Is it just me, or do you always kinda secretly begrudge how effortlessly you can be converted to commercial promotions when they include a free download of songs you like? Following that infectious Converse track and the Cartier compilation, the summer of free music continues with the folks wanting to outfit your urban experience.
It’s okay to feel a little dirty.
Urban Outfitters’ upbeat summer mixtape tracklist is pretty solid — lots of bands on here to love, songs to rawk out to at full volume. Parts of this feel like playlist of bands I’ve been fortunate to catch in the last few months, from folks like Black Kids and Architecture in Helsinki at Coachella to King Khan and the Shrines a few weeks ago (at an off-the-hook craaaazy good show).
Okay, so rock on (while you shop?). It’s free. After you spent $85 on those jeans, they owe you as much.
URBAN OUTFITTERS FREE MIXTAPE ZIP Lolita – Throw Me The Statue I’m Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You – Black Kids Like It Or Not (Version 2) – Architecture in Helsinki Woodfriend – Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson Hit The Wall – Broken Social Scene Presents Brendan Canning Taking The Farm – War On Drugs Furr – Blitzen Trapper Red and Purple – The Dodos The Old Days – Dr. Dog Death To Los Campesinos! – Los Campesinos Sore – Annuals Horizons – Son Ambulance Light of Love – Music Go Music Do You Love Me? – The Explorers Club The Blue Route – The Walkmen GfC – Albert Hammond Jr. Little Bit – Lykke Li Boneless – The Notwist Reservoir Park – The Duchess and The Duke Outta Harms Way – King Khan and The Shrines Willow Tree – Chad VanGaalen
In addition to artists I know I dig, like Gregory Alan Isakov, Hearts of Palm, Young Coyotes, Born In The Flood etc, I am especially looking forward to the “wander around aimlessly and listen” plan of attack and discovering some unexpected new local sounds. And if the tunes aren’t enough to lure you, there’s also a photography exhibit presented by some of Denver’s finest rock photographers (with free beer). If you live in Colorado and love music, come on out — a pass for all the action will only set you back a Jackson, and that ain’t bad.
In order to find more about how one nurtures and pulls off such a rad model for a local music festival, I checked in with one of the festival organizers, Ricardo Baca of the Denver Post. He tells Fuel/Friends why you should all come around to his little utopia this weekend.
5 QUESTIONS WITH DENVER UNDERGROUND MUSIC GURU RICARDO BACA
1) When the Underground Music Showcase first began, what hopes and goals did you have for it?
In the beginning, we only wanted to celebrate Denver’s local music community. It was five bands for $5, and the promoters told us we wouldn’t make any money off local bands. We told them we didn’t want to make the money – we wanted it all to go to the bands. (A very un-promoterly philosophy, apparently, given the looks of horror on their faces.) The Denver Post has never made money on any of the seven previous UMSs, nor have we, the organizers. But from the very beginning, the bands have always told us that they make more money at the UMS than any other show throughout the year – and since we believe that musicians deserve to make money, we’ve kept with that philosophy.
To this day, as we’ve expanded to two days and 100 bands and 20 venues and an outdoor stage this year – while still staying all-local, mind you – we still give 100 percent of the ticket sales to the artists who make the UMS what it is.
2) Name a few shows this year that you are anticipating – what’s gonna be epic?
As you know, Heather, The Knew is a fiery live act that isn’t to be missed. And they really step it up at festivals. I really love it how bands often utilize festivals – SXSW or Coachella or the UMS – as a time to step things up, to put on a show. And everybody treats it as an event – including the solo artists.
One of my favorite aspects of the UMS plucks artists out of bands and drops them on a solo stage. We try and pick musicians who aren’t really known for their solo work, too, because it makes things more interesting. Last year, everybody showed up when Bright Channel‘s Jeff Suthers (now of Moonspeed) played an intense solo set at a little paper shop. He’s playing again this year, and now there are others who don’t play out alone much – Pee Pee‘s Doo Crowder, Widowers‘ Mike Marchant, Cat-A-Tac‘s Jim McTurnan and Ghost Buffalo‘s Marie Litton just to name a few – who are stepping out at this year’s UMS.
