The idea of artists overcoming adversity is a modern theme du jour, with dreary storylines custom-made for television documentaries. Yet it’s hard to imagine any comeback more unlikely than the one achieved by Steve Earle, who appears in a solo acoustic set at the Fox Theatre on Thursday, March 7…
Boubacar Diébaté was, literally, born for music. The native of Senegal, West Africa, is part of a family of griots — traditional musicians who view music as the most important tool of communication and cultural preservation. Now he’s a drummer and master player of the kora, a harplike instrument that…
DJ Ty Tek sits in the back room of Casa Del Soul, the modest yet packed retailer that hawks albums, clubwear and other gear to aspiring Denver spinners. The scene is part vinyl hot spot, part mini-Warhol Factory for the turntable set: A booming house track plays noisily in the…
In spite of a half-minded president, a slew of bad haircuts and a Me-centric mindset, a few memorable and artistic things managed to slip through the conservative cracks of the Reagan era. Confoundingly, much of the substantive musical activity of the ’80s came out of Minnesota, a frigid and often…
While past Jonathan Richman albums have revealed the singer to be many things — Velvet Underground groupie, interstate situationist, champion of affection, eater with gusto — his newest release adds another entry to that resumé: artist. The back cover sports his scrawled pastel depiction of an elfish figure seated on…
The members of Mushroomhead want everyone to know that they had the idea first: cluttering a stage in goofy masks to usher in the end times with mediocre metal. And while fans of Des Moines’s abrasive Slipknot howl from the balconies of hardcore injustice — accusing Mushroomhead of being a…
Tracing the arc of Richmond Fontaine’s career, you can’t help but notice that while the band’s sound has evolved from brash to more subdued, confessional-style country rock, its subject matter has essentially stayed the same. Fontaine’s ethos was captured best by the title of a live album the band released…
There’s a deliciously distorted sound to the guitars in most of Dressy Bessy’s songs. It’s still sweet, with rich, grinding tones that are somehow warm and aggressive at the same time. It’s just twisted, like razors filtered through a candy sieve. Continuing in the same sugarcoated vein as Pink Hearts…
Just over a year ago, when U2 was in danger of losing its constituency, the group returned to its roots with All That You Can’t Leave Behind, and — voilà! — the pop-music world responded with a spate of ring-kissing that still has cash registers chiming. Today the lads have…
Backwash likes to play a little game at the Fox Theatre: When the music begins, we head up to one of the raised railings that extend from both sides of the stage, set a pint on the ledge, and watch the foamy liquid in the glass pulse along with the…
The Streetwalkin’ Cheetahs are slated to prowl the 15th Street Tavern on Saturday, March 2, in the company of Hemi Cuda and Jet Black Joy — and the choice of the verb “prowl” isn’t simply a failed attempt at cleverness. (Actually, it probably is, but bear with us.) As demonstrated…
There are reasons why the angels in old Renaissance-era frescoes are always toting horns, and they aren’t all biblical: Blown just so, brass instruments have a way of setting a tone, inducing feelings — from reverent to melancholic and back again. PW3, one of Denver’s more successfully nebulous outfits, folds…
Seated in Domo — a local, rustic Japanese eatery that doesn’t believe in forks — Michael Serviolo studies his menu like a finicky working-class gourmand. He exalts the merits of green-lipped mussels over the lesser species of poultry, considers aloud how the distinct tang of lemongrass might accent the fire…
Discussions about Desaparecidos on music-oriented Web bulletin boards — virtual forums where serious fans can dissect their faves 24 hours a day — indicate that it takes some work to pronounce the band’s name. “Day-suh-par-eh-see-dohs,” offers one helpful user at audiogalaxy.com. But perhaps that’s part of the idea behind the…
To paraphrase a famous musical meditation on solitude: As numbers go, two can be just as desperate, miserable and lonely as one. Over the past couple of years, several duos have shown us that simply equipping an outfit with both a boy and a girl does not guarantee anima-like harmony…
Talk about your feel-good stories. During his youth, Walser specialized in authentic country music before joining the National Guard. But in 1994, nearly four decades later, he retired from the service and reached for his guitar again. And even though he was considerably grayer and rounder than he’d been the…
Carl Cox may be one of the best Detroit DJs who actually hails from Manchester, UK. Not that the tribal-house guru hasn’t repeatedly blazed through Motor City during his quarter-century of jockeydom. It’s just that he bottles a particular blend of soul tech, futurescape electro and throbbing club vibe that’s…
With so many alter egos and in-jokes flooding Negativland’s Universal Media Netweb (social critic Crosley Bendix, psychiatrist Dr. Oslo Norway and the smarmy Weatherman among them), keeping track of who’s who is more of a nuisance than a necessity. Core member Richard Lyons sometimes bullies the pulpit in drag as…
In 1993, the Breeders surprised everyone by going platinum overnight and then imploding almost as suddenly. Nearly ten years later, it’s good to know that Kim Deal — former Pixies bassist, current multi-instrumentalist and perennial patron saint of smart indie pop — still believes in the band as much as…
Rachel Simring’s sultry husk of a voice is reason enough to head to either of her new band’s shows this week: Rachel’s Playpen appears Thursday, February 21, at Sportsfield Roxxx, and Friday, February 22, at Cricket on the Hill. Unfortunately for those who fear a triple threat, vocals are only…
Record collectors have long known that there’s more to a slab of vinyl than whatever music is captured in the circular depressions rotating beneath the turntable’s needle. There’s the kinesthetic appeal of the material, at once so fragile and yet so sturdy, and the almost meditative quality of those shiny…
Comeliness is the only credential most youthful heartthrobs need. After all, good genes and an attractive mug are more than enough to justify the video and magazine exposure that fills the brief careers of typical nouveau hunks or pubescent toy boys. But while twenty-year-old British swoon-inducer Craig David certainly benefits…
