Renee McMahon

Jessica Dobson, seen here with Beck at Bumbershoot.

​Ooooooh, you're going to be watching the Super Bowl on Sunday!?!? Fair enough. But on your way to your party, tune in to Seattle Sounds on KIRO 97.3 at 3 p.m. Josh Kerns and I will be joined in the studio by Reverb Monthly cover girl Jessica Dobson, who will be chatting and playing some Deep Sea Diver cuts for us. We've also got Reverb's own Erin Thompson in to chat about some of the new local releases reviewed this month. And, yes, we'll be spending a great deal of time analyzing the Sasquatch! lineup, and playing some tracks from bands on the bill.

If you happen to miss the show, you can catch up on Monday by downloading the whole thing via MyNorthwest.com.

The NPR-pledging "Tumblr whites" of Sasquatch 2011

​The first thing I thought when I heard the line-up announcement last night was: man, Sasquatch is never going to be Coachella. That's fine--Sasquatch is smaller, prettier, more chill. And it's not just the gorgeous natural scenery, either. In recent years, Sasquatch has gotten a lot of mileage out of the heavyweights of soft, safe indie rock--what some critics were calling "indie adult contemporary" in their year-end conversations a couple months ago: Death Cab for Cutie and the Decemberists last year; a whole host of bands this year. Bon Iver, The Shins, Beirut, The Head & The Heart, Feist, M. Ward, St. Vincent, Shearwater, probably a lot more down the list depending on how wide a net you cast for this stuff. (Even shapeshifting prankster Beck has been most popular in recent years for his gentler Mutations/Sea Change/"Lost Cause"-type material.)

These are popular acts, deservedly so in most cases, with extremely broad appeal. No one's ever really offended by Feist, you know--at worst, they might just not pay much attention. And demographically speaking, the "adults" audiences for this contemporary indie are probably not much older than the folks freaking out about seeing a reunited Pulp or Refused. But those Coachella "gets" were thrilling, the sort of stuff that sent me scrambling wondering if I might go camp out in a California polo field for my first time ever; this year's Sasquatch announcement, and especially its headliners, were more like, "Oh yeah, of course, cool."

A few other trends, and some genuine reasons to get excited this year after the jump.

More >>

​

Yesterday, I wrote about Neil Young's quip that "Internet is the new radio" and that piracy is how "music gets around." Of course, Neil gets all the attention for making such a statement. Ah, the power of celebrity! Meanwhile, plenty of folks have been grumbling about this same thing for years, namely Bob Lefsetz, an industry analyst and all-around shit-stirrer. As an addendum to my post from yesterday, here is an excerpt from a blog rant Lefsetz wrote yesterday illustrating the power of discovery online, the access to free music, and how the Internet allows more artists to get paid than ever before, not just the mega-stars. Preach on, Brother Bob...

(M)ore people are recording than ever before and it's easier to hear their music and more ways to pay them if people like it.

I heard this Kila track, "Electric Landlady", on Sirius XM's Spectrum last night. Now Sirius XM is a service that not only charges listeners, but pays copyright holders and performers. That's all good. But without Spotify, without YouTube, that track would have gone into the ether, I probably never would have heard it again.

I'd never heard of the act, never mind the track, but I liked it.

I typed the title on my hand-set, sent myself an e-mail and just checked out the cut on Spotify, then looked up the band on Wikipedia.

It was all news to me.

And it ain't exactly rock and roll, but I like it. And I've played "Electric Landlady" five times already on Spotify.

Today, it's easy to spread the word. Sure, there's more information than ever, but with so many people listening, a certain amount rises up. Maybe not to the top, but to the point where the creators can get paid. Maybe not as much as in yesteryear, but in the old days those stars were the only ones getting paid. Now the wealth is shared.

​Drinking is an essential part of enjoying any karaoke night. It provides the energy to motivate people to sing, as well as the patience to tolerate horrible singers. Recently, I've come to realize that I haven't been doing enough drinking lately. Aside from every weekend at Tarasco, it's been months since the last time I truly tied one on while checking out a new karaoke bar.

Since most of the spots I review are during the week, the fear of feeling like shit at my day job has subconsciously caused me to install a governor on my intake. As a result, singing hasn't been nearly as fun. Karaoke or no karaoke, what's the point of hanging out in a bar around a bunch of drunk people if you're not going to get drunk yourself? Plus, every time I sing without enough booze in me, I'm distracted by it to the point where I'm literally thinking about how I wish I had more to drink as I'm singing the song.

This week I arranged Thursday off from work so I could get wasted at Kate's Pub in Wallingford on Wednesday night. I grabbed my buddy Juan and we got there just before the show started at 9 p.m. My plan was to get five slips in quickly, and take a shot before and after performing each one. And just for good measure, I brought a list I compiled of the most played-out karaoke songs and decided I'd take a Jager shot any time one of those songs was sung as well.

More >>

unpluggedmusings.com

​In the cold of winter, it's hard to imagine a bright, heavily populated Gorge Amphitheater, the hot sun dipping low behind the stage. It's sure fun to though, and it's even more fun to imagine who will soundtrack those many beautiful moments. The natural highlight of any long, late-spring day (whether a clear blue sky is provided by Mother Nature or one blanketed with clouds) is far and away the long, drawn out, hazy sunset; the heavens thrown into a vivid oil and watercolor state. So the question is posed: Who's songs sound prettiest at sunset? I've thrown out a few of my Sasquatch!-related picks below (one possible selection for each day), and even found some relevant Youtube clips. Enjoy!

