The A.V. Club - Daily

Music: Newswire: Girl Talk to tour North America this summer

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:35:00 -0600

Girl Talk, the DJ who is not a DJ, will take his show of mindless, party-ready mashups on the road this summer. Whether anybody will actually show up when he plays in West Des Moines, Iowa, or in New Braunfels, Texas, is an entirely different story. The tour will come to Denver on June 23 at the Westword Music Showcase. Girl Talk’s last album was All Day, released in 2010, yet another one of his singular releases where he pairs, say, Rage Against The Machine and Rye Rye for a few seconds, only to move onto pairing Depeche Mode ...

City Life: News Net: John Waters hitchhikes through Denver, Denver Diner parking spot shootout, and more

Fri, 25 May 2012 12:30:00 -0600

Since sifting through dull newspapers, hyperbolic blogs, and overflowing RSS feeds for meaningful news can be an arduous process, News Net catches and compiles both the amusing and the significant reports that were overlooked throughout the workweek. Here are some things to think about as the weekend begins. • There is a Buddhist proverb that states, “If you meet the Buddha on the road, kill him.” As a counterpoint, we’d like to offer, “If you meet John Waters on the road, give him a ride,” since the famed director was reportedly dropped off in Denver recently and may need a ...

Music: Just Announced: Summer Of Ska coming to North America

Fri, 25 May 2012 11:00:00 -0600

Get out your suspenders, Fishbone T-shirt, and Dr. Martens: On July 19, the Summer Of Ska tour is coming to Denver’s Ogden Theatre. The skanksters of Reel Big Fish—on the heels of their eighth full-length album, Candy Coated Fury—and L.A. band Goldfinger will be co-headlining the tour from mid-June until Goldfinger drops off July 2. The Maxies will join in on the party after July 2, and Big D And The Kids Table and Suburban Legends will be supporting throughout. The Summer Of Ska will begin in Canada and work its way across the U.S ...

City Life: Music Notes: OneRepublic hits the tabloids, Sole drops new album, and more

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:30:00 -0600

Our music scene is a busy place with lots happening. If you don’t obsessively visit the local blogs, alt-weeklies, and other outlets, you could miss something important! That’s okay, we’re here to help with a weekly roundup of some of the more enticing news happening around town. • OneRepublic got the tabloid treatment this last week after drummer Eddie Fisher was arrested following a heated argument with his girlfriend. Fisher has since pleaded not guilty to charges of assault, disturbing the peace, destruction of private property, and wrongs to a minor. Talk about irony. Somewhere in here there ...

Music: Interview: Best Coast’s Bethany Cosentino

Thu, 24 May 2012 00:00:00 -0600

It’s been a busy couple of years for Best Coast since the Pacific-loving act released its debut, Crazy For You. The act’s lo-fi take on So-Cal sunshine pop turned a lot of heads, of course, landing in the Billboard pop charts, scoring coveted support-band slots on big-name tours, and garnering tons of mainstream and blogger press. As her band was finding its footing, Bethany Cosentino was also finding her own, growing up and refining her songwriting. The growth’s readily apparent on the act’s new album, The Only Place. Produced by Jon Brion, the album ditches lo-fi ...

Music: Just Announced: Justin Bieber announces big boy tour

Wed, 23 May 2012 13:30:00 -0600

Get ready to squeal, massive segment of The A.V. Club readers who are also members of Bieber Nation—the big man is going on tour. Now that he’s all growed up, legal, and has tried his hand at easy manly hobbies like boxing, the Biebs is set to release his first “adult” album. Believe is set to drop manliness on everyone June 19, and Bieber is set to go on a mind-bendingly masculine, Ron Swanson-like, months-long marathon tour behind it that includes a stop Jan. 7 at the Pepsi Center in Denver. Tickets go on sale June 1 ...

Music: High Five: 5 Xiu Xiu songs most likely to scare off casual fans

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:00:00 -0600

Over the course of a 10-year career, Xiu Xiu’s Jamie Stewart has done his best to keep casual listeners out of his sphere, requiring every new Xiu Xiu listener to either get on board with the band’s divisive lyrics and abrasive noise rock, or to get lost. That said, Xiu Xiu is in an unthinkable position from when the band started. The band’s new album, Always, is more accessible and more publicized than any previous Xiu Xiu release and the band is on a lengthy North American jaunt behind the album. Which means that Xiu Xiu is ...

