Something Like Sound

It’s time, once again, for a concert calendar update. This time will be a special all New Year’s Eve update with a few of our top picks for your December 31st. A quick note: events sell out, so please check with the venues prior to going out.

Paper Bird & These United States: Hi-Dive, $20. Probably the top pick for our tastes (as well as users over at Gigbot, where you can see just about every show that’s going on in Denver). Paper Bird is some of the best bluegrass out there and These United States are redefining what it is to be an American rock band.

DeVotchKa & Gregory Alan Isakov: Mercury Cafe, $47. The intimate upstairs dancehall at the Mercury Cafe is the kind of place that looks like a movie. Lights, music, and dancing. There are fewer better ways to ring in the New Year.

The Knew & Brothers O’Hair (and others): Larimer Lounge, $10. For the patron who does not want to spend all of their money on entry to a show (and maybe have a little to get some champagne), there’s up-and-comers The Knew with Faceman and Brothers O’Hair.

STS9: Wells Fargo Theater, $65. I put this one on here because we’re going to the December 30th night of their stay-over in Denver. For fans of electronic and dance-beat music, this should be a hot ticket.

Drag The River & Motorhome: Road 34, Fort Collins, $8. For those seeking some fine alt-country with their festivities, consider Fort Collins’ own Drag The River, a band now legendary on the scene.

It’s high time that I sat down and pointed you in all directions at once. All over the web there are great, free & legal downloads from some of Colorado’s finest (bands, that is… the police don’t really have much out there). Just click on the images to go to the places.

Savoy – Self-Titled EP: The entire thing is free on the group’s website. Unfortunately we missed their set at Monolith, but fear not! They’re doing a show November 21 at the Bluebird.

Hello Kavita – To A Loved One 2 song sampler. It’s been a while since we’ve heard from these guys, but they’re finally releasing another record on October 23 at the Hi-Dive, with Houses and It’s True! Even just listening to the 2 sample tracks, I’m excited for what these guys have in store.

Arliss Nancy – Dance To Forget: Fort Collins own answer to Lucero, this record is technically a $5 donation, but you could get it for free if you really like. Click back a few pages to see our review.

Rob Drabkin – On These Heavy Feet: Rob’s still got this link up for people to download his full length. He did it as a way of saying “Thank You” for all the cool stuff that his fans have helped him with this summer.

Dualistics – Last Call single: Featuring the sharp new song “Last Call” and a great b-side “Sabbatical,” this is a must download for fans of solid rock music. The file also contains a few tracks from this group’s self-titled EP.

Pretty Lights – Discography: Pick up Filling Up The City Skies and Taking Up Your Precious Time for free from the Fort Collins-based group. Definitely listen to “Solamente.” Also, just announced, the new Pretty Lights record Passing Behind Your Eyes will be available October 6.

Drag The River - Live at the Starlight: This long-out-of-print record is still being offered as a free download by our friends at Suburban Home Records. It’s a great live album and a bit of CO music history.

Rabbit Is A Sphere – Discography: It was sad to see these guys go on indefinite hiatus, but you can still enjoy their music and a high-quality bootleg via the link.

M. Pyres – Consider Me, Ghost and other FTU albums: Matt Sage of Fort Collins is quickly becoming a lo-fi phenomenon (if there can even be such a thing). Give Consider Me, Ghost a listen, then stay tuned for Apart The Echo, which is coming soon.

Young Coyotes – Basement EP: Possibly one of my favorite recordings released this year, Young Coyotes have their first EP (which was recorded… in a basement) for free on their website.

Cowboy Curse – Nod Up And Down: I first heard this band at the UMS this year. Definitely check out their song “Negative Space.”

Alright, that’s enough for now, I’ll let these build up a bit then do another one in another month or so.

I will be the first to admit that things around here have gotten a little more country over the last week, but in my defense it has been a great week for such things. Drag The River, for those of you who don’t know, is a rock-country band from Fort Collins with a no-nonsense approach to the genre.

Our friends at Suburban Home Records (DTR’s label) have done something incredibly generous by offering the group’s 2002 live record Live At The Starlight as a free download via this website.

This record is a must-download for 2 reasons. 1: It’s free, seriously. 2: It’s a bit of musical history (The Starlight closed down a few years ago, and while it was reincarnated as Hodi’s Half Note, veterans of the Fort Collins scene know about the importance of the original venue).

Listen to “Get Drunk” from Live At The Starlight right here:

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