Seattle Subsonic - July, 2011
Remember Reggie…?
Ex-Seattle Rennaissance man, Reggie Watts, has put his mark on over a dozen local bands but is probably known best as the lead vocalist for Maktub (and my favorite- Das Root). Watts been stirring up the music/comedy/visual arts scene in NYC for the past 7 years and has begun turning his talents into straight dolla dolla bills. Check out this great promo he did for Nando’s Restaurants. Consider it the tip of Reggie’s iceberg of skills.
If you dig, you’ve got a chance to see the miracle worker himself perform at the newly renovated Neptune venue in the U-District on Aug 21. (tix here!)
Bite On This: Soft Metals
Hey, are you a gold prospector, fur trapper or just an old fashioned wilderness explorer looking for something to sink your teeth into?! Then this band is for YOU!
Just kidding (I think), but Portland’s dark, dancey duo/couple-in-love Soft Metals is currently rupturing the floor circuit in that weird town south of the Columbia. Sounds like they may be relocating to L.A., however. Their first full length has recently been released by Captured Tracks (label founded by Blank Dogs‘ Mike Sniper) and is, how you say, “a banger”. Not in the traditional sense, but in some odd sense that’s floating around my head right now. The witchy, underworldly vocals come courtesy of Patricia Hall and both her and Ian Hicks collaborate on expunging the early-aughts goth-club disco and Ladytron-inspired synths/beats/atmospheres from their immortal souls. Darkwave? Yes. Industrial? A li’l bit. House? You betcha.
You could always just go listen to their Soundcloud page, but why do that when you could stay right here, and take a small bite for yourself? These are my favorite tracks off that self-titled album.
The Cold World Melts (2011 Album Version) by Soft Metals
Voices (2011 Album Version) by Soft Metals
All you Portlanders, they play East End TONIGHT.
Gritty blues on the cheap tonight with C-Leb and the Kettle Black (7/27)
With their first LP just over the horizon, C-Leb and the Kettle Black have ground their grimey sound to a fine jagged edge. Fans of the site (all 6 of you) may may be more familiar with C-Leb’s electronica based works with the likes of A-Bro. I can assure you that this is a totally new creature. The music is inspired by 30′s and 40′s blues artists and infused with some more modern electric riffs and backed with the gruff whiskey-soaked vocals C-leb himself .
CL&TKB open the night taking the stage at 9:00 sharp. Tix are only $6. Lets party!
See you there.
What’s With All The Nudity Lately?! – Austra “The Beat and The Pulse”
I mean, it’s not like nudity is a nu thing, but there are certainly more liberties being taken these days with the freedom of the ol’ internet, a.k.a. the only place music videos survive. And there are probably those of you out there who’d like to see a little more male nudity, but it just doesn’t seem to “sell” like the lady kind. For now, Google images for “David Beckham topless” seems like your best bet. Har Har.
This video is for Toronto’s icy cool electronic band Austra, with the entrancing Katie Stelmanis on lead vocals. Didn’t manage to catch their set last Saturday at the CHBP (lines into Neumos were redonkulous), but word from my sis is that it was unrelentingly awesome.
Austra – Beat and the Pulse from Claire Edmondson on Vimeo.
This is also a good song/video:
Sweet Vid! More Pics! of Handsome Furs at CHBP 2011
Don’t you kind of hate when people use the words ‘vid’ or ‘pics’? I do. This whole internet/computer BS is turning our language into useless, abbreviated crapola.
Anyway, here’s a quality video I shot on Saturday of “What About Us”. Dan was so wasted. I’m not quite sure what kind of boots those were, but they could probably stomp your face in. The stage volume could’ve been better.
Photos:
Capitol Hill Block Party LIVE!
Photos and (pretty lame on-the-go) commentary from Saturday.
Arrived in time to see Lovers at the Vera Stage. So far, the PDX electro-ballad trio has delivered one of the more passionate performances I’ve seen from them. They are, without a doubt, making alliances with their appliances.
