So I head over to the Iliff Park Saloon (2300 South Chambers Road, Aurora) with the idea of having a nice, quiet happy-hour beer and maybe getting a tattoo at Ill-Mannered Tattoos, the bar’s ink parlor that opened last month. But the next thing I know, it’s fucking mayhem outside…
Those old enough to remember Pee-wee’s Big Adventure surely recall being haunted by Danny Elfman’s spooky soundtrack, the demented carnival music heard throughout the movie. A similar eccentric and darkly compelling sensibility informs the moods and sounds of Abracastabya (due at the Black Sheep in Colorado Springs on Friday, September…
The highlight of this year’s Skylab party (slated to take place this Saturday, September 15) is Lee Burridge, who’ll be headlining the Beatport stage. Burridge helped create a dance-music scene in Hong Kong during the ’90s before returning to his native U.K. and rising to prominence as part of Tyrant,…
Rilo Kiley, Jonathan Rice and Grand Ole Party September 11, 2007 The Ogden Theater Better than: The next Denver show they play, which will undoubtedly be at the Fillmore and I’ll be that snob you know who says, “I saw them at the 15th Street Tavern on their first tour,…
The Wayne Coyne profile that appears in the September 13 edition of Westword represents the SparkNotes version of a recent interview. Below, find the original text of our conversation with the Flaming Lips frontman, appearing unabridged and in its entirety. Coyne talks amusingly and at length about his band’s 2006…
Space: When it comes to physical newspapers, there never seems to be enough of it. But on the web, there’s room aplenty – and that capacity allows us to expand a Now Hear This concert preview item about the Used that appears in the September 13 Westword to a full…
The Arcade Fire is one of the exciting and inventive acts to come out in the few years. Inventive instrumentation, and plugs from people like David Bowie, made their debut album Funeral a Cinderella success story and overnight they became the next it band. And they’ve capitalized on that success…
Josh Rouse cannot make a dark-sounding record to save his life. His latest offering, Country Mouse, City House, was supposed to contain the musical equivalency of a New England winter day: overcast and cold with a high probability for snow. Instead, the disc sparkles with sunshine, smiling melodies and enough…
Dodos and Jennifer Gentle September 11, 2007 hi-dive Better than: Wearing yet another hole in my Syd Barrett vinyl. Due to a late cancellation by one of the opening bands, the Jennifer Gentle show started late. As is usually the case when a show starts late, I arrived early which…
The Chris Cornell show originally slated to take place on July 14 at the Fillmore Auditorium has finally been rescheduled. He’s now due to hit the venue on Tuesday, November 20, and tickets from the original date will be honored at that time. (Ducats can also be purchased at the…
Devendra Banhart The Ogden Theater September 10, 2007 Better than: Actually being at a show in 1972, the Ogden was apparently a shithole back in the day and the sound last night was incredible. Also better than the Ben Gibbard nonsense that went on down the block. A few songs…
Ben Gibbard at MGD’s “The Craft” September 10, 2007 Better Than: Not seeing Ben Gibbard play at all, but just barely. Like the smell of freshly laid carpet. Or the pungent odor of melting polyvinyl chloride mixed with smugfuckness. That’s what my mouth tasted like after tonight’s Ben Gibbard show…
Jerry Hahn, Paul Romaine, Jeff Jenkins and Peter Huffaker Saturday, September 8, 2007 Dazzle Better than: Seeing Hahn solo Eleven years ago, jazz guitarist Jerry Hahn had a regular gig at Denver’s Trio Enoteca with drummer Paul Romaine and pianist Jeff Jenkins. Last Saturday the guitarist, who now lives in…
The Goddamn Gallows, The Wheel, Widowers and Paleo September 7, 2007 3 Kings Tavern Better than: Killing your last remaining brain cell with another episode of “American Idol Rewind” The 3 Kings Tavern has a made a name for itself by hosting some of Denver’s hardest rock shows. Black Lamb…
So you’ve thought the MTV’s Video Music Awards have sucked in recent years? Well, the 2007 edition aired on September 9 brought sucking to a level that even the pros on the Hoover design team never imagined possible. Although the startlingly pathetic opening number by Britney Spears has received the…
Sound Tribe Sector 9 isn’t a group that embraces conventional wisdom. The act has built an expanding audience by specializing in instrumentals — a format most popularizers reject out of hand. Moreover, STS9 appeals to fans of improvisational music played on traditional gear (guitar, bass, keys, drums) even though its…
Though the Soda Pop Kids technically make their home in Portland, Oregon, these days, it’s still tempting to lay claim to them as a Denver band. Before their relocation to the same rock-and-roll mecca that stole Strangers Die Everyday from us, vocalist Jonny P. Jewels and guitarist-vocalist Diet D made…
Tim Kasher is a star in Omaha’s indie-rock scene, but he’s looking to score at the movies. The frontman for the Good Life (as well as Cursive) headed west earlier this year to work on the companion film for the band’s forthcoming Help Wanted Nights, a concept album set in…
Those who don’t move their asses to the Matt and Kim song “Yea Yeah” are either missing their ears or their soul — or both. Sure, it’s cute and bubblegum sweet. But the stripped-down, three-chord synth-pop that the Brooklyn pair plays is, at its core, a firmly punk denial of…
Arular, the 2005 debut by Mathangi “M.I.A.” Arulpragasam, got lotsa reviewers hot and bothered (and deservedly so), but only a relative handful of U.S. listeners succumbed to its multi-culti charms. Such sales disappointments generally lead to commercially motivated “adjustments” that leave no one satisfied. Fortunately, though, Kala avoids most of…
The term “conscious rap” needs to be excised from hip-hop’s vernacular. Nobody’s quite sure what it means: Music that doesn’t focus on rims and butts? Songs wherein the listener’s life isn’t explicitly threatened? Kweli has said he doesn’t like being pigeonholed by the designation, and the release of his sixth…
James Yardley may be best known for the brutally intense hardcore he doled out in V-tech Orchid or the dark and moody psychedelic rock he dealt in with Pinkku, but with Hawks and Doves, he brings an unexpectedly reverent evocation of bluesy, psychedelic classic rock. Combining acoustic and sinuously energized…
