[Festival Preview/Playlist] The Underground Music Showcase 2018 – Denver, CO – 7/27-7/29

The 18th anniversary of one of Denver’s most storied music events, The Underground Music Showcase, is rapidly encroaching, bringing with it perhaps its heaviest-hitting lineup ever. What began as a one-night performance featuring just four bands, The UMS has steadily exploded into to a three-day music and arts festival featuring hundreds of performances. As the time draws nearer to what will no doubt be another incredible weekend of performances, this year taking place from July 27th – July 29th, it’s time to get our readers familiar with this year’s crop of highly established headliners and burgeoning local & national artists, spanning a plethora of genres and sounds.

Dotting the top end of this year’s addition of The Underground Music Showcase are more than a few TMN regulars. Among this year’s biggest highlights are the smooth indie-disco stylings of L.A. electronic duo Classixx, the infectious ciphers of B.J. the Chicago Kid, Deezie Brown & legendary hip-hop troupe Digable Planets, a healthy smattering of established indie acts including Greta Kline’s Frankie Cosmos project, ParallelephantsDeerhunter & Mothers, scuzzy rock sets from Alvvays, White Denim & Superchunk; not to mention the most eclectic handling of local talent we get to hear year after year including sets from olorado’s own CRL CRRLL, Aaron Bordas, Slow Caves, Bud Bronson & The Goodtimers and loads more.

Right now, special one-day GA tickets can be found for $40 over on their homepage with weekend passes for just $75. We’ll see you there in full force on July 27th, but until then, get in the UMS swing of things by streaming our playlist below.

’Alvvays – Party Police’
’Classixx – All You’re Waiting For’
’BJ the Chicago Kid – Smokin’ and Ridin’ (Feat. Freddie Gibbs & Problem)’
’Deerhunter – Nothing Ever Happened’
’Digable Planets – Rebirth of Slick (Cool like Dat)’
’Frankie Cosmos – “Sinister”‘
’Overcoats – Hold Me Close’
’Mothers – Blame Kit’
’Cloud Cult – Where It Starts’
’Gang Gang Dance – Glass Jar’
’Superchunk – Hello Hawk’
’Parallelephants – Reason Don’t Define’
’White Denim – Get Back To Love’
’Night Beats – Outta Mind’
’Jeff the Brotherhood – Black Cherry Pie’
’Deezie Brown – Sheepskin / Shayne’
’CRL CRRLL – M O N E Y’
’Aaron Bordas – As We Are (OriginalMix)’
’Bud Bronson & The Goodtimers – Cars’
’Slow Caves – Poser’
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[MP3 Playlist] Indie Dojo (July 2018 Round #1)

Seriously, how is it July already? Guess time flies when you have a weekly Indie Dojo to look forward to.

’Night Flight – Parade’
’Jonathan Elyashiv – Wire Days’
’Gabrielle Marlena – Easier Love’
’Harvey Trisdale – Fit To Be Found’
’Ben Zaidi – Lake Morey.’
’Katie Herzig – Beat Of Your Own (Delicate Version)’
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[Music Ninja Radio] Episode 108: Floatin’

Music Ninja Radio is a weekly podcast recorded and broadcast live on San Francisco’s BFF.fm  from 4-6PM PST every Friday. 

Music Ninja Radio
Episode 108: Floatin'

Soundcloud || Spotify Playlist  || BFF.fm Archive & Tracklist

Inspired by Mint Field‘s gorgeous performance at Cafe Du Nord, this week’s show features an array of dreamy indie jams with a touch of future beats. Highlights include Vacationer’s first new single in years, NoMBe‘s debut album, an unexpected SBTRKT edit and an epic Keinemusik remix courtesy of DJ Tennis.

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[MP3 Playlist] Indie Dojo (March 2018 Round #2)

When your days are long and full of adulting, who has the time to sit down and search for a bunch of new music? It’s rough, we know, which is why we are here for you. We find all the indie goodins’ so you don’t have to. The only thing we ask of you is to listen with open ears. We promise no adulting involved.
’The Morning Yells – She Got Time’
’Gareth Thomas – Weird Fever’
’N A D I N E – Ultra Pink’
’Terra Naomi – Nothing To Hide’
’Mantaray –
Island’

’The Racer – Skeptic (Acoustic)’
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[Indie/Dream-Pop] Ravennas – Meet in a Garden

Ravennas
Meet In A Garden (prod. by DoM)

Worming their way into your ears on this beautiful Hump Day is up and coming Seattle duo Ravennas. Comprised of childhood friends Ben Grant and Paul Dutton, Ravennas have been playing various shades of music together in some form since grade school, while their debut single “Meet in a Garden”, which was produced by tastemaking favorite DoM, sees the brand new project fusing a foundation of psych-pop, indie-rock and electro-pop. Clearly, the pair have cultivated an aural chemistry and understanding of each other’s musical prowess which can already be heard on “Meet in a Garden; an introductory tune which carries the kind of sharpness usually reserved for artists much further along their creative journeys.