The crowd absolutely ate it up!
Next up, Handsome Furs. The duo, during soundcheck, look fierce. They will slay. Not two songs in, Dan Boeckner asked if anyone would sell him mushrooms for his road trip through the Rockies tomorrow. Some kid next to me will apparently oblige (and he was stoked about it).
They indeed slayed. Dan was severely wasted and Alexei did her crazy rock star calisthenics the whole time. They are two crazy kids in love (awwwww).
Found art:
Teen Daze at the Vera. People are gettin high (seriously, pot smoke everywhere this year) and groovin to the slinky, vintage beats. The bass is a bit much, but set closer “Let’s Rock This Dagobah System” was OUT OF THIS WORLD. LITERALLY.
Consumption so far: Big Mario’s slice (tomato and basil), steak bahn mi and ono taco (Kahlua pork) from Fusion on the Run truck, many Mirror Ponds, Moscow Mule shot from Quinn’s.
Now, LSF. Harrington seems particularly decked out already. Three costume changes in four songs. Crowd surfing, shirtless/superhero hijinx, and now singing from the 2nd story of the building across from the Shell station. Amazing! The band soldiers on, tight and on point as usual. The tarpaulin appears! As does a crazy rainbow shag overcoat thingy.
The Sweat Descends, and an eagle head mascot is donned.
Oh, Les Savy Fav, you make me shake, you make me shiver! (Careful, these pictures really suck!)
(Editor’s Note: I edited this on Monday.)
Amy Winehouse Dies at 27
Amy Winehouse, known as well for dragging Soul music to the forefront of the rock-n-roll scene as for her bouts in rehab, was found dead at 4:05pm this afternoon in her apartment in London. The death is “unexplained” but not thought to be suspicious, according to police. Sadly but not surprisingly an overdose of drink and drugs are the suspected cause of death.
Amy, along with her 50′s glam and 00′s tattoos, came raging into the limelight in 2006 with her second release “Back in Black” which received countless accolades. Her music is riddled with references to heartache, breakups and ironically, rehab. All reflective of her tumultuous lifestyle. Not only did she introduce a new genre of singer songwriter to the industry but she helped open doors for many other women musicians. I can’t even begin to say how saddened I am to hear this news. May she find her peace.
More NSFW – “Close Your Eyes” by USF
This video is also rated NSFW, but mostly because it might give your coworkers epilepsy than for anything else.
USF – “Close Your Eyes” (NSFW) from USF Band on Vimeo.
The Seattle electronica will release The Spray on October 25th through Circle Into Square Records. Download/listen to the .mp3 below:
What About Us — NSFW!!!!!
God, I really love this band. This video cements that (as if it needed any more liquid masonry), and it’s, by the way, NOT SAFE FOR WORK = NSFW = WATCH IT!!
Handsome Furs – “What About Us” from stereogum on Vimeo.
This was released a few weeks ago, Sound Kapital is awesome, blah blah blah. To Saturday!
p.s. Here’s what happened last time they played Seattle.
Mens Room Original Red, Fisher House, Out Like Pluto
Seems I’m something of an alcohol critic lately, or maybe just an alcohol reporter. Fine by me. I had the private wine tasting, the Wine, Women and Song show, and now a beer. The Mens Room Original Red by Elysian Brewing. We’ll get to the tasting in a bit, but first, if you’re unfamiliar with the story of this beer, here goes:
The Mens Room is the afternoon show on KISW (99.9 FM here in Seattle), and it’s basically just four guys talking about all the things four grown men will talk about in the absence of women, except of course for the fact that they’re on the radio. They have a good chemistry though, and thus a wide appeal. From what I gather, it’s a popular show. People like to listen to these guys go on, and they do, and they’re funny. When I’m driving home after work, I often find myself smiling at what one of them is saying as if I’m right there in the studio with them. I’ll catch myself at those times, look up to notice the slowness of the traffic I’m in, see the guy in the car next to me looking over and wondering what the hell is so funny in my car.
