The Pharmacy, "Tropical Yeti" video

Should you not feel so inclined to drop the $50 on the Paramount's shindig, aren't in the mood for the symphony, and don't plan to hit up Buckethead at the Moore (he's with the Portland Cello Project, though; that will probably be sort of cool) here are a few other options:

The Cute Lepers, the Pharmacy, Wallpaper at Comet Tavern, 8 p.m., $12

Perhaps you're looking for a rock and roll New Years. Perhaps you weren't aware yet that The Pharmacy, of Don't Stop Believin' Records fame, is moving to New Orleans (hey, at least they're not breaking up) and this will be one of their last local shows before that happens; the other is a house show. Perhaps you haven't brought K Records band Wallpaper or nasal powerpunk rockers the Cute Lepers into your life. Well, you can change all that tonight in one fell swoop. I have gushed a lot about Wallpaper, who made this album, On The Chewing Gum Ground, that is a delicious combination of vintage rock and roll, punk rock, and angsty indie pop. A show for the ages. If you're on Capitol Hill, this is where you wanna be.

Lo-Fi's doing a special New Years Eve edition of Emerald City Soul Club.

For a countrified farewell to 2008, one of my favorite local bands that is also leaving us shortly, Ruby Dee & the Snakehandlers, are playing a show at Highway 99 Blues Club along with Purty Mouth and Celtic bluegrassers Wages of Sin. Starts at 7 p.m., costs $15. There will also be burlesque. Hooray for semi-naked ladies! (and gentlemen?)

Marmalade's playing at ToST starting at 9. They usually do a weekly Thursday-night thing. And even though I usually cannot stand jam bands, after a friend took me there, I realized that it was sort of fun and is more of a funk band than a jam band. They've got jammy moments, to be fair. And they'd be a whole lot better if they would make that awesome chick with the huge, amazing hair their full-time singer. I recommend this for all the hippies amongst you who feel like dancing tonight.

The Valkyries, Midnight Idols and Neon Nights are playing King Cobra this evening at 8 p.m., if you're down for a metal New Years brought to you by some of Seattle's finest. We've made our love for the Valkyries pretty clear in this publication, but their co-conspirators are great, too. And it's only $5.

Lists are problematic for all the usual reasons. As in, I'll probably forget stuff and pay too much attention to labels I tend to frequent. Alas, I still love makin' em.

*edit: I already forgot to mention Grand Archives and the Black Angels. See?

Twelve Of My Favorite Local Albums Released In 2008

Saturday Knights - Mingle

It is my firm belief that these guys could easily be as big as the Fleet Foxes right now if they had just gone on tour. Move the fuck OVER, Gym Class Heroes. The Saturday Knights own you.

The Crying Shame - In A Field

Cracked country. Bloodshot Records need to sign these guys immediately.

Damien Jurado - Caught In The Trees

He just keeps getting better.

Dutchess & Duke - She's the Dutchess, He's the Duke

I think we've probably talked about these guys' '60s pop enough, but I still listen to it a lot. Particularly "Ship Made Of Stone."      

Common Market - Tobacco Road

Great hip hop, cohesive concept album.
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by Duff McKagan

 

I really don't have a "tidy conclusion of 2008" column anywhere in me. Really, I think I ceaselessly strive for my life to have soft edges as opposed to sharp corners, but it just never works out that way. Instead of actually writing some sort of year-end wrap up, I thought of maybe just blurting out some random things that this year has perhaps influenced in my thought processes.

 

--Don't smoke crack: This stuff, while maybe getting you off for a few moments, really wreaks havoc on those around you. Enough said on that.

--Write a weekly column: Especially one where you may get instant feedback from readers. This experience for me has been nothing short of spectacular. Firstly, coming up with a weekly topic that others may find interesting is tougher than it may seem, but has kept me on my toes--stimulating, I should say. Secondly, reading feedback to a point (or NON-point!) you are trying to get across really lets me into the mind of others... I especially like the hecklers. The Internet is a place where most of us can remain faceless and shameless!

 --Call instead of text someone (better yet, meet for a fucking coffee! OMG): This past year has been "the year of the text" for me. I must agree that texting someone is generally OK, but only if you also TALK to this person (LMAO). I have seen people whom I have known for a long time become socially retarded as a direct result of relying on text-messaging to do all of their bidding. I do believe (IMO) that our younger generation may be headed toward some serious social difficulties as a consequence of this technological advancement. :-) Some of my friends have increasingly gotten better at communicating via text or e-mail, while their people skills have decreased at the same rate.

 --Did you guys know there was a members-only sex club in Seattle? Loaded went down to check out a rehearsal place last weekend. The practice place was kind of tucked away in a cozy spot somewhere between, let's say, the Fisherman's Terminal and Safeco. While we were inside talking to the owners, they let us know that there was a "sex club" next door and to not be freaked out by all the cross-dressing semi-truck drivers coming in or out of that place. Sounds like I found the perfect place for me and the Loaded fellas to celebrate New Year's!!

