Win tickets to Sub.Mission: Bass Invasion at Cervantes’ this weekend

Update 08/10/12: Contest is over. Congratulations to our winners, Collin Catuccio and Daniel Kim. You and a guest will be our guests at this weekend’s Bass Invasion. Thanks to everybody else for all the, ahem, submissions. Sub.Mission returns this Friday and Saturday with a gigantic local bass music celebration at…

For Strange Americans, music is A Royal Battle

If you’re a boxer or something,” says Strange Americans frontman Matt Hoffman, “you box because that’s what you do. You go in and you fight every day, and sometimes you get your butt kicked, and sometimes you win.” Being a musician is often like getting in the ring, except sometimes…

Skrillex

Sonny Moore started out as lead vocalist in the California-based hardcore band From First to Last in 2004. But you probably know him better as Skrillex (a handle he adopted a few years back), the masses’ highest-profile ambassador of EDM and essentially the mainstream pioneer of American dubstep. Prior to…

Alabama Shakes

A number of bands are returning to a Southern-rock sound these days, but much of the music they’re making is too derivative to be interesting. Alabama Shakes, fresh off a date warming up for Neil Young, bucks that trend. The group’s members, who met in high school and forged the…

Loudon Wainwright III

For forty very odd years, Loudon Wainwright III’s lacerating wit, unflinching candor and impish glee have combined to skewer everything in sight, from the near and dear to the feared — which, as it now turns out, is the Grim Reaper. LW3’s favorite protagonist has always been himself, and he’s…

Andrew Bird

Andrew Bird was one of the earlier pioneers of modern chamber pop. Growing up in Chicago, Bird — a classical violinist in training at age four — worked with alterna-swing band Squirrel Nut Zippers before firmly establishing a name for himself as a songwriter far beyond the Windy City with…

Paw Paw

This debut solo album from former Woodsman drummer Eston Lathrop reveals that Lathrop wasn’t just a talented, sensitive and tasteful percussionist in that band; he was also an active participant in creating the shimmering drones and melodies that made Woodsman so consistently fascinating. “Derail” has an otherworldly exhilaration and calm…

Patrick Dethlefs

Patrick Dethlefs started penning tunes at the age of fifteen, and while the songwriting on his debut, 2010’s Stays the Same, showed a great deal of depth, his sophomore release, Fall & Rise, makes it even more apparent that he has talent beyond his years. Dethlefs has a warm delivery…

Joy Subtraction

It’s not often that bass lines stand out as the featured instrumentation on an album, but here you’d swear the bass was recorded during a 9.0 earthquake in a concrete bunker with a shard of glass for a pick. Songs like “Kill the Blue Dogs” and “The Process of Ripping…

The Stripe Stripe Fiasco

The four members of the Stripe Stripe Fiasco refer to what they do as “skitzRock,” and that’s not far off: The ten high-powered, high-impact tracks on this release are indeed sonically schizoid, not to mention rockin’ throughout. Divided between the eerie, relaxed vocals of multi-instrumentalist Rachel King and the deep,…

AU’s Luke Wyland on strange venues and Denver connections

AU started off as “luc,” a solo project of Luke Wyland’s when he was attending college in Boston. The band formed after Wyland’s graduation, in 2005, when he and some friends took a trip along the West Coast. Settling in Portland, they began carving out a niche for themselves on…

East meets west with Manik, August 11 at NORAD

When east meets west, it usually results in a clash of creative energy, and that’s exactly what’s in store for attendees of Saturday night’s East Meets West bash at NORAD. Headlining is New York City-born and -bred Manik, who was named on DJ Mag’s “Hot to Watch 2011” list and…

Michael Kiwanuka at the Bluebird, 8/7/12

MICHAEL KIWANUKA @ BLUEBIRD THEATER | 8/7/12 Judging by the instrument setup on stage, you could have guessed what sort of music Kiwanuka would be playing: congas prominently pushed to the front of the stage, a classic sparkle drum kit reminiscent of something Ringo might play, an organ and handful…

Justice at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 8/7/12

JUSTICE @ RED ROCKS AMPHITHEATRE | 8.7.12 See Also: Justice, March 2008 profile Let’s review last night’s Justice set by the numbers. The number of towering Marshall amps outfitted with LED lights: eighteen. The estimated rank of those bad boys on the volume scale: eleven. The number of smooth-operator Frenchmen…

Die Antwoord at the Ogden Theatre, 8/6/12

DIE ANTWOORD @ OGDEN THEATRE | 8.6.12 See Also: – Slide show: Die Antwoord in Denver – Freaky Friday: “Enter the Ninja” – Die Antwoord – Go shopping with Die Antwoord – Die Antwoord take us deeper down the zef rabbithole Die Antwoord’s draw is a bit beyond the realm…

25 ass-shaking GIFs from Lollapalooza 2012

See Also: – Four reasons Lollapalooza needs EDM – Enjoy these dance-move GIFs from Global Dance Festival – Ten Coachella dance-move GIFs to make you feel good about yourself This past weekend’s running of Lollapalooza in Chicago was intense. The heat, the monsoon-like storm on Saturday, and even the lobster…