Here’s a vibrantly awesome video for your Friday afternoon. Super colorful, super catchy, super awesome, super glam, super. Go full screen on this one to fully appreciate it. Watching it brings back bad memories of missing Ssion's set (pronounced like the 2nd syllable of passion) and instead suffering through Fischerspooner...//shudders\\.

Monday February 22
The Growlers @ Hi-Dive
Epica @ Bluebird Theater
Billy Joel & Elton John @ Pepsi Center

Tuesday February 23
Noodles Alexander @ Larimer Lounge
Bowline On A Bight @ Cervantes Other Side
Tyler Despres and Maria Kohler @ Meadowlark

Wednesday February 24
Chainsaw Love Affair @ Marquis Theater
Black Cat Ashes @ Larimer Lounge
Octopus Nebula & Papadosio @ Fox Theatre
Neverbreak, With Vengeance @ Herman’s Hideaway

Thursday February 25
Blacklisted @ Marquis Theater
Jesse Daniel and the Reckoning @ Larimer Lounge
The Widow's Bane @ Hi-Dive
Matt Morris @ Bluebird Theater
Alkaline Trio w/ Cursive @ Gothic Theatre
Daisy May Erlewine & Seth Bernard @ Cervantes Other Side
Boulder Acoustic Society @ Fox Theatre
Kam Moye @ Walnut Room
8th ElEment @ Herman’s Hideaway
Backslide & Friends @ Lion’s Lair
Titwrench Presents: Sarabelle, Origami Hands, more @ Meadowlark

Friday February 26
The Sandwitches @ Rhinoceropolis
Alesana @ Marquis Theater
Taun Taun @ Larimer Lounge
Moonspeed @ Hi-Dive
The Swayback @ Bluebird Theater
Switchfoot @ Ogden Theater
Amy Grant @ Paramount Theatre
John Jorgenson Quintet @ Swallow Hill (Daniels Hall)
Orion's Bow @ Swallow Hill (Tuft Theatre)
Switchpin @ Gothic Theatre
Lunar Fire @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Liebermonster @ Cervantes Other Side
Super Diamond @ Boulder Theater
Stockholm Syndrome @ Fox Theatre
The Stigmas @ Walnut Room
Opie Gone Bad @ Soiled Dove
The Epilogues @ Herman’s Hideaway
The Bad Engrish @ Lion’s Lair
Nightshark @ Meadowlark

Saturday February 27
Denver Noise Fest Benefit: Raven Chacon @ Rhinoceropolis
The Chariot @ Marquis Theater
Pitch Invasion @ Larimer Lounge
Adventure CD Release Party: Sonnenblume, Deadbubbles, Carbon Choir, more @ Hi-Dive
Stockholm Syndrome @ Bluebird Theater
The Kingston Trio @ Paramount Theatre
Bearfoot w/ the Hollyfelds @ Swallow Hill (Daniels Hall)
For the Love of Pets @ Swallow Hill (Tuft Theatre)
SubCity Take Action Tour: We The Kings @ Gothic Theatre @ Gothic Theatre
Lazer Sword @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Great American Taxi and Steep Canyon Rangers @ Boulder Theater
James McMurtry @ Fox Theatre
Backyard Tire Fire @ Walnut Room
Angus Mohr @ Herman’s Hideaway
Sun Red @ Meadowlark

Sunday February 28
Swollen Members @ Marquis Theater
Fanfarlo @ Larimer Lounge
Cracker, unplugged @ Swallow Hill (Daniels Hall)
Sevendust @ Gothic Theatre
EdbE @ Lion’s Lair

Vampire Weekend get a lot of slack from the indie bottom feeders (BV comment section, et al), which is predictably unfortunate. Regardless of where one stands, you need to hand it to them for keeping things interesting. Enlisting a stable of pop culture heavyweights on this, their heavily stylized video for the downtempo standout cut from Contra, including rappers RZA and Lil Jon, Disney franchise heartthrob Joe Jonas, and Hollywood star Jake Gyllenhaal all appearing in a variety of bizarre roles surrounding an equally bizarre indoor tennis match. How does something this random come about? Quid pro quos with Lil Jon and other ways. Frontman Ezra Koenig explains:

“I was pretty surprised it all worked out. We always thought RZA would be perfect. We’d been in touch with Lil Jon since the first album. He heard the reference on ‘Oxford Comma’ and sent us some cases of Crunk Juice. Joe Jonas and Jake Gyllenhaal were both excellent — lot of improvisation and some surprisingly powerful serves.”

Monday February 15
Cole Rudy's Jazz Expo @ Meadowlark

Tuesday February 16
Eyedea & Abilities Marquis Theater
Beryl Beloved @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Jon Wayne and the Pain @ Cervantes Other Side
John Butler Trio @ Fox Theatre

Wednesday February 17
Bad Mother and the Sons of Bitches @ Larimer Lounge
Otep @ Marquis Theater
Krizz Kaliko @ Gothic Theatre
Guy Clark @ Swallow Hill
Fresh Breath Committee @ Walnut Room
Wadirum @ Meadowlark

Thursday February 18
The Silver Cord @ Larimer Lounge
Sweet Strugeons @ Hi-Dive
Cryogen, Iconocaust @ Gothic Theatre
Surefire Sound (Launch Party) @ Cervantes Other Side
Aesop Rock @ Fox Theatre
AVE @ Herman’s Hideaway
Jimbo Darville & the Truckadours @ Meadowlark
O'Holloran @ Lion’s Lair

Friday February 19
Ian Cooke Band @ Larimer Lounge
Young Coyotes @ Hi-Dive
Alice in Chains @ Fillmore Auditorium
Justin Townes Earle @ Bluebird Theater
Scary Kids Scaring Kids @ Marquis Theater
The Moderators @ Gothic Theatre
Tatanka @ Cervantes Other Side
Groundation @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Mardi Gras MST: Andy Thorn & Tyler Grant @ Fox Theatre
Action Packed Thrill Ride @ Walnut Room
Slide @ Soiled Dove
Dielectric Sound @ Herman’s Hideaway
Mike Marchant (CD Release) @ Meadowlark
Acoustic Punk with Chon Travis @ Lion’s Lair

