Jace Krause

Jace Krause, lead singer of Seattle-based band Friday Mile, snapped this photo at the High Dive on Friday, the same night his band played with Pickwick(also from Seattle) and Telegraph Canyon (from Fort Worth, Texas). The anti-country rant was scrawled on the walls of the venue's green room.

In some ways, it's fitting that Krause would be the musician to find graffiti that called for the return of indie rock. At the show Friday, he mentioned to me that Friday Mile's fanbase has grown organically. There hasn't been much buzz about the band -- a positive review on Three Imaginary Girls, a few write-ups here and there -- but the band has been growing in popularity mostly by word of mouth and the musicians' own motivations.

There's a reason why: Seattle has been on a country (or folk) kick pretty hard for a few years. Some of the most hyped out bands in Seattle -- Fleet Foxes spring to mind, along with Grand Archives, the Maldives, the Moondoggies -- are playing rootsy, Neil Young-influenced songs. (Even solo artists like Sera Cahoone and Rocky Votolato fit the bill).

But Friday Mile isn't country. At all. If anything, the band's guitar- and keyboard-driven songs are best described as good-old-fashioned indie rock. There are no violins or strings, no gently brushed drums and acoustic guitars; Friday Mile boast two guitarists playing the occasional riff, a bass player and a drummer following the beat, and a keyboard player that pounds out notes.

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During last night's four year anniversary party for the War Room, hip-hop/soul producer extraordinare Vitamin D was on hand playing the role of photographer. He was actually borrowing Kelly O's camera during the closing hours of the night and snapping up some photos just for fun. If his eyes are halfway as good as his ears when it comes to creating art, I'd bet his shots turned out good. Anybody that was at last night's shindig at the War Room hopefully had a great time as DJs Cosmo Baker and Four Color Zack were spinning jams and wildin' out as usual.

The Maldives, at last year's Doe Bay Music Festival.

For the Doe Bay Music Festival, it looks like second time is the charm. The very small, very folk- and country-tinged event made its first showing on Orcas Island last summer. In the course of one day, eight bands played to just a few hundred people. The Maldives, Tim Seely, and Left Hand Smoke headlined last year's festival, and those bands tended to attract their loyal, Tractor Tavern-frequenting fans (or so said Tim Seely.)

The lineup for this year's festival -- planned for August 14-15 -- is slowing growing, and at least one big name Seattle musician has signed on. David Bazan will be playing, touring in support of his upcoming release Curse Your Branches, out on Barsuk in September.

But there's also a number of other Washington bands playing and have a much broader appeal and sound: The much-buzzed about pop purveyors Lonely Forest; old-world folk band Hey Marseilles; and rockers Friday Mile, whose drummer, Chad Clibborn, organizes the festival.

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Ozric Tentacles (pictured), Voyager One at El Corazon, $17

If you're going to follow in the footsteps of Hawkwind and skip merrily down the hallucinogen-ated astral pathways of psychedelic and space rock, then you'd damn well better be audacious about it. And what can possibly be more audacious than playing all-instrumental music to boot? Ozric Tentacles (whose members reportedly met at something called the Stonehenge Free Festival!) is now marking 25 years of going strong with exactly that approach. And, as the band's 30 albums prove, the Ozrics' glorious unabashed presence, not to mention strong British flavor, have contributed greatly to the band's enduring appeal. These days, the Ozrics find themselves coasting, thrusters still ablaze, in a kind of time-space fold, their sound somehow a complementary fit with jamtronica, space rockers, and neo-proggers alike. Interested parties can climb aboard the band's long, strange trip via new album-slash-transportational-device Yum Yum Tree. SABY REYES-KULKARNI

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One of the first places I ever hung out at after moving to Seattle was the War Room. I can remember like it was yesterday (hell, it practically was) walking into War Room on my first Saturday night in town and saying to myself, "damnnnn there's a lot of Asian people here!" I didn't know what Yo Son! was or anything about Ring the Alarm or reggae on Thursday nights with DJ Soul One, but all of the above have become staples in my partying experience.

No offense to anyone but War Room is my favorite club in Seattle by a mile. I look forward to having a new favorite in the near future, but at the moment, as far as dancing and wildin' out goes, I'll take the War Room most nights of the week. If you feel the same way, show up to their 4 year anniversary party happening tonight. They've got Cosmo Baker spinning plus Four Color Zack and an art opening for a new Shepard Fairey, and lot's of giveaways. Check it out.

Friday:

Nectar is hosting a Patron Appreciation Night this evening. Two great DJs-- Leopold Bloom and DJ Million-- will be spinning for free at 8 p.m., and best of all, there will be all-night drink specials. Righteous!

