Seattle Subsonic - May, 2010
Back to Seattle, GnR and Aerosmith, and thankfully, Bone Cave Ballet
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Correction: The Comet website says Bone Cave Ballet will play on June 2nd, but word from the band is that they will be there June 1st, Tuesday, tomorrow.
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I was driving back to Seattle from Camano Island. I’d been up there for the past two months to work on a few writing projects and some music projects and well just to wallow in the quiet and solitude to be had there. Driving back south on I-5, I had the radio on and was switching back and forth between KEXP and KISW and finding nothing on either. KEXP is great at times, and of course I love the fact that they take chances. They play shit no one else in this town will even consider. Even if the song is great, producers and DJs at other stations will scoff, “But the recording isn’t up to our standards.” Funny thing is even the home recordings these days are probably better than much of what was recorded 30 years ago, well in terms of the audio quality at least. It still might have been mixed by someone who was either tone deaf or who turned the suck knob up just a bit too much.
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Sometimes though, those other producers are right to scoff as KEXP does indeed have periods where they play song after song of crap. Every station does though so what can one do but keep flipping in hopes of lucking upon a bit of magic. So I switched again from KEXP to KISW and was far from lucky for there came Guns and Roses’ November Rain. I screamed, “Ahhh!” and turned off the radio quickly. They just aren’t a band I can listen to anymore. I was never a big fan, but they had an energy I appreciated at one time. Not so these days. When all you have is energy, it’s sure to disappear as the years pass. I’m surprised they still get as much airplay as the do. Even some of that “crap” on KEXP would be better, but it’s too late now. The song is in my head and Axl is on repeat in there. “…In the cold November Rain…” … “Ahhh!”
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It gets me thinking that I find Aerosmith very much the same. I can’t listen to them anymore. They rocked at one point but died a long slow horrible and public death. Yes, they were laughing all the way to the bank, but no one has ever rocked while laughing on their way to the bank. They saunter, they stroll, they glide but they don’t rock. Maybe it’s old news. Maybe you’ve heard it before, but I want to turn on the radio and hear something new that makes me swerve to the side of the road and shout, “Holy shit! What the hell is that?” It hasn’t happened for some time though so I’ll have to seek it in the clubs. I’ll have to seek out opportunities to jam with others and make a little of my own magic.
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First up will be a band called Bone Cave Ballet. Their singer, Jacqui Gilroy, used to play guitar and sing back up in my own band before I was in my own band. I’ve seen them once and they were quite good except for the fact that the sound man either had his head up his ass or his hand on the aforementioned suck knob. So I went up to stand by the stage and hearing the stage volume, the amps, the unmiced drums, the vocals only in the monitors, they were good. There was energy. The riffs were tight, the melodies unexpected. They did this great bit in a song called Chewing Sand where they were trading “Ohs” so to speak. Listen to the song on their MySpace and you’ll see what I mean. Live it was most excellent so I’ll be there to see them either June 1st at the Comet (acoustic show) or June 6th at the Funhouse. Possibly both.
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Just passing Everett on my way back into Seattle, I turn the radio back on. It’s still on KISW. And I hear that voice, “Janie’s got a gun…”
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Click.
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As much as I love music, sometimes silence is better.
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Dave
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Night Beats
There are quite a few bands these days making false appropriations of those classic late 60s/early 70s hard rock pioneers we all love so much (Led Zeppelin, the Doors, Hendrix, 13th Floor Elevators, etc.). Night Beats is not one of those bands. Guitarist/vocalist Danny Rajan (whose voice recalls the Elevators’ great Roky Erickson) and his Texas-born buddies are clearly enamored with anything that hearkens back to the days when the blues were the actual provenance for those illustrious hard rock demi-gods. But, bathed in liquid psychedelia and molten metal, the band seems to have astutely distilled any potentially-flammable frills from their blistering tunes, leaving only the essential nuts and bolts of hard drivin’, boot stompin’, head trippin’ psych rock. This, they do well.
