Seattle Subsonic - May, 2010
The ‘Circustry’ That Is Horace Pickett
Horace Pickett are not reinventing the wheel. Instead, they take a bunch of already constructed wheels, patch them together into one rickety dust-wagon and take it for a nice, leisurely drive. They’ve recently released their first, self-titled full length and the progressive, sporadic song structure makes it a great record for the ADD-afflicted (and mustache-clad). Songs are arranged with subtle complexity and their clever hooks hang around just long enough to be appreciated and then depart just as that annoying friend of yours gets the idea he/she wants to sing along. It’s a well-crafted mixing pot of folk rock, Americana, vaudeville, big top circustry (I’m trying to coin a new word in every review I write, c’mon! stick!!) and half a dozen other seasonings. It’s impossible not to take delight in their tongue-and-cheek approach to fictional storytelling and I ain’t gonna fight it. I won’t!
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I’ll put it this way: someday in the near future you’re going to wake up and it’s going to be sunny and 75 degrees. Call in sick to work, pick up some beer, find two rocking chairs, call me, press play, and we’ll get started on that beer around 11 am. Maybe we’ll play whiffle ball. Maybe we’ll let a dog eat ice cream off our faces. Maybe we’ll paint our toenails an ironic shade of black. Maybe we’ll attach silver spurs to our Chuck Taylor’s. Maybe we’ll learn to juggle knives. Maybe we’ll wink at the garbage man. Maybe Horace Pickett will walk by and nod approvingly. It would be an injustice to listen to this album and not do one of those things. Seriously. Fucking call me. If nothing else, make them a stop on your stroll through the Folk Life Festival, and get your termite tuxedo tailored for god’s sake.
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For fans of: Tom Waits, Page France, Why?, and… dare I say… Randy Newman? Does he have fans? I mean other than me and every mom that saw Toy Story? You be the judge.
Get your pantalones del partido! Lucha VaVOOM is this weekend.
This Sunday May 16th at 7:00, the Showbox SoDo will be transformed into an arena of hedonism, debauchery, acrobatics and all things BIEN!
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I don’t know what I can possibly say about this event that won’t be immediately trumped by the video below. Explosive, acrobatic masked Lucha Libres (Mexican Wrestlers), scantily clad burlesque dancers, comedy acts, musicical interludes, cross dressers, chicken costumes, pogo sticking strippers, hoola hooping, … gaw! There is more action packed into every moment than all of the Die Hard movies combined. I guess we should just consider ourselves lucky to be included in the the seven-city tour of this vivacious spectacle. See you there!
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Lucha VaVOOM Sizzle Reel from Redbird Management on Vimeo.
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Sunday May 16th at the Showbox SoDo.
7:00 Tix are $24 but every second should be packed band for your buck!
You Might Check Out The Young Evils
It might not be the most common phrase ever uttered, but I think Troy Nelson might be my favorite DJ on KEXP. He just always seems to play the albums that I wanna hear, the up and coming bands that I’m interested in, the contemporary stalwarts I’ve fell in love with, and with just enough vintage cuts to keep it interesting. I love it especially when he fills in for John Richards on the Morning Show (not that I don’t like John, but his shows are often too repetitive and entrenched in the early 80s UK scene. Also, his undying love for exultant and/or twangy guitar bands is kind of annoying). I guess we just have similar tastes.
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Why am I posting this drivel? Because Nelson has a new band with his sweetheart Mackenzie Mercer and local drummer Mark Pickerel (no word on whether his praying hands are included), plus a few others. I haven’t spent a ton of time with the music, but if fresh, acoustic-driven soulful ditties are your “thang”, then you might check out the Young Evils. That description might not immediately pique your interest, but upon aural inspection, I think you’ll find some toe-tappin’ sincerity, playful male/female vox, and some fiercely keen wordplay. Think the Dutchess & the Duke without so much doom and gloom, or a less saccharine She & Him. And somewhere in the poppy middle of country and rock.
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No LPs yet, but they already have a video!
