Seattle Subsonic

Seattle Subsonic - July, 2009

BEND got BURNED!

So I know I haven’t written in a while (writing music instead of about it) but I felt this is an urgent local musical matter. Remember the article I wrote a while back about the band BEND? Well front man Jay’s house burnt down with all of their gear and recording equipment inside…

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Please stop by their myspace and show them some love… this is a nightmare for any band, musician, person, place or thing… Nobody needs shit like that and I’m sure they’d appreciate the support… and pass it on to anybody else you think would care…

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Peace

C

More CHBP: Videos

I shot a few blog-worthy videos at the ol’ Block Party last weekend and thought I’d post a few of ‘em here. On the blog. I also linked to a couple of them in my Friday and Saturday writeups. Most of them are only snippets of songs in the 1-2 minute range but that’s cuz my arms get tired, yo. Also, your attention span blows. Good enough for ya? Let’s begin.

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Micachu & the Shapes – “Curly Teeth”

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Flexions

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the Pica Beats – “Turning Points”

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Moonrats – “No Way Out”

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Deerhunter – “Agoraphobia”

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Also, more Deerhunter: “Operation”, “Nothing Ever Happened”, “Never Stops”

The Spin on Seattle's Best

So Spin Magazine was kind enough to introduce me to the riches and lushness of Seattle Music today. They have posted this photo gallery exploring their take on the “Best of the Seattle Scene” and boy is it worth a gander. It covers exciting up-n-coming venues like the White River Amphitheater, local acts like Green Day, and iconic Emerald City events like Mayhem Festival… I was actually disappointed to only see FOUR of 15 shots from Mayhem Fest.  Wow, way to spread yourselves around, Spin. Impressive.
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They really nailed the NW spirit with a shot Matisyahu’s I heart WA shirt. Isn’t he from Ballard? I want to know why they didn’t include glamour shots of the great Northwesterner David Lee Roth rockin the Emerald Queen Casino? There is actually one Seattle band in the line-up, our own USE (United State of Electronica) with a glancing blow of Portland’s (almost Seattle’s) The Decemberists. I suppose it’s in-depth coverage like this that sets Spin apart, enough so that they have to GIVE away a years subscription of this rag with the purchase of Bumbershoot Tickets… which I kindly refused.

CHBP: Saturday Street Beat

Figuring the confines of Neumos would give us a break from the sun, the first band we went to check out on Saturday was local new wave quartet Hotels. From what I’d heard previously, I expected to really enjoy their set, and for the first few songs I did (“Port of Saints”, “Near the Desert, Near the City”). But as the songs continued, I found myself with more criticisms than accolades (case in point: a track that sounded like an intentionally-lost Allman Brothers jam (whaa?) and the unfortunate gold-plated “hotel” name tags). For whatever reason, hearkening the sound of revered giants of the 80s (New Order, Echo & the Bunnymen, Cocteau Twins, the Cure, etc.) is rarely pulled off without pastiche or caricature. These guys try admirably—and succeed to an extent—but by the fifth song, I’d had enough.

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Next on our agenda was the Pica Beats, whose last album I love but whose first show I saw didn’t quite cut it. Plus two horn players and minus one keyboarder, the band sounded flush and fresh in the summer breeze. Ryan Barrett’s guitar had some added zip and accounted for the lack of oboe and keys found on the recordings. The hirsute Garrett Kelly (also a Hollow Earth Radio co-founder) bounced endlessly along with his bass lines and Alice Sandahl never relinquished her tambourine. Her voice was clear and Barrett sheepishly warned the crowd: “no one is allowed to hit on Alice”. They led off with a song, “Turning Points” (here’s a video I shot), from their 2007 self-release All Mysteries Solve Themselves and continued on with embellished versions of “Poor Old Ra”, “Hikikomori and the Rental Sisters”, “Cognac & Rum”, and “Hope, Was Not a Smith Family Tradition”. Loved it.

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I wouldn’t say I was impressed by the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, but I certainly enjoyed their performance. They were the perfect band for that time of day when the crowd was buzzed and picking up, the late afternoon sun was shining and nothing much mattered at that particular moment except for the music (and the beer) at hand. Their playful guitar pop is adroitly crafted and well-executed with clever lyrics, but the lines between the songs are a bit blurry. I suppose that’s intentional.

