Shows on a Denver teen’s radar

By Sam Z

1. Mount Eerie, Ragana @ Fox Theater 2/22

Seeing Phil Elverum (lead singer of Mount Eerie and the Microphones) live has been a goal of mine since I heard the Microphone’s “The Glow Pt. 2.” This show, with support from Ragana, seems like a dream come true. 

The best of Elverum’s music contains an ever-present awe of nature and the mysticism that permeates the natural world. 

Fog on a hill, a mountain at sunset, and chance encounters with wildlife all serve as inspiration for Elverum’s constantly evolving folk music. His sound defies categorization–even calling him folk doesn’t portray his scope of ambient, punk, garage, and electronic music, often within the same song. Even “A Crow Looked at Me” – the grief-stricken and almost brutally blunt record about his wife dying of cancer – finds solace in nature’s kind indifference and breathtaking scale. 

Mount Eerie’s varied sonic textures and wide-eyed lyricism reach a pinnacle on “Night Palace,” their newest record. At nearly 90 minutes and 26 tracks, “Night Palace” reads like an opus, an all encompassing statement on what Phil Elverum has done as Mount Eerie and his old band the Microphones, a reflection on almost 30 years of art and a glance into the future of what being a ‘folk musician’ or an ‘experimentalist’ means in the era of the cell phones and live-streamed genocide. It covers sonic and lyrical ground ranging from the mundane everyday to ‘non-metaphorical decolonization’ (a highlight in the tracklist, markedly urgent), from ambient folk to noise freakouts, all filtered through Elverum’s Pacific Northwestern awe of the natural world and his existential musings on humanity’s place among the dark winds, violent oceans, and towering mountains where we all somehow reside. 

Ragana, also from Washington state, put out “Desolation’s Flower” on San-Francisco gloom tastemakers The Flenser in 2023, one of my favorite records of the year and one of the most urgent, lyrically poignant pieces of metal to come out in a while. Having an anarcho-queer atmospheric black metal band open for Elverum is incredible, especially when they are as excellent as Ragana. Both artists, although disparate in genre label and sound, tread common ground lyrically and in their foggy, natural atmospheres. They both also have penchants for part twos, which is fun. This show is gonna rock and probably make me cry. Cry with me, dance with me, try to shout into the terrifying void that is modern America with me, and hear an echo of nature’s vast mystery respond. 

2. Greg Mendez, Lomelda @ Globe Hall 2/23

The 2023 self-titled debut record by Philadelphia singer-songwriter Greg Mendez is one of the most interesting recent records in an increasingly oversaturated singer-songwriter market. Reminiscent of the acoustic sides of Alex G and Elliott Smith, the record sounds almost like the ultra popular indie folk-rock twang while maintaining a raw vulnerability that gives these songs a distinct edge. Across the short 23 minutes of “Greg Mendez,” he comes across as confident in his vulnerability and gentle sound; rarely does an artist sound so fully formed on a debut record. These songs incorporate slide guitars, organs, and gentle drums alongside Mendez’s soft strumming and fingerpicking, creating a gentle and moving mosaic of warm folk and rock upon which Mendez delivers heartbreaking lines on love, loss, aging, and the almost comforting sadness that permeates modern day living. 

This show is Mendez’s first in Denver, and I’m very, very excited to see how his quiet, reserved sound translates to a live setting. He’s opening for Lomelda, an excellent and established singer-songwriter in the vein of Adrianne Lenker or Phoebe Bridgers. Be there for a night of sweet, quiet, and affecting indie folk!

3. Molchat Doma, Sextile @ Mission Ballroom 2/25

I often play Molchat Doma at the Wax Trax outpost at Stanley Marketplace, and I often get questions about the Belarusian post-punk/coldwave band. “When did this come out?” is probably the most common. I always get a little kick out of saying I’m playing Ehatzi, their excellent 2018 debut, and watching the customer’s face accuse me of lying. Molchat Doma doesn’t sound modern in any capacity. Their distinct goth flavor of post-punk sounds like a lost Soviet Russian transmission from 40 years ago, complete with lo-fi vocals, tinny drum machines, and warm synths. The group is surprisingly danceable too, with memorable basslines and synth leads giving a genuinely poppy twinge. Strip back the lo-fi production and wonderfully mysterious, brutalist persona that the band inhabits and you are left with genuinely groovy songs that sound like they could be New Order or Joy Division sung in Russian. Molchat Doma seems like a group out of time, playing post-punk anthems that would’ve been huge in the 80s, with a production style that sounds like they were tracked onto shitty tape and then promptly forgotten about. Radio transmissions from back in time that you can dance your cold, goth heart out to. They are somehow huge on TikTok too; see “Судно (Борис Рижий)”, their internet hit with lyrics inspired by Russian poet Boris Ryzhy’s suicide at age 26 that blew up on social media over the past few years.

