The Colorado Sound’s My5 – April 2021

April 15, 2021

A true Colorado story becomes a gripping film, a Summer Music Camp for adults hosted by famous rockers, a new release from French / Cuban sisters, a father singing a song written by his late son, and lots of fun Oscars / Music cross-over. That’s The Colorado Sound’s My5 for April! This month’s top picks for what to check out include all that and more, courtesy of Colorado’s home for music discovery, 105.5 The Colorado Sound.

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Tom Amend: Ditching the Band Scene for an Improvised Life

April 3, 2021

Tom Amend has been in a band since he was 6 years old, playing piano for his dad’s yacht rock cover band (when his hands were just big enough to reach a few chords) up until 2019 when he stepped down as the Burroughs’ keyboardist of many years. Now at 26, he’s making his mark in the Denver jazz scene as one of Colorado’s best pianists, playing one-off shows every other night with a constantly rotating collection of musicians.

“It’s the freedom of everything – the spaces, the sound, the tunes… [jazz] is a free form of music. It’s cliche, but it’s truly why I love it,” Amend tells BandWagon.

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Single Review: Retrofette – Photogenic

February 4, 2021

2021 is going to see Denver’s best synth pop outfit Retrofette become one of the biggest bands in Colorado. Stripping away the frill and grandeur of modern electronic music, their new single “Photogenic” is a simple yet textured synth number throwing back to groups like Hot Chip and Hercules & Love Affair. It’s clean, simple synth tones lay the groundwork for vocalist Sean Culliton’s cool, sultry mumble-like voice to set the mood.

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Album Review: The Crooked Rugs – IT!

January 13, 2021

On their debut LP IT!, Colorado quintet The Crooked Rugs take the compulsory ingredients of modern rock band instrumentation and create something wonderfully foreign. Echoes of psych, prog and garage rock resound, but each song is clearly the result of diligent experimentation.

IT! was recorded this summer in Durango, and for an album made in a barn in rural Colorado, it’s anything but folksy.

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Dead Amps: Where We Are Now / Harnessing the Chaos

January 12, 2021

Erin O’Toole isn’t Dr. Phil, but she does have a little marital advice:

“If you can record an album together and remain happy,” O’Toole says, “you can survive anything.”

O’Toole would know, given that she’s made music with her husband, Jonathan Payne as the band Dead Amps since 2005, a year after they met. She says when they both find something they like, it can be magical )as on their new full-length “DA4”) but it’s usually more arduous than that. Just like a marriage with moments that inspire rom-coms and adult contemporary hits, there’s a whole lot of hard work behind the magic.

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