If you take your name from a Syd Barrett song, your music had better be memorably catchy and downright weird. And it wouldn’t hurt if your singer sounded like he was constantly on the verge of sailing off the edge of reality. Italian group Jennifer Gentle has nailed these requirements…
Underworld is the rare dance-music act that has it all: a distinctively idiosyncratic sound composed of a progressive house backbone spiked with elements of techno, breakbeat, ambient and splashes of pop and rock and roll. To that, Underworld adds genuine songcraft, ending up with great tracks that complement its monster…
In “Piss and Vinegar,” a new song by Against Me! (currently touring with David Dondero and Matt & Kim), lead singer Tom Gabel advises music commentators to be “a little less professional, a little more up front and confrontational.” On August 14, he may have taken a similar approach during…
I was once in Mandeville, Louisiana, just across the lake from New Orleans, for a reunion of sorts at my grandmother’s house. I’m pretty sure I’m the only one in the family who doesn’t like seafood; it’s a long story, but I’m sure it’s got something to do with my…
With a keen sense of pacing and melody, the music of Widowers has drawn easy comparisons to psychedelic-tinged pop from the ’60s. But anyone who has seen Mike Marchant and company’s handful of shows thus far knows that they’ve already moved beyond their influences and have established a sound and…
Telefon Tel Aviv spoons up heaping portions of warm, soothing synth tones over light, crisp breakbeats and blippy, chirping percussive sounds. Along the way, the act touches on some light classical influences and a hint of the soulful, synthetic R&B that’s become such a big part of the chill-out sound…
Members of many bands big enough to be booked at Red Rocks aren’t interested in doing press — unless the show’s selling poorly, that is. But not only were some of the men in Sound Tribe Sector 9 eager to speak for the September 6 profile accessible here. All of…
Drummer Zach Velmer of Sound Tribe Sector 9, which gets the profile treatment in Westword’s September 6 issue, is an lively guy. He talks in the early portions of the interview below about how school instructors recommended that he take up drumming as a way to channel all of the…
Jeffree Lerner, the percussionist for Sound Tribe Sector 9, profiled in the September 6 edition of Westword, was the last member to join the band, and the most experienced going in, having previously served as a drum tech on extended tours by Colorado’s Leftover Salmon. In conversation, he comes across…
David Phipps plays keyboards for Sound Tribe Sector 9 (read more about them in this September 6 Westword article), but he’s also the group’s reigning tech guru — the musician as responsible as anyone for making the band sound forward-looking and adventurous. On top of that, he oversees STSP’s website,…
Bassist David Murphy, who helped launch Sound Tribe Sector 9 (the focus of this piece in the September 6 Westword), is among the group’s funniest and most voluble members. He paints vivid portraits of the times, places and personalities at the heart of the STS9 story. Murphy introduces readers to…
Guitarist Hunter Brown, who’s included in the September 6 Westword feature about Sound Tribe Sector 9, was a founding member of the band, and remains one of its most prominent creative forces. On this day, he seemed a bit difficult to draw out at first, but once he got onto…
The Widowers, Bad Weather California, The Dirty Projectors September 4, 2007 hi-dive Better than: Two out of three isn’t bad, right? It’s fun to have your expectations shredded, so I have to thank the Widowers for the fun. They were surprisingly accessible for a band made up mostly of members…
Cowboy Curse, Cat-a-tac, Apples in Stereo August 31, 2007 The Bluebird Better than: Any other fruit you could name. Slide Show It’s refreshing when a show starts on time. Cowboy Curse, opening for the Apples in Stereo, took the stage less than five minutes after the scheduled start time of…
Projekt Revolution, which concluded its 2007 run on September 3 at Coors Amphitheatre, wasn’t exactly revolutionary from a musical standpoint. Sizable chunks of the venerable package show headlined by Linkin Park played like extended outtakes from VH1’s I Love the ’80s. Still, there were quite a few memorable moments from…
Okay, I’m a sad sack, I’ll admit it. I have a thing for sad music. “Why in the hell would you intentionally listen to music that makes you depressed?” someone asked me once, completely befuddled. Simple. While I enjoy balls-out rock as much as the next guy, sometimes it feels…
The folks at Virb aren’t the only ones to realize how difficult it’s become for the average band to stand out from the MySpace crowd. Two Denver-based projects have debuted within the past year with a similar goal — and their common ingredient is jam. Granted, MoBoogie.net founder Drew Ryan…
Candee D*Vine wants to be your friend! She’s nineteen, cute, bisexual and “up for anything.” If you approve her request — and you probably will — she’ll go into the pile with the rest of your “friends,” who are more than happy to invite you to check out their naughty…
After a 22-year hiatus, David Bromberg has emerged from his Wilmington, Delaware, violin shop with a new album and a new outlook on making music. His reappearance is as sudden as his departure was: Citing burnout from touring, recording and the demands of session work — including stints backing Bob…
Sorry, Mr. Smith, but there’s no radio that likes to play the songs of your lover’s sorrow/Just sing us a jingle, and we’ll float you some bread/And all it will cost you is your heart and your head.” In the opening lines of his song “Artists and Repertoire,” Richard Swift…
Rob Zombie made the leap from stage to screen in 2003 with his surreal debut House of 1,000 Corpses. Two years later, he released a sequel to that film called The Devil’s Rejects. And this week, his lifelong passion for horror movies culminates in a remake of the 1978 classic…
Jenny Lewis may like the critical cred that came with recording for indies such as Saddle Creek, but the former child actress (she survived Camp Beverly Hills) clearly wants some adult stardom to pair with the kiddie kind. Blacklight, Rilo Kiley’s first official CD for Warner Bros., is a blatantly…
