Marquee Magazine » Editorial
From the Barstool of the Publisher - July, 2008
We’ve become a really half-assed society, to a sickening degree.
This month’s industry profile on Gus Skinas from Super Audio Center proves that. Skinas has developed a system that makes digital audio sound like an analog recording, bringing warmth and emotion back into digital music.
I’ve heard it. I sat in his room as he played me an SACD (Super Audio CD) surround master of Elton John’s “Rocket Man.” It’s safe to say that I’ve probably heard that song more than a couple hundred times in my life, but hearing it there was like hearing it for the first time all over again — only better.
Marquee Tags: Elton John, Gus Skinas, SACD, Super Audio Center1 comment
Overheard - July, 2008
Phish 3.0? — In the last few months, rumors about Phish’s reunion have been more prevalent than dank buds at an actual Phish reunion. Although the four members were on stage together in May for the Jammy Awards, legions of crispy-crunchy heads had their dreams shattered when the band chose not to perform. But a new report from Jamtopia.com brought so much attention that even Billboard picked up the story. The report stated that producer Steve Lillywhite would be working on a new Phish album this year. Lillywhite worked on Phish’s 1996 album Billy Breathes. Lillywhite has offered a “no comment” on the subject.
Marquee Tags: Animal, Antiquiet.com, Bilboard, Chinese Democracy, Dave Grohl, daytrotter.com, Foo Fighters Led Zeppelin, Guns N Roses, Jamtopia.com, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, Margot and the Nuclear So and Sos, Not Animal, Phish, Trey Anastasio, Wembley StadiumNo comments
From the Barstool of the Publisher - June, 2008
Stop it! Stop it, right now!
Put down the God damn mouse and step back from the computer. Don’t blame it on your teenage child either. You’re the parent, go into their room and rip the internet connection from the wall.
Call your friends and family, too, and make sure they knock it the hell off as well.
It’s people like you who are killing music.
This week’s no-talent, ass-hat, plague on the music business is David Cook, who apparently won this country’s most stupid-ass TV show, “American Idol.”
No tag for this post. 1 commentOverheard - June, 2008
Flobots are winning - On their CD Fight With Tools, Denver’s own Flobots have a tune called “We Are Winning,” and indeed the hip-hop act is. The band’s single “Handlebars” has spent four weeks at number one on radio charts, it’s been the number one song in the country for alternative radio spins and it’s reached up to number 11 on the iTunes charts. Additionally, Fight With Tools is the number three album at Denver’s Twist and Shout. The band also performed on May 20 on Carson Daily’s talk show and spent the remainder of the day answering sex questions on “Loveline” with Dr. Drew and Stryker. As of press time stats were not available, but the last week of May the band was expected to be on the Billboard charts after their first week of national soundscan for Fight with Tools. So, just like their song “Handlebars” says, they can finally “throw their hands in the air like it’s good to be alive and I’m a famous rapper.” Congrats!
No tag for this post. No commentsFrom the Barstool of the Publisher - May, 2008
One of our great local heroes is gone.
Jon Henderson, who nine years ago was told he had only six months to live, finally ended his battle with cancer on April 24.
Jon had gone to happy hour at Conor O’Neills in Boulder the evening he passed. While he was entering his car to leave, he suffered a seizure that knocked him unconscious. Medical teams were unable to revive him.
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From the Barstool of the Publisher - April, 2008
The music industry is desperately in need of a healthy dose of “wow.”
In recent months I’ve seen a lot of shows, listened to a bunch of new releases and all of them seem to have one thing in common, a staggering deficit of anything that would make you exclaim, “Wow!”
Now a wow factor is a difficult thing to measure because, of course, something that makes me say “wow” might leave you saying “blah,” but I think that regardless of differing opinions, music fans right now are poised to embrace something special, as long as that something special reveals itself with some guts and substance. Continue — Read more »
From the Barstool of the Publisher - March, 2008
When talking about musicians, people always seem to say the same thing; that they’re “just normal people.” But if they’re so normal, why is it that they do things that blow the minds of other seemingly normal folks?
I personally think that musicians’ brains are wired differently than the rest of ours, much in the way that rocket scientists’ brains differ from your average Joe Schmoe, and a story that I recently read in The Week kind of backs up my feelings.
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Overheard - February, 2008
Moon over Sundance — Denver’s own Matthew Moon got a once-in-a-lifetime chance last month when he was asked to join Velvet Revolver on stage at the Sundance Film Festival. The Marquee’s chief photog, Soren McCarty, who shoots Sundance each year, reported that Moon’s amazing opportunity arose when Velvet Revolver’s front man Scott Weiland missed a flight into Sundance.
The band grabbed several singers to complete their set at Harry O’s, and Moon was chosen to sing on the band’s Rolling Stone’s cover, “Honky Tonk Woman.”
Marquee Tags: AEG Live, Matthew Moon, My Morning Jacket, RMG Technologies, Sundance Film Festival, Ticketmaster, Velvet Revolver
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From the Barstool of the Publisher - January, 2008
:: January 2008 ::
No tag for this post. No commentsBy Brian F Johnson
Just before the holidays hit last month, AEG Live officials received notice from the Denver Zoo’s President and CEO Craig Piper, that the Zoo would be “unable to endorse the proposed music festival in City Park.”
The proposed Mile High Music and Arts Festival at City Park, according to AEG Live, was to be Denver’s answer to Austin City Limits; a multi-day, multi-stage event originally scheduled for mid-July.
Overheard - January, 2008
Editor’s Note: The following column is the first in what we hope will be an ongoing piece that seeks to pick up the little tid-bits of information that fall through the cracks each month.
- Richmond Fontaine — We told you it was good. Willy Vlautin, lead singer for the Portland-based Richmond Fontaine, announced in mid-December that his novel, The Motel Life was ranked by The Washington Post as one of the best 25 books of 2007. Continue — Read more »
Marquee Tags: Boulder Acoustic Society, CMJ, Dorn, Fogelberg, Fontaine, SXSW
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From the Barstool of the Publisher - December, 2007
:: December 2007 ::
By Brian F Johnson
Is it just me, or is one of the most thrilling things in life discovering a new band on your own terms - finding that act that no matter how hard you try you just can’t get them out of your CD player, or off of your iPod?
Now, I’m pretty damn lucky, as I’ve had this happen many, many times in my life, but there’s still that amazing feeling each time, and as the Thanksgiving leftovers turn into science projects in the back of my refrigerator it is this for which I am thankful.
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From the Barstool of the Publisher - November, 2007
:: November 2007 ::
By Brian F. Johnson
Best wishes are in order this month. Actually, truth be told, they were in order last month, but we had already gone to press by the time the announcement was made.
After nearly five years of service to the musicians and music fans on the Front Range, Fox general manager John Caprio has moved on to take the spot as the G.M. for the Broomfield Event Center.
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