Tomorrow’s New York Times Style section features a swell article on the influence of new wave operatic innovator Klaus Nomi on this year’s fall fashions. Hmm… do I smell a Season Four Runway challenge?

If you don’t know who the hell Klaus Nomi was, please add The Nomi Song to your Netflix queue immediately. Seriously. Seeing him sing with David Bowie on Saturday Night Live when I was a wee lad changed my life for the better.

Sunday night is Rebar night, but occasionally I’ll try something else out as well. Have any of you Line Out readers been to this night? It’s the first I’ve heard of it and African hip-hop sounds intriguing…

With Top Don DJ OneLove alongside Selecta Jigsy (Krazy Hype Sound)
on the 1s and 2s slamming wicked Soukous, African Hip hop, African Salsa, & Dancehall Reggae

Sunday Nights @ Ximaica
2224 2nd Avenue (Belltown)

…and myself, for that matter. The schedule for the Touch and Go 25th Anniversary shows is up in its entirety. Saturday looks so exciting, I think my heart might explode out of my chest. Sure, there’s only 20 minutes allotted for Big Black (pictured above), but that’s 20 minutes I’ve never had an opportunity to experience. Both Christopher (our illustrious, blessedly dilligent intern) and myself will be at these shows, bringing coverage back to Line Out. Anyone else out there going?

Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet played Tractor Tavern last night. It was the CD release show for their album, “�Husky”�, out on Hyena Records. A rock show, it was. There were golden showers, screamings, and huge guitar solos. Only, without the guitar. The Willie Wonka theme was heard and somewhere in there they hit the Darth Vader music too. “Bom Bom Bom, Bom beh Dom.”�

Skerik is the Kublai Kahn of sax, a brass Zappa / Mingus / Beck leopard. No one actually got peed on. Skerik only threatened the golden shower. The crowd wouldn’t let him take a set break.

The band is a 5 man horn line backed by Hammond B-3 organ and drums. Don’t be scared because it looks like jazz. It’s more funk and hip hop than jazz. Shit, they can play. Take the Sanford & Son and the What’s Happening themes and put them to beats by DJ Shadow and The Damned.

Continue reading "Wonka + Vader = Skerik CD release at Tractor" »

I was reading Paul Pearson’s highly enjoyable piece on freeform radio a couple nights ago, and he makes mention of the recent KEXP post quips that called for more Trinidadian calypso on the station. Unable to take the joke at face value at that point (it was late) and harboring a strong obsession with Googling obscure topics, I spent the rest of the night searching for Trinidadian calypso resources and factoids. I now share with you my results, not because I think most of you will actually have interest in the topic, but because I have to get this out of my system. I’ve had calypso in my head since I looked it up, and I’m hoping this can clear it out.

Introduction to the Form
It’s not hard to find a history of calypso. Wikipedia and its links are ok, but this piece is one of the better written ones out there, with a conversational tone and lots of quotes that exhibit real enthusiasm for the music and its players.

Hear Some Calypso (free)
I started my search assuming that it would be trivial to find a streaming radio station of some sort that was “all calypso all the time.” I was mistaken, and while I found a station that does play calypso, it wasn’t free, so forget that. Here’s what I did manage to come up with.

Kaiso: This site has artist profiles and its own history, but they have archived audio that provides a good overview of the calypso sound. Furthering the cultural education, the archived audio isn’t just calypso, it’s specifically calypsoes about cricket. There are only a few hours until the weekend, and you could do worse than starting it by giving this a listen.

The Mashup Show: For the more podcast-inclined, this show features Caribbean music, and as such features a heavy dose of calypso and soca (a calypso descendant). Here’s a trick to make that link more useful: If you click the Odeo link on the left of the page, Odeo has archives that go farther back (and the embedded player will help those of you not allowed to download music).

The Calypso Archives: This site looks like it’s right out of 1994, but it’s got some great information. It’s from a radio show. Currently they’re posting an interview with calypso legend The Mighty Duke which features some of his classics.

Essays
Carnival and calypso in the shadow of copyright: life lessons from Trinidad and Tobago: “Pirating and copying was part of everyday life in the small island state of Trinidad and Tobago until 1996. The effect of new laws was to disturb its distinctive calypso and carnival traditions and to threaten its educational system. For a young engineering student, there was only one way to go: adapt and survive.”

Dancehall Not the Dead End: This essay only mentions calypso, but is a pretty good read from a blog that makes no apologies about stealing its content.

