Slow Caves – Poser / Rover 7″ Release

March 1, 2018

Slow Caves evoke a depth of maturity that belies their youthful, blonde, surf-rock appearance. Their freshly squeezed 7-Inch release Poser / Rover stays the chilled-out course for the Denver/Ft. Collins quartet’s consistent brand of loveable, lilting slack-rock.

Poser / Rover sets cruise control smack-dab between Morrissey and Ric Ocasek era Weezer, with both tunes coasting in at a steady 135 bpm. It’s just enough drive to let your hair blow in the breeze – like a Mac Demarco tape was in the deck as you drove down Colfax to Poser / Rover’s release show a few Fridays ago.

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Album Review: Giants & Pilgrims – Bellwether

Giants & Pilgrims call themselves “a marriage of art and music.” Aptly, Bellwether, the Greeley group’s forthcoming full-length, feels like an impressionist painting, lush with color and rife with rustic detail. The picture painted here explores three examples of sacred spaces via an array of instruments and close mic’d vocals whispering almost mythic indie-folk wisdom.

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Album Review: Andy Sydow – Reasons For Departure

At age 26, Andy Sydow has already put out four albums since 2013, Reason for Departure being his newest. BandWagon Magazine hasn’t heard much of his stuff, but his new album, a relaxing rock album rife with blues touches – possibly thanks to album producer and guitarist Chris Daniels of Chris Daniels & The Kings – is not a bad introduction to the Denver-based singer-songwriter.

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Album Review: Tyja3 – 3Piece

Tyja3 bleeds hyphy and embodies fun on the project, bringing a very new school vibe to old-school braggadocio bars and flow. Even the deeper track “TML” keeps the momentum of the feel-good vibes while still giving a story of facing adversity. For old heads on the search for a nostalgia kick, tracks like “Dope” and “Forces” give the feeling that Tyja3 just snatched the mic from the DJ and started spittin’ his heart out.

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One Flew West – Explicitly Themselves

February 1, 2018

Tried and true emo-honesty comes off OFW’s chest in spades, but the truth is, more and more of Northern Colorado is all ears. Shout-y open-throated hooks throughout the EP evoke images from its release show last month at The Bluebird Theater, packed with hoodied disciples bopping and shouting along.

“One thing we tried really hard to convey on this EP was the energy of our music that we display at our live show” OFW says. “A big part of that was incorporating gang vocals into the recording. We always get the audience to sing along when we play live and we wanted to harness the energy that comes with that into a recorded song.”

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.idk – Money Moves

Maryland-based rapper .idk (formerly Jay IDK or IDK for short) lost his mother in 2016. Out of that tragedy, he’s delivered some of his most personal work to date with his debut album IWasVeryBad. Released in October 2017 on Adult Swim’s imprint, the 12-track project features hip-hop royalty like Del The Funky Homosapien and MF Doom (now DOOM), and veteran beatsmith Swizz Beatz.

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Decatur – Self-Titled

Denver-based quintet Decatur proclaim their sound as “slithering guitar rock.” It’s an apt descriptor for the ominous atmosphere, overdriven guitars and cigarette-flecked vocals that permeate their eponymous EP.

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Album Review: Ian Cooke – The Flight I Flew

January 1, 2018

Denver music scene icon/Greeley kid Ian Cooke leaves us with a night-sky full of memories after 15 years. The Flight I Flew is an homage to his 2007 debut The Fall I Fell which put him on the cello-based prog-folk map in Colorado. There’s a map for that, right? The new album, allegedly written under starlight exclusively, parallels the vastness of the cosmos with that of love lost and found, released upon Cooke’s end as a Colorado resident this fall.

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