Seattle hiphop trio Cancer Rising (featuring The Stranger’s own Larry Mizell Jr., AKA MC Gatsby) received an adulatory review in the new XLR8R (issue 98 with the Get Physical roster on the cover). This is a pretty big deal, as XLR8R is one of the most trustworthy beat-centric publications in America, if not the world (I’d say that even if I didn’t contribute to it), and it’s indicative of Cancer Rising’s ascendant trajectory. Congrats, fellas.

Holy mother of god, it’s the new spazztastic Squarepusher single! On “The Modern Bass Guitar,”� Tom Jenkinson’s stuck to his tried-and-true approach: insanely complex beat programming bolstered by Jaco Pastorius on crystal meth bass playing. But when the formula is this exhilarating, I’m not going to complain. If you haven’t yet, I encourage you to plunge headfirst into the Squarepusher back catalog (here is my 2004 take on the man’s career). Squarepusher’s forthcoming album, Hello Everything, drops Oct. 16.

Meet the Thingamapoop. I’m not a gear-head in the least (it tends to all look the same to me, although I appreciate the results), but this synth caught my eye since it’s got eyes of its own. It’s a kinder, gentler synth, with a face to give you knob-twiddlers even more reason to love your equipment. And what pushes it over the Cute Overload edge? It also gives gear just what it was sorely lacking: nipple tweaking. First artist I see with one becomes my instant favorite.

[via Engadget via Music Thing, a blog all about various configurations of knobs, switches and dials that make noises]

It’s my job to write about bands. Not a bad gig, really. But what I really should’ve done was started a band of my own, because look what you get to do when you’re in a rock and roll band…

If you’re in Kane Hodder, you get to go to Japan! They left yesterday afternoon, and already they’re having an awesome time. They were nice enough to send a couple photos to share:

And if that’s not enough to make me green with envy, I also just got word that the Speaker Speaker boys have finally finished recording their debut full-length with J. Robbins (they’ve been in recording in his Baltimore studio since June 19th). Now they’re currently enjoying a day off on the Jersey shore where they get to swim in the Atlantic Ocean and eat ice cream.

And I’m here in Seattle. Sitting at a desk. Writing about their adventures.

Sigh… I never should’ve quit those piano lessons.

I must admit, they tricked me too with this VH1 special that aired over the weekend. Some people are rather perturbed, but I say props to them for pulling it off. Wondering what the hell I’m talking about? Read all about it here in the L.A. Times (site registration required).

It’s not the snappiest of names, but the Stranger’s new feature called Audible Up & Comings is a great way to check out some local bands playing in town this week. On the weekly show I, Megan Seling, go through the calendar and pick a few of my favorite bands who are also featured on the Stranger’s Band Page, and play them for you. Then, should you hear something you like (which hopefully you will, I try to get a pretty good mix of genres), I give you all the show info you need. All you have to do is click and listen, no pesky reading required!

We’ve only done two shows so far, so I still sorta sound like an awkward dork, and I apologize for that. But it can only get better from here! (To some degree, since I sorta am a dork.)

This week’s show features Sindios, Joy Wants Eternity, Velella Velella, the Lonely Forest, and more. You can listen to it here.

And if you’re in a band, be sure to get some of your own songs posted at www.thestranger.com/bands, so you could maybe be featured on an U&C show!

(Photo by Rustee Pace)

Thee Emergency are playing a free in-store tonight at Easy Street Records on Queen Anne. It starts at 6 pm. Go.

While you’re there, it’d be a perfect opportunity to pick up their new record, Can You Dig It?. And if you don’t know who Thee Emergency are, then A) you’re totally out of it, and B) you better click here to hear the song “Get It Up” and keep your cred.

You’re welcome.

This could be the weirdest dance music collaboration since Liza Minnelli tapped Pet Shop Boys to produce Results back in 1989…

I was yakking on the phone this morning with dance music producer and remixer (New Order, Depeche Mode, Nelly Furtado) Richard Morel, about Blowoff, his clubnight and musical project with Bob Mould. They have an album in stores August 15, and are hosting a Blowoff night at Homo A Go Go in Olympia on Saturday, August 5. I asked Rich what else he had on deck for the coming months, and he said his next release is a full-length by his Morel’s Pink Noise project.

