Punky Fresh

Fri., January 8, 9:00pm - It's not just a brand-new year, but a whole new decade, so why not kick it off with something fresh? Chicago's Punky Fresh is so recently arrived on the scene that not only doesn�t the act have an album out yet, but it still has that new-producer smell. The two members claim to be brothers and ...
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Eek-A-Mouse

Wed., January 6, 8:00pm - Ripton Hylton became known as Eek-A-Mouse in 1979, shortly before releasing his first hit single, �Once a Virgin.� Although Eek-A-Mouse�s early work displayed a clear debt to roots reggae, he�s since incorporated the aesthetics of dub into his core sound. An early pioneer of the ...
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Joey DeFrancesco Trio

Daily from Fri., January 1 until Sat., January 2, 7:00pm - Joey DeFrancesco's web site claims that he's "the finest jazz organist on the planet." It's a tall order to fill, but there isn't anyone else around that has the muscular chops and fierce skills this undisputed king of the B-3 has. In the two decades since the release of his debut, All of Me,...
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Band of Heathens

Thu., January 7, 8:00pm - Band of Heathens is technically from Austin, but the band comes off like it might have spent a great deal of time in New Orleans learning the rich mixture of sounds that mark that city�s eclectic scene. In moments, this outfit is reminiscent of the Band circa the early �70s. The Heathens&#...
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D.R.I.

Fri., January 8, 9:00pm - While it might be hard to believe in the age of metalcore, heavy metal and hardcore punk used to dwell on opposite ends of the spectrum. Back in the early �80s, fans of one genre wouldn't be caught dead listening to the other. With its aptly named 1987 album Crossover, Dirty Rotten Imbec...
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Amphibious Jones

Thu., January 7 - It�s rare when true technical ability is met with imagination and tasteful restraint. But that�s exactly what you get with Amphibious Jones, a quirky trio that threads together progressive rock�s chops, psychedelic space rock�s expansive soundscapes and punk rock�s liberatin...
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Jason Boland & the Stragglers

Fri., January 8 - Too many country-music purists of the past couple decades brag about keeping the true sound of country alive. Oklahoma native Jason Boland, though, just does it. Bearing a catalog of gritty, twangy songs that sound as natural as falling off a horse, Boland and his Stragglers have spent the last ten-...
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Eek-A-Mouse

Tue., January 5 - Ripton Hylton became known as Eek-A-Mouse in 1979, shortly before releasing his first hit single, �Once a Virgin.� Although Eek-A-Mouse�s early work displayed a clear debt to roots reggae, he�s since incorporated the aesthetics of dub into his core sound. An early pioneer of the ...
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The Snake Pit gets a dazzling makeover as Beauty Bar

Noah Ray McMahan would go to the Snake Pit twice a week when he was in college back in the '90s. And this fall, after stints in New York and Las Vegas, he moved back to Denver and, along with former promoter and architect Justin Martinez, who designed Bar Standard and City Hall, bought the venue ...
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Noah Pred at the b.side lounge

Toronto-based DJ/producer Noah Pred produces music in 3D — dirty, dark and danceable. You could also describe it as 3W, as in weird, wobbly and WOW! Specifically, his original material is full of distorted, ever-evolving timbres; shifting, irresistible rhythms; and creepy, off-kilter...
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Backbeat writers weigh in on the year's best national releases

Even with the staggering amount of outstanding local music released this past year (our annual Moovers and Shakers compendium is available online at Backbeatblog.com), Backbeat writers somehow managed to make room on our playlists for an impressive number of...
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Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band

Sat., January 9, 9:00pm - The morning after playing a party for his high-school graduation, Josh "Reverend" Peyton woke up with severe pain in his hands. Doctors thought that Peyton, who had been playing guitar for five years, would never play again.

"For almost two years, I didn't play," Peyton notes. "I ended up having...
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Todd Snider

Fri., January 8, 8:00pm - Todd Snider's Americana is a far cry from punk rock, yet the singer-songwriter embodies a punk attitude, especially on 2008's Peace Queer. Channeling Dylan with the balls of, say, Jello Biafra, Snider rails with his trademark dry wit against the war and George W. Bush. The eight-song, half-ho...
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St. Elias

Thu., January 7, 8:00pm - It's natural for children to absorb musical talent from their parents. For St. Elias, though, music isn't just an inherited proclivity; it's also something that the band's three members � two brothers and their cousin � have cultivated among themselves since they were kids growing up toget...
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Robert Earl Keen

Fri., January 8 - It's not a stretch to imagine Robert Earl Keen as a wannabe journalist. With an eye for detail and an ear for a great story, he writes songs that almost betray the fact that he studied journalism at Texas A&M before hooking up with a young nobody in the early '80s named Lyle Lovett. While his buddy ...
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Paper Bird

Thu., December 31, 9:00pm - Everyone in the audience was armed," says Paper Bird's Esme Patterson, recalling making that horrifying discovery on stage at a recent show. "It was like that scene in The Blues Brothers, where they play at the country bar and no one knows what to think."

While you can picture such a scen...
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Bad Weather California

Sat., January 9, 9:00pm - The new Bad Weather California album is called Young Punks. And unless you consider reverb-drenched, Stones-inspired riffs to be punk, then the title might seem like an ironic misnomer at first. Stylistically, at least, the act's rollicking psych-folk-rock is a far cry from the music of the b...
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Ninth+Lincoln Orchestra with Cuong Vu

Mon., December 28, 7:00pm - Ninth+Lincoln Orchestra leader Tyler Gilmore recently returned from a six-week composer residency where he completed four new pieces for these gigs with the innovative trumpeter Cuong Vu, who's performed with Pat Metheny, Laurie Anderson, David Bowie and other luminaries. Gilmore says all the music ...
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Eek-A-Mouse

Sat., January 9, 9:00pm - In his youth, Kingston-bred reggae star Ripton Hilton threw away tons of money at the racetrack, betting time and again on a sorry nag named Eek-A-Mouse. But the one time he decided not to wager on the beloved hay-burner, it actually won -- earning Hilton a permanent rodent-type nickname among frien...
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Eek-A-Mouse

Tue., January 5 - In his youth, Kingston-bred reggae star Ripton Hilton threw away tons of money at the racetrack, betting time and again on a sorry nag named Eek-A-Mouse. But the one time he decided not to wager on the beloved hay-burner, it actually won -- earning Hilton a permanent rodent-type nickname among frien...
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Vices I Admire (CD release)

Fri., January 1, 8:30pm - The last time we heard from the Vices I Admire guys, they had just ended their seemingly never ending quest for a new bassist with the addition of former Fray five-stringer Dan Battenhouse. And aside from sporadic gigs here and there, the outfit has been relatively quiet -- for good reason. The band...
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Leftover Salmon

Daily from Wed., December 30 until Thu., December 31, 8:30pm - Leftover Salmon occupies a unique spot in music. The band does not adhere to any one genre, though it borrows liberally from bluegrass, Cajun, rock, swing, jug band and even Latin and Caribbean influences among others. What the band does do is whip up one hell of a good time no matter where it finds...
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Leftover Salmon & Friends

Sat., January 2, 8:30pm - Leftover Salmon occupies a unique spot in music. The band does not adhere to any one genre, though it borrows liberally from bluegrass, Cajun, rock, swing, jug band and even Latin and Caribbean influences among others. What the band does do is whip up one hell of a good time no matter where it finds...
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The Meters Experience

Daily from Wed., December 30 until Thu., December 31, 9:00pm - Leo Nocentelli is most well known as the innovative guitarist in the pioneering, New Orleans funk band the Meters. His clipped guitar tone and smoothly executed improvisations have been imitated by virtually everyone who has ever tried to play funk.

