Dusty Ray

Local Culture, Arts & Community

Stranger in a Strange Land: The Art of Yann Aubertin

March 30, 2012 admin 0

By Dusty Ray In the murky light of Cranknstein (215 N. College Ave.), the old brick walls are populated with brightly colored paintings of several different styles. At first glance, one might think that they are the creations of several artists, but they are all the brainchildren of the multi-talented Yann Aubertin. A French expat, Aubertin has been residing in the U.S. (specifically Fort Collins) for just over a year. […]

Local Culture, Arts & Community

Ian Cochrane: A Welcome Abstraction

March 1, 2012 admin 0

By Dusty Ray Ian Cochrane is a self-proclaimed stay-at-home dad: A family man whose passion is painting the abstract. His paintings are both vibrant and ambiguous, contrasting striking black lines with bright patches of color, reflecting the personality of their penny farthing-riding, mustachioed creator. “I have never in my life been so passionate about painting as I am right now,” says Cochrane. “It keeps me sane.” A whimsical character, Cochrane […]

Turn 4 – What Do You Do About It

March 1, 2012 admin 0

By Dusty Ray myspace.com/turn4country For all its catchiness and hook-laden composition, Turn 4’s latest cut, What You Do About It, never really strays from the typical alt-country clichés. Songs about trains, trucks, guitars and the weather pepper the album, but the strained vocal delivery with its forced twang can become tough to swallow for the duration of seventeen songs. The instrumentation is good: it’s obvious that these guys know what […]

Earth Burnt Black – Harrowing Catharsis

March 1, 2012 admin 0

By Dusty Ray myspace.com/earthburntblack Harrowing Catharsis starts out like a sludge-laced snow cone, slowly melting into a semblance of Between the Buried and Me with slightly more demonic vocals. Earth Burnt Black presents a fractured type of prog-metal sure to lure in any fan of this quickly changing and growing genre. This dark and enveloping album will grab you with its chugs and burn you with its constant diversity. It […]

Mosey West – Vaca Money

December 28, 2011 admin 0

By Dusty Ray The cover of Mosey West’s first release, Vaca Money, is a giant Mason jar filled with milk. And it is a perfect representation of the album: cloudy, smooth and refreshing. The band has an amazing songwriting ability, capturing a slight alt-country sound along with catchy hooks and some deep lyricism. All of the members play a huge role in Vaca Money: The trio is well-balanced, and no […]

Constitution – Wrestling With the Daylight

December 28, 2011 admin 0

By Dusty Ray Fort Collins quartet Constitution embraces down-home, whiskey-drinking, feel-good music with their latest release, Wrestling With the Daylight. It is a very light album, laden with the playful bluegrass/folk that has become a staple of many Colorado groups. It does jump beyond its simple framework, throwing trumpet and steel drum into the mix, adding another dimension to the album as a whole. “Can’t See Me” is reminiscent of […]

The Symbols – Be Here Now

November 30, 2011 admin 0

By Dusty Ray The Symbols’ newest release, Be Here Now, is a soft musical stroll traversing through country, lounge, blues, reggae and funk-fusion. A guitar-driven album with vocals that fall somewhere between Bonnie Raitt and Joni Mitchell, Be Here Now is a dense and dance-worthy cut that does quite a bit in its short presentation. The Symbols have an unerring catchiness about them, dancing the fine line between pop and […]

Green River Vibe – Sun Comes Up

November 30, 2011 admin 0

By Dusty Ray Green River Vibe has an ear for the lighter side of reggae music. They effectively recreate this sound through influences of other re-creators, like Sublime and Slightly Stoopid. It’s tough to emulate a music so separated from your own experiences as a kid living in Colorado, but bands before them have done so successfully – Taking the strife-ridden, downtrodden revolutionary content of ‘70s Jamaican reggae and synthesizing […]

Rockin’ Til the Cows Come Home: 20th Annual Battle of the Bands Goes Off without a Hitch

November 30, 2011 admin 0

By Dusty Ray Scene Magazine’s 20th Annual Battle of the Bands took over Hodi’s Half Note on the chilly evening of November 13 to showcase the local talent of some of Northern Colorado’s best musical acts. Nine ambitious bands showed up to rock the stage and liven up the night – Champagne Breakfast, Papagoya, T-Moody, Synergy, Blind Strike, Kingman Brewster, Nautical Mile, Mosey West and Shooting Down Satellites all gave […]

Be the Ant – Breathe Deeply Stomata

October 31, 2011 admin 0

By Dusty Ray It has been said that an ant can carry up to 100 times its own body weight. Be the Ant shows this entomological strength through the music on their latest album, Breathe Deeply Stomata. Trying to pinpoint the sound of Be the Ant can be tough. At the Drive In, Coheed and Cambria, and even a little Bryan Scary peek through the cracks of this dense and […]