The lead single? A collaboration with notorious Kurt Weill interpreter and Teutonic cabaret diva Ute Lemper.

The cut is called “Stop Me” and should start leaking into clubs later this summer. What a (hopefully) refreshing change from the usual wailing and whoa-oh-oh-ing that passes for singing on dance tracks these days. From the lead singer of Husker Du to the statuesque blonde who played Velma Kelly in London. That’s quite a change of collaborators. Chicago house, indeed.

Mr. Segal suggests:

TOM BROSSEAU, NORFOLK & WESTERN, SHELLEY SHORT (Tractor) Tom Brosseau’s spare Empty Houses Are Lonely is possibly the most conventional album released by England’s boldly eclectic FatCat label. Nevertheless, the company’s ear for talent wins out again, as Brosseau’s a luminous—albeit straightforward—folk-tinged songwriter with a supple, honeyed voice that splits the difference between Jeff Buckley and Devendra Banhart. In other words, expect Brosseau to ascend to a gilded cult status any day now. Shelley Short’s sophomore album on Hush Records, Captain Wild Horse (Rides the Heart of Tomorrow), finds her rich, tremulous voice sweetening up a set of mellifluously morose country/chamber-pop songs. Her youthful-sounding, Victoria Williams”“like pipes belie a mature, literary songwriting style that goes down easy. DAVE SEGAL

If you can’t get in or if Brosseau’s not your thing, I highly recommend venturing down the street to the Sunset, where one of the city’s best punk bands will be playing an unannounced show (sorry, I really can’t say, or heads would roll). Additionally, it must be noted that another one of the city’s best (and longest-running) punk bands, the Spits, are playing their last show “for a long while,” according to Sean Wood, who I ran into at last night’s Funhouse show. Why didn’t they tell us this earlier so we could preview it appropriately? Because they are the Spits, and really, we’d expect nothing less. Naturally, they’re playing the Funhouse, along with Head, the Bug Nasties, and the Bananas.

I met last night with Death of the Party majordomo Clayton Vomero to discuss the launching of his new Tuesday night party at Havana called Sing Sing (see also Hannah Levin’s column). Dude’s enthusiasm is infectious and he seems unbelievably stoked to get his new project aloft after his previous residency at Viceroy, Lowlife, folded. Sing Sing will focus on booty-centric music (baile funk, crunk, electro-house, whatever Fader magazine is championing, etc.) in an effort to make you forget about the dangerous fools running the country, if only for a few hours.

July 11 marks Sing Sing’s official throat clearing, but July 18 will likely make a louder sound with the appearance of Spank Rock/B.B.C. Sound DJs Devlin & Darko. Vomero’s booked Diplo, Bondo Do Role, and CSS for Aug. 5 (at Neumo’s), K-Fed beatmaker Disco D for Aug. 10, and Caps & Jones will be returning Sept. 29. December will see Spank Rock hitting Seattle for the second time this year; one hopes the Paramount is ready for their bass frequencies.

Most weeks will be held down by locals Fourcolorzack and Vomero (AKA Pretty Titty), but Vancouver jocks My Gay Husband and Paul Devro are slated to make monthly jaunts south to put Havana’s sound system through its paces. With Vomero and Zack transitioning to the Serato LIVE program, the former says they’ve increased their ability to play exclusive tracks and remixes.

Vomero’s ambitious goal (partially) with Sing Sing is to bring some New York/Baltimore/London/Brazilian favela flavor to Seattle’s club scene. He’s all about “doing stuff that wouldn’t ordinarily happen”� in this city. In this regard, Vomero is a philanthropist of the dance floor. Havana good time is quite a plausible scenario.

As with breakers, I tend to have a love/hate relationship with a lot of turntablists. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the artform in either case, but I typically go out to hear some great music, and in a lot of cases, breakers just ruin a dancefloor for laypeople who rather than dancing have to worry about taking a foot to the head, while many turntablists ruin the flow of music that keeps a dancefloor going. For both groups, I have to mentally prepare myself for an evening relegated to the role of spectator, at which point I’m fine. That said, I’m looking forward to being a spectator tonight at Chop Suey. Should be well worth watching.

