Denver Music Blog

Got a tip on this hilarious video for the band Question Block (nice Nintendo reference, by the way) and their song "All You Haters (Suck My Balls)" and we can't think of a better way to start off a Monday. The song itself is a funny self-parodying blast of hipster-hate, which we can totally get behind -- hipsters hate everything, especially themselves, after all. What's really cool here is the bevy of recognizable locations in the vid -- the hi-dive, Cheesman Park and a bike shop in Highlands all make an appearance and people (pay special attention to the dreadlocked dude; looks a lot like our boy Randy Washington, a regular contributor A Walking Disater blog, who recently moved to Brooklyn). You can thank (or blame, depending on how the video makes you feel) the Nix Bros., a couple filmmakers originally from Las Vegas that have made our fair city home -- and now are helping to make it famous. Sort of. Enjoy, and thanks to the Denver Egotist for the tip.

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Imagine waking up to find your car in exactly the same place where you parked it the night before, but looking drastically different from how you left it, with a note attached to the windshield explaining the extensive damage to the rear of the vehicle -- damage, mind you, that wasn't there when you retired for the evening just hours before. Such was the recent fate of Charley Hine from Dualistics, whose Toyota 4-Runner was unexpectedly smashed in front of Joe's Liquors, just down the street from his apartment on Larimer above the Meadowlark, just after dawn one morning last month. Dude has since picked up a new 4-Runner, so it's all good now, but sheesh! That had to have sucked. The whole incident was magnificiently captured by not one security camera but two! We found the footage so gripping, we felt compelled to share. Oh, and lest we seem like soulless ambulance chasers, the woman who careened into Hine's truck escaped serious injury. See the video after the jump.

Ever wonder what life's like on the road for your favorite Denver band? Well, if we're to believe the new video posted by Aloft In the Sundry, it's probably a lot like you imagine: Lots and lots and lots of tedious driving, with flashes of a bunch of smelly dudes hanging out and vibing with each other, broken up by intermittent gigs at various venues in various states of chemically induced alternated consciousness. Okay, there's no visual evidence here to support that last part -- the guys actually look as sober as preachers in the clip -- but c'mon, it's hard to imagine that any amount of touring involves the practice of teetotaling. Anyhow, take a several minute ride in the passenger seat of Aloft in the Sundry's short bus and then catch the band for free tonight at 10 p.m. at Andrew's On Lincoln.

Update: The thirty-second preview clip has been swapped with the full video. Check it out. BTW, the video reportedly goes into regular rotation on MTV next week.

All right, so dig it: the new 3OH!3/Katy Perry "Starstrukk" video won't offically see its broadcast premiere until next Monday, October 26, when MTV and all of its offshoots, MTV2, MTVu, MTV Hits, begin airing the clip, but we got our hands on a thirty-second preview. Check it out above and then feel free to give the dudes props for getting all up-close-and-personal with Miss I-Kissed-a-Girl-and I-Liked-It or dump some ice cold haterade on the crew (paging DenverScener) for being bottom feeding pond scum of the Denver scene. Have at it. [orig. post: 10.20.09]

Beer is great motivator. Who knew. Remember last month, we when told you about Synthetic Elements filming a video at LoDos, plying folks to come out with the offer of free beer? Yeah, seems to have worked out just fine. We just screened the resulting clip, and it looks like there was no shortage of peeps rocking out and getting their drunk on, including a dude playing tic-tac-toe on some Shiela's breasts, a drunken, scary ass clown and a creepy mime. Let us stand next to you fire.

Dressy Bessy's been putting out videos at a good clip lately, and who can blame them? The group is showing the same penchant for fun eye candy that it's shown for fun ear candy for years. The most recent exhibit is this video for "Simple Girlz," which features a simple, groovy animation style that complements the song's aesthetic. Don't take our word for it, though -- just hit play on the embedded player above and enjoy.

