Overtly ambitious musicians open themselves up to ridicule when they shoot for the stars and fall short — but their attempts can pay dividends anyway. Witness The Alchemy Index, a multi-part magnum opus released by Thrice, a quartet joined on this date by Circa Survive and Pelican. Dustin Kensrue, Teppei…
On Delayer, the latest CD by the Heavenly States, Ted Nesseth, who sings, plays guitar and writes tunes for the Oakland, California-bred group, doesn’t wait long to demonstrate his lyrical cleverness. The first track, “Morning Exercise,” finds him yelping “This goes on the record! And it hurts so bad!” over…
Table Steaks East, the club at 3523 South Parker Road in Aurora that recently changed its name to Mile Nine, is in the process of changing from a pool hall into a live entertainment venue with a sports lounge, stage and a 3,000 square-foot patio that sports a waterfall, Ping…
Yet another Denver band has officially been spoken for, and for once, the rumors were actually true: Breathe Carolina has indeed inked a deal with Rise Records, the Oregon-based imprint that previously released the debut recordings of Fear Before the March of Flames and Drop Dead, Gorgeous…
The May 15 Westword profile of Maya Arulpragasam, who performs as M.I.A., is built upon the foundation provided by the following Q&A, conducted on April 28, the day after the end of the 2008 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, where her set turned the heads of fans and fellow…
Classic theme songs might seem to be a thing of the past. Some shows, like LOST and My Name is Earl, don’t have them at all. And even among those that do still have theme songs, it might seem that not enough shows boast the timeless classics of Sanford and…
Here’s a selection of the best of last week’s music blogging from around the Village Voice chain: Panic at the Disco become the Warped-Tour-era answer to “Listen to the Flower People.” You can judge for yourself whether that’s a good or bad thing…
Does It Offend You, Yeah? and Yo Majesty Saturday, May 10, 2008 Bluebird Theater The evening went up, up then crashed hard Saturday night. Electro pop, electro rock and some god-awful hip-hop took over the Bluebird, leaving this reviewer asking, “How the hell did Yo Majesty snag a tour headlining…
Photo Courtesy of Kara Davidson/Urban Outfitters The Chain Gang of 1974 Saturday, May 10, Urban Outfitters, Boulder Better Than: The last show you saw at the Gap You wouldn’t expect a chain retail store to support local live music, but this weekend, on the increasingly homogenized and decreasingly unique Pearl…
Photo by Aerin Film School, Monofog, Fucking Orange Saturday, May 10, 2008 hi-dive Better Than: That time I saw Mind Bomb at 7 South. Yikes. While I was ultimately pleased with the music I heard Saturday night at the hi-dive, I was initially less than certain that I’d walk out…
Laura Veirs and Liam Finn Friday, May 9, 2008 The Walnut Room Better Than: Six Months in a Leaky Boat. Digital looping pedals, which have been around for at least the past two decades, have made it fairly simple for one musician to sound like multiple musicians. A guy can…
Photo by Tom Murphy Nudity with Temples and Outer Neon Friday, May 9, 2008 Glob Glob Glob, Colorado Springs Better Than: Most of the neo-classic rock out there. Tight Bros. From Way Back When only played Denver once during its entire career, and that was on June 15, 1999 at…
Phil Lesh and Friends Friday, May 9, 2008 Fillmore Auditorium Better Than: Crying into your beer at Sancho’s Broken Arrow next door because you couldn’t find a ticket. Walking into the sold-out Lesh show was interesting; there was an ice-cream truck parked out front, people selling various psychedelic paraphernalia and…
Detroit Cobras, Super 400 and Yerkish Friday, May 9 The Falcon You’d never know that Yerkish was missing a guitar player. Down an axeman, Nate Huisgen pulled double-duty — not an easy task considering the band’s complex song structures that border on math-rock. But with his creative approach, Huisgen relied…
Betcha didn’t know that Dylan played the piano for a stripper in Central City once. Okay, so maybe some of you did, but I certainly didn’t. Not until I stumbled across this Times Online article touting unreleased photos of the young troubadour taken by his friend Barry Feinstein (none were…
LOCALS ONLY The online Colorado hip-hop show Out Tha Box TV will celebrate two years on air next month and they’re beginning their third year with a bang. The online show will be heading to television sets on May 14 on the ION Network at 3 p.m. “We were looking…
Wilco Thursday, May 8, 2008 Pikes Peak Center, Colorado Springs Better Than: The last time I saw Wilco at the Fillmore. The first time I heard the live version of Wilco’s “Handshake Drugs” from Kicking Television I was floored by the guitar solo in the middle and the pure sonic…
Henry Butler PiaNOLA Live (Basin Street) As noted in a 2006 Westword profile, Henry Butler once owned a house in New Orleans’ Gentilly neighborhood – but Hurricane Katrina destroyed the structure and pretty much everything else in it. Somehow, though, a number of live recordings he made over the years…
Who: The Magic Mice Dossier: Formed last year, the Magic Mice feature Aaron Betcher and Chad Peterson, both formerly of O’er the Ramparts. In Their Words: Wisely, these cats opt to let the music speak for itself. Sounds Like: Breathy and languid one moment, on songs like “Body slash Soul,”…
Literally, just moments before I was getting ready to post the flier for this week’s edition of Pole Position, I came across a post on the DMB praising the banner above, touting Demon Funkies’ CD-release show on Thursday, May 29, at the Bluebird. After seeking it out (I use Firefox…
I like nice people and good music. Fortunately for all of us, Denver is absolutely brimming with both. In fact, you could spend your whole weekend stumbling from venue to venue and never run out of potential makeout partners. As much as I love good music, the joy I take…
Just received word from Live Nation (natch) that the world’s tastiest sweetheart” will be bringing her, um, Sticky & Sweet tour to the Pepsi Center on Saturday, November 1Tuesday, November 11. (My bad. Thanks for pointing out the error, Carlos). Tickets for Madge’s first-ever trip to the Mile High City…