Tonight Chop Suey plays host to the 2006 DMC American Battleground, the Northwest Regional Turntable Competition. Seeing as how it was (arguably) the DJ battle that set the mold for the Laptop Battle, the Big Tune Beat Battle, Iron Composer, and a slew of related things I’m sure I’m forgetting, I feel almost obligated to attend the original competition. I’m also looking forward to seeing what the region has to offer there. There’s hardly a shortage of DJs in the area, so now to see how they stack up against the greats. Is the next Q-bert in our midst? Only one way to find out. See you out tonight.

While I’ve never given the Murder City Devils a good listen, I have given quite a good listen to two of the short-lived, low-output bands that some members of Murder City Devils were in way back when: Area 51 and Death Wish Kids. I’d give almost anything to see Area 51 do a live rendition of their “Over the Edge”� song, but instead I’ll buy their long-out-of-print discography 10-inch, which—I have just learned at this very moment—has been re-pressed by Sound Virus records! Holy shit! This hard-to-find record has been at the top of my most-wanted list for many years, and it has always eluded me. This will be the best $9 I’ve ever spent.

Journey, the Journey tribute band that shares a name and several members with the 20th century pop powerhouse, experienced a setback in their summer tour this week when Steve Augeri, eerie doppelgänger for original singer Steve Perry, came down with a throat infection and had to step away from the mic.

His temporary replacement is Jeff Scott Soto. Heard of him? Oh.

The lead item on his resume is that he sang on Yngwie Malmsteen’s first two albums. But what’s weird, creepy and recursive about this is that he was also the ghost-singer for Steel Dragon, the fictional band in the movie “Rock Star,” which is about a singer in a tribute band who gets drafted to sing for the band he idolizes. (The movie is itself based on the story of Tim “Ripper” Owens, who got promoted from being in a Judas Priest tribute band to actually being in Judas Priest.)

This whole tail-chasing life-imitates-art-imitates-life freak show rolls into the White River Ampitheatre on August 31.

Because the definitive 2000 Clash documentary, Westway to the World, set the bar so damn high, it’s hard for me to encounter any new Joe Strummer-related chronicle without skepticism (such as the inexcusable rash of sub-par biographies that have flooded the market since his death). However, I had high hopes for Let’s Rock Again, an extremely personal portrait of Strummer filmed, edited, and produced by Strummer’s longtime friend, Dick Rude. I was not disappointed.

The free screening at EMP last night was packed (communications manager Christian Quilici said they were still turning away folks for almost half an hour after the film started). Filmed throughout the last 18 months of Strummer’s life, Let’s Rock Again examines both Strummer’s most endearing personal qualities (humility, humor, compassion) and his greatest strengths as a performing musician (the enduring relevance of his voice, his ego-free willingness to share the stage with younger musicians whose chops rival his own). I don’t want to give away too much, as every Clash or Strummer fan should go out and buy a copy of DVD for themselves (Rude financed the film on his own), however, there are a couple of moments that I can’t help but share:

1) The sound recordings are uniformly excellent throughout, but the moments Rude captures while Strummer and the Mescaleros are ripping their way through a cover of the Stooges “1969” nearly took my breath away.

2) There’s an unexpectedly sweet scene where Strummer is being interviewed and notices a terribly wilted, close-to-death plant in the room. Although a number of people in the room are trying to get his attention, he politely excuses himself to address the plant, apologizing for the lack of water, promising to get it “a drink soon.” A few moments later, after he’s dealt with his other responsibilities, he discreetly dumps his own pint glass of water on the plant. During the post-screening Q&A, an audience member thanked Rude for including that shot—a compliment that clearly pleased him. “That’s the thing—[that was] ‘typical Joe’ to be more worried about a plant than what’s going on with him.”

To learn more about the film, visit Rude’s site here.

My final words on the genius that is Burial.

In response to my high praise of Burial’s new CD in a recent post, we received this letter.

