Seattle Subsonic - August, 2010
Exhibitchin’ – 60′s Soul and Garage Dance Party @ the EMP
| Saturday, August 7, 2010 | ||
| 9:00 pm | ||
| 9:00 pm |
EMP|SFM are opening the doors late for the second annual Exhibitchin’. A Dance party extraordinaire featuring funky soul sounds of the true 60′s style Moonspinners as well as grimey garage rockers The Basements guaranteed to get your bones a-shakin’.
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There will also be DJ’s spinning their favorite 60′s beach rock and dance tunes along with prizes for Best Dancer and Hottest Outfit so shine those spats and come dressed to impress.
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Bumbershoot Music Lounge Acts filling up fast
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Amongst the hustle and bustle of Bumbershoot, there is a tiny reprive. The Music Lounge sponsored by KEXP features some of the best bands at the event nestled into intimate venues around the grounds. Below you’ll find the bands that will be featured at this year’s Bumbershoot. In order to reserve a seat you must visit the KEXP website and register, but hurry, seats are filling up fast!
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Saturday, September 4: Plants and Animals, Justin Townes Earle, The Budos Band, Visqueen, The Raveonettes
Sunday, September 5: Fences, David Bazan, Aterciopelados, Horse Feathers, Surfer Blood
Monday, September 6: Ra Ra Riot, The Moondoggies, Bomba Estéreo, The Thermals, The English Beat
Ha Ha Tonka @ Sunset 8/12
| Thursday, August 12, 2010 | ||
| 9:00 pm |
So now that I am a big fan of the very cool venue The Sunset and this band right out of Springfield, MO, Ha Ha Tonka, Im thinking this is going to be a killer show. They have been spreading their folky goodness on tour since late July. Cheeeck them ooouuuuut.
Who: Ha Ha Tonka w/ Chris Mills, and the Grandtours
Where: The Sunset Tavern
How: $8
When: Thursday, Aug 12 @ 9pm
CHBP: Odds & Ends
Ok, ONE more Block Party post and then I’ll knock it off. I just wanted to collect some closing thoughts on the potpourri I had rolling around in my head. Nothing to heady (heh), just some leftover observations I wanted to get onto paper AND INTO YOUR BRAIN.
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Holy Fuck: I’ll get to the Main Stage in a moment, but despite the hard-hitting thump of these Canucks (couldn’t quite rhyme it with Fuck; sorry), their sonic impact was unfortunately diminished once you were a block away from the stage. Sure they sounded like all hell broke loose—in a very tight, controlled way—and their instrumental funk bombast was successful in summoning hips, arms and other extremities rapidly to and fro, but when the volume isn’t there, then neither is the impact. I also don’t think their new one, Latin, is quite as good as their debut.
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Beach Fossils: Catchy, driving and pleasurable. But also way too Joy Division-y. I recognized at least one riff cribbed from Unknown Pleasures, and my trusty CHBP companion said the same for Power, Corruption & Lies. Good for a lark, but I probably won’t be investigating further.
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Mad Rad: Probably one of the more anticipated afternoon sets of the weekend, the crowd was a healthy one out to see just what new shenanigans P Smoov, Buffalo Madonna, and Radjaw had up their sleeves. Turns out it was Prep School off-kilter crooning. The trio + Darwin played up their white boy image with dapper duds in various shades of pastel (yellow, pink, red, white, etc.), and seemed to take their new songs in a different direction from White Gold, which is to say…there was more singing than expected, especially from B. Madonna. But there were also new tunes that felt like the old Mad Rad, with Smoov’s Espresso beats seemingly taking charge of much of their new tricks. “Caveman” had a bit too much aggro, natch (“Fuck you / that’s how we do ’round here”), and “Blood” was a nice tribute to Oregon and its beautiful coast. Favorites like “Crack the Blunt”, “My Product” and “Superdope!” still roused the crowd more than any other tunes. The dudes were super spastic and über limbo, per usual, and even had a cello player on stage for a little while. In fact, the whole set felt very “collabo” (apparently the new lingo for “collaboration”—not sure why it had to be shortened), as Trent Moorman (Head Like A Kite) emphatically pummeled a drum kit, Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam-ers Jared Price and Ben Verdoes pristinely picked their strings on a few new songs, and their set ended with a very “I Love My Friends” onstage dance party with several homies and local hip hoppers. If 2009 was the year they made enemies, then 2010 is undoubtedly the year they’re trying the opposite.
