Category: music reviews

A lot of great music has come out in the past couple of weeks. A couple of new records have me excited because they both seem to draw something from the ’80s but still manage to sound like themselves. If you’re in the mood for a little something retro or just want a dance fix,…

All three of the albums I’m talking about today are albums that I, and everyone else, have been talking about for a while. They’ve been much anticipated and for very good reason. I’m here to tell you that they all live up to the hype. Hovvdy have been a station favorite with a cult following…

Popcorn of Fear’s self-titled record is Radio 1190’s CD of the month. The album is a blend of light, intricate pop. While mellow synths dominate, the record is laden with tiny pockets of flute, violin and guitar playing. The whole thing is a gosh darn gift that keeps on giving, with each listen revealing another…

While I could use this column to write about another big-budget fake independent record that Pitchfork gave an 8.5 or that some dude recited the Anthony Fantano review of to you at a party, I’m trying to promote music that’s a little different. And for entirely selfish reasons, I want Radio 1190 to sound better,…

I had the chance to chat with Boulder native, ex-Dead Kennedys singer, Alternative Tentacles founder, and all-around freak, Jello Biafra. He’s showing the film “Terminal City Ricochet” at the Boulder Public Library this Friday at 6pm and it’s FREE! We talked about a ton and I can only fit so much into 600 words. For…

The new Arcade Fire record has a lingering bad taste to it.  Your mileage may vary, and at this point any hesitancy to approach a new Arcade Fire album could easily feel warranted, but their effect on the music landscape, both popular and independent, is undeniable.  Come with me as I make sweeping generalizations about…

DFA Records has long been known as one of independent music’s most reputable and influential record labels, with one of its cofounders being James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem. If you’re an LCD fan, you would probably dig a lot of what DFA puts out, but they’ve got their fingers in many pies — dance-punk just…

I would like to tell you all that I am originally from northwest Indiana. My home region features Lake Michigan, steel mills, The Gary SouthShore RailCats, farmland and a really bangin’ punk scene. In honor of me recently booking a plane ticket home for the holidays, I thought I’d share a little about everything wonderful…

We’ve been trying to refocus our sound a little bit over at Radio 1190. And what we’ve generally concluded is that we want to be more selective about the big-time, bigger-label artists we play. That being said, here are two big-time artists who really make the cut, both of them capable of playing a critical…

School is hard. Midterms suck. And the hardest part of it all is finding the willpower to continue. Luckily for you, I have the one true answer: Music! Which is what this column is about. Sometimes you need to be stressed and listen to stressful music. Get it out of your system. Do that when…

Boulder has had a longstanding reputation as a hippie mountain mecca. Home of quinoa, cannabis, yoga, tons of people on bikes, granola and kombucha. Boulder is also known as a college town with a thriving party scene. Somewhere in the middle lies an intersection, where weed-infused, psychedelic-tinged indie rock-pop is king; where frat boys, indie-rock-dude-bros…

There’s always something to be discovered when digging through the stacks at Radio 1190. Our station is pretty stoked to call itself home to about 30,000 CDs as well as thousands of vinyl records. We’re coming up on our 20th anniversary as Radio 1190, but we’ve been collecting since long before then. I wasn’t feeling…

Trump’s in the White House, and I’m recommending you new music. Like President Trump, I am both unqualified and unprepared, because the task of picking the best new music to recommend to you, Colorado Daily readers, is a great one. You deserve the best of the best, and I always aim to deliver. This week,…

It’s been nice to feel a little bit of cool weather creep in. Any back-to-school gloominess I may have been experiencing has been completely washed away by my excitement for autumn. While temperatures may drop, fall is such a cozy time. There’s something so wholesome and satisfying about turning on your heat as blustery winds…

The past couple of weeks have seen the releases of some of the year’s most anticipated records from a handful of independent music’s biggest and brightest: LCD Soundsystem, Deerhoof and a slew of smaller artists have subsumed 1190 in the most exciting wave of new music that 2017 has yet to see. Let’s dive into…

Summer is almost here. The weather is warming up, life is slowing down and change is in the air at Radio 1190. Last week’s graduation included some Radio 1190 VIPs, and now a new crew has arrived. Hi, I’m Jolie! I’m the new music director for Radio 1190, and I’m beyond stoked. Us babies are…

The time has come. This is my last On-Air Next as Music Director for Radio 1190. I hope I turned you on to some rad bands this year and you enjoyed my ramblings about the music I love. The best is yet to come. Jolie Klefeker will be your Music Director next year and will…

I’m almost out of here! If you’re a graduating senior like myself, we’re probably feeling the same strange mixture of trepidation and excitement. It feels weird to be outdated. Like James Murphy, I’m “losing my edge to better-looking people/With better ideas/and more talent/And they’re actually really, really nice.” Prime example: my dear friend Jolie Klefeker…

Arthur Russell was a brilliant New York artist who never saw the recognition he deserved during his lifetime. He died in 1992 from HIV complications, but his partner Tom Lee sifted through his unheard recordings and released several compilations since Russell’s death. This week, I’m putting both “First Thought Best Thought” and “World Of Echo”…

The Painters: A New Canvas Summer sounds and hypnotic hallucinations fill the air as Animal Collective plays on my speaker.  It seems all too fitting that Animal Collective’s new EP, The Painters, was released just as Boulder was in the midst of enjoying a heat wave that somehow managed to sneak itself into the mid-February…