Hi, Thanks for the recommendation. I downloaded it (legally) from Bleep. It’s an excellent album that covers a large range of styles. Yet, I wonder about the assessment that it is an album of the decade. You do as well and I appreciate that. The fact is that there are several discs that contain elements of this effort. For instance, Muslimgauze’s efforts from the mid to late 90s, including Hezzbollah, which had dub, ambient, and found elements in it’s music. One might argue, and I would be willing to agree, that Muslimgauze did not contain the breadth of work or the coherency of Burial, but Muslimgauze was pointed in a different direction and actually surpassed Burial in many ways. There are other examples. My point: Burial is a great record for the masses, but it would not have been achieved without the efforts of many more experimental artists who came before.

Two things. One: the music of Burial brings to my mind the early music of DJ Vadim, rather than Muslimgauze. Both Vadim and Burial make haunted music. In Vadim, we constantly hear doors that are ghostly opened, and dead voices that rise from an inner-city cemetery. Similar effects haunt Burial’s beats. Two: readers, please, do as the writer of this letter has done and download Burial at Bleep.

Lastly, this is what I have written elsewhere about Burial’s impressive hauntology:

I finally own Burial’s debut CD Burial. It is as beautiful as the haunted mix Kode 9 made of it for Radio 1’s Breezeblock show. The only disappointment is that “Gaslight” did not make the final edit. “Gaslight” is the sonic peak of the Breezeblock mix. It follows the radiating, pirate radio signals of “South London Boroughs,” and has a heavy/sharp drum sequence that’s set against a soaring horn arrangement haunted by the damned. The one thing I waited for all last week was to hear the whole of “Gaslight.” But, to be fair, Burial is still stunning even without “Gaslight.” What Burial does with music—which is dense, urban, between the living and the dead, the dog and the wolf, concrete and dreams, the moans of lovers and the moans of phantoms—is what I want to do with words…

On Burial’s MySpace site, Hera posts:”[T]hat breezeblock mix was pure sex.” True, but it’s also pure death, or “dry loss,” as the French would say. It is, at once, everything and nothing.

I also wrote this about the track on Burial that has hardest hit my imagination, “Gutted”:

“Gutted,” which is on the mythic 20 minute-long mix by Kode 9, opens with a war-worn assassin expressing the importance of maintaining “the ancient ways, the old school ways.” After him, we hear such fantastic things: voices rising and falling from a ghost town in the distance; a rasta suffering from a heartbreak that’s more devastating than anything the loneliest of rastas, Gregory Issacs (the “Lonely Lover” of reggae), has ever suffered. (Where has she gone? Why has she gone? How happy he once was—“My love, my love, my love.”) There are other voices in other rooms. Suddenly a bass like the ghost of a ball, bounces down a series of steps and vanishes (except we hear this image in reverse motion). A dubbed horn flows in and out of consciousness.

The beat of “Gutted” is what I want to examine. As is evident in all of Burial’s tunes, the beat is what matters most. “[D]rums: they’re still the future,” he said in an interview on the blog Blackdown (blackdownsoundboy.blogspot.com). “…[P]eople still don’t know how to do…drums. It’s an unknown thing. Its like the last fucking secret left in music: how you do…drums[?]”

The drumming in “Gutted” has four parts: At the bottom, over the wide space of eight measures, is a bass drum that beats out various patterns (the primary one being a single beat that’s answered, after a short duration filled with hisses, crackles, and sparks, by two rapid beats). At the very top is a house high-hat that comes in and out of the mix. And in the middle, two snaps answer the crisp sample of a broken bicycle bell. It’s an oldtime bicycle bell; one that’s made of metal and has a little lever that’s designed for the thumb. But the bell doesn’t ring when its lever is pushed—instead it makes, one, an abrupt metal sound and, two, a louder, throaty, rattling sound.

This broken bicycle bell is the heartbeat of “Gutted.” But it is a dead heart. The bicycle bell no longer sends out a signal, a ring to warn the living. A dead thing keeps the beat of “Gutted” going. And the love-sorrows of the rasta, the city of the dead, and the words of the world-weary assassin—all are caught in this prison of time drummed up by a broken bicycle bell.

This just in from the Sleater-Kinney camp:

Tickets go on sale July 8th at 10am PST. Tickets will be available through Ticketmaster online/phone sales/ outlets. Phone and online sales are limited to two per customer. The outlet sales (in person) are limited to four per customer. The Crystal Ballroom box office will also be open at 10 AM on July 8th.

