Music

Many local CDs feel unfinished; they require listeners to imagine what the songs might sound like had they been recorded under optimal conditions, with first-rate production and refined arrangements. But that’s not the case with On to You. The third Mercury Project album is a multi-layered work whose sonics consistently…

Johnny Cash, Ultimate Gospel (Columbia Records). Ultimate Gospel is a great career-spanning collection that shows a side of Johnny Cash’s talent and persona that was often eclipsed by his reputation. Elvis Presley also recorded a lot of gospel tunes, but not even the King can hold a candle to the…

When Taking Back Sunday debuted in 2002 with Tell All Your Friends, there weren’t a gazillion emo bands competing to express the overheated feelings of the nation’s adolescent populace. Instead, only about half that many existed — but of the new acts that have emerged since, most sound remarkably like…

The Canadian invasion continues. As beleaguered United States of Americans feverishly build a wall to protect ourselves from our freeloading, funny-talking neighbors to the north, Malajube amasses an arsenal of prismatic guitar riffs, irrepressible synth licks and infernally catchy tunes that get inside our heads and cause us to smile…

Initially known for his collaborations with Alexander Coe, who performs as Sasha, John Digweed is now firmly established as a mixology superstar in his own right. The reasons for his success include charisma and a keen sense of how to market himself, but his ability to combine accessibility with cool…

The big payoff for most bands comes from touring. Not as a money thing — the majority of small-time outfits come home barely breaking even — but rather in the inimitable experience of plopping into off-the-interstate Waffle Houses, taking in expansive Midwestern landscapes and playing out every night to a…

Evidently, seven is Kurt Elling’s lucky number. The jazz singer has seven Grammy nominations under his belt and has earned nods from Downbeat as Male Vocalist of the Year in its annual critics’ poll for the past seven years running. Good fortune, however, really has nothing to with Elling’s accolades…

Josh Polk knows a thing or two about punk. As the drummer in Whiskey Kiss, he’s well acquainted with the notion that it takes little more than three chords and the truth to get the job done. Booking punk bands, on the other hand, isn’t so turnkey. But that didn’t…

The ill wind wafting down from Greeley generally serves as a reminder of what it smells like around here when the Stock Show is in full swing. Occasionally, though, the unexpected gusts from the north blow in some great musicians, such as Twice Wilted, Reverend Deadeye and Ian Cooke. The…

Someday the members of Dork will be remembered as either the hardest-working or the luckiest guys to ever come out of this town. But if you ask me, the band has made much of its luck — from landing on the Vans Warped Tour, to reaching out to high-powered attorney…

The proliferation of red-carpet shows, in which faux celebrities criticize costumes worn by the real stars, is bleeding much of the fun out of such pageantry, since attendees who don’t want to spend the next week being ridiculed by cast members of America’s Next Top Model are dressing more conservatively…

The Bluebird Cafe is known as something of a kingmaker in Nashville, having hosted and helped launch such country titans as Garth Brooks and Mary Chapin Carpenter. During performances there, patrons are urged to abide by the Cafe’s strict “Shhhh!” policy/slogan by keeping quiet at all times — a testament…

The Secret Chiefs 3 create the most astonishing soundtracks to epic movies never filmed. The brainchild of Mr. Bungle’s Trey Spruance, SC3 features the guitarist/vocalist and his longtime bandmates Trevor Dunn, Danny Heifitz and Bar McKinnon, along with many other renowned musicians. Spruance plugs the various musicians into a framework…

The Cold War Kids are among the current scene’s buzziest buzz bands, but this status hasn’t prevented them from being jabbed by the tastemaking folks at Pitchfork. For instance, journalist Nitsuh Abebe, describing the Kids’ appearance at the most recent CMJ showcase, dismissed them as “skinny-jeaned Christians” whose lead singer/pianist,…

Lesser bands have crumbled under the weight of critical acclaim and the subsequent expectations that have been heaped upon Montreal’s Arcade Fire since issuing Funeral, its 2004 debut. Heralded as indie-rock saviors, compared to Byrne, Bowie and Botticelli, and thrown into the Colosseum for a to-the-death battle with Broken Social…

Although Williams garnered fewer bad reviews during the past decade than Mother Teresa, early notices bestowed upon West have been decidedly mixed, for obvious reasons. Simply put, her latest CD’s blend of dour sonics and lyrical brutality makes 1998’s Car Wheels on a Gravel Road seem like a Spice Girls…

As a member of the Procussions, Mr. J Medeiros already has one excellent album under his belt — last year’s 5 Sparrows for 2 Cents. Apparently, though, Medeiros still had some things to get off his chest. Late last summer, well before dropping his debut solo outing, Of Gods and…

Over the years, Otis Taylor (due at the Oriental Theater on Thursday, March 1, and Nissi’s on Friday, March 2) has racked up accolades for shaking up the blues idiom with lyrically unique and instrumentally inventive interpretations of the rootsy form. On his latest effort, he extends his pensive creative…

Joey DeFrancesco, Live: The Authorized Bootleg (Concord). This set, recorded last year at Yoshi’s in Oakland, was as much George Coleman’s as it was Joey DeFrancesco’s. Coleman’s tenor sax tone is gutsy and full-bodied as ever, while DeFrancesco takes command of his Hammond B-3 and beautifully maneuvers through a handful…

Too $hort is an anomaly in the rap world, where only a handful of artists have experienced any sort of career longevity. He’s one of the rare individuals who have fruitfully navigated the shark-infested waters of the music industry, and he’s done it on his own terms, without getting chewed…

Longtime Wilco fans have occasionally gotten frustrated with leader Jeff Tweedy when he’s pushed the group into avant-garde territory. But by the adventurous standards of Glenn Kotche, who landed in Wilco’s drum chair during the Yankee Hotel Foxtrot period, Tweedy’s a piker. Kotche, who’s joined at the Larimer Lounge by…