Humor is a fairly rare commodity in pop music, in part because artists who display even a modicum of it are often dismissed as wannabe comedians. Such is the lot of the Kiss Offs, a group that dares to spice its spritely sound with, of all things, entertainment value. “We…
During the early years of his career, Bob Dylan could do no wrong–but by the late Sixties, he’d figured out a way. Over the last thirty years, he’s interspersed good-to-great albums (Blood on the Tracks) with erratic but worthy curiosities (Empire Burlesque), predictable filler (Real Live) and downright stinkeroos (I’m…
“I didn’t set out to write kids’ music,” says Molly Bowers, “and I didn’t plan to do anything topical, either. I just wrote this song that was so cute and catchy that I decided to write more songs like it. And before I knew it, I had a whole album…
The Tom Guralnick Trio makes challenging music–but that doesn’t mean that Guralnick, an Albuquerque saxophonist, is insulted when people actually enjoy it. “Putting together the pieces and developing the pieces is a very collaborative, interactive process that’s really fun,” he notes. “And I think it’s okay to have fun. And…
Lots of bands tout the virtues of the MC5 and the Stooges these days, but few are as dedicated to these Detroit-reared punk godfathers as Los Angeles’s Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs. For proof, one need only cue up Live on KXLU, the group’s triumphant new offering on XXX Records. In addition to…
Since the April 20 shootings at Columbine High School, most of us have heard about the harassment of anyone whose clothes bear even the slightest resemblance to the ones favored by Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold. But Rachel Fulmer, manager of the dark-sounding act decanonizeD, has lived it. “A few…
“I like playing deeper records,” says Josh Wink. “But it’s just hard sometimes, because people expect me to play bangin’ music all the time.” Such expectations are natural: Among dance-clubbers from Rio to Helsinki, this dreadlocked white boy is as famous for his hard-techno sets as fellow Philadelphian Dick Clark…
Earlier this month, Bret Dowlen, the man who designed the sound system for the Fillmore Auditorium, formerly known as the Mammoth Events Center, warned me not to make any judgments about the acoustics of the building for several weeks. After all, he said, every room needs to be tweaked. But…
When Elvis Costello was approached by fans during the mid-Eighties, he would squelch their questions with a two-word conversation stopper: “I’m retired.” He used this reply, he says, “because it was just easier than trying to explain what I was actually doing.” Chuckling, he adds, “What a bastard I was.”…
Jeff Holland, Nathan Jantz and Dave Alexander are computer experts with enough collective know-how to bring the Pentagon’s systems administrator to his knees. But even though the three are more interested in making electronic music than in committing cyber-terrorism, there’s still a subversive element to their work. The pieces they…
Whoever said that the classics never go out of fashion probably wasn’t referring to popular music. In a field where styles date faster than President Clinton on a weekend fundraiser, it’s hardly startling that for most artists, fame is as fleeting as the glow of a nearly spent spliff. What…
“People are forgetting about the rock,” says Kenny Hellacopter, bassist for Stockholm’s self-proclaimed action rockers the Hellacopters. “Especially in the States, where it’s rooted and where it sprung from. Which is a shame, because it is such an important heritage. Americans should respect that and not mess around with it.”…
Local artists captured for posterity. Hot on the heels of Between the Lines: The Complete Studio Recordings, a gorgeous reissue of late-Eighties/early-Nineties sessions issued in 1998, Fred Hess and the Boulder Creative Music Ensemble are back with Ninth Street Park, a new collection that finds the act’s members with their…
Chuck Morris is frantic–as usual. The veteran promoter and manager perpetually travels in fourth gear, his movements abrupt, his eyes intense, his words coming in short, speedy bursts that recall his New York origins even though he’s spent most of his adult life in John Denver country. But on this…
Blur 13 (Virgin) Fans who were enthusiastically awaiting the release of this disc because they loved the ultra-catchy “Song 2” from Blur’s eponymous 1997 album may be sorely disappointed: At first listen, the quartet seems to have turned into an art-noise band. (That’s not the speakers buzzing; it’s Graham Coxon’s…
Last week, Garth Brooks was named Entertainer of the Decade by the Academy of Country Music. But that doesn’t mean C&W-loving punk-rocker Mike Ness is suddenly filled with newfound admiration for him. “I can give you a perfect description of how I feel about Garth Brooks,” he says, his voice…
Nancy Wilson Live at McCabes Guitar Shop (Epic) Which one was the dog and which one was the butterfly? And how come there wasn’t a pony? Nancy Wilson (dog, I’m guessing) flies solo on this go-round, a live, unplugged, “nakedly human” collection of Seventies classics, four (and twenty blackbird) cover…
No need to pull the four Denverites in the Velveteen Monster from the stage with a crooked cane: They’re happy to saunter to the side and haunt from the wings. In fact, after several years in the seminal tumbleweed act Jux County, veteran players Andy Monley, Ron Smith and Chris…
If Ike Turner’s life were evaluated strictly on his musical contributions, he might be considered a pop-cultural saint. As an A&R man for a number of Memphis talent scouts and record labels, he was something of a modern-day Noah, rescuing B.B. King, Howlin’ Wolf, Junior Parker and plenty of other…
Internet radio isn’t a panacea: At this point in its technical development, the sound quality can be mighty iffy. But the airwave-based commercial radio of today is generally so dreadful–too narrow, too formatted, too repetitive, too brain-dead–that this new medium is exploding anyhow. For instance, Boulder-based GoGaGa Brand Radio (accessible…
On the surface, the timing for the Hard Knock Life tour, a hardcore rap showcase that hit the Denver Coliseum on April 27, could hardly have been worse. A number of concerts had been canceled as a result of the April 20 killings at Columbine High, including an April 24…
The scene is a self-serve copy shop on Milwaukee Avenue in Chicago, the time is several years ago, and the protagonist is Wesley Willis, beloved local icon. Willis is built like Sasquatch (he’s 6-4 and weighs over 300 pounds), but his spirit is friendly and gentle–which is why his sudden…
