Here’s who’s playing this week at Level 3 at EMP|SFM:

Seattle crew KnowMads name Blue Scholars, Tupac, and OutKast as a few of their biggest influences. Their songs are relaxed and cool—catchy hooks and grooves loop underneath the MCs’ passionate but laid-back delivery. “Sunrise” has a vintage feel to it—the balladesque music might be played during a couples skate at the roller rink; the lyrics address political and social issues and express optimistic personal thoughts.

Listen to “Home” by KnowMads.

Scribes, a solo rapper also from Seattle, has a more abrasive style—his flow is quicker and more aggressive than that of KnowMads, while his piano/horn-heavy tracks (produced by Sound Dialect) nod to jazz, blues, and soul. He takes on the things that dumb down society in “Distractions” (“Distractions/From the clothes that I get/to the women swimming in my television set/I’m staring in a daze/like a media slave”). He has some range, though—the song “Sweetheart” is a little more playful.

Listen to “Soully” by Scribes.

Jumping from hiphop into singer/songwriter territory, this weekend’s show also has two folk-influenced artists. The Nextdoor Neighbors, from Olympia, are a pair of young women who accent their quaint, lo-fi pop songs with electronic flourishes that sound like they come from kids’ toys. Pat Goodwin, on the other hand, is a solo artist from Seattle, who, with a piano and backing tracks of drums and bass, is comparable to previous Sound Off! finalists the Lonely Forest.

Listen to “Cultural Revolution” by the Nextdoor Neighbors.

Listen to “For a Sailor” by Pat Goodwin.

Who’s gonna take it? The singer/songwriters? The hiphoppers? Show up at EMP Saturday at 8:00 p.m. to find out. Tickets are $10 for the general public.

Chop Suey has a FREE show tonight with recent Sub Pop signees Foals, Oakland’s the Heavenly States, and Seattle’s own movie magicians Sleepy Eyes of Death. Show at 8:00pm, and it’s free, so you have no good reason to miss checking out Sleepy Eyes unless…

You are going to see Converge and Neurosis at Neumos. Opening tonight (21+) is Brooklyn’s A Storm of Light, opening tomorrow (all-ages) is the mighty Akimbo. Metal shows don’t get much better than this.

Photographer Bill Anthony took these pictures and had this to say about the closing of the Fremont Sonic Boom:

Seattle keeps breakin’ my heart man. So help me, if they ever close the Buckaroo Tavern, I hope this town slides into the Puget Sound leaving nothing behind but dirty bubbles rising to the surface.

Duh. The Fleet Foxes and the Pharmacy are playing a show at the Vera Project.

From this week’s Underage:

The Pharmacy are playing at the Vera Project with Fleet Foxes on Friday, February 15. It’ll be both bands’ last local show for a while, as they’re each hitting the road for spring tours. The Pharmacy will be back later this month, though, to release their new album, Choose Your Own Adventure, before hitting the road again. Fleet Foxes will be gone until April.

Dub Narcotic Sound System - “Fuck Shit Up”

Spray-paint the walls…waste a pig…smash your car…and make it fucked up

Also: Rainddrop Hustla has an eyewitness account.

Nat Damm, you make some fine show fliers. But what’s going on at the bottom there? Is that the Avenged Sevenfold logo with two pickles?

Elvis Costello finalizes tour dates with Police- Sting and Elvis: Like a match made in heaven.

Also announcing tour dates today are: N.E.R.D. and Cat Power
and Dolly Parton

My Bloody Valentine flip flops on Coachella decision- “Don’t worry—They’ll come to America”

Guitar Hero: Aerosmith to be released in June: Of all the bands they could have picked to make the game around, aren’t you glad they picked this one?

Six Organs of Admittance, I’m a Gun, Climax Golden Twins
(Sunset) Long gone are the days when Ben Chasny (aka Six Organs of Admittance) crafted limited-pressing, four-track acoustic recordings in his Arcata home. His latest studio album for Drag City, Shelter from the Ash, continues to augment acoustic folk with electrified experimentalism, resulting in a fuller sound that’s still a little dirty around the edges. “Alone with the Alone” kicks off with fried guitar noodling; “Strangled Road” and “Jade Like Wine” are parched, moonlit ballads; “Coming to Get You” is lazy, velvet psychedelia. “Goddess Atonement” is an instrumental passage that shifts from cascades of steel fingerpicking to an electrified octave lead and then back. Windmilling rock bombast eventually breaks the airy strum of “Final Wing.” The title track features a massively flanged solo. “Goodnight” is the dreamy, quiet coda. ERIC GRANDY

Sing Sing: Blaqstarr, DJ Paul Devro
(War Room) For most everywhere beyond Baltimore city limits, Blaqstarr is the face of “native” club music, a genre virus of bass-as-all-fuck breakbeats and quickly looping, mostly illicit cut ‘n’ paste pop samples. If you haven’t heard the monster “Hands Up, Thumbs Down” hook or the endlessly remixable “Shake It to the Ground”—Diplo, Switch, Claude VonStroke, and Drop the Lime have all had a turn—in a club yet, you’ve at least caught whiffs of the watermark beat in everything from M.I.A. and Diplo to Bonde do Role and Young Leek (“Jiggle It”). Blaqstarr, by his lonesome, is on the gentler side of things than the stuff that rattles windows in B-more, balancing the bang—gunshots? snare-capped bass?—with his own high-pitched, seductive rhymes and singsong soul breaks, the latter of which really should be subclassified as a date-rape drug. MICHAEL BYRNE

From this week’s Bug in the Bassbin—DJ Starski’s playing at Electric Avenue at CHAC:

While it lasted, the rise in ghettotech’s cultural stock gave Detroit DJs like Starski the opportunity to act as ambassadors for the genre. Starski, half of the duo Starski and Clutch, produced “Belle Isle Players” and the CD Don’t Stop ‘Til You Jit Enough, two hallmarks of the sound. He’s also been involved with labels like DJ Godfather’s Databass Records and Twilight 76. Starski’s regarded as a favorite in “the D,” so if anyone’s got the pedigree to show where electro-bass has gone since the spotlight moved away, it’s him.

