The Village People never did this much acid, did they? Photo courtesy of Of Montreal.

Music critics, and often, the publicity machine that throws the meat into their cages, tend to push overt narratives for each artist’s new album. Phrases like “a stunning debut, “a return to form” or “their best album since (fill in the blank)” get tossed around rather liberally. But occasionally that narrative really does describe an artist’s creative trajectory.

Take the long-running indie rock act Of Montreal, an Athens, Ga.-based band that ran away with many critics’ hearts in 2007 with the stunning “Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?” Leader Kevin Barnes’ jittery laptop meditation on depression and busted relationships traded Brian Wilson’s melodies for ’80s synth-pop, making it the year’s most danceable headphone masterpiece.
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My Brother’s Bar in the Central Platte Valley beckons with its warm, old-school atmosphere. Denver Post file photo.

It’s hard to believe it’s finally over. After two years of debates, rumors and outright squabbling, the long election season is a thing of the past. The tension just kept ratcheting up — by election day, it was hard to do anything but obsessively check poll tallies and yearn for the results to come in and end it all.

That’s why this weekend calls for supreme relaxation. Screaming and shouting are out — there’s been enough of that. It’s time to breathe easy, sip on a drink. Here are a few places to check out in the quest for a little meaningful downtime. Keep the list for any weekend when you want to keep it on the mellow side.
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Photo and text by Tucker Shaw.

There are a few things that every neighborhood needs. A dog park. A dry cleaner. A seedy liquor store. A late-night coffee shop. And, of course, an affordable, unpretentious sandwich counter offering a no-brainer lunch made with fresh ingredients and decent bread.

The Golden Triangle (which, it seems, wasn’t even really an official neighborhood until fairly recently) finally has their sandwich shop — the affordable, unpretentious and, perhaps most important, cute Parsley.

The tiny space, at the end of a row of shops on 11th Avenue, feels homey and spare and a little bit Nordic, with light wood floors, grass-green accents, and sunny window to the street.
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