Something Like Sound

I have often expressed my appreciation for music-session-blog Daytrotter. They’ve done what I could only imagine doing: recording the best up-and-coming artists from a wide swath of the modern independent music using old-fashioned full-band recording techniques.

Yesterday’s session features 6 songs (available for free download, just click on the photo above) from former Hot Water Music singer Chuck Ragan. Earlier this summer we had the chance to see Chuck open for Lucero at the Bluebird, and as I remember Chuck gave one of the most intense folk performances I’ve ever seen.

I thought I’d also take the time to share some of my other favorite Daytrotter sessions here too. Click on the images to go the respective sessions.

Andy Hull

Andrew Bird

Annuals

Bon Iver

Cryptacize

Death Cab For Cutie

Dinosaur Jr.

John Ralston

Kevin Devine

Langhorne Slim

Michael Zapruder

Minus The Bear

Limbeck

The Mountain Goats

The New Frontiers

The National

Pepi Ginsberg

Ra Ra Riot

The Silent Years

The Snake The Cross The Crown

Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

These United States

Vampire Weekend

Young Coyotes

Looks like Young Coyote Zach Tipton is up to something again. It seems that everyone has their own side-project, and Zach is not immune to the lure from such an outlet (for another side-project band I like, see Discovery, which is Wes from Ra Ra Riot and Rostam from Vampire Weekend). Further details are unavailable at this time, but you can check out his new MySpace (complete with a stream for a forthcoming EP). Click on the image to go there.

With finals now behind us it’s time to start summer classes (insert sarcastic “yay!”). But that doesn’t mean we’re stopping. This week we’re going to 3 concerts in 3 days, and we’ll have daily posts with photos and reviews. Tomorrow is Manchester Orchestra at the Marquis, Wednesday is Young Coyotes at Rhinoceropolis, and Thursday is Trace Bundy and Andrea Ball at Everyday Joe’s in Fort Collins. We also have a new video interview from The Silent Years that should be ready in the next couple of days. Also in the works: New album reviews from Paper Bird and Dualistics. We should also be hearing back from the Mile High Music Fest. people about our press access here soon.

Finally, we’ve decided that it would be awesome to put together a compilation of Denver-based music acts. It would be available for free via this blog and will achieve 3 goals.

1. Promote the featured bands: If you want to get your music to smart, sexy people who have great taste, there’s no better group than our readers.

2. Promote Denver: The Mile High City is pretty great, and the talent doesn’t end with the Fray, we’ve got lots of great musicians to showcase.

3. Promote our blog: by organizing such an ambitious experiment we hope to grow our readership and continue to bring you the best of Denver music.

Any parties interested in taking part in our experiment need only comment below.

Edit: It looks like the Hot IQs are breaking up after their June 19 show at the Bluebird (we learned the news from Backbeat Online here) I know we already mentioned this as a must see show, but we’re moving it up to “do not miss this show or you will never forgive yourself” status.

Further Edit: We took Fear Before, 3Oh!3, and Flobots off the list because you probably already know them.

So last month we had extensive coverage of one of my favorite DIY bands from Denver, Young Coyotes. This got me thinking, “Who are the other groups people should know about?” Well, then today Dave Herrera over at Westword asked us to send in our nominations for the 2009 Westword Music Showcase, here’s who we chose. You might have heard of some of these groups, some you don’t know. Hopefully we’ll be able to work with these bands to bring you the best new music from the Denver scene all summer long.

1. Young Coyotes
2. Hot IQs
3. Ian Cooke
4. Pee Pee
5. Bad Weather California
6. Born In The Flood / The Wheel
7. The Photo Atlas
8. Hearts of Palm (have apparently broken up too)
9. Meese
10. Andrea Ball
11. Richard Ingersoll
12. Danielle Ate The Sandwich
13. The Heyday
14. Paper Bird
15. Trace Bundy
16. Bela Karoli
17. Laura Goldhamer
18. Roe
19. Brave Saint Saturn
20. Rob Drabkin

Earlier we posted about some great upcoming shows, here’s the second installment. Also note that none of these concerts cost more than $20.

The Photo Atlas & 1090 Club – April 26, Hi-Dive, $8: Denver’s own Photo Atlas recently recorded a new EP as a followup to their 2006 full length No, Not Me, Never. 1090 Club also recently released Natural Selection, an album that we got the chance to review. Both bands are excellent live. Also playing: The Forecast

Manchester Orchestra – May 12, Marquis, $12: We already covered this one, but it deserves another highlight. MO’s new album Mean Everything To Nothing is excellent and they put on a great show.

