The Gossip - "Are You That Somebody (Live in Liverpool)"

Klaxons - No Diggity

(thanks to Craig, and everyone else in that basement)

by sea kay.

Happy Record Store Day, everyone!

Q: Who's Vinnie Blackshadow?

A: Vinnie Blackshadow is a 10-year-old kid who plays Kiss songs in full face paint. He sometimes spits fake blood.

He has two shows for Record Store Day--first the Capitol Hill Sonic Boom at 1 pm and then the Ballard store at 3 pm.

You can hear him via his MySpace.

^{The DT's photo by Chris Fuller}

The Valley, Iceage Cobra, the DT's
(High Dive) The DT's are Bellingham's garage/soul band that fans of Thee Emergency probably already know about, not to mention the rock-loving denizens of Spain, Portugal, and parts of South America (not kidding). The DT's do not fuck around with unnecessaries. Featuring the head of Estrus Records and ex–Mono Man Dave Crider on guitar, the band understand dynamics verses tension, value the cowbell, and know how to play their instruments well enough to do so while drunk. Rock comes grinding out against Diana Young-Blanchard's raw vocals, which channel Janis Joplin in delivery and tone. The Valley and Iceage Cobra, both performers you do not trifle with, will have their work cut out for them tonight. MATT GARMAN

Listen to Iceage Cobra:
"We Gotta Move"

The Teenagers, Handsome Furs, Man Plus (Neumo's) The Teenagers' U.S. debut at Neumo's earlier this year was perhaps underwhelming—lead singer Quentin Delafon looked bemused at being onstage at all, and the band's newly added touring drummer and guitarist were listless, just barely keeping time. But they sounded fine, they're supercute, and the show was fun, especially when they pulled a girl out of the crowd for their smashing he-said/she-said single "Homecoming." That song is just unfuckwithable, and their debut album, Reality Check, remains a pleasing pop record—sassy, glossy, smeared with irresistible hooks. It's more than enough to forgive a slightly shaky premiere performance. What droney mopers and Wolf Parade offshoot Handsome Furs are doing on this bill is anybody's guess, but they should provide some welcome dissonance. ERIC GRANDY

Listen to the Teenagers:
"Starlett Johansson"

Tiny Vipers, J. Tillman (Vera Project) You miss the sadness of winter—the short days, the long nights, the weather only unpredictable in terms of how shitty it will be. I'm not sure what to do with all the sunshine either sometimes, which is why we should embrace this chance to escape the land of the bright, happy, and emotionally stable. Tiny Vipers' ethereal and haunting songs will leave you feeling like you're stranded in the middle of the ocean with no chance of rescue. J. Tillman's worn voice and heartbreaking songs are spiked with years of pain and wisdom (even though he's all of twentysomething). "Evans and Falls" is sad and simple, "Barter Blues" is angrier, and "Crooked Roof" is all melancholy piano and slide guitar. There's a little something for every dark corner of those bad moods you're hiding. MEGAN SELING

Listen to J. Tillman:
"Steel On Steel"

"On this day, all of these stores will simultaneously link and act as one with the purpose of celebrating the culture and unique place that they occupy both in their local communities and nationally," says RecordStoreDay.com.

Record stores throughout Seattle are celebrating the new holiday with live music, DJs, popcorn, cupcakes, sales on everything in the store, sidewalk sales, free shit, limited edition merchandise, Björk 3-D glasses, and more!

Here's a rundown of who's hosting what:

Easy Street: In-store performances by Mark Pickerel and Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter at the Queen Anne location. 5 pm, free. Also, everything in both stores not already on sale will be 20% off all day long.

Everyday Music: Enter to win an autographed copy of the Tom Waits box set People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs 1913-1938. There will also be free CD samplers, a storewide sale, and other goodies.

Silver Platters: All four locations (Queen Anne, Bellevue, Southcenter, and Northgate) are offering 20% off on all vinyl, box sets, CD singles, and Billboard Collections CDs, and one day only DVD specials (starting at $3.99). Each location has it's own in-store specials and they also have tons of live music through the day.

Queen Anne:
1:00 The Mary McPage Band
2:00 Matt Jorgensen + 451
3:00 Pat Monahan
4:00 Kim Archer Band
5:00 Bee Simonds
6:00 Speaker Speaker
7:00 Low-Fi
8:00 The Pharmacy
9:00 How and Lightning

Bellevue Crossroads:
1:00 Interlake High School Jazz Band
2:30 Tribaljazz
3:30 Amateur Radio Operator
5:00 Hadley Caliman

Southcenter:
1:00 DJ ECM/Slantooth

Sonic Boom: Both locations (Capitol Hill and Ballard) will be selling Cupcake Royale cupcakes and new Sonic Boom slip mats, with all the proceeds going to the Vera project. They'll also have exclusive vinyl including a Stephen Malkmus 10" and 7"s from Built to Spill, Death Cab, Black Keys, REM, and more. There will be other free surprises included with every purchase, and a sidewalk sale with CDs, rock books, posters, and more starting at $1. 10% of Saturday's sales will be donated to Music4life. Topping it off, they have live music and DJs all day.