There’s been talk about HOB being up for sale for quite some time, but it sounds like this deal still took many employees by surprise.

While I understand people being seriously worked up about the Murder City Devils reunion show at the Block Party this year, I was never a huge fan back in the day (though I’ve come to appreciate them a bit more now). Personally, I’m really looking forward to seeing two of the bands that formed in the aftermath of the MCD’s demise, Pretty Girls Make Graves and Big Business. What are Line Out readers (and writers) excited about this year?

…provided a quality punk rock show is what you’re craving:

A FRAMES, BIRTHDAY SUITS, THE PLEASURE BOATERS (Funhouse) It’s always a rare joy when you throw on a CD by a band you’ve never heard of and instantly fall in love. Minneapolis duo Birthday Suits accomplished this for me within the first 60 seconds of their 2005 debut, Cherry Blue (Nice & Neat Records). Guitarist Hideo Takahashi and drummer Yuichiro Matthew Kazama (formerly of the much-lauded-but-overlooked garage punks Sweet J.A.P.) create a lean, powerful noise-rock clatter that conjures many of the greats (Melt Banana, No Means No, Dead Kennedys), and exude the sort of punk magnetism that could change a young kid’s life. I can’t recommend this show enough. HANNAH LEVIN

Seattle’s favorite larynx-shredding, post-punk spazzes the Blood Brothers have a new album coming out Oct. 10 on V2. Cited by Alternative Press as one of the most anticipated albums of 2006, Young Machetes was produced by Guy Picciotto and John Goodmanson. A tour will commence this fall.

Read the press release after the jump.

Continue reading "New Blood Brothers Album Details" »

Decibel’s electronic-music-oriented stage at last year’s Capitol Hill Block Party attracted “dismal”� numbers of onlookers, according to organizer David Meinert, and so it will not be appearing at this year’s event. “Most people coming are into rock and hip-hop,”� says Meinert. “Decibel is doing something with Bumbershoot and have their own fest, so it seems redundant to try to do something with them at the Block Party.”�

This decision disappoints me, but I understand the rationale. Still, in a city with such a vital electronic scene and tons of great DJs, it somehow seems misguided. How do Line Out readers feel about this?

I saddens me deeply to hear this story about a female musician being drugged and raped while playing the Warped Tour. The whole thing sounds unpleasantly plausible, and I’d really like to know what Joan Jett has to say. I’m currently trying to get in touch with her press rep; I’ll post anything I find out here.

I hadn’t seen SY since their performance at Lollapalooza in 1995, so in Friday’s show was sort of a rediscovery for me. I had forgotten what an absolute joy it is to watch Thurston have a full-tilt freak-out, thrashing about so much that he appeared to be wielding an epileptic anaconda, not a guitar. Kim looked and sounded stunning, alternating her time between gleefully stomping on one of her nine (!) effects pedals and pogoing about as the band worked their way through the majority of Rather Ripped—and very little of their back catalog (I missed their first song, so perhaps they busted out “Eric’s Trip,” as they have on many other dates, but I can’t say for sure). I think it says a lot when a band with as much history as SY can stick to newer material and still hold an audience’s attention for nearly two hours. Granted, there were more than a few shouted demands for “Death Valley ‘69” but their overall adherence to the new stuff didn’t detract from the fact that they remain one of the most creatively resilient bands of the last 20 years.

From the moment I walked up to this sold-out show, it was clear that Ms. Case has officially arrived. Scalpers were everywhere (scalped tickets for Case’s shows have been going for as much $60 throughout this tour), and I ended up standing behind one woman at the box office who was practically in tears when the attendant told her there were “definitely, definitely” no more tickets. Once she took the stage, it was also clear that Case, a former Seattle/Tacoma resident, was overwhelmed by the avalanche of adoration that was hitting her. Normally a talkative and jovial performer, Case was visibly nervous during the first several songs (tottering around on precariously high heels probably didn’t help), but still hit every damn note with her trademark precision. Her band handled back-up duties admirably, particularly pedal steel/banjo player Jon Rauhouse, but thanks to a preponderance of a cappella breaks, her voice remained the centerpiece of the 90-minute set. Case eventually relaxed, gently teasing Rauhouse, falling into the familiar stand-up routine she conducts with backing vocalist Kelly Hogan, and gracefully weaving her way through material from her four albums (and a few covers, including songs by Randy Newman, Buffy Sainte-Marie, and Bob Dylan). I haven’t been moved to tears at a live show in quite some time, but by the time I was on my feet with the rest of the crowd for her third standing ovation, it really couldn’t be helped.

