Making commercial music that doesn’t seem crass or cheeseball is among the more difficult tricks for any band to turn – and overall, the Last Seen succeeds at doing so. Of the four songs on this new EP, three hit the sweet spot: “Don’t Say,” a driving rouser with two…
At least on Usher’s last album, Confessions, he was being honest. He was essentially admitting to being a cheating scumbag, and that’s what made it interesting. But his followup, Here I Stand, finds him a married father, and he admits to little more than cyber-cruising. “I’m chatting, this ain’t cheating,…
Twista may be the biggest name on Mobstability II: Nation Bizness, but he’s not officially in charge. Instead, he’s presenting the disc on behalf of Chicago’s Speedknot Mobstaz, with whom he teamed on the first Mobstability, issued ten years ago. Since then, Mobstaz Lefty Stokes and Mayz have bided their…
As a composer of lush, ambient soundscapes in the vein of mid-era Tangerine Dream and the later recordings of Slowdive, German-born composer Ulrich Schnauss has made quite a name for himself in the international dream-pop underground. In addition to playing keyboards in Long-view, Schnauss has collaborated with Robin Guthrie of…
Devon Williams, who’ll take the Larimer stage following Myse, Ellison Park and the May Kit, is best known for his time in Osker, a punk band that released two full-lengths on the Epitaph label. But Carefree, a splendid new solo album issued by Ba Da Bing Records, is hardly a…
With so many syllables in the band’s name, you would totally expect it to be an emo band or purveyors of instrumental post-rock. Although there is a bit of the former in its sound, Chapel Hill’s I Was Totally Destroying It is really a power-pop band of the sunny, upbeat…
The morning after playing a party for his high-school graduation, Josh “Reverend” Peyton woke up with severe pain in his hands. Doctors thought that Peyton, who had been playing guitar for five years, would never play again. “For almost two years, I didn’t play,” Peyton notes. “I ended up having…
When Constantines singer/guitarist Bryan Webb sits down to write lyrics, he doesn’t simply spit out the first words that occur to him and call it a day. “I definitely obsess over the little things — over syntax and even the placement of ‘the’ or ‘a’ or ‘an,'” he admits, “just…
Rock and roll has had a hefty impact on American pop culture and, consequently, our country’s identity for the past fifty years, more often than not intersecting with our politics and whatever social unrest is currently afflicting us. In honor of the Fourth of July, we picked four pivotal moments…
The 14th annual Westword Music Showcase Awards is now in the books. Holy crap! What a party! We haven’t seen that many inebriated folks in one place since…well, probably since the last party we threw that attracted dozens of the Mile High’s best musicians, several prominent radio hosts, including Alf,…
Bryan Webb, the singer and guitarist for Canada’s Constantines, profiled in Westword’s July 3 edition, is a naturally introspective fellow – but he opens up in his songs, and in the Q&A below…
Stevie Wonder July 1, 2008 Fiddler’s Green How long has it been since Stevie Wonder performed in Denver? He headlined an intimate date at the Paramount Theatre the last time around, and I vividly remember a moment early in his set when a petite woman near the front of the…
Photo by Daniel K (not at Bender’s) Th’ Legendary Shack Shakers, The Limbs, “Seven Signs” Tuesday, July 1, 2008, Benders Better than: Sunday morning mass. Down through the ages many have tried to preach the gospel from the stage. The key word being “preach.” For such a tactic to be…
On Tuesday evening just after 5 p.m., the time that Tickle Me Pink was originally slated to make an in-store appearance at Independent Records on Colfax to commemorate the release of Madeline, its eagerly awaited Wind-up Records debut, fans gathered together to pay their respects to Tickle Me Pink bassist…
Just received word that Johnny Schou, bassist for Fort Collins-based power-pop act Tickle Me Pink, was found dead this morning at his home at the age of 22. Prior to passing away, the four-stringer, a 2005 graduate of Ft. Collins High School, also worked as an assistant engineer at the…
Matson Jones. ‘Memba them? Chamber-driven badasses, named Denver’s Best New Band in 2005, signed to Sympathy for the Recording Industry, now dearly departed and all that? Yeah, pretty awesome, right? Well, we just received word that the co-ed quartet is returning to perform a pair of shows, the first on…
Photos by Aaron Thackeray. Film on the Rocks Shaun of the Dead, Boulder Acoustic Society and Michael Trundle Monday, June 30, 2008 Red Rock Amphitheatre Better Than: Watching Shaun of the Dead without fake zombies sitting behind you Shaun of the Dead was never a true cult classic: It made…
Photos by Aaron Thackeray. Warped Tour Sunday, June 29 Invesco Field at Mile High Loads o’ musicians stepped up to the microphone at Warped Tour 2008’s Denver stop — but in a very real way, the day belonged to 3Oh!3. The duo of Sean Foreman and Nathaniel Motte made a…
Photo by Soren McCarty. Widespread Panic Friday, June 27, 2008 Red Rocks Amphitheatre Better than: Listening from the Red Rocks parking lots. I’ll just say this straight up, and all you Spreadheads can hate me if you will (and you probably will): I don’t like jam bands. More specifically, I…
Photos by Aaron Thackeray and Soren McCarty. SoCo Music Experience Saturday, June 28, 2008, Coors Field Parking Lot Better than: Drinking a shot of SoCo. So what’s the first thing that pops into your head when someone says, “Let’s go to a fest at Coors Field’s parking lot!” Your response…
Photo by Tom Murphy. Reverend Dead Eye Friday, June 27, 2008 The Continental Club, Denver Better Than: You have any reason to expect from a dive bar off Santa Fe. There might have been any number of other things to see or do on a Friday night in late June,…
Photo by Tom Murphy. Moonspeed, Ross Etherton and the Wheel Saturday, June 28, 2008 hi-dive Better Than: Every space rock show I’ve seen since last summer when Bright Channel last played. Ross Etherton opened the show with a Son House song done in his own earnest, inimitable, dignified style. For…