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Fans of BRMC, the Black Angels, and the Raveonettes will find much to relish with this low-profile outfit. Unfortunately, I don’t yet have a record to set on the turn table, illuminate the lava lamp, and smoke myself into a sweet, spinning psychedelic sedation, but I do have this new video to get me (us) started. It’s filmed in stylish Super 8 graininess and takes place in the desert, the one place where gimmick-less hallucinatory adventures are sure to occur. Sounds entirely appropriate. Word on the street is that an EP (H-Bomb) from the Seattle-based trio will be available in July. Start your engine now.
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Night Beats plays the Comet Friday, June 18th with the Curious Mystery and Broken Nobles. You can watch a few more videos here.
Beyond Ipanema: An Exploration of Brazilian Music at the SIFF
| Saturday, May 29, 2010 | ||
| 9:00 pm | to | 11:00 pm |
| Monday, May 31, 2010 | ||
| 1:00 pm | to | 3:00 pm |
| Friday, June 4, 2010 | ||
| 5:00 pm | to | 7:00 pm |
The Seattle International Film Festival is in full swing. And with showers in the forecast all weekend, going to a movie sounds like the perfect treat. This coming Monday, aka Memorial Day – I’ll be heading on over to the SIFF Cinema to check out Beyond Ipanema. It’s an exploration on how Brazilian music has made waves across the global culture. Also what’s so great about seeing a SIFF film is that the director, Guto Barram will also be in attendance. Rainy Day, Brazilian music… I’m sure I’ll be craving a Caipirinha after!
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More from the SIFF website:
“For decades, music has been the prime cultural export of Brazil—not something that can be said about just any country. From samba and bossa nova to tropicalia and baile funk (as recently documented in SIFF 2009 film Favela On Blast), Brazilian music has made waves globally since the 1940s when Hollywood went bananas for Carmen Miranda and her fruity hat. After Miranda hit the stage, Astrud Gilberto’s breezy hit, “The Girl from Ipanema” launched a bossa nova craze that infiltrated suburban cocktail hours all over America in the 1950s. And, more recently, a renewed interest in tropicalia hit the indie rock sphere, from inspiring Beck’s album, “Mutations” to the reunion of Os Mutantes at the Pitchfork Music Festival in 2006, playing to a crowd of thousands of dancing hipsters. Beyond Ipanema features interviews with musicians like David Byrne, Caetano Veloso and M.I.A. for a thorough, stylish, and breezy exploration of Brazilian music and the waves it’s made in global culture.”
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Screenings:
SIFF Cinema
May 29, 2010 9:00 PM
May 31, 2010 1:00 PM
Kirkland Performance Center
June 4, 2010 5:00 PM
Beyond Ipanema: An Exploration of Brazilian Music at the SIFF
The Seattle International Film Festival is in full swing. And with showers in the forecast all weekend, going to a movie sounds like the perfect treat. This coming Monday, aka Memorial Day – I’ll be heading on over to the SIFF Cinema to check out Beyond Ipanema. It’s an exploration on how Brazilian music has made waves across the global culture. Also what’s so great about seeing a SIFF film is that the director, Guto Barram will also be in attendance. Rainy Day, Brazilian music… I’m sure I’ll be craving a Caipirinha after!
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More from the SIFF website:
“For decades, music has been the prime cultural export of Brazil—not something that can be said about just any country. From samba and bossa nova to tropicalia and baile funk (as recently documented in SIFF 2009 film Favela On Blast), Brazilian music has made waves globally since the 1940s when Hollywood went bananas for Carmen Miranda and her fruity hat. After Miranda hit the stage, Astrud Gilberto’s breezy hit, “The Girl from Ipanema” launched a bossa nova craze that infiltrated suburban cocktail hours all over America in the 1950s. And, more recently, a renewed interest in tropicalia hit the indie rock sphere, from inspiring Beck’s album, “Mutations” to the reunion of Os Mutantes at the Pitchfork Music Festival in 2006, playing to a crowd of thousands of dancing hipsters. Beyond Ipanema features interviews with musicians like David Byrne, Caetano Veloso and M.I.A. for a thorough, stylish, and breezy exploration of Brazilian music and the waves it’s made in global culture.”