Saturday February 20
Big Head Todd and the Monsters @ Fox Theatre
Juiceboxxx w/ Pictureplane @ Rhinoceropolis
Alec Ounsworth (of CYHSY) @ Larimer Lounge
Boulder Acoustic Society @ Hi-Dive
Arcanium @ Bluebird Theater
Breathe Carolina @ Marquis Theater
The Trampolines @ Gothic Theatre
Ooh La La: an evening of Burlesque w/ Pawn Ticket Trio @ Oriental Theater
I Heart Reggae @ Cervantes Other Side
Groundation @ Boulder Theater
Supernatural & DJ Unison (MC Battle Finals) @ Walnut Room
Crooked Still @ Soiled Dove
Reno Divorce @ Herman’s Hideaway
Murder Ranks @ Meadowlark
The Gones @ Lion’s Lair

Sunday February 21
Mehko & Ocean Birds @ Larimer Lounge
Tuaca Body Art Ball @ Gothic Theatre

Stephin Merritt of Magnetic Fields named his epic work 69 Love Songs because he needed an outsize numeral. He considered 100 but decided it was simply too much, so he chose 69, both for its graphic potential (“It’s a visual palindrome. It would make a good logo on a Broadway poster”) and because it was the next lowest number below 100 “that had another relevant meaning.” And he’s right. Sure, 72 is the number of beats-per-minute in the average human heart rate, and 98.6 is the average human temperature, but 69, nimble shorthand for an iconic—not to mention visually palindromic—act of mutual oral gratification, is the indisputable Big Kahuna between 50 and 100.

Beavis - "69"

It’s funny, then, that of the scads of 69-titled songs out there, those that specifically reference the act itself are relatively rare. At the forefront is T-Pain’s “69,” (“I’ve been doing tongue exercises,” he promises, before delivering the anatomically impossible suggestion: “I spread that booty so wide/ I can tell that shit’s spread by the look in her eyes.”), which makes me yearn for the relative purity of Rick James, whose “She Blew My Mind (69 Times)” comes off as a model of restraint next to T-Pain’s booty-spreadin’ exploits. And while the classic “96 Tears” was originally titled “69 Tears,” the Mysterians were forced to switch to 96 in order to thwart controversy. (Nevertheless, the part about, “And when the sun comes up, I'll be on top/You'll be right down there, lookin up” has been alleged to refer to a certain sex act and made it through unscathed.) By and large, though, the trend continues: most 69-titled songs refer to a year—in this case, 1969, the year of Woodstock, the first moon landing, the Manson killings, the Miracle Mets, and Altamont. (Some great songs have used the full name of the year, most notably the Stooges’ lethal “1969,” Boards of Canada’s typically creepy/dreamy “1969,” and Bo Diddley 1969,” which adds a little go-go dancing kick to his signature beat.

Bo Diddley changed his name (he was born Elias Otha Bates), and so did the grizzled French baritone Serge Gainsbourg, who started life as Lucien Ginsberg. The languid “69 Année Érotique,” a duet with his lover Jane Birkin from a 1969 collaboration, is tamer than the record’s controversial hit, the soft-core moan-fest “Je t’aime…Moi Non Plus” (some believed Ms. Birkin’s orgasmic trilling was authentic, making “Je t’aime” the “Kiss Kiss Kiss” of its day), but the song’s lusty message is never in doubt. Unlike “J’taime,” the Vatican was silent about “Année Érotique,” presumably because the double entendre was too subtle. Mick Harvey of the Bad Seeds paid homage to Serge in the mid-‘90s with Intoxicated Man and Pink Elephants, two collections of Gainsbourg songs sung in English, including, naturally, “69 Erotic Year.” (It sounds better en Français.)

Serge Gainsbourg - "69 Année Érotique"

Random 69 fact: Charles Osborne hiccupped for 69 years and holds the record for “the Longest Attack of Hiccups” in the Guinness Book of World Records. No surprise that Guinness opted for “hiccups” and not “singultus,” the rarely used medical term for “hiccups,” but singultus would make a great title for the next Sigur Ros album (lowercase, natch, in a Druidic font).

The ever-popular “noun + numeral” song-title trope is well represented with 69. There’s “Alabama 69” by Humble Pie, a shameless imagining of life during slavery, “Life 69” by Hairy Chapter (that’s right, Hairy Chapter, German electric blues-ists circa. 1970), Rocket 69 by the Lee Harvey Oswald Band, which suggests the sound of Dr. Frank N.
Furter freed of the screen a la Purple Rose of Cairo and playing Vegas parking lots (“I’m full of beer and I’m hung like a steer, baby climb on!”), as well as an international trove, including Italian pop chanteuse Patty Pravo’s “Tripoli ’69,” Dutch rockers Peter Pan Speedrock’s “Black Beauty ’69” and “October 69” by Northern Ireland’s Jim Armstong Band.

Andy Partridge of XTC wrote songs about fictional dance crazes, like the Neon Shuffle and the Spinning Top, but they never caught on. Alvin Cash, a ‘60s soul singer and a high school classmate of Tina Turner, could probably relate: his “Funky ’69,” a hip-shaking “future dance,” never became a craze, despite Cash’s impassioned exhortation to “whoop it now!” But it’s guaranteed to raise a smile. Evidently people had the idea that ’69 was going to be something special: The Customs Five, one of hundreds of below-the-radar American garage bands of the late ‘60s, give us the rousing “Let’s Go in ‘69,” from one of the many Pebbles compilations. Later covered by garage revivalists the Maggots, the song is a bracing cocktail of blurpy buitar, heavy ride cymbal and the sound of some kid who never made a career out of rock singing lead vocals. In the same primitive spirit is the loose-limbed garage funk of “Miss Free Love ’69” by Hoodoo Gurus, who did have some hits. Many bands inspired by the primitive innocence of ‘60s garage rock have mined similar territory, whether in a heavier grunge style, like the autobiographical “Born in ’69” by Rocket From the Crypt, and “Sweet ’69” by Vancouver’s Pink Mountaintops, which joyfully bludgeons the Bo Diddley beat into a lusty slice of tribal dance music. Babes in Toyland’s song of the same name is far more confrontational and dangerous sounding, due to Kat Bjelland’s searing vocal and a perfectly modulated breakdown graced with some of the niftiest cowbell this side of “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.” Rounding out the pack we have King Khan & the Shrines with “69 Faces of Love” and Swedish stoner rockers Greenleaf, who weigh in with “Vat 69,” a tribute to the venerable Scotch whisky.