Growing up in New Orleans, Nocentelli had the ...
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Bad Boy Bill

Sat., January 2, 9:00pm - Before he discovered house music and the rave/club scene, Chicago's Bad Boy Bill was a hip-hop-based battle DJ. That experience as a turntablist has given him an edge that most dance-music DJs don't have. Any track he plays becomes his own, as he applies battle-jock techniques -- scratching and cutt...
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The Meters Experience

Sun., January 3 - Leo Nocentelli is most well known as the innovative guitarist in the pioneering, New Orleans funk band the Meters. His clipped guitar tone and smoothly executed improvisations have been imitated by virtually everyone who has ever tried to play funk.

Growing up in New Orleans, Nocentelli had the ...
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Celtic Jam

First Monday of every month, 7:00pm
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Song Circle

First Tuesday of every month, 6:30pm
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Smoke 'em if you've got 'em at these area cigar bars

When I was a kid, every summer my dad and I would fly to Chicago. My grandfather would meet us at O'Hare, puffing on a stogie and blowing the smoke out the half-open window of his Buick. The car smelled like cigars, his clothes smelled like cigars, my grandparents' apartment near Rogers Park smel...
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Richard Vission at Beta

Have you seen that new MTV reality show Jersey Shore, or at least the clips on The Soup? Richard Vission is the perfect musical complement to that show. And it's not just that he looks like a cast member (though he does); his party-time take on house is the perfect soundtrack...
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Moovers and Shakers rounds up our favorite local releases of the year

As evidenced by the number of quality releases this year from every sector of the scene, local music continues to thrive here as we close out the decade. Reflecting back on our favorite records of 2009, we noticed some welcome trends:

More and more acts opted to release EPs over full-leng...
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Ninth+Lincoln Orchestra with Cuong Vu

Sun., December 27, 6:00pm - Ninth+Lincoln Orchestra leader Tyler Gilmore recently returned from a six-week composer residency where he completed four new pieces for these gigs with the innovative trumpeter Cuong Vu, who's performed with Pat Metheny, Laurie Anderson, David Bowie and other luminaries. Gilmore says all the music ...
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The Teaching

Sat., December 26, 7:00pm - Jazz drummer Jeremy Jones grew up in Denver, but for the past six years he's lived in Seattle, where he plays in a number of bands, including the Xtet and his trio, the Teaching, who just released a new DVD Live at the Triple Door. The group rides the line between boom-bap grooves and explos...
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Richard Vission

Sat., December 26, 9:00pm - Have you seen that new MTV reality show Jersey Shore, or at least the clips on The Soup? Richard Vission is the perfect musical complement to that show. And it's not just that he looks like a cast member (though he does) � but his party-time take on house is the perfect soundtrack to fis...
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Yonder Mountain String Band

Daily from Wed., December 30 until Thu., December 31, 7:00pm - The jam with which YMSB's music has been flavored since its 1998 founding is spread thinner than usual on act's latest effort, The Show. Working again with producer Tom Rothrock, whose credit list includes Beck, the players squeeze thirteen songs into around an hour even though they could eas...
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Yonder Mountain String Band

Tue., December 29, 8:00pm - The jam with which YMSB's music has been flavored since its 1998 founding is spread thinner than usual on act's latest effort, The Show. Working again with producer Tom Rothrock, whose credit list includes Beck, the players squeeze thirteen songs into around an hour even though they could eas...
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Fuck Xmas Party

Fri., December 25 - For some, Christmas can be a "rough time of year," acknowledges 3 Kings employee and Ooh La La Burlesque member Michelle Scheffer (aka Fannie Fitztightlee). One year, she and fellow Ooh La La producer Kitty Crimson were alone for the holidays and decided to throw a bash for themselves at 3 Kings: th...
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Murder Ranks

Sat., December 26 - "I always wanted to do a punk-rock dancehall thing," says Daniel Wanush, taking a drag on his cognac-dipped cigarillo. Wanush's image and the bizarre musical mash-up might be thoroughly ridiculous were it not for the source. Wanush, after all, is better known as King Scratchie, the frontman for one ...
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The Pirate Signal

Sat., December 26, 8:30pm - "At 26, dude, I can't really split my time anymore," declares Yonnas Abraham. "You know what I mean? It's like, what you cash your checks doing is what you do � and I don't want to be a waiter or a bartender or a market researcher. I want to be an artist."

When he performs, Abraham's artist...
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Josh Blue

Sat., December 26, 6:30pm - Since Josh Blue, a local comic with cerebral palsy, won NBC's Last Comic Standing back in 2006, things have certainly changed � including his material. "Now that people know who I am, I don't really have to talk as much about the disability stuff," Blue says. He's also been hittin...
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The Clam Daddys

Thu., December 24 - While their beards might instantly recall Billy Gibbons and Dusty Hill, Moses Walker and Tommy Knox of the Clam Daddys have a lot more in common musically with Leon Redbone than ZZ Top. The Daddys have been at it for more than a decade and they're of one finest blues bands in Colorado. The Clam Dadd...
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Aakash Mittal

Fri., December 18 - The first thing that struck me, being an American, is that I got off the plane and it was like this different level of chaos that I've never experienced before," says Aakash Mittal of a trip he took to India a couple years ago. "That first day you're in the street, and people don't follow any traffi...
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Gangcharger (CD release)

Sat., December 19, 9:00pm - Starting out as the musical equivalent of an interlude from the Boulder-based noise-rock band Mansfield Ghost, Gangcharger is helmed by its lyricist and primary songwriter, Ethan Ward. Upon first hearing the band, comparisons to Sonic Youth, Mission of Burma and Set and Setting-era Bardo Pond might ...
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Flashbulb Fires (CD release)

Fri., December 18, 8:00pm - "I have to stress," Patrick McGuire offers, "that I have great Christian friends, and the last thing I want to do is say that their faith is invalid. But I think sometimes in this country we take Christianity in like we buy new cars."

This sentiment is something the Flashbulb Fires vocalist/keyb...
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George Acosta

Sat., December 19 - As a general rule, the top trance DJs are all European. One of the few exceptions that proves the rule is Florida-based trance hero George Acosta. He may not have quite the same cultural cachet as Tiësto, Ferry Corsten or Sasha, but he is certainly capable of spinning the same highly ornamented...
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Super-Seed and Skyfox

Wed., December 23, 7:30pm - When Johnny Hill first picked up a guitar, he probably never figured that being murdered would end up being a boon to his career, much less that he would enjoy the experience.

"It was fun," declares the Skyfox frontman. "We got covered in blood, meat and poo."

