Thursday | May 2
What: Jail Wolf w/Hotel Garuda, ford
When: Thursday, 05.02, 7 p.m.
Where: The Ogden
Why: Sajeeb Saha got started making electronic music and did remixes for the likes of Odesza and Dirty South before embarking on making the kind of effervescent pop that appeared on his 2016 EP Kindred Spirits as Jai Wolf. The EP reflected his earlier production experience in terms of the musical ideas and details that one might hear on an EDM record. But it also incorporated the kind of expansive and psyche cleansing musicality of the post-chillwave efforts of artists like Toro Y Moi and Washed Out. Three years later the new Jai Wolf album, The Cure to Loneliness sounds like a massive leap forward evolving the eccentric sonic flourishes of EDM into more interesting features of a song and tighter songwriting with a wider array of instrumentation including guitar and percussion that sounds like a human is behind the performance somewhere. Intact and more fully realized in its expression, though, is Saha’s gift for expressing a sense of wonder and hope, qualities that are much needed given the state of the world. The same line-up same time performs at the Ogden Theatre on Friday, May 3.
What: Speakeasy Series: Denizens of the Deep and Felix Fast4ward
When: Thursday, 05.02, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Hooked On Colfax
Why: This edition of the Speakeasy Series presented by Glasss Recorods are master Denver soundsculptors Denizens of the Deep and Felix Fast4ward. Both fit somewhere in the realm of ambient and electronic dance music and psychedelia without needing to fit in any of those categories.
What: Monolord w/The Munsens and The Well
When: Thursday, 05.02, 7 p.m.
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Solid doom show including Monolord from Gothenburg, Sweden, a city more well-known for its melodic death metal. Monolord sounds more like they grew up listening to pre-1995 Melvins and that’s a positive.
What: A Rembrance for Brittany Strummer w/Typesetter, Cheap Perfume and Ersatz Robots
When: Thursday, 05.02, 7 p.m.
Where: 3 Kings Tavern
Why: Brittany Strummer was not in bands but as a fan and associate of bands and the punk community and a friend to many she touched many lives nationally and even internationally. For this show some of her friends are getting together to celebrate her life and legacy with live music.
What: Shpongle w/Tipper, Desert Dwellers, Leo P (from Too Many Zooz)
When: Thursday, 05.02, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Red Rocks
Why: Shpongle has kind of a silly name and its fusion of world music, psychedelia and electronic dance music isn’t for everyone but it’s shows are like an idiosyncratic ritual of spectacle and depth of sound. Tipper’s deep ambient abstract dance could be headling this show as well but is only on this first date of Shpongle’s 2-day run at Red Rocks.
Friday | May 3
What: Faces Under the Mirror, Rosegarden Funeral Party, Vio\ator and eHpH
When: Friday, 05.03, 8 p.m.
Where: Mutiny Information Café
Why: Darkwave show of the week with electro-industrial band Faces Under the Mirror, Dallas-based post-punkers Rose Garden Funeral Party, noisy dark industrial project Vio/lator and Denver EBM duo eHpH whose electronic industrial soundscapes have a bit of confrontational energy built into the mix.
What: Jacket of Spiders
When: Friday, 05.03, 9 p.m.
Where: Denver Art Society
Why: The debut show of the new band from former members of Tarmints/Twice Wilted/Cynic’s Bane/Soulbender ,AJ Hathaway, Bobby Jamison and Bobby Bane.
What: Shpongle w/Clozee, Desert Dwellers, Leo P (From Too Many Zooz)
When: Friday, 05.03, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Red Rocks
Why: Second night of world music dub electro dance legends Shpongle.
What: Copper Leaf, Bear and the Beasts and Gun Street Ghost
When: Friday, 05.03, 9 p.m.
Where: BarFly
Why: A free show. Somewhere betwixt Americana and late 90s/early 2000s indie pop with a charming richness of musical detail is Copper Leaf. Bear and the Beasts is like-minded but more rock and probably more influenced by the likes of Lucero. Gun Street Ghost is kind of a gritty Americana band but Mike Perfetti’s masterful storytelling and charisma sets any of his projects apart from most other bands.
What: Benefit for Yes on 300, screening of segments of “The Right to Rest” film, Laura Goldhamer, Knuckle Pups, Poppet
When: Friday, 05.03, 7:30 p.m.
Where: BarFly
Why: Denver Initiative 300 isn’t going to legalize people sleeping on your porch and littering your neighborhood with needles or whatever. Nor will it magically make that appear everywhere. The sort of fear mongering surrounding the initiative is misplaced. This show is a benefit for voting yes on the measure including the multi-media artist/songwriter Laura Goldhamer.
What: Roller Disco 2
When: Friday, 05.03, 11:30 p.m.
Where: Roller City
Why: Late night culture is back to being nascent and underground in Denver but this is something along those lines where your entry fee gets you a skate rental and new wave and synth pop songs appropriate to the occasion playing into the wee hours.
What: Jai Wolf w/Hotel Garuda and ford
When: Friday, 05.03, 7 p.m.