More bands people should be aware of: Born in the Flood won our Underground Music Poll last year, and Hearts of Palm won it this year. They’re both playing. Some smaller musicians and bands: Mark Darling dazzled me at last year’s festival;The Beebs make lovely music; Roger Green and Dang Head and Joe Sampson and Chris Adolf are all tremendous talents in our community; and then there’s Chewbacca Bukkake – and with a band name like that, how can you not go and hear what they sound like?
3) Looking back at the UMS, what are some memorably fantastic shows that stick out in your mind?
At last year’s UMS, one of our featured solo performers was Patrick Meese. His band, Meese, was about to sign to Atlantic, but we didn’t know that. They were still “underground” enough for us. Turns out some of Patrick’s buddies showed up for his solo set – including Isaac Slade of The Fray. Isaac later sang a tune with Patrick, and then one by himself, and it was all very lovely and memorable.
I’ll also never forget the time Josh Taylor’s band Friends Forever got manic with a tarp, a fan and some other materials when we were at the Gothic Theatre that one year. Wovenhand put on a pretty amazing show at the UMS a couple years ago at the Bluebird Theater, and there was also the year when winning band Munly And The Lee Lewis Harlots got up from their seats at the Irish Rover (he’d requested to play the smallest venue at the festival) and walked out to the back patio, where they finished their set under the stars.
I could go on and on, seriously. Recounting the festivals over the years is like going through a history of Denver’s indie rock/metal/alt-country/punk scenes.
4) How do you think that technology has changed the independent music scene since the inception of the UMS, and related to that, your job as a music reviewer and festival organizer?
Up until this year, we tabulated votes for the Underground Music Poll by hand. That’s 100-plus voters, and each ballot has 20 band names on it. It was mad. This year, our tech guru Sean Porter was kind enough to build us a program that made things easy for everybody – voters included.
Speaking of Sean, he and his colleagues have made an incredible impact throughout the state –all very quietly, mind you– by designing/running most of the major rock club websites and starting his own genius creation, Gigbot. He and his buddies created websites for many of the major music venues and festivals in the city, and their program Gigbot spiders all of those sites and blogs and MySpace pages and brings that data into one place. Who’s playing tonight? Go to Gigbot. That makes my job – and my live music habit – a lot easier.. In the spirit of being forward, Gigbot is the presenting sponsor of this year’s UMS. But still. They were my favorite website long before they were associated with the UMS.
5) In talking about a future vision, what would you like to add to the Underground Music Showcase in future years?
We do like growth at the UMS. Right now we’re an all-volunteer shop. Even our lead booker, designer, sponsorship director and web developer are volunteers. I’d like to imagine a day where those are paid positions, even if it’s just a bonus. These people give so much. They deserve it.
Other than that, I love what the UMS stands for. I hope to keep that pro-artist, pro-fan vision and continue to grow with the booming Colorado music scene.
Thanks Ricardo, for the thoughts shared and for helping (with your crew) to organize such a relevant, viable, ‘music-friendly-first’ local festival! The posters are printed, the bands are ready. I’m in!
Last night at The Faint was a hot show in every sense of the word. It was frenzied and frantic, all sweaty moshing all-ages and pulsing, pounding, electronic/new-wave indie rock. I needed that.
All my pictures are up on Facebook, shot tentatively on my handy dandy new Canon Rebel XTi, a humblingly-tremendous early birthday present from my family. Watch out! I plan on having fun with this thing.
CONTEST UPDATE: The new album also came out yesterday, and the randomly selected winner of The Faint vinyl contest is Josh — Josh, let me know where to have it sent!
So this has been one of the busiest weekends in recent memory ’round these parts, leaving me exhausted, depleted, physically sore. I’m packing up the house I’ve lived in for three years, heading for hopefully greener pastures closer to downtown and the lovely neighborhood where I work. This entails slogging through a lot of crap, selling off everything that’s not bolted down, and getting ready for this stager lady that my realtor provides to come in on Thursday while I am at work and move all my furniture around and decorate in ways unknown to me. So when I come home it will be just like Trading Spaces except no Ty Pennington and no blindfold reveal.
In order to make the undesirable things (like bleaching the bathroom grout and polishing those hardwood floors) more palatable these days, I’ve been listening to some of these songs and albums. And I feel better.
