Blogs

We stumbled across this enlightening graphical breakdown yesterday as we made our way across the Twitterverse. Somebody named Ethan Hein, a cat who evidently has a great deal of time on his hands, took the time and painstaking effort to deconstruct and then chart Michael Jackson's influence on the hip-hop world. While we don't agree with all of the lineage, we did find the breakdown rather intriguing. Click on the image to the left to enlarge.
  

Update: Last week's scuttlebutt turned out to be true. 3OH!3 indeed officially has the number one song on the radio in the country right now, and unsurprisingly, "Don't Trust Me" has reportedly gone double platinum.

Yeah, and it don't stop, and it don't quit. Speaking, of course, of the redamndiculous exposure of 3OH!3 right now. A few weeks ago, Eryc Eyl made a claim that the group had officially achieved ubiquity. With the frequency with which we've been blogging about the act's exploits, you'd have trouble making a case otherwise. But the hits just keep coming, as it were. Earlier this week, we posted a clip of the outfit's recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel, and we just found out that the Boulder boys, who are purportedly in the studio this week with Lil Jon (aka LilJizzel), have graced the cover of AP -- again, second time in a matter of months -- and reportedly have the number one radio single in the country. Ubiquity indeed. Click the photo to the left to enlarge the cover feature Nathaniel Motte and follow the jump to see the one featuring Sean Foreman.

A year ago today, Johnny Schou died tragically at the young age of 22. Hard to believe that it's already been a year since the talented Tickle Me Pink bassist passed away. Schou, as you might remember, in a cruel twist of fate, died the morning that his band released Madeline, its Wind-up Records debut. His surviving bandmates somehow summoned to courage to soldier on after his death, drafting former Brotherhood of Dae Han guitarist Joey Barba to join the fold. The quartet, which just played a show this past Saturday at the Gothic (review forthcoming -- we just freed BA Frederick's write up from the clutches of over eager spam filter), memorialized the anniversary of his passing earlier today with a short, heartfelt note penned by drummer Stefan Runstrom posted on their website. Read the band's thoughts after the jump and then feel free to weigh in with some of your own.

Headline says it all -- as does the eye-catching flier to your left. If you came out to the Westword Music Showcase over the past few years, you already have an idea of what to expect tonight at Bar Standard when Home, Death Hickey Blues, Aloft in the Sundry and Meniskus take the stage on this inaugural bill, breaking in this brand new night. Should be an excellent show.

On a related note, tonight's gig is slated to be one of Aloft in the Sundry's last until late August, when the outfit is set to release its new disc at the Bluebird Theater. No word on who else will be appearing on that bill, but the band is scheduled to head into the world famous Blasting Room in Fort Collins to record the new platter, a follow-up to Modestine, the group's exceptional sophomore effort.
 

In all the wall-to-wall coverage and rampant speculation in the wake of Michael Jackson's passing -- over the cause of his death, his sexuality, the true paternity of his kids -- we couldn't help but notice that there's one aspect of Jackson's persona that been completely overlooked, an eternal burning question that likewise seemingly no one knows the answer to: What's up with The Glove? Seriously. When and how did MJ decide to don The Glove? Why just one? Surely we're not the only ones completely baffled by this accessory and intrigued by the nature of its origin. Right? Anyone? Bueller? Inquiring minds want to know. We may never know the when. But after the jump, our best guesses as to why.

Soren McCarty

Yesterday, Mile High Music Festival officials released schedule for this year's two-day concert event on the grounds of Dick's Sporting Goods Park. From the looks of it, there's been some substantial changes from last year, the most notable being the addition of another main stage on the east side of the field, which will be divided from the main stage on the west by the food and vendor area. As with last year, there's five stages of action; in addition to the main stages, bands will perform on the First Bank Stage, Rhapsody Tent and the Westword Tent. We've also received word that there's more areas for shade and more misting fans. See the full layout, itinerary and list of permitted and forbidden items after the jump.

screenshot (click to enlarge) straight jacked from Ralphie

Another Colorado hip-hop artist has charted on CMJ's hip-hop chart. Massive props go out to Kid Hum, who checks in this week at number eighteen, just one spot being J Dilla, with his latest effort Offshore Drilling. Certainly a good look for the Kid, who now shares the distinction of having charted on CMJ's hip-hop charts with the Flobots, Procussions, Ichiban, Whygee and 1865. Sooner or later, folks are going to stop sleeping on Mile High hip-hop. Feeling like it's going to be sooner than later.

Zombie Hate Brigade with Troma president and co-founder Lloyd Kaufman

Just got word that local grindcore band Zombie Hate Brigade have signed with Crash Music, a national label out of Phoenix that focuses on heavy metal and rock. The band's debut release on Crash will be an expanded, multimedia-enhanced CD of their recent self-released self-titled album. Fans will get the original disc, plus lyrics, two more songs, all-new (and totally awesome) artwork and the video for "I wanna put my JUNK in Stacy", featured on this blog a while back. The guys also recently finished up a successful tour of the midwest and are working on material for a new album. Hit the jump for a list of upcoming dates and a sneak peek at the new album artwork.

Just in case you haven't been keeping tabs, this year's Monolith line-up has been shaping up rather nicely. On May 18, the masterminds of Monolith began revealing the line-up for the third annual two-day indie-centric music festival every two hours on Twitter and Facebook. Some folks found this approach tedious, while others enjoyed the surprise. Either way, we're pretty impressed with the acts that have been announced so far -- including the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, which were just announced as one of the headliners! Check out the full line-up thus far after the jump.