Throwed (usually pronounced thode) is Houston slang that means, among other things- tight, cool, partytime excellent! That would best describe last night’s Bun B x Framework x D.Black show at Neumos. Throwed also means drunk, gone, slizzard- that would best describe me at last night’s Bun B x Framework x D.Black show at Neumos.

After some beverages at Moe Bar with Sportn’ Life Records Co-CEO Devon Manier, I shuffled next door to catch The Life’s marquee act, D.Black. Black is growing out a bit of a beard, which made everybody remark that he looks a lot like Philadelphia MC Freeway. D with his hypeman Spaceman(of SnL’s Kingzmen) and DJ Nphared, tore it down authoritatively. The crowd, more club-goers than show heads, weren’t as responsive as Black would have liked, so he took a minute to talk to the people. The people listened, and livened up in turn, especially for the “Posse On Broadway”-inspired cut “The 808”, off of his upcoming Life & Legacy digital-only EP. The crowd was freakin’ loving it.

After a short break, Vitamin D took to the turntables and Framework hit the stage. Frame, while having released what is generally acknowledged as a local classic with 2005’s Hello World, has performed in Seattle maybe, oh, three times(that i know of)- he was on a hiatus for a bit due to some ah, legal issues, and has been pretty scarce since he’s been out. So he’s not exactly a polished performer(even though his copious diamond accoutrements looked very polished), and didn’t sound totally comfortable for the first couple of songs. Hitting his stride, he did a phenomenal cover of Jay-Z’s “Dead Presidents”, and a song denouncing President Bush- interesting, just because so many detractors of local “conscious” rap deride their anti-Bush posturing; yet here was a very hood-tested, mother approved “street-hop” artist doing the very same thing. “Rainier Valley!” Frame proclaimed at one point. His last song had a hook that said “That’s It”- and he meant it, cuz when that song ended, that was it- he dipped. (That means he left the stage quickly.)

By this point Neumos was on sardine-status, having a grand ol’ time, and was full of heads you hardly ever see at Cap Hill hiphop shows. That is to say, it was hella niggas up in there. That would explain the SPD walkin around- this also meant Bun(who forgot his ID) couldn’t even drink in the green room (there were minors in his party). That sucks. I know I was drinking. I realized at some point that it was fitting I wore my Black Flag shirt- Bun B loves him some Flag too!

Bun B finally took the stage, along with 14 other motherfuckers- now, with a lesser rapper this is a recipe for the kind of stereotypical live rap experience we’ve all come to loathe. But Bun B is a fuckin’ king- specifically an Underground King, as in the Port Arthur, TX legends UGK. Bun, the consummate pro, cut right through and commanded the stage like he was up there alone. He performed a high-energy(I’m not saying crunk) medley of solo songs and his verses from classic UGK cuts like “One Day” off of the essential Ridin’ Dirty LP. The crowd had it’s hands in the air like, the whole time. As much as the “element” in the club last night is portrayed as trouble, the only guy I saw get ejected for fighting was the corniest of Auburn-looking white dudes in a Steve Largent jersey. Bun noted the fight, then got all attention back on him like a true pro. Even the dude getting thrown out threw his hands in the air, with a smile on his face.

The crowd went particularly nuts for Bun’s last number- Pimp C’s verse from “International Players Anthem”. Pimp was the other half of UGK, a beloved father figure in Dirty South hiphop- and due to a tragic mix of promethezine-laced cough syrup and sleep apnea- passed away last year; all this after seemingly just getting out of jail and recording Underground Kings, the first album from the feloniously-underappreciated UGK to debut at #1 on the Billboard charts. As he left, the crowd chanted “UGK!”, and the whole room , including Bun, expressed their love for our lost King. Goodnight, sweet Pimp.

The Black Keys, Jay Reatard

(Showbox Sodo) It’s pronounced “ree-a-tard,” okay? And that little Memphis fucker has been making music for so long, you’d think that he was like 35 (aka OLD), but he’s really only 24 or something. If you count 7-inches (but not comps), he’s been on 49 flippin’ records! Holy shit! Remember the Lost Sounds? That was him. He’s everywhere. His solo record Blood Visions, on In the Red, is like if Redd Kross vomited all over the Libertines and then Reatard mopped it up and made it faster. I guess if you bought tickets for the Black Keys ($$$$!) you’d want to stay and see them get their hard rock on, but it’s kind of pointless when they brought the better man along and they’re letting him play first. ARI SPOOL

Has anyone else been hooked on that new Black Keys album? That thing is the jam. I hadn’t cared too much for their older stuff, but Attack and Release has got me by the short hairs. It’s like all the best parts of the old White Stripes albums, the ones where they were still a blues rock band, but with catchier hooks and great production. Sure, Showbox SODO isn’t the ideal place to see them play, but if you’re bummed about that you can just chalk it up as another reason to dislike Ghostland Observatory.

DJ Colby B spins mash light fantasies. She is a master. She will master you and the speakers to the floor. You will become banging. What to do? What to do for action:

Tonight: Colby opens for Ghostland Observatory at the Showbox Market then it’s:

Trinity with LA Kendall and special guest Thrills. 111 Yesler Way.

Tomorrow, Saturday: Confession at Chapel Bar with Lukieplatz, Bret Law, the Lady Bob, and Guerilla Go Go’s. 1600 Melrose Ave. 21+, $5.

Maybe? Maybe not. TMZ.com is all aflutter with rumors of flower deliveries and Beyonce’s dad showing up in a suit and both Jay-Z’s mom and Beyonce’s mom arriving together at some secret place in New York.

There’s apparently a party tonight. A wedding reception maybe? Or, they could just be celebrating the fact that Jay-Z just signed a fucking $150 million deal with Live Nation.

