BLKHRTS brings three MCs together for some really good rap

The members of BLKHRTS — FOE, Karma and Yonnas Abraham of The Pirate Signal — are blazing into the new year with the same fervor and furor that drives their individual careers. The project has great cohesion, which isn’t too surprising, considering the three MCs have frequently featured on each…

Octave spins live on January 8 at Casselman’s Bar & Venue

Up-and-coming minimalist techno artist Octave hails from Paris and is gaining traction at clubs in Germany, Greece and the Netherlands, as well. On this side of the pond, meanwhile, his “Past Flash” track was included on techno god Richie Hawtin’s album Sounds From Can Elles. Octave’s version of techno is…

Fox Theater & Boulder Theater selling VIP laminates for 2011 shows

The folks at Z2 Entertainment, who operate the Fox Theatre and Boulder Theater, are selling VIP laminates that are good for two tickets to every Z2 show for the coming year. Five of the ten laminates, which run $2,500 and are non-transferable, will have the person’s photos on the passes…

Tonight: Autococoon at Yellow Feather Coffee

As Autococoon, Caitlin Payne Roberts takes the very personal and makes it public, cramming paragraphs of thought and emotion into simple song structures with fluttering vocal grace. Unlike most touring musicians, the singer-songwriter will be passing through Colorado by way of Greyhound bus tonight, as part of a fundraiser for…

Paper Bird at the Oriental, 12/31/10

PAPER BIRD Dovekins • Pee Pee 12.31.10 | Oriental Theatre The New Year’s Eve traditions on display at the Oriental Theater went beyond the noisemakers and the balloons. For the second year in a row, Paper Bird shared the bill with Dovekins to ring in the new year. The young…

Warlock Pinchers at the Gothic, 12/31/10

WARLOCK PINCHERS with Il Cattivo 12.31.10 | Gothic Theater Around 9 p.m., the safety videos started up and it looked and sounded like something straight out of Wonder Showzen. Puppets and people in a gorilla and a robot costume interacted as they would on a warped, faux kids’ show: surrealistic,…

The five best music apps of 2010

As 2010 has come to a close, we’ve seen plenty of changes on the music landscape, but nothing has been as strange and welcome as the increasingly awesome ability to create fully fleshed-out albums on your phone. This all came to a head when Gorillaz decided to release The Fall,…

EOTO and more at City Hall, 12/31/10

EOTO • HEYOKA • DIESELBOY With Project Aspect • NitGrit • Ishe • SPECTRE J.Wail and Chuck Morris of Lotus • Fresh2Death • Freddy Todd • Jantsen NastyNasty • Liquid Stranger • RumbleJunkie • Larva Ink City Hall Amphitheatre | 12.31.10 City Hall Amphitheatre recently renovated their outdoor stage by…

A New Year Underground at Theory + Practice

A NEW YEAR UNDERGROUND With Hence * Eli D * BeeKay * Travis Press * Uriah West * Brick Lee 12.31.10 | Theory + Practice The only sign that the Theory + Practice gallery, 738 Santa Fe Drive, was hosting an epic New Year’s Eve party was the pounding bass…

Here’s to the lasting kiss of Smooch Records

After over a decade of Colorado-centric album releases, Smooch Records has called it quits. The California-based label released music from over a dozen Mile High City bands with a dark country twinge, putting out music by the likes of Slim Cessna’s Auto Club, 16 Horsepower and Woven Hand…

Ten pop music paradigm shifts in 2010

Teen dream Justin Bieber is arguably the biggest pop star in the country and Simon Cowell isn’t doing American Idol. A lot’s changed since last year in the world of pop. Institutions fell, ideas were challenged, and the Black Eyed Peas didn’t have the number one song in the country…

Photos: STS9 at the Fillmore, 12/30/10

Sound Tribe Sector 9 opened up the first of a three-night residency at the Fillmore Auditorium last night, selling out the venue. If you don’t get tickets for tonight’s show, you can’t blame us! (New Year’s Eve is sold-out.) Photographer Aaron Thackeray was at the Fillmore last night and brings…

Kevin Kain is very much alive and well!

Y’all can cancel the Amber Alert. Kevin Kain is alive and well. Very much so. Last night, the local Twitterverse was buzzing with word that promoter Kevin Kain had allegedly been killed in a car accident at the Southlands Mall. Turns out the erroneous rumor was just that. Talk about…

KDJ Above joins KS-107.5 roster of mixers

KDJ Above, a resident in the club rocking scene, is joining the KS-1075 team in a move that has set Denver’s hip-hop world ablaze. This past year, KDJ has been a regular at Gallery 22, as well as the prominent DJ causing a ruckus at Club Sutra’s wild weekly Friday…