And suggested from the Score:

LINDA KLINE LAMAR
What compares to the viola’s mellow, sometimes morose, tender tone? Certainly not the flashier violin. For this solo concert, Kline Lamar, a Boise-based violist, plays Joan Tower’s “Wild Purple,” Max Reger’s Suite No. 1 in G minor, and “Chahagir” by Alan Hovhaness. Brechemin Auditorium in the Music Building, UW Campus, 685-8384, 7:30 pm, $10.

ANDRE FERIANTE
The sonic equivalent of “historical romance” novels, this singer/guitarist plays unabashedly romantic music rooted in flamenco and classical guitar. Blessed with 1920s matinee-idol looks (a pouting gaze and goatee worthy of Hollywood’s classic pirate movies), Feriante frames lyrics of love, longing, and rarefied lust with swooning strums and florid picking. Recital Hall at Benaroya, 200 University St, 292-2787, 8 pm, $35.

SEATTLE IMPROVISED MUSIC FESTIVAL
The second weekend of North America’s longest-running improvised music festival has a slew of musicians including Greg Sinibaldi (Fri Feb 15) cult Downtown trumpeter Lesli Dalaba (Sun Feb 17 at Gallery 1412), first-call percussionist Greg Campbell, and yours truly. Stéphane Rives, an astonishing French improviser who compels the soprano saxophone to make starkly minimal electronic music, performs all three nights. Fourth-floor Chapel Performance Space, Good Shepherd Center, 4649 Sunnyside Ave N, 8 pm, $10—$25 sliding-scale donation.

Club Pop, Chop Suey: Beats beat on hot moving bodies and made sweat. FITS, Colby B, Glitterpants, Gasworx, and Sam Rousso centered and putt out pounding beneath Breakfast Club:

Sean Spits. You’ve seen him. You love him. I’m not sure if he knows Duff Mckagan or not:

Later evening hook-ups. Tacos Gringos:

Over at WFMU, my friend and former roommate Clinton McClung finally reprises his wonderful MP3 Truffles show by giving away all his secrets. He’s listing his top twelve MP3 blogs and then asking those bloggers to list a few of their favorite MP3 blogs. My feed reader is heavy with exciting new music now.

King Cobra was alive last night with head banging metal fun. It was a practice run of the sound system and a prelude to the grand opening slated for the end of this month. My Bloody Heavy Metal Valentine featured Sindios and metal cover band, Iron Falcon. As in, fuck yeah. The stage is big, Kelly Berry has dialed the sound, and the people are amped. Evil energy is good. Cold beer is cold. Jenny Bendel rules.

Iron Falcon is Alison from the Valkyries, Robbie from Skelator, Erik from Fallen Angels, Chris from the Ones, and Jeffrey previously with Book of Black Earth.

Iron Falcon’s set: “I Want Out” – Helloween, “Freewheel Burning” – Judas Priest, “Symptom of the Universe” – Black Sabbath, “Nuns Have No Fun” – Mercyful Fate, “Black Magic” – Slayer, “Wrathchild” – Iron Maiden, “Wild Child” – W.A.S.P., “In League with Satan” – Venom. Diiiiiiiee. Do death right:

Slats. You’ve seen him. You love him. He knows Duff Mckagan. (‘Where’s Slats?’ - Stranger forum) :

Sindios emitted razors of crunch. Frequencies gurgled in your marrow. Songs of death were sung:

News about Portishead!

Portishead announce the release of ‘Third’ [on 4/29/08] their hugely anticipated new album, their fourth album in total and first since 1998’s ‘Roseland NYC live’.

Portishead are; Geoff Barrow, Adrian Utley and Beth Gibbons

I thought the album came out last year and went without causing even a breeze. The last studio album the trio released was over a decade ago. By the time the new one hits the streets, Bush will have almost completed two terms in office. I think it would have been better if Portishead had called it a day back in the day.

From the New York Post’s Page Six:

The founder of the rock band Boston is enraged that Mike Huckabee is using his band’s hit “More Than a Feeling” on the campaign trail. He’s written a letter to Huckabee demanding the GOP candidate stop using it. “Boston has never endorsed a political candidate, and with all due respect, would not start by endorsing a candidate who is the polar opposite of most everything Boston stands for,” wrote Tom Scholz. “In fact, although I’m impressed you learned my bass guitar part on ‘More Than a Feeling,’ I am an Obama supporter.”

I can’t play any musical instruments* and I don’t play video games, and I’ve only played Guitar Hero once, and I was so embarrassingly bad at it that I never want to touch the goddamned thing ever again.

But I’m oddly intrigued by this tiny, almost pocket-sized, home version of Guitar Hero, which will allegedly sell for fifteen bucks.