If you wanna be a stalker, there’s a live video feed of the “action” (and by action, I mean photographers standing around, waiting for something to happen).

And Weiland thinks Sebastian Bach should take his place. Ha ha!

From Rolling Stone:

Exclusive: Velvet Revolver’s Slash Talks Weiland Split, Search for New Singer

Rolling Stone spoke exclusively with Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash today regarding the band’s decision to split with frontman Scott Weiland. “Everybody’s just very relieved,” Slash tells RS. “This is something that’s been coming down for a while. I know everybody is tying the STP [reunion tour] thing to it, but it started way before that. We just had a lot of commitments to fulfill, so we just had to drag this thing out until the obligations were finished. Basically, we’re just excited about finding someone else and moving on.”

As far as the search for a new frontman goes, Slash says, “There’s some people, but it’s really premature to start naming names. We actually worked with a guy, I won’t mention his name, before we left to go to the U.K. and there just wasn’t enough time to break him in, so we’re gonna work with him again some more, and maybe some other guys as well.” As for Weiland’s recommendation that the band hire former Skid Row vocalist Sebastian Bach, Slash is unamused. “I thought [Weiland] could be a little bit more imaginative. I’m not sure if that was meant to be a pot shot or what. Whatever, it’s not worth any real drama.”

I feel some some kind of Some Kind Of Monster documentary should come from all of this…

Mr. Brousseau is playing a free show at Sonic Boom in Ballard tonight at 6 pm.

Here’s a video of him playing “Here Comes the Water Now” from his record Grand Forks.

And Peter Parker are playing at the Comet. There wasn’t enough room for an Up & Coming in this week’s paper, so here, I’ll post it online.

Dept. of Energy, Peter Parker, Spanish For 100, The Globes (Comet Tavern) Peter Parker has always been underappreciated. The local power-pop band constantly played the greater Seattle area in the late ’90s and early ’00s, opening for No. 13 Baby, Death Cab, Juno, and Harvey Danger; they released two full-lengths, including the fantastically solid Semiautobiographical in 2001 (which features a blistering cover of Damien Jurado’s “Paxil”); but they never got much play. So they broke up. In 2006, they reunited, promising nothing, but debuting some new material. The band only plays once every month or two now, and they’ve also done a little recording, noth nothing has come of that yet. For now you can hear two unreleased songs (from before they broke up) at www.myspace.com/peterparkerseattle. MEGAN SELING

I have no idea how in the world I missed the most important reggae tune of this decade, Tanya Stephens’ “It’s a Pity.”

If I had not been sitting in Linda’s yesterday, when this cut appeared out of the blue, I would have continued to believe that “Jamrock” was at the top of the pop reggae heap.

The song’s best line:

Who knows? maybe one day the world will be evolved enough/We’ll share you in a civilized manner between the two of us/ But until then I woulda love to see you again/Me know we have to play it by the stupid rules of sin.

Or would he have preferred Doc Martens?

Cuz you’re evil, and you lied - Morrissey wins libel case

Hope y’all have cable - Portishead to debut new album on British television

Meeting people is easy - Radiohead set up social-networking site

Despite speculations, Hannah Montana is not on the roster - Partial Lollapalooza line-up revealed

Brent Amaker and the Rodeo played inside the maximum security Hoogstraten Prison in Antwerp. Near riot. I asked them about it:

How did you all get booked at a prison in Antwerp?
Rodeo: Not exactly sure. Prisons are terrible places. The walls of this place were covered with framed posters of American prison films. They were EVERYWHERE. I asked our host Herwig about the posters. He said, “They are from the warden’s collection. He brings them in and puts them up. The prisoners don’t like, but…”

Where in the prison did you play?
The room where we set up looked like a high school auditorium. It was a packed house with inmates from the men’s and women’s wings, all seated in plastic chairs. Men up front, ladies in the back row. Serious looking dudes right up front. Sour faces.

How’d it go?
It was a mixed reaction. Some were smiling and trying to have a good time (Herwig says it’s tough to transfer so quickly from dealing with prison life to trying to enjoy a show), some were quiet, some were rowdy and shouting. Prisoners were exchanging things and trying to hide it from the guards. One guy kept standing up and yelling “Fuck you, America!”

We played, went to a backstage area, and then there was a problem returning the prisoners to their cells. Everyone was up and yelling. The men made moves toward the women and the guards started to look overwhelmed. Herwig came backstage, totally bug-eyed, and asked us to get back on stage to draw everyone’s attention. We bust ass, throwing on our guitars, get on stage and play “Howdy Do!” from the new album. The “Fuck America” guy is out of his seat and screaming.

Note to all European prison wardens: “Howdy Do” will stop a riot before it starts. Not joking! By the second chorus, they were all clapping along and singing “HOWDY DO” back at us.

So none of the inmates escaped?
Actually, the day after our show, two inmates broke out and have not been caught. Seriously. We’re keeping an eye out for them.

Damn, be careful. Hide your hats. Anything else happen?
Well, at our hotel in Brussels our bass player Sugar found a purple dildo underneath his pillow. It’s with us now and it’s not going to be leaving us anytime soon.

(Pictures by: Johnny Podhradsky)

On this Friday, I think I’ll post a classic cut from Le Pamplemousse’s 1979 self-titled LP for no other reason other than it came on my ipod this morning and I found myself really getting into it. Le Pamplemousse is another project from legendary disco producers/writers Laurin Rinder and W. Michael Lewis’s who were also the minds behind other classic disco groups like El Coco, Discognosis, Tuxedo Junction, Rinder & Lewis, and Saint Tropez to name a few. Le Pamplemousse was one of Rinder and Lewis’ longer lasting projects that produced some great disco cuts like “Le Spank”, “Get Your Boom, Boom (Around The Room)”, “Give Up Your Love”, “Back Street City Lights”, “Sweet Magic” plus many many more. Overall, Le Pamplemousse, turned into another classic project put together by some of disco’s brighter minds.