Alvin Cash - "Funky '69"

Customs Five - "Let's Go In '69"

Pink Mountaintops - "Sweet '69"

Star 69, aka “call return,” has been a telephonic option since the early ‘90s. Besides unleashing an untold tsunami of awkward moments, the catchy shortcut also inspired a number of songs and at least one band name. R.E.M. was there first with “Star 69” from Monster, that clamorous blast of glam and guitar noise that would be the band’s last recorded work to approach sales expectations. “Star 69,” a song about persecution by telephone, barrels forward with added propulsion from Michael Stipe’s overlapping vocals, which bring a touch of youthful chaos to the proceedings, while in Fatboy Slim’s thumping house track of the same name, the entire lyric consists of a vocal sample from the Roland Clark song “I Get Deep” (“They know what is what, but they don’t know is what, they just strut. What the fuck?”). There’s no mention of phones, but the lyric is repeated at least 69 times.

R.E.M. - "Star 69"

Fatboy Slim - "Star 69"

Highway songs are a mainstay of the numerological canon, and 69 is no exception. “Highway 69, which runs north-south from Texas to Minnesota, is distinguished by its continual need for replacement highway signs due to the unchecked proliferation of male college students with dorm room walls to decorate. Bluesman Sonny Boy Williamson wrote the song and played it backed by the Yardbirds in 1966, before the band really hit its stride, and it’s been covered in all its swampy glory Big Bill Morganfield, son of the legendary Muddy Waters. The song has a title in common with a trippy number by the Fuzztones, New York revivalists circa 1989. And what’s a highway without a classic ride? “69 El Camino” by Southern Culture on the Skids is a reverb-drenched slice of deranged rockabilly that suggests the low rumble of a hot car you just wanna ride, ride, ride.

The breadth of songs inspired by 69 spans the globe, as well as nearly every genre known to man, from the cocktail jazz of George Shearing’s “Midnight on Cloud 69” to the techno stylings of David Holmes (“69 Police) and Cloud 69 (“Sixty Nine Ways”), the hardcore thrash of Bury Your Dead (“69 Times the Charm”), South African grunge from Seether (“69 Tea”) and French punk from Charge 69 (“Charge 69,” their theme song). Not to mention bands like 69 Boyz and their salacious “Let Me Ride That Donkey” and Finland’s 69 Eyes, a glam-rock outfit in the spirit of Hanoi Rocks, led by a frontman whose nom du rock is Jyrki 69. By and large, the sound of 69 is heavy (Serge Gainsbourg is an obvious exception.) The number seems to stoke the fires of lust and desire, and in the case of Ministry’s “Psalm 69,” it unleashes the powers of hell. The ostensible title track from what is arguably Jourgensen & Co.’s ultimate statement, “Psalm 69” is a sonic juggernaut, a spiky tapestry of creepy film samples, mock-sermon sound bites, pummeling guitar riffage, and Cookie Monster vocals (before they became a staple of death/speed/doom/black metal.) Perfectly fusing the most aggressive elements of hard rock, techno, hardcore, and industrial, this is one ingeniously well-calibrated death machine of a song. And you can dance to it.

Ministry - "Psalm 69"

To the man on the street, there is an obvious answer for top 69 song: “Summer of 69” by Bryan Adams. For sheer name recognition, it trumps every song on this list. Now, I’m not going to fault it for being erroneously autobiographical; why should it matter if Adams would have been about 5 years old in 1969 when, according to the song, he’s making some pretty grown-up vows on his baby’s mama’s porch? Not an issue; let’s just say he’s playing a character. Besides, Bryan Adams is no stranger to controversy—he seems to divide people. To some, he’s utterly derivative, a third-rater. Robert Christgau wrote, “Maybe I’ll let Bruce Springsteen teach me how to hear John Cougar Mellencamp, but damned if I’m going to let John Cougar Mellencamp teach me how to hear Bryan Adams,” while others find his rough-hewn pipes and meat-and-potatoes rock really hits the spot. But the song just never sunk its hooks to me. Adams said its inspiration was Bob Seger’s “Night Moves,” one of the icons of what critic Chuck Eddy calls “memory-rock songs,” and while the two share the young-fumblings imagery, Adams’s homage sounds packaged and pat compared to Seger’s classic. (“Run to You” and “Cuts Like a Knife,” however, still have the power to impress this foe of corporate rocking.)

Bryan Adams - "Summer of '69"

Easily one of the best 69 songs I’ve come across comes from what I would consider an unlikely source: Poland. If you are hard-pressed to come up with a Polish rock band, you’re not alone. The Polish electronica/dance music scene has made inroads stateside, with the long-running Unsound Festival reaching our shores in 2010, but Warsaw’s punk, hard rock, and indie scene is largely unknown to most Americans, myself included. That’s why I was so intrigued to discover “Sixty-Nine Moles” by George Dorn Screams, a Warsaw-based quartet that describes itself as “Joy Divison meets Mazzy Star,” which ain’t a bad description. Their synth drone and somber, vibrato-free female vocals put me in mind of another European “indie-tronic” outfit, Lali Puna. From the opening wash of radio static, “69 Moles” has a warm, buzzy glow combined with a gently insistent quality, pulsing along like a more melancholy Stereolab. I’ve listened to the song at least 20 times, and I still don’t know what the 69 moles signify. Nor has my research revealed the identity of George Dorn, but no matter: a little mystery goes down just fine with Polish synth pop this seductive.

George Dorn Screams- "Sixty Nine Moles"

The biggest mystery behind the winning song for this hotly contested spot is why Captain Soul’s debut single, “T-Shirt 69,” is about as well known here as the Polish indie rock scene. True, the band—named after a Byrds instrumental—missed power pop’s brief mid-‘70s heyday by about 25 years, but “T-Shirt 69” is so downright stunning that it seems an injustice that it never even found its way into, say, some lame movie with Liv Tyler. Captain Soul was an English foursome that spent three years in contractual limbo with Sire Records before joining the Poptones label of Creation records founder Alan McGee in 2000. The band’s Byrds-derived name attests to one of its major influences, but as with Teenage Fanclub, the sound it incorporates is really the Byrds conflated with the Neil Young style of whomping guitar overdrive, along with a strong Big Star influence and a generous helping of West Coast harmonies. The spirit of deep and transcendent romantic yearning that courses through many of the best pop singles gives T-Shirt its urgency and poignancy: “I’m at your feet,” croons singer Adam Howorth, “but you’re out of reach.” The song’s origin is not surprising—a girl wearing a 69-emblazoned T-shirt caught Howorth’s eye—but the captivating result of that fleeting encounter is a feat of musical alchemy: turning a sad, empty feeling into four minutes of sheer glory.