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After a few drinks inside Neumos listening to (but not watching) Akimbo, we headed for the Cha Cha to check out Moonrats. You wouldn’t have known it to be daytime down there, what with the low red lights and throng of people clogged into the dark, tiny space. Guitarist Nathan Thelen, formerly of Pretty Girls Make Graves, has a seductively sweet voice and the former Seattle band backed up his boyish charm by launching into several jaunty and carefree pop tunes. Aska Matsumiya, who likes using organ tones with her keyboard, sang on a few songs and bunny-hopped effervescently around Cha Cha’s “stage”. They didn’t play “Sleepwalk”, to my slight dismay, but she snatched up the bass during “No Way Out” (my video here), one of their best. The “doo-doo-doo-doo-doo” chorus gives me goosebumps.

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We were wavering on whether to go outside for the Thermals or stay inside for Champagne Champagne, and our new buddies Dave and Josh (shout out!) convinced us to stay. As if we really needed persuasion. I’ve splattered these pages with plenty of Champagne² minutiae, so I knew the place was about to bump. Sportin’ great tees, the trio of Pearl Dragon, Sir Thomas Gray, and DJ Gajamagic blew up the Cha Cha like some street-saavy art-official arsonists. Outside of “Tropical Trina” and “Cover Girls”, most of the tracks were “some new shit”, as Gajamagic’s salaciously spooky beats provided the soundtrack to the afternoon freak-fest.

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Gossip, the larger-than-life disco-punk shredders, put on such a great fucking set Saturday night that I often wondered if I was in dance-party heaven. Turned out I wasn’t, but given the flagrant booty shakin’ that percolated through the packed-to-the-gills crowd, you’ll forgive my delusion. Beth Ditto is the voice, face and body of the group, but, man, Brace Paine really knows his way around the unicorn axe (aka white guitar). I think my favorite part of Ditto’s performance was that she was more scream than soul. Her scintillating wail really revved the crowd’s engine and pierced the festival corridor. “Pop Goes The World” led off the set, and given the Rick Rubin-approved sleekness of Music For Men, it seemed the perfect start. Outside of songs from MFM, Ditto’s affection for pop music covers shone through. The late Aaliyah’s “Are You That Somebody?” was played in full, along with snippets of “Psycho Killer” (Talking Heads, duh), “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” (second time in two days), and Tina Turner’s “What’s Love Got To Do With It”. She even closed the performance with an acapella crowd sing-along of “We Are the Champions”, prefacing that she wanted to “reclaim it for the queers.” The people obliged.

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Sonic Youth: what can I say? Not much, unfortunately. Pike St. was so unbelievably packed that after giving our feet a rest, it was impossible to find a place to even just stand on tippy toes, let alone anywhere near the stage. They sounded good, from what I could hear. Was the can-do-no-wrong alt-rock giant too big for this street festival? Methinks maybe so.

True T-Shirt Trifecta

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Slats. Kurt the Messiah. ‘Surf Nicaragua’. Beautiful.

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Champagne Champagne

CHBP: Friday Impressions

As if drawn by tractor beam, my weekend was spent on Pike St. between 12th and Broadway. Happy, hot, drunk, and drenched is about as good of a four word nutshell as I can offer. The grounds layout was much improved (and appreciated), as the beer garden doubled in size and the Main Stage moved west to flank Broadway. The sightlines, however, disappeared during the headliners. During the day, the gawk-worthy crowd was easily navigable, but come nightfall rabid music fans seemed to sprout improbably and continuously from the pavement. Ubiquitous show-goer trends included boat shoes, pretty dresses, tank tops, jorts, and, of course, a thousand varieties of Ray-Bans. Marination Mobile had me reeling with their preposterously delicious Kalua pork sliders and mouthwatering tofu tacos. The weather was blazing, but it didn’t seem to stifle as maybe your local meteorologist might have predicted. It was still pretty hot, no doubt, but spots of shade, tasty beverages, and various indoor amenities quelled the effect.