 --Go climb a mountain: Well, that is my goal for this next year, anyway. I was offered a spot to climb Rainier for this coming July and I just may finally do it! That fuckin' thing has been looking at me since I can remember.

 --Require politicians to read world history before they commit us to war and such: If old George W. had simply read a few history books about tribal warfare in the Middle East, he may have thought twice before stating that "The Iraqi people are perfectly able to govern themselves." Tribal warfare has been going on in that region since before the time of Jesus, and Saddam was just one of a long line of despots who have ruled with an iron fist in that part of the world. I do agree that Saddam and his sons were wicked bastards and should have gotten everything that was coming their way, I just wish a wider berth had been given to the IDEA of a mixed-religion Iraqi senate with real power back before we decided to invade. There was lip-service paid to the defeated Iraqi army that they would have work--that never happened either, and those legions got pissed waiting around, etc. . .

 --Give Peace a Chance: Is anybody with me?!

 --Don't hear about Paris Hilton and the rest of the Hollywood brat-pack at all this next year: Again, is anybody with me?

 --Seattle sports teams on the rise! Well, there is actually nowhere our teams can go BUT up after this past dismal season of darkness. Think of it like this: Get the Seahawks back in the playoffs (totally doable in our crappy division). Get the Mariners in wild-card position (or get us fans to believe that they could get there in yet another year). Get the Huskies to beat ANYBODY! If we achieve any of these things, we will be BACK!

 --Seattle is voted Most Literate City in America: This poses a most obvious question: What in the hell is a guy like me doing with a column in the SEATTLE Weekly if this is indeed true?!

 --Go see the Gutter Twins: I was afforded this opportunity last September in Spain and it was an almost religious experience. It is not very often these days for me to be completely awed by a band or artist, so I am completely pleased when it finally does happen. The Gutter Twins are not something you can quite put your finger on musically, they are just equal parts "kick-ass" all the way around!

 --Guilty(ish) Pleasure of '08: Shiny Toy Guns and their single "Ricochet."

 --We elected a President with pecs: When is the last time women have been all aflutter over a politician? I came downstairs the other morning and my mother-in-law was freaking out over a news piece they had just run on Obama on the beach in Hawaii. I saw the piece a little later that same day. I think gym memberships probably saw a spike that day. This will serve as a notice to all you malcontent nations out there--our Prez can beat up yours!

 --Don't parody Barack: He CAN kick your ass!

 --Flight of the Conchords new season: I was never a TV watcher until TiVo and never generally gave much weight to wasting my time watching crappy swill (just think of all the Melrose Place, Friends, and Dynasty episodes I missed!). Nowadays, however, TiVo has got me hooked on all kinds of good TV: The Office, 30 Rock, Entourage, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dexter, and yes, a new season of Flight of the Conchords starting in a couple of weeks! Also, try out Spectacle with Elvis Costello on IFC.

 --GO AWAY! That is, travel someplace for once in your life. Flights have never been cheaper and the dollar is still quite strong in South and Central America. Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro are two places I highly recommend. Hey, who could go wrong with two places in which the Ramones were bigger than Bon Jovi.

 --Learn to put up a windmill: If you got the skills to build these new power providers, the "New Deal"-like programs of the Obama administration could keep you working for about the next 20 or 30 years. If that fails, try to get one of those bonuses they're passing around at those financial institutions that we all just bailed out.

 --Look forward to the future! OK, so we all have borne witness to a pretty awful eight years of Bush policies. We have also all seen this credit crisis throw us into a recession that is shaping up to resemble the one we had back in the early '80's. (Seattle is in MUCH better shape now than it was then. Downtown looked like a ghost town.) It will probably get worse before it gets better, but it WILL get better. I am confident that President-elect Obama is "the smartest guy in the room" and will apply lessons from history. We have got the best guy for the job. Now, if he could do something to get an NBA team back here in Seattle.

 

Happy New Year!

With so many options to memorably end 2008, why not usher in the new year with music? For better or worse, other Seattleites had the same idea -- but try on one of these suggestions from our writers for size:

New Year's Eve at the Paramount:
With all the clubs and events competing for your champagne dollars this New Year's Eve, there's a veritable buffet of enticing venues where you, the discerning partygoer, may choose to spend your evening. But there's no question the Paramount's put together the best, most eclectic crowd-pleaser of a New Year's Eve lineup in the city; aside from the Presidents (whose performance at Sasquatch! last year proved these '90s favorites can still rock a crowd with energy to spare), Seattle's favorite hip-hop hybrid, the Saturday Knights, Ben Kweller-esque pop group Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, DJ Cherry Canoe, metal acrobats Monotonix and country music prodigy Vince Mira (accompanied by the Roy Kay Trio) will also take the stage.
-- Sara Brickner

