Before the Bruce Springsteen show at the Paramount on October 16, I caught a few minutes of the second and (blessedly) final presidential “debate,” broadcast live to the nation from San Diego. What I saw of the event wasn’t exactly scintillating: Bill Clinton oozed fake sincerity (he made a point…
A while back, Kim Docter, the frontwoman behind the psycho-country combo Moonshine Willy, was afraid she was running out of songwriting ideas. Rather than wait idly for her muse to return, however, she attempted to summon her back on a regular basis. “For about six months, I would force myself…
“In Japan, we saw Kip Winger,” maintains Trelvis, bassist for the Denver punk band Pinhead Circus. “He was playing next door to us. I kicked his ass again.” Don’t worry, Winger fans–if there are any of you still out there, that is. According to singer/guitarist Scooter, aka Jimmy Pinhead, this…
Carman Righteous Invasion of Truth (Sparrow) The rub with so much of today’s contemporary Christian music isn’t its focus on God with a capital G. Good songs can be written about anything–Teen Spirit, girls named “Lump,” whatever. No, the problem, simply stated, is this: A majority of the folks operating…
The company releasing Positive, the latest album by Lord of Word and the Disciples of Bass, is Boulder’s Rabid Records; at least that’s what it says on the CD’s packaging, which you’ll soon be able to read for yourself. (A release bash honoring the new disc is now scheduled to…
The collaborations between trumpeter Miles Davis, among the most restless (and brilliant) major figures in the history of jazz, and Gil Evans, a composer/arranger who was equally attracted to innovation and traditionalism, have spawned plenty of arguments among reviewers over the years. There’s no question that the three albums that…
In 1994 Aaron Freeman and Mickey Melchiondo, better known to the world at large as Gene and Dean Ween, issued Chocolate and Cheese, an Elektra Records release that won critical praise, significant radio airplay (for the groovy cut “Voodoo Lady”) and frequent exposure on that repository of cultural significance, Beavis…
Many of the performers whom Flat Duo Jets singer/guitarist Dexter Romweber numbers among his heroes were either long in the tooth or dead by the time of his 1966 birth. So it’s fairly strange to hear him commenting on something he seldom watches: MTV. As Romweber tells it, he turned…
Ask Denver’s Day Butler to describe hip-hop and you won’t get a definition; you’ll get a mini-course in sociology. “A lot of people say hip-hop is a way of life. But as far as I’m concerned, hip-hop is life,” says Butler, the creator, producer, editor, publicist and host of the…
Nirvana From the Muddy Banks of the Wishkah (DGC) In this disc’s liner notes, bassist Krist Novoselic writes, “Let all the analysis fall away like yellow, aged newsprint. Crank this record up and realize the bliss, power…and passion…TOTAL NIRVANA!” Novoselic’s tone, which recalls the prose style favored by teens who…
Midway through a telephone interview, Mark Kozelek, the artisan behind Red House Painters, says, “If I haven’t been articulate, maybe you could edit me a little. I sound like a retard when I blab. So try to make me sound like I know what I’m talking about.” Actually, there’s no…
The September 28 Deicide show at the Mercury Cafe was, to put it mildly, a mess. However, seemingly no one can agree on who was at fault or what should be done about it. This much is fairly certain: Deicide, a nationally known band beloved by death-metal fanciers, was scheduled…
It’s a rainy Monday night in Denver, but a small crowd has braved the elements to hear a local legend. Denver Joe Vasquez, wearing a black broad-brimmed hat, black shirt, blue jeans and boots, steps to the microphone and delivers his trademark greeting to the faithful: “We want to remind…
Better Than Ezra Friction, Baby (Elektra) Dear friends, this CD represents everything that’s wrong with alternative music in 1996. Not that it’s obviously abysmal. Far from it: The songs here are tuneful and hooky, and the players (guitarist/vocalist Kevin Griffin, bassist Tom Drummond and drummer Travis Aaron McNabb) deliver them…
“Being a musician at our level is pretty much like indentured servitude,” reveals Cake singer/guitarist John McCrea. “You’re in debt to the Man pretty much, so it’s not this glorious, independent lifestyle that people think about when they think about music.” That may change soon. Now that Fashion Nugget, the…
“We like to see how little we can get away with,” says Zak Sally, bassist for Duluth, Minnesota’s Low. “If there’s too much in a song, we try to pare away as much as is completely possible. We like to keep it as minimal as we can.” And minimal it…
The New York-based sextet called the Klezmatics is known for playing “in the tradition.” But Klezmatics trumpeter/keyboardist/arranger Frank London denies that this reputation means the band is unadventurous. “We make informed choices,” he says. “We try to make our artistic choices based on a deep knowledge of our tradition and…
On the surface, it seemed to be a fairly benign, straightforward press release. Dated September 17 and sent from the offices of Fey Concerts, the announcement (headlined “The Cranberries Forced to Cancel Remaining Dates of Their 1996 U.S. Tour”) stated that shows in St. Louis, Kansas City, Nashville, Park City…
“We’re a very high-maintenance band,” confesses Christina Ortega, singer and guitarist for the Front Range’s Velveeta Sisters. “When we get gigs, we tell them, ‘We really need a big dressing room with electrical outlets, okay? Trust me–when you see us, you’ll understand.'” “It takes us a long time to get…
In early June, on the cusp of the summer concert season, I received an e-mail message from a reader, Bryan Matheny, who had a terrifying anecdote to relate. “I usually have my radio dialed in to the benign KVOD when I wake up in the morning,” he wrote. “But apparently…
“I’m in Boston, in bed with a fucked knee, drinking cold coffee,” laments Warren Ellis, violinist extraordinaire for Australia’s Dirty Three. But in describing how he earned his wound, a hint of pride seeps through the cloud-cover of his exasperation: “Last night we played a show and I did a…
The Westword Music Awards Showcase–an on-site report. At 6 p.m. Sunday evening, September 22, I strolled into a room adjacent to McCormick’s Fish House & Bar and found Johnny Long peeling off blues licks from his trusty guitar while a drummer whose excellent posture would have been an inspiration to…
