Denver Music Blog

From: James Anthofer
To: Herrera, Dave
Subject: Mercury Cafe Show - Gregory Alan Isakov and Bela Karoli
6/30/2008 12:34 AM

Hey Dave --

I didn't get photos for the show, and I'm not sure a review is that useful without them: The Mercury Cafe is still the same, as usual. Gregory Alan Isakov is still pretty awesome -- but Backbeat's said that before.

Here's a wrap-up of all the great coverage you missed this week on Backbeat Online while you were digesting the news that Amy Winehouse's emphysema may end her singing career (and, eventually, her junkie career as well...).

Locals Only

Lenny Lenn is known for the work he put in as a radio personality for various radio stations across Colorado. His biggest claim to fame is being part of the launch team of the now-defunct Denver hip-hop radio station, U102. Lenny then spent some time working behind the scenes on the Lewis & Floorwax show at 103.5 the Fox 103.5 before moving to stints with KISS FM and MEGA, both were at 95.7 on the FM dial, and then 96.1 the Beat down in Colorado Springs. These days, though, radio is something of the past for Lenn.

As the dust settles from another Westword Music Showcase Awards ceremony, a whole crew of folks has begun kicking it back up. The final results were posted Thursday morning, just before 6 a.m., and by noon, thirteen different comments had been added. Some of the comments added to the celebratory air of the event, but several disgruntled and righteously indignant readers vented their spleen about Westword as a whole and the results specifically, stopping just short of implying that there’s some sort of conspiracy or cabal that tilts the awards in favor of certain acts. The same kind of dialogue happens every year, in spite of the fact that the results are always determined by reader votes.

The latest Beyond Playlist includes reviews of the new deluxe reissue of Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue, Evan Parker's Boustrophedon, Clay Aiken's On My Way Here and a split seven-inch featuring BLK JKS and Esau Mwamwaya.

The 14th annual Westword Music Showcase Awards ceremony is now in the books. Holy crap! What a party! We haven't seen that many inebriated folks in one place since...well, probably since the last party we threw. In his Fluid review, Michael Roberts joked that "if terrorists wanted to rob Denver of its most devoted music lovers in one fell swoop, they should have targeted the Bluebird." That sentiment was even more valid last night -- only add the Mile High City's best musicians, several prominent radio personalities, numerous bar owners and a slew of its biggest boosters to that equation. Click here for slide show or see a complete list of the winners after the jump. -- Dave Herrera

Is it just us, or does papa Rupp look younger every year? Seriously. Old Bobbo must've made a deal with the devil or something. Unbelievable, that guy. Him and Prince, forever young, eh? Perhaps his perpetual youthful appearance is spurred by the fact that he's constantly reinventing himself every couple of years. This time around, he and the Shoot Romeo boys are back with a batch of new songs and a brand new singer, Marilyn Taylor from Esovae. The new lineup is due at Herman's Hideaway this Friday June 27, with Horse, Spools of Dark Thread and Shadow Work. After the jump, download (or stream) one of the outfit's new tracks.

How many times have you overheard someone in a band grumbling about having to go on first, or not being able to land a weekend slot, or having to play in front of only twenty people? Yeah, those folks would do well to sit down for a chat with the members of Acrassicauda. Reared on Metallica and billed as Baghdad's only metal band, the group has only performed live twice in two years. Twice. And even then, only one of its show took place on the musicians' native soil, and both sets were performed for a dozen or so fans. None of this, however, sapped the outfit's unbridled passion. Acrassicauda's harrowing story is captured on Heavy Metal in Baghdad, a moving new doc from the folks at Vice. After witnessing their plight, we're pretty sure that playing on a Wednesday night in front of ten drunks might sound pretty good. Check out the trailer after the jump.

-- Dave Herrera

Photo by Chandra Carney.

Looks like Meese is just about finished recording its new as-yet-titled album. Since inking their deal with Atlantic this past fall, the guys have been hard at work in the studio with producer Sean Beaven, who grew up in the Meese brothers' hometown of Cleveland. Aside from having that hometown connection, Beaven also worked extensively with Nine Inch Nails, a band that had a major influence on frontman Patrick Meese.

