Local Music Sound Off
Cat-A-Tac’s “Pills”
This Friday's MP3 features Cat-A-Tac, a fine indie rock band from Denver. The group first came together in 2003, when three of its four members were roommates at the University of Colorado. Cat-A-Tac released its first EP on Needlepoint Records last year (which was also the first release by the brand-new label, a local "collective" in which, according to the label's website, "the bands involved are all owners, operators, and financiers"). Cat-A-Tac is gearing up for a full-length later this year.
Cat-A-Tac has offered New West readers a track from its self-titled EP.
Click here to listen to "Pills."
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Local Music Sound Off
Project 12:01’s “Are There Angels?”
This week's local MP3 features Project 12:01, a Denver duo that recently won a Westword Music Award in the "Gothic" category. The band has offered New West readers a track from its most recent CD, Last Pharoah.
Click here to listen to "Are There Angels."
Project 12:01 is the collaboration between vocalist/keyboardist Melissa London and keyboardist/programmer Noel Johannes, who specialize in Egyptian-themed synth-based industrial music. On their website, they say the best genre label to describe what they do is "darkwave." The group has no shows scheduled at the moment, as they are in the studio working on new material.
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Local Music Sound Off
Ten Cent Redemption’s “Turn Out The Lights”
This Friday's local MP3 features the fine Americana of Ten Cent Redemption. Singer-songwriter Rhett Lee and drummer Bill Thomason first became known to Colorado audiences through their prior band, Carolyn's Mother. After that group dissolved, Lee and Thomason got together with guitarist John Waggoner and bassist Tony Burke to form Ten Cent Redemption. The result is an alt-country twang added to the pop songwriting skills Lee honed in Carolyn's Mother.
Ten Cent Redemption has offered New West readers a track from its first album, last year's Worst Plan Ever. Click here to listen to "Turn Out The Lights."
Ten Cent Redemption will headline The Walnut Room in Denver on Saturday, July 15. Opening will be The Legendary Beep Beeps, Die Pilot, and Mike Mitchell. The show starts at 8 p.m.
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Local Music Sound Off
Meese’s “Letters”
This week's local MP3 features the winsome pop of Denver's Meese. In April, the band released its debut full-length, Our Album Year, whose intricate melodies should please fans of Stars, Sufjan Stevens, and other smart indie-pop acts. Meese has offered New West readers a track from the album, "Letters."
Click here to listen to "Letters."
Meese has several shows scheduled for the coming weeks, including a gig Saturday, July 8th at the Walnut Room in Denver, a performance during the Denver Post music showcase on July 29th, and an opening slot for hometown band The Fray's triumphant return and first time headlining Red Rocks on September 30.
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WORLD CUPPA
World Cup Games Have Legs in AspenAt the Jour de Fete bakery and cafe, the specialty of the day was soccer, served up in a big World Cup.
It was France versus Spain, tied at 1, and you can imagine where the loyalties lay in a place called Jour de Fete, where the staff really does speak French.
About 10 people crammed into the cozy cafe, speaking both French and English. It was a moment that spoke to Aspen's image, or at least its self-image, that while the rest of the country may think the World Cup is some sort of protective clothing for soccer players, in Aspen, or at least in certain quarters, it draws a crowd.
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Local Music Sound Off
Polytoxic’s “Me Myself”
Polytoxic is a Colorado band whose three-person lineup produces as much sound as some groups twice its size. Although Polytoxic has won Westword's award for "Best Jam/Improv band in Denver," the band's appeal should stretch beyond the jam band audience to include fans of organ-based funk and tight Southern-style rock 'n' roll.
The band has offered New West readers a track from First Step, a live recording that is its debut CD. Click here to listen to "Me Myself."
Polytoxic has a number of shows scheduled for the coming weeks, including an acoustic performance at Wash Park Grill in Denver on July 3, and a "Disco Party" at Cervantes' Masterpiece Ballroom in Denver on July 7.
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Local Music Sound Off
Yonder Mountain String Band’s “How ‘Bout You”
This week's local MP3 features one of Colorado's most successful groups, Yonder Mountain String Band. This weekend YSMB will enjoy a prime slot at the biggest bluegrass festival of them all, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. YSMB plays on Saturday, June 17 on the mainstage at 4:15 p.m. Fans who were too late to snag tickets to the legendary festival can catch YSMB at the RockyGrass Festival in Lyons in July.
In May YSMB released its fourth studio album, a self-titled disc that introduces several changes for the group. The band released its previous discs on its own label, Frog Pad Records, but the new one is out on major label Vanguard Records. They recorded it with producer Tom Rothrock, known for his work with Beck, Elliott Smith, and the Foo Fighters, and for the first time they added drum tracks to their normally all-string approach. Vanguard Records has offered New West readers a track from the new album. Click here to listen to "How 'Bout You."
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Local Music Sound Off
Bop Skizzum’s “Insomnia”
This Friday's local MP3 features Denver's Bop Skizzum, an energetic band that blends funk, rock, jazz, punk and hip-hop into its signature sound. You may have heard the band playing along the Bolder Boulder race course as you ran past this year, but the coming weeks offer better chances to catch a full Bop Skizzum set. The group was recently nominated for Westword's annual music awards in the "Best Funk/Soul Band" category and will be playing the Westword Music Showcase on Saturday, June 17. That evening Bop Skizzum will also appear with The Motet at Denver's Oriental Theater (8:30 p.m., $10).
Bop Skizzum has offered New West readers a track from its most recent release, the Propeller EP. Click here to listen to "Insomnia."
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"Colorful Colorado" Signs Now Safe?
Keeping Owens Honest About Colorado “Welcome” Signs
Last winter a controversy brewed in Colorado over whether to replace the classic "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" signs at the state's borders with a new design that is, in my opinion, egregiously lame. (For the complete saga, see "Bad Design to Replace Historic 'Colorful Colorado' Signs," "Beating Back the New 'Welcome to Colorado' Sign," and "Governor Owens Pardons 'Colorful Colorado' Signs.") Today blogger Andy Bosselman points out that "Gov. Owens said he’d cancel plans for the new signs if the legislature gave him $19 million to be spent on advertising intended to lure tourists. The legislature complied and Monday Owens signed that law into effect." This should mean that the classic signs will be spared, but I noticed a disturbing photo in Tuesday's Rocky Mountain News that depicted a pro-tourism rally that took place at the 16th Street Mall Monday: In it, the banners behind the speakers are eerily like the Wal-Mart-esque design the artistic geniuses at Advancing Colorado developed to replace the "Welcome" signs. [more]
Local Music Sound Off
Moccasin’s “Ezra’s Ghost”
This Friday's local MP3 features Moccasin, a compelling Denver quartet whose slow-burning, sludgy rock has been winning over Colorado shoegaze fans for three years now. Lately, the group has been extending its reach beyond its home state, recently changing its name from Nightingale, playing at the SXSW music festival, touring the coasts, and releasing a well-received EP earlier this year. This week, Moccasin celebrates the release of its first full-length, Last Leaf, with a show at the Hi-Dive in Denver on Thursday, June 8. The disc is out now on Invisible Cities Records.
Moccasin has offered New West readers a track from the new disc. Click here to listen to "Ezra's Ghost."
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