“Pictures were made to entertain. If you want to send a message, try Western Union.” That quote was originally attributed to film mogul Samuel Goldwyn.* It proves that, ever since the dawn of the motion picture business, studio heads usually didn’t give a damn about making an artistic statement. They are, as a great American philosopher once said, all about the benjamins. Sometimes that’s cool! Sometimes we just want pure entertainment for a couple of hours, a way to escape from a chaotic and hostile world. We don’t want to think of movies as Art, because we think Art is work. I think... Read More

  This week, I sat down with Michael Whalen, guitarist and vocalist for Denver-based funk/jam band Wonderlic, to talk about their new album, what it’s like to be a band in this area of the country, and how surprisingly similar jazz and jam bands really are. To backtrack a bit, Wonderlic features Allen Galton on electric mandolin and vocals, Michael Whalen on guitar and vocals, and James Dare on bass. They see a rolling cast of drummers: Ryan Elwood, Zach West, and sometimes the original drummer on their first album, Alejandro Castano. They’re often joined on stage by friends... Read More

  Last Friday, I went to see local prog-funk trio Envy Alo at the Boulder House (right next to the Rio), which was once Absinthe House. Throughout the show, I couldn’t help but scrawl names of the artists that I love, whose influence I heard in Envy Alo. I heard a little bit of the Soft Machine, some Pink Floyd layered with bluesy vocals, threads of Surrealistic Pillow, and even a little early Radiohead in there somewhere. What is really striking is the fact that there’s almost a wall of sound effect, yet it comes from only 3 musicians. Envy Alo is Kevin Hinder on guitar, Aaron... Read More

For AboutBoulder’s first featured musician profile, I went to see, and subsequently sat down and chatted with Boulder’s own Flash Mountain Flood! FMF consists of five members: Logan Green (lead guitar, vocals), Wes Rather (rhythm guitar, vocals), Derek Dames (bass, vocals), Paul Copoulos (keys, organ) Taner Clark (drums, percussion). The group is currently in residency at Owsley’s Golden Road on the Hill, a little dive absolutely covered in posters and paraphernalia in homage to the Grateful Dead, and other artists relevant to the psychedelic San Francisco scene of the 1960s (with a lovely... Read More

People of Boulder, this week in music is looking great. From critically-acclaimed, nationwide crowd-pleasers, to equally critically-acclaimed local artists (with a fun burst of quirky Talking Heads covers, for good measure) there’s a lot to do in the week ahead. Here are a few highlights: FRIDAY 3/25 Citizen Cope hits Boulder Theater on Friday, March 25th at 8:30pm. If you’re one of the few who is not yet acquainted, Citizen Cope is a soulful artist bridging the gap between touchstones of American music – folk blended with rhythm and blues. If you’re itching in your seat waiting for the... Read More

THURSDAY 3/17 For St Patrick’s Day, you’ve got a plethora of events and specials to choose from at any given bar, brewery, or eatery in town. Interested in something different? At 7PM, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jennifer Egan will be at the Boulder Public Library. Egan’s novel A Visit From the Goon Squad, winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize, is a fascinating, non-linear investigation into the passage of time through the lenses of a cast of 13 characters whose lives are drawn together by rock and roll. Further, it contains an excellent list and analysis of some of the best and most notable... Read More

What on earth are we talking about today? Only the coolest festival in Colorado. Every year thousands gather in Nederland to celebrate our state’s most famous frozen grandpa with games, beer, music, and coffin races! Did we mention most events are free? A little backstory first: Back in 1993 it was discovered that Trygve Bauge and his mother Aud were storing Trygve’s grandfather with dry ice in the shed behind their unfinished house in Nederland. They wanted the body cryonically frozen in the hopes that someday grandpa would be resurrected by future technologies (nanobots, etc.). The... Read More

Josephine Antoine This fair Boulderite was beloved for her incredible rise to fame as a Metropolitan Opera star. After completing her education in Boulder, Antoine went on to earn a Master’s at the Julliard School of Music in NYC. Before her first national appearance, she received a telegram from the mayor of Boulder reading: “Every citizen sends you love and good wishes for your performance tomorrow.” She was a success, and sang the lead in 14 Metropolitan Opera productions. Her singing was featured on national radio stations, and she returned to Boulder to perform at the Colorado... Read More

Just before heading to bed on Sunday night, I read the shocking and sad news: David Bowie had passed. I now have to reckon with the knowledge that the infinite creative artist, the beautiful mythical creature, the timeless/ageless stranger from the cosmos, was also a mortal man. Of course I’ve been listening to my favorite Bowie songs these past few days (including Starman, The Man Who Sold the World, and Modern Love), as well as downloading my gaps in his discography (he made a lot of music). But I’ve also been reading random articles (like the “nobituary” published... Read More