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Screenings:
SIFF Cinema
May 29, 2010 9:00 PM
May 31, 2010 1:00 PM
Kirkland Performance Center
June 4, 2010 5:00 PM
New MSHVB – “Leaving Trails”
Seattle’s power-punk volcano champions Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band have released a track from their forthcoming 2nd LP Where the Messengers Meet. You can get the album August 3rd from Dead Oceans. “Leaving Trails” is slightly less molten than previous songs found on the self-titled debut, but no less engaging. Sort of a mellow rock crooner. You’ll notice that guitarist/keyboardist Matt Dammer is no longer part of the band, which is a shame. His additions gave much depth to the band’s controlled chaos. But they still have drummer wunderkind Marshall Verdoes, who really shines on this new track. Download/listen to it here from Spin.
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MSHVB will next play in Seattle July 8th at City Hall. Whaaa?
The Maldives Blow My Mind Performing “Riders of the Purple Sage”
Seriously.
“I have never been sucked into a silent film like that before.”
“I was totally enthralled.”
“I really need to have that soundtrack!”
These were my conversations after the show.
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The Maldives played amazingly scoring the “Riders Of The Purple Sage” like it was a modern day western. With theme songs for the characters and long winding epics that were the perfect back drop for revenge on the open range. I was truly impressed by this and wish I could have stayed for the 9:30pm show as well. I did find it hard to follow the movie at points. The music would just pull you in and you would forget that the film was still going but that’s just me. The movie was great though. It had everything a Western should. Quick-draw cowboys, numerous outlaws and villains, a cattle stampede, and an avalanche. Yeah an avalanche. I Would say the whole experience was one not to be missed. I hope SIFF does more of these in the future. Live music to a silent film is amazing. I know that Steven Merritt is going to be performing to “20,000 Leagues Under The Sea” on June 9th. Go to that one.
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You Should Donate To Hollow Earth Radio Cuz It’s The Nice Thing To Do
Moral righteousness is best left in the eye of the beholder, so I can’t say that giving money to a community radio station is the right thing to do. But it certainly would be the nice thing to do. You’ve likely heard of the anything-goes DIY community pillar Hollow Earth Radio, which adroitly provides 24 hours of online freeform audio broadcasting, hosts several community events including an annual record and craft fair, field recording workshops (!), and an annual music festival. Thanks to it’s popularity, the station has outgrown the attics and basements currently housing its operations. Fortuitously, they’ve come into a public space in the Central District but could really use your help in funding a renovation of this new home.
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Using Kickstarter, a newish website that helps artists and musicians fund-raise, you can pledge your (monetary) commitment to their goal—$3,500. If they don’t reach it by July 9th, you don’t pay (which kind of defeats the purpose, but I get it). They’re already 22% to their goal! Check the entertaining video below for necessary convincing. And if you’re wondering if I put my money where my mouth is…yes, yes I did.
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Hollow Earth Radio Kickstarter Video from Garrett Kelly on Vimeo.
LCD Soundsystem’s (em)Bracing New–And Possibly Final–Record
In all honesty, does the world really need another LCD Soundsystem write up? No, probably not. Most discerning fans get it, the unmatched modern disco and electro funk elasticized by unwavering beats and sardonic, self-conscious candor. The astonishingly clever way it tugs at the fickle strings of our hearts, while concurrently inducing rubber legs and a belly laugh. Everything about the music is magic: the lyrics speak to us, the compositions make us dance, the live shows impress us. And now, James Murphy seems to have embraced the fragility and skepticism often displayed on Sound of Silver and created a bracing new batch of songs.
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But ever since Murphy intimated that This Is Happening might prove to be the band’s final record, I’ve done nothing but deliriously digest it like a crack addict on his last rock. I mean, how can you not? The off-center base from which his centered club-rock takes flight satisfies a lot of vices for people like me, and I’ve got no recourse but to highlight it. Of course, Murphy as musician will likely move forward with something else (awesome), but who knows, really? The man is so adept at taking himself either seriously or not seriously—a simultaneity that works wonders for both his psychological health and his music career—I’m not sure what to believe.
