One expects even those rock musicians inclined toward experimentalism to eventually embrace the four-minute pop song, or to otherwise marry the gems of their wanderings to our culture’s more prominent musical conventions. But thus far, John Herndon, one of the five multi-instrumentalists who make up the Chicago-based Tortoise, has resisted…
The mainstream-media coverage of the so-called melee that took place Saturday, May 18, at a punk show staged at the Veterans of Foreign Wars hall was, in a word, typical. The television news accounts that I saw immediately following the incident–which involved the arrests of seventeen people and the participation…
Rage Against the Machine Evil Empire (Epic) Why are so many left-wingers humorless? Sure, there are terrible things happening on this little globe of ours–war, torture, rape, racism, discrimination, deforestation–and anyone willing to batter against such obstacles deserves props. But I humbly submit that the harangue is seldom the best…
Shortly after moving from Japan to the United States in the late Eighties, Yuka Honda landed a job writing about American food for a Japanese magazine. On the surface, the position seems to have little in common with her current role, as half of a resolutely eclectic band known as…
Very little unnerves Leslie Mah, guitarist for San Francisco’s Tribe 8. But she admits to being a bit nervous about playing her first show in Colorado since moving away from her home state seven years ago. “It’s going to be a little weird, because I haven’t been to a show…
Six years ago this month, Cristofer Lix was admitted to a hospital with a severe headache, the result of a pharmacist’s misreading of his prescription for sinus medication; for two days he had been inadvertently taking a drug for high blood pressure at an unusually high dosage. But after having…
At the Academy of Country Music awards presentation in late April, a slew of country stars were rounded up for a tribute to Merle Haggard, the designated recipient of a lifetime achievement statuette. Clint Black, wearing his trademark chapeau, introduced the segment with heartfelt superlatives that were echoed by several…
Paul Westerberg Eventually (Reprise) You’ve got to feel bad for Westerberg. As the mouth behind the Replacements, the man practically invented what’s now known as alternative rock, but pretty much the only thing he got for this achievement was critical acclaim–and we all know how much that contributes to your…
Splayed across the floor of Fort Collins’s Blasting Room studio, Jon Snodgrass–guitarist/vocalist for the punk band Armchair Martian–is fervently expounding on the virtues of one of his favorite musicians. But while Snodgrass is a modern rocker through and through, the object of his affection isn’t Kurt Cobain or Dexter Holland…
With washed-up bands from the Seventies reuniting faster than you can say “Fiddler’s Green,” perhaps it’s only fitting that Modern English, a seemingly washed-up band from the Eighties, should also be in search of a nostalgia wave to ride. But unlike many of his classic-rock predecessors, Robbie Grey, the only…
Local consumers interested in picking up the latest music by area artists know they can find it at a handful of locations, including Wax Trax, Twist & Shout, Albums on the Hill and Jerry’s Record Exchange. Beginning next week, however, a new outlet should be added to the list: King…
While recently flipping through a copy of the Denver Post, Neil Slade, a fixture on the local music scene, stumbled across an advertisement for the Colorado Symphony Orchestra. Under the heading “Notes for the Symphony,” the ad featured this pitch: “Write musical history. Buy a note of music for $10…
Hootie & the Blowfish Fairweather Johnson (Atlantic) Listening to this album put me in mind of a line from an episode of the Seventies sitcom Sanford and Son. In it, Fred, played by Redd Foxx, describes a particularly bland meal. “After dinner,” he adds, “I belched and it tasted like…
Miki Berenyi, the lead singer of England’s Lush, would like to light a fire beneath the rather placid audiences she’s encountered of late. “A lot of people who’ve been coming to see us in America are 4AD fans,” she says, referring to Lush’s label, an imprint known for the ethereal…
Rick Martinez, drummer for Denver’s Otter Popps, is definitely dedicated to his band. After all, one of the main reasons he’s upset that his 23-year-old brother, Otter Popps guitarist/vocalist Mike Martinez, is stuck in a Jefferson County work-release program until May 23 is because the combo was forced to cancel…
At eight o’clock at night in an Englewood industrial park, a single streetlight casts a milky glow on a simple wooden sign. It reads: “Ralph’s Top Service.” Although Ralph’s, at 2890 South Zuni, is a custom counter and cabinet shop, the scene inside this evening has little to do with…
When Neil Halstead–vocalist, guitarist and guiding light for Britain’s Mojave 3–thinks of Denver, he pictures singer and fellow bandmate Rachel Goswell. In agony. “We were flying from L.A. to New York last year, and Rachel’s eardrum burst during the flight,” he says. “So we had to drop her off in…
“I try not to repeat myself,” says trumpeter Herb Alpert. “I don’t want to play another version of ‘Rise’ or ‘The Lonely Bull’ sideways.” Unfortunately, the above comment is the closest Alpert comes to discussing his past with the Tijuana Brass, even though his ultra-lucrative career is built on the…
College radio has been responsible for the popularization of much of the best pop music over the past couple of decades–yet residents of Denver have virtually no access to such a station. Geographically, the closest college outlet is KUCB, at the University of Colorado-Boulder, but even if you drive past…
One smoggy day in West Hollywood circa 1985, I was standing behind the front counter at Tower Records’ Sunset Strip branch when Greg Dulli, my best friend among my co-workers, entered the store carrying a plate of edibles and wearing a merry grin. “It’s Cornbread Day,” announced Dulli, a fledgling…
When they’re not making beautiful noise together, the members of Denver’s Moot are agitating for social change. And luckily, the musicians agree on what changes should be made. “I’ve tried to play with conservatives before, and I don’t think you can be of that mindset and be creative at the…
If reggae fans were given a chance to nominate a performer who’s best filled the role of the music’s elder statesman since the passing of Bob Marley, Culture vocalist Joseph Hill would receive a lot of votes. Since 1972, when he released his first single, “Behold the Land,” on Jamaica’s…