Download Le Pamplemousse - Back Street City Lights by clicking here.

By ERIK98122.

Northwest Top 10
Best-Selling Northwest Artists at Local Independent Record Stores for the week of March 20

1. SERA CAHOONE Only as the Day Is Long (Sub Pop)
2. FLEET FOXES Sun Giant EP (Sub Pop)
3. GRAND ARCHIVES Grand Archives (Sub Pop)
4. THE GUTTER TWINS Saturnalia (Sub Pop)
5. STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS Real Emotional Trash (Matador)
6. PUSA These Are the Good Times People (Fugitive)
7. DESTROYER Trouble in Dreams (Merge)
8. VOYAGER ONE Afterhours in the Afterlife (Loveless)
9. MONO IN VCF Mono in VCF (Stylo)
10. THE HELIO SEQUENCE Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Sub Pop)

Compiled from figures at Sonic Boom (Capitol Hill and Ballard).

As if you didn’t have enough reason to hate Everclear (the domestic violence, the last 10 years of shitty albums):

On Saturday, April 5th Mars Hill Downtown has the privilege of hosting Everclear as they play a benefit show for a local Seattle homeless ministry. The proceeds from this event will go to support New Horizons Ministries, a Christian service agency whose mission as a multi-cultural organization is to be in relationship with homeless and street involved young people, serving and loving in the way of Jesus, equipping them to leave street life.

Showtime is 8:00 pm on Saturday, April 5th and doors will open at 7:00 pm. All tickets are for general admission seating and will go on sale at 10:00 am on Thursday March 24th. Tickets available exclusively through www.ticketweb.com for $15 plus service and other fees.

In case you’re just tuning in, here’s some choice sermons from Mars Hill (thanks, ECB):

God does not want women to have jobs. Their role is to get married, stay at home and have as many babies as possible. (Conveniently, birth control is immoral, too.) “Women will be saved by going back to that role that God has chosen for them. Ladies, if the hair on the back of your neck stands up it is because you are fighting your role in the scripture.”

Women also should not seek leadership roles, either in society (“There is no occasion where women led a society and were its heads and the men complied and followed. … It’s a matter of Biblical creation”) or in the church (“Every single book in your Bible is written by a man.”)

“Homosexuality is an abomination. People who are gay can change. “Your banners, your floats, your buttons—they’re not good. It’s just like letting cancer come into a body… until the cancer consumes the body and kills you. … We will extricate the cancer, and if that person who has the cancer is repentant and wants to kill the cancer, then we’ll welcome them back. But they have to accept that anything but one man, one woman, one God, one life is sexually immoral.”

“Evolution is a lie. Humans were descended from a man named Adam created by God a few thousand years ago. “The lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. This is the making of the first human being, our father Adam. We all descend from him and there was no human life before this man.”

“Hell is a real, physical place, and“it’s hot. Real hot.”

More ECB on Mars Hill here.

And here’s Mars Hill pastor Tim Gaydos interviwing Art Alexakis:

(Thanks to Line Out tipper Joshua)

Holy hot shit, music fan, where are you gonna go tonight?

Bun B of the Underground Kingz is at Neumo’s with Framework and D.Black. Here’s and excerpt of Sam Mickens’ UGK piece in this week’s music section:

Unlike today’s cred-flaunting hardcore rap stars, the legitimacy and volume of UGK’s personal criminal activities were never as important as the eloquence and honesty they instilled in their work. They were artists, after all, some of the greatest-ever purveyors of hiphop as folk music; over the years their content remained a tight-focused account of the good and ills of their lifestyles, their peers, and their neighborhoods, while the form of their output continued to progress. Pimp C’s production, both men’s lyricism, as well as the other musical elements they integrated into the ever-self-definitive UGK sound, moved prodigiously with the times, while never overstepping the core aesthetic or hard-bitten quality control of the group.

Read the whole thing here.

This show gets a little extra love—Larry Mizell sings Framework’s praises in this week’s My Philosophy:

So I know you’re already planning on seeing you some Bun B on Friday, April 4, but the real story is who’s opening up for this Dyme Def–hosted shindig: none other than D.Black (currently goin’ hard in the studio) and Framework. That’s right, true believers, ya boy Framework rocking the Neumo’s stage. Frame’s 2005 album, Hello World, was an indisputable local classic (shit, the ads for it at the time even said that)—a nerves-of-steel South End street opera over some of BeanOne’s finest production to date.

Ghostland Observatory are playing a sold out show at the Showbox at the Market. In this week’s paper, Eric Grandy gave the band’s new album a 1/2 star. Buuuurn.

That the Austin duo can pull back-to-back nights at the Showbox, consecutive years at Sasquatch!, and a top-10 ranking on KEXP’s charts just proves the hideous power of the bell curve and everything your mom ever told you about life not being fair. This is dance music for the mediocre hump—robot rock for the flyover states. You remember that commercial where the real, authentic cowboys can’t believe you’d eat salsa that was made in NEW YORK CITY!? Well, this is like that: Why the hell would you eat Ghostland Observatory’s mild Texan electroclash when you can just as easily get the real thing?