Continue reading "Wee Guitar Hero" »

A hip-hop concert at The Evergreen State College ended in a riot early Friday in which a Thurston County sheriff’s patrol car was overturned and looted.

Officer[s] arrested a man inside the venue and placed him in the back of the patrol car. Some of the concertgoers were taunting and questioning the actions of the officer, said Trooper Brandy Kessler of the Washington State Patrol.

“They didn’t feel the arrest that was being made was fair,” she said.

The crowd continued to grow and became more aggressive.

“Some people blocked the police car that was trying to take the student away,” said Dan Hilden, a 20-year-old Evergreen student who attended the concert.

Concerned for her safety, the officer called for backup and the arrested man was eventually released.

Six sheriff’s deputies who arrived to assist the campus officer reported that several people in the crowd were throwing rocks, bottles and even a garbage can at the them, and others were grabbing at the deputies’ guns.

What would make dirty hippie Evergreen kids want to riot?

This:

Happy Valentine’s Day, courtesy of DPZ.

“Don’t shun it, fun it.
Don’t shun it, fun it.
Don’t shun it, fun it.”

From, of course, “Fun It.”

I missed out on the “share your favorite love song” thing earlier on because I didn’t wake up until well into the afternoon, thanks to an intense binge of the Wire that kept me awake until 6am. That’s good television right there. I don’t care much for valentines day this year, or most years really. It’s my general inclination to want to sit around and listen to metal songs about heartache, regardless if whether mine is broken or not. I tried to find a video of “the Broken Vow” by Converge as an example, since they are playing both Saturday and Sunday night at Neumos with Neurosis, but if that news excites you then you already know that live footage of Converge almost universally sounds like crap. There is something despondently lovely about a crowd of people screaming, “I’ll take my love to the grave!” in unison, jumping over each other’s backs to get to the microphone. If you haven’t seen Converge before you’ve got a whole weekend to make it happen.

A show that was not listed earlier but is where I will find myself this evening is at the Sunset Tavern. It’s a Valentines Metal show with Bacchus, Evangelist, and Bellingham prog -thrash troubadors Cicadas. If you have not seen Cicadas, which I can almost guarantee you have not, you should do so when given the chance. Much like the insect from which they are named, they do not emerge with great frequency, but when they do it is a swarm.

Lastly I give my favorite love song, my favorite positive one at least, set to a sensuous softcore soap opera montage.

On the “day of love”, I thought I would post the very fitting and very soulful Dimitri From Paris re-edit of Ron Hall & The Muthafunkaz’s “The Way You Love Me”. This edit originally appeared on Dimitri’s amazing ” disco-love themed” mix compilation In The House Of Love in 2006 off of Defected Records sublabel ITH Records. This compilation is a delight for disco lovers as Dimitri puts his magical touch on classic disco cuts like The Originals “Down To Love Town”, France Joli’s “Feel Like Dancing”, and Cerrone’s “Hooked On YOu” to name a few. This classic mix compilation was repackaged and re-released for Valentines Day 2007, and included an extra CD of unmixed Dimitri disco edits. A great soundtrack for your valentines house party, or any day of the year for that matter!

Ron Hall & The MuthaFunkaz - The Way You Love Me
(Dim’s T.S.O.P. Version)

Good news! Greg Tate is coming to EMP’s Pop Conference.

There is no other reason why I write for a weekly than the work Tate produced for the Village Voice in the 80s and 90s. True, I do not agree with his position on Miles Davis’ late work (on that point I side with another hero, Stanley Crouch), but Tate’s pieces on hiphop and contemporary black culture in general overflow with brilliant insights and ideas.

Sadly, I will miss Tate’s reading because at the moment he is talking about his thing, I will be taking about my thing. And my thing will be Linton Kwesi Johnson.

The dub poetry of Linton Kwesi Johnson still gives me the intoxication of the revolutionary mood. Wine and Kwesi always get me drunk.

In honor of Valentine’s Day, all of the music news will be poems that make no sense.

Thom Yorke DJ’s NPR- Ok Computer, what art, and what grace/ A Valentine treat for the whole human race/ NPR delivers always, a wonderful sound/ Out the way, brother, I’m Valentine bound!

Kanye West release complete tour schedule- You know, people say he’s the next Jay-Z/ A super producer? Well his songs are amazing!/ Now to travel the world, whilst spreading his funk/ I still can’t help but feel like he ripped off Daft Punk

Fleet Foxes prep album and tour- Their voices like angels, a V-Day surprise/ With voices like that, you gotta love these guys!/ Tonight we get sweaty, so take off your socks/ Not a creature is stirring, not even a fox

Lou Reed, David Byrne, and posse to play Iraq Benefit- A concert held to end the war/ A country divided, they say “no more”/ Byrne was in The Talking Heads/ Valentine’s sucks, I wish I was dead (not really) (ok, really).

Valentine’s Day can be a very depressing time. Watch this and you will immediately feel a whole lot worse.

The new Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground record took a year to make. Lives and times were invested and intertwined. Story – here. Some of the songs had up to a hundred tracks. Name an instrument, and there’s a chance it was recorded. Horns, strings, banjo, and of course theremin. I spent some time in the studio with the band:

The record was tracked at Phil Peterson’s House of Breaking Glass then mixed and mastered by Tom Pfaeffle at his Tank Studio in Black Diamond, WA.

