Music

John Digweed will always hold a special place in my heart. It was Digweed who catalyzed my transformation from an electronic-music dilettante to a full-blown dance-scene aficionado, by way of his first Global Underground mix and seeing him at one of the first half-dozen raves I attended. It was his…

The Clash, Live at Shea Stadium (Legacy Recordings). Not many groups can best the Who. Yet that is exactly what happened when the Clash opened for the group in 1993. Wielding socially relevant songs like “The Hammer of Thor,” the band turns in a protesting performance that has not been…

The Chain Gang of 1974, who’s getting ready to embark on a massive two-month long tour supporting 3OH!3, debuted its new video for “We At the Disco.” The retro-leaning clip features departing drummer Adam Halferty and a cardboard robot toting around a vintage jambox interspersed with full on Missy Elliott…

Fresh off of an energetic performance at Monolith this past weekend, the Swayback dudes sent over some more photos of their time in LA with Andy Johns, which we’ve posted after the jump. And if you’ll be anywhere near the radio in the next hour or so, be sure to…

This past Monday, Dan Craig joined the ranks of Reed Foehl, the Trampolines, Redline Defiance, Angie Stevens and a handful of other local acts who’ve had their music licensed to various shows on the small screen. Craig’s song, “Further to Fall” appeared on the latest episode of One Tree Hill…

Lindsey Buckingham in 1992. Lindsey Buckingham, the once and future Fleetwood Mac frontman and solo artist par excellence, gets the profile treatment in the September 18 edition of Westword prior to his September 24 appearance at the Ellie Caulkin Opera House — and he’s also the subject of an absorbing…

Four years after forming, Ten Cent Redemption has come to a rest. According to frontman Rhett Lee, who formed the band shortly after the demise of Carolyn’s Mother, his previous outfit, Ten Cent had simply run its course. “I just haven’t been feeling it, and we’ve become so busy with…

Yellow Elephants, Adventure, Future Islands, Ssion and Pictureplane Sunday, September 14, 2008 Rhinoceropolis Better Than: Just another dance party. Of all the dance parties disguised as a show at Rhinoceropolis, this one may have been the best. Things got started off with the experimental act Yellow Elephants from Denver. The…

Tokyo Police Club started a solid run on the main stage. (Photo by Chad Fahnestock). And it’s gone. Just like that, the gale-force winds of indie rock have come and gone, whipping Red Rocks into a frenzy all day Saturday and Sunday. Missed it? Can’t remember it? Read our Day…

Monolith has come and come and gone, like a ship in the night, if that ship was wearing really skinny jeans and neon sunglasses. For dozens of photos from both days, cruise to the slide show page on westword.com. And for more photos and reviews, captured on the scene by…

Day 1 of Monolith is gone, a distant, hazy memory. Maybe you didn’t go; maybe you just don’t remember what happened. Either way, we’ve got you covered with two slide shows: The bands, and the fans. And stay tuned all day for live reviews and photos of Day 2, which…

Midnight has finally come. For 11 hours straight on Saturday, Backbeat Online had Red Rocks surrounded, an army of writers, photographers, and other assorted hooligans braving a piss-reeking media tent to bring you live coverage of Monolith Festival. Day 1 of the fest starred Devotchka, Vampire Weekend … pretty much…

LOCALS ONLY For the last year and a half, Infinite Mindz has been on a tear locally. Since the release of its debut album, Monkey Rebellion Musik, last year, the group has been in demand for shows, as well as being nominated in the Best Hip-Hop Group category at this…

Richie Hawtin September 11, 2008 Beta Better than: anything else you can do with your body besides sex. There are no words. Reviewing a DJ performance is difficult, at best. There aren’t exactly “songs” to point out, and even if I could catalog every track played, it wouldn’t mean anything…

Portugal. The Man was born in Alaska, but it might as well be a Denver band, with how often it seems like the cats come through here, how much we’ve embraced them and how bro’d down they are with locals like the Photo Atlas, whom they toured with last year…

So you’ve seen the shirts and hats all around Denver and in various parts of the country — they’re pretty identifiable, particularly the hats, whose brim is emblazoned with DSP (Denver Skate Punk) in large white letters. Well, now, thanks to Ben Owens over at Super Screenprint, we can see…

With Monolith Festival, and one of the year’s top lineups, headed to Red Rocks this weekend, we can’t help dream of a live recording of the fest’s top acts. Red Rocks, after all, has been a popular place to record albums over the years. Click for 14 of the most…

Although we suspected this last week when we spoke with David Marion and later when we received the advance of his band’s new album, we got confirmation from Marion at the group’s show at the Marquis this past Friday: The band heretofore known as Fear Before the March of Flames…

I’m pretty good at naming a tune within a few seconds, but sometimes I don’t have the slightest clue what the hell is playing, especially if it’s hip-hop, R&B or techno. Over the past few months, I’ve come to rely on my iPhone and its Shazam application to identify songs…