Notable

Fire in the Asylum is having its CD Release Party at 9 p.m. on Friday, July 29, at Bender's Tavern in Denver.

Says the band: "With 10 bucks you get in with a free copy of the new record, Poetry for the Apocalypse. We're playing with Chingaso, One Whore's Town and Brent and Tye from Reno Divorce. Can't miss it!"

Fire in the Asylum is also playing on Saturday, July 30, at the Rocky Mountain Pub in Grand Junction. Follow this link:
http://fireintheasylum.com/l/f871hn/9322318;http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=181682291867942

Tomorrow night: The Flash Mob -- voted Westword's Best Funk Band 2010 -- will be at Casselman's Bar & Venue rocking the stage with headliners Dubtonic Kru, named "Best New Band in the World" 2010-2011 at the Global Battle of the Bands.

WHO: Dubtonic Kru featuring The Flash Mob and special guest Kool Johnny Kool
WHERE: Casselman's Bar & Venue, 2620 Walnut Street, Denver
WHEN: 8pm Wednesday, July 27
COST: $8 in advance, $10 at the door
AGES: 21+

Artist review: Independent (Aires Jackson)

Aires Jackson -- Independent [LP]
by Jeanie Straub
ColoradoMusicBuzz.com

Experience can pay off considerably when it comes to producing hip-hop: It can mean the difference between high-end and ordinary. The evenness of Independent, produced by the immensely skilled James Ray and Lenny Lenn, is the album’s greatest strength. Experience -- including time being out there in the scene -- allows a producer to attract a plethora of the wide-ranging guest artists, and of course "time served" in the studio also helps a rapper to cultivate the kind of intelligent but ballsy rhymes and solid beats that push a release into the realm of the brilliant. (Independent, I predict, will lend itself well to the best-case scenario for album advertising, which is word-of-mouth.) This latest release from the duo is no less than exceptional, a first-rate effort of 15 all-notable tracks, especially "Sports and Entertainment," "Dope," "State of Mind," "Son Shine," "Going Live" -- I could go on and list 90 percent of them. Clearly Independent not only benefited from the world-weariness of the brotherly team but also from the heart and soul and sweat that went in to the mix.

The full album is available for free at http://airesjackson.bandcamp.com

Upcoming

Some notable shows coming up:

Radio 1190 presents The Blow w/ He's My Brother, She's My Sister, Shaky Molars at 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 19, at the Larimer Lounge.

Andrea Ball will perform at 9 p.m. on Sunday, July 24 at the South Broadway Christian Church as part of The Denver Post Underground Music Showcase

Justin Roth dates

I had the chance to review Justin Roth for Colorado Music Buzz recently and he's definitely a singer-songwriter that you want to check out. See below the schedule for the CMB review.

Here are his upcoming dates:

Date ... City ... Venue
Information

07/22/11 ... Erie, Colorado ... House Concert
Time: 8pm. Admission: $15. All Ages. Call Cindy at bardnut@earthlink.net or 303-828-3474 to reserve seats and get directions.

07/25/11 ... Boulder, Colorado ... KGNU Kabaret Show
Time: 7pm. Live on radio 88.5FM

07/29/11 ... Broomfield, Colorado ... Aloft Broomfield
Time: 5pm. Address: 8300 Arista Place. Phone: 303-635-2000.

07/29/11 ... Fort Collins, Colorado ... El Monte Grill and Lounge
Time: 10pm. Address: 1611 South College Avenue, No. 100. Phone: 970-372-1869.

08/06/11 ... Bellvue, Colorado ... Bellvue Bean
Time: 7:15pm. Admission: $17 per ticket or two for $30. Dinner is included with ticket. All Ages. Address: 5032 Rist Canyon Road. Phone: 970-484-0511. Limited to only 20 seats, so reserve your seats early by phone or online for this intimate venue in Rist Canyon.

08/12/11 ... Boulder, Colorado ... Laughing Goat
Time: 8pm. Address: 1709 Pearl Street. Justin Roth with Connor Garvey.

08/13/11 ... Fort Collins, Colorado ... Avogadro’s Number
Time: 7:30pm. Admission: $10. Address: 605 S Mason Street. Phone: 970.493.5555. Other artists will be Sarah Sample (www.sarahsample.com), Sweet Talk Radio (www.sweettalkradio.com) and other guests.
08/15/11-08/18/11 ... Lyons, Colorado ... Rocky Mountain Folks Festival Song School.

Justin Roth: Now You Know [LP]
(May 1, 2011, Colorado Music Buzz)

Justin Roth engineered, produced, played and sang every song on this 11-track CD that is due out May 17, and overall it is really a pretty impressive disc. Roth is a guy who decided to take a break from "seven years of constant, self-promoted nationwide touring" to live in a small home with a wood-burning stove in the foothills outside of Fort Collins sans Internet access and cell phone service but with a bit of recording equipment. What you get is very heartfelt and moving. I'm not saying that his lyrics are to die for, but they do hold meaning and he seems like a guy who is the opposite of someone who carries his cards close to his vest: He is putting himself out there and you kind of have to love that about this Now You Know. He is not lacking in talent as far as acoustic singer-songwriters go. His voice is nice to listen to and he is more than able on guitar. You just want to be in a certain mood to listen to Justin Roth because, although he is very candid and genuine, in the end it is pretty much mellow-city, emotion-laden music. You just want to be in the right frame of mind for it. Then you'll dig it.

