Seattle Subsonic - Album Reviews
Deerhunter, Past Lives @ Neumos!!!
| Friday, November 21, 2008 | ||
| 8:00 pm |
The exclamation points are for excitement; excitement that one of the most intriguing bands in recent memory—Deerhunter, led by the enigmatic and boundlessly creative Bradford Cox—is playing Neumos with a band, Past Lives, whose 2008 choppy yet fluid debut I absolutely loved.
I’ve been literally pining to see the Atlanta-based Deerhunter live ever since I fell in love with their dividedly peculiar bust out record, Cryptograms (I still think “Heatherwood” is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard) earlier this year. In a move that surprised even the most loyal of the band’s fans, Cox released a super-secret second disc, Weird Era Continued, to complement the much anticipated and gentler Microcastle. Within this latest opus, there are dissimilar elements of both the Velvet Underground and Sonic Youth; Cox even resembles the tall, lanky Thurston Moore, and, at times, sounds like a younger Lou Reed while strumming solitary guitar chords. But what really stands out is the achingly beautiful strangeness that permeates the nebulous layers of guitars, dissonant soundscapes, transformative song structures, and plenty of oddball (and often unintelligible) lyrics. Lots of kick-ass basslines, too.
A show not to be missed. In fact, I’ve already got my tickets; you should have them, too. Cox’s blog is worth a gander, as well. Lots of cool info, but the gems are his downloadable Micromixes, podcasts (if you will) of interesting music currently catching his ears.
DEERHUNTER
TIMES NEW VIKING
PAST LIVES
$12 ADV
8PM DOORS
All Ages/ Bar W/ID
*New* Video From the Kills: “Tape Song”
I dunno if I’ve ever mentioned this, but I really, really like the Kills. The duo is American, but they live in London. Jamie Hince (who goes by the alter ego of ‘Hotel’) plays a punchy, gritty guitar while Alison Mosshart (aka ‘VV’, or, as I like to call her, the punk rock Winnie Cooper) sings/struts/dictates about magic, murder, drinking, fighting, partying, hurricanes, traveling, partying and any other sinister subject that pops into her head. (SRSLY, though, check out the blog on their website; stream of befuddled consciousness. It’s hilarious.) The percussion is provided mechanically by drum machine and various electronic loops by way of Hotel’s pedal exhibit. Basically, they just try to fuckin’ rock. Blues and punk riffs abound.
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I missed their recent trips through town where they played Neumos and then again at the Qwest Events Center opening for the Raconteurs, but I did see them roll through the Crocodile a few years back when No Wow came out. That dark, dank venue was perfect for their crunchy sound and ‘fuck it’ attitude.
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Their latest release, Midnight Boom, is a slight departure from their previous records (I prefer the grainier gloominess of No Wow), but still provides a bevy of hip-movin’, head-bangin’ dance-rock tunes. Highlights would be the bratty “Cheap & Cheerful”, the slinky “Getting Down”, the combative “Last Day of Magic”, and the murky punk of “Tape Song”, for which you can watch directly below (it’s new!). You got to go steal ahead!
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Should you dig that one, check out some others, especially “Last Day of Magic” , where Hotel and VV kick the crap out of each other.
Year of the Rat? Nope, Year of the Jerk
If you haven’t latched onto PartMan PartHorse, than you just haven’t been paying attention. For all you mythology nerds, I’m (unfortunately) not referring to the Centaur, one of the most beautiful beasts ever devised, just behind the Unicorn and just ahead of the Griffin. I’m referring to the incendiary and fractured sex-punk from the band known for its provocative, half-naked frontman, its quirky bassist-cum-keyboardist, and its delicious guitar licks that, IMHO, really has yet to transcend the people’s tastes in this town. And it’s not for lack of effort; I write about these guys all the time. Shows you how little clout I have. The phrase “ad nauseum” comes to mind: winter shows, spring shows, my Top 12 list last year, and countless live recommendations. Hell, I’ve even written an “exposé” on the band’s anti-smoking stance that we here at Seattle Subsonic feel so strongly about (note to smokers: we are Pro-Choice).