Captain Soul - "T-Shirt 69"

Numerology is our pal Dave's ill-advised quest to find the definitive song for every number from one to a hundred. He's been at it for close to three years now, 3 -- the first odd, prime number as well as the number of sides on a triangle. As a child he was more obsessed with counting the sides of blocks instead of matching them to their respective hole. Legend has it that he drove teachers out of education with his theories on hexagon blocks.

Previously: No. 1, 2 (redux), 3, 4 (redux), 5-7, 5 (redux),6 (redux), 6.4, 7 (counterpoint), 8, 9, 10/11, 10, Again, 12/13. 13 (counterpoint), 14/15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26/27, 28 , 29 , 30, 30 (counterpoint), 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, Footnotes, 57, 58, 59 , 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68

Here's a gorgeous version of “Excuses” from the Morning Benders’ forthcoming album Big Echo. The band employed “all their friends” from the Bay Area, referred to them as the “Echo Chamber Orchestra” and gave it the Spector-inspired wall of sound treatment. Enlisted talents include John Vanderslice, Christopher Owens (Girls) and a ton of others. A success by any definition.

Silky voiced Morning Benders front man Chris Chu penned a letter to the self-proclaimed “relatively insane” Spector thanking the disgraced producer for his innovative recording methods. Check out Chu’s letter. Spector is currently serving a 19 years to life sentence for killing Lana Clarkson. He spends his days at the California Substance Abuse Treatment Facility, part of the State Prison in Corcoran, CA.

Morning Benders letter to Phil Spector (via Yours Truly)

Dear Phil,

What happened, man? I remember hearing “Be My Baby” when I was like 10. I loved that song, man. I guess things have changed a bit. ANYwho, I’m trying to learn how to separate the music from the man. Sorta like growing up listening to THE Beatles and then finding out later John Lennon was dead. that was really sad. Anyway, your WALL OF SOUND thing is pretty sick. And the songs!! Wow! thank you so much.

This one’s for you.

Yours Truly,

The Morning Benders

//themorningbenders

The following is an account of a middle-aged male who lived twenty-eight years all alone on an un-inhabited island. Found next to his skeletal remains was a smashed up music device that was still playing a song in the sand.

The mix between the force of sun and the anxiety that comes with desolate isolation tell me it must already be past noon. The waves pull inward, everything does here, and instinct and hunger drag me back into the water. I successfully net two fish and return to the beach and cook them in the dim remains of a fire. Then, after my lunch in the sand, I do as I do every day. I put on the foamless, jagged remains of headphones and listen to the one song that rhetoric had allowed me to bring. It is my desert island song… fucking “Holiday Road.”

"Holiday Road" by Philly's own David "DLD" Katman (original by Lindsey Buckingham)

I can make all the excuses that I want. National Lampoons Vacation was playing in the background that night when a charcoal sketch of a bartender leaned over and asked the hypothetical question of all questions. I thought I was being funny, couldn’t possibly be taken seriously and just hoping for at least a laugh to deflect the question. But when he asked what song I would bring to a desert island and I muttered “Holiday Road” with an upward inflection, the bastard didn’t even fake a smile. The bar just froze over and fell silent with more people paying attention to my jittery movements than I had first realized. I had to try to sell my joke again or the moment would drown in awkwardness. “You know, “Holiday R-oh oh oh oh oad,” I started to sing and continued through the contagious chorus while waving my hands in exaggeration just in case anyone needed a reminder of the flawless hook that had once been tinseled into collective pop consciousness. But the bar just sat silent, the jukebox winded to a halt and a cartoonish drunk in the corner uncurled from his stool and let out an old man throaty growl of a laugh. It was dangerous laugh that seemed to imply that not only had he seen way more of the world than me but also had uncovered some sort of truth that allowed him to laugh at unfunny moments like these.

“Holiday Road- did ya!” his laugh became more forced and the rest of the bar joined in unison. I started to become annoyed. The old man’s words weren’t even a sentence let alone funny. I headed toward the door to walk away from the weight of the twenty mouths that were all mocking me. A flicker of flash and then everything went dark. Salt water suctioned into my lungs as all of the sudden I was champagne-corking it out of the ocean, falling hard into the sand. I opened my eyes to nothing but blinding sun and sat up to realize that I was grappling an iPod, fully charged with an infinity symbol instead of a battery sign. I scrolled through the menu but there was only one track in a playlist labeled “eternal fate.” Stranded on a desert island with one sole possession, fucking “Holiday Road.”

For the first day I must admit I was having a blast. It was a good beach day and I sat on the surf counting the minutes that I was not doing anything else. Constant living in days like this would be easy. Even when I wasn’t playing the track I would find myself humming the first verse between naps and coconut runs.

At night though, I began to seriously question my choice of song. Who in their right mind picks Holiday Road? Faced with eternity and one song I could have unlocked the esoteric truth off a track from Coltrane’s A Love Supreme, put the final touches on Schubert’s unfinished “Symphony No. 8,” or become one with my surroundings with a track of ambient ocean sounds.

The first sign of trouble came on day #20. The morning started as usual with the sun transforming intense sweat into a wake up call. After another coffee-less routine start I put on my headphones for some musical comfort but was met only with a push of dread. My rhythm was off kilter, one beat ahead of the track, and my mind was straining at the impossibility of speeding up the song to the way my brain had perceived it. I listened to the track over and over in a craze while running back and forth to the beach trying to accelerate my heartbeat so that adrenaline alone would bring something to the forefront that I had not heard before. The song had wound itself into a noose; the contagious hook just a dagger to my eardrum. What was once music had been worn into shapeless sound, aggressive noise, and above all, meaningless verse.

I was on the brink of insanity. Over and over I would listen to that two minutes and thirteen seconds of meaningless pop sensationalism. The constant repetition of repeat could have ungrounded a statue and I was crumbling. I began to question each lyric for meaning to try to unravel this curse. Was Holiday Road heaven? Was it an interstate? What is the traffic situation? What kind of holiday is it? Is the road Jewish? Does it fast on Yom Kippur?

Each time the drum track rolled I was sent into a state of panic. The headphones became nothing more than a plastic extension of my eardrum. One night I threw the iPod straight into the waves and passed out in a momentary lapse of quiet. In the morning the iPod lay next to me in the sand, the song playing louder and angrier than I had ever heard before. Robinson Crusoe discovered cannibals on his island; I discovered that Lindsay Buckingham was the death of me.

