In Sabzi's words:

When Seattle rapper Grynch -- aptly named, "King Of Ballard" -- approached me to do a remix for his local hit My Volvo, I said "sure buddy, on 3 conditions: 1. you permit me to make the tune sound even more pop-like, 2. you let me follow you around your neighborhood for an afternoon with a camera, and 3. you write an essay about something Ballard-y."

He agreed.

Sabzi delivers on his promises. The new tune is pure upbeat pop, and the resulting videos and photos pure comedy. But what I enjoyed most was the essay--it's the most insightful part of the whole gig, from working with an old Norwegian fisherman named Trygve who looked like Count Chocula to his first true automotive love, the 1967 Pontiac GTO. You should read it all. Then enjoy the fresh take on a Ballard classic.

Eddie Vedder and Johnny Depp joined Patti Smith on stage last night at a benefit concert last night at Little Rock, Arkansas' Robinson Hall -- more specifically, a benefit for the infamous trio known as the West Memphis 3.*

Vedder voiced:

I'm here to show my support for the West Memphis 3. And to try to raise the visibility of the case at this crucial time ... Why are they innocent? Because there's nothing that says they're guilty.

Vedder and Depp both played acoustic guitar while Smith performed "Dancing Barefoot," her 1979 album Wave. The trio was later joined by Dhani Harrison, Joseph Arthur, Ben Harper (the former three recently formed the supergroup Fistful of Mercy and performed in Seattle last Thursday), and Dixie Chick Natalie Maines to perform another Smith song, "People Have the Power." Click through to see footage of that performance.

*If you want to know more about this case, watch the documentary Paradise Lost and its follow-up, Paradise Lost 2: Revelations. Probably the most chilling stuff I've ever watched.

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​Not up for watching the trainwreck that is Courtney Love come Sunday night at Bumbershoot? Your other option is, of course, Pavement at the Paramount Theatre. Some A lot said that the band's performance at Sasquatch! this year was a complete and utter snoozer, but second chances are always in order, right? Also, Quasi is opening, and they are awesome. The show is all ages, starts at 8 p.m., and will run you $32 -- unless you want to go for free.

In that case, email me at ethompson@seattleweekly.com by tomorrow at 4pm. You'll be entered in a drawing to win a pair of tickets. The winner will be notified by tomorrow evening.

Renee McMahon

Neko Case

​Yeah, Bumbershoot is suddenly four days away. Look for our comprehensive guide on the racks tomorrow, and consult Bumbershoot.org for show/schedule/ticket info right now. Here's what I'm putting at the top of my list:

Neko Case, 7:15 p.m., Saturday, Mainstage

The best Neko Case show I've ever seen was at Sasquatch! 2006, and it was interrupted by a now-infamous hail storm. Every other set I've seen from here--with the exception of her runs with New Pornographers--have been a letdown. Her fantastic, large ensemble roll through the songs as if they were trying to re-making the record. Nothing feels improvised. Everything feels like it was done the same way the night before. I go to see her every chance I get hoping she'll unleash her band, and have a bit more fun with one of the finest catalogs of songs around today.

Bob Dylan, 9 p.m., Saturday Mainstage

I know, shocker. Dylan's updated arrangements bring new life to some of the most tired songs of the 20th Century. He also employs a steller backing band. But I'm most interested in seeing this set because his booking at Bumbershoot seems more appropriate than any other I've ever heard of, and I'm curious to see if he packs Memorial Stadium in a way that we haven't seen since Beck's crowd broke every fire code in the book in 1997.

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Teleprompters are for middle managers, not the Boss.

​For those who have never heard of it, Rockaroke is karaoke backed by a live band. Conor Byrne brought in a band that did it a few years ago and it was pretty fun, but the problem was there was no prompter to read from. If a singer didn't know their selection by heart they had to read the lyrics from a sheet of paper, which barely helps because you still need to know when to sing. The band had a great list of songs to chose from, but without the security of a monitor they weren't getting too many people up to try it out. Most of the performers were friends of the band. I pulled off a decent "Don't Do Me Like That," but I remember my buddy totally dying on stage trying to remember the lyrics to "Against All Odds."

A few Fridays ago I hit the Crocodile for their debut night of Rockaroke (the next edition is Wednesday, Sept. 1). When I checked out the link that announced the event it provided a song list, and I was impressed by the depth of songs from each genre they were able and willing to perform. They could do it all: rock, country, pop, hip-hop, standards, you name it--but all I was looking for was something simple I knew every verse to. I wasn't about to take any chances on something I did not know backwards and forwards. I got to the bar ready with a short list of a couple Steve Miller and Eagles songs.

