Q&A with Stephen Malkmus

Stephen Malkmus, left, with his band, the Jicks. Former Pavement frontman Stephen Malkmus is an eccentric fellow, which explains in large part the idiosyncracies of this Q&A, conducted for a Westword profile published in advance of his Thursday, November 6, appearance at the Gothic Theatre. But that’s not the only…

Vintage Pavement article hints at the breakup to come

The men of Pavement, back in the day. Our new Q&A with Stephen Malkmus, which accompanies a profile of the former Pavement frontman in advance of his Thursday, November 6, appearance at the Gothic Theatre, starts out with dialogue inspired by “It’s Getting Harder,” a profile of his old band…

Q&A with Marnie Stern

In an indie-rock world dominated by males in their twenties and often choked with irony and self-consciousness, Marnie Stern is most assuredly an outlier. A 32-year-old woman with serious guitar chops and songwriting skills that are quickly growing to match them, Stern is unabashedly earnest about playing what she calls…

Q&A with the Overcasters

It’s been a while since we’ve come across a flier that struck us as cool enough to post in Pole Position. That said, we think this one touting the Overcaster’s CD release party this Saturday night at the Falcon more than qualifies. And while we’re on the subject of the…

Q&A with k.d. lang

k.d. lang. Ms. k.d. lang isn’t just a woman with a fondness for lower-case letters. She’s also a gifted vocalist and songwriter whose career has taken some intriguing twists and turns over the years — and she guides readers through many of them in the following Q&A, conducted in advance…

Remembering Westword‘s endorsement of… George Clinton?

Not quite the next president of the United States. Barack Obama’s election last night stirred memories for me of the 1992 campaign. My son, Nick, was three-years old back then, and each time he saw a commercial touting one of the three major candidates, he delivered a stock response. At…

This Just In 11/6-11/12

Umphrey’s McGee returns to Colorado for a three-show run in January. Umphrey’s McGee has played here so many times over the last few years that you’d almost think the guys were from here rather than from Chicago. The band revisits our state right after its new studio album, Mantis ,…

So, tonight … Metallican or Metallican’t?

Alright, so it’s a day of reckoning, a day a great many of us have been anticipating for quite a while now — and no, I’m not talking about the election. I’m talking about fucking Metallica at the Pepsi Center, dudes. Tonight we’ll see if the cats still got it…

Rock the Vote: Beastie Boys and Tenacious D at the Fillmore

Photo: Chad Fahnestock Rock the Vote: The Beastie Boys and Tenacious D November 3, 2008 Fillmore Better than: Any other reason to miss Monday Night Football In case you haven’t heard, there’s an election today. Rock the Vote brought Tenacious D and the Beastie Boys to Denver to remind young…

More pressing questions for the Beasties and Tenacious D

The press conference preceding Monday’s Rock the Vote show with Tenacious D and the Beastie Boys was a strictly Q-and-A affair, which meant that the musicians hadn’t prepared anything to say, and the success of the event hinged on questions from the handful of journalists in attendance. Thankfully, my intelligent…

DeVotchKa’s “How It Ends” gets licensed… again

Photo: Bryce Boyer When he penned “How It Ends,” it’s a safe bet that Nick Urata’s artful inclinations far exceeded any commercial aspirations he might have had. All the same, the members of DeVotchKa, whose contributions to the Little Miss Sunshine soundtrack earned the act reams of acclaim, have gotten…

Andy Butler and Patrick Park discuss their time in Denver

Just stumbled across a pair of great interviews with two former Denverites who are pursuing music careers on opposite coasts. The first article features Andy Butler from Hercules and Love Affair, who got his start here as an underground dance DJ, while the other interview focuses on Patrick Park, who…

TV on the Radio at Ogden Theatre

Photo: Aaron Thackeray TV on the Radio Sunday, November 2 Ogden Theater Better Than: The band’s rushed, abbreviated set at Monolith (which wasn’t really the band’s fault). Detroit riff-rock veterans the Dirtbombs opened last night’s show at the Ogden. I was a bit disappointed to see that their two-drummer setup…

Peter Tong at Beta

Pete Tong October 31, 2008 Beta Better than: Sitting at home rewatching horror movies I’ve seen a dozen times. Ah, Halloween. It’s a night for the freaks to come out, for normally buttoned-up folk to indulge in wild fantasies, wear too little clothing and get way, way drunker than normal…

Rearview: The Week in Review (10/25/08-10/31/08)

Prepare yourself for Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Rock Band Here’s a user-friendly guide to all the great content you may have missed this week while you were busy practicing singing along to all your favorite Beatles’ tunes in anticipation of the just-announced Beatles version of the popular Rock Band…

El Chapultepec switches things up…and out

Received a rather alarming tip this afternoon that El Chapultepec‎, a bona fide Denver institution, was drastically scaling back its jazz programming. The thought of the ‘Pec without jazz is like, well, like Denver without the mountains. So we put in a call to Angela Krantz, whose father, Jerry, still…

Live Review: Experience Hendrix at the Paramount Theatre

Experience Hendrix Paramount Theatre Thursday, October 30, 2008 Jimi Hendrix once said, “Music is my religion,” and the Paramount Theater essentially became the Church of Hendrix for three hours while some extraordinary guitarists paid tribute to who many consider the ultimate guitar god…

Mile High Makeout: The Power of Focus

Photo: Liam Maloney On more than one occasion in this column, I’ve sung the praises of shows that include two, four, six different bands. I just love the orgiastic excess of catching a litter of great acts all in one night and in one venue. It’s like going to a…

Ichiban charts on CMJ

Looks like big ups are due to Ichiban, whose latest platter, Psycle Analysis, checked in this week at #39 on CMJ’s Top 40 hip-hop chart. That feat puts the rapper, who took home honors in the Hip-Hop MC category at this year’s Westword Music Showcase, in damn fine company. The…