Queen City Sounds and Art

Best Shows in Denver and Beyond 12/20/19 – 12/23/19

ColoCrew_final — **Colorado Crew: Denvoid Pt. 2 is being released and celebrated during events this weekend**

Friday | December 20

EchoBeds_Jan25_2018_TomMurphy — Echo Beds, photo by Tom Murphy

What: Colorado Crew Denvoid Pt. 2 book release
When: Friday, 12.20, 6-8:30 p.m.
Where: Mercury Café
Why: This event will present the follow up to Bob Rob Medina’s 2015 book Denvoid and the Cowtown Punks which documented the Denver punk and underground music scene from 1982-1987. This volume, Colorado Crew: Denvoid Pt. 2 covers the years 1988-1996 in which punk changed, the major current strands of music in Denver emerged into strong, coherent form and the early phase of artist run DIY spaces developed into the form we know now.

What: Emerald Siam w/Echo Beds and Clusterfux
When: Friday, 12.20, 8 p.m.
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: The musical accompaniment to Colorado Crew: Denvoid Pt. 2 mentioned above with bands whose members were part of that late 80s through mid-90s scene.

What: Panther Martin w/Wet Nights, Marti and the Dads
When: Friday, 12.20, 7 p.m.
Where: Larimer Lounge

What: Reno Divorce w/Tejon Street Corner Thieves and Joy Subtraction
When: Friday, 12.20, 8 p.m.
Where: Globe Hall

What: Colorado People’s Alliance Fundraiser with Gone Full Heathen, Lost Boi, Joel Zigman and more
When: Friday, 12.20, 8 p.m.
Where: Seventh Circle Music Collective

Saturday | December 21

Causer_Nov27_2019_TomMurphy — Causer, photo by Tom Murphy

What: Grimy (Bryan Wendzel) and Cabron (Bob Rob Medina)
When: Saturday, 12.21, 1 p.m.
Where: Chain Reaction Records
Why: Early afternoon show connected to the release of Colorado Crew: Denvoid Pt. 2 featuring death-grind band Grimy and author Bob Rob Medina’s San Diego-based punk outfit Cabron playing a rare show (as well as another later this night).

What: The Rocky Mountain Synthesizer Meetup Presents: Synth Patrol
When: Saturday, 12.21, 1-3 p.m.
Where: Little Horse Books & Vintage
Why: Early afternoon concert featuring live vinyl sampling from Aefonic (Brian Horsfield), Cold Future (Victor John), monoscene (Christoph Scholtes) and Newecho (Mark Mosher).

What: Jon Snodgrass and Jux County
When: Saturday, 12.21, 5-8 p.m.
Where: Mutiny Information Café
Why: Another show connected to the release of Bob Rob Medina’s book Colorado Crew: Denvoid Pt. 2 including performances from longtime punk stalwart Jon Snodgrass and Jux County, one of the early cowpunk/alt-country bands from the mid-80s and who still occasionally play shows.

What: FOUR! (reunion), Cyclo-Sonic, Mind Rider (Sonny Kay), Cabron
When: Saturday, 12.21, 9 p.m.
Where: 1010 Workshop
Why: The final event related to the release of Colorado Crew: Denvoid Pt. 2 with performances from bands including people featured in the book with pop-punk legends FOUR!, garage punk band Cyclo-Sonic which includes members of The Fluid, Choosey Mothers and Rok Tots, Sonny Kay (Savalas, Angel Hair, The VSS) and Bob Rob Medina (Savalas, Cabron). Rumor has it Medina and Kay will perform a Savalas song.

What: Causer, Equine, Tears to Li6ht
When: Saturday, 12.21, 8 p.m.
Where: Glitter City
Why: Equine is an avant-garde guitar drone solo project of Kevin Richards. Causer is one of the most compelling and inventive newcomers to Denver’s noise scene with their mix of confrontational performance art and noise collage. Tears to Li6ht is a melodic ambient/experimental pop project.

What: Surfacing – Winter Solstice show: Mirror of Truth (Esmé Patterson solo project), EA$$IDE LUPITA Korryne solo, Bell Mine, Kaumaha
When: Saturday, 12.21, 8 p.m.
Where: Rhinoceropolis
Why: Titwrench festival will return in 2020 to feature some of the most interesting female, LGBTQIA and marginalized community artists. This event is a showcase for what’s to come and a fundraiser for the future festival. It’s the debut of Esmé Patterson’s experimental music project and will include a performance of Korryne of R A R E B Y R D $’ solo project EA$$IDE LUPITA.

