Last Night: Built To Spill @ The Showbox
Who: Built to Spill
Where: Showbox in the Market
When: Friday, November 20
Watching Built to Spill last night, I couldn't help but think of what Bill Graham said about The Grateful Dead—they aren't the best at what they do, they're the only one who do what they do.
For close to two decades, the great Idaho concern has made indie rock as soaring and sprawling and wonky as the Western U.S. territory they call home. They are very much a band from west of Rockies, which also means they have little of the drive to succeed so prevalent among East Coasters. In other words, Built to Spill doesn't really give a shit, which is both awesome and frustrating in the best possible ways.
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Tonight: Those Darlins with King Khan, Mt. Fuji Records Showcase #2, Nonsequitur
Those Darlins, King Khan and BBQ Show at Chop Suey, 9 p.m., $12
Those Darlins
A totally bizarre combination of freaky dance rocker King Khan and punk-infused country band Those Darlins. Weeeeird.
Nonsequitur presents the music of composer John Luther Adams at the Good Shepherd Center, 8 p.m., $5-$15, all ages
Pianist Cristina Valdes will play Among Red Mountains and Nunataks, while Steven Schick will play The Mathematics of Resonant Bodies.
Black Whales, the Whore Moans, Virgin Islands (EP release) and Mr. Gnome at the Sunset, 9 p.m., $8
The second of two Mt. Fuji-centric shows; this one is also a release party for Virgin Islands' (ex-Cops) Age of Anxiety EP.
Saturday's Set Times and "Itinerary" for Them Crooked Vultures' Seattle Visit
7 p.m.: The Paramount doors open.
8 p.m.: Mini Mansions take the stage in support.
9:15 to 10:45 p.m.: Them Crooked Vultures (Zeppelin's John Paul Jones, Nirvana's Dave Grohl, and Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age) take the stage.
11:15 p.m.—12:15 a.m.: Jones leads the band in a nostalgic bit of fishing out the window of their suite at The Edgewater Hotel.
12:15—2 a.m.: The band break into Anthony's, raids the liquor, heats up a pan, and Jones cooks up some Zeppelin-style fish 'n' chips.
2 a.m. til Exhaustion: Homme and Grohl take their pants off and reenact that damn statue at the Olympic Sculpture Park.
Sunrise: With the park finally open, the three men enjoy a leisurely stroll past the eraser.
It's Official: Schoolyard Heroes Are Calling It Quits
To close the book on the band after eight years of making music reaching back to core members' high school days, horror rockers Schoolyard Heroes will regroup with their classic lineup — Ryann Donnelly, Jonah Bergman, Steve Bonnell, Brian Turner — for December 19's Horrordays at El Corazon. It will be their last show. Kane Hodder will also be reuniting their original lineup for the show, and promptly break up.
Justin Dylan Renney Schoolyard Heroes at Vera Project.
"I'm really glad schoolyard heroes are being put to rest the way it started," vocalist Ryann Donnelly told us yesterday before today's official announcement. "And, honestly, the reason we're calling it a day on Schoolyard isn't because we don't love it."
Donnelly says the reason it was time to move on was that she and Bergman couldn't see working as Schoolyard without Bonnell and Turner, who exited separately within the last year.
"It was strange to play shows as Schoolyard Heroes with different people," she says.
In the announcement on their web site, Schoolyard hinted at the future:
"Don't freak out! If Schoolyard Heroes has taught you anything over the years, it is that death is always around you... and that from death shall emerge new channels of destruction. Loud, distorted, maybe even operatic channels."
We'll post more info as we get it.
Before You Go See Them Crooked Vultures, You've Gotta Give The Sporting Life a Spin
With Them Crooked Vultures coming to The Paramount on Saturday, everybody's talking and writing about the members previous musical associations (Led Zeppelin, Queens of the Stone Age, Nirvana). I need to mention the work that Zeppelin bassist John Paul Jones did with vocalist Diamanda Galás.
Krist Novoselic is a regular contributor to Reverb. His column on music and politics runs every Tuesday on the Daily Weekly.
Released in September of 1994, The Sporting Life is passionate and violent. It's a rock record to the core with Pete Thomas on big drums and Jones on bass. The first track, "Skótoseme," establishes a rock-groove rhythm section you'd expect from Jones, and this keeps consistent throughout the record. Galás gives a voice that wails in precision over the bass and drums.
There's no electric guitar and perhaps that would have been redundant - or even stock - considering the unique instrument that is Galás' vocals. It's piercing and intense. Put all these parts together and you've got a heavy rock band that not only has you bobbing your head to the groove, you also recoil from the sheer ferocity.
Galás plays keys also. There's soul with the old tune "Dark End of the Street". The songs are compelling and tend to menace. Galás wields a knife on the cover of the album and you'll find out her intentions with the tune, "Do You Take This Man?"
If you're grooving to Them Crooked Vultures and haven't heard The Sporting Life - check it out!!!!!!
Brian Barr Takes Pictures Now, And They'll Be Hanging at a White Center Brewery Saturday
Most of you know Brian Barr as our former music editor and a still-prolific contributor to the section now headed up by Pity the Foo drummer Chris Kornelis (as well as the Weekly Wire). But since leaving Western Ave. at the end of last year, Barr has turned some of his focus to photography, and you can bear witness to the fruits of his lens this Saturday evening starting at 6 p.m. at Big Al Brewing in White Center. Barr lives nearby, and rumor has it that a post-exhibit trip to the Locker Room is in the offing, which should be all the incentive anyone needs.
