cover art: Es ChinoREY
Unless you’re Amish (or living under a rock in Romania), you’re aware that Colorado’s music scene has been exploding like the Big Bang in recent years. Ambassadors like Flobots and The Fray have infiltrated both FM radio and MTV, moving millions of units in the process. Devotchka scored the hit indie comedy Little Miss Sunshine. Matt Morris sang with Justin Timberlake on the Hope for Haiti Now telethon in January. And 3OH!3 (zero relationship to this publication) landed a much coveted spot on the soundtrack to Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland, which opens Fryday. The list goes on.
Colorado’s electronic music scene is thriving too. Beatport, dance music’s top digital retailer, may have benefitted from early partnerships with Richie Hawtin and Bad Boy Bill, but its primary developers were Denverites (the company has since opened a satellite office in Berlin). Beta Nightclub, owned primarily by Beatport’s Brad Roulier, has nabbed bragging rights including “Best New Club“and “#1 U.S. Club.” Dragon, one of Beta’s resident DJs, recently orchestrated another Mile High milestone: Homegrown. Compiled by the Triad mascot, Homegrown is a mixed CD consisting of primarily Colorado producers. Pretty Lights, Shawn Astrom, Ty Tek, Venaccio, Satori-C, Entropy, Lea Luna, Sonaris, mLe, Shawn Mitiska, Joman, Sir Thomas, Jquintel, Manufactured Superstars, Dirt Monkey, Savoy, Kostas K, Samples, Jontron and Dragon himself are among the individual artists included. Ishe’s dubstep re-rub of my recent Velcro City Records release (featuring guitar from Vance Hatfield and Sammy T) made the cut as well.
Colorado’s rad. Captain Obvious strikes again. This Thursday, March 4, we’ll have a shiny new drink coaster to prove it. The first 500 through the door will score a complimentary copy. Inhabitants of Oz will be on hand to assist with distribution, as it’s also the official launch party for Beta’s new fairytale-themed event series. Both Dorothy and The Scarecrow will be autographing Finding Oz flyers (featuring the photography of Jonathan Shoup). Toto’s John Hancock will cost you, though, as it would require teaching an ankle-biter how to operate a writing utensil first.