It’s easy to understand why the Shapeshifters — Simon Marlin and Max Reich — have scored four crossover chart hits in the U.K., including a top single with their initial release, “Lola’s Theme.” The DJ and production duo cherry-picks the catchiest elements of any number of styles (techno, electro, deep…
Though powered by prog pretentiousness and punk pissiness, Sacramento’s Tera Melos isn’t just another band of post-rock pansies. These guys came to agitate and irritate anyone who shows up with a preconceived notion. Nick Reinhart layers guitars, loops, electronics — and even the occasional vocal melody — over Nathan Latona’s…
The songs on David Dondero’s most recent record, Simple Love, sound as polished and hooky as anything you’re likely to hear on “modern rock” radio. The difference is, Dondero, whose voice is ever so husky and quavers with undercurrents of strong emotion, has a knack for avoiding the type of…
Austin’s Ghostland Observatory is more than just another pair of sweaty dudes making party music. Aaron Behrens and Thomas Turner crank up the heat on this formula by combining filthy French electro with ’60s soul and plenty of ’80s synth pop. While Turner churns out beats that butts can’t resist,…
This is the kind of show that almost never comes to our fair city, or any other midsize burg between the coasts. Kraftwerk, a German ensemble co-founded in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider, is a legitimate popular-music pioneer, introducing electronic music to the masses with “Autobahn,” which hit…
Shelby Lynne’s career path is as twisted as that of any contemporary performer, and it shows no signs of straightening out anytime soon. She bowed in 1989 with Sunrise, which Epic Records marketed as country. But her inability to color within the genre’s lines caused her to bump from label…
Is it wrong to write such catchy songs from a killer’s perspective? Am I a sick man for finding this so cool? Does this mean I have deeply buried issues? Probably. What can I say, I always wanted to see a band that sounds like a David Byrne-fronted Devo tribute…
Denver’s newest celebrity — Daisy Graves, semi-finalist for the heart of Poison’s Brett Michaels on Rock of Love II, almost fucked her way to the top. Well, if by the top you mean being chosen from a house full of attention-starved, drama-drunk reality-TV contestants as the (most likely) throwaway squeeze…
The April 17 Westword profile of Enon features quotes aplenty from John Schmersal, the band’s founder – and the changes he’s undergone of late come through even more clearly in the following Q&A. The conversation begins with Schmersal discussing the reception to Grass Geysers… Carbon Clouds, the first Enon disc…
Kimya Dawson, the subject of an April 17 profile and the Q&A below, isn’t a new artist. She and Adam Green were part of the Moldy Peaches, a so-called anti-folk combo whose debut CD arrived in 2001 – and since then, she’s issued several solo albums and cut a disc…
Sporting one of the greatest names of any band in Denver, Cougar Legs set about blowing minds with their improvisational jazz stylings on April 14. Slide show by Molly Kreck…
Here’s a selection of the best of last week’s music blogging from around the Village Voice chain: Some bands merely play, while others engage in full-scale musical riots. In this review, Monotonix opt for the latter…
Ian Cooke and Laylights Saturday, April 12, 2008 Bluebird Theater Better Than: Any other show I’ve seen from either act Though I was secretly skeptical about this weekend’s big Laylights CD release show, not only were my low expectations completely blown away, but I also came out of the show…
LOCALS ONLY Local hip-hop artists and their fans rarely get to hear their music played on the radio. But in recent years, opportunities for local hip-hop artists to get their music on the air have grown immensely. Local hip-hop artists like Dent, Babah Fly, Catch Lungs, Infinite Minds, Deca and…
Look, we’ve been friends a long time, right? We’ve made out, braided each other’s hair, played putt-putt, danced until all hours of the night, made each other mix tapes, talked politics and religion, and commiserated about largely innocuous childhood traumas. In short, we’ve bonded. So I’m not gonna bullshit you…
Eels Wednesday, April 9, 2008 Fox Theater Better Than: hockey Being an innovative and legendary creative force in the world can place undue stresses on a person. Expected to perform at a certain level, to consistently engage an audience, to rise to greater heights with each utterance, the artist can…
It’s official: Nathaniel Motte and Sean Foreman, the pair of hooligans known collectively as 3OH!3, are no longer free agents. “We sent the contract in the other day,” Motte confirms. “It’s all said and done. We’re excited.” The act has been snapped up by Photo Finish Records, an offshoot of…
Sometimes it’s hard to look back on your past. With a mixture of shame, sadness and nostalgia, you leaf through your baby pictures, grade-school love letters, high-school yearbook, wedding album and resumé, trying to find the signposts and forks in the road that brought you to your current situation. For…
If brevity is truly the soul of wit, then Eric Earley, the lead vocalist and guitarist for Oregon’s Blitzen Trapper, is the cleverest man on the planet. Earley’s not the slightest bit rude during an extended interview even though he’s stuffed into a Dodge Sprinter van with his bandmates —…
There isn’t much demand for tap dancers these days, so kudos to Omaha’s Tilly and the Wall for employing Jaime Pressnall in place of a traditional percussionist. (She also plays guitar, but unfortunately, not while tapping.) The coed five-piece is the crown jewel of Bright Eyes songwriter Conor Oberst’s independent…
On There’s Nothing Safe, Vendetta Valentine’s latest, the Los Angeles-based trio draws inspiration from George Orwell’s 1984, touching upon topics ranging from Big Brother to the falseness of government. The album, soaked in electro-pop and Pixies hooks, was produced with the help of famed sports talk-show host Jim Rome. We…
Ben Allison, Little Things Run the World (Palmetto). Ben Allison is a brilliant composer, and here he’s cooked up another batch of adventurous originals as well as a reworking of his outstanding cut “Respiration,” which originally appeared on 2004’s Buzz, with guitarist Steve Cardenas and trumpeter Ron Horton. Also stellar…
