Welcome to the Weekly Mixdown, a curated roundup of music, arts, and culture stories we came across and wanted to share with you. This week’s mix features music news, quirky features, curious insights, local happenings, and other smart reads from across the web.

May 9, 2025

Bluebird Music Festival returns to Fort Collins

Check the Concert Calendar for details on the who, what, when, and where.

Fort Collins Food Truck Rally

We are excited to again sponsor this awesome and fun food-and-music event in Fort Collins this summer! Get details and see the musical lineup.

Lemmy Kilmister statue

A bronze statue of the Motörhead frontman will be unveiled this week on Stoke-on-Trent. But not all the ingredients are bronze…..

André 3000

He moved from hip-hop to the flute, and now he’s embracing…the piano (and not just the one on his back at the Met Gala).

And speaking of the Met Gala…

NPR has red carpet photos, in case you’re curious. (You know you are.)

Pump up the bass

“A thumping bass may do more than light up a party—it could flat out extinguish it, thanks to a new sound-blasting fire extinguisher.”

Alvin Lucier’s ‘artificial brain’

In 2018, the composer – who died 3 years later – “began working with a group of artists and scientists on a project called ‘Revivification,’ which would continue generating art after his death.” Is it working?

May 2, 2025

RIP Jill Sobule

Jill Sobule, the award-winning singer-songwriter and human rights activist, who made history with her 1995 single “I Kissed a Girl,” died in a house fire in Minneapolis this week. “Who didn’t know of Jill Sobule in the mid-’90s?” says The Colorado Sound’s own Ron, a friend of Sobule. “Especially here in her home state? MTV loved playing the ‘I Kissed A Girl’ video, and Coloradans loved the attention to one of ‘our own.’”

RIP Mike Peters of the Alarm

Having lived with blood cancer for 30 years, Peters was a long-standing cancer campaigner and fundraiser. In 2018, he told Guitar World magazine that his “simple message” was “to stay alive and appreciate every second you’ve got. Live right up to the last breath and stay positive about the world, your family and the environment you live in.”

Rock Hall announces 2025 inductees

The White Stripes, OutKast, Warren Zevon, Cyndi Lauper, and Carol Kaye are among the 2025 inductees, which were announced by the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame earlier this week. 

A visual guide to Eurovision

This ‘visual guide’ to the famed international music competition is pretty great – and may help you understand what’s coming (this year’s competition is May 9-13 in Liverpool). 

Studying death metal singers

Mark Garrett of the band Kardashev “and eight other singers from acclaimed death metal bands” have now “formed an unlikely partnership with University of Utah scientists to examine the biomechanics behind vocal distortion.”

Mobygratis

Moby makes 500 new instrumental tracks free for noncommercial use. “I want you to dive in, use the music and we can see, or you can see, what happens.”

Vinyl Me, Please

Customers are filing complaints against the Denver record club, citing orders not being fulfilled and questions going unanswered.

NoCo farmers markets

They are beginning to open up around Colorado – here are some NoCo choices (and there are lots more in the Denver metro).

The Bluebird School debuts

Founded by Bluebird Music Festival creator Travis Albright, the music school offers free instruction and “will provide a two-semester music program for children of teachers, first responders and mental health workers.”

“Steve’s Lava Chicken”

The Jack Black song sets the record for the shortest to ever crack the Billboard Top 100.