From the sounds of it, Nathaniel Rateliff and the Wheel isn't the only Denver outfit wowing folks in New York. We just received the link to this clip of Jim McTurnan and the Kids That Killed the Man's performance last night at the Alphabet Lounge. Evidently, McTurnan really digs Gotham, likens it to the time he spent in London as a kid. Don't get any big ideas, Mr. McTurnan. You're a Denver kid now, buddy. Don't go moving! Catch the band this Saturday night at the Bluebird as it warms of the stage along with the Knew for the farewell appearance of Everything Absent or Distorted (a love story).

​ Don't know how we managed to miss this, the Fray's video for its version of "Heartless," the Kanye West cover, but we just came across it earlier today, and you know what? It's a pretty swell video. Directed by Hiro Murai (Bloc Party) and produced by Ross Girard, featuring animation from Titmouse Inc. and Cinematography from Ibis, the clip is probably the most visually captivating the act has produced so far. Admittedly, we're animation geeks, though, too, so take our fawning for what it's worth. See the full clip after the jump, along with bonus footage of the band in the studio recording the track.

And the hits keeping coming for local scene. Earlier this week, we posted the new video from Skyline Surrender, and now we present you with the new video from Drive-In Massacre, which just finished recording its new album, Upon Forgetful Seas, with Dave Otero at his Flatline Audio studio. Like Skyline Surrender's video and the others that we've seen recently, the burgeoning videographers who worked on this (Andy from Alpine Studios in Woodland Park) have clearly got the quality aspect down with the slow-mo intro, the jump cuts and close ups. Now if we can get the guys to craft some sort of linear storyline to complement things, we'll be truly on to something. As cool as it is to see the sillouttes of dudes rocking out, backlit with spots, that can only hold our attention for so long. Just sayin'. Catch Drive-In Massacre at the hi-dive on Monday, October 26.

All right, hands up: Who has eighty minutes to kill this afternoon? Aw, c'mon, sure you do. Take a longer lunch and then chow down at your desk. It will be worth it. Promise. Remember that Fray documentary we told you about at the beginning of the year, Fair Fight, the one that was supposed to be included in special deluxe editions of The Fray? Well, it was included in the deluxe edition, but retailers were reticent to carry the title because of the cost, and while it was available online for a short time director Rod Blackhurst expresses having difficulty tracking one down. "I can't find a way to purchase one for myself even," he reports. There is a version available at Target reportedly, but even then, it's only a thirty-minute edit. "I just want people to see the film," says Blackhurst, who has graciously made the film available for viewing in its entirety online. An insightful look behind the scenes of the Fray trying to follow-up its multi-platinum debut, Fair Fight is definitely worth watching if you've got the time.

The quality of videos coming out of the Mile High City these days is pretty astounding. Gone are the days of convincing a buddy with a camcorder to spend an afternoon trying to make something "artsy." Within the past few years, the quality of videos seems to have risen in direct proportion with the quality of recordings. Likewise, there's as many good directors it seems as there are producers and engineers. Case in point: Just came across this video for the song "We're Going to Winchesta" from Skyline Surrender, an act we grilled last month in tandem with the release of its latest effort, This Is Character. Pretty impressive, yeah? Take a look and see what you think and then catch Skyline Surrender this Thursday, October 15 at Quixotes with Destruction of a Rose and No Bragging Rights.

Video by Alexis Johnson

This past weekend, the b-boys were out in full effect and getting down for this year's Mighty 4 Colorado hip-hop confab. We were there and Chad Fahnestock took a grip of pictures for us that you can sort through here. Alex Johnson also shot some great video footage, which you can check out here after the jump.

Welcome to a special lo-fi, lowlight edition of Moving Pictures, featuring the Swayback, who literally played in the dark at Bender's on Friday night, which seemed to call for grainy black and white treatment. Lighting was equally as tricky at the Meadowlark on Saturday night, as you'll see from the footage of Young Coyotes and Ian Cooke we shot of them them on the venue's outdoor stage, which opened this weekend. There's also some nice footage of the Get Down, Vitamins, and the Sexy Convicts, which is the alter-ego of Lyin' Bitch and the Restraining Orders, that we snuck in from Thursday night's wrestling extravaganza at 3 Kings Tavern. We intended to get tons more footage, including the Jim Jims set at the hi-dive and Ideal Fathers at Larimer, but a dying/dead battery prevented the former, and the fact that we stayed a little longer at the Young Coyotes prevented the latter. Ah, well, can't win 'em all. Next time. Live vicariously after the jump.

