelty song called “I Want Money,” and quicker…

Nickel Eye

Three of the five members of the Strokes have capitalized on the band’s success with side projects. Guitarist Albert Hammond Jr. released a pair of solo albums, and drummer Fabrizio Moretti’s band Little Joy released a stellar self-titled album last year. Most recently, bassist Nikolai Fraiture formed the band Nickel…