The new LP from Americana songwriter John Statz drops tomorrow on Yer Bird Records. The opening track and lead single off the record is available now as a free download below. Check it out; there's feelings and stuff inside.
Read more about John Statz - 'Distance'
The only tag Harpoontang used on BandCamp besides “Denver” is “fun”. That’s so appropriate! “Jingle Me Down” is the raunchiest Christmas song you could ever hear. I promise. All of these songs are ridiculous! And sort of disgusting, but it’s so entertaining. Santa knows where you’ve been, but you don’t know where he’s been. Wrap it up.
When I first went to Accordion Crimes’ Bandcamp page, I saw that they tagged themselves as post-rock and thought, “Dang. There are tons of instrumental post-rock bands.” Turns out, they aren’t instrumental! They also aren’t really what I normally think of as post-rock at all, which is very good. They’re name is from an E. Annie Proulx novel that doesn’t have anything to do with rock music.
So, this band is out of the kind of genre that I normally listen to, but they are absolutely doing it well. I used to be reasonably into Thrice, The Mars Volta, and Circa Survive, but those times have left me. My Body Sings Electric lists all of those bands (plus Glassjaw and Dance Gavin Dance) in the “Artists we also like” section of their Facebook page.
Need some 80s inspired, lo-fi at times, hi-fi at times, electronic soundscapes? Check out Modern Witch. That’s a great name for this band. The vocals are appropriately creepy but set to the modern sounds of possibly circuit bent electronics, drum machines, and beautiful synths.
I wouldn't be terribly surprised if the Slow Burn EP from A Mouthful of Thunder actually was released back in '95 as it states on their Bandcamp. I also wouldn't be shocked if it were recorded and released this year as a kind of fruitful retrospective on a sunnier time. Either way, fans of the Doug Martsch camp of guitar-based songwriting ought to check this Denver trio out.
Safe Boating Is No Accident is an art folk band from Denver that’s absolutely worth listening to. Their lyrics are beautiful. Their sounds are fascinating. Their arrangements are tasteful.
Is it too early to begin making New Year’s Eve plans? I don’t think so. If I were going to be in Denver this New Year’s Eve, I would probably try to go see The Devil Whale, Pink Hawks, Royally Out, and Paper Bird at The Oriental Theater on 44th Avenue.
Most Americana groups content themselves with putting out records and playing shows, but Denver's Paper Bird demonstrates a little more ambition than most. They've gone ahead and composed a full-length ballet in collaboration with Ballet Nouveau Colorado. I have no idea what Carry On looks like when performed, but its organic, well-crafted musical half sounds mighty nice on its own. Check out 'Sounds Like Rain' below, and catch Paper Bird at the Oriental Theater for a New Year's show at the end of the month.
Read more about Paper Bird - 'Sounds Like Rain'
We hear “December” and we often think, Christmas. Yet, December is a month filled with many other things outside of the holiday season. And here in Denver, despite the snow… music rings through the season, continues filling the venues and keeps us nodding our heads and downloading new songs from I-Tunes. This December is no different. Mainstream, local and upcoming artists/bands have booked various shows throughout the month. Regardless of your genre choice, December delivers a mix to Denver.
Kid Rock rolls in likely covering his Born Free Album, Little Texas brings the toe tapping, 2 stepping, cowboy hat wearing party to the Grizzly Rose, Matisyahu comes bearing a little reggae alternative rock, the B-52s take us back a bit and capture some old school tunes, Social Distortion transports the punk rock music to the Ogden, and Macklemore with Ryan Lewis cover the rap/hip-hop genre with lyrical grace. Believe me, this is a minor list of upcoming shows and you can always check out your favorite venue for December’s playlist, so to speak. Ticketmaster also provides a means to simply scope out upcoming shows throughout the city. Read more about Not Quite Christmas Caroling, But Just As Good