Also Tonight: Brandi Carlile at Easy Street Records!
I almost forgot to remind you guys about this show, but Brandi Carlile — the very same country songstress who sold out the Paramount Theatre a few short weeks ago — is making another appearance at Easy Street Records in Queen Anne at 7 p.m. tonight as part of our Reverb-sponsored in-store performance series. It's free, as in-stores always are, and all ages. If you're of age and feeling drinky, some of the Seattle Weekly music staff will be prefunking at Solo Bar starting at 6 p.m. Come say hello!
Brandi Carlile
A.M. Music News: Why Petty Gets No Respect, and Why Spoon's Probably Headed This Way
— Wall Street Journal: Petty gets no respect? "I don't know that anyone's out there waving the banner for us being the best rock and roll band there is," Petty says. "But we might be."
— Pitchfork: Spoon announces the first tour dates in preview of their new record, Transference, out in January. Portland's on the list for Dec. 11. A Seattle date MUST be coming soon.
— Stereogum: It Might Get Loud, Anvil! snubbed, miss Oscar Documentary short list.
— NY Times: Hide your axe: The feds raided the Gibson factory in Nashville.
— NME: A bus in Miley Cyrus' entourage flipped, and the driver was killed in Virgina.
Last Night: Chali 2na, Gift of Gab, and a Cameo from Lyrics Born at Neumos
Some randoms plucked from my notepad:
Chali 2na played Neumos Thursday, November 19, with Gift of Gab, Lyrics Born, and Mr. Lif.
- Having Mr. Lif open for Chali 2na and Gift of Gab basically just proved that he's at least as good as they are. Made me wish he'd come to the West Coast more often.
- It's been well over a decade, but when Gift of Gab says, "Smoke that shit! Light that shit!" everyone does. This one dude actually exhaled on cue, puffing smoke out up to the ceiling. It was the seed of what became a giant, all-encompassing fog of weed smoke. Thank you, Pete Holmes.
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This Week in Metal: Mr. Dio falls ill, Boris preps another Southern Lord 7"
Ronnie James Dio falls ill and cancels his European tour.
Judas Priest guitarist KK Downing is producing the new album by Hostile.
Hits Daily Double predicts huge sales figures for Them Crooked Vultures.
What is probably one of the best rock records of the year remains under the radar. Listen to Argonaut and prepare to flip out.
Boris prepares to unleash the third single in their Southern Lord series. Video teaser after the jump...
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Tonight: Mt. Fuji Records Showcase, Lovvers, Kids and Animals
Lovvers, the Intelligence, Past Lives, Crime Wave at Comet Tavern, 9 p.m., $6
Lovvers
The Brits' answer to Times New Viking and Wavves.
Kids and Animals, Conservative Dad, Black Whales, Post Harbor, Colonies at the Vera Project, 7:30 p.m., $7, all ages
Kids and Animals are a young, proggy indie rock band (its members are either still in high school or fresh out) whose ambitious debut hints at greatness ahead.
Spiral Stairs, Weinland, the Maldives and Point Juncture, WA at the Tractor, 9 p.m., $10
Last Night: Reptet Set the Agendacide at The Tractor
The Band: Reptet is a local six-piece modern jazz ensemble that came to work in NASA space suits, with a couple members accessorizing with a bear cap and a bandana, respectively.
Chris Kornelis Reptet played The Tractor on Thursday, November 19.
The Gig: Reptet celebrated the release of their 7" entitled Agendacide, at The Tractor
The Sound: Band geek mating calls. At one point they were singing about "Chicken or Beef," intermittently making their clarinets and voices sound like primates in heat.
Right, the instruments: The six members' arsenal includes tuba, trombone, tenor saxophone (at least two), trumpet, coronet, flute, bass flute, slide coronet, double bass, electric bass, banjo, penny whistle, tambourine, alto sax, and, um, was that a flugelhorn?
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The GIVE Compilation: Totally Worth $7
On November 17, Caffe Vita released this downloadable charity compilation called GIVE. There are thirty songs, all from local artists, and many of them are exclusive tracks you can't hear anywhere else. And it's only $7, which would be money well-spent even if100% of proceeds didn't benefit Arts Corps and local food banks. I finally got around to listening to it yesterday, and it's great. Though there are a few tracks we've heard before (The Fleet Foxes' "Mykonos" is one of these), most of the songs are new, and the ones that aren't, you probably haven't heard before. Here are some highlights:
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Alice in Chains Is Coming Back for a Paramount Gig
They're at The Paramount on February 4. This is what their friend Duff McKagan had to say about Alice in Chains:
Alice in Chains never really got the chance to tour and grow to a point of world domination back in the '90s for the aforementioned reasons (drugs, etc.). While Metallica and AC/DC are great and legendary, doesn't it seem that maybe the whole genre of rock has grown sort of stagnant? Best Buy and Target can promote and advertise and generally make a great fuss, but all the fluster about the Metallica and AC/DC records last fall kind of fell flat after the first couple of weeks. Both records were real good, but not GREAT as promised. The Alice record has greatness AND these guys are ready and able to tour. It is an exciting time for rock 'n' roll.
Free Wolfmother Appearance at the Northgate Best Buy Tomorrow
In case you don't have tickets to Wolfmother's appearance at The Paramount tomorrow night, you might consider heading north to the Best Buy at Northgate tomorrow afternoon, because the band will be playing a short, 3-5 song set there. It's free, all ages and starts at 5:30 p.m. (I strongly suggest you get there early.) The band will also be giving away a guitar and signing autographs. 
Daniel Boud