Eat/Drink: Cheapskating: It’s Free Slurpee Day at 7-Eleven

Wed, 23 May 2012 11:00:00 -0600

Today is that most wondrous of days—Free Slurpee day at 7-Eleven. Just roll into a 7-Eleven (between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m., like seven and 11) and ask for a free Slurpee, and ye shall receive a massive sugar buzz. For people who are somehow skeptical of the free Slurpee, there’s even a brand-new Slurpee Lite Fanta Sugar-free Mango with 50 percent fewer calories than an ordinary Slurpee. Yes, that’s actually a thing. Leave the office quickly and grab one. Who knows when the Slurpee mass in the local 7-Eleven will disappear? It might not ...

Music: Music Review: ManCub: Business Dogs

Wed, 23 May 2012 00:00:00 -0600

ManCub is turning over a new leaf with the release of Business Dogs. Since the release of its debut album 8 Bit Crush in January 2011, the band has gone from a collaboration between Alex Anderson and Danny Stillman to a solo effort on Anderson’s part (with help from the local music scene when he takes his electro party out of the studio). As the first truly solo effort from the Anderson-only ManCub, it sounds like a band in transition. Where 8 Bit Crush came screaming out of the gate focusing heavily on the noise half of the noise-pop ...

Music: Local Newswire: Achille Lauro relives prom, the ’80s

Tue, 22 May 2012 14:30:00 -0600

Attention sad, sad fortysomethings: Achille Lauro is finally giving you that much longed-for opportunity to revisit those salad days of your senior prom with its ’80s Prom on June 29 at Hi-Dive. Younger, less pathetic music fans are also presumably invited, too, in case you inexplicably have the itch to dress up in dated formal wear and indulge in every crappy period-piece cliché you can get your hands on. (Leg warmers! Jean jackets! Los Angeles Olympics merchandise! Oh, how ironic!) The Denver band plays the role of house band, and will cover the MTV hits of the era. This of ...

Music: Just Announced: Peter Gabriel to tour, do that thing where an artist plays a whole album live

Tue, 22 May 2012 11:15:00 -0600

According to Stereogum, singer-songwriter-flautist Peter Gabriel is coming to North America this fall, in celebration of the 25th anniversary of his 1986 album So. (And yes, we’re aware that 2012 - 1986 = 26, but we’re just passing the wonky arithmetic along down the line.) In a twist on the trend of musicians playing classic albums to fickle audiences who are by-and-large uninterested in the performer’s musical or artistic growth, it’s suggested by Gabriel’s website that the tour will see So performed “back to front.” So, presumably the set list will go from “We Do What We ...

Sports: Jock Itch: Hometown hero blues

Tue, 22 May 2012 00:00:00 -0600

Everybody’s from somewhere. Americans especially hail from a lot of American places, whether it’s the concrete urban sprawls of Los Angeles and Chicago, the forests of Washington and Michigan, or the Southern slide of Louisiana and Mississippi. One of the great selling points for America is our unity and our even achievement potential: People come from all around this great nation to make it in movies, music, television, literature, and sports. Sometimes there are seemingly random concentrations of talent, like groups of beat writers or jazz musicians growing up in the same neighborhood, or Andre The Giant being ...

Music: Local Newswire: Big Head Todd And The Monsters to headline Ride Festival in Telluride

Mon, 21 May 2012 14:30:00 -0600

If you feel like making the trek all the way out to Telluride, do so on August 25 and 26 to attend The Ride Festival, a new music festival presented by Colorado band Big Head Todd And The Monsters and Telluride's local community radio station, KOTO. Big Head Todd And The Monsters will headline the festival, along with Ben Harper, Los Lobos, The Wood Brothers and more. The lineup sounds like a good break from the standard summer festival fare, bringing a much bluesier bent to its palette. Tickets for the festival go on sale on Friday, May 25 ...

