Spanish For 100 and the Work of Ryan Schierling

Posted Oct. 23 at 2:13 pm by Hannah Levin

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While everyone is all atwitter (in both the original and contemporary sense of the term) about the Gossip and Jesus Lizard shows tonight, there's a least one under-publicized show worth checking out, should you find either the Gossip's sold-out status or the Jesus Lizard's steep $25 cover to be too much to wrestle with.

Local band Spanish for 100 is celebrating the release of their third record, Jezebel, tonight at the High Dive. Don't be fooled by the Merle Haggard, Fugazi and Uriah Heap references peppering their MySpace page; this is celestial-minded, agit-pop with an Americana undercurrent...not that this is a bad thing (though if anyone could sound like Fugazi, Uriah Heap and Haggard all at the same time, I'd be hella impressed). Reliably rambunctious classic rockers Shim are also on the bill, and cover charge will set you back a mere $7.

Strangely enough, the primary reason this show is on my radar is because of my current obsession with photographer Ryan Schierling's visual documentation of the band's 2007 and 2008 summer tours. Go Away, Come Home is quite possibly the most most uniquely moving collection of photographs I've ever seen of a band on the road. Schierling's eye is extraordinary in its affection for seemingly mundane details (how he makes a pickle on a truck stop diner plate utterly compelling is far beyond the grasp of my corpus callosum). The images, like the one above of Spanish For 100 guitarist Aaron Starkey and vocalist Corey Passons sitting outside a Witchita, Kansas laundry mat, are terribly romantic without feeling contrived. Sadly, Schierling is leaving Seattle for the sunnier pastures of Austin, Texas, but he's making Spanish For 100's record release his final Seattle rock show before he ditches us. Come down and tell him how awesome he is—or at least pick up your own copy of Go Away over here.

Topics: Aesthetic, Book Beat, Live Music Tonight, Love, New Local Music, and Tour Diaries

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One of These Things Is Not Like the Others

Posted Oct. 20 at 10:35 am by Sara Brickner

​Look at this photo of Swedish New Wave/synthpop band The Sounds (who play Showbox at the Market on Tuesday, October 27). Look at it carefully. Something's wrong here. Specifically, why is this band's one female member the only person in the photo who isn't wearing pants? Christ, those aren't even hot pants. Those are straight up skivvies. I understand that Maja Ivarsson is the Sounds' frontwoman, and is therefore the default sex symbol — and would be even if she was a hairy male tough with a beer gut instead of Debbie Harry's hot Swedish lookalike. But she could wear pants and still play that frontwoman sexpot role. Or a short skirt. Or at least cover those undies up with some Daisy Dukes. Plus, I believe in putting feminism to work for me. Don't The Sounds also have fans who are more into schlong than slit? Don't those fans deserve to see something that they'll find sexy, too? Get with the times, the Sounds. If your lone female band member is going to put her (very shapely) legs on display in order to attract more attention to the band, so should your hottest male band member put his goods on display. In the name of equality, I say!

Now, of course, we must decide which man in this photo should be the one to parade around in his tighty-whities. I vote for the guy on the far right.

Topics: Aesthetic and Rant

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Poster of the Week -- And It's Ballard Related

Posted Sep. 29 at 2:24 pm by Jonathan Cunningham

​Are you looking for something else to do this Saturday since you'll already be in Ballard at SW's REVERB music festival? As much as we love our own musical love-in, there's a garage rock/pop-punk show happening at the Josephine late Saturday night that seems like it could be a good time.

But before we talk about that, can we talk about this poster? My goodness. Does your grandmother know you design posters like this? Wait, that's not her is it? In all seriousness, the poster for this show alone is worth giving the bill consideration. This is what I call DIY (no pun intended) punk erotica that leaves nothing to the imagination. And that giant X isn't really covering up much... but it's a nice touch. As for the bill, Seattle's New Faces are playing as are Night Beats and Drug Purse — a psychedelic garage rock band out of Tacoma. With a poster this raunchy, I'm hoping there's going to be lot's of fun, yet dirty music played. If not, feel free to call bullshit on their sex sells approach and come back to REVERB.