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For now, I’ll believe in the music (yes, I just wrote that slab of cheese). I’ll believe in the rangy, understated effervescence of “Dance Yrself Clean”, with it’s near-genius assessment of excluding present company (“Talking like a jerk / except you are an actual jerk”). I’ll believe in the cold, celestial synth that introduces “You Wanted A Hit”, an ironic tongue-in-cheek converse that actually is the hit (“Cuz this is how we do hits”). I’ll believe in the near 7-minute guitar “solo” that anchors “All I Want”. I’ll believe in the bullshit of the slap-happy silly brigade from “Drunk Girls”. I’ll believe in the hypnotic shout-alongs in the robotic “One Touch”. I’ll believe in Murphy’s batty beat poetry and crystalline disco-funk of “Pow Pow”. And I’ll believe in the quick, soft bounce and unseen optimism of the electro-ballad “Home”. I mean, how can I not?
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Normally, I’d post a handful of tracks to sample, but I’m sure you guys have them already, or plan to buy it, or can Google a RapidShare or MediaFire link with the best of ‘em.
The Sasquatch Is Coming
Memorial Day is fast approaching, and one of the biggest events for Northwest music fans will be taking place at the Gorge this weekend. Maybe you’ve heard of it? Sasquatch!’s lineup this year has many folks drooling over its depth and breadth, but given the small fortune one needs to attend all three days, I opted for just the one day: Sunday. And after looking through the detailed 3-day schedule to pick out my preferences, and I think we made the right choice. Sure, Saturday has Shabazz Palaces (at NOON fer chrissakes), Broken Social Scene and My Morning Jacket, but I really couldn’t care less about the bands playing between 7 and 10 pm. DEAL BREAKER. Monday’s certainly no slouch, but I’ve seen many of the band’s perform already, so it doesn’t feel like a great loss. I think I’ll feel the most regret about missing Quasi and Neon Indian.
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But Sunday! Sunday has mathematician turned musical chemist Dan Snaith, aka Caribou (at NOON fer chrissakes), modern hero James Murphy and his DFA’d electro-disco-funk LCD Soundsystem, the stark, sophisticated and spellbinding restraint of the xx, the reunion of actual heroes Pavement, hip-hop’s original loud-mouth soldiers in Public Enemy, wonky dance-floor evangelists YACHT, and of course the reclusive Massive Attack and their subtle massive attack. But whatever your weekend schedule entails, I’m sure it’ll be worth it’s weight in gold. Or Bud Light tall boys.
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Sunday, May 30:
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| Time | Stage | Band |
| 12:00pm – 12:40pm | Yeti | Dinosaur Feathers |
| 12:05pm – 12:55pm | Sasquatch | Caribou |
| 12:30pm – 1:15pm | Bigfoot | Langhorne Slim |
| 1:00pm – 1:45pm | Yeti | Martina Topley Bird |
| 1:00pm – 1:30pm | Rumpus Room | Rory Scovel |
| 1:10pm – 1:55pm | Sasquatch | Midlake |
| 1:30pm – 2:15pm | Bigfoot | Local Natives |
| 2:00pm – 2:45pm | Rumpus Room | Luke Burbank |
| 2:05pm – 2:50pm | Yeti | Jets Overhead |
| 2:15pm – 3:00pm | Sasquatch | The Long Winters |
| 2:35pm – 3:20pm | Bigfoot | The Tallest Man On Earth |
| 3:10pm – 3:55pm | Yeti | tUnE-yArDs |
| 3:15pm – 4:00pm | Rumpus Room | Rob Riggle |
| 3:20pm – 4:05pm | Sasquatch | They Might Be Giants |
| 3:40pm – 4:25pm | Bigfoot | Cymbals Eat Guitars |
| 4:15pm – 5:00pm | Yeti | Avi Buffalo |
| 4:25pm – 5:10pm | Sasquatch | Kid Cudi |
| 4:30pm – 5:30pm | Rumpus Room | Mike Birbiglia |
| 4:45pm – 5:30pm | Bigfoot | City and Colour |
| 5:20pm – 6:05pm | Yeti | Freelance Whales |
| 5:35pm – 6:35pm | Sasquatch | Tegan and Sara |
| 5:50pm – 6:35pm | Bigfoot | The xx |
| 6:25pm – 7:10pm | Yeti | Vetiver |
| 7:00pm – 7:45pm | Bigfoot | Girls |
| 7:00pm – 8:00pm | Sasquatch | LCD Soundsystem |
| 7:30pm – 8:15pm | Yeti | Fruit Bats |
| 7:30pm – 8:15pm | Rumpus Room | YACHT |
| 8:15pm – 9:15pm | Bigfoot | Dirty Projectors |
| 8:30pm – 9:45pm | Sasquatch | Pavement |
| 8:40pm – 9:25pm | Rumpus Room | A-Trak |
| 9:45pm – 10:45pm | Bigfoot | Public Enemy |
| 10:00pm – 11:00pm | Rumpus Room | Simian Mobile Disco (DJ set) |
| 10:15pm – 11:30pm | Sasquatch | Massive Attack |
| 11:30pm – 11:55pm | Bigfoot | Booka Shade |
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Saturday and Monday schedules after the jump/cut/fold/whatever (my biased preferences in bold).