Local Link
Here’s a local group of guys that are willing to play calypso at your next party. If the Genius Awards party isn’t all booked up, maybe this is just what you’re looking for…

Not Musical At All
I couldn’t quite figure out why this research project is called Calypso. I choose to think that the lead researcher is a calypso fan, and they see their research into creating metacomputers from distributed systems as analogous to the cultural fusion that brought about the musical form. That idea seems far too romantic to be true.

Best Link For Last
Did you know that Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan used to sing calypso under the name “The Charmer?” Well, now you do, and there’s audio to boot.

Did you get yourself a similar itch? If so, post your favorite calypso links in the comments.

Go to www.thestranger.com/bumbershoot for write-ups on every single act at the three-day festival, as well as our picks, podcasts, and a whole lot more!

The long-promised Tenacious D movie, Tenacious D in the Pick of Destiny is finally scheduled for release on November 17. Naturally, Ronnie James Dio has a role, as do Dave Grohl and Meatloaf (sorry, Segal).

(Photo by Patrick Rutherford)

It’s my “job” to “write” about “music” and everything, but Michigan’s Anathallo are completely beyond any description I can come up with at the moment. Or ever, really.

Rock writing is dead anyways.

So in lieu of my futile gushing, just listen to this song, “Hanasakajijii (Four: A Great Wind More Ash).”

And then this one, “Hoodwink.”

And lastly, this one, “Dokkoise House (With Face Covered).”

Their songs are so delicate and lush and beautifully orchestrated… I can’t start because I’d never stop. Their album, Floating World, is out now and they play tomorrow at Neumo’s opening for the Format and Rainer Maria. Tickets are available here. They’ll also be playing live on KEXP tomorrow afternoon around 3 pm.

Go. Listen. Love.

I assure you, it could be much worse. It was on this fateful day in 1985 that Huey Lewis and the News started a two week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with “The Power Of Love,” a positively horrific song from the Back To The Future soundtrack. Actually, it’s not so much as horrific as it is depressing—it made me believe less in the power of love, as I recall.

Via This Day in Music.

Matt’s tape post is a perfect segue to point you here (found via Jizosh). I was sitting on it a bit, unsure whether to post it, but considering they’ve got a MySpace page they’re using to pimp the site, it would seem they’ve already planned for bandwidth costs. This archive is still growing, but they’ve already got a decent amount of old-school mixtapes available. I’ve been listening to DJ Traxx myself. Enjoy.

And to fill out room two of your mid-day office rave, here’s a site that features old jungle mixes. It doesn’t strictly adhere to the mixtape formula, featuring recordings from past parties, but I think you’ll forgive the departure. It requires registration, but considering I’m listening to a decent Roni Size set from 1995 as I type this, that’s a small hassle to deal with.

Have any other sites of interest? Post ‘em in the comments.

Ying Yang Twins

Listening to Crunk Hits Vol. 2, I was shocked to hear a prominent chunk of George Kranz’s “Din Daa Daa”� in Ying Yang Twins’ “Shake.”� The track’s pretty damned exciting, thanks largely to that sample. Credit’s due to YYT and their producer for finding a way to crunkify that 1983 classic.

“Din Daa Daa”� is a rarity in dance music for its amazing staying power; most club hits barely last beyond a few months in DJs’ sets. I’ve been hearing it in clubs since it came out 23 years ago and to this day, it never fails to stand out from everything else in whichever set it’s played and it always takes the crowd to a higher level of arm-waving euphoria.

George Kranz

“Din Daa Daa”� is a fluke of nature. What the hell is it? A fusion of futuristic doo-wop and tribal proto-house music with unhinged scat singing and silvery synth oscillations that contrast starkly with the track’s earthy vibe? WTF? How the hell did a German in 1983 conceive this? It is unprecedented and unparalleled. Check out the nutty video here for evidence.

They’ve yet to send out the official press release, but it is official—DJ No Name, former morning show host (until the insufferable Adam Carolla show took over), is returning to 107.7 the End as the mid-morning DJ in the 10 am to 2 pm slot. He’ll start Sept 5th. Jim Keller, who’s currently on air at that time, will stay at the station as the Assistant Program Director.

This morning’s online edition of Billboard has a plump feature on the forthcoming Shins album, Wincing The Night Away, originally scheduled for release this summer (and, then, this October), but now due out in Jan 2007. Hip-hop beats, psychedelic piano, and production touches reminiscent of early Jesus & Mary Chain, eh? This sounds like a curious step forward indeed.

I got a little time off this weekend while my family was away in Chicago, so I took the oppurtunity to go to a record store downtown that has a great secret stash of mint vintage disco. Here are some things I found with downloadable links.

Regine - Je Survivrai!