Though we crave noise and attention there is something to be said for quiet moments. The universe may have been created with a bang but the earth spins in a silent vacuum. Behind even the loudest machine is a quiet blueprint drawn with soft number 2 pencils. It has been twenty-six years since I faced that hypothetical question. Five years ago I ruptured my eardrums with two handfuls of sand and debris in order to numb the agony of that chorus. I sit here now deaf to the waves, but “Holiday Road” still plays on repeat in my head.

- by Yonah Korngold

Monday February 8
The Entrance Band @ Hi-Dive
Gungor @ Walnut Room
LoveHateHero @ Marquis Theater

Tuesday February 9
Mark Brut @ Larimer Lounge
Matt Hires @ Soiled Dove
Tyler Despres @ Meadowlark

Wednesday February 10
Girls @ Bluebird Theater
Theodore Black @ Larimer Lounge
Langhorne Slim @ Hi-Dive
Theory of a Deadman @ Ogden Theater
Mystic Roots Band @ Cervantes' Other Side
Telepath @ Fox Theatre
Dead Bubbles @ Herman’s Hideaway
Sweet Sturgeons @ Meadowlark
The Audition @ Marquis Theater

Thursday February 11
Backslide @ Larimer Lounge
The Rouge @ Hi-Dive
Bowling for Soup @ Bluebird Theater
Spruce @ Cervantes' Other Side
Steve Law @ Swallow Hill Cafe
Nemesys @ Gothic Theatre
Strings and Wood (CD Release) @ Walnut Room
Dead Orchids @ Lion’s Lair
Inraen @ Herman’s Hideaway
Gata Negra @ Meadowlark
Tin Horn Prayer @ Marquis Theater

Friday February 12
Snake Rattle Rattle Snake @ Larimer Lounge
The Simple Discussion @ Hi-Dive
Head for the Hills @ Bluebird Theater
Oakhurst @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Telepath & Juno What? @ Cervantes' Other Side
Pete Wernick @ Swallow Hill (Daniels Hall)
Stoll Vaughan @ Swallow Hill (Tuft Theatre)
Gov't Mule @ Gothic Theatre
Cirque De Paradox 5 @ Walnut Room
Chopz Presetz @ Lion’s Lair
Majestic X @ Herman’s Hideaway
Disco Nouveau with Tyler Snow & Crew @ Meadowlark
Guttermouth @ Marquis Theater

Saturday February 13
St. Vincent @ Bluebird Theater
Les Claypool @ Fox Theatre
Editors @ Ogden Theater
Gov't Mule @ Fillmore Auditorium
Hideous Men @ Larimer Lounge
Danceotron @ Hi-Dive
Caspa @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Telepath & Juno What? @ Cervantes' Other Side
Clay Kirkland's Beat the Reaper, IV @ Swallow Hill (Tuft Theatre)
Daedelus @ Gothic Theatre
Kosmos @ Walnut Room
Oleta Adams @ Soiled Dove
Miyagi Dojo vs. Cobra Kai @ Herman’s Hideaway
Joshua Novak @ Meadowlark

Sunday February 14
Devotchka @ Fox Theatre
Les Claypool @ Ogden Theater
Couples In Love & Music @ Swallow Hill (Daniels Hall)
Next Big Thing Tour @ Gothic Theatre
Crash! @ Lion’s Lair
Gentlemen of the Night @ Soiled Dove
The Toasters @ Marquis Theater

Tuesday February 2
Ave @ Larimer Lounge
The Strange @ Cervantes Other Side
Dubskin & Euforquestra @ Boulder Theater

Wednesday February 3
Four Year Strong @ Marquis Theater
To My Love @ Larimer Lounge
Jet Edison @ Cervantes Other Side
All CU, A Capella Benefit for Haiti @ Fox Theatre
Hayes Carll @ Walnut Room
The Wounded Violets @ Meadowlark

Thursday February 4
Abacabb @ Marquis Theater
Vast Black @ Larimer Lounge
Turn 4 @ Hi-Dive
The Say So Crazies @ Bluebird Theater
Dubskin & Euforquestra @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
The Floozies @ Cervantes Other Side
Tech N9ne @ Boulder Theater
Infected Mushroom @ Fox Theatre
The White Buffalo & Joe Firstman @ Walnut Room
Roger Clyne @ Soiled Dove
Kimmyan Presents @ Lion’s Lair
Safe Boating Is No Accident @ Meadowlark

Friday February 5
Laserplace (Cassette Release) @ Rhinoceropolis
P.O.S. @ Marquis Theater
Drop City @ Larimer Lounge
Fierce Bad Rabbit @ Hi-Dive
Alan Baird Project @ Bluebird Theater
Anthony B. @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
White Water Ramble @ Cervantes Other Side
Elephant Revival @ Boulder Theater
Trouble Andrew @ Fox Theatre
Leo Tizer @ Soiled Dove
D.F.O.S. @ Lion’s Lair
Tjutjana & Fissure Mystic (Vinyle Release) @ Meadowlark

Saturday February 6
Street Dogs @ Marquis Theater
Funhouse (CD Release) @ Larimer Lounge
The Hollyfelds @ Hi-Dive
Trevor Hall @ Bluebird Theater
The Mighty Diamonds @ Cervantes Other Side
Prefuse 73 @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Dieselboy @ Gothic Theatre
Second City @ Boulder Theater
Anthony B @ Fox Theatre
Missed the Boat @ Walnut Room
Ideal Fathers @ Meadowlark

Sunday February 7
Zen Sadist @ Larimer Lounge
Hermit Thrushes @ Hi-Dive
Oatie Paste @ Lion’s Lair

—the Moonglows

“One of a thousand pities that you can’t categorize

There are ten commandments of love…”

—Elvis Costello, “Pidjin English

“She’s got the ten commandments tattooed on her arm.”

—MC5, “Sister Anne”

Not nine. Not eleven. Ten commandments. No wonder ten-named songs are a solid lot: they are linked inextricably to the very basis of Judeo-Christian morality. Use 10 right, and you have a powerful weapon. Granted, it’s a heavy a subject to tackle head-on in a pop song, but in “The Ten Commandments of Love,” a valentine to fidelity and deep, abiding romance, the legendary doo-wop practitioners the Moonglows stirringly suggest a concept the average 1950s teenager could get cozy with. (True, the ‘Glows only enumerate nine commandments of love, but the background vocals cunningly fool the ear into thinking it’s heard the full decalogue.)

