Anyone who thinks the man at the center of the 2005 documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston exaggerated his idiosyncrasies for the camera is flat-out wrong, as I found out before we’d exchanged one word. To schedule an interview with Daniel, I contacted his father, Bill Johnston, who manages his…
If the music business were poker, singer-songwriter Jessica Sonner would be holding a straight flush. Her sound is a polished, accessible blend of pop, country and blues influences, and she’s blessed with a powerful, sultry voice that helps elevates her songs. It doesn’t hurt that she’s also a classic beauty…
From its humble beginnings circa the ’60s, dub has become one of the most influential subgenres in modern music, inspiring innovations in dance sounds, punk rock and countless other categories — and among contemporary practitioners of the art, no one’s been better for longer than Mad Professor. Born Neal Fraser…
Onetime Hollywood coffee shop the Hotel Cafe has evolved into what many feel is the best singer-songwriter haunt on the West Coast — mainly because of an influx of serious talent from around the country looking to catch the ear of movie and television music supervisors who stalk the venue…
On the Claudia Quintet’s latest genre-bending album, For, composer and percussionist John Hollenbeck dedicates each of the disc’s eight songs to different people, from Norwegian saxophonist Jan Garbarek and Dick Cheney’s daughter Mary to Vipassana meditation teacher S.N. Goenka. While “I’m So Frickin’ Cool” may have been written for Austrian…
Though it’s certainly not the rule, every once in a while, good things do actually last. With its quirky 1996 debut single and video, “Novocaine for the Soul,” Eels had all the hallmarks of a one-hit wonder. Twelve years later, though, Mark Everett and company have earned a devoted following…
Although past Black Keys recordings featured post-blues minimalism at its finest, the rawness of one disc after another threatened to become a stylistic dead end. Enter Brian Burton, aka Danger Mouse, whose work on the Keys’ latest CD, Attack & Release, opens up new sonic vistas for the duo. Singer/guitarist…
When people find out I’m in a band, they ask a series of questions. The first one is always, invariably, “Does your drummer have a boyfriend?” followed by, “What’s the craziest thing that’s happened to your band on the road?”…
Christopher Jak has done it again. Dude’s got the midas touch, I swear. From the same production whiz who brought us the Heyday and Set Forth, comes Ride Your Bike, yet another piece of finely crafted Fort Collins-based power pop. Ride Your Bike, the brainchild of Mike Getches, is Jak’s…
File under: Fuck yeah! Although rumors have been swirling for a while now, it’s official: The five original members of the Fluid are getting back together for three shows, two back-to-back performances at Seattle’s Marymoor Park for Sub-Pop’s 20th Anniversary Festival on July 12 and 13, and one a few…
Sea Wolf, Nada Surf April 1, 2008 Bluebird Theater Better Than: A sound-check that lasts all night “Politicians are at their worst when they’re talking about politics,” my friend Brett said to me as we were leaving the Nada Surf show at the Gothic Tuesday evening. “Same holds true for…
You’d be forgiven if you thought that buzzing sound was the arrival of Africanized killer bees finally arriving as promised a decade ago, but it was actually indie internet darlings Vampire Weekend arriving April 1 to play a show at the Bluebird Theater. Enjoy this slide show review by Cory…
Interviewing Daniel Johnston, the subject of an April 3 Westword profile, is, to put it mildly, a unique experience, as will be clear to any reader of the following Q&A. First, some set-up. I arranged my chat with Daniel’s father, Bill, who helps manage his son’s career and lives in…
The April 3 profile of Daniel Johnston, as well as a complete Q&A accessible here, calls to mind a previous Westword piece focusing on the highly unusual artist. Back in 1995, Kathy McCarty, best known at the time as the lead singer of a first-rate cult band known as Glass…
Two decades ago, an outdoor amphitheatre was created in the heart of Greenwood Village. The gods saw that it was good and named it Fiddler’s Green. In recent years, it’s been known as Coors Amphitheatre — even though a great many stubborn locals still called it Fiddler’s. Well, good news…
Alright, stop whatever you’re doing right now. No. Seriously. Stop. Right now. Great, now that I have your attention, click here and give a listen to the Natural Selection, a new local act my boy Bitz turned me onto. Let’s see, there’s really no real delicate way to put this…on…
Anybody catch the new CSI promos over the weekend? Evidently, after being on ice for the duration of the agonizing writer’s strike, the CSI crew is back on the case, and in honor of such a momentous occasion, CBS is running promos hyping its return with a trailer featuring “Are…
Here’s a selection of the best of last week’s music blogging from around the Village Voice chain: So, the Rutles, a Beatles parody/tribute from years ago, are revived to hop on the bandwagon pioneered by Spamalot. It’s produced by Eric Idle and Lorne Michaels, stars a real-life Beatles tribute band…
LOCALS ONLY In 2006 The Pirate Signal, consisting of rapper-producer Yonnas and DJ A-What, released a self-titled EP that brought a breath of fresh air to the Colorado hip-hop scene. But because the stagnation most hip-hop artists face here in the Mile High, Yonnas moved to Brooklyn, New York, with…
An out-of-state friend of mine just asked me to pull together some recommendations of good music that has emerged from colorful Colorado in recent years. I’m looking at the playlist in iTunes right now and can’t believe my eyes…
Slide Show X Tuesday, March 25 Bluebird Theater Better Than: Seeing X two decades ago. An hour before heading to the Bluebird I met a friend of mine who saw X in East St. Louis a few weeks ago. He said it was a great show, but he also mentioned…
B-52s Funplex Astralwerks 01:15-02:00 of “Pump” What the heck? Um, no seriously, what the heck? What made the B-52’s decide to release a record and, more importantly, why did they decide on the absolute stupidest album cover? You know, “Rock Lobster” is a great song that totally appeals to both…