Quote of the day from Lefsetz

"[I]sn't it funny that Pro Tools is not controlled by the labels. That's how they bought their insurance. By dangling enough cash to pay for recording. But now anybody can do it in their basement.

"Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist, don't say that's impossible, that you need pros and a real room. Many independent acts today make enough money on the road to pay for real studios and name engineers and producers. They're smarter than the labels. They know it's about performance and merch, in many cases giving away recordings for free. Because their boots are on the ground, they know who the audience is and what it wants instinctively. ...

"We live in a streaming world, not a sales world. Do you see everybody saving YouTube clips? Does a day go by when Netflix is not in the newspaper? We're halfway home. Streaming is going to eliminate piracy, at least drive it down to de minimis levels, and more people will listen to more music and everybody will be happy ever after."

-- Bob Lefsetz

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Archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/

On Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz

New video from Lenny Lenn -- Aires Jackson's Refined Rapper (feat Surgon & Hav), live dates for The Motet, and Fire in the Asylum news

Aires Jackson / Lenny Lenn news

In addition to having produced the new official release from Aires Jackson, "Independent," Lenny Lenn -- with Ryan McNurney -- has a new video out. Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KlaPv-r2lNE

Track Listing on Independent:

Intro ... produced by Aires Jackson
Sports & Entertainment ... feat Haven ... produced by Aires Jackson
Good Days / Bad Days ... feat. B Blacc / Karma ... produced by SO
Can You Dig It ... feat Julox ... produced by Aires Jackson
Refined Rapper ... feat Surgon / Haven ... produced by Aires Jackson & Qknox
Dope ... produced by Aires Jackson
Baby Girl ... feat F.O.E ... produced by SO
State of Mind ... feat Innerstate Ike / Carey Stacks ... produced by Aires Jackson & Mr. H
Time Go ... feat Sistah Soul / Rees ... produced by Aires Jackson & DJ High Chi
You'll See ... feat WhyGee ... produced by 800 the Jewell
Can't Take It No More ... feat Freaky J ... produced by Aires Jackson & Freaky J
Son Shine ... produced by Aires Jackson
Going Live ... feat L-Dot ... produced by L-Dot
Make Me Feel ... feat Surgon / Joe D ... produced by Surgon
It Gets Better ... feat Talaiah ... produced by Aires Jackson

The Motet dates

In other news, go see The Motet over the next week. (I don't mind overpromoting The Motet because they're awsome and I'm a HUGE fan.) Here are their latest dates:

7/08 THREE20SOUTH ... BRECKENRIDGE, CO
7/09 OLD SOUTH PEARL JAM FEST DENVER, CO ... ONLY $5!!
7/28 GHOST RANCH SALOON ... STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO
7/29 COLLEGIATE PEAKS FEST ... BUENA VISTA, CO
8/14 NEW WEST FEST ... FORT COLLINS, CO
8/20 MOUNTAIN STOMP ... CORVALLIS, OR
8/26 NEDFEST ... NEDERLAND, CO
8/27 SILVERTON JAMBOREE ... SILVERTON, CO

email from Fire in the Asylum

"Hello everyone! ... I gotta lot to tell you. We spent the month of may in Los Angeles, recording with Shane and Manny, after our successful kickstarter campaign (check it out over here: http://fireintheasylum.com/l/d53br2/9322318 http://www.kickstarter.com/profile/fireintheasylum).

"The record sounds so good you guys are gonna love it! You can check the single now here: www.fireintheasylum.bandcamp.com

"We are releasing the record with a party at Bender's Tavern in Denver, Colorado.

"We'll be playing with Chingaso, One Whore's Town, and Brent and Tye from Reno Divorce :) Friday July 29th.

"Friday July 22nd we'll celebrating at Carnahan's in Carbondale, Colorado.

"July 30th at the Rocky Mountain Pub in Grand Junction, playing with E.O.S., Beer Death and reuniting F.I.A. Hope to cya'll there!!!

"We have a new website up and running. We have our videos, music, pics, info, and we still working on it www.fireintheasylum.com

"Don't forget to check our youtube channel, we have the new video for The Asylum is on Fire: www.youtube.com/fireintheasylum

"Besos for all

"Roq."

Underground Music Showcase ...

The 11th annual Denver Post Underground Music Showcase, or UMS, is coming up July 21-24, 2011, in the historic Baker District on South Broadway.

Local acts confirmed to play this year include Air Dubai, The Epilogues, Snake Rattle Rattle Snake, and The Heyday, "to name the very tip of a rather large iceberg."

Click here for more news and updates at the UMS website.

Artist review: The Symbols

The Symbols -- The Symbols [EP]
by Jeanie Straub
JStraub@ColoradoMusicBuzz.com

Whenever you see Dave Beegle is associated with something, you know it is going to be a thing of quality. You can take your chances on it. This is true of the self-titled EP by The Symbols, which Beegle mastered, but the five-song disc isn’t without its unevenness. The band is made up of Mer Sal (vocals, keys), David Becher (bass, vocals), Jasco (guitar), Ryan Sapp (drums). Most of the unevenness comes from Sal’s vocals. She’s got a decent enough voice, and definitely the indie-pop tracks without her vocals are worthy. (Jasco is one guitarist you’d want on your desert island with you if you couldn’t get a bunch of CDs delivered and you didn’t have access to the cloud.) I just would say that some tracks are more labored than others, and the point of this EP doesn’t seem to be heaviness. It is intended to be pretty light fare, but Sal’s patchy singing can weigh it down in spots.

thesymbols.net