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Washington Mile’s Simple Hearts Is Bueno
When you roll over to Washington Mile’s MySpace there is quite an abundance of information. I checked it out and there was promises that their music would make you want to do everything from get up and dance to chill out and relax. There was also a list of influences that ranged from Bon Iver to Blind Willie Johnson. So naturally I was expecting quite the variety when listening to this album, and it was totally delivered.
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Their new album, Simple Hearts, starts out with a mellow tone on a short song filled with “oohs” but with a soulful tone then you are plunged into a fast paced dance hall number. And this is basically how the album rolls out slow to fast, no warning just boom. But there seems to be a definite method to this madness, there is a subtle balance of the pace, there will be a stretch of very mellow, chilled out songs, and right when you are winding down into the mood, the album will pick up and you are nice and riled again. It is cool because it was a total surprise, but at the same time this isn’t an album, as a whole, I would specifically think of to influence a certain mood, because of that change. Does that make sense?
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When it comes to the list of influences I could definitely dig it. There were definitely tracks on the album that I got a Bon Iver, soft and isolated feel, and at the same time there were tracks that were definite throw backs to the days of Blind Willie Johnson with a special twang, especially on Have Mercy. I would even be so bold to suggest that I hear a little Bright Eyes similarities, you know, when Conor Oberst went through his country phase.
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So basically I gauged the album like this: I would say this album was pretty country, and I used that blanketed genre term loosely, because I felt a little of everything under that umbrella term. There was a little bluegrass, some folk, a little blues, and some rockabilly. This album was all across the board, if there is one thing that could not be said about this album is that everything “sounds the same.” I really dig that. Some of the tracks weren’t my style but at the same time it was no big deal because the next track would be a whole new sound but still on the same level.
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All in all I would say this album was bueno. I dug it. You should check it out.
Quasi – “Little White Horse”
Here’s the new video for “Little White Horse”, maybe the best song (or at least my favorite) on Quasi‘s ramblin’, rockin’ and rowdy alt-punk record American Gong. Really, you should give it a whirl.
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Seemingly hijacked from some 50s Western TV show or movie, it displays an ornery, fed up mustang, er, “going off” on a meathead of a black bear. I mean, I know the bear growled at him and everything, but did he really need to stomp the poor guy into oblivion?? Also, I’m confused by the ethical foot put forward by the man and boy who apparently condone this belligerent behavior from their livestock. The 50s were such an odd time.
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Partman Parthorse Album Release @ the Funhouse
| Friday, June 11, 2010 | ||
| 9:30 pm |
So there’s this poster. What’s going on with that guy’s penis, anyway? It looks like one of those banner advertisements trailing behind a plane (what happened to those, btw?). Is this pose yoga-porn? Factoid: frontdude Gary Smith, who likes getting “fairly nude” on stage, moonlights as a yoga instructor.
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Mash Hall (you know, the rap-rap-rappers who used to be They Live!) and Scraps will be helping PMPH celebrate the release of their 3rd album, Emerald City Dummies. We (I) told you about that shit-talkin’ video the band put out recently, so maybe a brawny beef will break out? Only time will tell, dudes, only time will tell. DON’T FUCK WITH THE HORSE.
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9:30 pm
$6 / 21+