More >>

Nada Surf played at the Tractor Tavern on Thursday, February 2, 2012. Photo by Laura Musselman.

​
Nada Surf
The Tractor Tavern
Thursday, February 2, 2012

In case you were wondering, those nasty, swirling rumors are totally true; every pop song in the history of the universe has already been written. There are only so many strings and frets on a guitar, and after thousands of years of noodling, we've finally hit that point where no one can put two things together that haven't ever been heard together somewhere before. That said, there are bands that do it in a completely average way and then there are bands like Nada Surf who serve as textbook examples of the simple beauty and overpowering majesty of well-written/arranged three chord pop songs.

After years of touring as a solid-enough trio, the band has finally adopted a second guitarist (Cleveland's finest, Doug Gillard, formerly of Cobra Verde and Guided By Voices, amongst others). Over the course of the almost 90 minute show, Gillard's presence helped the band propel above singer Matthew Caws' capable strumming and into the more bombastic territory that Nada Surf songs aspire toward on album.

More >>

​French Letters
In Tongues
Out now

French Letters is no different than any other spoken-word, hip-hop, jazz infused, avante-guard rock five-piece ... they're all over the place. In a good way, that is. In Tongues destroys any and every genre barrier a record store owner could possibly throw at it, and the result is a 10-song franken-album of emotional-meets-snarky poetry and a big band.

The CD flows staggered and unexpected, which is a fun aural treat. "When it Mattered" starts it off with spoken poetry over a steady, thumping bass. It's short, yet punchy, with enough attitude to radiate through every track. Then, as if the bass never dies out, "West Ashley Crosstown" begins with upstroke, jazz guitar and soft drum rolls.

More >>

Duff McKagan's column runs every Thursday on Reverb. His memoir, It's So Easy (Simon & Schuster) is out now.

​I used to be the guy who was constantly trying to find the best place in town to drink the cocktail. Yeah, I was the guy barkeeps loved at first, but always ended up trying to find a way to get me the hell out. An obnoxious drunk--but good tipper--like myself could only buy just so much good graces from others. It wasn't a "just have a couple of drinks and go home" type of situation. It got embarrassing and weird and smelly. Bartenders get a bit sick of people like the guy I used to be. I was like the Bukowski character in the movie Barfly. I loved me some liquor.

Bars were there just for the alcohol and sleazy camaraderie.

For people like me, getting sober and not drinking anymore is the only real choice (the other "choice" is not really an option at all--it's just sudden darkness). But what do you do when you can't do the cocktail anymore? Can a teetotaler even go into a bar?

Well, after I got sober, I still loved music, and most live music is played in some sort of drinking establishment. To my surprise and delight, there were a lot of people just like me out there.

More >>

Renee McMahon

Beck!

​Yes, yes, yes, your favorite mid-level indie band is playing Sasquatch! 2012 (full lineup after the jump), but when the lineup was announced tonight at the Neptune during the Sasquatch! launch party, I got most excited about the headliners at the top of the bill. Jack White, who recently announced a solo record, is a huge get for fest. And Beck -- who last played (w/puppets) in 2006 -- is a most welcomed marquee act for the four-day festival/retreat at the Gorge that runs from May 25 to 28. Other headliners include Bon Iver, Pretty Lights, Tenacious D, The Shins, Beirut, Girl Talk, and The Roots.

If last year's insanely-quick sell-out is any guide, buy your tickets now if there's even a chance that you'll be going. You'll have no problem selling them if you can't make it. Four-day passes (w/camping) are $315 each. The pre-sale starts at 10 a.m. on Feb. 8, and the general on-sale starts at 10 a.m. Feb. 11. Check out the tickets page here for more details.

OK, that concludes our Sasquatch! Launch Party coverage for this evening. Check back in the morning for comprehensive analysis and snark.

More >>

Unimpressive Records (http://unimpress.com)

​"Jesus is the fuckin' guy, dude," says a voice at the front end of Art Vandelay's new single "Vitiligo", from the group's upcoming LP Face Tattoo. At the other end, though, AV MC Ricky Pharoe surmises: "I bet you've never seen a man like this/probably 'cuase he's made up and didn't exist/I read the Bible, nothing in it seemed to make any sense/I'm not saying that you're stupid, just weird, no offense."

The first ever video from the Vandelay camp was released today, and brings to life all the avidly untrusting counterculture inklings that make Pharoe such an alluring character. The video follows a Jesus-clad Alton Roundtree (the group's manager/occasional backup vocalist) on his merry way around town, supplying a homeless guy with some grub, and Pharoe with an ass-beating (which all fits the plot of the song, in which Pharoe talks some serious smack about the old carpenter). Dictionary-wise, "vitiligo" connotes a medical condition that causes the loss of skin pigment (think Michael Jackson), and is yet another twisted jab at the evolution of theology--or shall we say a jab at the twisted evolution of theology.

Musically, producer Mack Formway supplies another (go back and listen to their debut They've Got My Number Down At The Post Office while you're at it) rock-inspired gem, while Pharoe slaps his deranged humor over the beat in his trademark tenor. Check out the song/video below and find gems like "They're apes anyway/we'll keep waitin' for the rapture, sure it's comin' any day," within.

More >>