The last time I’d driven by the Blue Corn Lounge, on the corner of 38th and Perry in northwest Denver, it was around 1 a.m. on a Saturday. In the parking lot, a massive dude stood between two maniacally gesturing females. It looked like he was trying to mediate a…
The pull of Denver’s music scene must be very strong for Andrew Murphy. I mean, why else would the guy continue to run a Mile High-centric label from more than 1,200 miles away? Murphy, the proprietor of Smooch Records, says the motivation behind this labor of love hasn’t changed since…
When XTC’s Andy Partridge is reached via phone for a rare chat at his home in England, he’s doing exactly what you’d expect the prolific studio musician to be doing. “You caught me having a secret strum on the guitar,” the 53-year-old says cheerfully. “I just blundered into quite a…
By choosing to call himself Joseph Israel, the reggae-loving singer-songwriter born Joseph Montgomery Fennel seems to be sending a clear message about the belief system he favors. But, as he concedes, “it’s more complex than that. I was raised a Baptist, and as I continued to grow, Bob Marley’s music…
Bizarre Resurgence Ladies and gentlemen, America — yes, that America, “Horse With No Name” America — now has a MySpace page. Something should be done about this, and it should probably be violent. This Song Will Change Your Life Matisyahu’s cover of “Message in a Bottle.” The Police are threatening…
Since going live last spring, Daytrotter.com — perhaps the Internet’s most innovative and easily accessible source for free, never-before-heard independent-music downloads — has changed the digital-music landscape forever. The premise of the site is simple: Artists traveling through the Midwest along I-80 stop off for an hour or two at…
Bob Dorough. You’ve probably heard him, even if you don’t know him by name. If you were a kid growing up in the ’70s and watched Schoolhouse Rock, for instance, you’re familiar with an infectious little ditty called “Three Is a Magic Number.” That’s his. Or if you came of…
Befitting its namesake, Albuquerque’s of God and Science has a somewhat convoluted musical identity. While some of its songs recall the polished garage pop and psychedelia of the retro-leaning Elephant 6 outfits that emerged during the ’90s, others conjure a detached, spacey ambience that owes a debt to OK Computer-era…
Stanton Moore knows his funk. The Galactic drummer and founder has a knack for grabbing on to a groove with both fists, putting it in a headlock and twisting it into submission. The result is a tight and steady deadlocked funk. Last year, Moore invited guitarist Will Bernard and keyboard…
During the ill-fated electronic-music boom, superstar DJs had a reasonable chance of crossing over to the mainstream. Today such journeys are rarer than the typical menu at a sushi bar — but that hasn’t stopped spinners like Roger Sanchez from trying to take the trip. Sanchez has been a hero…
Listening to the Album Leaf, Jimmy LaVelle’s pet project, is a lot like taking in the dreariness of another new apartment as it quivers, buzzes and hums like a somnolent beast getting its first lungful of open air. An invigorating, intoxicating energy oozes from the off-white walls, whispering a promise…
Some indie-folk artists work overtime to prove they can wring as much racket from their acoustic instruments as any electricity-wielding punk. In contrast, Laura Gibson, who shares this bill with the Beebs, Jonathan Byerley and Hollyfelds, prizes delicacy over aggression. On If You Come to Greet Me, her latest album…
When Jon Crosby’s major-label debut, Visual Audio Sensory Theater, was released in 1998, it received a great deal of airplay. Fortunately for Crosby, that was a year when radio stations were scrambling to find something, anything, that might be a hit. The album’s mix of ambience and hard-edged guitar sketches…
If you’re among those who’ve endured your share of would-be funk and ska bands, you might be inclined to roll your eyes upon first hearing Action Figure 8. The act’s chorusy guitars and moderately withdrawn vocals recall the omnipresent, mid-to-late-’90s sound made famous by Sublime and the Red Hot Chili…
Douglas Spencer is taking a bumpy ride down memory lane. Huddled up with Monofog vocalist Hayley Helmericks on a snowy Colorado day, the wiry guitarist is recounting how he first got into music. When he was eight years old, Spencer and his dad stopped at a yard sale. That’s where…
For the most part, My Morning Jacket keyboardist Bo Koster still enjoys touring — but he’s got a much better grasp of its negatives than he did before joining the notoriously nomadic band in 2004. “I always think about The Last Waltz, where Robbie Robertson was like, ‘The road’s an…
Access to behind-the-scenes band life has become increasingly banal. Between “reality” television and coverage of performers hoping to lower the bar on self-destruction (dudes, anything you’d dream of trashing, Led Zeppelin has already destroyed twice as monumentally), it’s tough to even cock an eyebrow at backstage behavior anymore. The entertainment…
Glen Campbell, pop star, requires little introduction. Less obvious, however, is his start as anonymous session man backing artists such as Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley and the Monkees, among others. (Remember, only Michael Nesmith could play.) Campbell even “joined” the Beach Boys during an eighteen-month tour. Once he was given…
Behold yet another worldwide reggae star that you’ve probably never heard of. Unfortunately, unless their name is Marley, Toots or Spear, most reggae artists typically go unnoticed by the masses. Beres Hammond falls into that category, in spite of a 35-year career that has made him a superstar in his…
Randy Newman hails from a family of film composers (uncles Lionel and Alfred were Hollywood heavyweights), so his success scoring Pixar blockbusters and other flicks is fitting. Too bad his cinematic achievements have put such a crimp in his career as a recording artist. He’s made some of the best…
What happens when a bunch of Southern rockers from Augusta, Georgia, collide with Yes in a head-on train wreck? The Dixie Dregs. Formed in the late ’60s, the Dregs — originally known as Dixie Grit — mixed a heady blend of progressive jazz fusion with classical overtones and Allman Brothers-like…
Erin Bode There’s a montage in Play Misty for Me in which Clint Eastwood and Donna Mills are seen walking on the beach, waves crashing behind them, then frolicking in the woods while Roberta Flack’s “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” plays. The purity and beauty of the…