From this week’s Up & Comings:

Das Llamas, Black Whale, Counselor
(Jules Maes) I’m definitely curious to check in on Das Llamas in a live setting. They just wrapped up recording a new slew of songs for an unspecified future release and apparently the new material is pretty sharp. Word on the street states that the eight new songs continue the angular and agitated spirit of their previous recordings, pairing four-on-the-floor drumbeats and jarring guitar hooks that bring to mind bands like Brainiac or Monorchid. Opening the show is the suitably matched postpunk/goth racket of Bellingham’s Counselor. This band combination would lead to an evening of Factory Records–inspired skronk and moan if not for the addition of shimmering pop melodies provided by Black Whale. BRIAN COOK

Orgone, Funkscribe’s Family Affair, DJ Colin
(Nectar) Orgone’s 2007 debut, The Killion Floor, is yet another superfluous chapter in the deep-funk revival. Comprising ace session players from Los Angeles, Orgone know how to crank out excellent tones and grooves full of crunchy guitar licks and snappy drum patterns. But for all of their improvisational strengths, the band can’t seem to focus on writing a memorable song, instrumental or otherwise. (An exception is Noelle Scaggs’s disco-funk delight “Dialed Up.”) And you can tell what’s missing from these wonkish jam sessions when they cover a truly great funk track, like KC and the Sunshine Band’s “I Get Lifted.” Give Orgone credit, though: Their concerts make for great dance parties. With the audience pushing them on, the band stack up one tight groove after another, producing hot sparks that are more impressive than their recorded material. MOSI REEVES

Switch, Fourcolorzack, Pretty Titty
(War Room) The only path to redemption for a producer like Switch, whose technical DJ skills don’t quite match up to his studio acumen, is to overshadow his shortcomings behind the decks with great track selection. Luckily, the UK producer’s catalog is deep enough that he can play a set almost exclusively of his own material and still deliver handily in that regard, his tracks willing even the haughtiest critics to dance over the rough spots in the mix. He was last here in 2007 for Decibel Festival’s crazed opening-night party, and tonight Sing Sing’s beer-swilling, stage-swarming audience should bring out the best in Switch’s abilities. DONTE PARKS

You want more? Find it yourself. Check out our online music listings—all newly designed and waiting for you.

Having this Last.fm profile is pretty great—you might know about my love for the Valley Girl soundtrack, but I know about your Alanis cravings.

Here’s what Seattle has been listening to this evening…

Are you our Last.fm friend yet?

Even though their record only had one week’s lead time, the Raconteurs’ latest Consolers of the Lonely, debuted on the Billboard 200 as the number seven record this week. That’s exactly where their first release, Broken Boy Soldiers, landed its first week on the charts back in June 2006.

That’s all.

Of course, since this is coming from an anonymous tip, I can’t promise this is legit… but Sir Quispy says via e-mail:

Radiohead date for Seattle is August 20 at the White River Amphitheater. This is not close to playing “in the city” and the traffic getting in and out of that place is horrid. So much for reducing the environmental impact as they stated was their intention for venues they chose to play on this tour. 12,000 from Seattle and 5,000 from Portland choking up those two lane roads for a couple of hours getting in and out of the show.

He says he got the info from a NW radio station that included it in their weekly e-mail.

The line-up will be announced next Monday, April 14th. Tickets will go on sale Friday, April 18th.

Get stoked.

For now, enjoy my favorite moment from last year’s Block Party:

Jack-FM, the DJ-free station that seems to play whatever the fuck it wants, will be STONES-FM this Friday, April 4, “in honor of rock n’ roll hall of famers the Rolling Stones. The band will take over the airwaves in a special broadcast event in four cities across the country.”

Tight.

Some music needs to be loud. Played loud, heard loud, and felt in your chest. Sometimes ears need to bleed. Volume is like fire. It can greatly enhance, but it can also greatly damage. Ringing ears are an audio-society’s double-edged rite of passage. Ears ring like a battle wound. The allure and strength of volume is what draws many to turn it up and or listen without earplugs. That same allure and strength can also ensure your hearing will never be the same again. Cranking it up is a sacred right of empowerment, but you’ve been warned.

I consulted audiologist Tamara Phelps at Virginia Mason:

How do you know when a concert is too loud? Is Metallica too loud?
Phelps: We can safely listen to sound at 85 decibels for about eight hours. If volume gets up to 88 decibels, our safe listening time drops to four hours. Music pumped directly into the ears on headphones at 94 db is only safe for one hour. I’m not sure about Metallica. The average level of a rock concert is 103.4 decibels. A dog barks at about 85 db. A busy street can get up to 75 db.

I saw Metallica in Atlanta and I think it was too loud. They went into “One” with the “Darkness imprisoning me” part and the double-kick. My ears rung for days. Do you know that “Darkness imprisoning me” part?
I’m sorry to say I don’t know that part. It does get dark in Seattle though. It’s not so much the high decibel level that causes the damage as it is how long you listen to those high levels. Chronic exposure to excessive noise causes tinnitus.

You should totally check out Metallica’s And Justice for All. At the concert, this statue crumbled to the ground. It was fake, but it still ruled. Can you explain tinnitus?
It’s pronounced ti-NIGHT-us. Tinnitus is that ringing in your ears. Sometimes it can be debilitating. Most tinnitus comes from damage to microscopic endings of the hearing nerves in the inner ear. The health of these nerve endings is important for acute hearing. Loud noise is the leading cause of tinnitus.

Do you think I could sue Metallica for being too loud?
You could but I don’t think you’d win. Clubs get sued sometimes too.

And the Ipod? I crank my Ipod.
People don’t think about that a lot. The portable music devices are doing just as much damage. People listen to their Ipods for hours and hours, you know? I’d say limit your listening time or be more conscious of the volume. I read a study that said a maximum permissible noise dose would typically be reached within one hour of listening with the volume control set to 70% of the maximum. Also everyone should GET EARPLUGS.

