The Bluebird Theater was transformed into a warm and muggy dance party on Wednesday night courtesy of New York dance rockers Brazilian Girls. The four piece band made Denver one of four tour stops making for an exciting show. We were fortunate enough to catch them earlier in the day for an Open Air CPR taping and interview. With an all too familiar swag led by the talented Sabina Sciubba, the band with an almost cult like following belted out a pretty amazing set consisting of older and new favorites. The Grammy nominated band even took in the finer amenities of our fine state by partaking in some recreational smoking of our finest leafy product. The crowd never felt disengaged and even a few members got a chance to get up on stage and dance away their inhibitions while the band played their style of reggae, dance, and electro mashup of their customary element of sound.
STRFKR, FCK US UP!
STRFKR, an indie-electro pop band from Portland, Oregon came through Denver this last weekend and pumped up the crowd as always. Reminiscent of their performance at Project Pabst last year, the band was high energy, in fun costumes, and obviously ready to put on a show. The same was true for Saturday’s show.
My favorite thing about this band is their overall message, and it is everything anti. Their lyrics are kind of morbid, with this whole end of the world feel, paired with upbeat, pop music that simply makes you want to dance. The whole name started as a joke with past member Sam Norris, being shoretened over the years to represent the band best. Front man Josh Hodges, said he heard someone say they were a “starfucker” and it made him question the people he was around and all the things he really didn’t want to be involved in. The name carried through to represent the bands “removal from the rat race” that is prevalent in the music industry. Including many snippets from philosopher Alan Watts, STRFKR uses many of his lectures as content for their songs, considering the ideology is very similar, which is super tight in my opinion. Kudos to any artist who makes that kind of effort to find supporting content on their beliefs, to be included in their music.
Lead singer, and multi-instrumentalist Josh Hodges, kept things interesting and against the standard grain with women’s clothing, a pink wig, rainbow suspenders, and sunnies I was envious of. Backup dancers and entertainers dressed in spacesuits, kept the audience entertained in moments of “dullness”, although I would say that these were few and far between. And would it be a STRFKR show without blow up pool toys travelling through the crowd with the occasional white girl on it? The visuals were electric and vibrant and showcased the vibe of STRFKR perfectly, and make us curious what their journey of artistry looks like from here. Hopefully weirder and more anti-establishment, eh?
Words: Lina Skrzypczak Photos: Michael Hecker
Music | Denver's Newest Club Night Set To Debut This Saturday at Pearl's | Stay Up Saturday's
Vic Mensa, Anderson .Paak, Broods, Young & Sick, Hayden James…These are just a few to the list of names of artists that Carl Carrell who goes by CRL CRRLL has had the pleasure of rocking with this past year. An addition to Red Bull Sound Select in 2014 and an attendee of Red Bull Music Academy 2013 Detroit, Carl Carrell has been making waves across the U.S. With that he’s also been planning some amazing things this year in the Denver music community. He’s recently launched FASORLab.com which will house productions and art projects featuring various artists from around the world. Partnering with various companies to bring these projects and events to life. “My first goal is to build a community of creatives and help them grow and accomplish their visions.”
“We’ve done parties in the past but this is what we need.” Carrell has recently partnered with Ultra5280 and Pearl’s for a weekly night of music. Pearl’s the former Beauty Bar and Snake Pit has remodeled and has installed a state of the art sound system. This bar is a Denver staple and it has a lot of history, it has housed a lot of musical talents spanning different genre’s. CRL is excited to start a residency “I’m here to bring the Denver community constant amazing Saturday vibes. I want the people to come for the music and the atmosphere, my goal is to bring acts that people haven't necessarily heard of. It’s the people that need to realize how awesome they are and how much of a privilege it is to have a place like Pearl’s where no matter what the vibe is always good.” Stay Up Saturday’s will give you energy it’s one of those parties you go to where you lose track of time and dance your ass off. It’s a party that if you know.. You know…
Stay Up Saturday’s kicks off on February 6th located at 806 E. 13th Ave find more information at:
For artist interviews or media inquiries please contact:
Robert Castro: castro@ultra5280.com
Carl Carrell: me@CarlCarrell.com
CRL CRRLL | Good Influence
The homie Crl Crrll just dropped this dose of hottness for your listening pleasure. Be sure to be quick on the draw as only 200 digital copies are available.
Signal Path and Octopus Nebula at the Bluebird
December 12th made for a night of ratherunique music at the Bluebird Theater. Starting things off was Octopus Nebula, hailing from our ownColorado. With an instrumental rockishstyle, they absolutely owned the stage. For those unfamiliar, Octopus Nebula uses the sounds of a guitar, bass,keys and drums to form a style that is a mix of psychedelic and rock. It’s just as interesting as it sounds. Combined with a quality light show, OctopusNebula was a treat for the ears and the eyes.
Next up was Signal Path, hailing from Missoula, Montanabut currently based in Denver. SignalPath is also almost entirely instrumental, with a more electronic sound thanOctopus Nebula. There are a few moreambient elements to the electronic side, but Signal Path also makes great useof drums, guitars and other instruments on top of the electro. It’s certainly fun trying to describe both ofthese bands, since they have such unique sounds. Signal Path was a great hit with the everyoneat the Bluebird, and were happy to oblige with an encore when the entire placebegan yelling for one more song.
This was an amazing show for a number of reasons, both bands are very similar and very unique. They havesounds that are not only fun to listen and dance to, but interesting as well. Combine all that with a great light show, andyou have one hell of a show that was totally worth braving the cold for.
SBTRKT at the Bluebird Theater: 11/5: Review
The name SBTRKT, pronounced subtract, and while confusing to the eye has a powerful message behind it; it is an alias used to support the concept of anonymity. As Aaron Jerome (the man behind the mask) has explained during an interview with Clash Music, “I’d rather not talk about myself as a person, and let the music speak for itself. The name SBTRKT is me taking myself away from that whole process. I'm not a social person, so having to talk to DJs to make them play a record is not something I want to do. It's more about giving them a record as an anonymous person and seeing whether they like it or not. If they play it, they play it."
If you have never heard of SBTRKT, go HERE and watch the video of him and his frequent collaborator, Sampha, live at Abbey Road. Seriously, go now and listen, I’ll wait.
It is obvious after watching the video to see how hard the UK duo works during a show. While Jerome utilizes electronic and acoustic drums as well as pulling samples using a mixing desk, his partner Sampha plays the keyboard, works the vocal loops, and sings providing a smooth flow with a unique sound.
With more than a half dozen shows happening around Denver last Saturday evening, I was surprised by how many people filled the Bluebird that night. It was certainly more packed than two nights prior for Miami Horror. SBTRKT appeared to have quite the following, at least here in Denver. There were dozens of people there all wearing homemade native ceremonial masks inspired by the one SBTRKT wears on stage.
Kyle