(H/T) Life With Blythe

Topics: Aesthetic and Concert News

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Why the Dudes in Starfucker Shouldn't Change Their Band Name (Even Though They Will Anyway)

Posted Oct. 1 at 4:35 pm by Sara Brickner

as the band's MySpace states: photo by ingrid renan, brightened by christopher, inspired by sarah cass

Starfucker

​Today is the approximate deadline for fans of Portland-based electropop band Starfucker to turn in new name suggestions for the band, who announced their decision to change it early last month (if you've got a good one, be sure to send it to newnameideas@gmail.com soon.) And on Friday, October 9, the band will perform in Seattle as Starfucker (the show's at the Vera Project) for what may well be the very last time.

Still, I'm disappointed that the band's changing their name. Starfucker is a name that suggests a crass punk rock aesthetic, and a refusal to bow to society's standards of acceptability. A name that suggests this band is not just some pop band, but a band that is out to make an impact on the world through unconventional means. I liked it. And while it's within the band's rights to change their name if they feel so inclined, it's still a letdown to see a band cave to pressure from music industry wonks. Yes, it must have sucked being passed over for slots opening for Passion Pit and Yelle on a recent tour because their band name contains the word "fuck." But instead of mercilessly mocking those bands and the people who represent them for having no spine, they're changing a name they now claim not to have liked that much in the first place in the name of success.

In this fantastic interview with Willamette Week's music editor Casey Jarman down in Portland, Josh Hodges thoroughly explains the band's reasoning for the decision. And after reading it, it's hard not to sympathize with someone who's ultimately choosing success and a paycheck over poverty and street cred. Anyone who's ever worried about where their next bag of groceries is coming from will understand that.

Continue reading "Why the Dudes in Starfucker Shouldn't Change Their Band Name (Even Though They Will Anyway)"

Topics: Aesthetic, Elsewhere on the Web, and Rant

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Video of Michael Jackson Flash Mob at Pioneer Square

Posted Aug. 29 at 5:32 pm by Jonathan Cunningham

As I predicted a few days ago, the "cancellation" of the Michael Jackson flash mob scheduled for today was just a ploy. At Occidental Park, Kerry Park, and Pike Place Market, various groups broke out choreographed dance moves to celebrate what would have been Jackson's 51st birthday. Some of their dance moves are laughable, but at least they tried. Ironically, it was reported that Jackson's family finally buried him today in a private ceremony. But the folks in the video above were definitely in a more celebratory mood.

Topics: Aesthetic and Love

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An Update on Blue Scholars Secret Show Locations

Posted Aug. 25 at 11:06 am by Jonathan Cunningham

​As we mentioned yesterday, the Blue Scholars are celebrating the release of their new EP, Oof!, with a string of performances across the city today. They'll be at 'Ohana tonight to wrap things up, but before that, they announced some spot performances at mystery locations. As of last night, Blue Scholars DJ/Producer @sabzi (because in 2009, you can refer to people by their twitter names) was tweeting with former SW intern @nickcfeldman about where some of this might go down.

The first mini performance is at Kauia Family Restaurant and takes place at 11:30 a.m. If you're near the Georgetown area, go hit it up. But if you're closer to Capitol Hill, @bluescholars will be rapping outside of @CaffeVita around 12:15. My guess is that performance might start a little later than that but don't chance it. Rather than swamp readers with @bluescholars updates the whole time, will be tweeting out their locations from our @swreverb account as they come to us. Stay tuned.

Update: @Caffevita tweets: "awesome mini show at the Vita warehouse - They are headed to the Av. next."
And @bluescholars just tweeted out: "Hey twitfams, how's 42nd & University sound? 1:15pm"

So if you don't have desk job, go out and travel the city with these guys. They're having a lot of fun today.

Topics: Aesthetic, Elsewhere on the Web, and Grapevine

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Ben Chasny on Religion and Danzig

Posted Aug. 21 at 3:09 pm by Jonathan Cunningham

​When current Seattle resident and psych-folk troubadour Ben Chasny makes music under Six Organs of Admittance, some of the songs he records can bring about an esoteric feeling in the listener. As if monks, high priests, and shamans were involved in the recording process. One one hand, that's a skill, but maybe there's more to it. Either way, it's not totally surprising that his latest record, Luminous Night, which we recently wrote about, has numerous references to God and a higher power.

While surfing the web, I recently I came across an interesting interview where he sort of talks about that. It sounds like even he was surprised the subject comes up so much.

When I went to type out the lyrics, I noticed the word "God" was in almost all the songs and thought it was weird. But you know, even Danzig believes in a higher force

I heard Chasny put on an otherworldly performance earlier this week at the Crocodile and maybe that's why. You can check out the interview in full over at the Voice.