I haven’t seen Molchat Doma live despite their past few years of relentless touring, but I’ve heard from Tom Murphy (probably the most reputable source on anything live music-related in Denver) that their recorded sound holds nothing to their live presence. And with a studio sound so unique and interesting, I have no idea how a live show will translate, nonetheless exceed, what the band does on their recordings.

4. MJ Lenderman @ Bluebird Theater 2/28

There’s a wonderful sense of lightheartedness that permeates Mark Lenderman’s music, even when he’s singing about heartbreak or loss. An earnest kind of joy that spontaneous riffing with friends supplies. A cathartic release that comes from singing your problems to an attentive crowd. With a country twang like a Texas sunset and witty lyricism that filters classic songwriters like Townes Van Zandt and David Berman through a youthful, refreshingly unserious lens, it’s not hard to see why MJ Lenderman’s been getting bigger and bigger. 

The Bluebird feels like an intimate venue for Lenderman, who has played in acts like Wednesday and Indigo De Souza. And I think that intimacy is going to work toward the effectiveness of this show, to the friends-on-the-porch folk rock sound that MJ Lenderman has carved in the indie-rock scene.

5. Chat Pile, Gouge Away, Nightosphere @ Gothic Theater 3/6

What’s the sound of America? Is it a country twang, a hip-hop groove, or a polished, pop beat? Oklahoma City’s Chat Pile argues that it is none of those– the true American sound is a grimy, industrial noise rock. On “God’s Country,” their excellent 2022 debut LP, the band made an argument for their American sound, drawing from industrial legends like Godflesh and Big Black and nu-metal like Korn (I’m not kidding, and they do it well) with a vocal style that sounds like a manic, drug-addled schizophrenic trying to explain the economic effects of Reaganomics. Songs like “Why” put it as blunt as it can possibly get. “Why do people have to live outside? We have the resources. We have the means,” sings vocalist Raygun Busch over downtuned guitars and pounding industrial drums – the true soundtrack to a modern America. 

On their new record, Chat Pile have taken their urgent, aggressive sound to a global scale. “Cool World,” released late last year, examines where America fits into the global business of oppression and cruelty. On some songs, like “Masc,” the lyrics look inward on human connection, and are just as bleak as the songs on the state of the modern world. Whether singing about the grime of world politics, or of simply being a human, Chat Pile channels the disgusting cruelty of modern existence into harsh, industrial rock. A sound that translates very, very well live. I saw them on their first-ever tour, opening for Lingua Ignota in early 2023, and they rocked my shit. Caught ‘em again at the Bluebird at the end of that year, and they proved it wasn’t a one-off. Intense, brutal, unrelenting, yet surprisingly danceable, with excellent crowdwork and engagement, Chat Pile’s live show is not to be missed. They’ve exploded in popularity since the release of “Cool World,” and this show, supporting that record, promises to bring their intensity to an even larger group of people. Be there if your blood is dirty garbage water or you are “dog now.”

6. Midwife, Vyva Melinkoliya (performing “Orbweaving” in full) @ Hi-Dive 3/20

Madeline Johnston’s dreamy, atmospheric ‘heaven metal’ as Midwife has been widely documented by us at Wax Trax (not in the least by me; her last three records have been some of my favorites of the past few years and I’ll drop everything to go hear Madeline’s lucid, textured live show any day of the week). Midwife’s unique brand of shoegaze has been widely received by those in the Denver scene and those outside of it. “Orbweaving” is a testament to that; the 2023 Flenser-released collaboration with Kentucky “aggressively ethereal” shoegazer Vyva Melinkoliya showcases Midwife at the height of her powers. This is music for very late nights, for watching fireworks alone from far away, for when everyone’s left but the night’s just begun. Heavy but not dense, stripped-back but not simple, melancholic but somehow hopeful. Beautiful shoegaze through a decidedly ambient lens.

On March 20th (my birthday, coincidentally), Midwife and Vyva Melinkoliya will be playing this record in full for the first time ever at the Hi-Dive. It’s gonna be a packed show, and will probably sell out. Get your tickets now if you are into anything heaven or metal.

7. Advance Base @ Glob 3/29

There’s a profound beauty in tragedy. “Horrible Occurrences”, Owen Ashworth’s newest record as Advance Base, mines the emotional richness of sorrow. His sound is like a warm hug after an awful experience, looking at a breakup, the loss of a loved one, or a family member disappearing from your window from a warm home. Ashworth’s sonic palette is as consistent as it has ever been, utilizing beautifully delicate synths and the occasional lo-fi drum machine, over which he delivers his heartbreaking stories of love and loss in the fictional town of Richmond. The people Owen conjures are realistic, vivid, and shockingly human, and the stories he tells will stick with you long after the record ends. And make you cry. This record will make you sob your heart out. 