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Dead Weather: I think I like the idea of this band more than their actual music. I’m a big fan of its musicians, and even their sunless vamp-rock aesthetic doesn’t really chap my bleach-white hide. Of course, like pretty much all main stage acts during the CHBP, I couldn’t see much on stage (this had to have been one of the most well attended sets of the weekend). In fact, we ended up going to the Shell Station on the corner of Broadway and Pike to get a better view and sound. It was a slight improvement. Their music snarls and snakes and pounds and pushes, but I’m not sure it’s all that revelatory. Maybe it needn’t be. Or maybe I need to actually listen to the records. Or maybe I just need to listen to the Kills and the White Stripes and the Raconteurs and keep it at that.
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Main Stage sound: Royally sucked. Get better at this next year, Block Party.
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Crowd/space: To be clear, it never felt too crowded unless you were at the Main Stage. You could walk freely up and down the corridor, lines at the beer garden and Honeybuckets were minimal outside of a few peak times, and the general suffocation factor was surprisingly low. But the Main Stage at night was a complete clusterfuck, and combined with the low volume of the speakers, it made for a rather unsatisfactory experience. I’ve been a pretty unabashed supporter/attendee of this festival for many years, but I’m not ignorant or blind. I think if the Block Party continues to grow like it has the past few years, then I don’t see how it can’t relocate in order to make it worth the time and money.
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Also, here’s a handy synopsis of all my WONDERFUL Block Party coverage. Don’t you dare say I don’t love you.
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CHBP Friday: U.S.F.
CHBP Friday: Shabazz Palaces
CHBP Friday: Champagne Champagne
CHBP Friday: Mahjongg
CHBP Saturday: Obits
CHBP Saturday: Blood Red Dancers
CHBP Saturday: Happy Birthday
CHBP Saturday: !!!
CHBP Sunday: Real Estate
CHBP Sunday: THEESatisfaction
Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground & The Head and The Heart @ Columbia City Theater
| Friday, August 6, 2010 | ||
| 9:00 pm |
More Goodness Coming out of the Columbia City Theater. This Friday (Aug 6th) Our friends over at Sound on the Sound are putting on another amazing night of local music. Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground will be head lining with openers The Head and The Heart. If you have not seen the Head and The Heart yet (they played an amazing set at Block Party) you should make your way up to see this show.
9pm 12$
Kendra Morris is Back and is as Souful as Ever
Once upon a time on a blog that I wrote for long ago, I introduced Seattle to a stand out young crooner from the big apple, Kendra Morris. She’s out of the closet, where she once recorded her jams and has stepped up into the big time with a new self titled collection of soulful and heart-gripping tunes. You’ll hear tinges of Amy Winehouse, Alicia Keys and Erykah Badu mixed in with 60s soul; what comes out is purely and uniquely Kendra.
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One might never expect such a rich and mighty voice to emerge from Kendra Morris’ petite frame. Her potency as a singer and performer grew from a childhood immersed in music, traveling with her family to perform gospel in the prison ministries and asylums of St. Petersburg, Florida. Kendra moved to New York in 2003, making music inside a tiny closet with only a guitar and 8-track recorder, always keeping it simple – an aesthetic that continues to shape her sound. The southern influence of the soul and humidity in her voice adds a raw energy that one would attribute to a generation long lost to the internet and digital media.
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Morris’ voice is a courier to a world where story telling is the only means for passing on life’s lessons, humor, and drama. After releasing two self-produced EP’s she teamed up with seasoned producer Jeremy Page (The Cars, Ed OG, That Handsome Devil) to work on this self-titled EP. The collaboration has birthed a collage of tracks that echo the music and experiences of her childhood. Kendra’s real strength lies in combining mysticism and the strange emotions invoked by the human spirit.
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Kendra’s powerful voice has been featured on projects for MTV networks, Nair, Electro-Harmonix and an upcoming collaboration with rapper AZ. You can purchase the EP for $5 (and hear it too in its entirety) at: www.kendramorrismusic.com.
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Rat City Brass @ Sky Church
| Thursday, August 5, 2010 | ||
| 6:30 pm | ||
| 6:30 pm |
Oh man! What a venue! What a band! This is going to be one of those shows that you are going to remember forever. I can just feel it! If you are a fan of that big-band brassy kind of music and just killer venues, why not hit is up. Its free. BOOM, magic word has been said. Free.
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Rat City Brass is playing at the Sky Church at the Experience Music Project. This is not to be missed.
Who: Rat City Brass
When: Saturday, Aug. 5
Where: Sky Church @ Experience Music Project
How: Free! Yea thats right. You are not paying to get into the EMP, go to the Sky Church entrance to see this show. But, I mean, if you want to check out the EMP as well, thats cool. Its like 15 bones I hear.
