800 the Jewell (aka Phillip Embry) is a man of many words and even more substance. In addition to his work as a producer, musician and rapper, he is the founder of Jewell Tyme Music, the label that houses such artists as Haven the Great, King FOE, Karma, and others…
Meg and Jack White officially called it quits today via announcement on their web site. On balance, we’d describe this as not a huge development, considering they haven’t released any new material in three and a half years and they’re nearly ten years on the downhill side of their creative…
Looks like Wheelchair Sports Camp, the band whose frontwoman, Kalyn Heffernan, we profiled this past November, will be heading to this year’s SXSW. While a number of other acts will undoubtedly make the trek to Austin this March, Wheelchair Sports received an official invitation to perform at the festival –…
Sounding like a lost band from the DGC Records roster heyday, Gata Negra seems unafraid to play to its influences — the Denver-based three piece blends some mid-’90s-referenced riotous vocals and guitar with the true heartache of rhythm and blues…
This Valentine’s Day, Denver funk band Bop Skizzum wants to end relationships. Well, crappy ones, anyway. They’re offering to create personalized video messages to fans that will include their song “I’m So Much Cooler,” which is about knowing your girl/guy crush is dating the wrong guy/girl. “The song is kind…
First Friday is usually a day reserved for people who like art wander around the city and stare at pretty pictures and talk to each other about how they have no money, but if they did, boy, they’d totally buy that painting. However, as this week’s flier shows us, it…
After a seven-year run at 2401 Blake Street, last June the Blake Street Tavern moved a block south to the former Club 303/Polly Esther’s space at 2301 Blake. The new space was massive, and owner Chris Fuselier hinted at the time that he might open a dance club in the…
A handful of years ago, it seemed as though bands lumped into the so-called post-punk revival category were dominating the listening diet of trendy bohemian types everywhere. At first listen, Force Publique can sound like a latter-day version of the same, except that the band expertly blends the kind of…
It’s probably no surprise that a Christian metalcore band hails from Tampa, Florida. Sure, a quick and superficial listen to the band’s songs will prompt eye rolls from anyone who hates “screamo” and its offshoots. But at least these guys seem to care about being taken seriously outside the context…
Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw used to be members of the acclaimed indie-pop group Page France, and what was once called the Cotton Jones Basket Ride was a side project. When the members of Page France parted ways in 2008, Nau and McGraw continued as a duo, making music that,…
During the last decade, few artists burst onto the music scene as fully formed as Interpol. Turn on the Bright Lights, from 2002, was deeply devoted to post-punk and new-wave antecedents, yet it was authentic enough in execution to render it wholly singular and visionary. Similarly, the New York foursome’s…
Portland indie rockers the Decemberists, long known for their encyclopedic lyrics and mournful delivery, met the rising indie zeitgeist halfway with this year’s The King Is Dead. The album, the band’s most pop-friendly to date, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 album chart. That marks the culmination of…
A new band featuring Bobby Jamison and AJ Hathaway — who used to be in the ferocious and fiery Tarmints and the final incarnation of Twice Wilted — Downwire released this debut album as a recording project. The dirty, brooding guitar over the top of expressive yet heavy tribal drumming…
A master class in power chords and heavy needling, Heighliner’s debut trudges through metal, skips through pop punk and ambles through prog in ten tracks. Because the band is instrumental-only, it’s easy to focus on the guitars. Going without a vocalist typically demands that bandmembers find a way to make…
The construction of this EP is probably the best way to enter it. Clay and Barry are brothers; Clay writes the lyrics, and Barry writes the songs and sings. There are folk songs hung on varying degrees of static, and they sound like they were recorded inside a giant barrel…
A feature-laden compilation from Spoke in Wordz, Power of Wordz is one of the more innovative projects to come out of the hip-hop community so far this year. Essentially a collaboration between Spoke and his favorite artists, Power shines on the strength of the MC’s rugged flow over diverse production…
Throughout his career as a producer and DJ of house music, Wally Callerio has been affiliated with dozens of record labels in addition to launching his own Dufflebag Recordings. This underground artist has been hooked on house since the days of Doc Martin’s “Unlock the House” sessions in the early…
FaceMan’s second show was on September 12, 2009. The attention of most indie-rock fans in the Mile High City was directed elsewhere that day — at Red Rocks and Monolith, to be specific. But for some, it wasn’t the Pitchfork-approved indies up in Morrison that were the most remarkable. That…
Have you peeped the Chloe Rodham directed stop-motion video for “100 Other Lovers,” the first song from DeVotchKa’s similarly titled, forthcoming full-length, 100 Lovers? We have, and it seems like a perfectly fitting representation. I mean, when we think DeVotchKa, we always picture a delightful old claymation woman in a…
Oh, these critical days of hip-hop. In the era of YouTube fame and other forms of rap exploitation, there are always the folks who stand up for the truth of the evolution in society. Things have changed, and every now and then, an artist puts their account of life’s changes…
Looks like Paper Bird is bringing its talent for folksy harmonies and rootsy string work to the world of fine arts. The folk outfit is pairing with Ballet Nouveau Colorado for Carry On, a performance piece running later this month that taps into “themes of memory, dream, innocence, illusion, and…
With a cold and blustery day in front of us and the new Fleet Foxes song just released, we’ve been thinking a lot about what type of folk song we really enjoy. So much, in fact, that we’ve put together a handy flow chart for picking the right type of…