Whoa! Did y'all happen to catch a glimpse of who's being touted on MySpace's music page today? Both 3OH!3 and Flobots are featured prominently: The former is previewing tracks from its forthcoming album, Want, while the latter is the subject of the site's Who Knew feature. To paraphrase Pete Wentz and company, the break's over. Time for the takeover. -- Dave Herrera

In 2006, Gnarls Barkley, the subject of a June 26 Westword profile, scored with what to most ears was the song of the year – a little single called “Crazy.” Although lead singer Cee-Lo Green makes it clear in the Q&A below that he never attempted to repeat this feat, he acknowledges that he’s dealing with the repercussions of the tune’s success anyhow.

Cobra Starship, a June 26 Westword profile subject, is among the more unlikely passengers on the runaway train known as the 2008 Warped Tour – a band whose members didn’t truly come together until after a song released under its name was already well on its way to becoming a hit. Guitarist Ryland Blackinton details that oddity and more in the in-depth Q&A below.

After months of polling, tonight is the big night, when we'll announce the winners of the 2008 Westword Music Showcase. Please join us at at the Bluebird Theater this evening at 7 p.m. The event is free and open to the public. Hope to see you there!

Photos by Chris Velarde

Wolf Eyes and Aenka
Tuesday, June 25, 2008
Hi-Dive
Better Than: Soft-rock

Wolf Eyes are hard to describe without superlatives. They’re one of the loudest, heaviest, most intense onstage and most approachable offstage bands out there. Phrases like “from the primordial ooze, they emerge” or “like NIN if Trent Reznor wasn’t kind of a wuss” or “you guys are the next big thing!” (an older man actually said this at the merch table after the concert) get kind of close to the live experience of the band, but can’t quite catch the jaw drop.

So Jason Hayes from the Last Seen and I were standing around smoking outside the Atomic Cowboy this past Friday night before the Fluid show, when he presented me with a hypothetical proposition: If I were to form and front a band right now and could choose any musicians in town to play with, what would be my dream lineup. Talk about loaded question. What's more, he wanted my answer right then and there, off the top of my head, no deliberation. Nothing like being put on the spot, eh? Luckily, this was something that I'd actually given some thought to as I've watched innumerable bands play. After the jump, here's what I came up with, my all-time dream team of local players.

The convenience and portability of MP3s may make the them the de facto music standard, but vinyl, despite its weight and relative fragility, is making a big comeback. Maybe it's the warmer sound, the reassuring physicality of it, or maybe it's just simple nostalgia. Or maybe, just maybe it's absolutely gorgeous vinyl pressings like the new Ghost Buffalo album, The Magician, pictured above and after the jump, that are driving the process.

Rose Hill Drive's new record, Moon Is the New Earth, which we reviewed in last week's issue and which earned three stars in the latest issue of Spin, hits stores today. After the jump, check out the outfit's rad new video for "Sneak Out," directed by former Boulderite Mendel Rabinovitch. Ever wonder what these longhairs would look like all cleaned up? Wonder no more. In the clip, the telegenic trio summons its inner Milton as Jacob Sproul tries to work up the courage to chat up the office hottie.

Flobots's music has been characterized as a lot of things. Socially conscious? Check. Political? Sure. Insurgent? Sure. Incisive? Most definitely. But Spirtual? Perhaps to some, I guess. Christian? Uh... really? That's a new one. Nonetheless, that's exactly how eMusic -- or somebody, CD Baby maybe? -- has classified Platypus, the group's first disc. Hmm... maybe they know something we don't?

-- Dave Herrera

Photos by Soren McCarty and Jon Solomon.

