Category: Print

Music, Print, Reviews

New Music Monday: Desaparecidos — City on the Hill

April 13, 2015

Love him or hate him (because it’s more than likely one of the two) Conor Oberst is one of his generation’s most eminent singer/songwriter, not to mention prolific. Most commonly known as the one man/band folk rock act Bright Eyes, his side projects include Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, Monsters of Folk, and Desaparecidos. The latter is a punk-rock band. As a fan of his works, I was a little surprised (and embarrassed) to find an Oberst project I hadn’t heard of. When the guy who turned me on to Bright Eyes told me about the single, I knew what I’d be writing about this week.

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Music, Print, Reviews

Album Review: Isosceles Ivory Circle

It was the later days of her first project, and Connie Hong was beginning to feel like it was time to move on. She approached friend and producer Chris Beeble about beginning a new project, and from those early days of collaboration, Ivory Circle was born. Now armed with three extra members and a clearer musical focus, the band finds themselves in the middle of an EP trilogy. This month, the BandWagon caught up with Connie Hong to talk about the trilogy, and its process.

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Music, Print, Reviews

Album Review: Full Nelson — In The Whale

April 6, 2015

Former Greeley band, now Denver favorite hit the ground running with their latest EP Full Nelson. It’s a raucous, thunderous expansion on their already raucous and thunderous sound. On Full Nelson we hear In the Whale in full command of this wild animal of a band birthed out of a particularly grueling time in the Greeley music scene. Since then they have clawed their way up the Colorado music latter with show after show, release after release, and now tour after tour. Full Nelson has them at their current best with five tracks of honest rock and roll.

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Music, Print, Reviews

New Music Monday: Faith Healer — Cosmic Troubles

I’ll admit, I judged this book by its cover; the album cover, that is. Expecting some sort of sloppy metal, I braced myself for what I might hear. I could not have been more wrong. Jalbert commands the mic from first to last. The vocal that came as coy in Loyola loses the cuddle in favor of something more listless, lilting, and sardonic. The change is apparent in the instrumentation as well, which sports a fuzzy coating of 60’s psych, and sunny 70’s pop. The effect is something close to The Zombies meets Kimya Dawson, without any of the kitch.

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Features, Music, Print

The Geometric Play of the Ivory Circle

April 2, 2015

This month, The BandWagon sat down with Connie Hong, lead singer of Denver’s very own Ivory Circle. During our discussion, we talked about the release of the band’s triple EP series. They are titled Equilateral, Isosceles, and Scalene, respectively. In the first two chapters, Hong and her cohorts have crafted a thrumming, vibrant collection of dream-pop tunes. Equilateral is out now, and Isosceles hits shelves April 14th. Scalene is currently slated for a 2016 release. During our talk, we discuss Hong’s creative goals for this project, and how recent life events found their way into the the backbone of its content.

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Features, Music, Print

Of Montreal’s Kevin Barnes: The Modern Day Bowie

March 30, 2015

As a fan of Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, and other “riff rock bands,” as he puts it, Barnes is not afraid to go big. Evidence of that comes within two seconds of the opening track, “Bassem Sabry.” With its heavy guitar riff, it’s more reminiscent of “Iron Man” by Black Sabbath than an Of Montreal song, but as soon as his vocals kick in, it goes into a disco beat. This is typical of Barnes. He loves to experiment with all types of music and often incorporates several genres into one track. Often described as a “modern-day Bowie,” Barnes doesn’t shy away from this comparison at all. It’s clearly a compliment.

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Music, Print, Reviews

New Music Monday: Courtney Barnett — Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit

This week, Australian singer/songwriter Courtney Barnett has released her highly anticipated sophomore album, Sometimes I Sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit (which for brevity’s sake, shall be referred to as Sometimes from here on out). The patently Australian chill that was present in her first album still rings true, while lazily wandering into new musical territory. There’s a warmth present in her tunes that beg for the album to be enjoyed on a couch, or front porch. Even the punchier tracks like “Dead Fox” or the lead single “Pedestrian at Best” have a “neighborhood BBQ” vibe to them.

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