Film: Local Newswire: Locally produced documentary on psychic octopus to première in Europe

Mon, 21 May 2012 13:10:00 -0600

Local director Alexandre O. Philippe and producer Robert Muratore, who made The People Vs. George Lucas, are set to première their latest documentary, The Life And Times Of Paul The Psychic Octopus, featuring everybody’s favorite omniscient cephalopod. Paul The Octopus famously predicted the correct outcomes of eight straight 2010 FIFA World Cup soccer matches. Sadly, Paul The Octopus died on October 26, 2010, but he is sure to go down in World Cup lore forever, as we undoubtedly see hundreds of imitating octopi try to recreate Paul’s magic at the next World Cup in 2014. The film ...

City Life: News Net: Eclipse viewing record set, Springs man shoots self while mowing, and more

Mon, 21 May 2012 12:00:00 -0600

Since sifting through dull newspapers, hyperbolic blogs, and overflowing RSS feeds for meaningful news can be an arduous process, News Net catches and compiles both the amusing and the significant reports that were overlooked throughout the weekend. Here are some things to think about as the workweek begins. • The record for most people viewing an eclipse in one place was set when 10,000 gathered at Folsom Field to watch the solar eclipse Sunday night. The spectacle of such a large crowd wearing special glasses is reminiscent of an IMAX 3-D movie, except in this case people actually looked impressed ...

Eat/Drink: Strangelunch: Egg salad drenched in luxury at Masterpiece Delicatessen

Mon, 21 May 2012 00:00:00 -0600

We all know the feeling: You’re rollin’ in your Rolls Royce and in the mood for lunch. There’s a full supply of Grey Poupon in the glove box, but no sandwich. What to do? Simply instruct your driver to carry you directly to Masterpiece Delicatessen, the home of “fine dining between bread.” The Masterpiece peeps are serious: Their menu consists of sandwich-shop classics, tarted up and fancified to please the sophisticated palate, plus daily specials that let the cooks show off their sensibilities. Instead of a cold case and a cash register, the kitchen takes up most of ...

Music: Gotta Start Somewhere: Reptar’s Andrew McFarland

Fri, 18 May 2012 15:50:00 -0600

No matter how successful entertainers become, they’ll inevitably always remember the first gig—whether it was disastrous, wonderful, or absurdly strange. Gotta Start Somewhere embraces these nostalgic moments by asking established entertainers to retell the story of the first time they ever graced a stage. In this edition, The A.V. Club speaks to Reptar drummer Andrew McFarland about three different inaugural performances before his band plays at tonight, May 18, at Larimer Lounge. The A.V. Club: What was your very first public musical performance? Andrew McFarland: Well, I’ve pretty much been playing my entire life. Honestly ...

Film: Local Newswire: Indie Game: The Movie coming to DFS in June

Fri, 18 May 2012 15:00:00 -0600

Like any medium, video games are associated with their biggest, most successful, and highest profile products: Super Mario Bros., HALO, and Grand Theft Auto. But just as there are worlds of music beyond blockbusters like Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, and Lady Gaga, so too are there worlds of gaming beyond the blockbuster franchises whose names are known even to your Luddite uncle. If that world of indie gaming intrigues, you won’t want to miss the special one-night screening of Indie Game: The Movie June 6 by the Denver Film Society. Focusing on the work and lives of three of ...

City Life: News Net: Feral cat vs. City Hall, bees abuzz about the Rockies, and more

Fri, 18 May 2012 14:00:00 -0600

Since sifting through dull newspapers, hyperbolic blogs, and overflowing RSS feeds for meaningful news can be an arduous process, News Net catches and compiles both the amusing and the significant reports that were overlooked throughout the workweek. Here are some things to think about as the weekend begins. • A Colorado Springs city councilman was attacked by a feral cat and had to seek treatment for the injuries he received. Now we know that it takes a feral cat to fight the fat cats at city hall. • Thursday’s Colorado Rockies game was delayed by a swarm of bees hovering around ...

City Life: Local Newswire: Movies In The Park summer series announced

Thu, 17 May 2012 16:00:00 -0600

You like movies and you like being outside in nice weather, right? So it stands to reason you’d like those two things together, right? Denver’s 2012 Movies In The Park Series has got you covered. Starting June 30 and continuing well into September, you can see a movie in one of our many fine urban green spaces, free, each weekend (two on some weekends). Since it’s run by the city, with the intention of being family friendly, the selection tends a little on the mainstream and safe side. That doesn’t mean there aren’t some good ...