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Well, I’m at it again. Why? Because I care. In fact, I cared so much that I showed up at the Comet one night to accept a free copy of their sophomore record, Year of the Jerk. What a nice guy I am. I even managed to give it a spin or 50. If the first track doesn’t grab you, I don’t know what will. “Disappear” is an eruptive merger of metal and funk loaded with carnal innuendo, front-dude Gary Smith pleading with some poor soul, “Let’s get it on!” For all you suburban kids, “At the Mall” paints a nostalgic, slow-burning picture, complete with references to Orange Julius and jet black Swatches. “Magik” is a rapid-fire punk tune with spooky undertones and glam overtones. “Gimme what you got / and you won’t get hurt,” Smith seethes in one of his best lines on the record.
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The rest of the band—comprised of guitarist Marshall Nall, drummer Lisa Smith, and bassist Rachel Ratner—thoroughly make their mark on standout song “Significant Bummer”, a steady drumbeat leading the charge for a flashy metal guitar and a sine-wave electro backdrop. Just don’t tell Smith how choice it is; he’s got a gloomy outlook, a significant bummer. Other tracks, like “I’m A Book” and “Shit Hot”, continue the same sort of genre-bending, dance-party atmosphere that should be requisite for all forward-thinking music fans.
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The band prides itself on not taking its product too seriously, the first clue being they named themselves after a porno. If you’re satisfied with “deep” or “profound” music, PMPH probably won’t float your boat. But when was being serious considered fun?
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Catch their wild antics at a CD release show on October 31st (that’s Halloween, folks) at the High Dive with local faves the Lights and the Coconut Coolouts, who’ll probably be eating a ton of pizza. Sample some of the PMPH awesomeness after the jump.
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Lykke Li, Friendly Fires @ Neumos
| Wednesday, October 29, 2008 | ||
| 8:00 pm |
If there ever was a doubt (I doubt it) that wonderful music could be made without the All-Powerful Guitar as the centerpiece, then Swedish songstress Lykke Li has certainly proved otherwise. Youth Novels, her beautiful, bass-and-percussion-driven debut, is a lovesick tale of myriad instruments made in the model of pop, jazz, new wave, and folk. Just listening once through, one can easily pick out keyboards, twinkling piano, congas, maracas, mandolin, tambourine, triangle, trumpets, handclaps, flutters of Spanish guitar, I think I even heard an autoharp in there for chrissakes. Of course the All-Powerful Bass Guitar is the pedestal that holds up the most prominent instrument of all: her voice. Lilting and raspy, charming and sultry, it’s the glue that holds everything together.
Produced by fellow Swede Bjorn Yttling of Peter, Bjorn & John, the album—as the title would suggest—is about youth, heartbreak, and finding oneself amidst the terror of adolescence (her words! Kind of!) “I’m Good, I’m Gone” is easily one of the best individual songs I’ve heard this year, and the shy ”Dance, Dance, Dance” is one of the sweetest, adding a traditional African vibe to her Scandanavian roots. Fans of Kate Bush will definitely appreciate the somber “Time Flies”, and she flashes her fume a li’l bit on “Complaint Department”.
She’ll also do an in-store performance at the Capitol Hill Sonic Boom that day at 7pm. Seeing as how that’s, like, 2 blocks from my home, I’ll be there. Lykke Li’s official website.
The John Richards-approved Friendly Fires (disco-pop-rock) will open the show at Neumos.
$15 Adv / 21+
Crystal Castles @ Neumos
| Tuesday, October 28, 2008 | ||
| 8:00 pm |
I didn’t really think much of Crystal Castles when I first read a description of their sound. My internal scoff went something like, “pfffft, god, another beautiful electronic duo in black doing glitch”—I was really annoyed. SRSLY. But when I stumbled upon a copy and gave it my famous “whirl”, I discovered one of the three best workout albums of the year, just behind Foals’ Antidotes, and just ahead of Glistening Pleasure by Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head. That may sound trite, but it ain’t.
Frankly, I don’t know much about these Torontoans personally, but I do know they’ve taken me back in time and forward in time (”Great scott!!”) at the same goddamned time. Oh, and they’re named after She-Ra’s castle (!!). Their sonic creations emulate and gesticulate as if you’ve taken a healthy snort of coke, bought a Gameboy, an Atari, and a Sega, miraculously fused them with an analog synthesizer and somehow crafted music from it with an NES controller. And then your freaky, shrill girlfriend has stopped by to scream in your ear about it. It’s not as cacophonous as you might think, but it is ferocious, it is futuristic, and it will be a good performance. Word has it.