Topics: Aesthetic and Elsewhere on the Web

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Kind of Blue Turned 50 Today

Posted Aug. 17 at 7:26 pm by Jonathan Cunningham

​In my opinion, there's no question that Miles Davis' Kind of Blue is the most influential jazz recording in history. And the fact that it was recorded in just two days is beyond impressive. The first time I heard the album at 12-years-old, it totally shifted my interest in music. I fell asleep to it almost every night as a kid and have sensory relations to the album even as I type right now.

To date, I've got at least three copies on CD (including the one I purchased in Toronto at 12), two digital copies, and original vinyl. I've been listening to Columbia's 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition at the office for the past few hours and I recommend anyone else who owns any version of Kind of Blue to put it on this evening. Sure, the 50th anniversary of its release on August 17, 1959 shouldn't be the only reason that people play the compositions on that classic album, but if you ever needed a prodding to play some Miles during dinner, or while surfing the web or doing laundry, let this be it. For a good read on the impact of Kind of Blue, check out jazz writer W. Kim Heron's piece from earlier today over at the Detroit Metro Times. Frank Kaplan also goes long on the subject at Slate. And after the jump, there's a great video describing the making of Kind of Blue featuring Jimmy Cobb, the lone member left of that classic Miles Davis Quartet.

Continue reading "Kind of Blue Turned 50 Today"

Topics: Aesthetic, Love, and News

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Fang-Friendly Footwear

Posted Aug. 14 at 3:31 pm by Hannah Levin

Just in time for the sure-to-be-awesome Red Fang/Lions/Little Cuts show at the Sunset tonight, the UPS dude leaves these on my doorstep:

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If only Judas Priest would put out a Defenders of the Faith version, my life would be complete.

Topics: Aesthetic, Live Music Tonight, and Random

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Cee-Lo Green, the Soul Machine

Posted Aug. 11 at 12:08 pm by Kevin Capp

​A hearty thank-you to Larry Mizell, Jr., the new host of KEXP's weekly hip-hop smackdown "Street Sounds," for not only playing Cee-Lo this past Sunday, but also playing a cut off his first solo album! I'm not a fan of the exclamation point, and I don't use it much, but in this case it's warranted, as Cee-Lo is one of the truly great MCs—a sainted son of the South, a boogie man (not to be confused with bogey man), a two-fisted brawler, a gold-plated Liberace, a homunculus with a revolutionary streak, a high priest of style (Andre 3000 ain't got shit on 'Lo), and one helluva good writer. I could string together clauses dangerously close to metastasizing into run-ons all day in praise of the Atlanta-born badass.

Have you heard Cee-Lo's solo work? Sure, you know him from Goodie Mob, that A-town collective of MCs who dropped two classics of Southern hip-hop, Soul Food and Still Standing. (Pick up the latter album and tell me Cee-Lo, despite his diminutive size, doesn't tower over his band-mates.) And, of course, you know him from Gnarls Barkley, though everyone, including Chuck Klosterman, only wants to talk about Cee-Lo's partner, Danger Mouse. But if you're a fan of either his past work with the Mob or with the Mouse, you should run out and cop Cee-Lo's two solo discs, Cee-Lo and His Perfect Imperfections and Cee-Lo Green...is the Soul Machine. Both feature Cee-Lo's uncanny ability to wind his voice, whether singing or spitting, around grooves of his own making that shimmer with funktastic warmth. Then there are his inventive videos, two of which from his debut, "Getting Grown" and "Closet Freak," are available here and here (the embed function is disabled). Watch and learn.

Topics: Aesthetic

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Can Billy The Fridge Defend His Crown?

Posted July 31 at 9:30 am by Jonathan Cunningham

​This Saturday at 1 p.m., the Third Annual Top Pot Doughnut Eating Contest takes place. The man you see on the left, Billy the Fridge, is the current champion and apparently he's coming back to defend his 2008 crown. Last year I hear he polished off 11 glazed covered cake doughnuts in just under five minutes and was declared the winner. Considering how rich those doughnuts are, that's impressive. This year the rules of the competition have changed a bit. It's going to be more tag team style with five pairs of competitors from local record labels going at it trying to take Billy the Fridge's title. I personally hope the Fridge kicks ass (and lives to talk about it) although to be honest, this fun little competition is a bit too masochistic for me.