Cleary, Hill isn't speaking fro...
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Gregory Alan Isakov

Wed., December 23, 7:00pm - Following in the tradition of artists like Elliott Smith and Nick Drake, Gregory Alan Isakov has the ineffable ability to convey a wide variety of emotions without ever raising his voice above a whisper. Save for This Empty Northern Hemisphere's "Dandelion Wine," in which his poetic croon soa...
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The Legendary River Drifters (CD release)

Fri., December 18, 8:00pm - Shortly after Suzanne Magnuson and Olivia Quintana formed Malas Semillas ("Bad Seeds" in Spanish) three years ago, they brought in Cyrus Greene, a naturally good blues guitarist who used to play in the punk band PBR Street Gang, and Curtis Wallach, who'd played drums in the Taints. When the group ch...
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George Acosta (afterhours set)

Sat., December 19, 2:00am - As a general rule, the top trance DJs are all European. One of the few exceptions that proves the rule is Florida-based trance hero George Acosta. He may not have quite the same cultural cachet as Tiësto, Ferry Corsten or Sasha, but he is certainly capable of spinning the same highly ornamented...
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The Trampolines

More than three years after releasing their self-titled debut, the Trampolines return with Between the Lines, a solid album that finds the band completely reinvigorated. The seamless vocals of Chris Stakes and Mark Sundermeier again take center stage, but this time around, the Tramps injec...
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The members of Flashbulb Fires wrestle with their faith

I have to stress," Patrick McGuire offers, "that I have great Christian friends, and the last thing I want to do is say that their faith is invalid. But I think sometimes in this country we take Christianity in like we buy new cars."

This sentiment is something the Flashbulb Fires vocalis...
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3OH!3 heads an all-local bill at the Fillmore

An all-local bill at the Fillmore is so rare it's practically apocryphal. Transforming from something of a joke between college buddies into one of the hottest acts in the country, 3OH!3 is one of the few recent local acts with the draw and clout to put together such a show. Fortunately, the Boul...
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Behold the foot-stomping alt-folk of the Legendary River Drifters

Shortly after Suzanne Magnuson and Olivia Quintana formed Malas Semillas ("Bad Seeds" in Spanish) three years ago, they brought in Cyrus Greene, a naturally good blues guitarist who used to play in the punk band PBR Street Gang, and Curtis Wallach, who'd played drums in the Taints. When the group...
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Nico Vega

Aja Volkman is the pretty face, beating heart and screaming soul of Nico Vega. On stage, it is possible to underestimate her as delicate for about three seconds before she bares her teeth, sheds the smile and cuts loose that voice. She's head-cold smooth on the soft stuff and sort of careens up t...
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Rachel James

Take a guitar part that sounds so clean it might as well be a synth. No need for the actual thing, though, because next you dab on some aching piano tinkling, written by someone not just classically trained, but classically inspired. Stick those in the plateaus between walls made of Prowess Studi...
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Gangcharger creates beauty from harsh noise

Starting out as the musical equivalent of an interlude from the Boulder-based noise-rock band Mansfield Ghost, Gangcharger is helmed by its lyricist and primary songwriter, Ethan Ward. Upon first hearing the band, comparisons to Sonic Youth, Mission of Burma and Set and Setting-era Bardo P...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Music]

Desperate Hours

Before Desperate Hours, Matt Turner and Todd Seres played together in Arizona indie-rock band FiveSpeed, of which the former is still a member. That band recalls the poppy, melodic punk rock that came to define emo in the late '90s — before it began its prolonged dive into self-parody. With...
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Ben Sollee

While Kentucky-based Ben Sollee is a classically trained cellist, he's also steeped in the vintage soul of guys like Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Sam Cooke. On last year's excellent Learning to Bend, in fact, Sollee took Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" and twisted the lyrics a bit, pu...
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The Getdown!

On this three-song EP, the Getdown! — made up of singer/bassist Dustin Lawlor and drummer Tom Nelson — literally wears its influences on its sleeves with two covers by bands that helped inspire the duo's fuzz-drenched garage sound. Lawlor and Nelson take Thee Milkshakes' "For She," st...
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Trent Cantrelle at Beta

New Orleans-born, L.A.-based DJ/producer Trent Cantrelle is a bit of a chameleon. His work generally leans toward the big, peak-hour style of progressive, as heard on tracks such as his recent release "Siren Says," but he's also fully capable of going deep and dirty for a late-night set as...
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Ami Benari pools his resources at ZanZBar Billiards

For the past decade, Ami Benari has run Tarantula Billiards (1456 Champa Street) with a simple business plan: Make a small profit by encouraging long-term relationships. Amenities like free pool have helped attract a loyal following, he says; some customers have frequented Tarantula pretty much s...
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Alphabets

This is the eleventh release of the year for Alphabets, aka Colin Ward. With a release corresponding to each month, Ward explored whatever musical ideas came to mind, with varying results. Nov09 is among the strongest of the 2009 releases. Hashing together white noise, abused electronic no...
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James Pants

Like a lot of people, James Pants is mining early R&B-inflected synth pop and hip-hop for sonic inspiration. But for all his heisting of tricks from Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, ESG and Liquid Liquid, Pants takes what some might consider a retro sound and reworks it using modern technolog...
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Bluegrass Jam

Second Tuesday of every month, 7:00pm
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Story Circle

Third Monday of every month, 6:30pm
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Colorado Youth Poetry Slam

First Monday of every month
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Colorado Youth Poetry Slam

Third Monday of every month
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Nico Vega

Fri., December 18, 9:00pm - Aja Volkman is the pretty face, beating heart and screaming soul of Nico Vega. On stage, it is possible to underestimate her as delicate for about three seconds before she bares her teeth, sheds the smile and cuts loose that voice. She�s head-cold smooth on the soft stuff and sort of careens up...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Trent Cantrelle

Thu., December 17, 9:00pm - New Orleans-born, L.A.-based DJ/producer Trent Cantrelle is a bit of a chameleon. His work generally leans toward the big, peak-hour style of progressive, as heard on tracks such as his recent release "Siren Says," but he's also fully capable of going deep and dirty for a late-night set as well. Can...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

James Pants

Wed., December 23, 8:00pm - Like a lot of people, James Pants is mining early R&B-inflected synth pop and hip-hop for sonic inspiration. But for all his heisting of tricks from Afrika Bambaataa, Grandmaster Flash, ESG and Liquid Liquid, Pants takes what some might consider a retro sound and reworks it using modern technology t...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Speakeasy Tiger

Tue., December 22, 8:00pm - Kyle Simmons wasted no time making things happen when she first felt the call of music. "I started writing as a solo artist when I was fourteen, released a record at the age of sixteen, and then at the age of eighteen signed with a label."

Now frontwoman of Speakeasy Tiger, Simmons is beginning ...
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3OH!3

Sat., December 19, 8:00pm - An all-local bill at the Fillmore is so rare it�s practically apocryphal. Transforming from something of a joke between college buddies into one of the hottest acts in the country, 3OH!3 is one of the few recent local acts with the draw and clout to put together such a show. Fortunately, the Bo...
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Trampled By Turtles and Ben Sollee

Daily from Fri., December 18 until Sat., December 19, 9:00pm - While Kentucky-based Ben Sollee is a classically trained cellist, he�s also steeped in the vintage soul of guys like Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Sam Cooke. On last year�s excellent Learning to Bend, in fact, Sollee took Cooke�s �A Change Is Gonna Come� and twiste...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Desperate Hours

Thu., December 17, 9:00pm - Before Desperate Hours, Matt Turner and Todd Seres played together in Arizona indie-rock band FiveSpeed, of which the former is still a member. That band recalls the poppy, melodic punk rock that came to define emo in the late �90s � before it began its prolonged dive into self-parody. Wit...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Hot Congress (CD release)

Sat., December 12, 8:00pm - Hot Congress doesn't function as a musical collective so much as a support system between friends and compatriots in one strand of the underground music scene in Denver. Beginning in January 2009 with members of a handful of bands, the Congress convened its first meetings and discussed the vision fo...
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Oblio Duo + the Archers (CD release)

Sat., December 19, 8:00pm - In 2006, Oblio Duo + The Archers established itself as a pillar of Denver's hipster-country scene with The Flag, striking a just-right balance between mellow steel guitars and experimental weirdness. After a long wait, the partners are finally prepping to release a seven-inch split EP with Reno's Fl...
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F.O.E. & DJ AWhat

Fri., December 11, 9:00pm - Ask F.O.E. to describe himself in three words and you may find yourself surprised. Cool, determined, focused � these are all adjectives that elude him. No, F.O.E.'s answer is simple and to the point: fucking rock star.