Last November Lackthereof Drummer Danny Seim from Menomena(rhymes with phenomena, now I know) has a bedroom side-project called Lackthereof that actually predates his more well-known endeavors. In this ongoing project he plumbs some wonderfully moody, melodic, and obviously rhythmic depths. “Last November” is good for night-driving home from concerts, for that Lost Highway atmosphere as you watch the lines flick past. It starts with brooding clash and moves into something fairly soaring and surreptitiously suggestive on the choruses, part of an album chock full of rich moments. Your Anchor is out now on Barsuk Records.
Everybody Say Takka Takka No, funny you should ask, they’re not from Sweden or Iceland or anything like that. Despite sounding like a lost Sigur Ros cut, Takka Takka is actually a snappily-named quintet from Brooklyn. Their sophomore album Migrationis out tomorrow on Ernest Jenning Recording Co, and was “lovingly produced” by Sean Greenhalgh of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah drumming fame. It was recorded in Brooklyn and features performances by Bryan Devendorf of The National and Lee Sargent of CYHSY. Friend Bruce hears Lou Reed and the Modern Lovers, while I’d cite a definite “Could You Be Loved” on that intro. So yeah, we can agree that it’s eclectic (and intelligent and ear-pleasing).
Danny Callahan Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band I have a strong suspicion that behind the cleanscrubbed 17-year-old impression that meets the eye, Conor Oberst is just an old folkie at heart with a backporch fiddle, great stories, and a rambling beard. Maybe the kind with birds living in it. We all knew that it was just a matter of time before he ran off to Mexico with his Mystic Valley Band. This cut from the upcoming self-titled album was recorded in Tepoztlán, Morelos earlier this year and possesses many of the same loosely rollicking, great storytelling airs that I like from the most alt-countrified of his back catalog … but this time with astral plains, choloroform, and dying children. Spooky. The album is out August 4th on Merge Records, and they’ve got five in-store performances in independent record shops to celebrate over the next two weeks.
Trees Everest Remembering to blog this song is one of the greatest aha! moments I’ve had in the last few months. I had listened to this particular tune from L.A.’s Evereston serious repeat in May and heavily dug the muted Buddy Holly classic pop-song vibe with autumnal colors. And then it got lost like a leaf on a fast-moving torrent of my iTunes library, so I’ve been singing unrecognizable parts of the song to myself (mumbling through words I don’t know), Googling desperately trying to find out what it was, and sending myself text reminders late at night when I felt like I’d had a breakthrough on a new relevant detail. Here it is! It’s here and it’s so lovely. The aptly named Ghost Notes is out now on Vapor Records, and the band hits Outside Lands in SF in mere weeks.
By Yourself The Knew I had the pleasure of seeing this Denver band explode at the Hi-Dive Saturday night at the record release party for their new Boom Bust EP. The crowd was jumping and dancing to their somewhat unclassifiable blend of sounds – the Denver Post tried to nail it down with “punk, alt- country, classic rock, British dance-punk and garage rock.” Either way, these songs rock in concert and as a bonus their lead singer looks like a slender Will Ferrell. I am looking forward to seeing them again at the Denver Post Underground Music Showcase this weekend. If you live in Colorado, you should be too.
And look! Who’s your daddy?! Thanks, makeout club.
Because I love their sound, and also partly because I could watch these boys all day long (and yes, I know that is shallow and inappropriate but come on):
KINGS OF LEON: “Only By The Night” home movies/album preview
Oh, Followills, showcased in their natural footloose environment — cavorting, making music, riding small scooters. The new KOL album Only By The Night will be out September 23rd. As of this morning, you can download their churning new song “Crawl” for free on Spin.com:
On August 5th, Nebraska dance-punk band The Faint will return with a new self-released album, Fasciinatiion(on their own blank.wav label). They’ll be kicking off a tour in support of it, and I’m looking forward to catching them towards the opening end at Denver’s Ogden Theatre on Tuesday night, for what is sure to be a rad show.
I’ve not seen The Faint in concert before but friends who’ve gone cite the live action as simultaneously a huge amount of fun with perhaps a thread of dark fear running through it (stay out of the daylight!). This is not a bad combination, but hopefully the ratio of fun to fear will be proportionately higher than that time I saw Marilyn Manson in 1995 at now-defunct Edge nightclub in Palo Alto — still scarred from that one. Anyways . . . I woefully digress.