I arrived around 8:30 and there weren't many people there yet. The song being performed as I arrived was Lita Ford's "Kiss Me Deadly," and I could tell by the looks and vocal ability of the gal singing that she was a member of the backing band. It was loud and they rocked out on that big stage, and I remember thinking the five bucks I paid to get in was a more than fair price to get a feel of what it's like to be the lead singer of a band. There was an old bearded guy entering song requests on a laptop at a podium just below the stage. I turned in "The Joker" by Steve Miller.

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​Solange Knowles, in New York Magazine's profile of Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes:

"For some reason the performance style that's cool right now is not trying too had. But to me, if you're going to do anything, why not try hard? It takes vulnerability and bravery, but Kevin has no fear."

Translation: BRING BACK THE GUITAR SOLO!

Of Montreal plays the Paramount with Janelle Monáe on October 27.

​Neutral Uke Hotel, with I Believe In Sunshine, Joseph Giant. Sunset Tavern, 5433 Ballard Ave. N.W., 784-4880. 9 p.m. $7. You would think that one man strumming out every song from In the Aeroplane over the Sea on a ukulele would be a bad idea. For one, there's the trouble of stripping Neutral Milk Hotel bare. Even though Shawn Fogel, the man behind the cleverly-named Neutral Uke Hotel, has some back-up instrumentation while he sings and strums, the layers of Neutral Milk's 1998 masterpiece--organs and trumpets and accordions and elements of psych rock--just aren't there. And Fogel's voice is sweet and on-key, but it lacks the straining, emotive character of Jeff Mangum's. Yet despite these flaws, Neutral Uke Hotel does something wonderful: offer Neutral Milk Hotel fans the chance to hear the band's songs live again. YouTube videos of Fogel's performances depict free-for-all, enthusiastic sing-a-longs. Plus, there's something appropriately sad about that tiny ukulele: it struggles, admirably, the same way Mangum did. PAIGE RICHMOND

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​The early 1980s was a time of intense musical exploration. There was so much music to discover, and the fun part was that it was all current. They called it "punk rock," but the sounds were way more diverse than sped-up distorted guitars, crashing drums, and aggressive vocals. Bands like Butthole Surfers and Meat Puppets offered music that ranged from twisted psychedelic to mellow--yet bent--country rock. Then there was the deep esoterica of Sun City Girls--like the Puppets, another product of the Sonoran Desert.

The Sun City Girls were a trio comprising brothers Richard and Alan Bishop and drummer Charles Gocher. The band sounded like improvisational jazz, Middle Eastern or Asian music wrapped in a Captain Beefheart rock sense. At the same time, they weren't just about music. The band seemed to be making an effort to transmit something very far-out by wearing masks and costumes that underscored their shamanistic performance-art sensibilities. The volumes of their work can give an individual a sense of what they're about, so I will not--and cannot--pin them down. I can, though, share my experience as a longtime fan of the group.

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I had the unexpected pleasure of ending up backstage at the ZZ Top concert at Snoqualmie Casino last night. Co-band leaders Dusty Hill and Billy Gibbons sipped champagne and mingled with well-wishers (including Seattle-based filmmaker Jamie Chamberlin, who recently finished a documentary on the band).

Being the super-fan that I am, it was thrilling enough just to see Gibbons padding about in slippers and blue-and-white striped pajamas, but it was also very kind of him to do such a swell job autographing my purse. It pretty much looks like it's supposed to be there, doesn't it?

​

​Apparently August has been renamed "Give Away Your Awesome Music For Free!" month, because the Internet is teeming with free streaming music. I know this happens all the time (MySpace, Facebook,Bandcamp, blah blah blah), but right now, that music actually good, and most of it is coming courtesy of NPR. A few examples:

• The Thermals' Personal Life, which Reverb's Erin Thompson say "has all the heart of the band's best album, 2006's The Body, the Blood, the Machine."


• Justin Townes Earle's Harlem River Blues, which will be officially released Sept 14.


• The Walkmen's Lisbon, also out Sept. 14.


• A new song from Sufjan Stevens' upcoming The Age of Adz, "I Walked." (Thankfully, this song is only five minutes long, but if you like 'em longer, Stevens' EP is still streaming at Bandcamp, along with a whole bunch of his other albums.)

Need more? Pitchfork has a rundown of others here.