New Year's Eve With Seattle Symphony:
Used to be that programming New Year's Eve orchestra concerts was a no-brainer: Just blow the dust off the Strauss family scores and oom-pah-pah your way through an evening of champagne music. But Gerard Schwarz likes to give the Seattle Symphony something meatier (though still Viennese) on these gala occasions--like Beethoven's Ninth. If the turn of the year is a stock-taking, resolution-making time for you, Friedrich Schiller's paean to universal brotherhood, the "Ode to Joy," which Beethoven set as the symphony's choral finale, will make an inspiring message. After the concert, stay for champagne, dancing, dessert (non-metaphorical), and cheering and kissing at midnight, if you like.
-- Gavin Borchert

As is Devotchka's show at Showbox at the Market tomorrow night.

Way to make my day, Banyans! I was just trolling around le MySpace, checking out band pages and skimming music sites like an irredeemable nerd when I stumbled across this little gem on the Banyans' MySpace page. The Banyans, in case you're not yet familiar, are an absolutely adorable local pop band that makes charming little songs with a 1968 Brazilian ukulele (Andy Fitts' favorite instrument!) and some steel guitar, too, if I'm not mistaken. And if you click on either of those links, you can procure six of these charming ditties for your own personal use (some of which were used in a previous project, Airport Cathedral). I particularly enjoy "Settle Up" and "JC Rifles 1."

And you thought there were no more seminal moments in hip-hop.

 

Well, OK, this apparently legendary Jay-Z performance took place in June across Ye Olde Pond at the Glastonbury Festival--which I confess I knew next to nothing about before coming across this year-in-review video on The Guardian's site--and not in an American stadium of note, like, say, Madison Square Garden. But it caught my harried attention because the booking of Jay-Z for the fest was considered a bad bet and, even worse in stuffy Britain, poor form. 

 

Here's the opening of The Guardian's show review: 

 

When Jay-Z takes the stage, however, the mood of mild bemusement engendered by [Amy] Winehouse suddenly switches to one of almost palpable anticipation: before he's even played a note, there's an electric sense of event around his set that suggests anyone who bet on him being booed off is going to end up out of pocket.

 

[Question: Can anyone imagine Jay-Z being booed off any American stage, regardless of the venue or the fest's theme?]

And so it proves. The audience is almost immediately won over. There's a gripping intro film that juxtaposes Noel Gallagher's pronouncements of doom regarding the rapper's suitability for Glastonbury with, among other things, North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il: this seems to be pitching it a bit high, but there's no denying its rabble-rousing qualities. Then, there is an unexpected sardonic opening cover of Wonderwall, followed by a ferocious version of 99 Problems. It's brilliantly staged, utterly thrilling and it makes Gallagher look a bit of a berk. 

My new New Year's resolution: must use "berk" in a sentence.

 

Later, the review's author, Alexis Petridis, quotes Jay-Z as saying to the crowd, "I heard you didn't like hip-hop." Guess he heard wrong--just like that berk Gallagher.

 

Devotchka live at Coachella

Widower, Final Spins, Sammy Barrett, Tractor Tavern, 9 p.m., $6

If for some reason you find yourself out the night before New Year's Eve, don't blow your load on some party-in-a-can DJ or punk show that will leave you wilted for the following evening. Instead, mosey on down to the Tractor and enjoy the wholesome Americana that is Widower, a charming little septet that doesn't shy away from their love of steel guitar or banjos and bears more than a passing resemblance to Wilco with a dash of Beachwood Sparks. Rounding out the ticket are the Final Spins, a solid outfit who deliver their simple, raw lyrics with a chorus of male backing vocals and rambling, guitar-driven sound. At the end of the night, your musical cravings will be sated without leaving your body exhausted - save it for New Years, kids! RAECHEL SIMS

Devotchka, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band at Showbox at the Market, 8 p.m., $25

FYI: tomorrow night's New Year's Eve show is SOLD OUT, so if you want to see the band and don't have tickets yet, you're gonna have to go tonight. 

Denver quartet DeVotchKa - led by frontman Nick Urata - has been at the forefront of this decade's neo-Balkan movement, what with all of their accordions, sousaphones, bouzoukis and Gypsy melodies. Still, the band has cross-pollinated that with some other sounds; Urata's suave, melancholy croon sometimes has his group sounding like Morrissey or Bryan Ferry on a tour of Hungarian villages. And on this year's A Mad & Faithful Telling, the band's fifth album, DeVotchka incorporates sounds from the hills of Spain, the banks of the Seine, and wedding halls in Tel Aviv. It's rousing and appealing, for sure, regardless of whether you find it exotic or, as my favorite (and mostly positive) DeVotchKa review put it, "perfect background music for a haunted Olive Garden." MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG

The Death Cab frontman/Bremerton native is now engaged to this treasure of an actress, who can also sing a little.