NEW CONTEST! Thanks to the folks at blank.wav, I have one double gatefold 180-gram vinyl of the new album Fasciinatiion to give away to one lucky winner. Please leave a comment if you’d like to win — and if you’ve seen ‘em live, tell me what I have in store for me. Posed to death!
Fasciinatiion Track List: 1) Get Seduced 2) The Geeks Were Right 3) Machine in the Ghost 4) Fulcrum and Lever 5) Psycho 6) Mirror Error 7) I Treat You Wrong 8) Forever Growing Centipedes 9) Fish in a Womb 10) A Battle Hymn for Children
And the tour starts tomorrow night, rocking Des Moines:
THE FAINT TOUR DATES July 27 Des Moines, IA – Peoples Court July 28 Sioux Falls, SD – Ramkota Annex July 29 Denver, CO – Ogden Theatre July 30 Salt Lake City, UT – In the Venue July 31 Boise, ID – Big Easy Boise Aug 01 Vancouver, British Columbia – Commodore Aug 02 Seattle, WA – Showbox at the Market Aug 03 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom Aug 04 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore Aug 05 San Francisco, CA – Grand Ballroom Aug 07 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theatre Aug 08 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theatre Aug 09 San Diego, CA – Soma Aug 11 Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa Aug 12 Dallas, TX – Palladium Aug 14 Atlanta, GA – Variety Playhouse Aug 15 Carrboro, NC – Cats Cradle Aug 16 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club Aug 17 Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero Aug 18 New York, NY – Terminal 5 Aug 20 Worcester, MA – Palladium Aug 21 Toronto, Ontario – Opera House Aug 22 Chicago, IL – Vic Theatre Aug 23 Omaha, NE – Sokol Auditorium
I featured Denver’s Young Coyotes on the Monday Music Roundup a few weeks ago, and at the time they had no shows scheduled. Several of you wrote to me to say how much you loved the summery-sweet fantastic sounds of their “Momentary Drowning,” so I am happy to report that they now have THREE shows scheduled for us lucky locals. Catch them here:
The Sundance Channel original series Live From Abbey Road featured Akron dirty-blues-rock duo The Black Keys this week. Dudes are currently gearing up for their Fall tour promoting their Danger Mouse-produced sickass album Attack and Release (they’ll be at Red Rocks August 21!).
Upcoming episodes in the Sundance series from the famed studio will feature artists such as MGMT (August 7), The Kills (August 14), Brian Wilson and Martha Wainwright (Sept 4), and Bryan-not-Ryan Adams on August 28.
Don’t tell your boss, but you can totally watch free movies at work and other places where you don’t have your Netflix now, using this new SnagFilms action. (I mean, on your lunch break, clearly).
That full film embedded above is a delightfully contentious movie that you must see if you never have (about Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols and their mid-90s music feud and friendship). It’s also loaded with great music. I can dig it.
The New Frontiers from Dallas dropped their spacious and glowing cover of the Gillian Welch song “Look At Miss Ohio” into my inbox today, like a little gift. That aching original has been one of my favorite songs to attempt harmony with on the chorus for a few years now, but where Gillian’s voice often takes on that haunted and weary edge, this version burns a little with spreading warmth — like a good glass of whiskey. It sounds like roadtrips that start at 4am after too much talking and dreaming about the wanderlust.
Name: Heather Browne Location: Colorado, originally by way of California Giving context to the torrent since 2005.
"I love the relationship that anyone has with music: because there's something in us that is beyond the reach of words, something that eludes and defies our best attempts to spit it out. It's the best part of us, probably, the richest and strangest part..."
—Nick Hornby, Songbook
"Music has always been a matter of energy to me, a question of Fuel. Sentimental people call it Inspiration, but what they really mean is Fuel." —Hunter S. Thompson
Mp3s are for sampling purposes, kinda like when they give you the cheese cube at Costco, knowing that you'll often go home with having bought the whole 7 lb. spiced Brie log. They are left up for a limited time. If you LIKE the music, go and support these artists, buy their schwag, go to their concerts, purchase their CDs/records and tell all your friends. Rock on.
Is it just me, or do you always kinda secretly begrudge how effortlessly you can be converted to commercial promotions when they include a free download of songs you like? Following that infectious Converse track and the Cartier compilation, the summer of free music continues with the folks wanting to outfit your urban experience.
Name: Heather Browne