Dutton’s reverb-laden, jangly guitar hearkens back to the blue print laid on some of those treasured early Captured Tracks releases, while symmetrical two-step drum pacing and a chugging bass line underpin its vocal track beautifully. About the collaboration with DoM, Dutton remarked: “DoM has a profound ability to follow his instincts and started shaping the song, shortening different sections and vibing the song out more so that it wasn’t so clean and dry.” Hearing such proficiency and direction on the duo’s debut single is quite promising, and you can be sure we’ll be anxiously awaiting the next offering from Ravennas, which is expected out early 2018. For now, sit back and enjoy “Meet in a Garden” above.

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[Event Preview/Playlist] The Underground Music Showcase – Denver, CO

The 17th anniversary of one of Denver’s most storied music events, The Underground Music Showcase, is just around the corner. What began as a one-night performance featuring just four bands, The UMS has steadily exploded into to a four-day music and art festival featuring hundreds of performances. As the time draws nearer to what will no doubt be another incredible weekend pf performances, it’s time to get our readers familiar with this year’s crop of (mostly) burgeoning artists spanning a plethora of genres and sounds. While this recent slate of participating artists is the second wave, we can assuredly expect one more run of performers to be added to this year’s bill, so stay tuned!

This year’s bill features one of the more eclectic, varied lineups we’ve been privy to for a number of years, including a seemingly heavier focus on displaying the myriad talent spread across The Centennial State (that’s Colorado ya yokels). On the top end of things, The UMS features an incredible slate of headlining performances from the likes of Nika Roza Danilova’s influential avant-pop project Zola Jesus,  New Orleans based Benjamin Booker‘s raw brand of blues/boogie/soul/rock, Red Fang‘s primal-yet-refined  stoner-metal, John Jagos’ lofi pop alter-ego and TMN darling Brothertiger, and the smoothly subdued vocal stylings of Esmé Patterson. In addition to the already excellent pallet of headliners, The UMS also will be presenting countless sets from some of our absolute favorite Colorado artists including Flaural, Povi, RUMTUM, Slow Caves & Dragondeer. To get your ears tuned for next month’s festivities, check out our preview playlist below and get your learn on if you haven’t already. Tickets are still on presale, so hop to it and pick up a 4-day pass on the cheap here!

’Benjamin Booker – Violent Shiver’
’Brothertiger – Beyond The Infinite’
’Zola Jesus – Exhumed’
’Esmé Patterson – Green Green’
’Red Fang – Blood Like Cream’
’Slow Caves – Glares’
’Povi – 4am’
’Flaural – Culture Ghost’
’RUMTUM – Coastal Hustle’
’Dragondeer – When I See You’
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[Event Review] Project Pabst: Denver 2017

In just its second year in existence as a four city national event (Denver, Portland, Philadelphia, Atlanta), the barley-pop funded Project Pabst has quickly cemented itself as one of the hottest tickets in each town it lays it Laser Horse inspired hooves. Always an eclectic lineup, in its brief run Project Pabst has consistently boasted a mix of both established and upcoming acts spanning myriad genres from Tame Impala, STRFKR, Violent Femmes, FIDLAR, Duran Duran & Iggy Pop to A$AP Ferg, Danny Brown, K. Flay & Big K.R.I.T. to name but a few; and this year’s Denver date served only to stoke the already vibrant fire within our Ninja hearts. It was yet another excellently curated day in Denver’s hipster bastion of the RiNo neighborhood, and we’ve got plenty to dish about the second Denver Project Pabst date.

As always, the day kicked off sprightly at 2:00 p.m. behind a choice segue into the beautiful day with a frenetic performance from Chicago indie rock outfit Twin Peaks. In a rather short span beginning in 2013, Twin Peaks have rapidly evolved from a hectic, sloppy group of teenage rockers into a firmly polished five piece with the ability to command a stage with the best of them. Twin Peaks cycled primarily through fare from LP’s Wild Onion and Down in Heaven including staples like “I Found a Way”, “Making Breakfast” and “Holding Roses”, but more than made sure to satisfy their diehards as well with a few cuts from debut long player Sunken. With the day’s first performance under our belts, it was time for some $3.00 PBR and a jaunt to the other end of Larimer Street for a little slice of scuzzy L.A. rock duo Deap Vally.

Read Our Entire Project Pabst Review After the Jump!

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