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Funny anecdote: When I was looking up on Vimeo that Jaill video I posted last night, I noticed Sub Pop also had added this Shabazz video to their profile, which I thought was weird. “Weird,” I said to myself. Now I know why. AND KNOWING’S HALF THE BATTLE. It’s old, but I never posted it, so here you go, watch it again.

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More on Shabazz Palaces from me here (.mp3s) and here (CHBP review).

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Last weeks show at the Triple Door featuring artists Anomie Belle and Emily Wells was a fantastic pairing; both amazing female multi-instrumentalists, violinists, and electronic producers with different styles (trip hop versus hip hop would be a real narrow comparison as they are both eclectic).
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Seattle musician Anomie Belle, fit perfectly in the dark, candle lit room of the Triple Door. Anomie’s trip-hop style, downtempo eletronic music, was at its best when deep and darker, as her voice goes low and is perfectly shadowed by the heavy bass; this was very moving in the cold ambient theater. She performed her solo act onstage with a live band including a cellist, violinist, drummer, and bassist; she switched off between the mic, keyboard, violin and guitar. I’ll be looking forward to the newly completed album.
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On the another part of the spectrum, Emily Wells was more hip hop, or actually a mess of things that just worked very well together. I jokingly referred to her as the child of Tom Waits, Bjork, M.I.A., and Mitch Hedburg with complete disregard to any logic. She loomed over the wide keyboard like a mad scientist, often mixing it up with violin, toy keyboard, and other indiscernible items. On  the other side of the stage Sam Halterman kept perfect rhythm on the drums and from afar, in the dark, resembled idol Justin Guarini (except with talent). Or, maybe, this is just when my martini set in (seemed an appropriate drink for the Triple Door).
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Emily sang hooks then seamlessly recorded the hook and looped it in later as she shifted focus to other parts of the music and instruments. At times her voice was seductive or gritty or high pitched or bluesy or was it jazzy or was she rapping a hymn? I enjoyed that diversity. Her lyrics ranged from topics such as whiskey, love, and secrets to a cover of Biggie’s “Juicy” to burning down a house just to forget about things (I get it).  I was entertained with how she worked the crowd, speaking with a assertive yet quiet nervousness; and even delicately (and humorously) managed an unruly patron who may never remember shouting “I love you” many times in the quiet venue. Later, the theater backdrop turned to surreal stars which fully enhanced her more atmospheric songs. That was a nice touch and topped of a great night of music.
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In contrast to Anomie’s set, it was different to see so much come out of Emily’s two person ensemble, rather than a full band and she worked it well, at one point quickly joining on the drums. Now I’ve been wondering what an Anomie Belle solo performance is like (I know she does it) and to date I’ve only seen her with the full band. Awesome set from both artists. Check them out.
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And the next time you go to the Triple Door wear a coat and make sure they don’t seat you on the side with a partial view and adjacent to the subwoofer. Other than that, love to the Triple Door!

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http://www.anomiebelle.com/
http://www.myspace.com/emilywells

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P.S. it also helps that this video is hilarious:

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Having been to many music festivals this summer and in the past, I was completely blown away by Doe Bay. While Capitol Hill Block Party was, well, just a big fucking party with terrible sound, Doe Bay had something like 700 people drinking, singing along and just enjoying themselves without being complete jackasses. It was refreshing. The sound from the main stage was just perfect. The stage sits in a natural amphitheater and the sound travels through the grounds so that you can hear the bands play perfectly from anywhere.
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Highlights from the main stage were, Hey Marseilles, The Maldives (who have played all three years), Drew Grow and The Pastors’ Wives, Grand Hallway, and the Portland Cello Project who did an amazing job on their own, but also accompaniment to most of the bands that played this year. Truly impressive.
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After the main stage shuts down for the evening, things go inside. There is a cafe and yoga studio at the resort where the after party shows start. The cafe is a great place to sit and listen to some of the performers play acoustic sets, while the yoga studio is a sweltering hot mess of bodies and dancing. At one point my camera fogged up from the steam in there.
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My two favorite acts and performances of the weekend were The Head and The Heart set and Drew Grow and the Pastors Wives with Kelli Schaefer in the yoga studio. This was really their fest this year. Both acts just blew everyone away with their fantastic music and just plain kindness. At Doe Bay everyone is just one big family.
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Sunday was the best day to have been there. Most of the crowds left to battle with the Ferries for a ride home, while the rest of us stayed and just relaxed. There was even a slip ‘n’ slide set up by Chris and Kenny of The Head and The Heart. It was the perfect way to cool down on a hot Doe Bay day.
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Sunday night was just a jam session by the remaining musicians. We were all hanging around the Sound on the Sound kids’ camp site playing music and singing along with Drew Grow and The Head and the Heart and Hey Marseilles. I even heard a rendition of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” that Kelli Schaefer did acapella.  It was the best evening I have had in a long, long time.
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Doe Bay, you have truly impressed me with the people I met, new friends I made, and beautiful music I heard. I will be going back for years to come.
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If you want to check it out next year, make sure to get your tickets early. It sold out in 10 days this year. I am sure it will take even less next year.
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A video from the Yoga studio
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Drew Grow and The Pastors’ Wives with Shenandoah Davis, and Kelli Schaefer from Dylan Priest on Vimeo.

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See more Videos here. http://vimeo.com/user4534866/videos
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See more Photos here. http://is.gd/enTfq

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It’s called Root For Ruin, and will be out on Frenchkiss Records (that of LSF bassist Syd Butler) September 14th. I think iTunes has it now.