Pfaeffle has worked with and for Nirvana, Queensryche, Aerosmith, the Black Crowes, UB40, Alice Cooper, and BB King. He’s also taught audio production at the Art Institute of Seattle for thirteen years and he likes kaleidoscopes. We spoke about his process and approach to Kay Kay. There are vinyl and digital formats available:

How is mixing and mastering for vinyl different than for CD?
Tom: Vinyl tends to be more dynamic. The digital mixes for Kay Kay are louder and more compressed. On a record, the first tracks (closer to the outer edge) have larger grooves. That means more bass response and dynamic range. Toward the center, the grooves shrink and it tightens the frequency. Highs and lows get choked. We definitely kept this in mind when we mixed and arranged the song order.

When you were on the Nirvana sound crew, did you ever touch Kurt Cobain?
What?

Nothing, please forget I asked that.
OK.

Continue reading "Kay Kay in the Tank" »

I love this band.

Photo by Lauren Max (from the Stranger Flickr Pool), Valentine addition by Ari Spool.

It’s Valentine’s Day. Aww. So I asked a bunch of my coworkers what their favorite love songs are. Of course, it’s a really fucking hard question to answer, but they did their best—here are the love songs everyone here loves. For today at least. See if you can guess whose is whose. I’ll post the answers later today.

1. “Cotton Crown” by Sonic Youth
2. “If It’s the Beaches” by the Avett Brothers
3. “Heat Wave” by Martha & the Vandellas
4. “The Highest Commitment” by Qwel (“Basically a love letter written to anthropomorphized weed”)
5. “Jinx Removing” by Jawbreaker
6. “The Promise” by When in Rome
7. “I Love Music” by the O’Jays
8. “Gimme the Car” by the Violent Femmes
9. “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys
10. “Love Minus Zero/No Limit” by Bob Dylan
11. “Still Gettin’ My Clit Licked” by La’ Chat
12. “I’m a Believer” by Neil Diamond
13. “Sugar in My Bowl” by Nina Simone

A. Donte Parks
B. Nick Scholl
C. Amy Kate Horn
D. Jonah Spangenthal-Lee
E. Eli Sanders
F. David Schmader
G. Jen Graves
H. Josh Feit
I. Ari Spool
J. Kelly O
K. Eric Grandy
L. Megan Seling
M. Gillian Anderson

Some runners up, by the way: “Total Eclipse of the Heart” by Bonnie Tyler, “Yucatan Gold” by Throw Me the Statue, “Need You Around” by the Smoking Popes, “So Far Away” by Carole King, “Kiss Me Deadly” by Generation X, “The Passenger” by Iggy Pop, “In the Still of the Night” by the Five Satins, “I’ll Be There” by the Jackson 5, “She’s Real” by Kicking Giant and covered by Built to Spill/Caustic Resin, “Forever Got Shorter” by Braid, “Sweepstakes Prize” by Mirah, “Only in Dreams” by Weezer, “Digital Love” by Daft Punk… and so many more. Obviously we have a lot of love at The Stranger.

You should tell me your favorite, too.

(UPDATE: Answers are after the jump.)

Continue reading "The Stranger Loves Love... and This Is What Love Sounds Like to Us" »

Here’s but a sampling of the Valentine goodness currently found on the Proof…

Continue reading "HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY from 206Proof" »

As of yesterday, I have to wake up at 8 in the motherfucking morning. This is a challenge for me, because I usually roll out of bed at ten and accomplish exactly nothing until one or two in the afternoon. I am a night person, and yesterday I think I fell asleep before ten p.m.

I had a day job over ten years ago, and I hated every minute of the mornings: the crowded public transportation, the pained expressions on my fellow commuters’ faces, the long lines at coffee shops: All of it was bad.

The worst part of waking up on the north side of noon, though is Morning Motherfucking Radio. I hate it. I don’t understand why most radio stations think that the morning is an ideal time to put on the DJs who talk the most. I don’t want to hear it. I can barely comprehend lyrics before eleven in the morning.

That’s why I’ve been listening to Rainydawg Radio. It’s not perfect—what radio station is?—but I like that the morning hosts sound as groggy and discombobulated as I do. I also like that I have no idea what the next song will be. The first thing that I heard this morning, during an instrumental show, was Lightning Bolt, playing “Two Towers:”

Good! Morning!

Now if only Rainydawg could get some space on the radio dial, as I can’t take my laptop into the shower. Hm. Where could the University of Washington find a frequency on the radio?

Tonight there will probably be lots of huggin’ and kissin’ and chocolate-eating (ew, that sounds dirty). There’s also…

Pinback, MC Chris
(Showbox at the Market) A sucker for sweet melodies I be. And because I’m such a sucker, I frequently return to the flowery tunes of San Diego’s Pinback. There is in their music (contained in four LPs and two EPs) a sweetness that is simple and yet not cheap or vulgar. It’s a sweetness that seems so honest and so immediate to the most profound and complex states of mind. The melodies and choruses of “Tripoli,” “Penelope,” “Scent,” and “How We Breathe” are, like all sweet things, hopeful and encouraging. This, however, is not happy music; happy music is always stupid. It’s stupid because it obliterates all other conditions and moods. Sadness, joy, love, hate, longing, disappointment are never eclipsed by the glowing melodies of Pinback’s sweet music. CHARLES MUDEDE

Mika, the Midway State
(Showbox Sodo) When Dan Savage slid his iPod across the table and said “Megan, listen to this,” I was shocked. Dan “I only like musicals/Who’s Modest Mouse?” Savage was going to engage me in a conversation about music? Current music? So I listened. It was Mika’s first single, “Grace Kelly.” A poppy disco beat was pumping behind Mika’s catchy falsetto, and after 20 seconds I had already had enough. I laughed. Of course that’s what Dan Savage would listen to—Mika’s a one-man musical. Without even seeing him, while his club-friendly dance track kept playing, I envisioned costume changes, feathered hair, and stage makeup while he sang empty choruses meant for the sheer purpose of temporarily entertaining and nothing more. “Do you like it?” he asked. “Not really, no,” I said, handing his iPod back to him. But then again, I prefer Modest Mouse to musicals. MEGAN SELING

And King Cobra is having their first live show. It’s “My Bloody Valentine” night with Sindios and metal covers by Iron Falcon.

