Blogs

Emerge: Carnival of Shadows
July 27, 2007
Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Better than: A real circus
Slide show

Emerge: Carnival of Shadows was an interesting attempt to put a circus theme on the standard rave set up. It’s not an obvious mix, but it turned out that the erotic-tinged circus aesthetic melded nicely with the typical candy-kid raver style.

Musically, the diversity and overall quality of the sets showed the Denver dance scene to be in great shape. Seventeen local DJs and producers played sets that covered the full spectrum, from trance to techno, jungle to house and plenty of quirky stops in between. Several sets stood out, including a fantastic, warped techno set from ((Diverse)), a banging, freaky live set of abstract techy breakbeat from Sound Logic and a brutal, thunderous tag-team set of jungle from Kasia Star and Onket.

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Westword's article about country music pioneer Charlie Louvin, of Louvin Brothers fame, appeared in our April 5 issue -- but somehow, the interview that formed the foundation of that profile never wound up online. Allow us to correct this oversight by posting the entire dialogue here.

A lot of fascinating ground was covered during this wide-ranging discussion. Louvin talks about the genesis of Charlie Louvin, his latest album, made for the independent Tompkins Square imprint; the process by which he performed duets with artists including Elvis Costello, Tom T. Hall, Bobby Bare, George Jones, Lambchop and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy; his gratitude for the late Gram Parsons' fandom, and the continuing support of Emmylou Harris; his dissatisfaction with the country-music industry in general, and country radio in particular; an early tour during which Elvis Presley briefly served as the Louvin Brothers' opening act; the moment when he understood that Elvis was no passing fad; the unique harmonies achieved by Charlie and his late brother, Ira; the continuing power of "Knoxville Girl," arguably the Louvins' best remembered recording; Ira's sad alcoholic decline, and its effect on Charlie's own taste for spirits; his participation in the 2007 Bonnaroo festival; a problem he had with Loretta Lynn's book Coal Miner's Daughter; and the joys and challenges of the road.

Sorry for the delay -- but this is one conversation that was worth the wait.

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Better than: Sleeping the rest of the night away would have been.
Slide Show

Due to an early evening nap and a faulty alarm clock, I missed all but the last half of the last song of Amphibious Jones’s set. By the time I was fully awake, Little Fyodor and Babushka had started. This group fell somewhere between a musical act and a Saturday Night Live skit, looking and sounding like a punk rock band fronted by your crazy Russian aunt and uncle. Their songs were simple and fun, but everything revolved around the joke. Yes, it was funny, but more of a smirking chuckle than a gut-buster. And much like the SNL-type skit they resembled, the obvious question is how funny is it the second, third or fourth time through? How funny is it stretched into a career? From a single exposure, I’d guess it isn’t going to have the same impact the next go round, but maybe I’m wrong and it gets funnier each time.

The Inactivists followed with an excellent set of funky, groove-laden art rock that featured some truly excellent theremin work, funny lyrics and superb playing. Then, of course, there was the ukulele. It turns out if you push a ukulele tone through some heavy distortion, the result is an unbelievably cool sound. Thanks to the Inactivists for this lesson. That same distortion sounded great on the guitar as well, but, come on – metal ukulele? That’s good for triple bonus points.

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The July 26 Backbeat section contains a profile of Lordi, a ghoul-garbed Finnish group that's one of the odder acts on this year's Ozzfest bill -- a proud achievement if there ever was one. The following Q&A with group leader Mr. Lordi covers more ground even more amusingly.

Topics include the quizzical Stateside reaction when Lordi won the 2006 Eurovision song contest with the tune "Hard Rock Hallelujah"; the question of whether or not Lordi is a metal band; the shame some Fins felt when Lordi was named their country's Eurovision representative; Mr. Lordi's contention that past Eurovision winner ABBA was once deemed "too rock" for the competition; the change of heart Lordi critics had after the band took Eurovision's top prize; visits with Finland's president and prime minister; Finland's rock love; assorted local honors; attempts by Finnish magazines to publish photos of Lordi members out of monster duds; Mr. Lordi's solemn vow not to do a costume-free tour; his preference for Twisted Sister over Andrew Lloyd Webber; the trade-off between extra attention and diminished respect for songwriting that comes as part of the Lordi package; and his belief that by playing in America, Lordi is actually coming home.

Welcome back... for the first time.

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In addition to thinking he's the next Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Mayer fancies himself a budding standup comic. Not everyone agrees; check out this nasty review of a 2006 routine, in which he reportedly boasted about how many women "unlocked their Masterlock" for him. Nevertheless, he's clearly trying to milk laughs out of two mock apologies that reference his recent appearances at Red Rocks.

The first, found on his website blog, features Mayer sort of addressing the arrest of 63 audience members at his show in Hershey, Pennsylvania -- something that actually happened according to an MTV.com post (cursor down to find the item). Along the way, Mayer writes, "To those reading who believe that 63 arrests is on the high side, it actually doesn't even make this tour's top ten. Night two of Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Colorado saw more than half that capacity crowd placed under arrest."

Mayer's I'm-sorry in the YouTube clip above, which was shot at Red Rocks, focuses on another alleged offense -- one that he says involves tragic injuries caused when a pitbull named Brutus broke out of an onstage dog fight to attack the crowd. Click above and marvel at Mayer's "masterful" faux-remorse, which makes the acting on Two and a Half Men seem like the work of the Royal Shakespeare Company by comparison.

Standup comic or overcooked ham? You be the judge. -- Michael Roberts

Guru is a Hip Hop legend. Check out this slide show from the Jazzmatazz show Saturday night.