What: Jade Cicada w/Seppa, Shield, Mad Zach, Bricksquash and Schmoop
When: Saturday, 12.21, 7 p.m.
Where: Mission Ballroom

What: Charlie Parr w/Dead Horses
When: Saturday, 12.21, 8 p.m.
Where: Bluebird Theater

What: Decemburger IV: In the Company of Serpents, Nekrofilth, Ghosts of Glaciers, The Munsens, Casket Huffer, Upon A Fields Whisper
When: Saturday, 12.21, 6 p.m.
Where: Hi-Dive

Sunday | December 22

UmbrasAnimas_Jun30_2019_TomMurphy — Umbras Animas, photo by Tom Murphy

What: Umbras Animas w/Lady of Sorrows, John Gross, Mismo and Pythian Whispers
When: Sunday, 12.22, 7 p.m.
Where: Rhinoceropolis
Why: Umbras Animas is bringing its latest drone and shadow pupper theater performance to Rhinoceropolis along with one of the Godfathers of Denver noise John Gross, operatic darkwave synth pop project Lady of Sorrows and soundtrack/soundscape projects Mismo and Pythian Whispers (full disclosure, Queen City Sounds and Art writer Tom Murphy’s band).

Claudzilla_May31_2018_TomMurphy — Claudzilla, photo by Tom Murphy

What: Claudzilla w/Artificial Bladder (synth pop), Preparation (ambient)
When: Sunday, 12.22, 7 p.m.
Where: Mutiny Information Café
Why: Weirdo keytar pop maven Claudzilla will perform along with likeminded weirdos Artificial Bladder and Preparation.

Monday | December 23

EVP_Apr24_2019_TomMurphy — EVP, photo by Tom Murphy

What: Aunti Hoppa, Sur Ellz, Techno Allah and EVP
When: Monday, 12.23, 9 p.m.
Where: Rhinoceropolis
Why: A show where breakbeat dance music, hip-hop, electro soul and melodic industrial glitch meet.

Dragondeer Invokes the Lighthearted Spirit of Rural Dance Parties on “Max Patch”

Dragondeer_ScottMcCormick_sm — Dragondeer, photo by Scott McCormick

Dragondeer’s “Max Patch” deftly weaves together blues and funk with nicely crafted changes throughout. Eric Halborg’s voice has always been expressive but on this track its like he’s mastered the art of hitting the perfect emotional coloring and a broad dynamic range. Which jibes well with a song that not only has a nice groove with masterful syncopation but which showcases the talents of all the band’s players with a broad diversity of sounds and textures without overwriting. There is a spontaneous and fresh quality to the song that could be given to going over the top but Dragondeer lets the musical spool out just enough to indulge a tasteful bit of psychedelically-tinged improvisation and musical experimentation. Does the song reference that mountain in North Carolina? It certainly references good times to be had in the hinterland and dancing at the hoedown. Listen to “Max Patch” on YouTube and follow Dragondeer at the links below.

dragondeer.com
www.instagram.com/dragondeer
facebook.com/pg/Dragondeer

Siv Disa Explores the Mysterious Complexity of Instinct and Our Aspirations on “Moths”

SivDisa1_sm — Siv Disa, photo courtesy the artist

The video for Siv Disa’s “Moths” suits the hazily luminous melodic drone that draws us into the song. Visually it’s reminiscent of late 70s/early 80s psychotronic cinema or of Kate Bush’s 1980s music videos—dreamlike and symbolic. Disa sings in dynamic lines akin to those of Bush but her music is more modern in the processing of sounds. Electric piano and quivering synth drift in space amid minimal guitar work with Disa’s vocals guiding the paces, notes trailing in their wake. The image of the moths in the windows is an interesting detail as moths aren’t long lived and by instinct drawn to the light, distracted from living hinting at the song’s other lyrics wherein Disa sings about the subtly seductive powers of her own instinctive infatuations and how we can all get sidetracked from where we want to be by what we think we want in the moment when the right stimulus hits our nervous system. Watch the video on YouTube and follow Siv Disa at the links provided.

facebook.com/sivdisa
sivdisa.com
open.spotify.com/artist/1DMhuX8DGsngDnjpNECYSm
instagram.com/sivdisa
sivdisa.bandcamp.com
soundcloud.com/siv-disa