Saturday:

Doug Martsch, lead singer of Built to Spill (and the person depicted in that badass caricature), will put on his DJ cap and spin at Solo tomorrow night starting at 9 p.m. That is absolutely free, too.

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Ahhh, if buzz could only pay the bills. My homo honey Erik Blood has been busily producing brilliant records over the last few months but has been without a "day job" for so long his straights have gotten rather dire. He's applied for so many things,but nothings panned out. Fortunately his BF is keeping a roof over his head, but he's past the point of pride when it comes to looking for work. So good people/employers of Seattle, I present to you: Why not hire Erik Blood?

Why, oh why, won't you hire Erik Blood? He's ever so handsome and smells pretty good for a dude. He makes amazing fried chicken and waffles. He's rarely more than a few minutes late and hardly ever sleeps on the job. He's always polite and can play every instrument but the drums. He could quote you Prince lyrics.He could sing you lullabies. Or construct lullabies (dirty, dirty, lullabies) for you out of Prince lyrics. He could walk your dog, answer your phone, sit your house, chauffeur your drunk ass about Seattle, call and talk to your mom for you,(he's great with moms),cook your meals, do all sorts of personal assistanty type things. Or best yet he could produce/remix a fucking amazingly awesome record for your band for an extremely reasonable fee. Want your record to sound as good as the Moondoggies, for around one months rent? I urge you to contact Erik Blood.
Regardless of your needs Erik Blood is there to fill them, so why, oh why, would you not hire Erik Blood.

If you have a position that Erik Blood could fill, contact him here.

Today in a California courtroom, a Los Angeles judged sentenced music producer Phil Spector to 19 years to life in prison for the shooting death of actress Lana Clarkson. It's a verdict that is long overdue since this originally happened in 2003. While I'm mostly (well, was mostly) a fan of Spector's early work as a producer, the fact that this sleezeball is finally going to prison -- and will hopefully die there -- is actually good news.

Holy shit, people. Good luck figuring out your plans for the evening.

Firstly, there's the John in the Morning at Night show at Neumos, which will feature Pela, U.S.E., Iran and Throw Me The Statue. It's $18 advance, and doors are at 8 p.m.

Chain and the Gang, Hive Dwellers, Wallpaper at the Vera Project, 7:30 p.m., $11, all ages

Chain and the Gang is the latest incarnation of musical brilliance from D.C. rabble-rouser Ian Svenonius -- part Prince, part Iggy, part Chomsky, part Andy Kaufman -- who's previously bestowed upon the world such deliciously caustic, sonically arresting bands as Nation of Ulysses, the Make-Up, and Scene Creamers/Weird War. Svenonius has been called "a Marxist version of Stephen Colbert" for the anti-authoritarian, anti-bourgeoisie, conspiracy theorist-style rhetoric and ideology he barks in songs and interviews -- and commits to print in such fascinating tomes as his recent essay collection, The Psychic Soviet -- that blurs the line between righteous indignation and pure satire/parody (like Kaufman, it's virtually impossible to tell when he's dead serious or pulling your leg). Whether or not his provocative socio-political stance makes you think "Yeh, yeh! Down with the Man!" or makes you want to punch Svenonius square in the face, there's simply no denying the power and entertainment of C&tG's blend of jailhouse blues, trash-punk, funk, and soul. MICHAEL ALAN GOLDBERG

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In a guest essay published in the August 2008 issue of Club World Magazine, a trade publication for which I'm editor, D.C.-born mash-up DJ/producer Tittsworth writes that he'd set two goals for himself "in an attempt to advance club music. First, I want to prove it can be technological and current. In order to maintain the interest of today's blog DJs, club music needs to update its production value. This requires techniques far beyond those of traditional club production. Secondly, I want to see if club music can extend beyond the scope of conventional DJ tools via songwriting. In order to gain acceptance to certain media and certain audiences, sample-free songs with original vocalists can be a great benefit." He adds, "However, it's important that these advancements not clash with the original essence of the music. Expanding a genre is important, but not at the expense of making it yesteryear's flavor-of-the-month."

Nearly a year has passed since Tittsworth preserved those goals in print. And when he spins tonight for Bangers & Mash at See Sound Lounge, you'll have the opportunity to judge how well he's met them. The globe-trotting jock has built up a solid rep as a party track master with a keen ear for what moves the dancefloor and, perhaps more importantly, what moves the culture. Both forces are at work in his '08 disc, 12 Steps, and will, I suspect, be on display during his set this evening.