Music

Mouth of the Architect’s MySpace page irreverently claims the band’s home town is the fictional Hell, Ohio. If you’ve ever visited the Buckeye state, you know that “hell” is a pretty good description of the place. The land of tortured artists (Stiv Bators of the Dead Boys, convicted murderer/country star…

The ratio of what has been written about Wolf Parade to the act’s actual output is staggering. Welcome to 2006, where a band can go from releasing a demo to headlining a club tour in the blink of an eye — all thanks to a few tastemaking blogs. Needless to…

Keb’ Mo’ will play the spirit of the blues — literally — in Honeydripper, the next movie by acclaimed director John Sayles. However, the casting isn’t as perfect as it seems. Press reports describe the flick (Sayles’s first since 2004’s Silver City, which was largely filmed in Denver) as a…

Marching out of Newcastle, England, in the late ’70s, Venom forged a harsh and blistering, highly influential sound that inspired the melodramatic metal bands that followed. Whereas artists like Alice Cooper clearly camped up shows for fun, Venom sounded like a group of devil-worshiping maniacs. Composed of members sporting silly…

Some Tool fans have been around for the long haul and truly appreciate the sort of aural artiness in which the group traffics. But many others are Maynard-lovers-come-lately — and their reaction to Isis, a musically simpatico opening act, should reveal the depth of their loyalty. Isis discs such as…

Portugal the Man has a fate worse than death: In fifteen years, it will be lost to 99-cent sidewalk sales and left as a remnant of consumer waste. The outfit’s debut full-length, Waiter: “You Vultures!”, its liner notes streamlined with ultra-hipster Photoshopped collages, will be shucked aside in a large…

The qualifications for becoming an outlaw are getting pretty lax these days. Case in point: Shooter Jennings. Sure, he looks the part, what with the tattoos, well-worn cowboy shirts, stringy hair and ’70s-style sunglasses. But as the only child of Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter, he’s got more in common…

A native of Portland, Oregon, Amy Annelle is currently wandering around the no-man’s-land that surrounds the Stapleton Development in northwest Aurora. Her nomadic tendencies have led her to a part of the city from which few would draw inspiration. There’s a sense of isolation there, though, that fuels the music…

An icon of the Chicago house scene, Derrick Carter has spent much of his career shunning invitations to work with pop stars in favor of remaining in the gritty underground where he began. Spinning at house parties at age nine and honing his skills as a bedroom jock, Carter got…

The concert business in Denver just got a hell of a lot more interesting. After last month’s announcement that Live Nation planned to acquire House of Blues, things had calmed down — but now a tidal wave looks to be forming on the horizon, one that could have epochal implications…

This should be the best of times for Buddy Guy. Plenty of fans and reviewers agree that he’s the greatest bluesman above ground — and his still-vital artistry remains an inspiration to his fellow performers as well. Last year, Guy was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame…

Move over, Potcheen Folk Band. Waking Rothko, a band that’s been together only since January, has devised one of the most innovative marketing tactics I’ve seen since Potcheen’s booze cruise. Last week, Rothko delivered copies of its debut platter, ep1, to everyone in the Westword office except me, with this…

For a guy who lost his wedding ring this morning, Ben Harper seems remarkably calm — but as efforts are made to recover the sacred symbol of his vows from the car that just dropped him off, his anxiety surfaces in quick bursts. “Somebody must have that guy’s number,” he…

In synth-pop circles, Gary Numan is the father, the son and the holy spirit — thanks to his work with Tubeway Army in the late ’70s and the indelible (and inescapable) robotic retro-night staple “Cars.” To celebrate the humanoid’s arrival in Denver, a list of some of the more interesting…

Hailing from a little town in Arizona called Peoria, the Format lives up to its name by making pop music that is easily accessible and, well, true to the format. And the fun bus doesn’t stop there: The band went through the formalities of being almost famous with a stint…

Get these motherfucking emo bands off this motherfucking album. No, really: Get these motherfucking emo bands off this motherfucking album. The soundtrack accompanying what’s arguably the year’s most anticipated cheese-horror flick is a giant mess — mainly because it’s full of pounding, stuttering dance remixes of songs by new-punk kingpins…

Neptune Pharrell Williams is an ultra-successful producer, yet his attempts to become a pop star haven’t worked out too well — and Mind demonstrates why. Judging by the disc, Williams is better at boosting others’ careers than he is at bringing out the finest in himself. Plenty of big names…

No band has stayed good as long as Slayer, and any argument to the contrary pits the thrash-metal kings against the Rolling Stones, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Sonic Youth. Maybe Motrhead. Christ Illusion improves on 2001’s clunky God Hates Us All, the low point of a 24-year run,…

With its latest effort, the Velvet Teen continues to follow an artistic trajectory similar to Radiohead’s. Starting out in 2000 as an artsy-poppy-emotive rock group, the ambitious band spends no time looking backward for inspiration. From the pop perfection of Comasynthesis and The Great Beast February to the dramatic darkness…

The Hi-Beams’ take on twang is decidedly retro. Halden Wofford has that high-and-lonesome vocal sound down cold, and instrumentalists such as dobroist/pedal-steel expert Bret Billings and upright-bassist Ben O’Connor swing in ways that modern Nashvillians eschewed long ago. Fortunately, though, the combo’s latest disc is anything but musty. Country music…

Six years after forming and three years after exploding onto the scene, Rose Hill Drive has finally issued its debut full-length. Similar to the way that Ford has retrofitted the new Mustangs to recall the classic look of the fastback coupes, Rose Hill Drive is a riff-driven throwback to the…