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On Friday, I arrived at the Block Party just in time for the Dutchess and the Duke‘s sunny Main Stage set. As I had hoped, a bassist was brought along and the pair ditched their acoustics entirely to amplify their usually low-fidelity approach. I heard a few new tunes that pleased my ears and “Armageddon Song” perfectly capped the performance, it’s obliviously gleeful refrain “As long as the sun keeps shining on the pines / Shining on the sea / And shining on me!” more than befitting of a Pac NW afternoon in July.

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The Vera Stage was easily the dark horse of the festival, and the first band we made a move for was the hotly anticipated Flexions (pronounced ‘Fleck-shuns’, btw). The bass-propelled and guitar-driven grooves were menacing and nimble, as the duo of Devin Welch and Robin Stein displayed a quiet mastery of their respective instruments. A tropically-flavored cut featuring a steel drum undercurrent was the lone song to buck the trend. Welch continued his own trend of slithering foot-moves while performing. Three-quarters of the songs were instrumental, but when the two combined on vocals one couldn’t help but think of Warsaw-era Joy Division. Their chants were flat and militant and prevented the entire set from slinking into the film soundtrack of an eccentric auteur. More attention will be paid.

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We headed back over to the mainstage to quench our thirst in the beer garden, grabbing a curb while inadvertently ingesting the mostly mundane radio rock of Spinnerette. The unfortunately-named single (“Ghetto Love”) that closed their set is a good head-bobber, but the rest of it was simply loud and bland. Next up was the Black Lips, whose lecherous reputation has rode through the music world like Paul Revere through Lexington. I was banking on some crazy antics surrounded by ramshackle garage rock, but the dudes were pretty tame, save for a Maker’s Mark-brandishing cameo during Deerhunter’s set later on. Though I haven’t heard the whole thing, my impression is that the latest record isn’t on par with Good Bad Not Evil, so “O Katrina” and “Cold Hands” were the only songs I sang along to. Oh well, they still pulled off a loud, proud and hip-shakin’ set. At least, such was the portion that I saw.

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Hindered a bit by a tight schedule between 6 and 8pm, we quickly shuffled over to the Vera Stage just in time for Micachu & the Shapes. Easily one the Top 3 artists I was excited for, 21-year-old Mica Levi and her two percussionist cohorts exhibited a musical grasp and artistic poise beyond their years. Levi mostly plays—and augments her name with—a “chu”, a small modified guitar that often sounds out of tune or broken. It not only works, it flourishes. Combining erratic drum beats, Casio keyboards and homemade instruments (empty wine bottles on this day), the trio’s innovative approach to pop, rock and R&B has turned conventionality on its head without sacrificing melody or appeal. She played her electric axe quite a bit, as well. Check out this exuberant version of “Curly Teeth” I videotaped (videodigitized?).

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Given that I’m Deerhunter‘s self-proclaimed #1 Fan, it was imperative to be well lubricated and at least somewhat close to the Main Stage for their set. I was. I could lay it on thick and stick to just saying how beautiful and awesome they sounded—they did. But this truth must be tempered with the fact that gear issues hamstrung the band initially, followed by Bradford Cox forgetting the words to “Operation”. That last one’s not really a big deal, but as it wore on, the whole set felt a bit…(ugh, I hate writing this)…obligatory. I’m pretty sure bassist Josh Fauver was stoned out of his gourd. For their supremely awesome Neumos show last fall, guitarist Whitney Penny—absent—provided much of the bubbly crowd interaction possibly missing this time around. I dunno; in the end I was happy, just not ecstatic like I was expecting. <sigh>

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Starfucker was an undeniable highlight of the day.The sun now gone, their LASER-like space pop lit up the pogo-ing crowd, as the (now) foursome wove in both new and “old” cuts. The bouncier tracks from Jupiter dominated the second half of the set (“Medicine”, “Dance Face 2000″, “Biggie Smalls”) and the dress-clad boys exultingly injected the crowd with a highly addictive neon dance drug. Lauper cover “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” was played, of course, and Ryan Biornstad ended the performance with one of his patented one-man-dance spastic freakouts.

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I tell ya, the Jesus Lizard sounded tight and growly and corrosive. Ageless Wonder David Yow was crowd surfing on the first song and made several abrasively funny comments. My limited visibility kinda sucked, but I was satisfied.