"How many people do you know that says "sex, drugs and rap?" he asks, a ...
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The Chain Gang of 1974 and Air Dubai

Thu., December 17, 7:00pm - Air Dubai, which began life as a hip-hop duo, has made an absolutely stunning transformation. To our ears, the act already showed tons of potential right out of the gate with the release of its debut long player, last year's The Early October. But from the sounds of the outfit's latest tune, ...
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St. John's Cathedral Choir

Third Sunday of every month, 4:00pm
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Ten Out of Tennessee

As much a conceptual project as what can perhaps best be described as a touring collective, Ten Out of Tennessee (Erin McCarley, Andy Davis, Katie Herzig, K.S. Rhoads, Tyler James, Matthew Perryman Jones, Trent Dabbs, Butterfly Boucher, Jeremy Lister and Andrew Belle) began in the imaginings of K...
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A trio of new clubs brings coziness to LoDo

Paul Piciocchi likes intimate, cozy spaces where you can have fun without huge crowds. As the owner of Tryst (1512 Larimer Street) and Sutra (1109 Lincoln Street), a club that Piciocchi recently sold to its manager, Mark Strazisar, he's done pretty well with smaller spaces. So when ...
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Action Packed Thrill Ride

There was a time when Action Packed Thrill Ride's tunes were steeped in countrified Americana, but over the four years the band has been at it, the sound has evolved. The quartet, which began as Lucas Johannes's solo project, hasn't completely abandoned its backwoods roots on this three-song EP; ...
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Bluebelle at the Meadowlark

With clear stylistic nods to the various projects of garage-pop luminary Billy Childish and a playful sensibility inspired by classic Denver indie-pop bands, Bluebelle (due at the Meadowlark on Saturday, December 12) writes pop songs with a bit of an edge. Fronted by guitarist Sarah Fische...
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We All Have Hooks for Hands

Most people in their right mind run for cover when they hear of yet another new band described as indie folk or Americana. Letting that dissuade you from the music of We All Have Hooks for Hands would be a grave mistake. While there's definitely plenty of jangle and twang to the South Dakota band...
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Oblio Duo gets geeked about releasing its first piece of vinyl

In 2006, Oblio Duo + The Archers established itself as a pillar of Denver's hipster-country scene with The Flag, striking a just-right balance between mellow steel guitars and experimental weirdness. After a long wait, the partners are finally prepping to release a seven-inch split EP with...
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Various Artists

The inaugural Hot Congress compilation cannot be fenced by any description other than "from Denver." There is simply too much happening, too many moods and sounds, and nearly as many totally distinct voices as there are bands (eleven). What the comp lacks in singular vision, it makes up for in ut...
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Telepathe

Although largely unknown outside its home town of Brooklyn, Telepathe is quickly earning renown for its gorgeous, otherworldly experimental music. Conjuring an amalgamation of Broadcast, Lush and early Ladytron, Busy Gangnes and Melissa Levaudis sound like they created their music in a place isol...
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Mikael Stavostrand at Theory + Practice

The roots of Swedish techno producer Mikael Stavöstrand go back to the industrial scene of the early '90s. He later delved into experimental music and noise before finally introducing dance beats to the mix in 2001. "When I started doing minimal techno, around eight years ago, I made ...
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Being King of the Mountain for F.O.E. means setting his sights outside of Denver

Ask F.O.E. to describe himself in three words and you may find yourself surprised. Cool, determined, focused — these are all adjectives that elude him. No, F.O.E.'s answer is simple and to the point: fucking rock star.

"How many people do you know that says "sex, drugs and rap?" he ...
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Hideous Men

"Holodeck" begins this initial offering from experimental electronic project Hideous Men with cycling low-end white noise to suggest the thrum of distant interstellar engines. But in short order, a gently executed mixture of neo-tribal rhythms and tropical pop weaves layers on top of and within e...
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Flashbulb Fires

If it's true that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then a number of celebrated indie-rock bands should be positively gushing after hearing this record. Flashbulb Fires (formerly the Atlantic and Fiance) recalls a more sullen Arcade Fire, an act it name-checks in its bio; although Flas...
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Hot Congress is what happens when kindred musicians pool their efforts

Hot Congress doesn't function as a musical collective so much as a support system between friends and compatriots in one strand of the underground music scene in Denver. Beginning in January 2009 with members of a handful of bands, the Congress convened its first meetings and discussed the vision...
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O Pioneers!!!

Hoarse, coarse and slavishly crude, the Texas outfit known as O Pioneers!!! might come across as a punk band at first — and, at its heart, it is — but beneath the growled aggression and blocky chords churns an artlessly artful, melancholy pulse that peels skin from flesh and pretentio...
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Open Jam

Third Tuesday of every month, 6:30pm
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The Greyboy Allstars

Thu., December 31, 9:00pm - The Greyboy Allstars first came together in 1993 for the release of DJ Greyboy's Freestylin'. Greyboy (aka Andreas Stevens) wanted to have a live band play tracks from the album at his release party, so he assembled a group made up of saxophonist Karl Denson, who had played on the record, gui...
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STS9

Wed., December 30, 8:00pm - Sound Tribe Sector 9 isn't a group that embraces conventional wisdom. The act has built an expanding audience by specializing in instrumentals � a format most popularizers reject out of hand. Moreover, STS9 appeals to fans of improvisational music played on traditional gear (guitar, bass, keys,...
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STS9

Tue., December 29, 7:00pm - Sound Tribe Sector 9 isn't a group that embraces conventional wisdom. The act has built an expanding audience by specializing in instrumentals � a format most popularizers reject out of hand. Moreover, STS9 appeals to fans of improvisational music played on traditional gear (guitar, bass, keys,...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

STS9

Thu., December 31, 9:00pm - Sound Tribe Sector 9 isn't a group that embraces conventional wisdom. The act has built an expanding audience by specializing in instrumentals � a format most popularizers reject out of hand. Moreover, STS9 appeals to fans of improvisational music played on traditional gear (guitar, bass, keys,...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Adrian Legg

Mon., December 14, 8:00pm - How does one describe the Adrian Legg mystique? He looks like a corner shopkeeper who'd be most comfortable in an apron, with a manner tipped unevenly in the direction of subtle. But he also plays the bejesus out of an acoustic guitar, executing finger-style licks with devilishly superhuman skill--b...
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Mikael Stavostrand

