Blogs

Classic theme songs might seem to be a thing of the past. Some shows, like LOST and My Name is Earl, don’t have them at all. And even among those that do still have theme songs, it might seem that not enough shows boast the timeless classics of Sanford and Son (Quincy Jones’s “The Streetbeater”), or All in the Family (Adams and Strouse’s “Those Were the Days”) or Cheers (Gary Portnoy’s “Where Everybody Knows Your Name”).

But it’s not true. After an admitted lull brought on by the likes of pop-driven stuff on kid-fave-wanna-bes like Dawson’s Creek, and Enya rip-off melodies on shows trying to be too serious for their own good, there’s finally once again a crop of shows that are bringing back the music:

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

Panic at the Disco become the Warped-Tour-era answer to "Listen to the Flower People." You can judge for yourself whether that's a good or bad thing.

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Does It Offend You, Yeah? and Yo Majesty
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Bluebird Theater

The evening went up, up then crashed hard Saturday night. Electro pop, electro rock and some god-awful hip-hop took over the Bluebird, leaving this reviewer asking, "How the hell did Yo Majesty snag a tour headlining for one of the hottest acts on either side of the Atlantic? And why are they so obnoxious?" Find out in this slide show review by Cory Casciato.

Photo Courtesy of Kara Davidson/Urban Outfitters

The Chain Gang of 1974
Saturday, May 10, Urban Outfitters, Boulder
Better Than: The last show you saw at the Gap

You wouldn’t expect a chain retail store to support local live music, but this weekend, on the increasingly homogenized and decreasingly unique Pearl Street Mall, the unlikely venue of Urban Outfitters offered up a truly unique event. Part of the store’s “Land Locked and Rocked” series of shows, Friday night’s performance by the Chain Gang of 1974 proved that even a predictable, highly calculated place like UO can still harbor a surprise or two.

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Photo by Aerin

Film School, Monofog, Fucking Orange
Saturday, May 10, 2008
hi-dive
Better Than: That time I saw Mind Bomb at 7 South. Yikes.

While I was ultimately pleased with the music I heard Saturday night at the hi-dive, I was initially less than certain that I’d walk out of the club with more than ringing ears. The crowd didn’t help instill me with much confidence upon arrival. Maybe everyone was just nervous about Mother’s Day brunch the next morning with the famn damily, but the vibe at hi-dive was so subdued I was afraid I’d wandered onto the set of The Stepford Hipsters. Maybe it was just the opening act Fucking Orange, who despite playing for thirty fucking minutes, never quite located a fucking song in all the fucking noise.

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Laura Veirs and Liam Finn
Friday, May 9, 2008
The Walnut Room
Better Than: Six Months in a Leaky Boat.

Digital looping pedals, which have been around for at least the past two decades, have made it fairly simple for one musician to sound like multiple musicians. A guy can lay down a phrase on guitar, sample it and have it loop repeatedly, and then layer other guitar, bass, drum or vocal parts over it. Last Friday at the Walnut Room, both Liam Finn and Laura Veirs made ample use of the looping pedals.

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Phil Lesh and Friends
Friday, May 9, 2008
Fillmore Auditorium
Better Than: Crying into your beer at Sancho’s Broken Arrow next door because you couldn’t find a ticket.

Walking into the sold-out Lesh show was interesting; there was an ice-cream truck parked out front, people selling various psychedelic paraphernalia and I couldn’t guess the age of the average crowd member. I saw people barely old enough to get in and people old enough to be my grandparents. The energy and excitement in the vast room was palpable before the band even took the stage; personally, I was struck by the sheer amount and variety of equipment, instruments, wires and machines crowding the sizable stage.

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Photo by Tom Murphy

Nudity with Temples and Outer Neon
Friday, May 9, 2008
Glob Glob Glob, Colorado Springs
Better Than: Most of the neo-classic rock out there.

Tight Bros. From Way Back When only played Denver once during its entire career, and that was on June 15, 1999 at Soulciety on Brighton Boulevard. It was an impressively blistering, bluesy rock-and-roll show, the likes of which had fallen somewhat out of favor at the time only to reemerge in mass popularity in the past half-decade. The band had played with critical darlings, Denver's Rainbow Sugar, and the first incarnation of Friends Forever.

