Volume 3, Issue 12
June 7 - June 21, 2001

Music

X Marks the Spot

Xiren finds the sweet spot of ambient pop

Since he moved to Denver four years ago, Darryl "Xiren" Kenny has worked hard to create original music that mixes his singer-song-writer style with an alt-rock sound. Known simply as Xiren, his first CD titled Bullets and Rainbows hits the stores this week. "In a world that honors bigger, better, faster, I need grace," Xiren said. "I felt this album would not only capture a snapshot of what is in existence but what's possible."

This nicely produced CD is an interesting mixture of sounds, voices, and influences. Clearly Xiren has listened to and learned from some of the great solo artist/ band leaders of the past including Sting, Peter Gabriel, Bono, and Bryan Ferry. Luckily, Xiren (guitar, vocals) and his collaborator Ben Jansen (piano) have the skill and foresight to update this classic sound for today's audience. The new record craftily mixes acoustic and electric guitars, soaring vocals, various percussion instruments and some deftly sprinkled techno gadgetry.

Xiren relocated to Colorado from Detroit, where he was well known as a musical innovator who performed steadily through the early '90s. During the last five years as Denver's music scene grew, Xiren aligned himself with some popular local bands including Opie Gone Bad and Distant Crossing. To properly promote the music on Bullets and Rainbows, Xiren has hired other local players to fill in along side himself and Jansen, including Josh Skelton (guitars), Zach Pietlock (drums), and Cam Cross (violin, guitars, percussion). The energy on the record can only be magnified by the talent on stage.

Xiren's music fits in variety of venues for a variety of audiences. And, Xiren can write good songs. No matter how long a musician can jam on stage to his own beat, we all know the great shows are never without a catchy riff, a breathless melody, or an irresistible groove. "I began writing music ten years ago," Xiren explained, "as an answer to the question:what would it sound like if my favorite artists collaborated? I became intrigued by the possibilities of simply writing music that I wanted to listen to."

The presence of the acoustic guitar is a refreshing element in Xiren's over-all ambient pop sound. "Geralyn" uses flute, acoustic guitar and edgy vocal overdubbing to create an eerie tribute, while "In Front of You" is beautifully relaxing and surprisingly sexy. "Circus" begs the eternal question of the meaning of life without resorting to redundant phrases or corny metaphor.

--Judy B.

Find more at www.xiren.net

FAREWELL YALE

William Yale takes leave of Denver after creating some amazing projects

A mentor once told me good music opens doors, and great musicians change lives. For the local musical community familiar with bassist William Yale, this statement rings especially true. Yale has been involved in a number of diverse, challenging, and "push-the-envelope" type musical projects during the past seven years. He is a bass player, recording engineer, music fanatic, and inspiration to the many who know him. Unfortunately, he's leaving for the east coast at the end of this month.

Although usually shy and very humble, Yale feels proud of his musical accomplishments and knows his time in Colorado was meaningful and well spent. "Before I moved out here [in 1994], I was into all the things I am now, but never had the opportunity to take it to the public," Yale explained. "You can kind of do what you want here, and it has opened up my life."

Yale's musical talents have opened up a lot of things. As a bassist, he played with Soul Jazz Massive, a funk musician's magnet, which began at the early inklings of Boulder's improv groove scene. On a more avant garde jazz note, Yale played in the Heuristic Ensemble, a group led by guitarist Farrel Lowe. It was not an easy gig, and the obscure nature of the music, inspired by jazz great Ornette Coleman, demanded a superb talent. "Bill's the kind of musician who truly understood the music and what I wanted to do," Lowe said. "And, he understands the lineage and history of it all."

United Dope Front has been Yale's latest performance group, a future groove band which Yale considers his most satisfying project. Drummer Kenny James also played with UDF and Yale. James said, "There's a word that a lot of musicians should study that William has and that is 'solid'. I can think of only a couple of other musicians that I've dealt with who are equal in that category. I'm blessed having to play with someone like William, and so is the rest of whatever band may be on the stage with us." Darrin Feder, guitarist and founding member of local Latin sensation Cabaret Diosa, met Yale in high school in Paramas, New Jersey. As Yale packs his bags and heads back to family and gig opportunities eastward, Feder best sums up not what it means that Yale is leaving, but what it has meant for us as a musical community to have him around. "He's a sharp critic, and has that natural instinct for playing, listening, and recording that signals a truly gifted person. The amount of music that he has exposed me to has been the biggest influence. He's also a collector of music, a musicologist ... I'm still blown away by all that he can do." Hey, Darrin, I don't think you'll be the last.

--Judy B.

BEAT DIET

INTERVIEW WITH FOREST GREEN

The first time I heard of Forest Green I was at the Mayan theatre, watching the movie Groove. For those of you who don't know, she was one of the DJs featured in the movie along with Wish FM, Pollywog, Snaz, and internationally recognized DJ, Digweed. Being a fellow female DJ, I was of course interested in finding out more about this aspiring talent. When I saw her name on the Tracks 2000 flyer, I was ecstatic. Then the reporter in me spoke out, and suddenly the flyer I was holding turned into a golden opportunity. I contacted Forest via the all-girl DJ mailing list, Sister DJs, and proposed the interview. She was totally agreeable, and we made arrangements. I was greeted at the hotel with a happy smile, and a joking offer to order out for some hookers and coke, which immediately lightened the atmosphere. After a few more laughs, we began the interview:

Go-Go:Give us a brief history of DJ Forest Green.