Harry Nilsson, no stranger to numerically titled songs (see “One” and “1941”), used the Ten Commandments as the basis for his “Ten Little Indians,” which he derived from the short poem-turned-schoolyard jingle that Agatha Christie borrowed for the title of one of her most popular mysteries. (The original title, published in the UK in 1939, used an appalling racial epithet instead of Indians, but the U.S. edition carried the title “And Then There Were None.”) Unlike the original poem, in which each little Indian dies from one form of random misadventure or another, in Nilsson’s version, which the Yardbirds covered, each one dies by breaking a commandment. The Beach Boys’ “Ten Little Indians,” one of their least successful singles, and deservedly so, uses the traditional sing-song melody of the playground to tell the story of a fickle “squaw” who resists nine eager suitors—and their offers of moccasins, feathers and the like—before settling on “the tenth little Indian boy.” Certainly a low point for a great group. Much more uplifting is “Ten Little Kids” by the Jayhawks, a joyful stomp that really is about kids, from their sublime Tomorrow the Green Grass. The densely churning “Ten Little Girls” by Curve (heck, all their songs are densely churning) diverts from the poem, dispatching the girls in question in one fell swoop.

“Ten silver saxes, a bass with a bow/the drummer relaxes and waits between shows for his cinnamon girl”—Neil Young, “Cinnamon Girl”

The nation’s oldest college athletics conference is the Big Ten, but R&B sax master Bull Moose Jackson had a far different, far from officially sanctioned kind of sport in mind on his signature “Big Ten Inch Record.” The caesura that follows “ten-inch” is all that’s needed to make Jackson’s song a classic of the double entendre, and it’s obvious why Aerosmith covered it in 1976, much to the delight of their male teenage fan base. Motley Crue’s premature ejaculation ode, “Ten Seconds to Love,” speaks to that same hormonally addled populace, only1983-style: with phallus-as-loaded gun imagery and the assurance that it’s ok to be bad in bed and brag about it afterward. (Alice Cooper’s “10 Minutes to the Worm” has nothing to do with sex whatsoever, while Jefferson Airplane’s “3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds” is a hard-charging complaint song that takes issue with “people laughing at my hair” and overpriced dope, among other things.)

Bull Moose Jackson - "Big Ten Inch"
XTC - "Ten Feet Tall"
the Stone Roses - "10 Storey Love Song”

We live in a base 10 world, so we lop things off in sets of ten. Ten’s a significant demarcation: it’s a ten-foot pole we wouldn’t touch something with; a deep breath we take before counting to 10. We make top 10 lists, rate people’s looks on a scale of 1 to 10 (the corn-rowed Bo Derek was the feminine ideal in 1977, so she was a “10,” a concept explored in Rich Creamy Paint’s “You’re a 10”). When we feel fantastic, larger than life, how do we feel? We feel 10 feet tall. Which brings me to XTC’s “Ten Feet Tall,” a scintillating and understated gem from the band’s watershed Drums & Wires that features as concise a four-bar guitar solo as has ever been attempted. It perfectly embodies the otherworldly sensation of dumbstruck rapture, while marking new creative territory for this endlessly inventive combo. The acoustic, jazz-chord-laden single was Colin Moulding’s attempt to subvert the band’s MO up to that point, what he called “Quirk, Jerk, Spiky, Crikey, Start, Stop,” and offer up something altogether smoother and sexier. The result speaks for itself: “Ten Feet Tall” remains one of XTC’s most delightful and understated creations. The Stone Roses’ “10 Storey Love Song” amps the love- as-height imagery to gargantuan proportions, from mere feet to stories. The hyperbole inherent in the song’s title is right in line with the over-the-top ambitions of Second Coming, the Stone Roses’ swan song, which was little more than a bevy of bloated blooze riffs utterly lacking the magic that characterized the band’s self-titled debut. That record, many contend, belongs among the greatest ever, while the pompously titled Second Coming is all but universally reviled, or at least characterized as a monumental disappointment. That said, “Ten Storey Love Song” is one of the record’s few standouts, imbued with a strong melody and a sense of proportion, even with its outsize emotions.

Footnote: the Velvet Underground voiced a similar sentiment with the also-ran “Love Makes You Feel Ten Foot Tall,” which ended up on Loaded: The Fully Loaded Edition.

Before attaining a brief ubiquity with their big-beat cover of the Stones’ “I’m Free,” the Soup Dragons were an enjoyably twee English indie band whose “Hang-Ten!” was a fizzy little thing that went pop, like Buzzcocks Lite. The song takes its title from the ‘60s surf term for riding a wave with all ten toes hanging off the board. Bowling never became the craze that surfing did, nor did it inspire tons of songs, but Raleigh, N.C., troubadours the Connells did refer to the strangely addictive pastime in “Ten Pins Down.” The title of “Box 10,” Jim Croce’s concise, affecting ditty of hard times in New York, refers to the address of the Sunday mission where he ends up after losing his earthly possessions to naiveté and a cold-hearted woman. That Sunday mission might plausibly be in the vicinity of 10th Avenue, the site of Bruce Springsteen’s “10th Avenue Freeze-Out,” a staple of the band’s oeuvre that traces the origins of the E. Street Band in colorful if decidedly abstruse fashion—Clarence Clemons recently admitted he had no idea what it meant. Speaking of freezing, “10 Degrees and Getting Colder” by Gordon Lightfoot tells the tale of a down-on-his-luck musician trying to hitch a ride near Boulder Dam.

Fun 10 Fact: “Ten Bob Twist: (obs.) A portion of drugs, usually cannabis, bought for ten shillings sterling; half a quid deal.” (The aural equivalent of a contact high, “Ten Tons of Dope” by Luminal dwarfs a half-quid deal in a cannabis haze of epic proportions.)