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Detroit Cobras, Super 400 and Yerkish
Friday, May 9
The Falcon

You'd never know that Yerkish was missing a guitar player. Down an axeman, Nate Huisgen pulled double-duty -- not an easy task considering the band's complex song structures that border on math-rock. But with his creative approach, Huisgen relied on more textural approaches in his playing to fill up the room with his unique sound. With a bevy of guitar effects at his disposal, it seemed as if he switched from sound to sound like a painter choosing from a well-stocked palette. Things never got boring.

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Betcha didn't know that Dylan played the piano for a stripper in Central City once. Okay, so maybe some of you did, but I certainly didn't. Not until I stumbled across this Times Online article touting unreleased photos of the young troubadour taken by his friend Barry Feinstein (none were actually taken in Denver, though, as it turns out). The pics are still worth checking out, as is the article, in which Feinstein briefly recounts the pair's meeting Denver, which is where they first became acquainted. -- Dave Herrera

LOCALS ONLY
The online Colorado hip-hop show Out Tha Box TV will celebrate two years on air next month and they’re beginning their third year with a bang. The online show will be heading to television sets on May 14 on the ION Network at 3 p.m.
“We were looking for a station that was on the move, and a company that we could grow with,” said the show’s director and producer, Rob G. “ION (which was previously PAX) was recently purchased by NBC/Universal , and they are in a growth process, so we figured we could help them and they can help us... It's a great fit! We were in talks with other stations but ION is much better suited to our audience because they have a broadcast signal as well as cable and satellite feeds.”

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Wilco
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Pikes Peak Center, Colorado Springs
Better Than: The last time I saw Wilco at the Fillmore.

The first time I heard the live version of Wilco’s “Handshake Drugs” from Kicking Television I was floored by the guitar solo in the middle and the pure sonic wash of three guitars at the end of the song. I thought, "OK, this version completely kicks the ass of the studio version of on A Ghost is Born." Then I thought, “Who the hell was playing that guitar solo?” Not to knock Jeff Tweedy’s guitar chops, but I was pretty damn sure it wasn’t him.

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Henry Butler
PiaNOLA Live
(Basin Street)

As noted in a 2006 Westword profile, Henry Butler once owned a house in New Orleans’ Gentilly neighborhood – but Hurricane Katrina destroyed the structure and pretty much everything else in it. Somehow, though, a number of live recordings he made over the years managed to come through the storm intact. PiaNOLA Live, whose release Butler will celebrate on Saturday, May 10, at Dazzle, contains selections from several of them, recorded at various events between the mid-‘80s and 2007. They combine to form a fine portrait of an artist whose indomitable spirit echoes through his every note.

The co-producer here is George Winston, whose work often falls into the (eeesh) new age category. Nevertheless, there’s nothing tepid about Butler’s performances, which are marked by strength and vigor. Just two originals are included: “Orleans Inspiration,” an energetic instrumental, and “Let 'Em Roll,” which Butler co-wrote with guitarist Corey Harris, another performer with Denver connections. Still, his interpretations of ditties such as the rollicking Chris Penner tune “Something You Got,” Otis Redding’s “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay” and, naturally, “Ol’ Man River” turn out to be just as personal as the material that flowed from his own pen, and equally inspirational.

Butler lost a great deal when Katrina hit – but thank goodness he was able to salvage PiaNOLA Live. -- Michael Roberts

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Who: The Magic Mice

Dossier: Formed last year, the Magic Mice feature Aaron Betcher and Chad Peterson, both formerly of O'er the Ramparts.

In Their Words: Wisely, these cats opt to let the music speak for itself.

Sounds Like: Breathy and languid one moment, on songs like "Body slash Soul," and vibrant and expansive the next, on tracks such as "Dreams of Reason," the Magic Mice play a brand of classic, guitar-driven indie pop that would be completely at home on labels like Merge or Barsuk. Download "Stormcoated" here.

Our Take:The Magic Mice have played only a handful of shows so far, none of which we've been able to catch. But if the live show is half as good as the few songs we've heard, this band will have absolutely no problem finding an audience -- and quickly.

-- Dave Herrera

Literally, just moments before I was getting ready to post the flier for this week's edition of Pole Position, I came across a post on the DMB praising the banner above, touting Demon Funkies' CD-release show on Thursday, May 29, at the Bluebird. After seeking it out (I use Firefox with the ad-block extension), I'd have to say that even though it wasn't strapped to a utility pole, the imagery was striking enough to edge out the one I had snagged on the way to work this morning. Nice work. Props to whoever designed the artwork (flier girl Kristy?) -- which also doubles as the cover of the new record. -- Dave Herrera