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Hat tip to Trent Moorman for this interview.
Anticipatory Records To Stream Right Now (Including Band Of Horses)
Just wanted to make sure everyone knew about the records that are streaming out there on the web right now:
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Band of Horses, Infinite Arms: Official website (listening now; they’re still moving away from Everything All The Time; will reserve judgment.) Watch “the making of” the album here.
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Thee Oh Sees, Warm Slime: Spinner (I’m diggin’ it, not too different from Help. The first song is like 10 13 minutes long, which is different.)
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The Black Keys, Brother: NPR (haven’t heard it yet, but this guy sure likes it.)
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The National, High Violet: Spinner (haven’t heard it yet, but this gal sure likes it.)
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LCD Soundsystem, This Is Happening: NPR and official website (I love it).
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Get ‘em while they hot! And I’m sure you sexy little sleuths could find some more. I did my best.
Hilarious Butts Video Alert
Leave it to Rachel Ratner and Shannon Perry of Butts to hilariously de-sexualize the phrase “panty exchange”. The world premiere of the video for their song with the same name (listen to it here) occurred last Friday night at the ever-awesome Funhouse. Due to the wonders of the internets, you can now watch it here on repeat for all eternity (provided our server isn’t blown up by the Russians—we’re still enemies with them, right?). From kissin’ cousins and illicit caper planning to workout montages and shoreside Yoga (or is it Tai Chi?), this is one music video you don’t wanna miss. Written and directed by Carlos Lopez, who has an obvious affection for Wes Anderson’s gleeful shenanigans and also plays bass in the scrappy local band Scraps.
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Speaking of said Funhouse show, it was awesome, as expected. Ratner and Perry played their set outside on the basketball tarmacadam, and rounded it out with new songs, new jokes, and the aforementioned video. Spurm, a glam-rock “collective” who played next, was a bit too drunk on itself and left me unsatisfied. I liked the idea they were going for (and the PMPH cover of “Lil Dude” they performed), but the music didn’t grab me. Jordan T. Adams’ topless Mascara antics were certainly entertaining, though. Man, when did TacocaT become kind of awesome? They seem to have graduated from a tinny, lo-fi version of brat-punk to a teeming, full-fledged better-sounding version. First time I saw them, I thought they were cute; this time I thought they were excellent. And, finally, the Unnatural Helpers kicked the door down like they always do. They were a bit sloppier than last time, but it didn’t matter. They rock.
Lucha VaVOOM! @ Showbox SoDo
| Sunday, May 16, 2010 | ||
| 7:00 pm |
Are YOU FRIGGING KIDDING ME?!?!?
I don’t know what I can possibly say about this event that won’t be immediately trumped by the video below. Explosive, acrobatic masked Lucha Libres (Mexican Wrestlers), scantily clad burlesque dancers, comedy acts, music, cross dressers, chicken costumes… gaw! We are lucky to be included in the the seven-city tour of this vivacious spectacle.
Sunday May 16th at the Showbox SoDo. 7:00 Tix are $24 but every second should be packed band for your buck!
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Lucha VaVOOM Sizzle Reel from Redbird Management on Vimeo.
Subsonic featured on KBCS – “On the Blogs”
Every week, KBCS producer Toby Scott highlights a Northwest blog writing about something really cool or on an unusual topic. On Wed May 5th, KBCS turned to us to for a look into the workings of Seattle Subsonic. Toby was kind and talented enough to take my prattlings and compress them into a cohesive 2 minutes. We’ve been dubbed as the Emerald City music blog “..savvy music listeners turn to.” It’s nice to get a little recognition as we embark into our second year of existence. Thanks to all our writers, our (savvy) readers and Seattle’s vast talent pool of musicians for helping keep us afloat.
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On the Blogs airs every Wednesday at 7:05 a.m. during The Takeaway, but if that’s just too damn early you can always check the archives here.
The Physics Drop ‘Three Piece’
GO DOWNLOAD THIS IMMEDIATELY.