Long out of print, this classic french language version of the disco staple, I Will Survive, was sung by the owner of a number of Parisien dance halls. Regine is also credited with inventing the word “Discotheque” to describe a club that only played records, not music by live bands. Vive La Regine!

Here’s a rare one for you. A promo vinyl version of the self-titled LP Disco Circus. The first track is a medium hard disco version of In A Gadda Da Vida / In The Garden Of Eden.

In A Gadda Da Vida - Disco Circus

The album was produced by one of Giorgio Moroder’s engineers, Jurgen Korduletsch, and all the players on it were Moroder studio musicians. The album was also recorded at Musicland in Munich where Moroder would produce every single one of his best songs.

Korduletsch would go on to produce disco hits for the likes of Eberhard Schoener and Claudja Barry (whom he would eventually marry), as well as albums by bat-shit crazy prog rockers Amon Duul II.

While my promo vinyl sports a giant elephant wearing a pink dress tearing up the dance floor on the front, and a giraffe in a striped boob tube and gold platform boots being picked up by a leisure suit wearing gorilla on the back, the album that would eventually come out in stores here in The U.S.A looked like this:

Pretty sad, huh?

Okay, I found some great stuff this weekend, no? But the very best is after the jump!

Continue reading "This Week's Rare Gems" »

Soil: So terribly misunderstood.

Does anyone really like these kinds of vocalists (you’ll mostly find them fronting nü-metal bands and sporting comedy facial hair)? You know, the guys who make every utterance sound like it’s going to burst a blood vessel in their foreheads. The guys who think it’s totally gay not to sound as if they’re Visigoths on the rampage. The guys who think of their voices as weapons of mass destruction. The guys who sound like they’ve never been laid in their lives and are therefore pouring out their frustrations into a microphone in a studio.

These thoughts come to me after listening to Soil’s AJ Cavalier gutturally grimace his way through that band’s new True Self album. While he seems to be striving to sound like the ultimate tough guy, his effortful spew cannot be taken seriously by anyone who’s not an adolescent male virgin.

I ask you, what’s the appeal of this vocal style?

Are you a fan of cult singer-songwriter Harry Nilsson? How about Randy Newman? Harvey Danger frontman and Stranger alumnus Sean Nelson? Two out of three, you say? Then check out this charming new venture, Nelson Sings Nilsson.

This link isn’t exactly the freshest meat on the Net, but seeing those tapes again makes me all misty.

Here’s the tape I used to archive sound effects and junk recorded off the TV when I was a teenager:

And here’s the one I used to record the master for my very first demo — chosen very carefully based on price and appearance, rather than any clue about what was a good tape and what wasn’t:

And here’s the one I bought in bulk so I could amass as many rave mixtapes as I possibly could back in the ’90s:

Damn, I miss tapes. What were some of your favorites? Pick a tape, tell us a story in comments.

MBV’s Kevin Shields: Teaming up with Patti Smith!

Idewild: Much speculation abounds about its worth.

Artic Monkeys: Damn, that was a quick reconfiguration.

DJs in Iraq: Purveying block rockin’ beats.

Kurt Cobain: Subject of what appears to be a worthwhile film.

Terry has already posted on Lineout about hot-shit producer Linus Loves, but let’s review: he’s Mylo’s mate, his breakout single, “Night Music” recently got the double 12” remix treatment, and his full-length debut, Stage Invader, has now been released (at least overseas) and, as Terry pointed out, it’s a treat.

But the real news for Mr. Loves is a pair of killer, big-name remixes: Justin Timberlake, and Scissor Sisters.

(I’m not sure if Lineout would want me posting mp3s, but if anybody wants to hear them, maybe we can work something out.)

The Justin Timberlake remix is a delicious piece of dark, dirty house, with Timberlake’s vocals reduced to digital fuzz and Timbaland’s commanding ad libs pushed to the fore. It works beautifully.

The Scissor Sisters remix adds vampy synths and rich bass to the honky-tonk disco of the original, while retaining Jake Shears’ pristine vocals. The remix absolutely blows the original away.

(Shameless plugging: both these tracks will get play at this month’s edition of Comeback. Just saying.)

OK kids, it’s techno time. This is a clip from Lonely Payback, the new track from [a]pendics.shuffle (aka Ken Gibson) and Altiply. It’s cute and shuffly and funky and digital, and I hope you like it. Because I do, and I’m hard to please when it comes to techno.

