Press
July 1st, 2009
AWARDS
2011 Westword Nominated Best Singer/Songwriter
2010 Top 20 Albums (Beautiful Empty) -- Colorado Music and Radio
2010 Mover and Shaker -- Westword
2010 Denver Post Top 20 Underground Bands
2010 Westword Best Indie Folk/Acoustic Artist
2009 Westword Nominated Best Pop Artist
2009 Denver Music Scene Top 10 Songwriters
2009 Lyons Folks Festival Finalist
2008 Telluride Troubadour Finalist
2008 Westword Nominated Best Singer/Songwriter
2007 Lyons Folks Festival Finalist
2007 Mover and Shaker / Best Local Release -- Westword
2007 Best Local Release -- The Denver Post
2006 Most Intriguing Discs - The Onion
2006 Westword Nominated Best Singer/Songwriter
-- Various
September 1st, 2006
"Raw, yet sophisticated pop."
-- THE ONION
April 11th, 2010
In local music and beyond, it just doesn’t get better than this. Yes, John Common, man who pushes bounds of Indie genre to snapping is not local, although he’s loved locally by fellow artists, fans and critics, alike. ... Beautiful Empty is so rich it could be Experimental Classical were it not so jazzy and funk-tastic and, at its heart, just really fine Indie Rock.
-- Colorado Music Buzz
April 8th, 2010
My old buddy John Common finally just asked me straight out. "Do you like the album?"
Well, yeah. It's just not what I was expecting. Because I was expecting more of the same.
-- Pensacola News Journal / Troy Moon
February 1st, 2010
Empty beds. This was the first thing I noticed about Beautiful Empty when it came in the mail. The album art depicts beds: empty, slept in, sheets all askew. As the opening track "Can You Hear Me" began to roll out of my desktop speakers, dreamy sounds and words filled my ears. John Common begins by taking stock of the situation. “Woke up alone, where’d you go?” he asks. His bed is empty, it is a strange beauty. Beautiful… empty.
Before diving headlong into a full review of the debut album from John Common & Blinding Flashes of Light, a little background might be useful. John Common is one of those characters on the Denver music scene who appears restless. His previous projects are numerous and varied; from art and film exhibits to a kazoo orchestra, Common has always been dabbling in one thing or another. When he set to work creating Beautiful Empty, he decided to not just go alone, but instead gathered a top-notch band to see the vision through.
The result is a stunning collection of songs. Beautiful Empty is split into two parts, “Side A” and “Side B” (maybe someday it will be released on vinyl?), each with a unique flavor. “Good Heart” is a simple piano ballad from the first half of the record that displays a beautiful simplicity, while “In My Neighborhood” is a sunny number that takes full advantage of the unique sound of a Rhodes keyboard.
On the B-side there’s “Love Is A Shark.” I still don’t quite know what to think about this song. On one hand it is the kind of metaphor that makes me smile, but on the other hand it is one of the oddest comparisons I’ve ever heard.
“Thinking ‘bout God” closes the record out with a reflective song that ebbs and flows with piano, strings, and keyboards. It is the kind of song that I can imagine as a slow-dance that plays off into the night.
Beautiful Empty is available digitally on iTunes, physically at Twist & Shout, and on CDbaby.com (where $2 from each record sale will go to relief efforts in Haiti until February 9).
-- Tim Weilert / School of Mines
January 18th, 2010
I admit I’m a bit of a skeptic. When I hear or see a lot of buildup or hype over something, I usually get a little put off, because too many times the “something” doesn’t measure up to the hype. When John Common and Blinding Flashes of Light finally took the stage, my doubts faded away. By the third song, I was a fan. By the fifth song, I wanted to join the band. The music was very nearly flawless-- great sound, great arrangements, great vocals, great musicianship."
-- The Examiner
June 1st, 2008
"John's clever lyrics and perfectly crafted songs are outdone only by his huge and prolific body of work. This guy puts out a solid album twice a year. No wonder his songs are good. He also has a killer band."
-- Denver Music Scene, Top Ten Singer-Songwriters
August 15th, 2006
"Common has achieved the musical equivalent of picking up seven tiles in a game of Scrabble and being able to lay down “bezique” on the first turn."
-- FIVE MAGAZINE, TAOS, NEW MEXICO
July 24th, 2007
"Why Birds Fly is even more uncommon than its acclaimed 2006 predecessor...the aural environment Common creates is so sumptuous that it rewards repeated listens even as it confounds expectations."
-- WESTWORD MAGAZINE
August 13th, 2009
Beautiful Empty Short Film Conspiracy: "If you like music -- especially the music of John Common -- and have an interest in making film, there's a project you should know about. In the wake of his successful Common Box Project, a collaborative project that asked visual artists to create a piece of assemblage box art inspired by the music from his new record, Common is seeking to pull off something similar with film."
-- WESTWORD MAGAZINE
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