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I’ve made no secret of the fact that The Physics are probably my favorite group making music in Seattle. What they represent, their musical vibe, beats, flows, ect connect with my tastes and represent that illusive unicorn that is the “Seattle Sound” in a way that few have.
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I thought it would be impossible to improve on the masterpiece that was ‘High Society,’ but they did. I damn near wore that EP out last Summer and it was one of only a pair of local releases to make my top 25 list last year. This three song collection is a further departure from the ‘beats and raps’ side of local hip-hop and crosses the line into that more soulful/jazzy territory that really shows their appreciation for the genres and their growth as artists.
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So enough words…go download that ish and let the music do the talking.
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The Thrill Ain’t Gone Nowhere
The Black Keys have returned from some unexpected side projects with a winner. I’ve had a copy of Brothers for a few weeks and in typical new ‘Keys record fashion, it’s been in heavy rotation.
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There are a few remarkable influences in this record, and as fate would have it, I am grateful to have been well-prepared for my first listen of Brothers after a long spell of Otis Redding and Sam Cooke tunes in the past months. Because I think this record might strike you as “different” or “a departure”, I am going to suggest a few more artists to consider as prerequisite before getting the most out of this record: B.B. King, Aretha Franklin, WAR, The Spinners, and if someone ho you’ve missed it, Muddy Waters‘ Electric Mud.
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I’ll also contend that you’d be missing part of the progression of the band if you haven’t played Attack & Release (2008), guitairist Dan Auerbach’s solo record Keep It Hid (2009) and the Blakrok collaboration record, also from last year. Brothers, like Attack & Release, is again produced by Danger Mouse. Knowing that, you may detect a different sound right off the bat with “Everlasting Light” but if not, you’ll might catch the ghost of Gnarls Barkley by the time you’re listening to “Too Afraid to Love You”. Be it the producer’s influence alone or otherwise, this record crams more sound, and more new sounds into it. There are far more layers of guitars, especially effective on “Unknown Brother” and “The Only One” with new rich acoustic guitar tracks in the rhythm section of the former song, and the keys on the latter. Lessons in funk and rhythm – honed, distilled, and exploited to create the entire Blakrok experience – are mobilized again for “Sinister Kid” (perhaps written after hearing WAR’s “Lowrider” on a jukebox one night?) and also in the fuzzed out bass groove of “Next Girl”, a song any Band of Gypsys fan can instantly appreciate. Even Dan’s voice gets “effected” – in the opener, “Everlasting Light” and most notably in “Never Give You Up”, some studio magic takes us back to a golden age of Motown. It’s very unexpected, but successful in its devotion to their signature “mid-fi” sound.
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This record is going to pay dividends to those that have been listening from the beginning. It’s a jump from Rubber Factory and Thickfreakness, which were bare-bones, (mostly) two instrument stomps that was faithfully recreated in their packed live shows, but it follows on logically from A&R, Keep It Hid and Blakrok. While this album sounds great cranked up to 11 in the house, on might think it will be quite a different Keys show if more than two people are on stage come October. For this reason I am reminded that a Brothers tour does not mean “playing the album front to back” with an encore of “Grown So Ugly” and “Till I Get My Way.” In the shows I have seen in past, the band masterfully produces the essence of their songs, foregoing rhythm guitarists, programmers, backup singers and bassists. I’m optimistic that the boys will create another facemelter of a show from their ever-expanding catalog of songs.
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It was overheard this week that “if i had just heard this as their first record, i wouldn’t buy another”. I see it from a different angle – I don’t want Pat and Dan to produce The Big Come Up nor Rubber Factory again. What would the 60s have been Help! and A Hard Day’s Night represented the breadth of the Beatles? A decade of The Black Keys ought to take you new places, and Brothers surely does.
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The Black Keys play the Paramount on Friday October 2. Presale tickets just became available through their website.
Ratatat’s LP4 Release Date Confirmed
Ratatat have confirmed their fourth album, conveniently named LP4, is set to be out in the US on June 8 on XL Recordings. And like many technology embracing artist these days, they have released a free track for our listening pleasure, Party With Children. It is available for download at Pitchfork, Drowned in Sound, or any number of google searchable sites. You can also stream the new song on youtube with this amazing video of a… I want to say parakeet.