Read more about it below:

Here's the scoop: one record label representative will be teamed with a volunteer from the crowd for a tag-team like take on the contest. In total there will be 6 pairs - the 5 label designated eaters (Barsuk, Hardly Art, Sub Pop, Suicide Squeeze, and Light In The Attic) and Billy the Fridge (yes, he's coming back to defend his '08 crown), plus their randomly selected teammate - competing for the top prize.

The event takes place at the downtown Top Pot location on 5th Avenue. The Unnatural Helpers will be performing and there's going to be plenty of djing going on as well. And lot's of vomiting too. Let's keep it real. Anybody think Billy the Fridge is going to repeat as champ?

Topics: Aesthetic, Contests, and Guilty Pleasures

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Erika Jayne, You're No. 1!

Posted July 24 at 11:21 am by Kevin Capp

 

"ERIKA JAYNE'S 'GIVE YOU EVERYTHING' TOPS BILLBOARD'S DANCE CLUB PLAY CHART"

That's the subject of a press release that came shrieking, hair ablaze, into my inbox this morning. Haven't really paid much attention to Erika Jayne, and now that I've seen the video for her latest No. 1 blah blah blah, I think I'll turn away altogether. The vid is a pastiche of 80s teen flicks (Footloose, Flashdance, etc) liberally doused with Madonna mise-en-scene and porno posturing. Pop is supposed to be fun. This. Is. Not. (Video available after the jump.)

Continue reading "Erika Jayne, You're No. 1!"

Topics: Aesthetic, Music Video, and Rant

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The Music of Floripa, Brazil

Posted July 23 at 1:28 pm by Kevin Capp

The august Wax Poetics' latest issue is dedicated to the music of Brazil, and though I haven't scooped up a copy yet, the interviews teased on the site make me want to drop my deadlines and go get one now. Besides an intellectual curiosity in the contents, I also have personal reasons for wanting to crack open the handsomely bound pages of the journal. It's a nostalgia thing. I lived on the near-Utopian Brazilian island of Florianopolis (aka, Floripa) for two months in 2007. All the guide books told me India would present an overwhelming array of sights, sounds, and smells, and while my experience of New Delhi certainly fit the bill, Floripa ought to have that designation, too, especially when it comes to live music.

One could step out into the humid night during the summer and encounter a reggae band, its members' eyes as red as flares, lazily playing their instruments to an anomalously hyped crowd. (The sexual energy on the island is palpable, so maybe that's the reason even the slowest of songs makes people jiggle and wiggle as if electrified.) Or you could climb the rickety wooden steps of some lamentable roadhouse-style shack expecting to find a clutch of recently divorced fishermen hammering themselves into oblivion, and instead find yourself in the midst of a forró dance party. I could go on, but I'm getting misty. So, instead, I'll leave you with a few Brazilian artists I got turned onto while living there: Cidade Negra, Dazaranha, and Afro Reggae. It's all reggae, and all good.

Topics: Aesthetic, Elsewhere on the Web, and Random

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Pictures From Last Night: Death Cab for Cutie at Marymoor Park

Posted July 20 at 8:00 am by Chantal Anderson

Chantal Anderson

Ben Gibbard, frontman of Death Cab for Cutie played Marymoor Park on July 19 2009, with The New Pornographers and Ra Ra Riot.

Continue reading "Pictures From Last Night: Death Cab for Cutie at Marymoor Park"

Topics: Aesthetic and Happenings

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Girls Just Want to Have Fun

Posted July 10 at 10:41 am by Jonathan Cunningham

When was the last time you heard of a hip-hop show that was also a pajama party? The genre can be way too masculine for its own good sometimes so I'm glad to live in a town where artists like THEE Satisfaction are becoming a legitimately buzzed about group.

I just watched that duo play a funked out set of music a couple of nights ago at the Funhouse and they actually remind me a little bit of Betty Davis. They challenge social norms, sex roles, and homophobia within hip-hop — not by making grand statements — but just by being themselves and making undeniably good music.

THEE Satisfaction is performing again tonight at the Rendezvous, and they've got Canary Sing opening up and DJ B-Girl on the 1s and 2s. Julie C. of the Knox Family is hosting and it's going to be an all female night of music. That's not to say that guys aren't welcome. All of the artists taking the stage tonight are impressive in their own ways so go check out the show. It's $5 if you show up in pajamas, $8 without pjs.

Topics: Aesthetic and Concert News

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