Laptop emo? Go ahead and laugh. But while you’re at it, pop in Customer, the third full-length by Collections of Colonies of Bees. An extension of the defunct post-rock group Pele (which originally featured Scott Beschta of the Promise Ring), Collections takes its predecessor’s knack for computer-scrambled melody and tips…
The Snoopster is the hip-hop equivalent of late-period Dean Martin. Having long ago established his commercial credentials, he no longer feels the need to break a creative sweat. Once he hires a gaggle of pros to do the heavy lifting, he can cruise through the recording process, leaving just enough…
Guess Beyonce Knowles is a nicer person than Justin Timberlake. After all, his promises to reunite with his old group, ‘N Sync, went down the pipes once his solo career took off, while Ms. K actually kept her pledge to get together with her homegirls again, even after 2003’s Dangerously…
Despite solid songwriting, burning fretwork, deep grooves and an earnestly dark outlook, Warren Haynes and company can’t seem to achieve liftoff on Voodoo, the group’s first studio release since the loss of bassist Allen Woody. The retooled four-piece, which puts on intriguing live performances, serves up a mostly lackluster collection…
Even though Matador is one of the biggest indie labels on the planet, it’s managed to maintain an aesthetic agenda that’s had everything to do with integrity and diversity, and little to do with cheap attempts at cashing in. But now, flush with the Top 20 success of Interpol, the…
Pianist Joe Bonner has been among the most enigmatic personages on the Denver jazz scene for decades, yet his talent is hardly a mystery. Lights Out, which receives its introduction to the public during a Saturday, November 27, CD-release bash at Dazzle, is another in a long line of consistently…
The world probably doesn’t need another hardworking Bad Religion sound-alike, but Denver just might. You have to admire Dr. Neptune for earning a spot on the 2005 Warped Tour by stalking the 2004 outing with guerrilla sets played to bleary-eyed mall punks as they waited in line. On its second…
Sparta
Growing up in Switzerland, Cosmic Rocker, aka Sasha Crnobmja, never wanted to work; he just wanted to bang on the drum all day. Fortunately, Brainticket’s percussion wizard, Cosimo Lampis, was on hand to teach him how. And with the assistance of his partner in crime, party planner Benno Hotz, Crnobmja…
Doc Martin has been in the public eye since the mid-’80s — long enough to see the footwear his name recalls go in and out of style half a dozen times. He got his start in San Francisco, and thanks to an approach that’s both relentless and engaging, he eventually…
Play the Sex Pistols’ Never Mind the Bollocks next to Poison’s Look What the Cat Dragged In, and you’ll see what a fine line there is between ’70s punk and ’80s glam. The Black Halos, though, have known all along. Since its 1999 debut, this band of Vancouver trash merchants…
“Understated” is an understatement when talking about Tin Hat Trio. Listening to the ensemble is like looking through a keyhole into an roomful of dust-laden memories: Everything from the earthiness of blues and jazz to the austerity of Eastern European folk are spun into a swooning air of melancholy that…
Believe it or not, the Exploited is nearing a quarter-century of cutting a crusty swath of anarchist destruction across the globe. Rest easy, though: With such ditties as “Fuck the System,” “Fuck the U.S.A.” and “You’re a Fucking Bastard” to their credit, one can pretty safely assume the corrosive Scottish…
“Look Out Any Window” and you’re likely to see someone who’s been involved with Bruce Hornsby — musically, of course. Since Bruce Hornsby and the Range first slipped onto the scene with a melodic montage of medleys, the multi-talented musician has often slid past pop culture’s radar. But he’s always…
Led Zeppelin had “The Battle of Evermore.” Rush had “Rivendell.” Since time immemorial, rock bands have made music based on the wizardly works of J.R.R. Tolkien. Now Denver’s Turambar is joining that hall of heroes with its self-titled debut disc (to be released Friday, November 26, at the Larimer Lounge,…
Andy C (slated to appear at the Church on Thursday, November 25) first made his mark on the drum-and-bass world at the age of seventeen, with a track called “Valley of the Shadows” that he produced with partner Ant Miles under the name Origin Unknown. “Valley” went on to become…
In case you went cruising by the 15th Street Tavern last Friday and thought that people had broken in to party — or that you were hallucinating — rest assured that neither was the case. After suddenly closing at the end of October, the downtown club officially reopened just as…
It’s 7 p.m. Friday, and Love.45 is hosting a listening party at Brendan’s Pub. Although it’s one of Denver’s most prominent bands, if it weren’t for the promotional posters hanging around the bar, the four members would be indistinguishable from their fans. Right now, this is a faceless band with…
Daniel Dumile is bored with hip-hop. He’s gotta be. What else could explain the rapper’s many personas? On any given day, he’ll transform into Viktor Vaughn, King Geedorah, maybe Madvillain, King Ghidra or, if he’s up to it, the rarely seen Zevlove X. On most days, however, he’s MF Doom…
Think Jack White’s slick for reanimating the spirit of the Delta bluesmen? White’s got nothing on Shanti Shanti: Andrea and Sara Forman are breathing life into passages that have been dead for over 5,000 years. “Sanskrit provides people with an awesome experience, and we call that the Sanskrit buzz,” says…
Eminem might as well be a politician. He embodies the dichotomy well: someone who’s fundamentally reprehensible as a human being, yet represents the worldview of a huge portion — perhaps even most — of this country. With Encore, his fourth full-length, Marshall Mathers once again excels in his role as…
The concept behind Below the Radio is that you — the independent music consumer and/or poseur — admire Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle so much that you’re willing to pawn your bowling shoes for a K-Tel collection of his favorite songs. Hyped as a “mix tape,” the compilation includes Lytle-picked tracks from…