Yeah, but rock isn’t rock if it’s quiet.
Well, how rock is rock if you’re deaf?

By soundonthesound.

Normally I wouldn’t talk about a show my band was playing because it’s in bad form / conflict of interest / heinous / etc. but this is a special occasion. Tonight’s Funhouse show is also the first performance by fellow Stranger Aaron Edge’s new band Swearengen. Since there are two of us playing tonight I figure the conflicts cancel each other out, right? -1 x -1 = +metal show.

Swearengen is the duo of Edge (Iamthethorn, Grievous) and drummer Rob Lovell (Spitting Teeth, Positively Negative). They just recorded a one song, 14 minute demo of heavy, brooding doom metal taking influence from bands like Yob, Engine Kid, Cavity, Sleep, Iceburn and Khanate. They sound as brutal as the murderous cocksucker from whom they got their name.

Also playing tonight are bar rock miscreants Thunderbird Motel. They sound, as their name would imply, like a dirty, semen crusted mattress. Making their way across the mountains from Spokane are another Neurosis/Sleep influenced metal act, Merrick Diaries. And these assholes are playing too. Should be a good time.

Via News.com:

As expected, MySpace unveils new music service

The service will roll out gradually over the next three to four months and offer free streaming music, unprotected MP3 downloads, ringtones, and e-commerce offerings such as merchandise and ticket sales, said MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe. The goal is to make MySpace a one-stop shop for everything music. Among the top four music companies, EMI was the lone holdout. A source with knowledge of the negotiations said that MySpace and EMI continue to seek a deal.

The partnership with MySpace is another sign that the music industry has decided to embrace the Web and digital technology instead of waging war against it. As CD sales continue to shrink and piracy expands, the labels are moving toward the inevitable: a redefining of how they make money from music. With MySpace Music, the labels will get an equity stake in the new joint venture and a share of all the revenues the service collects.

Read the whole story here.

RIP Klaus Dinger - Influential krautrocker passes

Hova weds media conglomerate - Jay-Z signs deal with LiveNation

Television Television - Elvis Costello gets his own TV show

Nu metal weds mall punk - Linkin Park announces Projekt Revolution festival line-up

Diva outdoes dead guy - Mariah Carey surpasses Elvis for #1 hits

Aero weds Billions Corporation - Local booking agency merges with Chicago booking agency

Via AP:

BOSTON - They may be pushing 40, but the New Kids are returning to the block. The Boston boy band New Kids on the Block, which sold 70 million albums in the 1980s and early 1990s, has reunited and plans to release a new album and go on tour. The reunion comes 20 years after the release of the group’s multi-platinum album, “Hanging Tough.” The group released a new photo Wednesday and reportedly will appear on the Today show Friday morning — the same time an unmarked countdown clock on http://www.nkotb.com ends.

“The fan response to this has been incredible,” band member Donnie Wahlberg told the Boston Herald.

Wahlberg said he was convinced to get back together with his former bandmates — Joey McIntyre, brothers Jordan and Jonathan Knight and Danny Wood — when they decided to record new music. Wahlberg said he wrote 80 percent of the new material with McIntyre and Jordan Knight.

August (and later)? Seattle (and abroad)?

+

Via Punknews.org:

No Idea Records has begun auctioning off test-pressings for a number of releases from their catalog. The auction is being held as a fund raiser to benefit J. Robbins’s son Cal, who was born with a genetic condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy. While treatments for the condition are available, they are extremely costly and not covered by health insurance.

We posted about Cal before on Line Out. You can read more about him and his condition here. All the money raised from the auctions will help pay for Cal’s treatments.

Just a few of the test presses up for sale are:

Against Me! Reinventing Axl Rose (which is already going for over $200)
Hot Water Music Fuel and Forever
Planes Mistaken for Stars Up In Them Guts
Small Brown Bike Nail

The whole list, which also includes Less Than Jake, Latterman, Grabass Charlestones, and Chuck Ragan, can be found here.

^{Say Hi photo by M. Vorrasi}

Say Hi, Siberian, Battle Hymns
(Chop Suey) Say Hi are a different band than they were in 2006, when I was introduced to them via Impeccable Blahs. Back then, Say Hi were called Say Hi to Your Mom, and they were based in Brooklyn, where founding (and sometimes only) member Eric Elbogen crafted sweet-natured, sleepy-eyed, instantly charming pop in his basement. Icing on the cake was the record’s cute all-vampires-all-the-time theme. Say Hi’s new album, The Wishes and the Glitch, finds the band relocated to Seattle, ditching the vampires, and successfully experimenting with a more aggressive sound. Clearly, something here sits right with Elbogen; the strongest track is an ode to his new home called “Northwestern Girls,” a cresting, emotional electro-pop number that ends with Elbogen unstably chanting, “It must be in the air here….” MEGAN SELING

Click here to listen to Say Hi’s “Northwestern Girls.”

The Abodox, Times of Desperation, Sean, Hemingway
(Comet) Now-defunct Seattle noisecore outfit Playing Enemy seemed on a mission to create the most unapproachable and dissonant music possible. With the departure of drummer Andrew Gormley, remaining members Demian Johnston and Shane Mehling continued to walk the path of discord with the simultaneously more abrasive and more melodic project known as Hemingway. Balancing extremes ranging from Merzbow-esque white noise to folk compositions layered with loops and effects, Hemingway are certainly one of the more adventurous bands to bare the “experimental” tag. Further demonstrating their sonic range, upcoming releases for the duo include a split with Triumph of Lethargy and a collaboration with Japanese cyberpunk poet Kenji Siratori. Show up and find out what kind of weirdness Hemingway are currently leveling against their audience. BRIAN COOK

Click here to listen to Hemingway.