The Fluid, Boss 302 and the Omens
Friday, June 20, 2008
Bluebird Theater

If terrorists had wanted to rob Denver of its most devoted music lovers in one fell swoop, they should have targeted the Bluebird on June 20. Virtually anyone who's worked at a record store in the city over the past two decades squeezed into the sold-out hall. Hell, I think half the crowd members have sold me 45s at one time or another. It was like a reunion of people who never let The Man tell them to cut their hair or dress responsibly or get a real job -- and they were undeniably in their element. After all, the Fluid, the subject of much ballyhoo on this site, was playing its first official gig in nearly fifteen years, and given the acclaim that greeted a warm-up show at the Larimer Lounge several days earlier, expectations were running at what seemed like an impossibly high level. But nothing seemed impossible on this evening -- not when the Fluid was onstage, anyhow.

Photos by Soren McCarty.

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss
Red Rocks Amphitheater
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Better Than: Being at Stonehenge for summer solstice.

As the electrifying frontman of Led Zeppelin nearly three decades ago, Robert Plant was the epitome of the über-rockstar. But Saturday’s show with bluegrass queen Alison Krauss proved that the singer could be equally as compelling in a completely different musical environment. Page and Krauss opened the set with “Rich Woman” without a lot of theatrics. Then again, though, there didn’t really need to be. The pair simply stood behind the mikes and sang brilliantly, while drummer Jay Bellarose laid down the tom-tom beat and T Bone Burnett, dressed like a country preacher, and Buddy Miller laid down the vibrato-drenched guitar parts.

Photo by Tom Murphy.

Broken Spindles, Red Orange Yellow and We Are! We Are!
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Larimer Lounge
Better Than: Anything else going on in town this night.

I got to the show a little late, and was relieved to find that We Are! We Are! hadn't played yet. Instead, a “DJ” was playing songs out of his laptop. A three-piece instrumental outfit whose music falls in with the angular post-punk that started to become popular again about seven or eight years ago, We Are!'s clipped rhythms, torrents of riffs and quiet introspective moments, mixed with the jazzy structures, recalled the Minutemen gone post-punk. The disparate elements added some welcome diversity to a field of music where there sure isn’t enough of it. The act moved about the stage like a great hardcore band, with its bass player nearly dancing down on his knees in particularly funky sections of songs, and played incredibly intricate sections of music with an impressive economy of motion -- and made the whole thing look easy.

Here's a wrap-up of all the spectacular coverage you missed this week on Backbeat Online while you were transfixed by Ice T's calling out Soulja Boy for ruining hip-hop and telling the young star to "eat a dick" ...

Lately, a lot of people have been asking me where I’ve been. Once a fixture of the scene – whatever that might mean to you or your mom – I seem to have disappeared. A Facebook friend – yes, I’m over thirty, and I Facebook (I also verb) – recently sent me a message that said, “Where have you been and what have you been doing?” Have I confined myself in some sort of self-imposed exile, or retired to some private island with my desert island music? Have I been banned from the city’s finest live music establishments for baring my perineum or my soul? Will I ever return?

LOCALS ONLY

Being a hip-hop artist in Denver is one of the toughest gigs in town. Not only is it difficult to find a venue that will allow hip-hop shows, let alone take home a piece of the bar and door, but it’s really hard to find an audience who isn’t brainwashed by the mind-numbing playlist heard on the radio. But local hip-hop crews Life Crew and House of Wax Recordings have connected with Soda Jerk Presents and the Marquis Theatre to hopefully put an end to that. In May, they all collaborated to launch The Boombox, a monthly hip-hop showcase featuring Colorado’s hottest hip-hop acts.

Photos by James Mitchell Evans.

Creative Music Works
Thursday, June 20, 2008
Denver Art Museum
Better than: A typical Thursday night at the DAM

Last night, I walked into what has to be one of the strangest events that the two-year old Hamilton Building in the Denver Art Museum has put on. In a collaboration between Creative Music Works (2008 Westword MasterMind award winners) and DAM, a video sculpture by Kristopher Collins, aka Movax, was projected onto the wall facing the staircase between the first and second floors, while local musicians played an improvised set of music that was, as curator Scott Kinnamon described it, a reaction to “the central germinating creative force” of Clyfford Still’s paintings.