So they talk, and in the course of everything said during their four hour program, one thing comes up again and again … and again. Alcohol. They like to drink. I’ll repeat. They. Like. To. Drink. Men after my own heart for sure. One of the people who edited early versions of my book said of the main character, “Man, he’s drinking all the time.” That’s The Mens Room, but there are four of them which means four times the booze. So what do four guys who have a radio show and a fondness for beer do? Well, when they’re friends with the guys at Elysian Brewing, they get drunk with said friends and do what any of us beer lovers would do with such friends. They make the suggestion, “You know, we’d love to have our own beer.” The guys at Elysian just happend to like the idea so it was born out of a drunken moment, and, I imagine, an arm around a shoulder, some leaning in, “You know…” Read the rest of this entry »
Shabazz Sighting And Truncated Thoughts On Black Up
So, this little story will likely seem pretty weird to many of you. While I do relish a good local celebrity sighting, I realize an encounter with one may not make for the sexiest story. I’ll see musicians walking around town all the time (my wife claims she almost ran over Fleet Foxes frontman Robin Pecknold with her car once, which would’ve totally ALTERED HISTORY), or, once, I offered my seat in the cramped confines of the Pike St. Fish Fry to Almost Live funnywoman Nancy Guppy. I think we even shared a few laughs (LOL). Mostly though, I’m generally pretty good at leaving the person be, tapping my wife on the shoulder to let her know whose “presence” we’re in and leave it at that. Newscasters, for instance, are not worth accosting for any reason—unless it’s Steve Pool in a convertible. There are times, however, where I really, really regret not having at least said “w’sup”.
This deep regret is what I felt last weekend. Last Saturday, the wife and I took our baby daughter out to Seward Park for a little family fun run. Two and a half miles is about the length of the park’s loop and we made it in pretty good time (we’re pretty good runners, my wife and I). But we decided to go again and really give our glutes a good workout. As my wife returned to the car to fetch some water, I decide to post up near the Audubon building with the stroller. And who, pray tell, is sitting right there on the curb, all by his lonesome save for a one-speed fixie? Mr. Shabazz Palaces himself. Palaceer Lazaro. Digable Planet’s own Ish “Butterfly” Butler. I about burst.
Like I said, many of you might not see this as a big deal, but given SP’s cryptic genesis a few summers ago, the fact that this sighting was happening in such a non-music, non-hip hop locale, and my utter esteem for SP’s bizarro, spaced-out freakness, my pants came about two millimeters from splitting. So I stood there, trying not to look, all the while looking. He had with him a sweet 2-wheeled purple pony– “was it his or his daughter’s?”, I asked myself. “Does he bike a lot?” “Is this how he stays fit?” He looked, as usual, pretty fly with the neck scarf and white hightop Chucks. He had some sort of gold-plated smartphone that he was listening to up close, no doubt some new ish he’s workin’ on. A few minutes later, he quietly mouthed some raps into his phone.
As I argued internally about how, or even if, I should introduce myself (always lead with a greeting and a compliment), I decided I should at least covertly snap a photo or two with my phone to show my buddy. I did this, pretending to be pointing it at the stroller. Good lord, is this stalker material? I dunno, I hope not. I just know that his recent output is some of illest, most ingenious stuff to ever rattle my eardrums, and I was going fanboy all over the place. In my head, anyway. I kept it cool on the outside, knowing Ish would do the same. I then realized him sitting there, rappin’, was like that big blue heron sitting in Andrews Bay that same morning: majestic, idle, and probably not too interested in visitors. It was this metaphor, coupled with a cat-caught tongue, that led me to stay silent. What would I have said? Probably something stupid about how much I dig Shabazz Palaces, and how I just got the awesome gold-flecked black “velvet” CD case in the mail a few days prior. I would’ve kept it short, that’s for sure; dude seemed like he was in a p’zone.
