In my excoriating review of the 1995 version of the Lollapalooza festival (“Stick a Fork In It,” July 12, 1995), I wrote, “Once an institution like this gets rolling, it’s hard to stop. So there may be a Lollapalooza next year–and if there is, you can bet that the money…
With electronica spreading at the speed of a super-virus, adhering itself to every known genre of music and producing new hybrid strains faster than anyone can affix names to them, it would be convenient to accuse London-based singer-songwriter Beth Orton of being a dabbler in trip-hop. After all, her debut…
Barry Fey: genius. The last of the old-time rock promoters. A man with a legendary ear, terrific taste and an unmatched ability to hype a concert into an event. A bit rough around the edges, maybe, but a good-hearted fellow who single-handedly saved Denver’s symphony orchestra in 1989 and set…
In the 1969 film Change of Habit, Mary Tyler Moore starred as a nun who had to choose between her commitment to Jesus and her love for a character played by Elvis Presley in his final on-screen dramatic role. She picked Elvis–and since his death, on August 16, 1977, plenty…
Atari Teenage Riot Burn, Berlin, Burn! (Grand Royal) For those of you who think that the culture industry’s commodification of packaged rebellion destroyed punk, you might find hope in this agit-prop sonic assault–but to do so, you must be willing to make the leap from old-school analog punk to what…
“We’re all very much into cars,” announces Margaret Doll Rod, singer, songwriter and ringleader for the Demolition Doll Rods. “In fact, for this tour coming up, we were like, ‘Oh, jeez, I don’t know. Are we gonna miss the derby? When’s the derby coming? James Brown is coming and the…
In the beginning, Perry Farrell envisioned Lollapalooza, an event he helped create, as a traveling circus that would expose just-outside-the-mainstream styles to the public at large. A few seasons later, this goal had been largely forgotten: Last year’s disastrous tour, headlined by Metallica (not exactly an obscure cult group) and…
By New Year’s Day of 1970, a hefty number of baby boomers were already nostalgic for the Sixties–and since then, they’ve kept their myth-making machines working overtime. The romanticization of the period has become a cottage industry, with everyone from rock stars to onetime protest leaders profiting mightily by creating…
Reviews of local recordings–and nothing but reviews of local recordings. Vicki Taylor, whose most recent platter is Out of the Blue, has a voice that’s both smoky and solid, and her songs set it off beautifully. She operates in a blues mode, but that’s not to suggest that she’s one-dimensional…
Journalists know that most musicians will gush about their latest projects no matter how tepid they may actually be. So it comes as a pleasant surprise when Wil Masisak, one-third of Boulder’s You Bastard, says of the group’s just-issued eponymous debut CD, “I think it’s a series of really bad…
Despite his tender years, singer-songwriter Ben Lee, age eighteen, is no stranger to the interview process; rave reviews and cult stardom have ensured that. But at this point in his career, the young Australian seems more comfortable discussing his hobbies than his music. And what is his favorite time-waster? “I…
Even though Tim Prudhomme, vocalist and guitarist for Fuck, has been a card-carrying member of the music industry for several years, he insists (in the most disingenuous manner possible) that he still does not understand how it works. “I watch the MTV and try to figure out what the hell’s…
Assembling the members of Convergence for a gig is easier said than done. You see, bassist Mark Simon, keyboardist Eric Gunnison and drummer Paul Romaine call Denver home, while trumpeter Greg Gisbert and saxophonist/composer John Gunther are former Denverites who currently reside in New York City. But despite the distance…
Last week in this space, I promised a batch of local reviews, and they’ll show up eventually. But in the meantime, enjoy this tale of big stars, powerful egos, thin skins, nasty remarks and–oh, yeah–radio. The setting for this fable is the wonderful world of Jacor, a Cincinnati-based corporation that…
Wu-Tang Clan Wu-Tang Forever (Loud) Anyone who doubts that the Wu-Tang Clan has effectively made the transition from band to corporate entity is hereby advised to scope the notes included with this package (two CDs, natch); in addition to a roster of 900-numbers personalized for each member and an offer…
Not long after Tim Foljahn, guitarist, vocalist and principal creative force for the woeful, noirish outfit known as Two Dollar Guitar, relocated to Hoboken, New Jersey, much of his personal history went up in flames. “I had this storage space when I moved here because I had way too much…
Youth fades. That’s a given. But if you’ve got it, flaunt it. For the members of Bis, a staggeringly ebullient trio from Scotland, this bit of common sense isn’t simply a good idea; it’s the stuff of which manifestos are made. What pop music needs today, they argue, is an…
Okay, let’s get this out of the way right from the start. For years, I’ve had a crush on Keanu Reeves. My infatuation hasn’t blinded me to Reeves’s limitations: I didn’t come out of the 1994 film Little Buddha, in which Keanu portrayed Prince Siddhartha, declaring him to be the…
When Chuck Tinsley, guitarist for the Denver-based bluegrass act High Plains Tradition, talks about close-harmony singing, the accent is on “close.” In performance, Tinsley and his mates (mandolinist Doug Elrick, bassist Kenny Pabst and banjo player Dan Carter) croon while standing around a lone microphone. This approach makes for tight…
On the surface, the hip-hop revolution seems to be making precious little progress along the Denver-Boulder corridor. While national artists pass through on a semi-regular basis (witness the July 21 Smokin’ Grooves festival at Red Rocks), the area has not spawned an indigenous rap act that’s achieved anything like widespread…
Foo Fighters The Colour and the Shape (Capitol) Like most of you out there, I figured that the self-titled debut by the Foo Fighters would be on par with a Ringo Starr solo album, so the quality of the disc came as a pleasant surprise. However, the recording’s strength meant…
Like most Colorado jazz musicians with a taste for experimental sounds, multi-instrumentalist Geoff Cleveland puts food in his belly by playing mainstream and straightahead jazz in area clubs. Doing so is not a chore for him: “When I’ve been away from it for a while, like I have been recently,…
