Cozell Wilson

​When it comes to that "just rolled out of bed thing" that some folks put in so much time and effort attempting to achieve--you either have it or you don't. There is no styling aid on the market that can sell you what local bass player/heartthrob Chris Early has naturally.

He breaks every rule from to rocking New Balance on stage to home hair cuts and still has so many admirers I've actually had to strain to hear him play above the chatter about his swagger.

So good Early fans, here's our Valentine to you....shoe size included.

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Craig Robinson and the Nasty Delicious played at the Neptune Theatre on Thursday, January 12th, 2012.

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Craig Robinson and the Nasty Delicious
The Neptune Theatre
Thursday, January 12, 2012

Splicing the worlds of comedy and music together is by no means a new idea; plenty of comedians have toured with an acoustic guitar or piano as a bit in their act, but few have taken it to the level of Craig Robinson. Robinson (who you may have seen in The Office or Hot Tub Time Machine, amongst others) has upped the ante, pushing his act farther away from traditional stand-up by bringing a seven piece band (the Chicago-based Nasty Delicious) with him for the entirety of the show.

As far as raw, natural singing talent and having the sort of voice that makes heads turn...well, that's not really Robinson's strong suit. That said, Craig Robinson is a tremendous talent and a natural entertainer. After giving his band some time to warmup and show off their respective chops a bit, Robinson came out like a burly, hibernating bear just waking up and gave a loving nod to Elvis' entrances to the funked out strains of the epic "Also Sprach Zarathustra", revealing a neon green Seahawks jersey at the crescendo. Through the next two hours, Robinson led the audience through a careening succession of rapid fire bits that showed off his scattershot comedy style. Starting out by turning "If You're Happy And You Know It" into an over the top sex jam, Robinson immediately jumped into lovingly mocking R&B styles, eventually getting all of men in the audience to whisper-sing "take your panties off" (making the somewhat convincing argument that every song should have a "take your panties off" subliminally thrown in the mix).

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​Back in January I posted a few items on neo-soul man Lucas Field, a recent transplant from LA formerly of pop/rock group Low vs Diamond who was wowing regular Thursday night crowds with his funk laden soul sessions during a residency at Laadla Bar in South Lake Union.

The Thursday night sessions have long since ended, but Field hasn't stopped bringing the funk; in fact, from the looks of this new video (after the jump), the artist is revolutionizing Seattle's R&B pop scene simply by being a peppy guy who looks like Serge Gainsbourg, surrounds himself with soul musicians, and rehearses on a houseboat.

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www.cmj.com/

literally

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The College Music Journal (CMJ) produces a SXSW-style music and film festival called the CMJ Music Marathon every October, putting on dozens of showcases around Brooklyn and Manhattan, packed with new talent for industry insiders to discover. As Seattle's busiest drummer, The Young Evils member Faustine Hudson--whom I chatted with over the phone this morning--explains: "CMJ seems like more of an industry thing than a music fan thing. SXSW is bands everywhere partying; overstimulating. CMJ is more for bloggers and stuff." Having already set up shop in Brooklyn for the week, she also reports that the city has brought out their best assortment of V-neck T-shirts for the occasion. Stay classy New York!

Check out a full list (or at least as thorough of a list as I could muster while running through the daunting master schedule) after the jump. I've included a set time for each band (although most of the bands are playing numerous shows) in case you happen to be in the area this week:

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Eli "Sporty Spice" Anderson.

​Sip & Spin is a weekly feature on Reverb that asks local DJs what's in their crates and what's in their cup. This week, we talk Mondays with Eli Anderson, booker of Belltown institution the Crocodile, and find out where he likes to put his cucumber during the summer.

Where are you spinning?
Eli: I DJ at Havana on Monday night from 9 p.m. until I run out of records. The night is called Something Good. The goal is to create a quality soundtrack for people to kick back and have a few drinks. Classic rock and soul with a mix of newer indie rock and whatever else is good.

What records are you digging lately?
Listening to lots of post-Diana Ross Supremes, especially New Ways But Love Stays. Newer indie-rock albums from Pure X and Fruit Bats. Also, can't get enough of this Harald Grosskopf album that just got reissued by RVNG. Its the perfect late-'70s/early '80s woo-woo synth music.

What's your drink of choice and where are you drinking it?

I lived about one minute from Redwood until about a month ago, but it remains my favorite bar in the city. I'm a beer-and-a-shot kind of guy, although I've been known to get wild and throw a cucumber in a gin and tonic during the summer.

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​Back in the break-dancing day, Seattle was a tough contender on the scene and spawned numerous b-boy teams (Seattle City Breakers, Emerald City Breakers, Seattle Circuit Breakers, etc.) who went on to perform nationally. Out of that scene rose "Ziggy Zig Zag," a legendary breaker who'll be performing some moves this Friday at the Seattle Breakers Reunion. Hyped up by the event flyer--"WATCH ZIGGY BREAK A COLLARBONE! HE'S ONLY IN HIS 40'S NOW!"--the event is hosted by DJ Mr. Supreme and DJ B Mello (both Mayor's Award Winners for Excellence in Hip-Hop) and co-hosted by none other than DJ Nasty Nes Rodriguez, the original DJ for Sir Mix-a-Lot.

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I missed this news item last week, but a friend brought it to my attention over the weekend: Parenthetical Girls frontman Zac Pennington and Dead Science maestro Sam Mickens are joining Jamie Stewart's gut-spilling shame-core act Xiu Xiu. This is monumental! These guys are like the Crosby, Stills, and Nash of Seattle-affiliated creepiness! (I haven't thought this analogy out far enough for a Young analogy, so don't ask.) Mickens, Pennington, and Stewart have all done varying lengths of time in Seattle, and have previously collaborated on each others' projects, and, frankly, they're all creeps. At least on record. Maybe sometimes in person, too. (Have you ever talked to Sam Mickens? He's all slicked hair and black suits, and sometimes he seems like he might shiv you out of nowhere. He may be carrying a sword-cane right now.) They sing about depravity and debasements, and revel in grotesquerie and overly public emotional pain. There's androgyny and sexual abuse and self-abuse. Shock and ewwwwwww. And the three of them doing it together (along with Xiu Xiu's present musical backbone, Angela Seo and drummer Ches Smith)? Good times!

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YOU

DON'T

SAY!

(via The Seattle Times.)

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Speaking of erecting monuments to Kurt Cobain (R.I.P. 17 years ago yesterday), y'all have seen this footage of Jared Leto (30 Seconds to Mars, Frozen Embryos) filming himself in Kurt Cobain drag as a sort of pre-emptive audition for a possible biopic, riiiight?

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As mentioned yesterday, I'm in New York this week to see one of LCD Soundsystem's last-ever shows. They played the first of those last night at Terminal 5 (leading up to Saturday's sold-out finale at Madison Square Garden), and Brooklyn Vegan has posted a review and photos from the show (including the three-hour set list).

Among the revelations from BV's review, a Seattle angle: LCD was joined by none other than Seattle expat musician/comedian Reggie Watts! Studious DFA trainspotters will recall that Watts lent his considerable pipes to the "Spaghetti Circus"/"Untitled Love" 12" by the label's Still Going, the disco production project of Eric "Dr. Dunks" Duncan and Olivier Spencer. I'll be at the show tonight, and will have a full report of Watts' whereabouts at all times.

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