Advance Base is playing at Glob in late March in support of this record. I got to catch him opening for Josephine Foster in June of 2023 at the Hi-Dive and hear some songs on this record live before they were released, and I can confidently say that their minimalist beauty and cozy, heart-wrenching songwriting translates beautifully live. His shows are quiet and intimate but astoundingly powerful, like a warm embrace from a friend you haven’t seen in a long time. 

8. clipping. @ Larimer Lounge 4/27

Daveed Diggs is best known for his acting, starring in hits like Hamilton, Snowpiercer, and Wonder. However, sometimes he does industrial hip-hop. It’s fucking amazing. clipping. is the experimental, noisy rap project of Diggs, William Hutson, and Jonathan Snipes. They’ve been creating a unique blend of harsh industrial music and rap since 2014’s excellent “Midcity” mixtape, and channeled their intriguing sound into wider pop appeal (“CLPPNG,” also released in 2014), high-concept sci-fi epics (2016’s “Splendor and Misery”) and gory, grimy horrorcore (2019 and 2020’s “There Existed An Addiction To Blood” and “Visions of Bodies Being Burned”).

They’ve been teasing a new, dancier direction on a few recent singles leading up to their upcoming self-described “cyberpunk hip-hop” project, “Dead Channel Sky.” I’m very excited to see how their harsher aspects and more friendly, dancier beats will translate onstage this tour. Knowing Digg’s excellent stage presence, this isn’t one to miss if you are into anything from classic dance records to industrial experimentalism, all glued together by Digg’s excellent flows and wordplay. I’m hype. 

9. Godspeed You! Black Emperor @ Ogden Theater 4/28

If Chat Pile makes music for an American veering toward collapse, Godspeed You! Black Emperor writes for a post-collapse ruin.  Like the band on the Titanic , playing as the ship sinks, Godspeed You! composes requiems for a lost world, for a “car on fire, no driver at the wheel.” In some of the only (non field-recorded) dialogue in the instrumental band’s discography, a lone, gravelly voice reads of a dark, near future:

“The car’s on fire and there’s no driver at the wheel

And the sewers are all muddied with a thousand lonely suicides

And a dark wind blows

The government is corrupt

And we’re on so many drugs

With the radio on and the curtains drawn

We’re trapped in the belly of this horrible machine

And the machine is bleeding to death

The sun has fallen down

And the billboards are all leering

And the flags are all dead at the top of their poles”

Quebec’s Godspeed You! Black Emperor have been making grand, winding, orchestral rock movements since the late 90s; they are the rare kind of band that both defined a movement and topped it in a few records. From their 1997 debut “F#A#∞” (with “The Dead Flag Blues”, quoted in length above) and its critically acclaimed follow up “Lift Yr Skinny Fists Like Antennas To Heaven”, the group, which includes cello, violin, two percussionists, and a 16mm projectionist alongside traditional guitar, bass, and drums, created post-rock’s defining masterpieces. 

The group’s most recent record ‘ “NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD” ’takes the broad apocalyptic flavor of their previous records and infuses it with a heavy modern weight, even in title and cover alone. The cover, a stark and isolating image of the band’s practice space, and the title, which I can only quote the band on:

“NO TITLE= what gestures make sense while tiny bodies fall? what context? what broken melody?

and then a tally and a date to mark a point on the line, the negative process, the growing pile.

the sun setting above beds of ash

while we sat together, arguing.

the old world order barely pretended to care.

this new century will be crueler still.

war is coming.

don’t give up.

pick a side.

hang on.”

For the heavy thematic content the record is steeped in, the music can feel surprisingly joyful, with beautifully distorted guitars rising above synthetic and acoustic drones, suggesting the seeds of green plants sprouting through a concrete ruin. It’s powerful music for a mourning world, for a sinking ship. Now, more urgently than ever, music like this is necessary. A soundtrack to the collapse of an empire. 

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This piece is not quite what all teens are going to be attending (I’m not going to the Tyler, The Creator show coming up, as much as I’d like to, and I doubt most of the crowd at clipping. or Godspeed You! Black Emperor will be 17), but more what a niche freakazoid like myself likes to attend. From anarcho-queer black metal and experimental folk to twangy singer-songwriter, there’s cool stuff coming up soon in the Rocky Mountain area. Hope to see y’all at some of these, I’ll be doing my photo thing at most of ‘em!