Sat., December 12 - The roots of Swedish techno producer Mikael Stavöstrand go back to the industrial scene of the early �90s. He later delved into experimental music and noise before finally introducing dance beats to the mix in 2001. �When I started doing minimal techno, around eight years ago, I made ...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

We All Have Hooks for Hands

Tue., December 15, 9:00pm - Most people in their right mind run for cover when they hear of yet another new band described as indie folk or Americana. Letting that dissuade you from the music of We All Have Hooks for Hands would be a grave mistake. While there's definitely plenty of jangle and twang to the South Dakota band's ...
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Bluebelle

Sat., December 12 - With clear stylistic nods to the various projects of garage-pop luminary Billy Childish and a playful sensibility inspired by classic Denver indie-pop bands, Bluebelle (due at the Meadowlark on Saturday, December 12) writes pop songs with a bit of an edge. Fronted by guitarist Sarah Fischer, this ba...
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Z-Trip

Fri., December 11, 9:00pm - Heavy is the head that wears the crown. But until criminally ambidextrous DJ Z-Trip (whose mixtapes fetch as much as $200 online) abdicates the throne, the short-lived mash-up phenomenon will have one reigning king: Arizona's Zach Sciacca, the crate-digging force behind widely bootlegged copies of <...
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Telepathe

Fri., December 11 - Although largely unknown outside its home town of Brooklyn, Telepathe is quickly earning renown for its gorgeous, otherworldly experimental music. Conjuring an amalgamation of Broadcast, Lush and early Ladytron, Busy Gangnes and Melissa Levaudis sound like they created their music in a place isolate...
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Ten Out of Tennessee

Thu., December 10, 8:00pm - As much a conceptual project as what can perhaps best be described as a touring collective, Ten Out of Tennessee (Erin McCarley, Andy Davis, Katie Herzig, K.S. Rhoads, Tyler James, Matthew Perryman Jones, Trent Dabbs, Butterfly Boucher, Jeremy Lister and Andrew Belle) began in the imaginings of Kris...
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Ten Out of Tennessee

Wed., December 9 - As much a conceptual project as what can perhaps best be described as a touring collective, Ten Out of Tennessee (Erin McCarley, Andy Davis, Katie Herzig, K.S. Rhoads, Tyler James, Matthew Perryman Jones, Trent Dabbs, Butterfly Boucher, Jeremy Lister and Andrew Belle) began in the imaginings of Kris...
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Davy Knowles & Backdoor Slam

Thu., December 10, 8:00pm - In an industry littered with tween pop stars and Disney Channel minions, it's refreshing to come across an artist whose work isn't a medley of foot-tapping drivel swathed with AutoTune. Equipped with awe-inducing guitar skills and a hauntingly intense wail, 22-year-old Davy Knowles is quickly making...
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Only Thunder and O Pioneers!!!

Fri., December 11 - Hoarse, coarse and slavishly crude, the Texas outfit known as O Pioneers!!! might come across as a punk band at first � and, at its heart, it is � but beneath the growled aggression and blocky chords churns an artlessly artful, melancholy pulse that peels skin from flesh and pretention fro...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Jonny Woodrose & the Broken-Hearted Woodpeckers

Thu., December 10 - Jonny Woodrose & the Broken-Hearted Woodpeckers started out as a solo for writer Jonson Kuhn. His lively, wiseacre perspective on relationships and trying to get by in this world attracted attention early on, and he was ultimately joined by the band's current lineup, including guitarist Charles Kern...
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Elephant Revival

Sun., December 13, 7:00pm - Truthfully, the annual Swallow Hill Holiday Party is really just a concert, though there�s usually a pre-show potluck shmooze for members. But as publicist Chip Herter makes clear, it�s not only a really good concert, but also a cheap one. �Historically, it�s always been a...
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Colorado Symphony Orchestra

Tue., December 15, 7:30pm - Most people have heard Duke Ellington�s music. But for some � like Scott O'Neil, Associate Conductor of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra � Ellington�s lure is much more personal. �My father was a high-school band director and had his own stage band through college," O'Neil re...
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Carbon Choir (CD release)

Fri., December 4, 8:00pm - Carbon Choir is a band whose virtues compound with each song. At first you might be drawn in by the music's delicate atmospherics and expertly measured pacing, because the band's sound is definitely made for reflective moments and thoughtful observation. But those who dismiss this act as just anothe...
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Channel 93.3's Not So Silent Night

Sun., December 6, 6:00pm - Approaching two decades as a functioning band (with a few admittedly sketchy years in the beginning), AFI is effectively in punk rock for the long haul. The band ushered a million or so people into its cult through 2003's certified platinum Sing the Sorrow with the help of some catchy singles...
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Moonspeed (CD release)

Sat., December 5, 8:00pm - Three vocal mikes. Three D.I. boxes. A condenser mike, a bass mike, a melodica vocal mike and a percussion mike. Two acoustic guitars. Two amplifiers for a pair of synths. Two drum kits.

Moonspeed, which at times boasts an eleven-piece roster, strives to ensure that every note is played exactly ...
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The Don'ts and Be Carefuls (EP release)

Fri., December 4, 9:00pm - After solidifying its lineup in May 2008, the Don'ts and Be Carefuls started playing a string of shows along the Front Range, including a high-profile opening slot with HEALTH at Rhinoceropolis that summer. Capitalizing on the enthusiasm that guitarist and singer Casey Banker and drummer Luke Hunter...
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Deadbubbles

Tue., December 8, 9:00pm - Less than a minute into Deadbubbles' latest offering, Frienemies, frontman Arlo White makes it clear that his band is all about "rock and roll music." And indeed, the Broomfield act roars off the line with some supercharged rock infused with the swagger of '70s punk from outfits such as the D...
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Do's and Don'ts

After solidifying its lineup in May 2008, the Don'ts and Be Carefuls started playing a string of shows along the Front Range, including a high-profile opening slot with HEALTH at Rhinoceropolis that summer. Capitalizing on the enthusiasm that guitarist and singer Casey Banker and drummer Luke Hun...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Music]

Polka Dot Dot Dot

Joanna Newsom came on strong earlier in the '00s, peaked early and has seemed to all but disappear from the limelight now that the decade is winding to a close. But the odd, arty folk of her debut, The Milk-Eyed Mender, lives on in Polka Dot Dot Dot. That's not to say that the young Olympi...
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Makeout Point

You can almost see the four members of Makeout Point nodding at the beginning of "Breaking Point," when the guitar rises from the white noise and the drums come tripping in. It's the band's moment of arrival, the fifteen seconds when it is clearest that they have something here worth exploring. T...
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Crawl

This debut from Crawl, which includes former members of Dethbox, is one track after another of hyper-aggressive punk that sounds like it was recorded in an indoor skate park. Just the same, the songs aren't a full-on speed-driven assault. Whereas a hardcore band might pummel you until the end, Cr...
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If ever there were an indie-rock orchestra, Moonspeed is it

Three vocal mikes. Three D.I. boxes. A condenser mike, a bass mike, a melodica vocal mike and a percussion mike. Two acoustic guitars. Two amplifiers for a pair of synths. Two drum kits.