And what else…

Club Pop at Chop Suey
Man Plus at the Comet
Book of Black Earth with Sonata Arctica at El Corazon
The Great Valentine’s Massacre with Partman Parthorse, Branden Daniel & Everybody Gets Laid, and A Gun that Shoots Knives at the High Dive…

And lastly, Dancing on the Valentine at Nectar. It’s a 1985-themed cover night with performances by Central Services, Cmon Cmon, the Cops, the Femurs, Hotels, Ms. Led, Peter Parker, and more!

Love is in the air.

This is one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen.

Thank you, Slog tipper Stinkbug.

I decided that not only do I want to highlight all the great rare disco, italo, and funk on this blog, I want to highlight some of the newer releases that are coming out. In doing so, every week I will highlight one new release, that’s usually a week or two old, that I highly reccommend. This way I can help promote some of the newer disco singles, edits, and albums that producers, deejays, and artists are releasing. Most the time I won’t include a full MP3 clip, because my goal is for people to go out and purchase the actual record.

Secret Bob - Oyster La Vista Baby! 12”
—————————————————————————————————
For my first post, this week I’m recommending the new Lobster Disques’ 12-inch, entitled Oyster La Vista Baby!, which consists four very unique and solid re-edits from Secret Bob. For his fourth re-edit 12-inch, Secret Bob works his magic to Sweet Music’s version of “I Get Lifted”, Them’s popular rock classic “Gloria”, The Pasadenas rare classic “Tribute (right on)”, as well as even a edit of Judas Priest’s “Rocking After Midnight”, which is safe to say unique and very interesting. Secret Bob does a nice job of re-editing all of these tracks, which come from a wide spectrum of music genres, to work on a disco dancefloor and make sense. If your a fan of Tangoterje or Rune Lindbæk edits, this record is right up your alley.

Secret Bob - Straight on Straight on (Sample Clip)
Buy Record Here

THE POLICE WITH VERY SPECIAL GUEST ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS

July 11 Ridgefield, WA Amphitheater at Clark County
July 12 George, WA The Gorge

Tickets for the Gorge show will be scaled at $236.25, $131.25 and $78.75 (plus applicable service fees) and will go on sale Saturday, February 23 at 10:00 a.m. at all Ticketmaster outlets, Ticketmaster.com or livenation.com or charge by phone (206) 628-0888, and in Eastern Washington at (509) 735-0500. There will be a 4 ticket limit per person in the amphitheatre pavilions and for the top price tiered tickets in the arenas. Visit www.thepolice.com and/or www.livenation.com for complete on-sale information in your city.

Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds will be joined by His Holiness the Dalai Lama for an unprecedented evening of conversation, music and compassion at KeyArena in Seattle on April 11, 2008. The dialogue begins at 4:30 p.m.

Dude, “Crank That” by Soulja Boy was a huge hit. People all over the country were doing the “Superman,” on YouTube. Soulja Boy made hella cash… we need to get in on that. Let’s write our own song called…uh… “Crank That!”

No man, that’s the name of the Soulja Boy song.

Oh shit, right. Well how about “Crank Dat?”

Yeah, yeah, that’s good. We should have a superhero too. How about Batman?

Perfect. We’re going to make a million damn dollars because people are fucking retarded.

Sonic Youth Exhibit to travel the world- Thurston Moore? More like Thurston Porn!

Scarlett Johansson holds listening party for her new album- In the most reasonable, “makes-sense” move of all time, the album is all Tom Waits covers, and David Bowie is involved.

Art Brut release online EP- Pump Up The Volume!

Cher to play 200 shows in Vegas- Like Picasso, and the other great artists before her, Cher isn’t ready to put down the paintbrush just yet.

Lenny Kravitz STILL in hospital- As days turn to nights. The stress inside is building. Feel better Lenny. - A haiku about this awful ordeal.

How bad is mainstream hiphop at this moment? It’s so bad that the super producer Rockwilder is giving it up for Christian music. Now that’s bad.

In an interview with Movement TV, the Grammy Award winning producer said he has become bored with the current state of Hip-Hop music and will be returning to his roots in the church.

“It’s a new movement going on. And it’s a situation whereas Hip-Hop has reached a level to where it’s boring. [I don’t] really wants to glorify the violent aspects of it,” he said. “Right now, I’m pretty much doing a 360-degree [change] and bringing it back to the essence when I was first raised on that and that Christian music.”

Seattle’s fourth Rock Lottery was informally announced today, scheduled for April 6th April 13th (sorry, the date was changed mere hours after my post) at Neumo’s. The concept: 25 hometown musicians meet in the morning, split into 5 bands—drawn from a hat, mind you—and get 12 hours to write and rehearse new material (and one cover) for a concert that night. Proceeds go to an arts-minded non-profit—in this coming iteration’s case, Arts Corp—but it’s not just for a good cause. As I wrote last July, the show is “an experience a lot like losing your virginity—part terror, part awkwardness, and a strange desire for more, more, more.”