Cary Brothers with Mother Mother and Stars of Track and Field
July 21, 2007
The Soiled Dove Underground
Better than: The Doobie Brothers
Slide Show
Made it to the Soiled Dove just as Mother Mother was wrapping up its set and heard just enough to form a vague impression of the act’s sound. The sweet girl-girl-guy harmonies meets quirky, off-kilter rock evoked They Might Be Giants in a roller-derby bout with Shonen Knife. It was intriguing enough to inspire a second look down the road.

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Sander Van Doorn
July 19, 2007
The Church
Better than: Mainstream bubblegum trance, even if they might be kissing cousins.
Slide Show

Sander Van Doorn played a solid set that kept the crowd energized and moving all night, even if it didn’t stray far outside the ordinary. Early on, a few of his mixes were pretty choppy, although he never proceeded to a full-on train wreck. Later, once he’d settled in to his groove, he smoothed things out and didn’t suffer any more noticeable problems.

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Magic Cyclops Benefit Show with The Photo Atlas, Monofog, Lion Sized, The New Rome, Mr. Pacman, Dario Rosa
July 18, 2007
The hi-dive
Better than: Living just about anywhere else could possibly be.
Slide Show

The Magic Cyclops benefit show at the hi-dive was a perfect example of what makes Denver’s scene so great. The night started off with a set from Dario Rosa that took the best parts of early rock history, fueled them with a mix of bluesy guitar and two-and-three-part harmonies and channeled the mix through some solid, catchy songwriting.

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Rocket to Nowhere, Dry Rot, Turbo Knife Fight and Green Fuse
Larimer Lounge
July 18, 2007
Better than: A swift kick to the balls
Slide Show

Rocket to Nowhere started off this lonely Wednesday night to a crowd of their girlfriends and a buddy. It was the guys' first night out, though, and as they put it, they were “still working out some kinks.” So I’ll try to be nice. It is said that when you undergo brain surgery, you can’t feel the drilling into your head. But I could definitely feel Rocket’s set of guitar-driven, growling rock boring slowly but surely into my skull. After introducing a song called “This is My Life and I Hate It,” I decided it was time to start drinking.

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There's a free show tonight at the hi-dive to raise money for Magic Cyclops's medical bills. Poor Magic suffered an excruciating and literally crippling blow after being thrown through the air at a Dan Deacon show and breaking both wrists when he landed. Like many musicians, he is without medical insurance, so the financial aspect of it is only adding to the already miserable experience.

Monofog, Lion Sized, The New Rome, Mr. Pacman and Dario Rosa are all playing. Doors are at 7, the show starts at 8 and it's FREE, as mentioned. Come see some great local bands and help out a truly nice guy that's had some miserable luck. Once you see him, you won't be able to resist pitching in a few bucks to help him out. He's in pain, he can't play (hell, he can barely dress or feed himself) and he's so pissed off about the experience of needing critical medical care that he can't afford he's been talking about running for office to see if he can't change things. Senator Cyclops? You heard it here first, folks. -- Cory Casciato

It would be nice to say that our July 19 profile of acoustic guitar wizard Leo Kottke was filled with the endless, witty and off-kilter diatribes that act as between-song banter during his concerts. But that’s the trouble with email interviews; the interviewee is less compelled to ramble. Still, as noted in the complete transcript below, Kottke managed to work his quirky persona into each answer. He meandered at times, much like his highly stylized playing where Mississippi country blues meets Appalachian folk with a jazz chaser, yet (mostly) found his way back to the question core. This includes discussing how the guitar saved his life; collaborating with musicians like Phish’s Mike Gordon or Rickie Lee Jones; developing his unique finger picking style; suffering hearing loss during a Navy tour; how tendonitis almost ended his career, and how he would starve if it did; his dislike of being called a singer-songwriter, re-working old songs on new albums; and falling off the stage in Dusseldorf, Germany. Welcome to the wacky world of Leo Kottke.

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In lieu of the usual Q&A connected to a Backbeat profile, here's something different, and more than a little crazoid: an audio interview conducted with O.G. rapper Ice-T by his manager, Jorge Hinojosa.

What the hell? As noted in this article, from Westword's July 19 edition, Hinojosa initially told yours truly that the Ice man would only do an e-mail interview -- so I dutifully put together a slew of questions and sent them into cyberspace. Later that day, Hinojosa sent back a sound file of an Ice-T quiz session conducted by phone, not e-mail, and when I listened, I initially thought he'd simply read my questions to the "Cop Killer" mouthpiece turned Law & Order: Special Victims Unit cast member. But early on, Hinojosa started changing what I'd written -- shortening it, rephrasing it, and more. He wound up dropping several benign questions, including ones about potential presidential candidate Fred Thompson, an erstwhile L&O actor who occasionally turned up on SVU, and wrapped up with something I didn't ask at all, about whether Ice-T's buxom wife, CoCo, planned to travel with him to Colorado. The suspense is incredible.

Click below and hear the weirdness for yourself. -- Michael Roberts

For the record, Keller Williams does not sell real estate. He does, however, tour regularly on the jam band circuit, where he routinely impresses audiences with his one-man band approach. With the help of looping technology, Williams constructs his crowd pleasing grooves right on stage, layer by layer, all with the air of a goofy guy in bare feet, a faded t-shirt and baggy cargo shorts. Touring in support of Dream, his latest effort, Williams is due at Red Rocks on Tuesday, July 24 with Bob Weir’s Ratdog.

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Slide Show

Nick Terranova
July 13, 2007
The Church
Better than: Most club nights have any right to aspire to be.

Before Nick Terranova took over the decks, 2040 residents Matthew Orloff and Bryan Matthew played a fun opening set that got the crowd amped up for the main event. The pair laid down a few rough mixes, and they seemed to have a hard time really settling into a solid groove, but they did manage to get people moving, sweating and excited for the main event.

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