If you’ve been paying attention for the past several years, you know that scores of bands have been cultivating atmospheric pop music with sweeping melodic hooks. While most claim Joy Division as a predecessor, too many are diluted third-rate Radiohead clones. It might seem foolish for Overcasters (due at the…
Nearly a decade ago, tech house emerged to fill an important evolutionary niche in dance music. By straddling the middle ground between the cheesy excesses of progressive house and the somnambulant tendencies of deep house, the new sound quickly became the dominant movement in the scene. Minimal but driving, with…
Literary references abound on Vonnegut’s EP, beginning with the band’s moniker and continuing through songs such as “So It Goes” and “Burn Victim,” which nod, respectively, to a recurring phrase used throughout Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five and a subplot concerning the World War II-era blaze that destroyed Dresden, Germany. Yet these…
Kind as Summer’s opening track, “Hanging in the Hollow,” reveals Good Housekeeping’s influence almost immediately — specifically, you’ll hear the lounge end of ’60s French pop, Stereolab and maybe a bit of Broadcast. The album’s gently chiming, resonant guitars are also reminiscent of later-era Cocteau Twins, but with greater warmth…
We expect a lot from our crossover pop stars nowadays, even from a duo as inspired as Gnarls Barkley, aka DJ Danger Mouse, and Cee-Lo Green. We expect guilt-free-yet-radio-worthy earworms like “Crazy,” not to mention genuine pathos, both of which the act somehow managed to deliver on its debut, St…
With the possible exception of the three people who look back fondly on Bruce Willis’s recording career, we’re well acquainted with the eardrum damage that can occur when actors live out their rock-star fantasies. But don’t shy away from She & Him’s debut just because the female half of the…
Ministry, the headlining act on this date, plans to disband following its current tour, and that’s probably just as well: Cover Up, a just-released disc filled with new versions of classic rock songs such as “Lay Lady Lay,” feels unimaginative and unnecessary. On the other hand, opening act Meshuggah, which…
Walking the line between brutality and accessibility can be tricky for a bad-ass metal band. Metallica, for example, gained more radio play than ever with its infamous “black album,” but left many of its longtime fans weeping over what they felt was a despicable artistic compromise. Sweden’s In Flames, however,…
Although Pattern Is Movement often gets lumped in with the whole math-rock phenomenon, the Philadelphia outfit’s sound is much more organic and far less sterile and wanky than that of other groups of that ilk. Avoiding the type of instrumental solos that are more fun to play than listen to,…
In addition to having possibly the coolest moniker ever conceived, Genghis Tron is blessed with a genuinely idiosyncratic electro-metal sound. Fusing the synth-driven sensibilities of electro with metal’s brutal crunch has led most acts toward the late, largely unlamented genre of industrial, but that’s not the case here. Starting with…
During the ’70s, when he went from being a mainstay in England’s rough-and-tumble pub-rock scene to a notable part of the new-wave movement, Nick Lowe was known as “Basher.” These days, of course, bashing isn’t at the top of his agenda. At My Age, his most recent platter, is a…
BDRMPPL, State Bird, The Tanukis, Mad Happy April 6, 2008 Brooks Center Arts Better than: The last party you attended in a church basement. A show at Brooks Center Arts is a truly unique experience. If you’re strictly accustomed to theater or arena shows with lights and smoke, you’ll feel…
In the fall of 2006, A.P.O.S.T.L.E. – aka Jeff Campbell — left Denver for San Francisco with his crew, Heavyweight Dub Champion, with hopes of making a bigger splash outside the Mile High City. Fast forward to spring 2008, Apostle is no longer working with Heavyweight Dub Champion and released…
Here’s a selection of the best of last week’s music blogging from around the Village Voice chain: Despite having no clue what the fuck this post is about (okay, it’s something to do with Matt Pond), I find it deeply and strangely amusing. I think maybe it’s the seamy undertones…
Just received a missive from Nasty Little Man, Radiohead’s dutiful PR firm, with the words, “RADIOHEAD AUGUST 2008 DATES & VENUES CONFIRMED,” in the subject line. My heart raced a bit, I’ll admit it, as I scrolled down… but alas, it then flatlined. Again. Still no Denver date. What are…
Red Orange Yellow, Michael Trundle, Autokinoton and the Swayback Saturday, April 5, 2008 Bluebird Theater The drummer is often the most overlooked member of any rock ensemble. Providing the rhythmic foundation and propulsion for a band’s songs, the drummer is rarely noticed, unless he or she really screws up or…
Denver locals Bad Weather California — with some help from friends Roger Green and Erin Roberts — had a dream come true when, three days before the show, they were asked to be the backing band for Daniel Johnston. Of course they said yes. Here’s an interview with the band…
Hawk Nelson Hawk Nelson is My Friend BEC Records 01:30-02:15 of “Friend Like That” Every once and a while I’ll listen to some of my old pop-punk records – that is when my upstairs neighbors aren’t already blaring Bad Religion and the Descendents. For me, it’s a reminder of my…
They say the devil’s greatest trick was trying to convince the world that he doesn’t exist. A decent ruse, but as the Swayback just proved, the devil truly is in the details. Although the act’s latest, Long Gone Lads, has a loose, almost tossed-off, insouciance, its creators actually toiled endlessly…
Over the past few months, I’ve been running into people I haven’t seen in years, and it’s mildly freaking me out. At Vinyl (1082 Broadway) in February, I saw a guy who was on my little-league football team. A few weeks before that, it was a high-school classmate at My…
We Are! We Are! is a slippery beast. Slithering free of instrumental-rock pitfalls and cliches, the trio handily weaves together tropes from surf rock, math rock, hardcore and even funk, creating thoroughly unique, dizzyingly deft compositions. North Carolina transplants Jim Sutton, Sam Gault and Sam Cat have quickly developed a…
DJ Icey’s name is synonymous with funky breaks. Arguably the best-known and biggest breakbeat DJ and producer in the dance-music scene, he’s been instrumental in shaping major currents within the breaks genre. Icey’s sound is clean and open but always chunky, with relatively straightforward breaks and edgy electronic bass sounds…
