It’s funny how the most trivial things can get a guy pumped up. For a dude who spends a lot of time in dives, a Thursday night in a country bar seemed like a nice diversion. Driving west down highway 36 toward the newly opened Electric Cowboy (8811 Harlan Street),…
Okay, pretend Nirvana never forced hair bands into early retirement — it can be pretty bleak to think about. But if you listen to the recorded output of Steve Vai and Joe Satriani, you might hear something a little different. Not just soloing for the sake of showing off their…
I like narrow bars. The rectangular kind, with a long stretch of booths on one side and bar stools lined up on the other. Architectural slivers of space with claustrophobic pathways about three feet wide and thirty feet deep. The more cramped the quarters, the stronger my affection for the…
When proto-punk and original-era punk acts were in their prime, I was either too young or too far from the various scenes to catch them in action. As a result, my only chance to see such groups perform has been in reunion formats — and my experiences at such shows…
You’ve already met Zac Pennington. He’s the well-dressed kid behind the counter at the record store; the one with the Modest Mouse good looks who intimidates you with his storehouse of music knowledge. He’s the one standing outside the venue passing out hand-drawn flyers for some multimedia art-rock show he’s…
It was one of those moments when a music fan can feel as if he’s fallen through the looking glass. This morning, I had to dash to my neighborhood King Soopers, in the Ken-Caryl Ranch area, to pick up some orange juice and milk, and as I stepped inside, the…
Shut the hell up. Seriously, Chatty Cathy, clip your freaking string. Standing shoulder to shoulder with the rest of the crowd watching the Wheel warm up for Ian Cooke at the hi-dive last week, those words kept rolling across my mind like a Times Square news crawl. Because even as…
Rock historians regard the glory years of the Stooges to be 1969 and 1970, when the proto-punk act released The Stooges and Fun House, their two most influential albums. But according to Ron Asheton, the voluble guitarist for the combo, which is close to intact after coming apart more than…
For a musician to remain relevant two decades into his career is beyond remarkable. Far too many commercially successful artists become a parody of themselves after their second or third releases. Like sonically kindred visionaries the Flaming Lips and the brilliantly eccentric Tom Waits, Mike Patton has kept his cachet…
F. Scott Fitzgerald once declared that there are no second acts in American lives. Had the novelist ever met Will Baumgartner, however, he might not have been so quick to make such an assertion. The Action Figure 8 frontman has successfully battled back from a lengthy crack addiction that caused…
If national elections are the government’s way of dicking you over every four years, Tax Day is its way of making sure you don’t forget who has the biggest dick every single year. The worst part is that while you could spend the rest of the year wondering how your…
The Greyboy Allstars first came together in 1993 for the release of DJ Greyboy’s Freestylin’. Greyboy (aka Andreas Stevens) wanted to have a live band play tracks from the album at his release party, so he assembled a group made up of saxophonist Karl Denson, who had played on the…
Tim Mosley’s megalomania is totally justified. He’s among the most consistently inventive producers of the past decade, and his profile has risen immeasurably thanks to recent hits on which he’s both dial-twister and co-star. However, Shock Value proves he’s a better supporting player than a main attraction — and his…
Don’t be fooled by Amy Winehouse’s boozy-beehive, tabloid-fodder image. This gum-popping Londoner has the talent and substance necessary to back the substantial hype. With vocals that ooze a seductive combination of confidence, innocence and sleaze, Winehouse is a real-life dream girl. While her throwback approach is mightily informed by classic…
Time and AwareNess have been collaborating for years. Though the two MCs are somewhat obscure in Denver, they’ve earned a dedicated following across the country, even counting members of the Anticon collective as fans. On Anti-Smiles, released under the Calm moniker, the pair explores themes of existential uncertainty. Instead of…
Patchwork Quilt contradicts its title. Far from feeling scattershot, the disc is infinitely more consistent than its predecessor, RV Livin’. Yet it retains a lot of the lunacy that made the earlier album so likable. Musically, the theme is blues rock, with the Lewis boys — guitarist Pete, bassist Phil…
Joseph Arthur & the Lonely Astronauts, Let’s Just Be (Lonely Astronaut Records). Either Arthur has just discovered hallucinogens or he’s found a non-pharmaceutical way of temporarily losing his mind. Let’s Just Be is easily his most unhinged disc — a thoroughly enjoyable retro freakout replete with glittery glam (“Diamond Ring,”…
Clutch, From Beale Street to Oblivion (DRT Entertainment). If bands were represented by mythological characters, Clutch would easily take on the role of shape-shifter. Changing directions so often that its sound draws deserved comparisons to almost every style imaginable, including metal, doom and jazz fusion, Clutch stays reliably on course…
Lesbian, Power Hör (Holy Mountain). Probably the worst band name ever, but this dense slab of psychedelic, relentlessly heavy metal redeems the Seattle quartet. With just four tracks spanning over an hour, Power Hör ranks with classics like the Melvins’ Lysol and Sleep’s Jerusalem as a hefty, ambitious and complex…
Billy Martin & John Medeski, Mago (Amulet). These guys have been meaning to make a duet record since they first jammed nearly twenty years ago. Aside from a few free jams and a hipster-tinged bossa nova cut, Medeski and Martin don’t stray too far the from the same kind of…
MC Frontalot, Secrets From the Future (Level Up Records). Borrowing production values from Eminem and utilizing a lyrical style reminiscent of Biz Markie, MC Frontalot is poised to become the harbinger of the next generation of chemically imbalanced rappers. On his sophomore release, Front’s self-proclaimed nerd-core style sounds fully developed…
Of God and Science, The Songs (Detach Records). Every town has a band like Of God and Science: clever, sincere and entertaining, but too much like your buddy Dave from vo-tech: medium height, medium build, no distinguishing features. Great personality, but no edge. The record’s blend of kitschy pop and…
