For the unwitting punk-rock aesthete, happening upon Sweep the Leg Johnny in a crowded dive bar can be startling. The four unassuming lads from Chicago who make up the band crank out an intense, immense saxophone-fueled brand of post-punk that doesn’t lend itself to immediate comprehension. Even for those who…
It’s a lucky thing so many rockers die young, because a big chunk of the music industry is dedicated to making money off past greats presently residing in pine boxes or decorative vases. And right now, it’s Janis Joplin’s turn to be resurrected. This summer, VH1 placed Joplin, who perished…
A person could get worked into a state trying to find something new on the commercial radio dial in this town. After all, how many times a day does a person really need to hear the Joy Drop’s “Beautiful”? (Many local programmers place the number at about thirty.) And while…
If you’re afraid of getting your ass charred and whupped by a gang of guitar-wielding, fire-breathing profane women from Southern California, you’d better stay away from the 15th Street Tavern on Friday, October 1, when the gals in Betty Blowtorch come to town. Listening to them, you might wonder if…
Armchair Martian, Friday, October 1, at the Bluebird Theater, is one band that has drawn comparisons to Hüsker D more times than it would care to admit — yet the Fort Collins-based trio’s dynamic, fuzz-fucked pop does at times bear a striking musical resemblance to the fabled Minneapolis trio. But…
Phil Urso holds a letter that trumpeter Chet Baker wrote to him in 1971. “I have always felt you were and are the most underrated of America’s jazz players and composers,” Baker begins. His letter continues for a few pages, telling Urso about his experiences abroad, and then concludes, “Well,…
Pinetop Perkins is a man of priorities. Sure, there’s a writer on the phone waiting to talk music, but the 86-year-old piano legend has important stuff to do. “I can’t talk right now,” Perkins says in a gritty, down-in-the-bottoms voice. “I’m gettin’ ready to go fishin’.” A moment later Perkins…
Ralph Carney I Like You (a Lot) (Akron Cracker/Birdman Records) It comes as something of a surprise to discover that Carney, who’s best known for having provided savory idiosyncrasies to Tom Waits albums (some of which also featured recent Westword profile subject Mark Ribot), is a relatively young guy. After…
A lone orange wristband lies in the gutter outside of Dick’s Last Resort. On an eerily quiet Monday morning in LoDo, with a blanket of fog hanging over the mountains, and in the heads of the previous night’s revelers, the plastic strip is the only hint of what took place…
When the lads in the Herbalizer, Sunday, September 26, at Boulder’s Fox Theatre, roll out of South London and across the American heartland, they roll deep. DJ Ollie Teeba and bass player Jake Wherry are the principals here, though a current American tour finds the duo morphed into a full-on…
The members of Cabaret Diosa, Thursday, September 25, at the Fox Theatre in Boulder, have been celebrating the release of their second disc, Voodoo Piñata, since early summer, and there are no signs that they’ll be letting up anytime soon. The nine-piece ensemble, led by vocalists Montana del Fuego and…
Mark Ribot is best known for contributing singular guitar racket to several Eighties-era Tom Waits albums put out by a major label, Island Records. In the years since then, though, the record industry has grown so conservative that it’s now something of a surprise when a goliath firm signs anyone…
Figuratively speaking, traveling musicians are used to taking the occasional shot from locals. But when Custom Made Scare toured Colorado last spring, the concept reached a literal — and dangerous — level. As the band rolled up Interstate 25 after a show in Denver, a sniper took aim at the…
Johnny Dowd Pictures From Life’s Other Side (Koch) In early 1997, I received a copy of Johnny Dowd’s independently released Wrong Side of Memphis that was apparently shipped by the singer himself, and while I was blown away by his practically homicidal way with roots music, I figured I’d be…
Okay, let’s get the self-promotion out of the way: The fifth annual Westword Music Awards Showcase is just a running jump away. In case you somehow missed the huge supplement at the center of this paper, on Sunday, September 19, the showcase will seize control of five LoDo venues, and…
Dance Hall Crashers, Wednesday, September 22, at the Bluebird Theater, are led by singers Elyse Rogers and Karina Denike, whose voices sound as if they were piped straight from a U.S.O. fete in 1943. In this band, though, the musical accompaniment is where the “crash” comes in. With ska-punk and…
Gao Hong, Saturday, September 18, at Cameron Church, 1600 South Pearl Street, headlines the fifth annual Microstock, a celebration of music-theory deviance organized by Denver’s microtonal guru and guitarist Neil Haverstick. In seeking more eloquent expressions, microtonal musicians subvert the dominant paradigm of the twelve-tones-per-octave scale in Western music. Each…
Folk singers can get away with taking their craft into unconventional places: On downtown sidewalks, in subway stations and in restaurants at lunchtime, they open their guitar cases and unleash their voices, good or bad. So many people associate folk music with the mellow, sensitive fare of street buskers or…
To the millions who adore her, Jewel Kilcher is America’s songwriting sweetheart, a musical soulmate with an angelic face and karma to match. A look from her baby-dolled eyes or a note from her pouty lips can send legions of fans into swooning fits of “oohs” and “ahhs.” But for…
Kool Keith Black Elvis/Lost in Space (Ruffhouse/Columbia) When we last checked in with Kool Keith, who joins DJ Spooky on Tuesday, September 14, at the Fox Theatre, he was appearing on this year’s independently released First Come, First Served in the guise of Dr. Doom, a loony serial killer with…
Those who regularly attend Denver Joe’s Monday-night shows at Cricket on the Hill usually know what they’re in for, and the stragglers and neighborhood folks who happen by quickly find out. Amid a gloriously gritty country-music backdrop, the well-seasoned — and typically well-sauced — guitarist launches insults and zingers at…
U-God, 9 p.m., Sunday, September 12, at the Fox Theater, as part of the Wu Next Generation Killa Bees Tour with the Wu Syndicate and Shyheim, is one of the last members of the Wu-Tang Clan to drop a solo joint. Redemption, a seventeen-track offering that features collaborations with fellow…