But repeat entrants are strictly forbidden, which means organizer Chris Weber is on the lookout for fresh meat to fill the hat. He’s asking locals-in-the-know to send tips for quality entrants, stressing variety and adding this caveat: “Some of my favorite moments from past events have come from musicians who are not technically proficient and also from people who had to be convinced that they should participate and would have never volunteered.”

So I figured I’d open up that suggestion process to the Lines—who would you suggest around town for this show that is open to experimentation and able to deal with the stress of RL’s 12-hour struggle? Any suggestions beyond the city’s usual suspects are especially helpful, from DJs to 8-bit tinkerers to MCs to classically trained violinists to the tattooed guys who read Underground Magazine. Check the RL page to see who’s played already (and therefore ineligible).

It might be a lack of sleep, my messy room, or a late case of seasonal depression setting in, but something’s been making it very difficult for me to wake up in the morning. As I barely made it out of bed this morning, I started to think about ways that waking up could be made easier. Inspired by Megan’s post yesterday about Atom & His Package, I started to think about how life would be so much better if Japanther played a show in my bedroom every morning. You know, just to lift my mood, and get the day started right! Wanna sleep in? Too bad! The band tears through three songs before you can even get out of your pajamas. I feel like this would not only make my life a lot more fun, but also much easier. So there’s your hypothetical: If you could have a band play in your room, acting as your alarm clock every morning, who would it be?

Today’s Morning Faithful newsletter, in its entirety:

Hey,

Day 2 of the NYC announcement….which means that I’ve pretty much talked to every press person in Seattle and beyond. Crazy! The response has mostly been really positive, but its interesting overall how much the focus of what KEXP is doing steers towards what I am doing or who I am. It’s actually unfortunate when that happens since what KEXP is doing is so ground breaking[sic], true to its mission, and so centered on bringing great music to people. I get it though; personality is a bit more interesting. For the most part though, the people who really listen to the show and support the station “get” what KEXP has done, is doing, and will do in the future. It’s awesome and I wouldn’t change a thing. Thanks for the support Morning Faithful!

A few observations I’d like to share with you all that I really haven’t before because I’ve always shared pretty much everything with you and need to clear my head. The first is about being “known” or “fame” or whatever. I mean this in the least cocky way, but in my life I’ve gained more notoriety during the last few years and it has had a major impact on everything. I’m not totally at ease with the attention, but I’ve become more comfortable with all of it partially because of the good nature of most of the people who approach, call, or email me. But a few of the downfalls that come with being a public figure include having some people decide who you are, what you are about, and taking a lot of liberty with the facts. What you also don’t hear much about are the numerous stalkers and/or crazy people out there and the multiple times we’ve had to involve the police. We’ve even had to take legal action in a couple of situations. This was not enjoyable for me or my family…obviously. One time a person approached my son while he was walking around with my friend who was watching him. This person was scary, screaming my son’s name, and wearing a KEXP sticker on his forehead. This caused them to have to run into a nearby business to get away. Yes I know-WTF? I’m not sharing this so that people will feel sorry for me, but I think it helps people to know what kind of world you step into when you become this public figure.

I understand that this happens because I am myself on the air. I get that. I share my life. I share my world. I take a risk. I want people to know WHO is bringing them music. But no one signs up for that kind of attention. I’m sure you agree.
It’s also interesting to see people get down on me for other things. Luckily, most of what I hear is insanely great. I talk about my kid too much on the air, I play too much of this, too less[sic] of that…there are a million little things that I could add here. That being said, you have to program a show and not let those things get to you right? Some days this is easier said than done. All of our DJ’s[sic] face this and some may talk about it or not. You want to serve the public, yet some of the public doesn’t like what you’re serving. You have to remember to keep focused and know that you’re on the air for a reason. But think about why it would affect you. You do your job. You give it your best. Imagine 10 people comment to you that you did a great job, but one person tells you that you’re terrible and that you’ve done a terrible job. Which comment will you go home with in your head? It’s natural for some to be negative- I accept that, but people don’t realize that people in the public eye also have feelings. I do. I’m an emotional person. I’m working on it. In a perfect world, yes I would suck it up every time, but I’m only human. Again, 99% of the feedback is AWESOME.

I had a co-worker come by the other day and say that whenever anyone asks them if they know me, a lot of times they’ll also ask “he’s a dick right?” or say things like “he must be totally arrogant”. He responded that “No, actually he’s a good guy and one you could go have a beer with”. It’s true…and I love beer. I’m not saying that I don’t have my bad days. Anyone else who gets up totally early, (like at 3:45am) while raising a 3 year old knows first hand that your disposition isn’t always going to be the brightest. But for the most part I always aim to treat people with respect and kindness and if I really like them, they’ll also get a TON of sarcasm. Some people really don’t want for you to be a good person; they NEED for you to be a terrible person. I think that it might stem from the fact that I have one of the best jobs in the world or maybe it’s more that some people aren’t the happiest with their own life…or maybe just simply most assume that if a person is a public figure that they probably suck. I can’t blame them, it’s not like I don’t say “Who is that actor? He’s TERRIBLE, I hate that guy” or “Why on earth is this guy a newscaster? Look at his hair”. It’s as if they’re not really human. The difference is that I don’t take the time to communicate my opinion to them or write a blog about it. Technology allows us to say what we want, send what we want, and never really have to back it up with fact. I’m okay with the fact that it’s a way for people to vent. However, when it’s just not true or it’s directed at parts of my life that they know absolutely nothing about, that’s when I get frustrated. The benefit of the doubt will always go to the negative. How on earth could you assume the positive? That guy sucks!!!