Forest:I started DJing in 1996. The first time I ever played I played out at a party. I had been collecting records since I was 13, and that's part of DJing, right, is the collection of music, but the first time I ever played out, like beat matching records, was at a party called the Goddess party in Oakland in in a little warehouse space with a group of people that are part of the underground scene in San Francisco and are part of Friends and Family. From there I was obsessed, and I just kept playing out, and I probably shouldn't have been playing out yet to be completely frank. I think I was a little bit rough (laughs), but that's okay. It threw me in and I had to learn how to swim really fast. I would say within four months I was pretty solid. It's gotten progressively more and more. I mean, I think in the first year I had like two gigs, and from there I would have like one or two a month, and now it's like two to three bookings a week.

Go-Go:How did you come up with your DJ name?

Forest:I actually named myself before I was DJing when I was doing video art because I thought my real name was kind of boring.

Go-Go:What's your real name? Forest:Melissa Green ... I sat around screwing around with names, thought I would go with green:Army Green, Pea Green, Gangrene (laughs), just all the different things that could go with green. I like Forest. I was just going to be DJ Forest, but there are already four other DJ Forests and one of them is pretty established and lives in Hawaii. So I decided to go with Forest Green, and sometimes I like it and sometimes I think it sounds pretty dorky, and sometimes people ask me if my parents were hippies ... but it's too late now (laughs).

Go-Go:Everyone gets sick of their DJ name once in a while.

Forest:Yeah...

Go-Go:What was your worst gig ever and why?

Forest:Oh man, I get to rant! (laughs) There were two. One never even happened: I got flown to Toronto with a few other DJs from the west coast, and they ended up having to close the upstairs. They decided, rather than have the headliner that they had flown all the way out from San Francisco to Toronto play, they would have their local DJs play. They paid us, and then shortly after we asked them if they could at least take us back to the hotel room, if were not even going to get to play. That was really weird. I wouldn't do that if I had talent from anywhere else. And the other bad experience was a party I was supposed to play in Calgary. I didn't have a permit and I got kicked out of Canada. I'm still kicked out of Canada until August 26. But I learned my lesson, don't go out of the country without a work permit. With records, anyway.

Go-Go:I have heard a lot worse stories, that's for sure.

Forest:Oh yeah, I have heard of people booking a girl DJ and assuming that booking a girl means more than just a gig. "I booked you, I'm paying you, doesn't that mean I get benefits?" No, not really.

Go-Go:I know this sounds cliché, but how do you feel that being a female DJ has helped or hurt your career?

Forest:Oh, it's just been so horrible, and I'm so oppressed. No, no, I guess it's an issue and then it's not. In a lot of ways I guess it helps because there aren't as many female DJs as there are male DJs and therefore you're like, Oh, it's a girl. Wow, exciting ... it's almost like a marketability on that because you are a female and there aren't as many, that you get maybe more opportunities than you would as a male DJ. But at the same time there are some downsides to that, too; not so much in San Francisco because it's so liberal there. It seems normal, there's some girls playing, there's some guys playing. But when you go out of state you realize it's more rare. Like, I played in El Paso three weeks ago, and from what I understand there's not a single female DJ there, not one. That was what the promoter said; they could be wrong. There could be girls there playing and they don't even know it.

Go-Go:What else do you do besides DJ?

Forest:Video art, although I don't have my own studio currently because all the gear is expensive. I write music. I studied opera for a long time, I don't really sing now, currently. I might try singing again, but I can't decide how I feel about that. It's kind of like a closed chapter in my life. I would like to teach at some point when I can't travel anymore, when I get tired and older and just can't do it any more. I'd like to teach some kind of weird techno culture classes at some crazy college somewhere where you can get all freaky and talk about the real deal and don't have to cover it over. I would actually like to do more video art stuff, I just need to have more time. --Erin Marsh

ORANGE PEEL

Have you ever had deja vu? Whether you actually remember the birth and eventual retirement of disco, or even its subsequent nostalgic retro rebirth doesn't really matter. What matters is that 611 Records' Carl Michaels will be dropping his unique brand of Philly disco dub house on the unsuspecting eardrums of mesogroovic candy noodles in honor of the Gemini Party on June 7 at Tracks 2000. Residences At Space, the 2-4 Club, Silk City Lounge, and Smile Thursdays at Club Shampoo have kept Michaels at the top of his game for nearly eight years and running. According to his bio, he does have undies (in case you were wondering) but whether he will be sporting them for this particular engagement is yet to be seen. Vodka shots at the Foxhole could definitely tip the scales in favor of freeballing.

