We're heading in to New Year's weekend- for some a thrilling excuse to party their asses off all night long, sloppy kiss as many people as possible ("Hey, come on!  It's New Years!") and start the new year in a state of head-pounding (thanks, cheap champagne), stomach churning (ah, street meat?) haze.

For others it's an irritating looming night full of expectations just begging to be dashed. This year there are a couple of ways to circumvent at least the unfulfilled expectations (can't speak for the hangovers): My top choices are 1.) The Melvins with Big Business at the Showbox and 2.) Mama Casserole's Noise for the Needy Bash with the Emerald's, the King's English, the Knast and Loving Thunder. The Showbox will definitely be the loudest way to ring in the year of the pig, and for me the Comet requires no driving or insanely long waits for cabs- plus it's for a good cause.

Know of something better?  Let us know what you're plans are. . .  

With all the year-end stuff in full swing, I'm curious what your favorite concert of 2006 happened to be? 

With the folks out of town, my brothers and I were orphans on Christmas and spent much of it at (where else) the movies. . . Stuck in the second row during Dreamgirls, we were witness to wayyyy larger than life versions of Beyonce, Jamie Foxx, Eddie Murphy, Danny Glover and (multipe)scene stealer Jennifer Hudson (well known as an American Idol reject, but this performance is sure to eclipse) dance and sing their way through the big screen version of the 1981 Broadway musical of the same name. Now, at times this thinly veiled telling of Berry Gordy Jr.'s (Motown Records) the Supremes made me want to cringe a bit with it's seemingly untimely bursts into cheezy songs. But on the whole, especially with Hudsons mindblowing performances -that incited spontaneous cheers and applause from the crowd, rooting for her character Effie White- it was thoroughly entertaining.

Did anyone else pack into a festively darkened theatre yesterday? With almost every seat filled chances are good. . . what did you see?

For those of you who have this week off-and even those of you that don't- and are looking for something to do to tide you over until NYE- take Michael Alan Goldberg's advise and head to the Croc tonight. . .  

 Hoquiam + the Swaybacks + Dear Darling

Oft-wistful, always enthralling Seattle indie-rock band Dear Darling—fronted by passionate, somber-voiced singer-guitarist Jesse Smith (who's also no mean chef about town, from what I hear)—has played far too few shows around town for my liking over the past year or so. That probably has something to do with the amicable departure of drummer Andy Fitts not long after DD self-released their album, Songs of Friends and Family, in the spring of 2005. I last caught them live around that time, and the trio's set was brilliant—a mix of heart-tugging, acoustic-guitar-led rootsiness, and the infectious, slanted guitar-pop of late-era Superchunk, all of it led by Smith's lyrics lamenting crumbling love. Word is Dear Darling is working on a new full-length, and hearing some new material at the Croc should be terrific, but getting to catch the band live at all is a real treat. MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG Crocodile Cafe, 8 p.m. $6

So, you going anywhere for the holidays? I get an all-expense paid trip to Clarion, Pennsylvania! According to the always reliable Wikipedia, football and motorsports are very popular in my home state. I'd add that domestic beer and Wal-Mart are popular, as well. We're not known for much in the way of music, but I'd like to take a poll and see how many bands/musicians we can name that hail from Pennsylvania. I can think of Tommy Dorsey, Rusted Root, Pearls & Brass, The Roots, Joe Grushecky and the Iron City Houserockers, Poison, Hall & Oates, Live. I know Ted Nugent's family lives near Fryburg, PA and he supposedly hunts deer and turkey in the woods near my house. My mom saw him at a sauerkraut fest in the early 80s. But aside from the Nooj, are there any other bands I'm leaving off this list? Help me out here.

The recent rumblings around the proverbial campfire that the sweet alt-country sounds of Seattle's Sera Cahoone may soon belong to the Sub Pop roster of champions have been confirmed today by our own Brian J. Barr. We should soon see what the drummer (she's posted up behind the kit for Carisa's Weird and now-label mate's Band of Horses) turned singer-songwriter has to offer in the way of a sophomore follow up to self-released, self-titled debut effort. We can't wait.

Locust Music has one of the most eclectic rosters in the indie label world. Ambient beauty from Ethan Rose, Emily Dickenson-esque folk from Josephine Foster, and American hippies playing gongs in Amsterdam on Gamelan Son of Lion. Good stuff, all of it. But this little record seemed to get lost in the shuffle. I just dug my copy out last night and remembered what a beauty it is. As far as indie rock goes, Function really stretch out the boundaries of the genre. The basic song structures sound like the Wrens, but Function add ambient textures, field recordings of bird calls, and processed guitar to the mix, resulting in sonically intriguing indie rock records of the year. I doubt it will make many year-end lists, but it certainly deserves honorable mentions.