Seattle DJ Boyd Main (AKA transplanted New Zealander Mike Lakeman) has been hosting the most comprehensive and quality-rich radio show in the area for regional electronic music. Called Local ‘Lectric Lunch and broadcast every Tuesday from noon-2pm PST from UW’s online Rainy Dawg Radio station, the program centers on the Northwest’s fertile talent pool of technophiles. Besides having the coolest accent of any radio personality working in the city, Boyd Main is a keen arbiter of many forms of electronic music. He will school you and enrich your headspace immensely.

Read Boyd Main’s press release after the jump.

Continue reading "Eat to the Beat, Cascadia Style" »

First the Ramones, now the Beatles: Another “rock musical” debuted this weekend. Anyone else find the above photo of Yoko and McCartney (taken at the Las Vegas premier) a tad disturbing (or at least disorienting)?

Judas Priest: Gearing up to take on Nostradamus.

‘Lil Kim: Jailbird no more.

Big Black: Just added to the Touch and Go 25th Anniversary Celebration. I couldn’t take the temptation anymore—I just bought tickets.

Green Day and the Dixie Chicks: Far from alone.

Pete Doherty and Babyshambles: Behaving in a semi-productive manner.

Fiona Apple: Playing here tonight.

Duff McKagen: Spotted at the High Dive last night, checking out his nephew’s band, Lost Hiker.

There are a lot of terrible cover songs out there. There are a lot of great ones (like Juno’s cover of DJ Shadow’s “High Noon” and Ted Leo’s cover of “Since U Been Gone”), but there are a lot of really, really awful ones. And guys, I think I’ve found the worst.

The most terrible, most ridiculous, most insulting cover song in the world is… Reel Big Fish’s take on Morrissey’s “We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful.”

Gross. It’s so bad that I can’t let the crime be ignored. I also don’t want to suffer alone, so you can hear the song yourself (and see a dumb video) by clicking here. Or you could also save your three minutes and trust me when I say it’s bad. B-A-D.

What covers do you love or hate?

On July 3, 1997, Stacey Pullen recorded what remains one of my favorite sets on the Betalounge. I didn’t think much of it when I started listening to it today, but since the dates match up, I’m sharing it with you (in case you haven’t heard it already). The sound has no shortage of issues (this was the early days of the Betalounge, so I imagine they hadn’t worked out all the kinks), but if you can get past that, you’re in for a treat. This set is actually the 2nd set Pullen recorded for them that week, a quick surprise after his proper set two days earlier (another favorite of mine). If you’re into Stacey Pullen’s mix of techno and house (like many in his wave of Detroit producers he’s moved into more house territory lately), this is a gem you can’t miss, and if you aren’t familiar with him, this is a good place to start. Get your party on while you work your last few hours before the holiday (or while you relax on your day off if you’re lucky).

This venue closed before I was even born, but it would have been awfully rad to see Led Zeppelin play on Green Lake (as they did in May of 1969), don’t you think?

This is what genius psychedelia looks and sounds like. If you’ve seen a better video, please point me in its direction. Forget fireworks: I’m going to celebrate (make that desecrate) the 4th of July by watching this clip over and over.

Boredoms are on a major label in Japan.

This morning’s NYT Sunday Mag piece on singer/songwriter Katell Keineg starts out promising ““ “[She] is trying to figure out what it means ““ in today’s music business ““ to be really on your own,”� says the headline. The template arranged itself in my head before I hit the first paragraph ““ critically acclaimed musician drops out of the major label system, starts releasing their own material and gigging all over the place, builds up a strong grass-roots following and ends up thriving on her own terms.

But her story is not heartwarming, nor is it all that new.

Continue reading "Yesterday's Music Business" »