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I think the band’s latest record, American Gong, has gotten better the more I listen to it (“with age”, as they say), as Sam Coomes’ bristly barroom stories are the perfect complement to the band’s grungy pop-punk. Similar to Pixies (my No. 1 Favorite Band), Quasi is kind of all over the map with their songs, but it’s apparent they all come from the same place. You know how they sound on record? That’s pretty much how they sound on stage. I especially enjoyed watching Janet Weiss up close on her Mod-style blue linoleum drum kit (it reminded me of my kitchen floor).

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I must say, for divorcee’s Coomes and Weiss, what an odd experience it must be to maintain a band together after all these years. They do it mostly with grit and guile and gumption, I think, and a playful, well-tread attitude with each other. Kudos to a post-marriage success story!

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P.S. I leave on a plane for Sweden tomorrow, so I won’t be around much the next two weeks. I’ll be sure to report back on any black metal, wooded folk, or disco pop dealings I come across. Vi ses!

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Next up was This Will Destroy You, and holding true to the name, they kinda did… destroy me, that is. I didn’t look into this band before rolling out to the show and I was pleasantly surprised by this Texas band’s ability to produce some stellar ambient music. It was a good mix of pretty rough rock and some super chill melodies. I liked the variety. There was not one word uttered by any of the band members until finally you hear a voice about 45 minutes into the set say that the next song would be their last. It was kind of like a no-bull situation, they were not on stage to make friends just music. They had a stellar sound  and a light show that would give a small child a seizure. I was stoked on This Will Destroy You and will likely pick up some of their music.

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Then, about a half past eleven Autolux finally rolls on stage. My initial observation was that this was the smallest crowd I have yet to experience at Neumos, the whole mezzanine was closed. There was a perfect ratio of songs from both of their albums. The crowd seemed to really enjoy the songs from their first release Future Perfect more so than from their latest. It was easy to gauge this by the amount of smart phones lifted to record the earlier songs in particular. There was a lot of dead air, not so efficient instrument changes and moving around, basically just down time where the band was fussing on stage but not uttering a word to the crowd. I thought this was kind of clumsy but then remembered this is just how this band is. They have that awkward stage presence and they don’t really focus on the small talk. I really dug their set though, they did great as far as sound went. I especially appreciated when Carla Azar took to the vocals, her voice was just so enigmatic. The band finished well past the given time of 12:15 then came back on for the encore and played two more. Despite their relatively silent set, Autolux was amazing to catch live. I was glad to see this band early on in their stacked tour. They are due to be on the road roughly a month and are basically playing nightly, it looks like a rough set up.

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YellowFever also played a great set of sparse, rhythmic pop songs that clattered and bobbed with an unexpected grooviness. They had me dreaming of a comparison combo between the Intelligence and Micachu and the Shapes, what with the Jennifer Moore’s sleepy inflection and tight guitar. The drummer, Adam Jones, impressed with his dual drum and keyboard skills as he played some keys, looped it and then took his skins and cowbell on a jazzy journey. Really cool stuff and I’m glad I caught them on their way through town. Ok, it’s really nice out today, so I’m gonna take your advice and bail on this whole computer thing.
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View the entire gallery here.

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Next was Chris Mills. I liked Chris Mills, really, he seemed like a great guy that you want to be friends with. He had tons of witty banter with the crowd, talking about how much American Airlines sucked, and his song being used in the TV show Criminal Minds, and how that all goes. When he first rolled up on stage his first words were something cool like: “This is how is all started.” Great guy. It was just Chris and the drummer Gerald, and I have just one complaint about their set and that is that the drumming was just too much. There was only Chris’s guitar to match and it was usually drowned by Gerald’s fervent beating of the drums. From what I was able to catch that wasn’t drowned out by the drums was that Chris’s songs are usually about television shows or some other form of media, that is just classic. I really liked his style and felt a little bummed that I couldn’t focus on much else besides the pounding on my brain.

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Then there was Ha Ha Tonka… and oh man, they were spectacular. The energy, the mix, the vibe… no really, this band was off the chain- amazing. Everything about these guys worked so well. They would mix up the main vocals, sometimes it was Brian Roberts, sometimes it was Brett Anderson (who has the voice of an angel), sometimes it was all four with Lennon Bone getting off the drums to harmonize the situation. And no matter what you could always hear Lucas Long’s low baritone voice coming through- man if this guy could just sing me to sleep nightly, that would be stellar. Keeping true to their Southern style – Springfield, MO that is- these guys just screamed southern gentlemen. So gracious and appreciative of the crowd, Roberts kept thanking everyone- KEXP, the Sunset, the girl in the front whose birthday it was… And the energy was just mind-blowing for the band and the crowd. A regular dance hall erupted on the more upbeat numbers. The crowd and band got especially rowdy for the final song, which the band came back on and played after a particularly calm number, it was a cover of Ram Jam’s Black Betty, and it was perfect. Everyone just got crazy.

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According to Wikipedia, these guys have been playing together since roughly 2003 when they recruited Anderson. And it shows in their live show, they are perfect together, working off of one another with the harmonizing, the riffing, everything. This is definitely one of my favorite live shows thus far of 2010. I got all flustered when Roberts informed the crowd that Ha Ha Tonka would be touring with Rocky Votolato in the fall, the chances of them coming back through Seattle are high and if its true I am stoked-city, and already planning to be there. I would highly recommend catching these guys live.

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Again, my apologies- the pictures are crap, I know, the camera is crap.