So that’s my story. I regretted not saying anything the minute we left to continue our run, and still do one week later. But it was probably for the best. As for Black Up, I’ve spun it ten times or so and I definitely like it. I don’t think it’s quite as brilliant as Shabazz Palaces or Of Light; perhaps it’s a bit more “difficult” than the first offerings, if you can believe that. Andrew Matson of the Seattle Times called it the “album of the year”. That’s probably a bit much. Seattle Weekly music editor Chris Kornelis called the band “supremely overrated”. That, too, is a bit much. The truth is, is that it’s probably somewhere in the middle, falling differently along the spectrum for each listener. I do know that it will likely make anyone’s head spin, if given the chance to soak in it’s eerie, gothic beat-jazz and black sci-fi introspection—Clear some space out / so we can space out.
So, if by some extremely remote chance you ever read this post, Mr. Shabazz Palaces, please accept my apology for the photo and know that it’s borne strictly out of admiration. My regret lives on, because, as you know: If you talk about it / it’s a show / and if you move about it / it’s a go.
Wine, Women, Song, Lady Crush, and Boots
I got to the Neptune early, 5:30. The show didn’t start until 7:00, but I walked around back in hopes of getting in the stage door and catching the last minute rehearsal and soundcheck. There was a van by the door but no one in it or near it, no one watching the door. I walked into the theater thus as guitarist Justin Davis was trying to coax the other musicians into a few measures of Iron Maiden’s “Run to the Hills” and then “The Trooper”. They played a few riffs, but it went no where as they stopped and laughed. Musicians noodling heavy metal riffs on stage in between singers. I’ve done the same myself, always a good way to start the evening.
As the soundcheck went on, I spoke to a few of the evening’s “Women”. There was Star Anna, Barbara Ireland, Carla Torgerson. I’d met them at the very first rehearsal for the show, a night when there were stops and starts to the music, and pauses to look up chord progressions online. The soundcheck had more technical rather than music issues. Things were coming together.
The winemakers started to arrive about the same time as I did so around 6:30 as they were pretty well set up, I got to the wine tasting early, figured I’d beat the crowd and talk to the winemakers. I went to all the wine tables, tasted all the wines, and got to thinking I should not have skipped lunch. Since wine was part of the show, I’ll throw out some recommendations. The Sonoris Cabernet Sauvignon blend, Burney’s Blend, was excellent although admittedly I have a soft spot for it from the private wine tasting I’d had a couple weeks before the show. My other favorite was the àMaurice Cellars 2008 Syrah/Grenache. Winemaker Anna Schafer described it as meaty, and it did stick. For a woman who has only been making wines for a handful of years, she makes some good stuff.
The wine tasting ended at 8:00 when the music started, but the odd thing was that the winemakers vanished. They just left. In the act of turning around to see Victoria Wimer-Contreras take the stage alone and then turning back there was nothing but empty wine bottles on the tables where there’d been women offering wine. I looked around. People looked around, They seemed unsure of themselves. Perhaps they wanted more wine. Wimer-Contreras sand acapella to begin the musical night and her voice boomed and slowly the wine drinkers began to focus on the music makers. I looked around and still there was no sign of Anna Schafer or the other winemakers. Were they banished?
Winemakers or not, the music went on, and there was Barbara Ireland lifted onto the grand piano and looking and sounding sexy as hell. When I can be dragged away from the laptop, I go to rock clubs so it was the first time I’d actually seen in person someone lifted onto a piano for the purpose of singing. It made me wish she’d done that at the rehearsal I attended. Four songs in, the full band finally came out and the evening made the final shift to music, but only a few songs later, the stage cleared, and it was just Star Anna and Justin Davis on stage doing an acoustic version of “High Water” from her new CD. I worried it might bring the mood down, but it rather did the opposite. It soared. It’s a great song for a full band, but they did it well with just the two of them, and it was the first time of the evening I scribbled in my notebook, “Big Applause!”
As the night went on, the applause got bigger, and I looked around and looked around. No winemakers. There was however, Kim Virant singing “Son of a Preacher Man”, nice, and Read the rest of this entry »