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The new song does not waiver at all from Ratatat’s style. It could go on any other of their older albums. Apparently Mike Stroud of Ratatat told Paste Magazine that this new album would be filled with “weird, new sounds.” Unfortunately, Im not really getting that “new” vibe off of this track. There seems to be a little more experimentation with talking samples, but other than that, it is clearly and unmistakably Ratatat.
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Im not sure what I was expecting from these gentlemen from Brooklyn on their fourth album, I thought maybe all that time hanging out with Kid Cudi would totally change their style. I hope I don’t sound disappointed, but I am definitely not shocked or surprised, and that is kind of a bummer.
There is word that the album has already leaked and you can get the track list basically anywhere. I am intrigued by the back to back tracks names “Drugs” and “Neckbrace,” but that is just my curiosity working. There is one thing I will say this about the new album for sure: that cover is god-damn amazing, and I am not particularly a bird person.
Shabazz Palaces Gives Us A Glimpse
Since nobody in this town has quite shot their load yet* writing about the Central District’s new favorite shrouded son, Shabazz Palaces, it’s nice to see a national medium cranking up the spotlight. Pitchfork recently interviewed the hermetic Palaceer Lazaro, aka Ishmael “Butterfly” Butler, and it’s a quality read. Some choice quotes:
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“We all feel, that this new era, this contentual era– where content drives information– is not interesting. It’s not unique. None of the questions that are usually asked are very revealing.”
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“I just like the idea of earning a fan, a listener, an ear, a mood, a heart, rather than being placed in front of somebody with some sort of pre-determined outlook– for someone to either adapt or not adapt based on what has been pushed on the plate in front of them. It also serves to help us, longevity-wise, when you have a slow grind. You know everything you gained along the way belongs to you. It’s a genuine thing. It also allows us to be a little bit more concentrated, intimate with the people that dig us. We appreciate that slow roll.”
I know I haven’t written about Shabazz Palaces much at all, but I’ve had the double EP for several months now, and it’s pretty much one of the most solid hip-hop records I’ve ever heard. Granted, I’m a white kid from Capitol Hill so that claim might not mean much, but I listened to quite a bit o’ that shizznit back in the 90s when everyone else was doin’ the same. And, really, solid does the music little justice. It’s about as innovative and mystical as one could hope from any record, let alone one of the hip-hop breed. It ebbs and flows like most things, but ingeniously and non-directionally. It thumps with the deepest of bass and turns your neck into rubber. And it takes you on trippy travels with subliminal thought provocation. Anyhow, the last local band Pitchfork interviewed? Fleet Foxes. I’m just sayin’.
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If you haven’t peeped it yet, here’re my favorites, the mindfuck, too-clouded-to-be-conscious trifecta that closes Of Light:
n.splendored_find out (part 2)
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*that’s a wee bit of sarcasm for ya
Unnatural Helpers, TacocaT, Spurm, & Butts At The Funhouse Tomorrow
videos, VIdeos, VIDEOS!! All I ever post are VIDEOS!! Eh, who cares. Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em, that’s what I say. This one’s brand new, by the way:
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The Unnatural Helpers will spend their evening at the Funhouse tomorrow night (5/7) celebrating the release of their whiplash-fast rock record, Cracked Love & Other Drugs. There are some serious “no frills” shit-kickers on this record and I guarantee this show will be a sweaty mass of unadulterated fun. UNADULTERATED.
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And not just because of the Helpers, but because of all the other jackanapes and whippersnappers that will also be rockin’ and not stoppin’. Let’s see here if I can succinctly categorize the rest. TacocaT: snotty punk racket-makers. Spurm: spazzoid carnival hooligan punksters. Butts: daffy duo party brats. Hmm, yes, that will do.
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Funhouse (they lost the big clown face recently!)
9:30 (PM, you guys)
700 cents
