Nearly two years ago, Kayo Dot’s Toby Driver and Mia Matsumiya visited Denver with their side project Tartar Lamb, which was inspired by composer Morton Feldman and also nodded to Steve Reich. Their fondness for modern classical is also evident at times in Kayo Dot, especially on the relatively calm…
Awesome Color, which shares this bill with Eyes and Ears and Outer Neon, records for Sonic Youth maestro Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace Records — and if the imprint’s moniker were spelled just a little bit differently, it would make an even more perfect home for the group’s albums. For proof,…
Backbeat dispatched photographer Aaron Thackeray to last night’s Horse the Band show at Denver’s Marquis. Cruise to westword.com/slideshow to check out the photos…
Two sides of David Berman. E-mail interviews can be a drag unless the person providing A’s to the Q’s takes the time to respond in an interesting and thoughtful way. Fortunately, we’ve gotten lucky lately, first with Santogold’s Santi White, and now with David Berman of Silver Jews, the subject…
Make room on Sunday nights for another local music show — well, kinda. While Sam Hill’s Sunday School isn’t entirely local, this past Sunday night at 10 p.m., the show’s namesake did play tracks from Jason Vigil and Vonnegut — alongside cuts from Colbie Caillat, 3 Doors Down, OAR, Nirvana…
Oasis rolls into the Broomfield Event Center December 8. It’s been three years since Oasis toured the States, and they’ll be hitting the Broomfield Event Center December 8 as part of the band’s Dig Out Your Soul (due in stores October 8) world tour. Neil Diamond just added a third…
Photo: Scott Smith Sigur Rós Saturday, September 27, 2008 Red Rocks If anyone nodded off during the first part of Sigur Rós’s set at Red Rocks this past Saturday night, I think they can safely be forgiven. The somnial sounds being churned out by the precious Icelandic quartet were lulling…
Update: Just received word that the memorial service for Sharon Rawles will take place at 11 a.m. this Friday, October 3, at Bullock Mortuary (1375 E. Hampden Avenue). ———-Original Post———- Sharon Rawles, who had recently fallen gravely ill and was placed in hospice last week, passed away late yesterday afternoon…
This just in… 3OH!3 has officially reached ubiquity, as evidenced by its appearance in the October 3 edition of Entertainment Weekly (the one with Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert on the cover re-creating the controversial New Yorker illustration). As if there was any doubt, Boulder’s most unlikely superstars clearly continue…
Photo: Tom Murphy James Monday, September 29th, 2008 The Ogden, Denver Better Than: A lot of the atmospheric pop rock that has come since. Emerging from an impressive field of expressive guitar bands in Manchester, England, James made a name for itself with a larger body of work than many…
Photo: Allison Smith The New Year, Houses, Fell Monday, September 29, 2008 Larimer Lounge Better than: Most bands playing today. Playing together since before who knows when, the Brothers Kadane (Matt & Bubba) have made music that is both intelligent and intensely moving. Whether it was in mid-‘90s slow-core band…
Summit Jazz Weekend Friday, September 22 – Sunday, September. 24 Four Points Sheraton Hotel Better than: Crashing a smooth jazz party. Walking into the ballroom at the Four Points Sheraton on the first night of this year’s Summit Jazz Foundation festival, I felt a bit like an interloper at some…
Photo: Tom Murphy Final Frontier Smaug, the Final Formula, Devil Got Five and Black Maria Friday, September 26, 2008 PT’s Club Inferno, Denver Better Than: Being an indie rock snob. PT’s Club Inferno is not my first choice of venues to attend for a show because strip clubs give me…
Photo: Jon Solomon Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds Friday, September 26, 2008 Ogden Theatre Better than: Anything that has ever come out of Australia. Nick Cave handily disproved the notion that rock and roll is a young man’s game this past Friday night at the Ogden Theatre. Taking the…
‘It’ll be worth the wait, baby. I promise.” Here’s a handy wrap-up of all the great content you might have overlooked this week on Backbeat Online while you were consumed with wailing and gnashing your teeth over the tragic news that Britney Spears new single would be delayed…..
Looks like big ups are due Breathe Carolina, whose debut disc, It’s Classy, Not Classic, released in mid-September on the Rise Records imprint, claimed the sixth spot on Billboard’s Heat Seeker chart and #186 on the magazine’s Top 200 chart. Not a bad first outing for a band that many…
LOCALS ONLY Scribble Jam is an annual hip-hop festival hosted in Cincinnati, Ohio. So why are so many Colorado hip-hop artists excited about it? Well, on October 1 at the Fox Theatre in Boulder, a Scribble Jam preliminary event is being held to determine the best rapper and best producer…
Ralph DaFermo. This weekend, the Mercury Café is staging a benefit for pianist Ralph DaFermo. Allow the Mercury’s Marilyn Megenity to tell you a little bit about him: “In 1977, I walked into my nightclub restaurant for the night shift, and a piano player I hadn’t seen before was playing…
I just heard that flossing your teeth reduces your risk of heart disease. Think about that. Holy shit. FLOSSING YOUR TEETH REDUCES YOUR RISK OF HEART DISEASE. When did this happen? It kind of sounded like a joke to me… but I looked it up. It’s true. I’m not writing…
Photo: David Barber Update: Sharon Rawles has passed away. Click here for details of her memorial service or to share your thoughts on Sharon’s defacto memorial page, where we’ve centralized all the comments. ———-Original Post———- Man, this has been an absolutely brutal year for the local music community. Just received…
Santi White and/or Santogold. As artists’ careers get hotter, they become much tougher to pin down. Example? Santi White of Santogold, who headlines the Wednesday, October 1 MySpace Music event at the Gothic Theatre co-starring Mates of State, Low Vs. Diamond and Trouble Andrew (click here to learn more). Several…
Brian Wilson, That Lucky Old Sun (EMI Records). Ever since Brian Wilson terminated his self-imposed hermitage and started performing again, the residual effects have shown. Here Wilson confronts his arrested development by creating an optimistic love letter to California filled with newfound confidence, beautiful harmonies and the same innocent, boyish…
