Concerts

Alkaline Trio, Agony & Irony (Epic). Matt Skiba was once told he had two to three years before his voice would be completely gone, thanks to acid reflux. With the amount of apathy he shows on his band’s latest album, long-time fans may wish it was. This release may not be…

Those familiar with Yuzo Nieto’s other projects won’t be expecting his music with Yuzo Nieto and the Hand That Rocks the Dreidel (due this Friday, August 8 at Old Curtis Street). It’s definitely not the wildly experimental free jazz of Pink Hawks or the earnest, visionary folk of Pee Pee…

Canadian-born, London-based DJ Heidi helps run Phonica, one of the most important record stores in London, so it’s no surprise that she has a knack for picking out absolutely killer tracks. She works in the realm of minimal house and techno, where hypnotic, dubby basslines push the tracks along, bathed…

Do you remember when people used to say that Denver was a sports town, that music here was an afterthought and that’s all it ever would be? Yeah, me too. It was a popular argument five years ago. Things have obviously changed since then. At Mile High Music Festival last…

No one would blame John Baldwin Gourley if he never listened to oldies again. That’s all the frontman of Portugal. The Man listened to when he was growing up — at least until he was old enough to drive himself. Despite this over-saturation, the classics stuck with Gourley. And last…

3OH!3 is a group you either love or loathe. Judging from the response the act has gotten both here and across the country, most listeners land comfortably in the former category. Stuffy literary types who blanch at the simplistic synth lines, rudimentary beats and admittedly crass lyrics are missing the…

Things don’t always work out how you planned. Given the copyright date on the back of this one (when the band originally intended to release this disc), that clearly seems to be the case here. Regardless of how long it took to issue, the Swindlers’ latest is a great. Filing…

Europeans often display greater appreciation for American soul and blues than does the average U.S. citizen. Yet English singer-songwriter James Hunter takes his love of these genres to startling extremes, channeling the sound and style of vintage R&B in a manner that transcends mere imitation. The Hard Way, his new…

Unfortunately, the creamiest talent doesn’t always rise to the top — which explains in part why the growing popularity of Ray LaMontagne (who joins Ingrid Michaelson at a taping of etown) is so gratifying. The folk-and-roots-infused music he makes is about as trendy as bustles and Sansabelt slacks, and the…

Although Baltimore, Maryland may not be the home of the new wave of tribal sounds in underground music, it is most certainly one of that movement’s centers — as evidenced by Teeth Mountain, which uses driving percussion in layers like some bands use guitars. The outfit’s hypnotic drones, which at…

Hailing from Seattle, Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground is a loose collective of musicians anchored by Kirk Huffman and Kyle O’Quin (K and K, get it?), both erstwhile members of the melodic punk sextet Gatsby’s American Dream. So there’s no “Kay Kay,” per se, but there can be as…

Last year, Black Kids released a blogosphere-revered EP full of electro-tinged dance songs addressing themes of incest and gender ambiguity. The Jacksonville quintet’s full-length debut Partie Traumatic contains the entire EP and six more songs continuing in the same, party-starting-then-party-fouling vein. Nearly all the tracks boast immediately accessible progressions and…

Despite all the chatter about Antony and Tim Goldsworthy — and make no mistake, they’re both crucial to the success of this album — Hercules and Love Affair is very much the brainchild of Andrew Butler. The New York-by-way-of-Denver DJ shares his DFA cohorts’ ability to channel the entire history…

A Git Some show is a visceral, high-voltage experience. The act is a bundle of frenetic energy on stage, as dangerous as it is magical. The band’s new album, Cosmic Rock, deftly captures the vitality of the group’s live show. We caught up with the guys at the downtown warehouse…

In November of 2006, the former members of Small Objects recruited a new drummer and adopted the name Blue Million Miles, which they borrowed from an old Captain Beefheart song. The quality of the songwriting didn’t fundamentally change, but the act went from a solid indie band to a full-fledged…

I’ve gotten used to walking into places and getting that look from regulars. You know, the “Who the fuck are you and what the hell are you doing in our bar?” look. It used to make me a bit nervous, since it felt like I was walking into a party…

The Enemy UK We’ll Live and Die in These Towns Warner Music 01:30-02:15 of “Had Enough”: You know, if you’re going to have your record released on a major label like Warner, you really ought to be able to afford some pretty happening cover art – especially when your bio…

Pictureplane, Josephine and the Mousepeople and Yukon Tuesday, August 5, 2008 Rhinoceropolis Better Than: A fun, sweaty show when the heat was a lot more oppressive earlier this summer. The first time I saw Josephine and the Mousepeople, it was briefly at Louis Vuitton Night in June, and I didn’t…

Eef Barzelay played the Hi Dive Monday night. Photos by Tom Murphy. Eef Barzelay w/The Tanukis and Pee Pee Monday, August 4th, 2008 Hi-Dive, Denver Better Than: A show with songwriters peddling hackneyed premises. When I got to the Hi-Dive, I discovered I’d missed all but the last two songs…

The Apples in Stereo still list Denver as their home on their MySpace page. And you know what? We’re totally cool with that. For one, it’s kind of true: Eric Allen and John Hill still live here — the former, in fact, name check Paper Bird in a recent interview…