Moonspeed, which at times boasts an eleven-piece roster, strives to ensure that every note is played <...
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Quotable

In the world of hip-hop, mixtapes are the currency of the street, the vehicles that many underground artists use to create exposure and build their names outside the confines of major-label marketing campaigns. By creating a street-level buzz, such artists as 50 Cent have forced mainstream tastem...
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Sandusky at the Larimer Lounge

A cursory listen to Sandusky's recorded output might give you the impression that the act has been doing soundtrack work for the next Gregg Araki film. In much of the band's music, you can almost hear sighing ambience, gentle dynamics and the sort of introspective aesthetic that comes from...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Music]

Big D and the Kids Table

It would be easy to peg Big D and the Kids Table as the de facto leader of some sort of ska revival. But the truth is, the band has been at the skanking game for almost a decade and a half. Formed in 1995 at the height of the Third Wave ska revival, the Boston group wound up, ironically enough, f...
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Beer pong and backless chaps are the draw at Hiccups 1

Fifteen years after I graduated from college, I finally discovered beer pong when I stopped in at Hiccups I (7980 Sheridan Boulevard in Westminster) on a recent Monday. The joint was jumping at 11:15 p.m., with a DJ spinning Bell Biv Devoe's "Do Me!" At one end of the club, the beer-ponger...
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Carbon Choir

On its debut album, Carbon Choir shows off an undeniable mastery of the piano-and-falsetto, sensitive-guy rock form. The playing is skilled and the songwriting solid, even nuanced. Singer Joel Van Horne has a strong voice that falls somewhere between Thom Yorke and Chris Martin, with a touch of D...
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Finn Riggins

Idaho is probably the last place anyone would expect a thriving pocket of experimental rock to exist. But that's exactly where Finn Riggins was founded, in the small town of Hailey. Four albums and hundreds of shows into its career, Finn Riggins is hardly a household name, but it should be. The a...
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Stellastarr*

In the earlier part of this decade, four post-punk-inspired bands of note from New York came to the attention of the general public: the Strokes, Interpol, the Rapture and Stellastarr*. Of the four, Stellastarr* probably received the least amount of hype, but with the release of its latest album,...
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Zac Brown Band

Compared to airbrushed, frosted-bang pretty boys like the ones in Rascal Flatts, Atlanta's Zac Brown Band looks like it came straight to Nashville from a bare-knuckled dustup with the Kentucky Headhunters. However, the strand of Southern rock that Brown and company are steeped in most is the free...
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David Guetta at Beta

David Guetta (playing Thursday, December 3, at Beta) may be one of the most in-demand stars of dance music, and it's all but impossible to understand why that is. There's no disputing his popularity — he's recently been voted DJ magazine's No. 3-ranked DJ in the world, he sell...
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Pacific Pride

Trimming most of the flab that the indie world has packed on over the past ten years, Pacific Pride is more than just a fine physical specimen. Airy yet athletic, it's a tribute to the immaculate jangle of acts like latter-day Pavement and Luna, one that serves only itself, not its makers....
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Sandusky

Thu., December 3, 8:00pm - A cursory listen to Sandusky�s recorded output might give you the impression that the act has been doing soundtrack work for the next Gregg Araki film. In much of the band�s music, you can almost hear sighing ambience, gentle dynamics and the sort of introspective aesthetic that comes from...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Big D & the Kids Table

Sat., December 5, 7:30pm - It would be easy to peg Big D and the Kids Table as the de facto leader of some sort of ska revival. But the truth is, the band has been at the skanking game for almost a decade and a half. Formed in 1995 at the height of the Third Wave ska revival, the Boston group wound up, ironically enough, find...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Stellastarr*

Wed., December 9 - In the earlier part of this decade, four post-punk-inspired bands of note from New York came to the attention of the general public: the Strokes, Interpol, the Rapture and Stellastarr*. Of the four, Stellastarr* probably received the least amount of hype, but with the release of its latest album, Ci...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Zac Brown Band

Thu., December 3, 8:00pm - Compared to airbrushed, frosted-bang pretty boys like the ones in Rascal Flatts, Atlanta's Zac Brown Band looks like it came straight to Nashville from a bare-knuckled dustup with the Kentucky Headhunters. However, the strand of Southern rock that Brown and company are steeped in most is the free-fo...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

David Guetta

Thu., December 3, 9:00pm - David Guetta (playing Thursday, December 3, at Beta) may be one of the most in-demand stars of dance music, and it's all but impossible to understand why that is. There's no disputing his popularity � he's recently been voted DJ magazine's No. 3-ranked DJ in the world, he sells plenty of record...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Polka Dot Dot Dot

Wed., December 9, 9:00pm - Joanna Newsome came on strong earlier in the �00s, peaked early and has seemed to all but disappear from the limelight now that the decade is winding to a close. But the odd, arty folk of her debut, The Milk-Eyed Mender, lives on in Polka Dot Dot Dot. That's not to say that the young Oly...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Finn Riggins

Fri., December 4, 8:00pm - Idaho is probably the last place anyone would expect a thriving pocket of experimental rock to exist. But that�s exactly where Finn Riggins was founded, in the small town of Hailey. Four albums and hundreds of shows into its career, Finn Riggins is hardly a household name, but it should be. The...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Open Jam

Third Tuesday of every month, 6:30pm
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Open Jam

Last Tuesday of every month, 6:30pm
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St. John's Cathedral Choir

Third Sunday of every month, 4:00pm
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Celtic Jam

First Monday of every month, 7:00pm
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Colorado Youth Poetry Slam

First Monday of every month
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Laugh League

Second Tuesday of every month, 7:30pm
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Bluegrass Jam

Second Tuesday of every month, 7:00pm
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Blues Jam

First Wednesday of every month, 7:00pm
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Song Circle

First Tuesday of every month, 6:30pm
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Jazz Jam with Mark Diamond

First Sunday of every month, 7:30pm
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Bebel Gilberto

Sat., December 5, 8:00pm - In Brazil, Bebel Gilberto has been in front of the public's peepers since her childhood, thanks to the fame of her performer parents, Miúcha and João Gilberto, and she made her recorded debut way back in 1986. In contrast, she was little known here until 2000's Tanto Tempo, a La...
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Moonspeed (CD release)

Sat., December 5, 8:00pm - The grandeur and cosmic intensity of a band like Bright Channel are both nearly impossible to live up to. But somehow, Jeff Suthers and Shannon Stein have assembled an unwieldy group of eleven people to write and perform songs that make them excited to be creating music again. Many acts with expansi...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Moonspeed (CD release)

Sat., December 5, 8:00pm - The grandeur and cosmic intensity of a band like Bright Channel are both nearly impossible to live up to. But somehow, Jeff Suthers and Shannon Stein have assembled an unwieldy group of eleven people to write and perform songs that make them excited to be creating music again. Many acts with expansi...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Bebel Gilberto

Sat., December 5, 8:00pm - In Brazil, Bebel Gilberto has been in front of the public's peepers since her childhood, thanks to the fame of her performer parents, Miúcha and João Gilberto, and she made her recorded debut way back in 1986. In contrast, she was little known here until 2000's Tanto Tempo, a La...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Faces of Radio

The name Faces of Radio is fitting for this band, because it seems like the players are aiming for the airways — or at the very least, enticing people to make their way to the dance floor. With that in mind, the act relies on a somewhat safe and formulaic approach to get there. While there'...
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Dugoutcanoe at Rhinoceropolis