People Person’s “Bound” is the Sound of Someone on the Verge of Their Personal Breakthrough

PeoplePerson_LookOutsideWatchClosely_cover_crop — People Person *Look Outside, Watch Closely* cover (cropped)

“Bound,” the debut single from People Person sounds like it was conceived on a long walk on a sunny yet cold winter day in the middle of January. The chorus of “I’m ready” sounds like the mantra of a person who has been endlessly preparing for a big personal feat. The Bjork-esque vocals, the spare, ethereal guitar work, the low key but very present bass and the pull and push dynamic is reminiscent of early 2000s dream pop group Denali. The song’s dynamic has a great and subtle momentum like a slow moving river. But the vibe of the song, as mentioned before, is of someone who has spent long enough incubating her own life and ideas and is ready to unfurl them now. The whole song feels like a long build up to something without feeling incomplete. In the context of the whole 2019 People Person album Look Outside, Watch Closely (which was released on November 1, 2019) it is the second step of a grand journey of self discovery that challenges notions of constant progression that stand at the core of the American psyche but stands well on its own. Listen to and watch the video for “Bound” on YouTube and follow People Person at the links below.

peoplepersonca.bandcamp.com
instagram.com/peoplepersonca
open.spotify.com/artist/7iyh9UD70SUjrLRBpugcB0

Alvinos Zavlis Takes Us to a Journey Through an Avant-Garde Jazz Club in an 8-Bit World on “Falling”

AlvinosZavlis_TimeTravels_crop — Alvinos Zavlis *Time Travels* cover (cropped)

Alvinos Zavlis’ “Falling” rewards your attention as it goes from low end pulse to distorted drone framing gently soaring vocals. Elements come in like percussive, syncopated tones that become rapid arpeggios, electronic strings, synth washes, rapidly ascending sounds and then silence as the song takes a very different turn around the two and a half minute mark. Then you feel like you’ve entered a realm of 8-bit video game music like you’ve been transported to some kind of arcade in the 80s but you’re in the game navigating some digital landscape guided by articulated blips and rhythms. Then the tones become muted and blur the line between that 8-bit aesthetic and techno. Near the four minute thirty second mark you exit that realm into one incorporating elements of jazz structure in the low end but surrounded by 8-bit sonic figures to dodge as you travel with Zavlis through an abstract realm drawn along by the haunting vocals at one point pitched high into a childlike falsetto before the fadeout. Impossible to categorize genre-wise but a fascinating listen whether being drawn into the strange, fanciful world of the song or as something in the background to chase away the mundanity of everyday life. Listen to and watch the music video for “Falling” on YouTube and follow Alvinos Zavlis on Soundcloud. Look for the full-length album Time Travels due out in 2020.

soundcloud.com/alvinos-zavlis

With its New Single “Unselected” New Wolves Evokes the Unease and Uncertainty at the Current Rising of Authoritarianism in the World

NewWolves6_crop — New Wolves, photo courtesy the artist

The latest New Wolves single “Unselected” seems far too poignant for the current moment with the utter defeat of Labour in the recent UK elections as the lyrics deal with the current rise of the right wing in that country and everywhere, really. The song is melancholy but not despairing. Its beats sound weary but still strong. The distorted synth melody ascends and resolves in a way suggesting uncertainty commensurate with the general mood in the world of late for those who have the luxury of merely feeling uncertain but there is a quality to the sound of the song that gives the impression of bracing for the blows to come regardless of how much you think you’ve prepared to weather the coming storm when during the reign of authoritarian regimes you can become, in a word, unselected for the benefits of citizenship and being part of society. By casting the layers of melody and rhythm in this way New Wolves puts the mood of the song into an aspect of the hazy and dreamlike as though it’s something from which we might one day awake and cast off the dire spirit. It offers no hopeful bravado but also doesn’t offer up hard, fatalistic realism. Could the mood be described as cautious ambivalence? However it might be characterized, it’s an interesting mix of moods and sounds and captures accurately how many of us feel in this current moment as the world seems to be wending in a scary direction. Listen to “Unselected” on Soundcloud and follow New Wolves at the links below. Look for a full length album from the band in 2020.

soundcloud.com/new-wolves
twitter.com/wolves_new

Mothica Bids Farewell to the Intoxicated Party Lifestyle on “Hungover”