Imaad Wasif, Bill Horist, Cat Among Pigeons
(Sunset) One must approach the solo record of the session guitarist and live sideman with a certain degree of skepticism. Will there be wanky guitar solos? Second-string songwriting? Dilettante genre dabbling? These are serious pitfalls. Thankfully, Imaad Wasif (most recently found gunslinging for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs) handily avoids all of these on his latest release, Strange Hexes, recorded with backing band Two Part Beast. Yes, there are roiling, occasionally overflowing guitars, but they’re tightly contained, carefully deployed, and the songwriting—droning and spare slowcore, then raucous and raw rock, driven throughout by inviting, soft-spoken vocals—is perfectly satisfying. None of which should surprise those who better remember Wasif as one half of the manic-depressive Lowercase. ERIC GRANDY

And don’t forget, tonight’s also the night Born Anchors play for free at the Gibson Showroom in Pioneer Square as part of Chris Thompson’s new art show. Read more about it here.

Torche

Meanderthal

Hydra Head Records

I’ve never gotten into Queens of the Stone Age. Seen ‘em live. Certainly heard more of their music than I ever cared to. Funny, because it seems like I’m in their target demographic of older folks who still want to listen to something heavy, but need a little more substance than just loud distorted guitars. But despite being touted as some sort of accessible pop variation of the stoner rock template, I’ve always thought they were just sort of uninspired. I want either more pop or more heaviness in their sound. Even better: they could be poppier AND heavier. Or they could just sound like Miami’s Torche.

Torche is what I always thought Queens of the Stone Age should sound like. Legions of stoned guitar aficionados cite Josh Homme’s desert rock band as some sort of crucial hybrid of Sabbath’s bluesy doom with the sounds of America’s early New York and Midwest punk pioneers. I, however, would argue that Torche is the first band since the pre-Nevermind grunge bands to blend those disparate approaches so successfully. Indeed, it’s a risky marriage that countless bands have attempted, and all too many have failed. Just look at the thousands of dumb metalcore outfits too inept to appropriately mix heavy riffs with pop vocals without awkwardly stumbling through bad transitions or coating their songs with sugary over-production. But four dudes from Florida have found that sweet spot. The riffs are still huge and mean, but they always provide a solid base for strong and memorable melodies. The geography of their home state seems to have worn off on their music: it’s simultaneously swampy and sunny, and occasionally besieges you like a hurricane.

Granted, it’s a formula singer/guitarist Steve Brooks has employed since his tenure in the Florida sludge band Floor. Even back in the ‘90s, he was using a little trick often referred to as “the bomb string” (or “the floppy string” and “the brown note”). By tuning the bottom string down to a non-pitch, and thereby slacking the tension to the point that the string simply flops around instead of resonating a note, Brooks has taken the heavy guitar sound to its ultimate conclusion. When plucked, it literally sounds like a bomb going off. It’s a secret weapon used sparingly. Whereas Torche’s self-titled debut came crashing out of the gate with the bomb string showcaser “Charge of the Brown Recluse,” they’ve held back this time around, teasing their old fans by waiting until the album-closing title track before hitting that gut-shaking frequency. And when that note starts the song, you can almost envision the hordes of Torche fans wetting themselves. Like Spielberg hiding the shark until the final reel of Jaws, part of the enjoyment of the experience is the tension resulting from the anticipation of that one moment.

Lest I paint Torche as a one-trick-pony, this album would be a complete ass-kicker even if they decided to abandon the brown note altogether. Meanderthal opens with “Triumph of Venus,” a busy high-energy instrumental tune that wouldn’t feel out of place alongside Mastodon’s Blood Mountain material, and launches straight into “Grenades,” a heavy mid-tempo tune that scales back the guitar dexterity to provide a foundation for a big rock anthem chorus. The remaining duration of the record finds the band walking the spectrum between their heavier inclinations and their pop sensibilities. Perhaps no other song on the album thoroughly demonstrates Torche’s range than “Amnesian.” Combining classic stoner rock riffs with psychedelic guitar solos and big vocal harmonies, the song serves as an appropriate centerpiece to the album by displaying the band’s full arsenal within one epic six-and-a-half minute track.

Let me state for the record that I certainly don’t want to bag on Josh Homme’s endeavors. The man aims to make respectable music. I’ll even concede that Kyuss was pretty awesome. But at the end of the day, for me personally, it simply doesn’t compare to the racket made by four dudes from the swamps of Florida.

I’m still kind of trying to process what happened last night at the Funhouse. All I know right now is, Sioux City Pete & the Beggars played, they took their clothes off, I got covered in beer, and afterwards, they were all waaaay to nice to be as punk as fuck as they seemed on stage.

Behold! Photographs of near-naked girls and boys! For the record, they had their clothes on for a few songs, but those pictures didn’t come out as good as the nakey ones.

Lords of the North is a new project featuring Pat Kearney (of Automaton and Plan B), Tony Tharp (of Black Fairies), and James Roche.

It’s heavy, psychedelic stoner rock—lots of guitar solos, sludgy bass, and songs titles like “Souls Come Rising,” “Follow the Falcon,” and “Loyal Legion.”

Hear them via MySpace.