If you do find yourself experiencing an uncontrollable urge to shake your groove thang on Thursday night, please arrive prepared with a well-done tuna fillet cooked by DNB Mogul Andy Sine (Michael's favorite food) and try to avoid smashing Carl in the cranium with a beer bottle for not being hip hop ya don't stop.

Tracks 2000 is located at 2975 Fox Street in Denver. For more information on Carl Michaels or 611 Records, you can visit him in cyberspace at www.611records.com

Congratulations to the winners of the Colorado Electronic Music Awards for 2000:Tracks 2000 (best club), Together Productions (best promoter), Ty Tek (favorite local; best techno), Jon Bishop (favorite natl/ intl), Thursdays at Tracks (best club night), Fun Factory (best party), Vitamin D (best producer), Nutmeg (best house), Shahzad (best trance), X-static (best breakbeat), Fury (best jungle), Ivy (best hip hop/ trip hop), Evenflo (best female), Garth Geisler (best retro), Dino (best MC), Brandon Kent (best up and coming), and Twist & Shout (best record store).

For more information on the Colorado Electronic Music Association (CEMA), you can visit it in cyberspace at www.coloradodancemusic.com or give its info line a buzz at 303-778-1612.

--orange peel moses

CD Review

MERE:THE STANDING THAT WAS

Now that music from the '80s has become the newest answer to Denver's radio marketing strategy, the trepidation I feel about listening to a bunch of neo-U2/Depeche Mode/The Cure knockoffs makes me want to dive under the covers and wait for grunge to be cool again. When a friend handed me the latest CD from local band Mere, I figured I'd throw it in the bin with Carolyn's Mother and call it a day.

The Standing That Was definitely has an '80s sensibility to it ... sensitive yet powerful lead vocals, catchy riffs, lots of emotion and yearning, steady foot-tapping tunes, songs titled "Sweetest Kiss" and "Heaven and Earth," and so on. Track six, "She Comes Down," is a dead-ringer for Bono & Co.

Thankfully, sweet Jesus, there is more. In all fairness, modeling U2 isn't such a bad idea, especially with the latest Grammy and all. But, Mere retooled its sound since the last record, A Mere Nine Songs, and include more variety from acoustic guitars, keyboards, and vocal harmonies.

With an edginess reminiscent of older Radiohead and mid-decade INXS, Standing remains interesting and gets better with each listen. The whole record has good songs and solid songwriting. Lead singer Cory Tenbrink can really sing, and his voice works in that sort of soft-and-mellow-then-belt-it-out way.

Mere has made a record that could break it into a larger, but extremely competitive national market. As musicians, the five members are young, attractive, educated guys who earn new fans' respect at each live show. Recent successes include a CD release party at the Soiled Dove, gigs at Josephina's, performance at CHUN People's Fair, and a Fiddler's Green performance as openers for The Black Crowes/ Oasis show in May.

A few tracks of note include "Close Your Eyes," probably the most radio-ready of the batch, although "Paper Wings" has a wonderfully gentle sadness to it that attracts a few hits of the repeat button. "The Silence That Says So Much" has an Oasis vibe for sure, and "Stay Awake" is one of those weird gems-- every record must have at least one. With The Standing That Was, Mere gives us a surprisingly satisfying look into where the band is today, and illustrates how even in mainstream pop music, there is room for creativity. A --Judy B.

CD Review

RUBY:SHORT-STAFFED AT THE GENE POOL

Remember Ruby? Her 1997 Salt Peter was an eye-opener of female technica, featuring dingy synths and a voice as dark and sticky as a movie theatre floor. It's been four years since she launched her alternative offensive to the bubble-goth of Garbage; many feared she would not return at all.

She is back, jettisoning Sony for Thirsty Ear, a boutique label out of New York, and going several steps beyond Salt Peter with a jazzier sonic landscape and a sharper ear for the hook. The first song on Short-Staffed, "Beefheart," is hauntingly familiar ground for Ruby fans, feeling as grungy and buzzed as ever, but the rest of the album lightens exponentially. Though she never quite hits the sugar level of Bjork, Ruby's keyboards flitter in upper registers, and she throws in "bop bop" background vocals to somehow cross the wide chasm between her own gothic sound and the incessant chorus of a Go-Go's song. It's a cool bridge, and gives her songs the repeat play impetus Salt Peter lacked.

The most dynamic change on Short-Staffed is the use of jazz riffs and brass instruments, especially strong on such almost-cheerful tracks as "Lamplight" and "Fly." The lyrics haven't left the realm of artistic metaphors, which is just fine with me. Phrases like "skinny hide" and "choicely scented fingers" somehow evoke a sensual fetish for the ugly ... one verse of "Cargo" deals with old blind men, and the way she sings it, she just might bite the necks of those old men and shiver with orgasm.

If you're new to Ruby and you need an actual song to explain all the mumbo jumbo above, find a record store that allows you to listen before buying, and check out "Grace," as typical a new Ruby song as the album offers. Short-Staffed is a rarity:an album with enough pop to make good party background music, but enough lyrical interest to hold the lonely listener. I'm already looking forward to 2005. A --Chris J. Magyar