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LYMBYC SYSTEM
EXPENDABLE YOUTH
$15 ADV
8PM DOORS
All Ages/ Bar W/ID
Starfucker Has Me Thinking Dirty Thoughts About…Space
I’m gonna lay it all out on the table, right here, right now (to borrow a line from Jesus Jones): I’m in love with the new Starfucker record. Yes, my overenthusiastic declaration is a bit forward, but that ease of intimacy is exactly what this debut offering from Portland’s wistful, sky-gazing electro jammers induces. A shade under 35 minutes, Starfucker is a gushing, explicitly exuberant approach to bounce-inducing, mind-wandering space pop. What’s more, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to appreciate the lack of gravity beheld in the band’s name possibly coined by Mick Jagger, definitely bastardized by Hollywood, and appropriately exploited by founding member (and drummer) Josh Hodges.
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Of all the bands that have been nominally associated with Oregon’s river city, Starfucker is one of the brightest novas to light up my ears. And that list is quite distinguished, really: the Shins, the Thermals, the Helio Sequence, Lifesavas, the Prids, Viva Voce, and Talkdemonic have all been given a considerable amount of my attention in recent years. As if in perfect concert, I can’t stop listening to this 11-song musical escapade. I listen to it at home, at work, in the car, in my headphones at the gym, its indisputable hooks stubbornly stuck in the right side of my brain.
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Influences and parallels abound on this record, but given their respective credence, it’s more compliment than detriment. Starfucker is Air without the vintage elegance, the Flaming Lips without the eccentric bombast, Chromeo without the east coast cheeze, and it’s the Shins with an electro-dance upgrade. Portland brethren Menomena and YACHT are presumably just as excited about this output as I am—and who wouldn’t be? When you have a mind-melding set of bubbly tracks that percolate and assimilate into one blurry, dream-like experience, someone’s bound to be on cloud nine, right?
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I like listening to this album from beginning to end, complete with sparse, layered lyrics, obsessive handclaps, and obscure aural clues to trigger that elusive space-gaze, but there are at least three standout tracks that were tailor-made for the iPod shuffle. As if holding a flagstaff for the group’s sugared sketch, “German Love” is a rush to the heart of repetitive bliss, sharp and lively keys, and a promise to “give it to you”. I’ll let your imagination work on that one. “Pop Song”, featured along with the band so prominently on that circulating MTV video outlining Portland’s music renaissance, is the LP’s showpiece. Ray-gun synths slice through a bouncy bass line, while the goose-bumping chorus soars in to save the day like a superhero. You can’t not feel good after hearing this song.
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The final track is the prettiest, and the most thoughtful. “Isabella of Castile”, named for a 15th century Spanish queen, is wrought with shimmering, laser-like vistas that thrust the listener into a futuristic, utopian world. A propulsive rhythm guitar, delivered by Ryan Biornstad, offsets Shawn Glassford’s slightly funky bass line while bleeps, blips, and glitches fly around like distracted digital hummingbirds.
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So yes, Starfucker—with a penchant for the poppy and astronauts adorning the album’s cover art—has me transfixed on their music; and outer space. I do love science fiction, after all.
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Don’t forget to check out a nice video collection of the band from Discover.Portland.Music, as well as the tracks below. They’ll be in Seattle November 1st at the Vera Project.
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Starfucker - “Pop Song“
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Starfucker - “Isabella of Castile“
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Starfucker - “German Love“
Santogold @ Showbox SODO
| Saturday, October 4, 2008 | ||
| 7:00 pm |
There’s been plenty of great national acts coming through town lately, and Brooklyn hip-pop (pop-hop?) rocker/dancer/rapper/fashionista Santogold is no exception. Her self-titled debut record is a bonafide genre-bending, booty-shakin’, sing-along mash-up of punk, hip-hop, dub, and dance, and she’s been compared (both scornfully and approvingly) to M.I.A., Gwen Stefani, and Missy Elliot. I don’t normally keep these big ticket pop artists on my radar, but I actually dig her album quite a bit. Where M.I.A. can be a bit choppy and grating, Santogold is a bit more smoov; where Gwen Stefani panders to the masses with catchy dance hooks, Santogold keeps her cool, punk-rock edge. Plus she got Spank Rock rappin’ on her rekkid—he’ll make you go BUMP.
