Apples In Stereo
We aren’t accustomed to secret shows of any import in Denver, whereas they’re a weekly occurrence in Los Angeles, New York and other hubs. But about 100 people were treated to a secret Apples in Stereo set Jan. 17 at Forest Room 5, and the psychedelic pop blast showed that the Apples are poised to continue their reign with “New Magnetic Wonder” (out Feb. 6 on Yep Roc), their first album in five years.
Singer-mastermind Robert Schneider moved from Denver to Kentucky in mid-2002, and this was his hometown’s first chance to see the new six-piece band he’s assembled, although bassist Eric Allen and guitarist John Hill remain.
The new material is every bit as bright and sunny as the Apples’ previous work, and the new single, “Energy,” found the band hitting on all counts. These new Apples are heavier on the percussion and synths than they ever have been live, but the guitar retains the starring role in most songs.
The music really popped when the band indulged in “The Rainbow,” an effusive, joyous ditty from 2001’s “The Discovery of a World Inside the Moone.” Schneider’s voice remains delightfully gleeful and Hill has the best smile in rock ‘n’ roll. The Apples still have it, and the rest of Denver should hope for a regular concert date after the band is done with South by Southwest in March. |Ricardo Baca
D. Biddle
The ubiquitous local band with the funny name is also great for your bones and teeth. Not really, but it’s fun to think abstractly about D. Biddle, a Denver indie-folk act that has overlapped with at least a half dozen other locals (Lion Sized, Porlolo, The Czars, etc.) The band’s Jan. 19 set with Pee Pee and Bad Weather California proved that despite its sharp edges, subtlety is its best weapon.
Not that the band can’t rock. Led by the Duncan Barlow, the five-year-old group frequently tore through songs with an energy reserved for bitter punk. But the stop-start dynamics and attention to muted guitar chords, bottomless bass notes and razor-sharp rhythms accentuated songs like “A Promise Meant To Be Broken” far better than a full-bore scream.
That song sums what’s so great about D. Biddle – the delicate, sinister interplay of spidery melodies and majestic bridges. Barlow spat out the lyrics like bloody teeth, fierce in his resignation to the song’s dark, unadorned themes.
Earlier in the night a man showed up at the door trying to buy a ticket to Bo Diddley, having conflated the blues guitarist with this group. It’s a shame he didn’t stick around.
D. Biddle will play a free show at the Meadowlark on Feb. 8. |John Wenzel
Laura Gibson
There’s a fragility to Laura Gibson’s music, and never was it more obvious during the Portland, Ore., singer-songwriter’s Tuesday night set at the Hi-Dive than during her melancholy “Broken Bottle.”
Gibson’s fingerpicking was like a porcelain music box, and her voice was little more than a whisper – full-bodied like Jolie Holland but also demure, petite, careful. The music was elegant yet forceful, but all the while it had a wide-eyed little girl’s vulnerability.
Gibson was battling her second cold of a three-week tour, but these tuneful songs (including “This Is Not The End” and “Small Town Parade”) came off polished and cared for. Played live, “Broken Bottle” lacked the caressing strings from the recorded version. But Cory Gray backed her up on piano, trumpet and portable xylophone to stunning results. |Ricardo Baca
