Music

Saxophonist Aakash Mittal has studied music in India over the past few years, and at one point, the other members of his quartet joined him for a two-week residency in Calcutta, where they wrote the six songs on Thumbs Up. The EP opens with Matt Fuller playing the meditative solo…

Opening with “Wrecked and Useless,” the music on this album is reminiscent of the sinuous, eclectic Jux County. On “The Vines,” Fred Thulson channels a bit of Love Hysteria-era Peter Murphy, even as the band waxes into funky territory in the song’s outro. The orchestral arrangement of “Why’d She Rain”…

After three successful years of hosting Bisco Inferno at Red Rocks and consistently playing three- to four-day runs in Colorado, the Disco Biscuits have left an indelible imprint on the Centennial State. Taking a bit of a break from the band, Marc Brownstein and Aron Magner are now focusing on…

Rob Gray — who relocated to Denver last year after building up his name as a Midwest Massive resident in St. Louis — is the latest to grace Brett Starr’s monthly House Revival night at the Funky Buddha, where three different DJs spin hours of house music in the round,…

Celebrating the life and legacy of J Dilla, the super producer from Detroit, has become a yearly occurrence since his passing from Lupus in 2007. Started by New York DJ Dee Phunk, the Donuts are Forever parties have been going strong for the past five years. Recent Denver transplant, audio…

TANTRIC PICASSO @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 2/2/12 Sometimes when bands come out on stage and look like they dressed for the show it can seem like a put-on. But when Tantric Picasso came on they looked like a band that had stepped out of a door to the early 1970s…

See also: Super Bowl commercials: Elton John, Flavor Flav, Echo and the Bunnymen and more and Top 5 Super Bowl halftime shows. C’mon! How did the NBC network brass not see this one coming? Seriously? Let’s see… tap one of music’s most subversive artists who has a well known reputation…

LOTUS @ FILLMORE AUDITORIUM | 2/4/11 Freezing temperatures aside, the Fillmore was turned into a dancing sauna, brimming with melodic improvisations and thousands of moving bodies. If Lotus derived their band name from Greek origin, then we all got a taste of the sweet fruit that leaves you in a…

RYAN ADAMS @ TEMPLE BUELL THEATRE | 2/4/12 It’s probably safe to assume that the inquiring mind — the one who just asked Ryan Adams if the red, white and blue guitars he’s been playing all night bear any reference to Buck Owens (they do) — will not be one…

FACEMAN’S WALTZ @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 2/3/12The sound became expansive and the stage felt crowded fairly early in FaceMan’s set at the Bluebird Theater on a snowy Friday night. After a brief introduction from the Flobots’ Stephen “Brer Rabbit” Brackett and Wheelchair Sports Camp’s Kalyn Heffernan, FaceMan’s eponymous frontman (known…

Update (12/5/12): Full review and setlist from the show just posted. Update (12:53 p.m.): So check this out: A couple more things you should know here: First of all, Friday’s show has been postponed until tomorrow night (Saturday) due to inclement weather (shocker, we know). Secondly, whatever sensationalist malarkey you’ve…

If you manage to survive today’s snowpocalypse, there’s plenty of party goodness happening in the Mile High City this weekend. It’s Bob Marley’s birthday, in case you feel like celebrating. Oh, and speaking of celebrations, Tooey’s will toast to the Clinton-era at the Aquarius edition of the ’90s House Party,…

A week ago today, the first-ever wintertime outdoor concert was held at Red Rocks Amphitheatre. It was cold, but the lack of snow helped draw a hearty audience of hip hop fans, making Icelantic Winter on the Rocks, headlined by Atmosphere and Common, go off without a hitch. The scene…