While the album is fairly solid front to back, it’s the first 4 tracks that’ll have you spittin’ gold (like here album cover—duh). Just try to forget that you heard a couple of them on those lame Bud Light Lime commercials.
MATES OF STATE
ALICE SMITH
LOW VS DIAMOND
$22.50 ADV / $25.00 DOS & at the door
Doors at 7pm - All Ages
Grand Archives @ Neumos
| Saturday, October 4, 2008 | ||
| 8:00 pm |
Hey, wanna go see Seattle’s best harmonizing five-piece not named Fleet Foxes? Grand Archives are just that and it’s too bad the band doesn’t get more favor (side note: maybe they do and I’m just ig’nant). Their debut on Sub Pop, The Grand Archives, is beautiful, lush, mesmerizing, and with just enough rock to make you creep around my back stair. Mat Brooke is painfully honest when he paints his vintage, picturesque scenes and stories, and the sunny, country-rock vibe illustrates the bright soundscapes the quintet has deftly crafted. Notable record guests are Sera Cahoone and Jenn Ghetto (S).
If we’re lucky, they might play some new cuts. Course, if you can’t make it, you could always patronize the Mat Brooke-owned-and-operated Redwood tavern. There are usually lotsa feral children running around there. Here’s a review of last time I saw them in back in February.
ARTHUR O: (OF ARTHUR AND YU)
SHIPS
$12 ADV
8PM DOORS
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War Tapes
Don’t ask me why, but the first comparison that came to my head for the lead singer of War Tapes is a mix of Morrisey and Glen Danzig, and put those two together, you’re bound to have a damn entertaining live performance! That’s exactly what I thought the first time I listened to the their eponymous EP release. A polished rhythm and the deep guttural voice of Neil Popkin leads one to believe that this is a band that has put a lot of work into delivering their unique sound. According to their MySpace page, they describe their own sound as ‘Doom Pop’, and a comparison to Danzig certainly lends credence to that description, but it’s hard for me to label their sound as such when listening to the focused precision they put into all their instruments. I definitely sense some angst and longing in their music and lyrics, but there is no doubt this is a band that enjoys playing their style, which just doesn’t mesh with the ‘doom and gloom’ genre.
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It’s not often a band comes along that highlights all their instruments at once, and for this reason I can’t wait to see War Tapes live. The typical style of a performance is for the lead singer to be in the spotlight, and slightly steps away when the guitarist gets his (or her) time for a two-minute solo. I heard something unique in the song ‘Start Again’, guitarist Mark Bennett really carries the song with his slightly punk-influenced guitar playing, and the song is such that Popkin’s voice almost is meant to be the back-drop, that maybe gets a bit of time for his own solo. Solidly holding the rhythm together are Becca Popkin, whose new-wave inspired bass playing and subtle back-up vocals compliment her brother’s singing, as well as William Mohler, a drummer who brings to mind the style of Keith Moon which isn’t concerned with solely keeping up the rhythm.
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I haven’t seen any dates where they’re playing in the Pacific Northwest, but I definitely want to keep my ear to the ground for this band, and I recommend you do as well!
The Way I See It, “The Way I See It” is a Classic
Raphael Saadiq has been putting out great music for a loooong time. He started out as a lead vocalist in the new jack swing group Tony! Toni! Tone! in the early 90s. Then he formed the (super?) group Lucy Pearl with Dawn Robinson of En Vouge and Ali Shaheed Muhammad of A Tribe Called Quest. He is also a sought after producer, having produced cuts with D’Angelo (the Grammy-winning “How does it feel?”), Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, The Isley Brothers, The Roots, Macy Gray, Snoop Dogg, Devin the Dude, Kelis, Q-Tip, and just exectuive produced Joss Stone’s entire 3rd album. Then there are his solo albums that are a must have in any soul/r&b heads collection. Yeah he’s been doing things for a minute.
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His newest album does not disappoint. The Way I See It is one of the best recreations of the “Motown Sound” I’ve ever heard. The tracks sound straight off a 1960’s vinyl pressing. The production is top notch, the vocals are well sung and every song captures the essence of soul music how it was meant to be heard. It isn’t too polished or clean. Hell, it doesn’t even sound like a product of the digital age…and that is the highest compliment I can give. It sounds like all analog equipment was used in the production process and that adds a realness and grittyness that is absent in nearly all new soul music, except maybe for Mark Ronson and the Dap tones. The resurgence of that classic/analog/soulful sound is the best thing to happen to music in the last decade, in my humble oppinion, and Saadiq’s latest offering is at the head of the pack.
