FEBRUARY 2010 ONLINE EDITORIALS

1190 KVCU - The Local Shakedown, Volume 3

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By Erik Myers

For three years now, the fine people at Boulder’s Radio 1190 have assembled The Local Shakedown compilations of Colorado indie. Volume 3 is by far the best yet: a two-disc compilation overstuffed with a spot-on pastiche of what the locals have been up to in recent years.
Disc 1 opens up pleasantly enough with a spoken introduction from none other than Magic Cyclops. After talking about himself for a full 45 seconds (casually mentioning his bit as the fetus from “2001: A Space Odyssey”), he invites listeners to “pop open a nice cool Colorado Kool-Aid” and enjoy the local licks. From there, they spill out in pleasant succession: 8-bit power pop from Mr. Pacman, a minute-thirty of bubblegum indie from The Kissing Party and the fantastic “Buried” from Young Coyotes, which is the best track of the compilation; no surprise there.
But the pleasant surprises abound, namely “Cyberpunk’s Not Dead (For Tom Murphy and Carles)” a pleasantly calm folksy-raga instrumental from Denver’s Littles Paia. Multicast posts an even chiller saunter with “Hawaii,” with electronic clicks and beeps chirping out over pleasant ukulele waves. Noteworthy too is Wire Faces, one-half of FoCo’s former Jimi Austin who’ve transferred to Denver to start anew with a dirty garage rock resonance. If it seemed like their former acoustic performances were missing something, “Portable Castles” proves they’ve filled in the blanks.
The Local Shakedown Volume 3 is a gem worth picking up, and required listening for the entry-level scenesters.
myspace.com/localshakedown