Anyone who saw Jacob Isaacs playing in the legendary Angels Never Answer probably wouldn't have guessed he'd do music like this. The earliest incarnations of Dugoutcanoe (due on Saturday, November 28, at Rhinoceropolis) used tape samples and Isaacs's prodigious skill with drums and guitar,...
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The Outfit

From the opening drum clicks, this debut release from the Outfit hooks you into the headlong pace of "Towns," a song with familiar elements. But rather than trying to mimic the manic and loud-quiet guitar work of recent dance-punk bands, the Outfit presents moments of nuanced introspection that l...
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The Blackout Pact

The Blackout Pact's demise was a highly scrutinized one. A fellow touring band's laptop went missing, and a quick search found it nestled among the Pact's personal possessions. Blame was placed, and the band fell apart. More than two years after that fateful day in Las Vegas, the Pact is back wit...
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When it comes to heartbreak, Rachael Yamagata's got the memory of an elephant

Rachael Yamagata released her critically acclaimed debut disc, Happenstance, in 2004, only to be dumped by her record label, RCA, shortly thereafter. Last year the singer-songwriter and pianist finally resurfaced, on Warner Bros., with the wonderfully ambitious double album Elephants......
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Izcalli's Miguel and Brenda Avina haven't forgotten their Mexican roots

Determination and rock and roll run in the Avina blood.

Maybe it's a consequence of tight times and hard luck, the way families in poverty leaning on each other just to survive brings them a little closer together. Maybe it's that relentless optimism of chasing the American dream that imm...
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Season to Risk

Embarking on a small tour commemorating its twentieth anniversary as a band, the unrelenting and ominous-sounding Season to Risk, from Kansas City, was part of the early wave of bands to mix electronics and experimental hardcore. Peers of like-minded acts Drive Like Jehu and the VSS, Season to Ri...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Music]

Twisted Olive gives a new twist to nightlife in Stapleton

Two years ago, I made my first visit to Northfield Shops at Stapleton for the grand opening of the Denver Improv (8246 East 49th Avenue). Although Northfield can be seen from I-70 and is just a ten- or fifteen-minute drive from downtown, it still felt like it was in the middle of nowhere &...
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Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

Alex Ebert first came to public attention as the charismatic singer of indie-rock band Ima Robot. After some drastic life-changing experiences, he came up with the idea for this project, which seems to be part creative epiphany and part artistic therapy. Teaming up with singer/multi-instrumentali...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Music]

Moonspeed

Even at the height of Bright Channel's popularity and on-stage volume, leader Jeff Suthers played occasional acoustic shows as a solo artist. When Moonspeed, Bright Channel's successor, debuted, Suthers seemingly had found a way to indulge both his predilections: vast, untamed soundscapes and whi...
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Dave Seaman at the Church

From co-writing hit songs for Kylie Minogue to playing the biggest dance-music festivals in the world, Dave Seaman (due on Saturday, November 28 at the Church) has done it all. His mainstay is pumping, progressive house with a healthy tech influence that's underground but easily accessible...
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Wet Hair

Referencing everyone from Silver Apples to Suicide to Young Marble Giants, Iowa City's Wet Hair takes the keyboard-smeared, minimalist-art-rock-duo shtick to a new extreme of awesomeness. Granted, the sub-subgenre isn't broad enough to brook much fakery — and frontman Shaun Reed (along with...
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CunninLynguists

With a slip of the tongue, the name CunninLynguists can change from a description of one of the most respected hip-hop acts in the game to an act that, if performed without discretion, could get you kicked out of most places. CunninLynguists' Kno and Deacon the Villain have, with very little disc...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Music]

Baroness

Hailing from the state that brought you Mastodon, Georgia's Baroness is likewise a critically lauded metal outfit that seems to have sprung fully formed with the release of its 2007 debut, Red Album. But where Mastodon traffics in massive conceptual gestures and passages of ping-pong prog,...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Music]

Springing from the May Riots, Pacific Pride is fueled by inside jokes, sly turns of phrase and deft hooks

Recalling the frayed pop sounds of New Zealand indie-rock bands of the '80s and the angular, contorted psychedelia of Pavement, Pacific Pride has always focused more on quality over quantity. Beginning in 2004 after the dissolution of the original lineup of the May Riots, Pacific Pride played few...
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GT & the Sidewinders

Fri., December 4, 9:00pm - As far as album titles go, GT & the Sidewinders found a perfect one with Across America. The album's pretty much about traveling in one way or another, whether it be musically or through the lyrics — like the opener, "Coming Home," in which frontman G.T. Scragg sings about driving back h...
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Tab Benoit

Fri., December 4, 8:00pm - Named Contemporary Blues Male Artist of the Year for the past two years by the National Blues Foundation, Tab Benoit rolls into town on a hot streak in support of his latest release, Night Train to Nashville. Expect Tab and his longtime backing outfit, Louisiana's LeRoux, to haul in a grit-la...
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Season to Risk

Mon., November 30, 9:00pm - Embarking on a small tour commemorating its twentieth anniversary as a band, the unrelenting and ominous-sounding Season to Risk, from Kansas City, was part of the early wave of bands to mix electronics and experimental hardcore. Peers of like-minded acts Drive Like Jehu and the VSS, Season to Risk ...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Season to Risk

Mon., November 30 - Embarking on a small tour commemorating its twentieth anniversary as a band, the unrelenting and ominous-sounding Season to Risk, from Kansas City, was part of the early wave of bands to mix electronics and experimental hardcore. Peers of like-minded acts Drive Like Jehu and the VSS, Season to Risk ...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

CunninLynguists

Sat., November 28, 8:00pm - With a slip of the tongue, the name CunninLynguists can change from a description of one of the most respected hip-hop acts in the game to an act that, if performed without discretion, could get you kicked out of most places. CunninLynguists� Kno and Deacon the Villain have, with very little di...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Baroness

Sun., November 29, 8:00pm - Hailing from the state that brought you Mastodon, Georgia's Baroness is likewise a critically lauded metal outfit that seems to have sprung fully formed with the release of its 2007 debut, Red Album. But where Mastodon traffics in massive conceptual gestures and passages of ping-pong prog, Ba...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

CunninLynguists

Tue., December 1, 9:00pm - With a slip of the tongue, the name CunninLynguists can change from a description of one of the most respected hip-hop acts in the game to an act that, if performed without discretion, could get you kicked out of most places. CunninLynguists� Kno and Deacon the Villain have, with very little di...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

Tue., December 1, 8:00pm - Alex Ebert first came to public attention as the charismatic singer of indie-rock band Ima Robot. After some drastic life-changing experiences, he came up with the idea for this project, which seems to be part creative epiphany and part artistic therapy. Teaming up with singer/multi-instrumentalist ...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Open Jam

Third Tuesday of every month, 6:30pm
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]

Brett Dennen and Grace Potter & the Nocturnals

Thu., December 3, 8:00pm - Grace Potter and her band hail from Vermont, a state with a musically Phishy image, and Nothing but the Water, the title of the Nocturnals' first CD, does nothing to dispel this reputation. But if some of the picking and playing showcased on the album draws from the same well Trey Anastasio d...
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The Devil Wears Prada and All That Remains

Wed., December 2, 7:00pm - With the sudden demise of MTV's Headbangers Ball in 1995, metal had nowhere to go but underground. The scene fractured, the sound intensified, and shares of Aqua Net plunged. Since then, a legion of back-to-basics core whores like Massachusetts's All That Remains have pumped life back into the genre...
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Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros

