It’s been about a year and half since the Fray’s last release, the self-titled follow-up to its double platinum debut, How to Save a Life. In between touring and writing songs for its next album, Denver’s favorite power-ballad purveyors have been working on a cover album. We caught up with…
After all our hype, all our shit-talking and all of our preparation (okay, preparation consisted solely of previously mentioned hype and shit talking, we admit it), we came, we played and we got our ever-loving asses kicked at our own music Knowcase. Yeah, we came in a desultory sixth place…
The space at 940 Lincoln Street that had been Zen, and was known as Hunks for a few days last month, has now changed its name to Chique. And it’s not just the name that has changed. According to owner Bonnie King, the club’s concept has changed, as well. For…
The Brian Jonestown Massacre • Floorian 06.13.10 | Bluebird Theater Floorian, a five-piece from Columbus, Ohio, opened last night’s show and sounded like a shoegaze band of old gone a little darker while cultivating a certain improvisational psychedelic flair. At times, the music reminded me a little of a tripped…
The Electric Daisy Carnival06.12.10 | Arapahoe County Fairgrounds Since 1996, the Electric Daisy Carnival has morphed and spread from a Southern California party to a multi-venue conglomeration of parties that have now gone global (Puerto Rico’s Carnival is August 28 this year — plenty of time to buy tickets…). The…
There’s nothing like experiencing the sweat, thump and catharsis of a great show. Trouble is, you live in Denver, the land of embarrassing riches when it comes to music, the land of too many shows and too little time. So which ones are worth checking out? Glad you asked. After…
Just into its third year, the outdoor stage at the Meadowlark (2701 Larimer Street) got its third noise violation from the city, which essentially means the bar can no longer hold shows outside. “It’s been really emotional for everyone at the bar,” says Jonathan Bitz, the bar’s talent buyer. “We’ve…
Maybe it’s something about the time of year — it is technically still spring, the time of new beginnings — but it seems like a lot of musicians around town are brushing up their songwriting skills and gearing up to release solo efforts. Add two more to that list: Andy…
Westword — thirty-plus years your weekly, ink-stained guide to Denver — now lives in your iPhone. The Westword iPhone app went live last night and is stocked with much of the same content you get here at westword.com. More specifically, you’ll find:…
We’ve been telling you about the Westword Music Knowcase for weeks. We’ve patiently explained how we will destroy all comers. We even took a few minutes to re-explain it, using only small words, to the conceited and confused elitists at the Donnybrook Writing Academy, who seemed to have trouble getting…
So just in case you were wondering how well Nathaniel Rateliff is being received in other parts of the country, check this out: Last week, he caught the notice of Jon Pareles, the highly estimable pop critic for the New York Times, who saw fit to include Rateliff’s show at…
All right, here’s some news that literally just makes your stomach turn: A few weeks ago, Boonie Mayfield (aka Solomon Vaughn), one of the state’s — hell, the country’s — preeminent beatmakers and producers had his entire studio cleaned out by some soulless scumbags. Worst part: Boon Doc had only…
It was hard for Grant Gordy not to feel ridiculous as he crossed the casino floor in Central City. A showgirl tossing out beads led the parade, and a stilt walker brought up the rear. Gordy was caught somewhere in the middle, picking out Cajun tunes on a tenor banjo…
“People who are interested in the World Cup can roll out of bed and watch it on their couch, but the feeling is that people want to watch it with like-minded people and get with other fans,” says Glen Eastwood, general manager at Fadó (1735 19th Street). “A hundred guys…
Only a handful of people who have been part of the circuit of underground-rock shows in Denver since the early part of last decade remember Façade. Part dream pop and part jazz-inflected rock, the band put out one album before fading into the background in 2002. Its talented guitarist, Joe…
If ever there were an indie-rock Cinderella story, MGMT could be cast in the lead role. Starting out as The Management when Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden were in their first year at Wesleyan University, this project had already been around for a few years by the time it toured…
At first glance, Jamey Johnson looks like someone who just walked out of the outlaw movement. That’s probably because he spent the better part of a decade in the Marines after dropping out of college. Unlike the “outlaws,” though, Johnson moved to Nashville to pursue the beloved country music of…
Written off in the ’90s as yet another relic of the original heavy-metal era, Iron Maiden found new life and relevance when metal made a huge comeback in the new millennium. Still, it’s sad that resurgence had to happen in such a roundabout way: If Maiden has long proved one…
With Glee and Lady Gaga all the rage, one can only hope that flamboyance and theatricality are a bit more acceptable across the board today. Regardless, Jeffree Star can and will push any envelope he can find; the genre-bending artist — who seemingly turned to music as a means to…
It’s been two years since Wovenhand released Ten Stones. But it might as well have been an eternity. Since that last batch of songs, frontman David Eugene Edwards has cast a net across time and space and snared The Threshingfloor, an album that severs the band’s already tenuous tether to…
Laura Brehm is eighteen — and she sounds like it. Start with her voice: With the high, girlish timbre and inflection of Miley Cyrus, she’d rate similarly on the Disney Pop Machine register of innocent to raunchy. Of course, unlike most of those Disney starlets, Brehm writes her own songs,…
Anyone familiar with electronic music of the ’90s and underground hip-hop will hear shades of Sole, Massive Attack, post-ambient Aphex Twin and Dead Cities-era Future Sound of London on this intriguingly eclectic release. If Martin Scorsese decided to remake After Hours, “Makin’ Love Free” would be the ideal song for…