Welcome to a special edition of Moving Pictures. We got a head start on the weekend last night, and oh, man, what a night we had! We're still recovering from it, in fact, as we write this, trying to replenish our electrolytes and all that. We finally experienced the night we'd all been looking forward to since it was announced, the members of the Micro Wrestling Federation making their highly anticipated debut at 3 Kings Tavern. Calling it the coolest freaking thing we've ever seen wouldn't come close to doing it justice. Midgets pommeling each other? Time of our lives, hands down. Oh, and then after that, Lyin' Bitch and the Restraining Orders ripped our faces off. Take a look at what you missed after the jump!

Welcome to an abbreviated edition of Moving Pictures. With yet another soggy-ass weekend (seriously, what's up with the weather in Denver this spring -- picture perfect during the week and wet miserable on the weekends?!), some later-than-advertised start times and other miscellaneous stuff we won't get into here, we didn't make it out to as many shows as we had planned. In this week's episode, though, we still managed to catch some great sets from the Atlantic (the band formerly known as Fiance) and Epilogues, who shared a bill at 1515, from the 29th Street Disciples, who leveled One Eyed Jacks, and MHTDS, who got everybody at Herman's all waving their hands in the air like they just didn't care. Live vicariously after the jump.

From the soggy, cold weather to being under, uh, well, the weather until today -- which, incidentally, also accounts for why this week's episode of Moving Pictures wasn't posted until today -- it was a pretty miserable weekend. Fortunately, the music was delightful, as always, which more than made up for things. See what we saw after the jump.

'Twas yet another sensational weekend for music in the MHC. Kicked the weekend off by having a few drinks at Casselman's Bar & Venue on Walnut, the latest addition to the Ballpark neighborhood -- or as owner Matt Casselman prefers, "NoDo." The place has tons of potential thanks to an attached thousand-person capacity concert hall. From there, we packed our earplugs and headed to My Bloody Valentine at the Fillmore, which, unsurprisingly, was a veritable who's who of the scene. We caught up with Eric Halborg and Bill Murphy from the Swayback, Jason Cain from Astrophagus and Yonnas Abraham from the Pirate Signal and asked them all to share their thoughts about getting to see MBV. A song or two before the show ended, we slipped out in time to catch a bits of sets from the Autumn Film, Primasonic and the always entertaining Maris the Great and his band, the Faggots of Death. Our dance card was just as full on Saturday night with Dualistics at the Walnut Room, Adai and To Be Eaten at the Larimer and Gloam at the Meadowlark. (We didn't film that last set. For one reason or another, the band literally played in the dark with no stage lights, which made getting any usable footage next to impossible. Interesting group, though. Definitely worth keeping an eye on.) Anyhow, live vicariously after the jump.

Behold our latest weekly feature: Moving Pictures. Like a slideshow, only with sound and motion, Moving Pictures is basically just a quick highlight reel of the things we saw during the week or, in this case, over the weekend. This first edition features clips from yet another extraordinary weekend for music in the Mile High City. While we didn't make it to all the gigs we had hoped for, we did manage to catch a number of stellar sets all over town, including Iuengliss on Friday night at the hi-dive, Tauntaun's plaster-rattling set at Wax Trax on Saturday afternoon, a splendid early evening set from Paper Bird at 3 Kings Tavern, the Hot Congress Block party on Larimer and John Common and Blinding Flashes of Light warming up the stage for Cameron McGill at the Walnut Room. As added bonus, amongst the live footage, we've included a short interview with Mike Marchant from Widowers, who talks about surviving his latest harrowing ordeal last week and explains the idea behind Hot Congress and its priciples. Live vicariously after the jump.