Henry Clay People @ Paramount
When I first walked into the Paramount I was immediately struck by how beautiful this venue was and the architecture on the inside, the chandeliers, everything… man it was nice. So to think of such acts as Henry Clay People and Against Me! playing on that stage was kind of far fetched… I thought. But, naturally, one shouldn’t make assumptions, because it worked, and it worked well. The raging- “I don’t give a shit” rock attitude that goes with these bands’ sounds was only more complimented, and made epic by this venue of class rather than some beer stained dive bar.
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Henry Clay People were impeccably punctual, had a killer set, their amazing sound echoing so well throughout the Paramount. As an opener, the band was really just there to have fun, and that means just rock out with-out a care in the world. And that is what they do well, so basically just a great set to catch. Anyone who showed up early enough to catch it was in for a real treat.
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Next up, Against Me! took the stage and just rocked it. It was fun to wander to the mezzanine and see all the people sitting down through this set. Really, I can’t get over this venue for this band it was classic. I suppose I should open my mind a little more to the possibilities. But an all around rock out set that sounded great.
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Lastly, the Silversun Pickups, great show. How Brian Aubert gets his voice to sound like that is beyond me. His speaking voice is just so much different. Siversun Pickups set was great though, full of dancing. Aubert was sure to give love to Seattle, listing off all the places that he has played from an acoustic set at Sonic Boom to the stage of the Paramount he had only love to share.
Autolux New Album Out August 3rd
LA based Autolux second album, Transit Transit, comes out Tuesday on TBD Records. And for those of you who have been waiting patiently since 2004, when their first album, Future Perfect, came out don’t worry, the wait was worth it. Like a fine wine, this bands fermentation did not change their over-all style and sound, however, it did mature it. (Yea, you like that analogy) The stand out aspects of the band’s sound from Future Perfect to Transit Transit is really the progression of the manipulation of sounds. Its bolder and has more of a dynamic sound that sets Autolux apart from the other shoegazing bands that are usually listed amongst their genre peers.
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Transit Transit has a real dreamy quality about it. I would put this album on in the background for some nice ambiance or I would listen to it in the foreground when I was looking to be in a certain mood. I appreciate the simplicity of the three member line-up but each having their own standout ability. You can hear each instruments progression separately, yet in the collective and it works so well together like perfect harmony. I got so much from each song, I wanted to draw comparisons from all across the board. My favorite was, of course, the well known Audience No. 2, in which I felt a kindling to Sunny Day Real Estate. Another stand-out track is the opener Transit Transit. It is a perfect opener for this album, it sort of guides the listener slowly into what the album has to offer. I’m not sure how this band pieced together this album, but I would assume that this was a strategic placement, and perfectly done.
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Check out the album on Tuesday. I highly recommend it. Then you will be ready to see Autolux live at Neumos on the 14th. They have a full tour ahead of them so I am thinking this will be a great show.
Autolux @ Neumos
| Saturday, August 14, 2010 | ||
| 8:00 pm | ||
| 8:00 pm |
Autolux is going to be playing at Neumos on the 14th of August. That is roughly 12 days after the release of their second album Transit Transit on TBD Records.
Who: Autolux, w/ This Will Destroy You!
Where: Neumos
When: Saturday, August 14, 2010 @ 8pm
How: $12 adv 21+
2010 No Depression Festival @ Marymoor Park
| Saturday, August 21, 2010 | ||
| 12:00 pm |
2010 No Depression Festival
Live at Marymoor Park
Saturday, August 21 – Gates open at Noon
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The No Depression Festival features The Swell Season (Glen Hansgard and Marketa Irglova of the movie “Once”), folk/rock/country singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams, The Cave Singers, Punch Brothers, Alejandro Escovedo (No Depression’s 1998 Artist of the Decade), Chuck Prophet and Sera Cahoone. Tickets are $45 in advance (not including fees) and on sale now at Ticketmaster locations, online at Ticketmaster.com, by phone at 1-800-745-3000, or www.STGPresents.org.
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Black Happy is BACK!!
| Friday, August 6, 2010 | ||
| 7:00 pm | ||
| Friday, August 20, 2010 | ||
| 7:00 pm |
Seattle music goers you are in for a fucking treat! For the first time in 15 years one of the most underrated and unknown superstar NW bands Black Happy is reuniting for five shows in August, three of which are already sold out. August 6-7 at the Knitting Factory in Spokane, and August 20-22 at the Crocodile right here in Seattle. The 7th in Spokane and 22nd in Seattle still have tickets available, but there is a reason they sold out the first three shows in 15 years and why extra nights were added. The impact they made on the NW before they split in 1995 was huge, and deserving of every bit of hype about their reunion.
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Check the full show preview here:
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Black Happy – Peghead – Bullmonkey
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