Turntablists–DJs who turn mixing and spinning into hip-hop performance art–have made a big noise in San Francisco and New York, but they’re just now getting the attention they deserve in many other cities. As a result, most locals don’t realize that Denver DJ Jam X is widely regarded as one…
The past twelve months have been very, very good to A.J. Salas. Since last summer, the blues-and-boogie-woogie pianist has composed and arranged a piece for the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and wowed large crowds at the People’s Fair, the Cherry Creek Arts Festival and several other big-time local events. He’s also…
The January 15, 1998, edition of this column introduced you to Big Pauli & Mr. V-Lo, a spinoff from the Denver hip-hop act Deuce Mob (“Join the Mob,” February 14, 1996). The Mob’s breakup, which took place after the group opened for the Ice Cube side project Westside Connection in…
Those of us who grew up as fans of punk and alternative music always have our radar up, and as a result, we can sense a sellout a mile off. When, for example, David Bowie claimed before a tour a few years back that he was playing his old songs…
Earlier in their careers, Madonna, Liz Phair and Tori Amos routinely prescribed megadoses of overt female sexuality, and since their musical pills were alternately sugared with disco beats, indie minimalism and highfalutin piano classicism, large numbers of fans eagerly swallowed them. Recently, however, these high-profile women, each of whom came…
Most local gay nightlife languishes in self-imposed mediocrity that couldn’t be further removed from the exciting club milieu invented by queers back in the Sixties and Seventies–which is why Kim Fronapfel, aka DJ Sentiment, is such a valuable part of the community. By blending funk, jazz, R&B and rap from…
For President Bill Clinton, the attention being paid to Monica Lewinsky these days has meant plenty of trouble. But Candye Kane, a jump-blues singer whose new single is titled “200 Pounds of Fun,” sees the rise of the big-boned former White House intern as a personal blessing. “She probably weighs…
HOUR ONE: It’s 3:20 p.m. on August 23, and within seconds of arriving at Fiddler’s Green, where the Lilith Fair is taking place, the phrase “odd man out” leaps to mind. There are women everywhere–women alone, women in pairs, women in clusters–and although I’m hardly the only person in the…
On page 88 of this issue, you’ll find the first ballot for the 1998 edition of the Westword Music Awards Showcase, which takes place at seven venues in lower downtown on Sunday, September 20. (Duplicate ballots are scheduled to appear in each issue through September 17, when our Showcase guide…
It’s the Fourth of July, and Nina Storey is playing the Cherry Creek Arts Festival. As her band sets up under a cavernous white tent whose lax corners flutter gently with the breeze, a crowd begins to gather: hot, tired women wearing florals with straw hats, and sunburned men in…
Neko Case may be the lone country artist on a portion of this year’s Lilith Fair tour, but she has no interest in leading a women-must-twang-together campaign. “That would be preaching to the choir, wouldn’t it?” she asks. Too bad, because Case would make a fine spokeswoman for such a…
“I studied the American language program at Columbia University and was planning on becoming an English teacher,” says Alpha Blondy, who was born in Timbokro, on the African Ivory Coast. Blondy never accomplished this goal; instead, he became one of the world’s most successful reggae stars. But he still uses…
In the 1950 film classic All About Eve, a critic pays homage to Bette Davis’s aging Broadway star. “You’re maudlin and full of self-pity,” he fawns. “You’re magnificent!” The same can be said of Atlanta’s Rock*A*Teens, who over the past four years have squeezed out three long-players and one EP…
“People are just really thirsty for straightforward fuck-you rock,” says Rick Sims, former member of the Didjits and the Supersuckers. And with his new project, the Gaza Strippers, that’s precisely what he delivers. He describes the group’s previous headlining gig in Denver as “a borderline fucking riot,” which was just…
As I was trying to keep my head above the torrent of hormones that was flooding Fiddler’s Green during the August 5 Spice Girls concert, I found myself wondering what had brought me to this extraordinarily strange place. And then the answer came to me: sperm. Had I simply rolled…
Denver’s Andy Polt is homeless; he’s spent most of the past seven years living in back alleys, rescue missions, rehearsal spaces, cars and various warm-weather job sites. But he hasn’t let his circumstances stand in the way of his musical objectives. Late last year, he released Hard Choir Gospel, six…
While going through my late father-in-law’s album collection recently, I chanced upon the platter above–archaeological evidence that Peggy Lee was actually the first Spice Girl. Could a lawsuit be in the offing? One of the long-running success stories in the Colorado music industry is adding a new chapter. Mark Bliesener,…
“What I’m trying to do is just play music and keep it as fun as possible,” says Boulder’s Ted Thacker. “And if I glean some artistic depth from that, that’s great. But that’s not what I’m aiming for–because I can’t.” Lest you think Thacker’s underselling himself, consider a recent performance…
When last we checked in with Wyclef Jean (“Rhymes of Passion,” March 21, 1996), he was desperately trying to remain on his feet in spite of the wave of global fame that was threatening to engulf him. A few short weeks earlier, his group, the Fugees, had released The Score,…
Public Enemy He Got Game (Def Jam) Like Michael Jordan when he gave up shagging baseballs in the hot Alabama sun in favor of reclaiming his NBA crown, Public Enemy is attempting the most unlikely of comebacks. And while it’s too soon to say if the outfit retains the moves…
“We’re a scary band,” says Gimmicks vocalist Mark Starr with a laugh. “At least that’s what people have told us. But I don’t really see the Gimmicks that way. I mean, it’s not like we’re a bunch of ghouls dressing up in capes or anything. We just play what comes…
When Los Angeles-based jazz singer Pamela Stonebrooke began billing herself as the “Intergalactic Diva,” the smoky-voiced chanteuse was not yet renowned for mingling with non-human life-forms. A sign-up sheet for a jazz showcase overseen by a drummer friend asked participants to list their names and instruments–“and just as a joke,…