Adrian Orange, Young Coyotes & Bad Weather California – May 13, Rhinoceropolis, $5 suggested donation: Adrian Orange, a Seattle based singer-songwriter will be on tour and stopping by Denver in May. Young Coyotes and Bad Weather California will also be there to represent the best in local DIY.

Kevin Devine – May 24, Marquis, $12: Kevin Devine is one of those singers whose songs have substance. He’s toured with Brand New, Manchester Orchestra, and a plethora of some of the hottest acts out there. His new album Brother’s Blood comes out at the end of April.

Lucero – May 29, Bluebird, $17: Part country, part punk, Lucero has been writing markedly beautiful and provoking music about life in the American west for the better part of the last decade. With songs that will break your heart and give you something to drink to, Lucero will certainly put on a great show.

Hot IQs – June 19, Bluebird, $10: Another Denver based group, Hot IQs recently released a single titled Houndstooth. They’ve been working hard on new material for their next full length, and will likely be playing new tunes when they play the Bluebird in June.

In other music news, SideCho Records has signed The Silent Years, a DIY band from Detriot. They’ve got a new EP, titled Let Go, coming out July 14. They also have an album already out called The Globe, which received positive reviews from The Onion and NPR. Keep an eye out for these guys and remember where you heard about them first.

Well, this is it, the end of Young Coyotes week here at Something Like Sound. We managed to bring you tons of exclusives every day and we leave you with this exclusive interview video. Continue checking back in the coming weeks as I finish editing video for 2 more songs from their set at the Oriental. Special thanks to Adam and Zach, the Young Coyotes themselves.

Also a special thanks to Amy at Bleemusic (their manager), we wouldn’t have done any of this if she hadn’t contacted us in the first place. She got her band featured by replying to our call for submissions. If you want to get your band featured (and get the same red-carpet treatment we gave Young Coyotes), simply follow this link and leave a comment.

Photo Courtesy Patrick Beseda

Hey everybody, this is another link post to something awesome! Our buddy Lance over at The Flat Response posted his recording of the set from the other night. Check it out here.

“Buried”

“When I Was In the Fire”

“Momentary Drowning”

Edit: I just received the audio from my buddy Lance at The Flat Response, a new, better quality videos are up now.

St. Patrick’s Day this year was an enjoyable experience here at Something Like Sound. It was a day of music, merriment, and waffles. Before diving headfirst into the review of the show, I’d like to take a moment to tell you about one of Denver’s newest eateries, Lakeside Waffles. This joint is great, they’ve got $5 waffles with fresh fruits and other toppings, and they taste great (probably the best waffles I’ve had in a long time). Either way, they are located right next to the Oriental (on 44th and Tennyson).

As far as the show went, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Up first was Hawks of Paradise, a local rock group with a loud/steady sound. Following the Hawks, was a truly unique experience, another local group named Pee Pee. Even as they were setting up the stage I could tell that it would be an interesting experience. All together Pee Pee currently consists of 10 players (including a woman who plays singing saw). Their performance was truly impressive and enjoyable. A flurry of orchestral sound, jazz improvisation, and pop sensibility, Pee Pee moved from dance beats to jam-sessions with the drop of a hat.

Up next it was my most anticipated part of the night, Young Coyotes. Zach and Adam were spot on that night as they pounded through song after song. They played through most of the material from their newly released EPs, while also throwing in some new songs as well. Perhaps it was the acoustics of the room, or maybe just my own biases, but I felt as though it was one of the better sounding sets I’ve ever seen these guys put on.

Finally it was time for Akron/Family. At this point in the night I wished I had done something to alter my consciousness, because (unknown to me), Akron/Family is sort of a hippie-jam-band. This is by no means a bad thing, it just wasn’t what I was expecting. Moving from subtle, quiet sounds to earth shattering choruses, Akron/Family used dymanics to their advantage. Perhaps the best part of their set was when the musical collective Pee Pee joined Akron/Family on stage for an all-out rock-jam. I’m fairly certain there were at least 15 people on stage as the crowd began to bounce and move to the beats of the improv.

Video of Young Coyotes performance will be available soon, check back on the blog. (We’ve also got video of Akron/Family with Pee Pee that will go up too).

Photos courtesy Patrick Beseda

This is just a link to the great music blog Daytrotter, which is also featuring Young Coyotes this week, be sure to check out the session with free mp3 downloads! (Click the image to go there)