The stage antics that distinguish Denver’s Meanface–vocalist Dan Berger, guitarist Jeff Leddy and drummer Rick Layton–are far from G-rated. But shortly after the bandmembers added a bestiality video and autopsy slides to their onstage repertoire, they realized they’d gone too far. “We almost got in trouble over that,” Leddy explains…
Denver-based harmonica player Clay Kirkland is often described as having the fastest tongue in the West–a compliment based less on his style of speech than his atypical approach to blowing the harp. “Some harmonica players form an embouchure with their lips,” explains Kirkland, a Georgia native and son of a…
It’s a sorry time for those punk rockers who hoped their favorite music would remain forever underground. After all, Green Day’s major-label debut, Dookie, has just hit the quadruple-platinum mark, while Orange County’s Offspring have sold nearly as many discs on the way to becoming an impressive concert draw: For…
The final chapter of The Complete Stax/Volt Soul Singles collection (subtitled Volume 3: 1972-1975) is, in some ways, a cynical commercial ploy. After all, this 10-CD, 213-song opus will cost you big bucks at your friendly neighborhood music store, yet it contains only a bare handful of hits. Still, the…
Trenchmouth Trenchmouth vs. the Light of the Sun (East/West) Trenchmouth means to test just how far the millions of freshly minted “alternative” fans are willing to go: Are they drawn to new music simply because it’s fashionable, or are they genuinely committed to searching out innovative sounds? You and I…
The same folks who were appalled when John Lennon claimed that the Beatles were bigger than Jesus Christ will no doubt be outraged by the five newest egomaniacs in town. They go by the name of Oasis, they hail from Manchester, England, and they’ve already been likened to the Fab…
“Everyone has been so wonderful to me,” says vocalist Lavelle White. “I love all of them–and I love you, too. I haven’t met you, but I love you dearly with all my heart.” Obviously, White is in a bubbly mood. And why not? In 1994, more than thirty years of…
Tonight, in untold thousands of bedrooms and garages across the country, musicians will gather to write and record songs. Many of these tunes will bite, of course, and many more will so closely resemble current or past hits that they’ll have little reason for being. And, lest we forget, a…
Slick Rick Behind Bars (Def Jam) Rick James Bustin’ Out: The Best of Rick James (Motown) With the Snoop Doggy Dogg trial looming and accused multiple murderer O.J. Simpson presently getting more press than he ever did for packing a pigskin, it’s no surprise that jailbirds everywhere have begun to…
In the media business, it’s considered suicidal to admit feeling panicked. But given the latest report from the Arbitron ratings service–a report that could portend the biggest power shift in Denver radio this decade–you can bet that more than a few local media pros are running scared. The reason? KXPK-FM/96.5…
Pianist, composer and New York-music-scene veteran Robin Connell has very little patience for musicians who whine. In fact, Connell–currently living in Greeley, where she’s working on a doctorate in musical composition at the University of Northern Colorado–has integrated a no-complaints philosophy into her outlook on both life and music. “A…
“I’ve had experiences,” recalls Corrina Peipon, singer and lyricist for the Denver postpunk band St. Andre, “where I’ve been at Kinko’s making fliers and people will look over my shoulder and say, `Oh, hey, are you a death-metal band?'” Misunderstandings like this are all too common for Peipon and her…
The people have spoken. At the conclusion of our recent list of pop history’s most overplayed classic-rock songs (“Stairway to Hell,” December 7), we invited you, our readers, to point out any tunes we might have overlooked. The response was voluminous. Either we struck a chord, or we did such…
As the sun sets and “apres-ski” begins at Acoustic Coffee and News, a snug hippie haunt in Nederland, clumps of snowboarders drag in and mix with other flannel-wearing Boulder refugees. It’s pretty typical as such scenes go–mellow people with stringy hair and baggy clothes serving coffee, the hiss of steam…
Various Artists The Colpix-Dimension Story (Rhino) On first listen, many of these forty cuts sound downright terrible–and they don’t improve with repeated plays. Nonetheless, this collection exerts a certain fascination, if only because it captures on plastic some of the more blatant attempts to put rock and roll on an…
Independent labels aren’t the cozy, accessible harbors of artistic freedom they used to be. Call most of these onetime upstarts and you’ll find yourself playing tag with a chain of receptionists, press agents and tour managers every bit as convoluted as those found at Atlantic or Columbia. But Simple Machines,…
Approaching a certain nondescript building in the warehouse district north of downtown Denver can be an unnerving experience–especially if you’re visiting at night. The street is poorly lit, the people meandering nearby have the look of the criminally insane, and the rabid, wildly yapping dogs prowling the adjacent properties seem…
William Clarke, Thursday, January 19, at Herman’s Hideaway, is a California native and harmonicat who caught the blues bug at sixteen. While his peers were listening to Beach Boys tunes, Clarke was sneaking into Watts dives in order to learn at the feet of Lowell Fulsom and Big Mama Thornton…
Ice Cube Bootlegs & B-Sides (Priority) I’ve gone back and forth on this character so many times that the only thing I’m sure of in 1995 is that he’s still got the potential for greatness. Hard to describe why–there’s plenty of idiocy sprinkled throughout these thirteen intermittently engaging tracks, which…
Todd Snider, Friday, January 13, at the Bluebird Theater, Saturday, January 14, at the Fox Theatre, and Sunday, January 15, at the Boulder Theater for a taping of E-Town, stands out from the vast majority of young singer-songwriters for an exceedingly uncomplicated reason–he’s funny. Not that he’s a slacker version…
In a world seemingly ruled by ego, Boulder-based singer-songwriter John Vecchiarelli is a definite exception. “I don’t know the name of one chord I play,” he confesses. A largely self-taught strummer who picked up the guitar less than two years ago, Vecchiarelli adds that he’s a big jazz fan, but…
Puppies eventually become dogs. Teenagers bloom into young adults. And jazz guitarist Howard Alden wants people to know that neo-swing players–those young guys who perform with and like the old guys from the original swing era–can grow up, too. “I should hope so,” says Alden, who at 36 is among…