Yesterday I found a copy of Invisible Man’s Band 1980 self-titled LP While I was searching for some last minute gems for tonight’s Studio. I can honestly say that I wasn’t completely feeling this album when I first heard it a while back, however over time, the record has grown on me. This LP falls in-line with that disco music that came out at the very tail end of the genres’ golden era that helped transition the remaining disco’s smoothly into the dance era of the 80’s. Classic cuts like “All Night Thing” and “Love Can’t Come / Love Has Come” tend to really grow on you after a few listens, and admittingly has a bit of a Earth, Wind, & Fire smooth feel to it. Overall, after a few listens, I was happy to have found the hard-to-find LP, making it a nice addition to anyones disco collection.

Invisible Man’s Band - All Night Thing

I also think I’ll drop “All Night Thing” tonight at Studio! for your listening pleasure. Let me know what you think.

I’m 27 years old, I don’t need to be writing the all-ages column anymore. I can drink! Legally! So I am happy to introduce to you, The Stranger’s new Underage columnist Casey Catherwood.

^{Casey circa 1996}

A few facts about Casey Catherwood:

He is 19 years old, he’ll be 20 next month. That means he was born in 1988. Do you feel old yet? The kid knows a few things about the all-ages scene too—he’s booked, worked at, and played shows since he was barely a teenager.

Growing up on the Eastside, he’s logged hundreds of hours as a volunteer at the Old Fire House. He’s also worked at the Vera Project and “pretty much every all ages place at least once or twice to get into shows for free.” His first band was called Haunted Lunch, and now he sings and plays keyboards for Little Party and the Bad Business. Currently, his three favorite songs are “Let Me Roll It” by Paul McCartney, “Grease 2” by Thee Oh Sees,” and “Get Down” by Cam’ron.

Also, one year on Thanksgiving he weighed himself before and after dinner to see how much weight he could gain in one meal. He got really sick from eating too much, but he is happy to report he gained an impressive eight pounds.

He’s been posting on Line Out for a couple months, since becoming the music intern here at the paper—he reviewed the Leslie and the LY’s show here and wrote about Everclear here—now, you can read him every week in The Stranger.

Congratulations, Casey!

You can read his first installment of the column here.

I was huddled outside of the bar’s window with a couple of my fellow under-21 friends to see the Ohsees. It’s obviously never the same watching a show through a pane of glass, but the band played brilliant sets the past two times they were in town, especially at Gallery 1412, and I thought it would be worth it. In between one of their songs, which I could hardly hear anyway, Ohsees singer John Dwyer (formerly of Pink and Brown and Coachwhips) turned around, looked at the pack of dorks behind him at the window, and announced to the bar in an affected drawl, “LOOK AT ALL THE LITTLE 15-YEAR-OLDS!”

I gotta say, it’s taken me a little while to warm up to Goldfrapp. Someone at my other job played their last album Supernature over the stereo a grip of times and it never quite struck my fancy. Mostly it just reminded me of the band that plays the prom in Starship Troopers. Seeing this video may have just won me over. The patience and choreography behind a one take video is always amazing, but this video’s final shot (specifically the dog) just made my whole day.

11 days separate us from the next iteration of Seattle’s Rock Lottery, which makes right now as good a time as any to post the participant list, sent to me by event curator Chris Weber:

Ty Bailie (Dept. of Energy, Mark Pickerel and his Praying Hands)
Mike Bayer (Amateur Radio Operator, Evangeline)
Larry Brady (Biography of Ferns)
T. Tacket Brown (Two Loons for Tea, Jonny Sonic, Hayley Sales)
D. Crane (BOAT)
Joel Cupland (The Hideous Thieves, Triumph of Lethargy)
DV One (DV One)
Jesy Fortino (Tiny Vipers)
Jen Gay (Kaliningrad, Minirex, Buttersprites)
Jorge Harada (Ruby Dee and the Snakehandlers)
Jamie Henkensiefken (H Is for Hellgate)
Bill Horist (Master Musicians of Bukkake, Ghidra)
Laurie Kearney (Ships, Palmer AK))
Kevin Kmetz (God of Shamisen, Estradasphere)
Rory McAuley (Eastern Grip)
Tony Moore (Foscil, Scape)
Luc Reynaud (Luc Reynaud and the Lovingtons)
Paul Rucker (Paul Rucker LARGE Ensemble)
Whiting Tennis (Whiting Tennis)
J. Tillman (J. Tillman)
Tilson (The Saturday Knights)
Noah Star Weaver (USE)
Curt Weiss aka Lewis King (The Rockats, Beat Rodeo)
Brian Yeager (Elam, The Bromantics, Strap Straps)
+1 to be announced

Remember, these 25 (er, 24 +1) folks will be broken up into random bands of five on Sunday, the 13th, with the only stipulation being that each have a drummer. They get 12 hours to write original songs and practice before the show that night at Neumo’s, and all proceeds go to Arts Corp. More info on last year’s here. What’s your dream mash-up on this list?

By Lauren Max.

animal vs buddy! so HOT!

oh yeah…and beaker!

As Megan explained, our Last.fm account is up and going, but you don’t even have to visit the profile to see what we’re listening to. At any time, you can simply hover over the Last.fm item in the LineOut header to get the most up-to-the-moment glance at what we’re listening to.

Lemmy lost. Jackie Hell took him out. She may have even slapped him around. Slapped him right on his divine archipelago of moles. Don’t call her Cinderella. (Round of 8 – here.) Jackie Hell is firing on all cylinders and looks tough to handle. And Slats is rolling, but does EYE roll underneath Slats? Barfly is humbled to be here.