Where: Ogden Theatre
Why: See above on 5/2 for Jai Wolf.
Saturday | May 4
What: Tyto Alba album release – Sucker w/Panther Martin and Modern Leisure
When: Saturday, 05.04, 8 p.m.
Where: Hi-Dive
Why: Anyone paying attention to the Denver underground rock scene with any taste or discernment would tell you that Tyto Alba is one of the city’s best bands. Its ear for melody and keen sense of dynamics has resulted in a body of work that is emotionally rich and deeply evocative. Its dream pop is a master class in contrasts between strong rhythms and delicate, gauzy melodies and Melanie Steinway’s thought-provoking lyrics delivered with a gift for expressing nuanced sometimes uncomfortable truths with a vulnerability and strength of conviction that isn’t common enough. The group’s new album Sucker is a showcase for the band’s songwriting versatility. Tyto Alba already had a sound of fascinating contrasts and complexities (moody, bright, melancholic, emotional truthfulness and acceptance of the range of one’s feelings) but Sucker is the band at its peak of development so far. In the hands of other artists some of the material could be brutal but a sense of compassion has also long informed the music.
What: Itchy-O 5th Annual Sci Fi Freakout w/Carnivale De Sensuale Sci-Fi Burlesque and hosted by Hagbard Celine and Andrew Novick
When: Saturday, 05.04, 8 p.m.
Where: The Oriental Theater
Sunday | May 5
What: Cinco De Mayo with Los Mocochetes including Vic N’ The Narwhals, Kiltro and El Javi
When: Sunday, 05.05, 7 p.m.
Where: Larimer Lounge
Why: If you were so inclined to go to a show on Cinco De Mayo billed as such none better than seeing Latin indie funk stars Los Mocochetes and soulful garage rock psychedelic band Vic N’ The Narwhals.
What: Skating Polly w/MONSTERWATCH and Backseat Vinyl
When: Sunday, 05.05, 8 p.m.
Where: Streets of London
Why: Because Skating Polly had to come up as musicians in an insular way and didn’t come up on trends the way many other musicians have, its almost outsider blend of primal grunge and garage rock is unlike much else in the scenes of the revival of either of the past decade.
Monday | May 6
What: Pedestrian Deposit w/Entrancer, Anime Love Hotel, Sunk Cost
When: Monday, 05.06, 8 p.m.
Where: Syntax Physic Opera
Why: Pedestrian Deposit combines layers of sound to create an engulfing sonic experience. From organic stringed instruments, field recordings, tape collage, harsh noise and electronic instrumentation, the duo from Los Angeles is unlike many bands in the realm of “noise” and its shows border on a kind of ritual born out of urban decay and neglect. Also sharing the bill are techno wizard and ambient artist Entrancer and noise sculptor supreme Sunk Cost.
What: Lolo Zouaï: High Highs to Low Lows Tour w/Jean Deaux
When: Monday, 05.06, 7 p.m.
Where: Larimer Lounge
Why: Lolo Zouaï’s 2018 full-length High Highs to Low Lows is surprisingly downtempo and world weary for an artist in her early 20s. She cites Too Short as an influence so maybe that is a factor. Its lush production and trap-esque and gritty, ethereal flavor bears comparison to Alice Glass’s solo EP of a couple of years ago.
What: Winter w/Ancient Elk
When: Monday, 05.06, 8 p.m.
Where: Lost Lake
Why: Samir Winter and the band that takes its moniker from her surname is fortunately not sticking to one sound for an entire career. Yes, those blissfully atmospheric pop songs from the debut album benefited from Winter’s strong, evocative singing. But the 2018 album Ethereality sounds like the group adopted a bit of the muscular, fuzzy upbeat rock sound of other groups that are tapping into the 90s but Winter’s buoyant yet introspective presence gives it some depth. Denver psychedelic folk band Ancient Elk is changing its name and supposedly this is the show where the new name and presumably new line-up will be launched.
Tuesday | May 7
What: Perturbator w/GOST and Many Blessings
When: Tuesday, 05.07, 8 p.m.
Where: The Oriental Theater
Why: Perturbator takes that sort of analog synth John Carpenter worship soundtrack thing and elevates it with even more dramatic flourish and volume by transforming it into industrial dance music.
What: Real Dom, Terror Pigeon, Techno Allah, Aman
When: Tuesday, 05.07, 8 p.m.
Where: Rhinoceropolis
Why: Since the late 2000s Terror Pigeon has created bombastic synth poppy dance music with deep grooves like they were some band out of Brooklyn rather than Nashville.
Wednesday | May 8
What: Fasano Twin Film Night
When: Wednesday, 05.08, 10 p.m.
Where: Mutiny Information Café
Why: Charly and Vincent Fasano have been fixtures of the front range art, poetry and music scene for close to three decades. Charly “The City Mouse” will be screening some of his short films while Vinnie “Cheap” will provide musical accompaniment with his experimental jazz group Still Birth of Cool.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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