What some people don’t know about me or what they choose to not want to know about me are a number of things. One is that I work hard. I always have. I work 12 hours a day pretty much no matter what. I’m not bragging or complaining. I like to work. I worked hard for KCMU without being paid at all and once I was paid, it wasn’t enough to live on. I’ve worked for the station for over 12 years now, most of which were spent on credit cards, loans, and a very patient wife. I like to multitask and try new things. If I don’t have many things going on at once, I go crazy. I have a record label that I’ve never made a dime on but I love it. It’s fun to work with bands and get music out there. I’ve even volunteered my time to help manage a band (The Blakes) through a time in their career when they needed help. I was criticized by some people for that. Yet the band did the right thing and signed to a great local label, went on to work with my friend who does manage them day to day and I never made a penny. It would have been okay if I had, according to all the rules I work under and agree to as set forth by the station. I’ve worked with a guy named Gary Gersh for years. At one point while being paid and at another point while not being paid as he was building his company. Why? Because Gary signed bands like Nirvana and Sonic Youth and I’ve learned more from him in 6 or 7 years than I have with most people I’ve spent a larger amount of time with. He is one of the few pure and true people in the music business and he serves as a great example to learn by.

Be a good person. No matter what.

Another thing some people don’t know about me or assume is that if I do have the best job in the world, surely it must have been handed to me or “I’m lucky”. It is true that I am lucky. I’m lucky that a place like KEXP exists and I’m very proud of the fact that it exists partly because of my hard work which started with the station back in about 1995 as a volunteer, then as a part time DJ, then as a full time DJ, then as an actual employee, and then onto a leadership role where I helped come up with ideas such as the non-profit benefit shows at High Dive, the 500 club, the Kid’s Dance Party and then ensuring that those ideas were actualized. I think that some people just assume that I showed up one day, was given the shift, and that I get to go home as soon as the show is done at 10am. This is not true. Ask my wife. I’m bad at a LOT of things. I can’t cook, I can’t do math, I really never could speak a foreign language. But what I can do really well is a radio show which I get to program, as well as raise money for the station where I do this radio show because I love it here so much AND I believe in its mission and need to exist. In return, the station has supported me, as have the members.

As for spending time in NYC, I can’t wait. Not just because it’ll be nice to experience that part of the world. Not just because we can make the show even better through our ties with one of the few other stations that exist like ours, but also because the people here at KEXP believe in this partnership with WNYE and believe in the good that this decision will bring for those here in Seattle as well as for KEXP listeners everywhere.

I love Seattle. It will always be my home. Unfortunately, Seattle does not offer the best opportunities in the fashion industry. My wife is in the fashion industry. She has lived here since she was born. When I met her 10 years ago, she was moving to NYC. She changed her plans to move to NYC 10 years ago FOR ME. Not for the radio DJ that everyone knows now, but for me, John Richards…with a bad haircut, bad credit, a job that didn’t actually pay money, but a total and complete belief in what I was and what I was doing.

Believe in good people. No matter what.

She now gets to go over there and live part of her dream that she has put on hold for a decade. We’re not tied to there forever. We’re not leaving our hometown for good. She finally gets to live her dream and I will see my family less for chunks of time in order for that to happen because my base is here. Does that freak me out? Yes and no. I don’t want to leave KEXP, but more than anything on Earth I also don’t want to hold back the woman I love. I am very lucky that many factors have come together around the same time in order for me to say to my wife, “Now its my turn to let you realize your dreams and ambitions”. All of this can happen because the station and YOU believe in me, my work and the station’s vision and values. Will this anger people, sure; Why should I get to live my dream? Why should Tiffany get to live hers? That’s one of [the] things wrong with the world. We should all get to live our dream. BUT I firmly believe if you work as hard as you can at something that you really love (this includes relationships), that you will indeed get your dream. OR you can choose to sit on the sidelines and bitch about anyone who actually does go for it and in a way that they can honestly look at themselves in the mirror each night and agree that they’ve done their best.

I just want to finish this with a few last words (and now I feel like Tom Cruise in “Jerry Maguire” writing his late night manifesto). The fact that a guy who moved to Seattle from Spokane in 1993 and didn’t have a dime, a job, or any connections at all could someday help build a station like this and then have a show that has had some serious impact on the world is beyond a dream come true. Completely beyond.

I have a wife who supports me who is amazing beyond words. Our son is the coolest, most beautiful being on earth. I shared with all of you my experiences of his birth. I also shared with you the loss of both of my parents after long battles with cancer, as well as the loss of my Father in law who passed away in his sleep a few years ago. The Morning Faithful helped me get through it. Me…A DJ…on a radio station. You’ve helped me and I hope that I help you every morning with music and by being honest and myself. We’ve been through it together and we will continue to be there for each other here, there, and everywhere. The Morning Show and the Faithful will remain the same. It may be a difficult concept for some to get. I get it. Many of you get it and its all the more reason why I may be the luckiest person on earth.