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The album is full of gems but my favorite track would have to be “100 Yard Dash.” The riff is just so nasty and the tempo is perfect. I can’t help but get in the groove and hum along when the guitar kicks in during the intro. The rest are all crowd pleasers that will feel right at home in the stereo of a peer, a family member, a parent, a child, or a coworker…practically everyone can enjoy this album. It doesn’t discriminate and is very listener friendly.
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You can go and listen to The Way I See It in it’s entirity on Saadiq’s myspace page. Then I recommend going out and buying a copy.
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Here is a fan video of him performing “Just One Kiss” in DC on 9/1/08.
Listen to the New TeeVahter Record
TV on the Radio (TVOTR), Brooklyn’s uberprogressive tech-rock outfit with the angelic singer (Tunde Adebimpe’s his name) and the white-guy producer with the Harry Caray glasses, has graciously uploaded their fancy new record, Dear Science, up over on their myspace page. You go listen now.
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I’ve listened to it a handful of times over the past week, and it definitely warrants a handful (or 6) more from anyone who calls themselves a fan. Where Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes was an eye-opening, avant garde trip into the minds of some jazzy, techno influenced rockers, and Return to Cookie Mountain was the magnum opus leap into unquestioned credibility, Dear Science finds the band still evolving, yet able to weave the familiar themes of modern-day poetry, emotive falsetto choruses, white-noise electronica, old skool hip-hop percussion, and the unmistakable afro-beat horn section. Not to mention Kyp Malone tearing it up on his guitar (when appropriate, of course).
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Devoid of an ear-catching single such as “Staring at the Sun” or “Wolf Like Me”, it’s a different endeavor noting the standout tracks on this album; instead it reads straight through like a book, beginning to end, with protagonists, plot twists, dizzying highs and bottle-breaking lows. “Golden Age”, the presumed single, has a bright, ghetto-blaster midsection with shades of Prince and classical violin. Adebimpe sounds a bit like E-40 fronting Antibalas on the bump ‘n grind of “Red Dress”. “Halfway Home”, which opens the album, will be instantly recognizable to anyone who’s heard the band before now. And “Crying” uses a feathery funk guitar and synthetic R&B keys as its leaping point into heartbreak of a different kind. I could keep going, but then I’ve taken all the fun out of it.
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They played Seattle recently. I missed it and am therefore disappointed. Please, anyone, share your experience and I will be vindicated.
Man Plus: REMIXED
Man Plus, the sweet ‘n sour Seattle band currently gaining traction throughout town thanks to constant showing, the vetting of KEXP’s Cheryl Waters, and, of course, our own fancy reviews of their despondent dance-rock, has recently released a truncated remix version of their LP, Hungarian Suicide Songbook. And not only that, you can download the sucker for free. (You know we’re always tryin’ to feed you cheapskates the free stuff.)
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That’s right, you’ll get the sugar-free lyricism of the jaded Jared Mills and the syrupy beats of keyboard man Manat MacLeod packaged in a nice digital EP worth five songs, all robotically selected from Songbook. Apparently, MacLeod works with chemicals when not creating digital layered cakes (side note: is cake a chemical?), and deftly crafted a sprinkling of fairy dust for this collection. You won’t hear any hard-hitting Daft Punk or Justice-style beats driving this crazy train. The remix follows a glitchier path, à la Truckasauras or Crystal Castles, fashioning a bouncy, unobtrusive sound to enhance Mills’ writhing shrieks of who-knows-what (mostly death and drugs).
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Tracks include reworked versions of “Not For All The Cocaine In The World”, “A Ghost Is A Ghost Is A Ghost”, “Kids Gone Bad”, “Mexican Moon”, and “My Kind Of People”. A nice assortment of some of the record’s most popular cuts (though I would’ve liked to hear a version of “Once in Awhile (Getting High Alone)” since I usually get high alo…uh, never mind).
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See the band live at the upcoming Reverb Fest (read Kev’s comprehensive listen-fest here) in early October, and with Waters at her Get Your Freak On Dance Party this coming Saturday (9/13). Check out our Free Music Downloads page for the download link, and hit the player below just to see. Cuz I said, that’s why.
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Man Plus Remixed - Mexican Moon