The anticipation of last night’s final taping of The Colbert Report in 2006 was high. Last month, Stephen Colbert, the fake right wing pundit and host of the Report, called out Portland’s own The Decemberists for ripping off his Green Screen Challenge, where viewers submitted background footage to Stephen playing with a lightsaber in front of a green screen. The rip-off in question was a contest for The Decemberists video "O Valencia!," footage of the band simply playing their instruments in front of the green screen, that fans were asked to create their own background for the video (there is a lot you can do with a green screen). Colbert gave his audience a challenge: to incorporate a video of the original Green Screen Challengein the band’s video. The band counter-challenged with a guitar duel. Colbert, the self-righteous and superstantial man he is, agreed to it and the date was set: December 20, 2006.

Questions were raised. Does Stephen even know how to play guitar?  Would he make a joke out of the whole thing and show up with Guitar Hero 2 (a very hot item this year)? Maybe he knows a lick or two. Who knows? And what about the The Decemberists?  It’s not like they’re really big soloists to begin with but we know they’re musicians. Who would come out on top? This was a challenge worth watching.

Last night, they dedicated the full show to “Rock'n'Awe Countdown to Guitarmageddon.”

Leading up to the duel, we saw the Apples in Stereo guitarist Robert Schneider sing an ode to Stephen in front a miasma of colorful illustrations of eagles, and American flags. The challenge between Stephen and the Decemberist’s Chris Funk followed the introduction of the night’s judges that included, rock critic Anthony DeCurtis, some Grammy winning producer whose name went in one ear and out the other, and NY Govenor-elect Eliot Spitzer. The whole face-off was moderated by, wait for it, Henry Kissinger.

Funk was up first. While Funk didn’t create a spectacle display of maximum riffage (that crap I saw at the Guns N Roses show a few weeks ago came to mind), Stephen, armed pompously with Cheap Trick’s five neck guitar, “injured himself” a mere five seconds in and got Peter Frampton to fill in for him, who blew Funk outta the water. Call it a sheer display of trickery from this fake right wing pundit, doing whatever he could to win. (Coincidentally, the prize was a copy of The Decemberist’s new album The Crane Wife). But it was a genius thirty minutes that had me laughing all night.

On Sunday, Tower Records, an institution in the retail music world and one of the first and largest record store chains in the world, closed its doors for good, after liquidating its entire inventory. The 14,000 sq. foot Lower Queen Anne store at 5^th and Roy opened in 1976 and was the first Tower Records to open outside of California. So when Tower filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August and announced all stores would be closing, Paul Grant, the president of Silver Platters, jumped at the chance to fill the vacated space with a new Silver Platters location. Although there are currently three Silver Platters locations (in Northgate, Bellevue, and Tukwila), this will be its first centralized location.

“It’s got a real indie feel to it,” he says of the building.

Silver Platters and its inventory of more than 100,000 titles will create a bit more competition for nearby Easy Street, though Grant says “We’re slightly different. There is room for both of us.”

Easy Street, who frequently book bands and artists to play in-stores before their club shows later that night, will also now have to contend with the larger stage in Silver Platters. “We have a great opportunity for some big in-store performances,” says Grant.

Of course, Silver Platters just recently began selling used CDs and currently only sell new vinyl, but their plans with the new downtown store include moving towards selling used vinyl, and expanding their used CD section. And like Tower, Silver Platters will have robust classical and jazz sections, though it’ll make an effort to be a more aggressive with its pricing. Steep prices were part of the reason why Tower Records ultimately went under.

Grant says the store will open on January 20^th, only one week after Silver Platters takes control of the lease.

 

By chance this weekend I watched two docs of local interest back-to-back: The Return of Courtney Love (VH1) and Classic Albums: Nirvana "Nevermind" (VH1 Classics; available On Demand from Comcast).

The best part of the "Nevermind," besides a bevy of locals like biographer Charles R. Cross and Sub Pop's Jonathan Poneman, Susie Tennant and Nils Bernstein, is Butch Vig playing individually-recorded tracks in the studio.

Since I've spent the better part of the last few weeks listening to music -- both to finalize year-end lists and just pass the workday -- I've been thinking a lot about The Album, Which led to a time-killing list of those I enjoy from top to bottom.

Nick Drake, Bryter Layter
Beatles, A Hard Day's Night
Elvis Costello, This Year's Model
Wire, Pink Flag
Green, Green
Pavement, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain
Colin Blunstone, One Year and Ennismore
Teenage Fanclub, Man-Made
The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society
Neutral Milk Hotel, In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home and Nashville Skyline
John Coltrane, Blue Train and Lush Life (but jazz is a gimme)

I encourage you to submit your own list. Who says the album is dead?