8. Jackie Hell
5. Barfly - the Saturday Knights
3. EYE - Boredoms
2. Slats - Pain Cocktail

The tip off:

I spoke to Barfly about making it to the Final Four:

This has gotta be exciting. It’s all you’ve worked for isn’t it? The long hours, the practices after school, the power shakes. Right?
Barfly: First, thank you to Line Out. This is definitely a proud achievement for me but I’m trying to keep it in perspective. It’s too early to be dancing in the end zone. There’s a long road ahead and right now, I’m just trying to stay focused on going out there and delivering on a level that I can be proud of. Jackie Hell and Slats are such great competitors and are easily favored to win this thing, but I’ve been an underdog in every round thus far and anything can happen. Not since Mike Eruzione led his fellow Golden Gophers and a supporting cast of butchers, mechanics, and town drunks to that fabled Miracle on Ice Gold Medal in the 1980 Lake Placid Winter Olympics have we seen the potential for such a Cinderella story. I want to add that I’m thrilled at the prospect of keeping the championship hardware on Capitol Hill. 75% of the competitors in this Final Four hail from our much maligned home and that’s no small feat. Suck it, Interbay!

Fuck Yes! I mean… Fuck Yeah! - Yes bring Close To The Edge And Back Tour to Seattle August 15th

Must have been jumped by Mike Tyson - Boris finds ear of crime victim in tiny Texas town

He lost me at “jazz-tinged” - Neil Young to release new album

Now he’s got 100 problems - Jay-Z and Beyonce get a wedding license

Oh, shit - Oh, Sleeper gets robbed in Cleveland

It’s too laaaaate - OneRepublic worried that “Apologize” will make them one-hit-wonders

And we can prove it, motherfuckers.

The Stranger has its very own Last.fm account, so now you can see what everyone in the office is listening to while working on the paper (or, in some cases, reading blogs instead of working on the paper).

For example, this week’s issue (on stands later today), was brought to you by:

We’ve also been listening to the Idle Race, the White Stripes, Modest Mouse, Radiohead, Thee Oh Sees, Notorious B.I.G., Big Black, Sleater-Kinney, Aqueduct, Styx, Scout Niblett… it goes on and on.

Last.fm is pretty cool. You can type in a favorite artist and it’ll create a random playlist of similar artists based on what other people who like that band are also listening to. And it’s free. And it has a lot of songs available for free streaming, so if you have a craving for, say, Alkaline Trio’s “Cooking Wine,” but you don’t have that song in your iTunes, you can log on and hear it.

Visit our profile, www.last.fm/user/seattlestranger, and see what we’re listening to right this very second. And if you have a last.fm account, be our friend. We’d love to share music with you.

^Snuggle

Subhumans, Snuggle, Walls
(El Corazón) Seattle’s Snuggle hark back to a time when pop punk was still more punk than pop—loud, dirty, barely held together with duct tape and black patches, without a hope (or a want) of making it onto mainstream radio or TV. Their songs are fast and rollicking; simple, caffeinated chord progressions animated by pogoing drums and wobbling bass, guttural vocals snarled and barked with enough heart to make up for their lack of tune. So they’re a sensible choice to open up for stalwart and recently reactivated punks the Subhumans (UK). Walls are, among other things, a difficult band to find on the internet. They comprise three-fourths of defunct hardcore band Cold Sweat, including Jensen of Iron Lung on drums; their 7-inch is out on Iron Lung Records. ERIC GRANDY

Little Wings, Cock & Swan
(Sunset) Kyle Field, the man behind Little Wings, is an enigma. His website, www.kyledraws.com, showcases mostly his surreal drawings, and redirects you to K Records’ website for more information about Little Wings. But when you get there, there’s no information—only a photo of a man on the phone with his face obscured by a blue T-shirt. His Wikipedia page tells stories of working in liquor stores, living in camper trucks, not settling anywhere for more than about a month. His music is just as hard to pin down. He has a deep voice, like Jonathan Richman or Jens Lekman. His songs sometimes focus on lyrics, telling specific stories, sometimes the songs are more musical, light constructions of guitar, piano, and synthesizer. They’re always tender and lovely. MEGAN SELING

And here are a few more options from our online calendar:

*Dragged By Horses and Lords of the North are at the Comet
*Moe Provencher, Levi Fuller, and Troubleshooting are at the McLeod Residence, which just recently opened to the public
*And, as every Wednesday, Line Out’s very own TJ Gorton and Terry Miller are spinning at Havana

Seriously?

Their debut was called Weezer. Because of the bright blue cover, it’s known as The Blue Album.

Then their “comeback” record, the first release since Pinkerton, was also called Weezer. Because of it’s bright green album, it’s known as The Green Album. That was cute.

Now, their June 17th release, is also going to be called Weezer. Apparently this one will end up being known as The Red Album.

Via Rolling Stone’s Rock Daily:

The new Weezer album will be called… Weezer. For the third time in six albums, the band is going the eponymous route, except this time around the band are referring to their new one as the “Red Album.” Comprised of sessions produced by Rick Rubin, Jacknife Lee and themselves, frontman Rivers Cuomo says, “We put a lot of emphasis on blowing our minds with creative freakouts,” as evidenced by the probable first single “Pork and Beans.”

It’s not that cute anymore. But mostly because I haven’t liked a whole Weezer record since the Green Album.

^{Photo by Brian O’Shea}

“We’re not trying to be like Radiohead or something,” they say. “It’s just really expensive and tiring to keep releasing/promoting albums outselves. So we’re giving it away.”

Curse is their fourth full-length album. You can get it at www.theturnons.com.

They’re just dumping Weiland:

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Four founding members of the rock band Velvet Revolver said on Tuesday they were splitting with the group’s troubled singer, Scott Weiland, citing his “increasingly erratic” behavior.

The announcement came in a terse statement from the group’s management company as Weiland, 40, and his recently reunited original band, Stone Temple Pilots, were set next week to announce plans for a highly anticipated summer tour.

Full story at Reuters.