Hello, and welcome to another wonderful, musically inspired article this week! Our interview is with CU Boulder alum and Colorado native DJ Lazyeyez, who has played all over the state and some parts of the country. Without further ado, let’s learn about the skilled musician below:   1. What inspired you to start deejaying, was there a specific song, album, time in your life, etc? I would say my formative years as a teenager and high school formed my love of hip-hop and DJing. There’s a period of time in your adolescence when hanging out with your friends, roaming the streets, and being... Read More

This blog normally talks about concerts that are coming up, albums that should be checked out and listened to multiple times, as well as my passionate interest in the culture of Hip Hop. This time slot is also, however, an entertainment blog and so I would like to do something different yet again with this article entry tonight and try to entertain you. Well, entertain you but also make you think and maybe gain some perspective you may not know but will certainly plant some kind of seeds that grow and give you new thoughts to ponder on. I have been writing for most of my life, and I have been writing... Read More

Music has had numerous periods of time where musicians decided that enough was enough, and they were going to make some kind of wonderful music statement about it. Many people think of Jimmi Hendrix’s National Anthem, the two We Are The World celebrity and recording artist behemoths that were well-intentioned but not that impactful, and of course the Headed For Self-Destruction rap video of the 80s featuring numerous Golden Era emcees that are still considered important to Hip Hop today. Fortunately, we are in a time and age where protest songs are no longer oddities that happen only when... Read More

Hello AboutBoulder readers, I’ve been thinking about writing about a topic I’m pretty interested and involved in, so I decided tonight’s post would be on said topic. It is longer than normal, and may have some mature themes in the post, but I am hoping you all enjoy it, and if not at the very least get a new perspective you may have never heard before. Without further ado, it is time for the commencement of what is undoubtedly my biggest passion, Hip Hop. It may not seem like it, but we are honestly in the midst of a Hip Hop Renaissance, version two point zero. Welcome to another... Read More

The music scene is quite large in popular, but one of the reasons it has so much to offer musically is because the consistent number of bands and artists who continue to arise from this beautiful city. Folk music, dance music, Hip Hop, you name it and Boulder most likely has somebody creating it or working with someone who does craft a particular genre. Most people also record on their own, whether it is through their own computers, a buddy’s makeshift recording studio in their garage, etc. However, there is a place in Boulder that is quite storied in terms of who has recorded there, and... Read More

Halloween is always a fun time to dress up, pull pranks on one another, and eat more candy than you most likely would any other time of the year (well, maybe Christmas is in the running, too). While that is all fun and good for most people, some of us (like myself) are often in search of shows to go to on this most Hallowed Eve, which luckily for most people falls a week from tonight. There are a number of Halloween-themed concerts out there, and then some that appear to just be coincidence that they take place next Friday. Here is a short preview of the shows that may be your best bet for dressing... Read More

Boulder has a lot to offer in terms of music, entertainment, craft beer, and coffee, but sometimes it seems that many of us who reside here forget about the vibrant poetry scene that surrounds us. There are multiple coffee shops that have open mic poetry readings, a number of poetry events on either college campus, and one of the ONLY poetry bookstores in the nation. The great thing about poetry is, like art, while there “rules” within the art form that allow many to learn how to write poetry, there is still room to maneuver around these rules to create all types of poems. Following... Read More

As Summer has come to an end and Autumn has officially arrived, there is quite a bit of music that is being released just in time for the new season. Fall tends to bring about an increased number of album releases, partially because of artists having fall tours, and also because many artists are trying to avoid releasing their work during the holidays if it is not holiday music (fun tidbit of music info: historically, non-holiday albums released during the holidays are not as profitable or successful for the artist that releases them). With that being said, let us check out a number of albums that... Read More

Music is accessible in so many ways now in 2014, and it is honestly a wonderful phenomenon thanks to technology. However, a large majority of people my age or younger are not too familiar with a wonderful piece of equipment known as a record player, or by its more popular name a turntable. Once you hear a song on vinyl, especially a song you really enjoy, it does not matter what else you have heard it on: it will most likely not compare. The sound of the needle touching a record, the requirement of moving the arm to as close to the edge of the record of possible, and once you catch a whiff of the... Read More

Hopefully everyone living in Boulder and Colorado in general is aware of the plethora of music options that we have to check out every year. Boulder alone boasts two of the most enjoyable and entertaining concert venues in the state: the Fox Theater on The Hill, as well as Boulder Theater down by Pearl Street. Plus if you happen to be attending the University of Colorado at Boulder, you get to check out local and national acts alike nearly every semester. If you haven’t had a chance to head out to a concert this year or it’s been awhile since that New Year’s Eve show at the Fox,... Read More