The Dodos

Two years ago, the Dodos were in the process of smoothing out the more abrasive elements of their sound, cutting back on the clattering drums and frantic strumming in order to better highlight their gift for writing sticky, bittersweet pop songs. But with the recent release of fourth album No…

Three 6 Mafia

May the faint of heart stay at home when the Academy-Award-winning, multi-platinum legends in Three 6 Mafia take over Casselman’s this Friday. The crew — now consisting of original members Juicy J and DJ Paul — is known for crass Dirty South bounce rap and inflammatory lyrics. Originally hailing from…

Young Widows

From 2002 to 2006, Evan Patterson and Nick Thieneman were in the renowned post-hardcore band Breather Resist, from Louisville, Kentucky. After a lineup change and a decided move toward evolving its sound, that band morphed into Young Widows. Unlike Breather Resist’s penchant for distilling raw emotion into vectored blasts of…

Bootsy Collins

If you were to make a short list of the greatest bass players of all time, Bootsy Collins would surely be included. After firing his backing band in the late ’60s, James Brown hired Collins and his brother Catfish’s band, the Pacemakers, to back him up. Collins later became a…

Gemini Trajectory

The first half of the A-side of this cassette conjures a mood of being on an intercontinental flight, a peaceful sense of being out of time and floating on a journey whose destination is half a day ahead. That evolves into the sound of early analog video-game malfunctioning — like…

Wil Guice

R&Beast, the latest mixtape release from Wil Guice, finds the R&B crooner essentially taking rap songs and touching them up with his rhythm-and-blues charm. He takes on “H.A.M.,” Kanye West and Jay-Z’s monstrous joint, and, over a stock beat, sings it like nobody’s business with close to perfect pitch, which…

Owen Kortz Trio

There are quite a few moments on the Owen Kortz Trio’s self-titled five-song EP in which Kortz — who teaches music at the University of Colorado Denver — sounds remarkably similar to James Taylor, both in tone and phrasing. Kortz’s voice blends well with those of singer Rich Sletvold and…

Molly Cottrell

Molly Cottrell’s self-titled EP starts with her singing “Run Me Down” with just a piano — which, as it turns out, is an ideal way to open a tune, since you’re automatically drawn in by her marvelous vocals before the band gradually comes in. A few minutes later, Cottrell tosses…

John Grant’s Queen of Denmark gets high praise from Mojo

Besides blessing us with one of the most gorgeous listening experiences of the past year with Queen of Denmark, former Czars frontman and Denverite John Grant subjected us to some of the most unflinchingly honest and poignant lyrics in recent memory on songs like “Jesus Hates Faggots,” whose scathing title…

Paul Oakenfold spins on June 4 at Beta

It probably seems strange to old-school ravers that when Paul Oakenfold last played Denver (in November of last year), he spun his set at the Ogden. A decade ago, Oakenfold might have been playing to a sold-out Fillmore crowd — or at a massive with tens of thousands of party-goers…

Review: Disco Biscuits at Red Rocks, 5/28/11

DISCO BISCUITS at RED ROCKS, 5/28/11″Comparing Red Rocks to the Ogden shows is like comparing a Mack Truck to a Tonka. Either the Biscuits were holding out, teasing everyone for the first two nights, or they were just spot on last night.”…

Review: Adele at Ogden Theatre, 5/28/11

ADELE at THE OGDEN THEATRE | 05/28/11Adele swooped into Denver last night with her powerhouse vocals, killer band and sassy attitude and played for a sold-out crowd at the Ogden Theatre. Opening the show with “Hometown Glory,” she got right down to business. Once the curtain dropped, her band started…

Review: Stag Hare at Rhinoceropolis, 5/28/11

STAG HARE at RHINOCERPOLIS | 5/28/11″If you allowed your imagination to synch up with the music, it felt like you’d been on a journey through inner space across vast plains lit only by the moon.”…

Tonight: Little Brazil at the Hi-Dive

Little Brazil (playing tonight at the hi-dive with the Photo Atlas and Take to the Oars) began as the solo project of Landon Hedges, following his time in big name acts like Tim Kasher’s The Good Life and the Conor Oberst-led Desparecidos. Eventually Hedges decided fill out his pretty guitar…

Disco Biscuits at the Ogden Theatre, 5/26/11

The Disco Biscuits 05.26.11 | Ogden Theatre Given the build-up for the Disco Biscuits return to Denver, the opening night of the band’s three night stand was lacking a certain je ne sais quoi. Perhaps it was the hype the anticipation for Bisco and the pop-up store, but it just…