Mothica1_sm — Mothica, photo courtesy the artist

Mothica’s new electronic pop single “Hungover” flows with vibrant tones and melodies laid out in pulses of thought and contemplation. Like a map of how songwriter McKenzie Ellis came to realize she was caught up in a cycle of self-destruction and undermining her ability to gauge what really mattered to her not to mention how to achieve anything worthwhile. It’s a rare person who in the throes of the culture of intoxication and romanticizing that lifestyle who can step back and see things for how they are and to decide to walk away before hitting the absolute bottom even with help and support. Many don’t walk away even then. But it’s not a song of judgment, but of couplets of her own illumination of the dark places of her own psyche. Ellis sings of making friends with her nightmares, fake friends and cheap gin, being a danger to herself and how should could let herself think being in that place was viable much less sustainable but now she sings goodbye to that life singing “I’ll pour one for everyone I’ve been.” In saying goodbye to the comedown of those dubious highs, Ellis welcomes a new chapter in her life with introspective decisiveness. Watch the video for “Hungover” on YouTube and follow Mothica at the links below.

facebook.com/mothicamusic
twitter.com/dearmothica
instagram.com/mothica
open.spotify.com/artist/1JhiIIXT9DWqEU3BYFZwGA
music.apple.com/us/artist/mothica/939909127

Carla Conrad’s Soaring and Sweeping “Master of Time” Encourages Us to Pursue Our Best Dreams Against the Discouragement From Within and From Without

CarlaConrad2_crop — Carla Conrad “Master of Time” cover (cropped)

Carla Conrad jumped through some hoops in order to see her single “Master of Time” through to completion beyond merely writing the song. She completed an online course with Berklee called Production Fundamentals for Singer-Songwriters on Ableton. She worked in Qatar for five months to save the funds to record the single and worked with producer Ben Ludik. None of which would mean much if the quality of the song wasn’t there. But “Master of Time” is a sonically rich pop song of grand, sweeping dynamics that augment her own commanding vocals. It’s arc is one of humble beginnings almost like the story of her own process in the journey of making the song but couched in the narrative of a relationship parallel to personal development. Through the song Conrad sheds the limitations that held her back, psychological, interpersonal, relational, to embrace her own power as a human unsullied by habits of mind and feeling that no longer serve her development as a human being who encourages others to follow their own paths against the odds of discouragement and stumbling blocks that all of us adopt at some point avoiding the “tall poppy syndrome” that so often stunts our progress as a species toward a world that cultivates everyone. Listen to the soaring and expansive “Master of Time” on YouTube and follow Conrad at the links below.

carlaconradmusic.com
instagram.com/carlaconradmusic

Dumb’s “Content Jungle” is the Missing Link Between Post-Punk, Garage Rock and the Avant-Garde

On its Tapetown Sessions recording of “Content Jungle,” Vancouver, BC-based band Dumb sounds like the missing link between Sonic Youth, Parquet Courts and the Reatards. Its brash guitar riffs indulge beautifully odd bends and fragmented melodies. The shout along vocals do little to undermine the clever lyrics that cite dated cultural references that take us out of the current era (Kool Aid and cathode rays?) while injecting more contemporary cultural artifacts like Netflix to comment on the way so much of our documented history has been plumbed and gives people the impression that it’s all accessible and understood sans proper context simply because you can pick and choose and find anything on the internet for which the title of the song, “Content Jungle,” could be another name. The lyrics neither condemn nor glorify this feature of the world now but does highlight the absurdity of thinking mediated access to culture and the world is the same thing as direct experience.

MRPHY’s Admission of Regret Over a Love Lost on “Hey Love” Demonstrates a Vulnerability and Strength That the Bravado at Claiming No Regrets Does Not

MRPHY_HeyLove2_crop — MRPHY, “Hey Love” cover (cropped)

Gabrielle Murphy aka MRPHY demonstrates gift for emotive phrasing on her debut single “Hey Love.” A simple piano line and strings frame and highlight her voice throughout the song, following her organic pacing as she sings about heartsickness at being separated from the person she loves, expressing her fears and insecurities with a tenderness and strength of feeling with an economy of style that makes her lyrics all the more striking when it becomes apparent that the sense of emotional ache comes from the fact that the relationship is over but still affects her deeply even though she is resigned to the fact that it can never be again but not without regret. At a time when too many people think they’re strong because they have no regrets, MRPHY is strong enough to admit to vulnerability and having some regrets of her own. Listen to “Hey Love” on Soundcloud and watch the song’s music video on YouTube.