Although in the minds of many, Dethklok represents the unlikely foray of death metal into the mainstream, it was pioneers like Maryland’s Dying Fetus that did the legwork in establishing and refining the art form. Beginning in 1991, Dying Fetus fused technical death metal with grindcore, and co-founder and singer/guitarist…
In the vein of the influential Switched On series pioneered by Wendy Carlos, Mike Buckley of Nightshark recorded this timely album. Much as Carlos famously did with Bach, using only a Micromoog and a vocoder, Buckley performs synthesizer interpretations of classic Christmas songs that almost have to be heard to…
Although Fred Hess has released a number of excellent small-ensemble recordings, the saxophonist’s big-band recordings are equally captivating. As with his previous two big-band outings, Speak borrows from big bands of the past while also looking toward the future. Some of the area’s finest musicians are on board here, like…
A collaborative project from beatsmiths Snubluck and amor, est, tumtums is self-described as “a psilocybin soliloquy of wonder born in the depths of our dreams.” While certainly poetic, the line is also apt. All of the tracks on this seven-song EP have a starry-eyed quality to them; it’s the perfect…
The Lonely Kid Show, the latest effort from Pries, has four acts, starting with the song “Curtains,” which kicks off with a slowed melody straight from the circus and leads into Pries’s dropping some introspective rhymes about his rise to fame from sleeping on the streets. For the most part,…
VS, which stands for Vibration Sequence (originally EVS, the “E” standing for “Eternal”), was formed in 2009 by Cole Hopfenspirger and Tom Moore, who met while working at the Cheesecake Factory. Both started in the hardcore scene but had left that world before meeting each other. They were familiar with…
John MacLean — better known as his on-stage alter ego The Juan MacLean — has had a strange journey from guitarist for post-hardcore band Six Finger Satellite to DFA Records superstar. By 2002, the formerly rock-minded artist was fully immersed in the electronic scene, releasing his first major single, “By…
Sitar icon Ravi Shankar died yesterday at his home near San Diego at the age of 92, according to his wife, Sukanya, and his daughter Anoushka Shankar. Shankar’s heath had been fragile for the last several years, and, according to a statement issued by his family, last week he underwent…
At the end of October, Killing Joke released its fifteenth album, MMXII. Given the impending doom that supposedly awaits us at the end of next week, it’s hard to imagine a more perfect time to release a record that explores themes of such a looming eschatological event. In 1982, Killing…
Well before the rise of electronic dance music in the mainstream, Colorado has always been a strong hold for EDM. This past year we saw more acts than ever come through town, including a record number of which that performed at Red Rocks. We were on hand for most of…
Update 12/14/12: Congratulations to Sara Harper. She and a guest will be our guests at tomorrow night’s show. Thanks for everybody else for all the entries. Trouble Man: Heavy is the Head, T.I.’s brand new album, doesn’t hit stores until Tuesday, but there’s a solid chance you’ll get to hear…
On Tuesday, January 1, when most of us are still sleeping off the last good times of 2012 or steeling ourselves to tackle resolutions for the new year, our city’s live-music scene will mark a major development: This is the day that the iconic Gothic Theatre will be put in…
Winter On the Rocks 2013: There’s a very good chance you’ll be braving frigid temperatures to see this year’s bill, which, of course, is being headlined by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis — who crushed it last week at the Ogden — and features Major Lazer and the Grouch & Eligh…
Dweezil Zappa is on a mission, and it’s a pretty personal one. Since 2006, the son of the late guitarist/composer/bandleader Frank Zappa has toured the world, playing his father’s music in an effort to attract and educate a new generation of listeners. In leading the Zappa Plays Zappa project, Dweezil…
As people who think about, talk about, write about, listen to and make music, it’s not surprising that the most common (and favorite) topic of conversation among us is the same: “What are you listening to right now?” Stick a quarter in us, and, boy, wouldn’t you know it, off…
Did you totally and completely blow it? Did you dawdle and miss your chance to pick up tickets to Justin Bieber’s now sold-out concert at the Pepsi Center next month and now your darling niece is bummed with you beyond all recognition? Good news for you: You get a do-over…
LAMB OF GOD @ FILLMORE AUDITORIUM |12/10/12 The high point of Lamb of God’s set came somewhere around the mid-point, when, after projecting pictures of the band’s fans in the military on the twin screens flanking drummer Chris Adler, Randy Blythe dedicated “Now You’ve Got Something to Die For” to…
Great Divide Brewing has been distributing its beers to Sweden for years via Great Brands — a craft-beer-focused Swedish distributor that carries a handful of American brews, including those from Avery, Left Hand, Oskar Blues and Ska. The Denver brewery has garnered many fans in Scandinavia since, one of whom…
We’re blessed to live here, you know. If you haven’t already come to this conclusion on your own from feeling the ever-present sunshine and observing the wondrous sunset paintings we’re treated to each evening, all you have to do is take a look at the brimming concert calendar. Whereas the…
EOTO @ THE FILLMORE AUDITORIUM | 12/8/12 “Just so you all know,we are EOTO, and we play live,” declared Michael Travis, the act’s keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist. “There are no backing tracks.” Once he got that handy bit of information out of the way, he then made sure to note that…
PUBLIC ENEMY @ OGDEN THEATRE| 2/4/12 Flava Flav was in top form last night at the Ogden Theatre, from hamming it up informing everybody that Manny Pacquaio got knocked out in the sixth round to sharing the story of how he came to wearing the ever-present iconic clock around his…
Probably one of the only things in punk that’s lasted as long and remained as perennially as popular as NOFX is the mohawk. And while it’s obvioiusly no where near as radical as it was in the Reagan era, it’s still an eye-grabbing representation of the counter-culture that once was…
