Top Tunes Thursday: Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats — Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats

August 27, 2015

In the early summer of 2010, my best friend bought me tickets to see one of my favorite performers at the time, Tallest Man on Earth. In line, before the show, two men stepped out the front doors and both lit up smokes. One, short and petite, who I recognized to be Tallest Man, and the other, only slightly taller, with a bushy handlebar mustache and a round gut held in by denim, who my friend recognized as a performer who knew as Nathaniel Rateliff, the night’s opener. The show that followed that evening lived up to the praise my friend had given him. He sang in long, sad shouts. And when he did, he would kick and shake. He was a livewire jammed into the ears of his audience. While I have enjoyed his particular brand of rock-folk every year since, I have been waiting for the self titled debut from his new band for approaching five years now. Following a standing ovation on The Tonight Show and years of buzz (from people other than myself) the group has finally dropped the record, consequentially making every second of waiting worth it.

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Thuggish Ruggish Krayzie Bone On the Solo Tip… For Now

August 26, 2015

Believe it or not, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony’s first record contract with late Eazy E’s Ruthless Records resulted from a single phone call. In 1993, original members Lazyie Bone, Krayzie Bone, Bizzie Bone and Wish Bone hopped on a Greyhound in their hometown of Cleveland, Ohio headed for California. The self-described “broke millionaires” had no idea how they were going to infiltrate the rap scene, but they knew they just needed the right person to put them on. It just so happened to be Eazy E, former member of the groundbreaking rap collective, N.W.A.

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Album Review: Lunde Station— Another Country

August 24, 2015

For those of us looking for a local folk/country fix, Lunde Station’s debut EP Another Country is the perfect fit. The Fort Collins’ band is a decidedly folk-rock-country affair that stands out amongst other local folk and country outfits, leaning hard on folk with a slight country twang to it. The band itself describes themselves as a “fiery Roots, Rock and Americana band,” influenced by “Old Gospel and Bluegrass, Outlaw and Traditional Country and the 1960s/70s literate Folk Rock movement.”

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Top Tunes Thursday: Teen Daze — Morning World

August 20, 2015

The morning can be rough for some people. Your bones are creaky, your vision foggy. You might be hungry, and you almost definitely have to pee. The whole thing just feels like a hassle. For most of my life, I was one of these people. I don’t know, maybe it comes with age or something, but now some of my earliest moments of the day end up being some of my favorite moments. The sun’s barely awake, and already, people all across the newly glowing portion of the country are getting up to start their day, just like you. That thought and a cup of coffee often gets my days started fairly well. This quiet meditation, and the feelings that surround it, are the thesis of the new Teen Daze record, Morning World. This is Teen Daze’s (who goes by the monomous “Jamison” in professional life) first full length release since 2012’s Glacier.

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Album Review: Forty Fathoms— More To Hate

Writing and recording a pinnacle metal album is not simple. The process often takes the cooperative effort of three to five smelly dudes who spend every waking moment together arguing over who drank the last beer and why musicians shouldn’t attach their ego to the parts they contribute. After they’re nice and pissed off, the riffs and melodies begin to flow. Denver metal band Forty Fathoms are a relentless metal collaboration who’s EP, More to Hate, designates Colorado a place at the forefront of influential rock music.

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