Tue., December 1, 8:00pm - Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros are definitely one of the more buzzed about underground bands to come to Colorado this summer and deservedly so. With a briskly selling headliner show at the Planet Bluegrass Wildflower Pavillion in Lyons and highly praised appearance at Red Rocks for the Monolith ...
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Lola Black

Sat., December 5, 9:00pm - The members of Lola Black don't consider themselves a supergroup. It's easy, however, to argue that the band boasts the credentials for such a designation. The sextet's resumé includes stints in groups like Blister 66, Snapstick Dynomite and the Eight Bucks Experiment, each of which made its ...
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Linda Maich

Sat., November 28, 8:00pm - In addition to its luscious organic cuisine, the Mercury Cafe has always been known for its live music � everything from punk in the �80s to alternative rock (including Radiohead's ill-fated first Denver concert, believe it or not) in the �90s to the quieter sounds of the last few yea...
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The Swell Season and Rachael Yamagata

Sun., November 29, 8:00pm - Rachael Yamagata released her critically acclaimed debut disc, Happenstance, in 2004, only to be dumped by her record label, RCA, shortly thereafter. Last year the singer-songwriter and pianist finally resurfaced, on Warner Bros., with the wonderfully ambitious double album Elephants�...
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Blind Pilot

Sat., November 28, 9:00pm - Israel Nebeker and Ryan Dobrowski know something about getting back to basics. Before they put together their brilliant debut full-length, 3 Rounds and a Sound, the two men who make up Portland-based Blind Pilot conducted a strictly human-powered tour of their home coast. The same austere spi...
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Dugoutcanoe

Sat., November 28, 9:00pm - Anyone who saw Jacob Isaacs playing in the legendary Angels Never Answer probably wouldn�t have guessed he�d do music like this. The earliest incarnations of Dugoutcanoe (due on Saturday, November 28, at Rhinoceropolis) used tape samples and Isaacs�s prodigious skill with drums and gu...
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Radical Knitting Circle

Fri., November 27, 9:00pm - Over the years, the term "hippie music" has come to mean meandering jams with guitar solos that can be timed with an hourglass. But during the first generation of the 20th century's most hirsute social movement, the phrase also applied to the tuneage of antic folk loons with a fondness for musical a...
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Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk

Fri., November 27, 9:00pm - Lawrence, Kansas, is an unlikely little pocket of American Bohemia tucked into the heart of the Midwest. So it should come as no surprise that it has its own nascent music scene, which includes the likes of Baby Birds Don't Drink Milk. Oftentimes the most visible bands from out-of-the-way places are...
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Alan Alda

Fri., November 27, 9:00pm - Sometimes it's hard to tell if the members of Alan Alda are joking.

Engaging the threesome is like stepping straight into a steady barrage of inside jokes, tongue-in-cheek pop-culture references and friendly sarcasm. Levity is clearly part of this group's inner workings. But the casual tone shif...
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Paul van Dyk

Thu., November 26, 9:00pm - Although he shies away from the label these days, Paul van Dyk is one of the undisputed masters of trance. His music is like the aural version of Utopian visions from the '70s of a sterile, computer-controlled future populated by people in white jumpsuits and flowing robes, gliding from place to pla...
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Converge

Mon., November 23, 7:30pm - Although tagged by some as "this generation's Black Flag," Converge vocalist Jacob Bannon is a long way off from becoming Henry Rollins -- off stage anyway. Onstage, Bannon is a whirling dervish of emotion, complete with violent fist pumps and blood curdling screams. Offstage, however, the singer is...
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Emmylou Harris

Fri., November 20, 8:00pm - Emmylou Harris explored the arty side of the street on her previous three studio albums: 1995's indelible Wrecking Ball, helmed by studio auteur Daniel Lanois, plus 2000's Red Dirt Girl and 2003's Stumble Into Grace, made with Lanois protegé Malcolm Burn. In contrast, ...
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Nitzer Ebb

Wed., November 25, 9:00pm - Nitzer Ebb, from Essex, England, helped to define the musical style called EBM with its heavy industrial rhythms and stark vocals. As with emo, another much-maligned genre, EBM started out as a vital and relevant music whose pioneers never chose to name with a blanket term to encompass a music that ...
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Puscifer

Daily from Fri., November 20 until Sat., November 21, 8:00pm - Maynard James Keenan describes a show by Puscifer, arguably the oddest sibling in a family of Keenan-connected bands that includes Tool and A Perfect Circle, as a theatrical experience that's carefully planned in advance � for the most part.

"We want to make sure that some stuff is solid, s...
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pH10

Sat., November 21, 8:00pm - In the beginning, there was the sample. And the love of that sample led directly to the creation of pH10, an electronic outfit with a hard-edged sound and a long, storied history.

"Wax Trax proved to me that electronic-based music could be as heavy as the punk rock and metal I was listening to b...
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Grand Archives

Fri., November 20, 9:00pm - When group members split to form separate projects, the results frequently add up to less than the original sum � but not in the case of Mat Brooke and Ben Bridwell. The pair teamed in Carissa's Wierd, a sometimes entertaining but often erratic Seattle act, before joining forces again in a stur...
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Hatebreed and Cannibal Corpse

Mon., November 23, 6:30pm - Cannibal Corpse didn't invent death metal, but it has become one of the genre's definitive bands. Forming in Buffalo, New York in 1988, Cannibal Corpse quickly came to prominence due to its decidedly brutal music and horrifically detailed lyrics to match. From the beginning, Cannibal's album covers ...
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Bluegrass Jam

Second Tuesday of every month, 7:00pm
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Song Circle

First Tuesday of every month, 6:30pm
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Open Jam

Last Tuesday of every month, 6:30pm
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Snuggle!

Tue., November 24, 8:00pm - With pop punk having pretty much become a parody of itself these days, it�s difficult to be surprised by anything that anyone playing that kind of music has to offer. So how is it that a bunch of kids from Seattle got together to form a melodic, poppy punk band without sounding hopelessly react...
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Japandroids

Sun., November 22, 9:00pm - At first glance, people may have a hard time distinguishing Vancouver�s Japandroids from Brooklyn�s Japanther. Both are stripped-down, two-piece, lo-fi garage-rock bands whose members share vocal duties, and both have a certain kinship with the Land of the Rising Sun. Musically, though, Ja...
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The Big Pink

Mon., November 23, 9:00pm - London�s Big Pink borrowed its name from the Band�s classic debut album and set about producing music possessed of vast, swirling horizons and heady dynamics. The record�s introspective, declarative lyrics are like beacons in the hazy early-morning soundscape. In that respect, the Big...
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The Devil Makes Three and Vandaveer

Fri., November 20, 8:30pm - Not to be confused with fellow art-folk group Vetiver, Washington, D.C.'s Vandaveer sports a smokier yet more straightforward sound that feels born and bred in the back room of some bohemian cafe. And while that may sound like damnation with faint praise, Vandaveer manages to stagger between Tom Wai...
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Vandaveer

Sat., November 21, 9:30pm - Not to be confused with fellow art-folk group Vetiver, Washington, D.C.'s Vandaveer sports a smokier yet more straightforward sound that feels born and bred in the back room of some bohemian cafe. And while that may sound like damnation with faint praise, Vandaveer manages to stagger between Tom Wai...
Read More... [Source: Westword | Events]