It’s out on Adjunct, which is a label you should pay attention to, because it has Seattle roots — along with the aforementioned Ken Gibson, the label was co-founded by Konstantin Gabbro, the former Seattleite and current Los Angelenian who also co-founded the Orac label with Randy Jones. And you should know Orac because it was the catalyst that helped put Seattle techno on the map.

So head down to your local recordmonger and sort yourself out with a copy, or click over to Kompakt for a digital fix.

(Thanks to Konstantin for generously allowing partial digital piracy of his intellectual property. Oh, and hey Kompakt! It’s hard to link directly to anything on your site! Please change it so us bloggers can point more Dollars and Euros in your direction!)

Yep, he’s selling it (complete with customized red-and-white paint job). Read all about it here and take a virtual tour here.

Those Brits really need to slow down a bit, eh? Pete Dohtery has pled guilty to drug charges again, the Darkness’ Justin Hawkins is in rehab, and unsurprisingly, Keane were more than just exhausted.

Oh, the sadness. Yesterday, a representative from Chicago’s insurgent country imprint Bloodshot Records told me that Austin, TX hellraisers The Meat Purveyors “are CALLING IT QUITS! Their last show at Tractor Tavern is on 9-15.” No, say it ain’t so! Not the ABBA of bluegrass punk, the band that gave us such classics as “How Can I Be So Thirsty Today?” (“when I drank so much last night”) and their terrifying “Madonna Trilogy” medley of “Like A Virgin/Burning Up/Lucky Star.” But sure enough, the band’s MySpace page confirms this tragic rumor:

our fetching charismatic mercurial bass player, Cherilyn Dimond, is moving to Maine and getting married in the very near future. in fact, by the time we play the Bloodshot CMJ party in Brooklyn in November, she will already live there. Jo, Peter, and Bill may play together again by sometime next year, but without Cherilyn it is doubtful whether we will ever again call ourselves the Meat Purveyors.

The band’s last tour will conclude in Seattle, with an on-air appearance on KEXP circa 8 PM on Thurs. Sept. 14, followed by the grand finale at the Tractor on Friday, Sept. 15. You have been warned: Do not miss this. (And congratulations Cherilyn… you heartbreaker.)

Like many people, I was bummed when I saw the sign on the Funhouse door informing would-be attendees that the Spits show/birthday party was moved to the Comet this past Saturday. The Funhouse is the ideal spot to stage a daytime BBQ throw-down with plenty of punk élan, but thanks to the work of vandals, the power to the club was shut off entirely. When I spoke with club booker/owner Brian Foss this morning, he explained that police told him there’s been an ongoing problem with crackheads busting open power boxes to steal (and sell) the copper wire within (how very Jesus’ Son of them). Happily, all has been repaired and the Funhouse is open for business again.

The best music magazine in operation today, Wax Poetics, has made my goddamned month by focusing its Aug/Sept issue on Parliament-Funkadelic. Besides creating some of the most incredible music ever for both the mind and the body, George Clinton and his huge P-Funk cast are some of the most eccentric mofos you’ll ever encounter, as interviews here with many of their key players reveal. Now you can read all about these twisted geniuses in Wax Poetics’ beautifully designed pages. (Wax Poetics doesn’t make its contents available online, so you have to buy a hard copy.)

Ignore the terrible subject title and take heed: The D.K. Pan Trio, a.k.a. the erudite gentlemen of The Dead Science are playing a set of hard bopping instrumental jazz standards tonight at The Pink Door. Fans of The Dead Science’s jazz-inflected haute-rock should get themselves to tonight’s performance before the three embark on a European tour in September. (And if you miss tonight, they’re playing next Monday too.) There’s no cover at The Pink Door, but you may have to buy a drink or an appetizer to secure a seat. Look forward to a blistering version of Coltrane’s, “Mr. PC” and some artfully inspired rearrangements of familiar tunes.

After 25 years, Nov. 7 will finally see the music of influential Scottish post-punk act Josef K available in the States with a domestic price tag. That’s the date that Domino Records continues its “The Sound of Young Scotland” series (which has previously featured titles by Orange Juice and Fire Engines) with Entomology, a 22-track compilation that includes material from the band’s 1981 album The Only Fun In Town, plus Peel session tracks, selections from the aborted LP Sorry For Laughing, and seven cuts pulled from 7-inch singles. Fronted by quirky vocalist Paul Haig, and perhaps best known for their song “Sorry For Laughing” (which Nouvelle Vague covered on their debut full-length), Josef K feature prominently in Simon Reynold’s essential Rip It Up And Start Again: Postpunk 1978-1984, and are recommended for fans of Franz Ferdinand and Belle & Sebastian (both of whom have cited Haig and cronies as a key influence).