Blogs

pureNRG
Here We Go Again
Word Entertainment

02:30-03:15 of “Here We Go Again”
This is one of the most totally awesome releases that I’ve heard in a long time! OMG I am so excited that FINALLY there is a group out there that is full of love and energy for Jesus. We all know that all those other bands that pull the kid friendly pop-music style like Miley Cyrus are devil-worshipping hoe-bags, so I’m totally stoked that we are all given the opportunity to praise and have fun!

More

When we last tuned in to As Flobots Turn, our local hip-hop hybrid heroes were steadily ascending Billboard's Modern Rock Chart and getting ready for a gig with Metallica. This week, we find Jonny 5 and the crew still burning up the charts, moving up two spots and edging ever so closer towards numero uno (according to R&R, "Handlebars" was spun more than thirteen hundred times last week), while preparing make their nationally televised debut on Last Call with Carson Daly on Monday, May 19. Way to Flo, y'all.

-- Dave Herrera

John Reis, the subject of the following Q&A as well as a May 1 Westword profile, is the leader of a new band called the Night Marchers – but the group is hardly his first. He made his initial ripple as part of Pitchfork back in the ‘80s, after which he’s served as a member in acts such as Drive Like Jehu, Hot Snakes, the Sultans and, most notably, Rocket From the Crypt, often simultaneously. However, he brought the last three groups to an end within recent years to concentrate on the Marchers, whose new CD, See You in Magic, recently materialized.

The conversation begins with Reis describing his decision to focus on one band. He then details the reasons he shut down Rocket, the Sultans and Hot Snakes; shares his musical philosophy, which emphasizes good times over angst; looks back on the Drive Like Jehu legacy; measures the benefits associated with major labels and their independent counterparts, including his own imprint, Swami; and admits to being a musical lifer.

That’s one sentence he’s eager to serve.

More

All right, if you thought the inaugural edition of Monolith last year was pretty kick ass, wait until you get a load of this year's line-up, which comes even closer to living up to the festival's name: How about some TV on the Radio? Justice? Vampire Weekend? Neko Case, And what about a little Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings? Band of Horses? Nice, right? And those are just the acts in bold print.

More

Almost a year after being forced out of their former location by redevelopment, the owners of the 15th St. Tavern have encountered a major setback in in their efforts to set up shop at their new location, 1028 Park Ave West. According to a note sent out by Mykel Martinez this past Friday, the Curtis Park Neighborhood Committee derailed their application for a new liquor license. As a result, Martinez and his wife have given up the fight and now find themselves in debt to the tune of $30K. While it's not clear how much of that debt is related to their efforts to reopen the Tavern and how much stems from Martinez's near fatal motorcycle accident last July, the news is simply disappointing (not to mention devastating) for them, as well as the entire scene.

-- Dave Herrera

Slide Show

Last Night: Birds of Avalon and the Raconteurs
Monday, April 28, 2008
Fillmore Auditorium
Better Than: Actually returning to the '70s.

You would have been forgiven if you wandered into the Fillmore Auditorium last night and thought you been transported back in time 30 years. That’s not because the venue itself had changed a stitch of its absurdly ostentatious, silk-purse-from-a-sow’s-ear décor. Rather, it’s because both acts on last night’s bill are proud throwbacks to days of denim jackets and Dodge Darts. As evidenced by the wide ranges of ages represented in the crowd, this appealed both to folks who were there the first time around, as well as to those who were born ten – or even twenty – years after Styx released its first album.

More

Slide Show by Molly Kreck

Kanye West, Rihanna, N.E.R.D. and Lupe Fiasco
Sunday, April 27
Pepsi Center

The mainstream press' habit of branding Kanye West a one-dimensional egotist tends to make his creative achievements seem like side effects of his neuroses, and that's a shame. His public statements overflow with so much self-love that he makes Narcissus seem like a chronic depressive by comparison, but the confidence with which he operates has contributed mightily to a body of work that compares favorably to that of any popular-music figure to emerge since the dawn of the latest millennium. Nevertheless, these aspects of his character cut both ways, as was apparent from his Glow in the Dark tour, also featuring Rihanna, N.E.R.D. and Lupe Fiasco, which stopped at the Pepsi Center on April 27. No other current performer could have come up with the bold concept behind his headlining slot or had the audacity to try and pull it off. However, his inability to share the spotlight or truly open himself up to the audience left his stint feeling like a fascinating miss rather than an unalloyed triumph.