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Lots more crappy pics here.

Phenome-Naut Block Party

Block Party, Shmock Party…

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If Sonic Youth isn’t on your Saturday night agenda, there’s an awesome rockabilly/punk/new wave/ psychobilly-crazy party going down at El Corazon!  The Phenomenauts, Oakland’s favorite rock band from the future are “bringing home” their newest member–former Seattlite, Deck Chief Nick Wayzar on double bass.

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Be prepared for mind-zapping lazers, fogmachines, flying toiletpaper, and general debauchary.  Space googles (if not full-body suits) are encouraged, but not necessary.

P.S. — SF punk band Supergroup, The Re-volts (former members of The Gimme Gimmes and One Man Army), and Seattle’s own Season of Nightmares support.

Exhibitchin' at the EMP/SFM

Experience Jim Henson’s Fantastic World at EMP|SFM’s Late Night Exhibitchin’, Saturday, August 1 from 9:00 pm – 1:00 am. EMP|SFM’s new afterhours dance party will feature live music, cheap drinks and super surprises throughout the evening and into the morning.
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Start the night out right, and get your inner-Muppet on for an Animal drumming competition! Drums and sticks will be provided, animalistic tendencies—that’s all you, baby. Dance to music by local rap-pop-rock legends The Saturday Knights, the deliciously funky Eldridge Gravy & the Court Supreme and wunderkind spin master DJ Electro Wolf. Enjoy $3 beers and other drink specials throughout the night. Oh, and did we mention surprises? What’s a bitchin’ event without a little spectacle here and there?
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Prizes for most-spazzy and most-snazzy Animal impersonations will be awarded. Save a place in the competition, send an e-mail to animalrocks@empsfm.org and get the low-down.
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EMP|SFM's Late Night Exhibitchin’

Experience Jim Henson’s Fantastic World at EMP|SFM’s Late Night Exhibitchin’, Saturday, August 1 from 9:00 pm – 1:00 am. EMP|SFM’s new afterhours dance party will feature live music, cheap drinks and super surprises throughout the evening and into the morning.
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Start the night out right, and get your inner-Muppet on for an Animal drumming competition! Drums and sticks will be provided, animalistic tendencies—that’s all you, baby. Dance to music by local rap-pop-rock legends The Saturday Knights, the deliciously funky Eldridge Gravy & the Court Supreme and wunderkind spin master DJ Electro Wolf. Enjoy $3 beers and other drink specials throughout the night. Oh, and did we mention surprises? What’s a bitchin’ event without a little spectacle here and there?
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Prizes for most-spazzy and most-snazzy Animal impersonations will be awarded. Save a place in the competition, send an e-mail to animalrocks@empsfm.org and get the low-down.
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Around the Block Party: Cha Cha, Comet & Chop Suey

As if the regular two-day lineup wasn’t enough, geeeezus. Per the usual custom, the Cha Cha, the Comet Tavern, and Chop Suey will all be hosting shows during and after the proper festival this weekend. Chop Suey’s Mad Rad/Macklemore show on Saturday is only 3 bucks with a Block Party wristband. Not sure what either of the other two joints will be charging, if anything.

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I’ll have a tough time making it to many of these, but the Cha Cha’s Saturday night schedule is super solid: Moonrats, Champagne Champagne, and Constant Lovers all back to back. Friday’s is pretty good, too, with Loving Thunder and Born Anchors. I’d really like to see the Curious Mystery again, but I might just be spent by then. We’ll see.

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Cha Cha:

Friday
5:45 The Get Off
6:45 Toy soldiers
7:45 Fun Fun Fun
8:45 Loving Thunder
9:45 Born Anchors

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Saturday
3:45 The Absolute Monarchs
4:45 Spinning Wheels
5:45 Thorstone
6:45 Moonrats
7:45 Champagne Champagne
8:45 Constant Lovers
9:45 Book of Black Earth

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The Comet:

Friday (11pm): The Oswald Effect, The Girls
Saturday (11pm): Hallways, The Curious Mystery

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Chop Suey (Saturday):

MAD RAD
Macklemore
DJs Darwin & Recess
Whiskey Whiskey
9pm $5adv/$6dos ($3 w/Block Party Bracelet @ the door only)