By now most of you have probably stopped reading this or maybe you didn’t need to hear any of this because you already know all of it or maybe you just like listening to the music and don’t really need a manifesto sent to you. Any which way, it’s a healthy exercise to write and get out what’s on your mind. I felt I might as well send it out the people I love.

I swear I’m not crazy. Well, mostly.

I’m going home now. See you tomorrow.

I was so fucking good at this game when I was a kid. I know it’s nothing new to incorporate Nintendo music into your own track, but this new Johan Agebjörn is still worth checking out if you’re a video game geek.

I especially like the 5:30 mark when it looks like Mega Man is running in place to the music.

Anyone have an 8-bit Nintendo I can borrow for the weekend? Mine’s busted.

The song is from the upcoming Spacer Woman From Mars, to be released on Loeb Feb 25th.

(ht to stereogum)

^{Super Fugly Album Cover}

Super Furry Animals, Holy Fuck @ Neumo’s

First off: I was mostly going for Holy Fuck last night at Neumo’s (anytime you get four dudes with fucking with table-tops of live electronics, I’m there). The few songs of theirs that I’ve heard are pretty good, and they promised to be epic monsters live. Sadly, I lost track of time screwing around on Ableton at my apartment, and by the time I made it into the show, Holy Fuck were halfway through their last song, the crystal glissando rave up “Lovely Allen.” It did sound pretty epic—knob twists turning into wet, resonant echoes, live bass and drums chugging and stomping in time, those great strings apparently being summoned from some little box. So, I’m bummed that I missed them, but I’m told they’ll certainly come back, as everyone was raving about them, and there’s always the hope that I’ll catch them at Rachel Ray’s Triscuit Party at SXSW.

In between sets, John Atkins (of the Can’t See, etc) enthused about Super Furry Animals, encouraging me to stick around. He talked about how there was something subtly subversive to the band’s interdisciplinary pop rock, something acid-fried about them that kept them from ever being much more than a weird little brother to the big brit pop bands of the ’90s. He said the last time he saw them, at the EMP, they played in surround sound and turned the Sky Church’s usually lame LCD Screensaver into their own synchronized, psychedelic visual screen. He told me the first SFA album I should listen to is Guerilla. A guy walked by dribbling ice out of his drink and with toilet paper stuck to his shoe. (Side note: there was a big, international crowd—lots of people in line using passports as IDs.)

The band took the stage to the sound of echoing bird chirps and dog barks, the lead singer wearing an oversized red power-rangers-style helmet (when he took off his helmet, he looked—from a distance—a little like former Stranger music editor Dave Segal; up close, not so much). They started with (I think) “Slow Life,” then “Rings Around the World,” and then I had to go give a friend my extra ticket. When we got back in, we talked for a minute on the main floor, and then decided to grab a seat upstairs, where we spent the rest of the show listening to the slightly muffled music and scheming about SXSW. I think I first heard of Super Furry Animals in my late teens, in the late ’90s, and at the time, they were a few albums into their career, probably only playing 21+ shows in Seattle, I had plenty of bands to worry about, and I just never found the right moment to dive into a subtly subversive, psychedelic Welsh rock band. I guess I still haven’t.

The TAD documentary, Busted Circuits and Ringing Ears plays tonight at the Varsity at 7 pm.

The trailer:

I watched the movie before interviewing Tad last week—it is a really touching and funny documentary. Some of the footage overlaps a little bit of what was covered in Hype (since it focuses on the band’s heyday during the big “grunge” days), but tere’s also tons of footage from tours and shows, as Tad had a video camera with him for most of the band’s career.

(And if you missed the interview with Tad, the band’s frontman, click here to read it.)

Also tonight:

The Curious Mystery play the Sunset
The Gourds and Baby Gramps play the Tractor
And (as Nipper already told you) Blue Cheer is at El Corazon

Yesterday, it was suggested - that it is hipster to like Can or
Shuggie Otis.

Are you a hipster if you like the music of Can or Shuggie Otis?

Are you a hipster?

Which do you like more?

Which do you prefer?

And lastly:

By Flickr Pooler soundonthesound.

Do you have some awesome live music shots? Do you have some hilarious nightlife shots? Add ‘em to the Stranger’s Flickr Pool. It’s fun to embarrass your friends.

The store’s last day is Monday, February 18th.

(not featuring Vince Gill or Usher)

also: GODDAMN!

WOW. So sad, SO bad.

I heard that new Blue Cheese…yeah yeah yeah… Blue CHEER record. Yuck. It’s bad metal…it’s embarrassing, it’s so bad. Like, it’s dumb, but not like dumb as dumb rock can be brilliant. However, Dickie DOES still have his voice, and there is the occasional hint of BC’s former glory…but it’s all metal, not heavy, but metal. Still tho’, if I HAFTA find a bright spot in terms of “cool they’re still doing IT”…it’s not worse than that Stooges reunion record.

So if you go tonight to see this

do NOT expect this

Now then, to clean the palette of the “awful” stink of the new Blue Cheese here is a bit of le Pink Floyd from France, no Syd, but Syd era…David Gilmour sings.

This is a must-watch:
[now after the jump since this vid is freezing Firefox]

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You can probably spend a few hours discussing Sylvester’s influence and contributions to both disco and italo. In his early year’s his more soul and funk driven records like his 1977 self-titled LP Sylvester, 1978’s Step II and 1979’s Stars helped him become a household name in the club scene, while his later work with legendary italo producer Patrick Cowley and San Francisco’s Megatone Records during the early 1980’s helped him re-establish himself and his sound as many other disco artists of