“And if a 10-ton truck crashes into us, to die by your side what a heavenly way to die...” The Smiths, “There is a Light That Never Goes Out”

Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "10 X 10"
(live @ Glasslands Gallery, Williamsburg, Brooklyn)

Kleenex- "DC -10"
Blonde Redhead - "10"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "10 x 10"
Beach House - "10 Mile Stereo"

Heavier and far more potentially lethal than a 10-ton truck, the DC-10 aircraft was taken out of production in 1989, roughly a decade after it was saluted with “DC-10” by Kleenex. This unheralded all-female Swiss band (actually, they’re all unheralded) were forced to change their name (to Liliput) when leaned upon by tissue-industry thugs. The tough gals behind “DC-10” would have likely appreciated Blonde Redhead’s caustic “10,” featuring yelped, half-spoken Sonically Youthful vocals. If you’re making a mixtape at home, I would suggest following “10” with the sexy, strutting “10 x 10” by Yeah Yeah Yeahs from the Is Is EP, and then, to take things down a notch, “10 Mile Stereo” by Beach House, a slice of elusive dream pop that shimmers like rainbows in a puddle.

M.I.A. - "$10"

Ten has turned up in a many an album title, and while these are not eligible for the top spot, they do merit mention. First and foremost, Ten is the title of the debut outing by Pearl Jam, which, more than any other record, including Nevermind, brought grunge into America’s living rooms. 10 the number is even more popular as an album title: L.L. Cool J, the Smithereens, the Guess Who, the Stranglers, Enuff Z’Nuff, Wet Wet Wet, and Asleep at the Wheel are just some of the acts that have all used it, and the second discrete semiprime also fits into Sting’s Ten Summoner’s Tales, the Elvis Costello best-of Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How’s Your Fathers, and countless others.

A $10 bill used to be called a sawbuck because of the roman numeral X’s resemblance to a certain wood-holding device, but no one calls it that anymore; maybe that’s because it buys so little these days it doesn’t seem to deserve a jazzy nickname. Of course, M.I.A. wouldn’t agree with me: in “$10,” she sings “What can I get for $10—anything you want,” a sentiment that would go down well with the protagonist of ZZ Top’s “Ten Dollar Man” from the less-than-essential Tejas LP (1977). Essential advice comes in the form of the Monochrome Set’s “Ten Don’ts For Honeymooners,” which begins with the sage declaration, “Don’t ski naked down Mount Everest/With lilies up your nose” before proceeding with a litany of other priceless matrimonial no-nos, including:

Don’t dance the polka in a dhoti
And whistle The Rite of Spring
Don’t recite Hamlet’s soliloquy
While munching onion rings

The Monochrome Set - "Ten Don't For Honeymooners"

“It’s 10:00. Do you know where your children are?” Once a staple of the average Joe’s viewing habits, the 10:00 news inspired songs like “News at Ten” by the Vapors (of “Turning Japanese” fame.) Still, there’s probably no better song celebrating 10:00 than “Clock Strikes Ten” by Cheap Trick, the final track from the monumental At Budokan. “10 A.M. Automatic” by the Black Keys certainly owns the morning slot, while the Verlaines “All Joed Out” looks like the only song in existence to mention the rarified time of “10:00 in the afternoon.”

Something about 10 just seems to go with “years.” Warren Zevon (“After 10 long years they let him out of the home/ Excitable boy they all said…”), The Who (“Ten years old with thoughts as bold as thoughts can be”) and the good old Grateful Dead (“I’ve been gambling hereabouts/ for 10 good solid years”) provide a few examples of this sturdy construction, while 10-years-titled songs abound, including the stately “Ten Years Ahead” by Swedish psych-pop prodigies The Soundtrack of Our Lives and Game Theory’s “Andy in 10 Years.” But the very best of this subset have a common denominator in the form of guitar legend Jimmy Page. One of them is “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago,” a song recorded by The Yardbirds for 1967’s Roger the Engineer, when Page shared lead guitar duties with Jeff Beck. Although the song was one of the band’s less successful singles, it stands as one of those rare songs from the psychedelic era that carries the hallmark sounds—the vaguely Middle Eastern modalities, mystical lyrics, like those referring to “sinking deep into the well of time,” disembodied voices and creepy laughter—but doesn’t sound at all dated. With its nifty structure and bevy of guitar sounds—stabbing, discordant, feedback-laden, explosive bursts—amid the songs’s juddering rhythms, “Happenings” just grabs you by the lapels, pins you against the wall, and slaps you into submission.

Yardbirds – “Happenings Ten Years Time Ago”
Dusty Springfield - "I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten"

Before discussing top dog, it seems wise to heed Dusty Springfield’s advice when she sang, “I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten.” Because it’s a heady topic. When I first began brainstorming song ideas for this list, my “10” song came to me right away. While there are several excellent contenders (the Yardbirds song in particular is certainly epic enough to take the crown), I am still inclined to stick with my original choice: “Ten Years Gone” by Led Zeppelin, off their monolithic Physical Graffiti. It encapsulates all that is great about Led Zeppelin: the sense of space, the majesty, the indelible melodies, guitar lines that fly too close to the sun, drums that shake you to your very foundation, and the whole thing filled with urgency, yearning, and, in this case, something like 14 separate guitar tracks during one especially rich sequence.

For the converted among you there will be no argument. For those who never got into the band—or simply never got their appeal, for those who hated “Stairway” or who were born too late for the band to truly enter your soul, etc., I say unto you only this: This one might make a believer out of you, at least a believer in the sublimity of the song itself. All you have to do is pretend you’ve never heard of Led Zeppelin or Robert Plant or that fish in the hotel room with the groupie in LA. Just pretend your friend brought this over and slapped it on your iPod, told you it was an outtake from Tool’s latest, and I defy you not to be moved.

Led Zeppelin - "Ten Years Gone"

Like any great Zep song, “Ten Years Gone” is an amazing feat, a miniature movie consisting only of sound. Every melodic excursion and turn within its six-minute confines sounds like it was written into the song, and yet there is a certain organic looseness that keeps it from sounding like the labored-over creation it clearly was. “Ten Years Gone” starts hushed and builds elegantly upon an insistent, Moebius strip kind of a lick, one that sounds better as all the melodic permutations of it are writ large, strategically, in the most perfect places. And Robert Plant delivers one of his most modulated performances in this paean to a lover from the past who demanded he choose her or his music—and lost the bet. When Plant finally gives it up and wails a couple of “woo-woo, yeah-yeahs” like the banshee incarnate, it’s the perfect, the only sound that will do.

Led Zeppelin - "Ten Years Gone"
(live, 1976)

Numerology is our pal Dave's ill-advised quest to find the definitive song for every number from one to a hundred. We hear 60 is the new 40, and now we're not even that impressed by his progress.