More

F.O.E. and Jewell Tyme with The Pirate Signal, Makk Beez, A-Co, Julox, and others
Saturday, April 26
The Snake Pit

Better Than: Watching the Nuggets get beat down.

After just a handful of releases in 2007, Denver hip-hop label Jewell Tyme Music (JTM) is looking at a big 2008 and kicked it off this weekend with the release party of F.O.E.’s mixtape comp, King of the Mountain, at the Snake Pit.

The night was hosted by Jewell Tyme CEO 800 the Jewell and kicked off with short sets from Makk Beez and ACO (abbreviation for Aurora, Colorado), who both delivered decent sets performing songs from upcoming JTM releases. The backing music, however, sounded muffled throughout their sets thanks to a shoddy PA, which made it difficult to decipher what was being said.

More

Britt Rodemich, Ellison Park, Ian Cooke and Levi Weaver
Friday, April 25, 2008
hi-dive
Better Than: Enduring yet another uneventful happy hour.

The matinee show is an idea whose time has come in Denver. Instead of doing happy hour and then heading home only to amble back out around nine or ten, how about meeting friends for drinks, checking out three or four bands and then being done and in bed in time to catch Letterman (or to make your way to another show, if you're so inclined)? Unfortunately, given Friday night’s meager turnout at the hi-dive, this notion hasn't quite caught on. Yet.

More

Here's a selection of the best of last week's music blogging from around the Village Voice chain:

Timeless tunes, a pirate shirt and a large cougar on the prowl are just a few of the highlights of this New York Dolls show review.

More

Goldfinger
Hello Destiny…
SideOneDummy

01:23-02:08 of “Without Me”
Whoa. Goldfinger is still around. You know, I could pun the title and be like, “Hello Destiny, we still suck,” or “Hello Destiny, is this all we’ve worked for?” But that would be easy. And not really funny. Kind of like Goldfinger’s career.

More

LOCALS ONLY

For the last decade or so, F.O.E. (Father of Enemies) has steadily been putting in work, first as a member of the group Hilltop Click, then as a solo artist and now as vice president of Jewell Tyme Records. But just because he’s helping run one of Colorado’s most promising record labels doesn’t mean he’s slacking on the music side. He’s releasing a new project called King of the Mountain, this week culminating with a release party on Saturday April 26 at the Snake Pit, 608 East 13th Avenue.

More

Damn, man, can Flobots catch any more fire? A week after we reported that the crew will be sharing a bill with Metallica (less than a month after inking its deal with Universal, no less) comes news today that the act has claimed the seventh slot on Billboard's Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart...or, as the act's publicist puts it, their song "Handlebars" is the "#1 most added Alternative single in the US."

More

Photos by Jon Solomon.

Widowers, Achille Lauro, Mothership and Hawks of Paradise.
Thursday, April 24
Larimer Lounge

Better Than: LSD

Nearly a year ago, Widowers played its first gig with Achille Lauro and Mothership, so it was a no-brainer for the three like-minded bands to team up again to help celebrate the release of Widowers’ stellar new self-titled album.

But before those bands took the stage, Hawks of Paradise, lead by former Hawks and Doves frontman James Yardley, played its debut gig. Quite a few people, including a lot of local musicians, showed up early to catch the maiden voyage of a band that has apparently already created a bit of a buzz. The band’s MySpace page offered little insight into appropriate expectations, but I have to give the band kudos for having video clips of Jack Keroauc reading from On the Road and a scene from Two-Lane Blacktop, which starred James Taylor, the Beach Boys’ Dennis Wilson and the great Warren Oates. And when band kicked off an impressive set with a fuzzed-up cut steeped in the jingle-jangle of the Yardbirds, it was obvious the Hawks folks were fans of ‘60s reverb-drenched psych pop.

More