The theatrical nature of the Dresden Dolls, appearing here with Ukulele Loki, tends to be an attribute on stage and a detriment on CD. Since the duo’s 2000 formation, Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione have specialized in keyboard-driven airs from the Bertolt Brecht School of Dark Irony, presented with dramatic…
Most producers who supervise reclamation projects for aging stars make the mistake of trying to contemporize the artist’s sound — the equivalent of dressing your eighty-something Uncle Jake like a 21st-century club kid. Not so Roots drummer Amir “?uestlove” Thompson, who helmed the Al Green comeback platter Lay It Down…
Naturally, Foxy Brown is the object of Ali G’s affections. With her foul mouth and short skirt, she epitomizes the fake gangsta-ism he parodies. At least she has the track record to support it: She recently finished a stint at Riker’s Island, having violated probation stemming from an attack on…
All right, cancel the Amber Alert. I’m back. For the past few weeks, I’ve been busier than a one-fingered typist attempting to take dictation for Twista. Between curating the Westword Music Showcase — which is shaping up to be a doozy this year (yes, I know, I say that every…
Given that the Breeders release records less often than February 29 appears on your kitchen calendar (last month’s Mountain Battles makes just four albums in the past eighteen years), guitarist Kelley Deal might be better known for playing colleague and caretaker to her twin sister, Pixies bassist and Breeders leader…
The sprawling collective known as Pee Pee has been playing its warped blend of folk, rock, blues and noise for Denver audiences for four years. Centered around the striking songwriting of Doo Crowder, the group is finally releasing its full length debut, the cryptically titled Castile Jackine Is Vooded at…
Although singer-songwriter Missy Higgins is a star in her native Australia, she’s little known in these United States. So prior to the U.S. release of On a Clear Night, a CD that’s already successful back home, she relocated to Los Angeles — and the move has taken some adjustments. In…
Pleistocene began as a solo project for guitarist/vocalist Eric Gangloff in 2002. Over the years, it has evolved into a nine-piece ensemble on the way to realizing Gangloff’s ambition of creating the music he fondly refers to as “glacial rock,” so coined because it moves slowly yet is monumental. Blurring…
The Cool Kids The Bake Sale Chocolate Industries 01:05-01:50 of “What Up Man” Don’t get me wrong, I believe that hip-hop, like every other genre, has a lot of elbow room to explore and expand styles – but, well, this just isn’t there yet. I see that the Cool Kids…
Damn you, Carson Daly and your subversive ways. After an excruciatingly long day at the office (yesterday was press day, you know, and I pinch hit for Grandpa Shikes, our managing editor, who plied me with a delicious pizza from Benny Blancos, allegedly made by one of the dudes from…
As expected, Nick Urata and company absolutely murdered it on Conan. Makes us proud to be from Denver, and even more so to be able to claim them as our own. “If I had seen them back when I was playing violin in eighth grade,” says Patty Calhoun, “I would’ve…
Rilo Kiley, the Spinto Band and Nik Freitas Monday, May 19, 2008 Ogden Theatre Better Than: YouTubing Growing Pains and Mr. Belvedere Though many of us do most of our music listening in our cars, our offices and our living rooms, hearing that same music performed live is an undeniably…
Whatever Happened to Fun? That’s a great question there, sport. Glad you asked. Basically, in the spring of 1999, it got tired of everybody’s shit and took its ball and went home. Well, not home, exactly, more like it went on to play in other bands like the Agency, but…
Photo: Derek Gibbs Vonnegut, nominated in the Modern Rock category of this year’s Music Showcase, is down a bassist. Brian Farnsworth, who previously held down the low-end for the act, is vacating his post and heading for the Windy City, for personal and professional reasons, as he puts it in…
Just a quick reminder: Tonight and tomorrow night, two of Denver’s most high profile exports will be invading the small screen. Tonight at 11:35 mountain time, DeVotchKa is slated to appear on Late Night with Conan O’Brien on NBC…
Fancy us: We caught a few songs from one of the best unsigned singer-songwriters in the country (that’s a designation bestowed by Billboard, in an issue that hits stands later this week, BTW — not that we disagree) at the Meadowlark this past Friday night. Sucking down a few cold…
Just came across this link to a video performance taped at opbmusic.org’s studios of Nick Urata playing stripped down versions of DeVotchKa songs, a pair from A Mad & Faithful Telling, the act’s latest, and one from 2003’s Una Volta. (There’s also photos of the sessions and nine audio tracks…
Photo by Aaron Thackeray Just received word that Monolith, the two-day music festival slated to take place at Red Rocks on September 13-14, has added 22 more acts, including Atmosphere (pictured above from the second show of a two-night stand last night at the Ogden Theatre), Hercules and Love Affair,…
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Photo by Tom Murphy M.I.A., the Egyptian Lover and Low B Saturday, May 17, 2008 Fillmore Auditorium, Denver Better Than: Virtually every other hip-hop show to hit town for the rest of the year. If nothing else, this show was proof that M.I.A. brings together groups of people who otherwise…
Cloud Cult Sunday, May 18, 2008 Larimer Lounge Better Than: Taking your medicine. On Cloud Cult’s website, singer and guitarist Craig Minowa states he’s had 36 different occupations in his life so far, everything from a paper boy, janitor and plasma seller to a lawn weed assessor, environmental scientist and…
Carmina Burana Sunday May 18, 2008 Boettcher Concert Hall Better than: Sitting in a room full of wannabe thugs. Jay Z may be well known by millions worldwide, and Carl Orff may just sound like the name of the German exchange student who went to your college, but they are…