Previously: No. 1, 2 (redux), 3, 4 (redux), 5-7, 5 (redux),6 (redux), 6.4, 7 (counterpoint), 8, 9, 10/11, 12/13. 13 (counterpoint), 14/15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26/27, 28 , 29 , 30, 30 (counterpoint), 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, Footnotes, 57, 58, 59 , 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 67, 68

Worth it alone for Jon King's freakout dancing.

Here is Fever Ray's Karin Dreijer Andersson accepting an award at Sweden's P3 Guld public radio award show. Her um, inspired outfit looks like the result of a nightmare mashup of a Shriner, a Greek Orthodox bishop and the always feared actualization of way, way too many psychedelics.

Tuesday January 26
Adam Franklin & Bolts of Melody @ Hi-Dive
Patrick Kratzer @ Larimer Lounge
Timbaland feat The Fray @ Gothic Theatre

Wednesday January 27
Suckered Inn @ Hi-Dive
White Denim @ Larimer Lounge
Silent Civilian @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Dumpstaphunk @ Fox Theatre
Analog Space @ Lion’s Lair
iCconoClass @ Herman’s Hideaway

Thursday January 28
High On Fire @ Marquis Theater
A.A. Bondy @ Hi-Dive
Sunshine @ Larimer Lounge
Gata Negra @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Ivan Neville's Dumpstaphunk @ Gothic Theatre
Disco Biscuits @ Fox Theatre
Voodoo Stingray & Mojo Lifters @ Lion’s Lair
Titwrench: A Night of Emerging Talent @ Lion’s Lair
The Strange @ Herman’s Hideaway

Friday January 29
Single File @ Marquis Theater
Hello Kavita @ Hi-Dive
Yellfire @ Larimer Lounge
The Chain Gang of 1974 @ Bluebird Theater
The Living Legends @ Ogden Theater
TransWorld Snowboarding: Riders Poll Awards @ Fillmore Auditorium
DJ Yoda @ @ Cervantes' Other Side
16 Bit and Tes La Rok @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Lost Network @ Oriental Theater
Rebelution @ Gothic Theatre
RE:Creation @ Boulder Theater
Disco Biscuits @ Fox Theatre
Molina Soleil & Aju @ Walnut Room
Kelley Hunt @ Soiled Dove
Best of the West @ Herman’s Hideaway

Saturday January 30
Snoop Dogg @ Ogden Theater
MTHDS @ Marquis Theater
DKBC Winter Party @ Hi-Dive
Jonny Woodrose & the Broken Hearted @ Larimer Lounge
Corey Smith @ Bluebird Theater
Brand New @ Fillmore Auditorium
Broken Tongues @ Cervantes' Other Side
Pato Banton @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Rebelution @ Boulder Theater
Disco Biscuits @ Fox Theatre
D.A.R.C. Presents: The Inactivists @ Walnut Room
Metal As Art Tour: Hypno5e @ Lion’s Lair
DJ Klaw & Crew @ Lion’s Lair
The Informants @ Herman’s Hideaway

Sunday January 31
Anvil @ Gothic Theatre
Mike Maurer Band w/ I Sank Molly Brown (Haiti benefit) @ Marquis Theater
Open Wings Broken Strings @ Ogden Theater
Disco Biscuits @ Fox Theatre
Insomniaxe @ Lion’s Lair

Monday January 18

Tuesday January 19
Parachute @ Marquis Theater
Seismic Event @ Larimer Lounge

Wednesday January 20
Goodie Mob @ Gothic Theatre
Baby Birds Don’t Drink Milk w/ MMCIII @ Rhinoceropolis
Edge of the World @ Larimer Lounge
Mount Righteous @ Hi-Dive
Greensky Bluegrass @ Bluebird Theater
The Grascals @ Soiled Dove
Johnny Woodrose @ Meadowlark

Thursday January 21
Primasonic w/ New Ben Franklins (CD Release) @ Larimer Lounge
Whiskey Throttle @ Hi-Dive
Watchout! Theres Ghosts @ Marquis Theater
Drew Emmitt Band @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Megan Burtt and the Cure for Love (CD Release) @ Walnut Room
Erik Deutsch Hush Money (CD Release) @ Boulder Theater
Pato Banton @ Fox Theatre
Backpack Symphony @ Herman’s Hideaway
Snake Mountain @ Lion’s Lair
Git Some @ Meadowlark

Friday January 22
Green Typewriters @ Larimer Lounge
Snake Rattle Rattle Snake (EP Release) @ Hi-Dive
Howie Day @ Bluebird Theater
Honor the Fallen (Skyfox's Pajama Jammy Jam (ed note - ?)) @ Gothic Theatre
Novus Folium @ Marquis Theater
The Motet @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
Come On Go With Us @ Walnut Room
State Radio @ Boulder Theater
Murs @ Fox Theatre
Best of the West semifinals: Kill City Bombers, more @ Herman’s Hideaway
Juliet Mission @ Lion’s Lair
Science Partner @ Meadowlark

Saturday January 23
Nick Jonas & The Administration @ Paramount Theatre
Alberta Cross @ Larimer Lounge
The Still City (CD Release) @ Hi-Dive
Jambon @ Bluebird Theater
Umphrey's McGee @ Fillmore Auditorium
Zombie Hate Brigade (Tromapalooza (ed note - ??)) @ Gothic Theatre
The Northern Way @ Marquis Theater
The Motet @ Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom
A Funky Evening @ Walnut Room
Howie Day @ Fox Theatre
TR3 Featuring Tim Reynolds @ Soiled Dove
Lonnie Hill & Hideaway Band @ Herman’s Hideaway
Erick Rudolph (CD Release) @ Meadowlark

Sunday January 24
Nick Jonas & The Administration @ Paramount Theatre
BAD @ Marquis Theater
Lizz King w/ BREEZEE ONE! @ Rhinoceropolis
Ugly Bumpers @ Lion’s Lair

If she sounds like she's haunting your 1997-era dial up modem in this recording, it's because she kinda is (maybe):

M.I.A. also says that she recorded a song called (seriously) "I'm Down Like Your Internet Connection" with a group of Filipino Verizon workers. She says, "I was having issues with my cable and wireless, and I was on the phone [with tech support] for three hours, and I thought, 'Maybe this needs to be part of my music, could you just learn these lyrics and sing it down the phone to me?' 10 phone calls later, I have Internet that sticks and a song." (via P4K)

This may not be that song, but the connection (no pun int.) seems valid.

Update The name of this song is "Space Odyssey".