Chris K's Colorado Playlist

NEWS & NOTES –

30db “Susanah” from One Man Show (2010)
Chris Thompson “The Road Ahead” from The Road Ahead (2010)
Coles Whalen “Go Child” from The Whistle Stop Road Record (2009)
The Heyday “All The Time in the World” from Till We See the Sun (2010)
The Big Motif “The Daily Motion” from Big Motif (2010)
Musketeer Gripweed “Dyin’ Day” from Dyin’ Day (2010)
Houses “Red Feather” from Fall (2009)
Chain Gang of 1974 “Devil Is A Lady” from White Guts (2010)
Whiskey Blanket “Rule the Roose (feat. Macklemore)” from No Object (2010)
Jennifer Lane “River of Truth” from In A Magazine (2008)
Buckner Funken Jazz “In Walked Bucky” from Late for School (2001)
Acoustic Junction “Oh Me Oh My” from Strange Days (2000)
Apples in Stereo “No One In the World” from Travellers in Space and Time (2010)
Kenny Perkins “Last Goodbye” from Wild Frontier (2011)
Hello Kavita “To A Loved One” from To A Loved One (2009)
Runaway Express “West Texas Wind” from Howlin’ At the Moon (2010)
The Motet “Push” from Dig Deep (2009)
Greg Harris Vibe Quintet “Northside Hunter” from Glass Gold (2010)
Meryl Romer “I’ve Waited Long Enough” from So Sure (2009)
Jeff Finlin “East by West” from The Tao of Motor Oil (2010)
The Samples “My Town” from Samples (1990)
Drew Emmitt “Gypsy In My Soul” from Long Road (2008)
Great American Taxi “Get No Better” from Reckless Habits (2010)
The Dominant 7 “South Corea” from 14 Channels (2010)

Wow .. it’s really been over a month since the last MMMM???  Geeze Louise .. LOL .. okay … listen in and read .. and if you like what you hear, please hit up the band/artist site and gitchasum … 🙂 

Whiskey Blanket – No Object
Website: http://www.whiskeyblanket.com/
Genre/Style: alternative hip-hop
RIYL: Jurassic 5, Atmosphere, People Under the Stairs, Bonobo
Notes: features Joe Lessard from Head for the Hills in a role many of us would have never suspected…. and as a featured guest, Bonnie Paine from Elephant Revival further muddies the hip-hop waters with bowed saw and other earthier sounds and instruments… which also includes instrumentals that bridge classical, neo-acoustic-Colorado-bluegrass and more … so much more in fact that Brian Johnson, the esteemed publisher/editor of Marquee Magazine in Boulder has said, ““…the elements that Whiskey Blanket bring to the table with live violin and cello mixed into their hiphop are soaring and grand…you almost question if they should be filed under hip-hop at all.”  Special note here in the interest of full transparency…. the band’s management hired me to send this record out to public, community and college stations statewide … got my fingers crossed on this one – a very special addition to Colorado based hip-hop … haven’t heard anything that has this much cross over appeal since the heyday of Yo, Flaco!  Even if you think you DON’T like hip-hop (rap), spin this one … very very tasty indeed.

The Love Royale – Love Letters
Website: www.theloveroyale.com
Genre/Style: neo-soul, electric soul, indie pop
RIYL: Erykah Badu, Lauryn Hill
Notes: from the band website, “Love Letters is the first of three long-form EPs from Denver collective The Love Royale, preceding The Breakup Album, because every love has a beginning.”  Produced by Denver legend Kyle Jones (Elephant Six collective, Flobots, Rubber Planet), Kyle cracks bass over some serious neo-soul vocals courtest of Heather Larrabee … some fine stuff here for the groovin’ feets… The Love Royale gets my nod for bringing us the album of the month for November 2010.

BOP SKIZZUM – Beauty Queen EP
Website: http://www.bopskizzum.com/
Genre/Style: funk, rock
Notes: Andy “ROK” Guerrero has been one very busy man this year … this is the 2nd ep for Bop Skizzum since last April.  Along the way albums he either produced or helped see the light of day include those by Air Dubai and Kinetix … two of the finest pop records to come out locally in 2010.  As guitarist in Flobots, Andy also stays busy with those shows and is slated to begin working on a new Flobots record.  Not to be overshadowed in the least, vocalist Erin Jo Harris can lay claim to being one of the top female funk singers to come out of the region over the past many years … and overall the band just flat out kicks it …

Young Cities – Young Cities EP
Website: www.youngcitiesband.com
Genre/Style: pop/rock
Notes: How cool is it that this band got to record in the same studion that the likes of Frank Sinatra, Beach Boys and Red Hot Chili Peppers have laid down tracks in?  How cool is it that OneRepublic guitarist Drew Brown helped get them there?  Don’t be surprised in the least if you see this band breat the national pop charts in the next year … it could happen.

Air Dubai – Wonder Age
Website: www.reverbnation.com/airdubai
Genre/Style: rock, pop, hip-rock
Notes: When a band lays down something like, “We are Air Dubai. Hear us roar. We are the raunchiest, grittiest sex-driven live hip-rock band you’ve never heard of. Our raps will make you “ooh” and our caffeine-fueled guitar solos will kick you in the throat, you’ll be choking for more just as soon as you regain your sanity..” you just gotta smile a bit and check em out … big buzz band in Colorado in 2010, this record is for those who enjoy lots of sugar, caffeine, and booze … LOL.

FEATURED ALBUM of the WEEK

Kenny Perkins – Wild Frontier
Sampled Tracks:
1. Tiny Distraction
4. Last Goodbye
7. Wild Frontier
8. Let Me Know
11. Who But An Angel Website: www.kennyperkins.com
Genre/Style: rock, alternative adult contemporary
RIYL: John Hiatt, Van Morrison, Delbert McClinton, Leon Russell
Notes: You know those times when it’s all about the mood?  A nice 12 year old single malt .. maybe a snappy Shiraz .. and for those who have the taste-buds a nice thick cigar that might be more about the pungent aromatics than a more sensible smoothness.  There’s always that bite, that tongue going crazy, the senses perking up a bit… the heart jumping at the sensations that follow.  And love … gotta have the love thing going … but not a new love, an old love – one that has settled in and become accepting of your own unique way of saying things in the morning, when the throat is still rough and slightly scratchy from the scotch and cigars of the night before.  That’s the vibe I have gotten this past week from listening to Kenny’s new album on repeat mode in the office… with the lights down low, while chatting online with my wife who’s visiting family back east for the Thanksgiving/Christmas holidays.  And, not to overshadow the fine work that Kenny does on this, his second full length, but perhaps part of the reason for this album sounding so “classic” is the work that producer John Macy (John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light, Richie Furay) brings here — mixing the whole thing on Lonnie Mack’s 1979 NeoTek console and lending pedal steel on a track (Let Me Know, track 8)… simply luscious and… well … classic … vintage … an old scotch, a nicely aged wine … a nicely wrapped cigar … and a warm and inviting wife … a little soft glow .. and a wonderful soundtrack to the night .. or in Kenny’s words – “Like a Raphael Madonna, you came when you heard me call.”  WOW… All I can say is, hell of a nice album Kenny … really. – Chris K.

WOW …. is it true?  Has Kamtin Mohager, aka Chain Gang of 1974 signed with WB (Warner Brothers Records)?  You be the judge – fresh off the press at Westword.