Capitol Hill:
1:00 Vinnie Blackshadow
3:00 John Roderick (Long Winters) DJ Set
5:00 The Dutchess and The Duke

Ballard:
3:00 Vinnie Blackshadow
4:00 Aqueduct
5:30 Mono in VCF
7:00 The Moondoggies

And here are a few others that we should not forget--Jive Time, Bop Street, Wall of Sound, and Singles Going Steady.

For more information about Record Store Day, visit www.recordstoreday.com.

And if you're lookin' for those limited edition Björk glasses, click here to see where you can find 'em.

The phrase "I'm good" (I just watched someone on an insurance commercial offer a dirty old futon to his friend, who in turn replied, "I'm good") is marvelous: it's so positive-sounding, so affirmative, so happy and accepting, and yet the only thing it ever means is "no."

It's still a problem.

MTV recently went to Mexico to report on the growing conflict.

More than a month has passed since a mob of angry teens attacked three emo kids in the central Mexican city of Querétaro, setting off a wave of anti-emo (and, some say, homophobic) violence that spread from the capital of Mexico City to the border towns of Tijuana and Juarez.

And in that time, the man who many blame for instigating the mobs — a popular television host named Kristoff, who had previously mocked emo kids and compared them to "prepubescent 15-year-old girls" who lead a "stupid and idiotic" lifestyle — has taken to the airwaves to publicly denounce the violence, calling the attackers "imbeciles" and hosting on-air forums aimed at healing the divide.

Last week, MTV News traveled to Mexico City to speak to those on both sides of that divide: the emo kids who say they're still being targeted by mobs and metal acts who are more than willing to keep the violence going. We also sat down with Kristoff himself, who, not surprisingly, claims that the entire situation was blown out of proportion by the international media, and that since the four incidents in early March, the attacks have all but stopped.

Read the whole story (and watch video interviews) here.

Via Reuters:

NEW YORK, April 18 (Reuters) - U.S. rapper Foxy Brown was freed from a New York City prison on Friday after serving eight months of a one-year sentence stemming from an assault of two nail salon stylists over a $20 manicure.

Brown, 29, whose real name is Inga Marchand, was sentenced to three years' probation in October 2006 for assaulting the stylists. But in September 2007 a judge ruled she was not taking probation seriously and sent her prison for one year.

Inmates typically serve two-thirds of their sentence, said Stephen Morello, a Department of Corrections spokesman, adding that Brown had been met at the Rikers Island prison by New York City Councilman Charles Barron.

I just happened across this post that has a link to a remix of Ashlee Simpson's "Outta My Head," remixed by Brad Walsh. I'm possibly the only person in The Stranger offices who has never seen an episode of Project Runway--no cable, you understand--so I missed the Brad Walsh music on the Season 4 Finale, and so I know I'm coming to the party late, but this is actually a pretty awesome song, no thanks to Ashlee. It sounds sleazy, in a coked-up kind of dark 80's dance way.

And then, on Walsh's MySpace page, the song "Do It in the Street" sounds pretty fantastically dirty. I didn't know you could make those kinds of sounds in electronic music without molesting the speakers.

I asked him where he got the crab claw. He replied, "I won it in a knife fight."

Via Punknews.org:

According to a report from Wired, Microsoft is gearing up to release a limited edition Joy Division-themed version of their less-than-ubiquitous MP3 player, The Zune.

The Joy Division Zune will feature an adaptation of the cover art from the band's 1979 debut, Unknown Pleasures, which artist Peter Saville created using a graph of one hundred pulses from pulsar CP 1919 (apparently the first radio pulsar ever discovered).

Read the Wired report here.

By himself:

With the Dead Science as his backing band:

By himself, again, with a little help from the crowd:

Why?, Mount Eerie @ the Vera Project

This is probably embarrassing, but fuck it: All day yesterday I felt like I was about to break down and cry. I couldn't even begin to tell you why. I had three drinks after work and felt better. I put a xanax in my pocket in case feeling better wore off and headed to the Why?/Mount Eerie show at the Vera. But feeling better didn't wear off, even after the alcohol. The pill's still in my pocket right now. Mount Eerie and Why?: better than prescription drugs!

Mount Eerie played a set backed by a slanted projection of slow-moving scenes from Anacortes (the fog, the mountains, the refinery, the moon) and accompanied by Julie Doiron and another musician whose name I missed. The room was crowded but quiet (I've never seen the Vera so packed, or for that matter so still). They played a lot of unfamiliar songs, apparently written and recorded by Elverum and Doiron in just the past week. They had one large sheet of paper with their lyrics written down on it, and between songs they would fold, flip, and search the sheet for their next song.

"What's all the underlines," asked Doiron at one point. "Oh, you do this one."

"This is what it's like to be in a band. This is how the magic happens."

There was a song about "lost wisdom," a song about a swan, the crushing, myth-deflating "Let's Get Out of the Romance." Everything sounded much more classically folky than Elverum's solo performances, with hushed, tuneful harmonies between him and Doiron and restrained multiple acoustic guitars strumming.

"Oh, this one has a similar theme," said Doiron between songs. "It starts with the same line."

"That was Who?, this is What?, up next is Why?," added Elverum. Doiron quoted a friend who's fond of saying, "What happens next stays next."

The hushed crowd laughed appreciatively at every mumbled half-joke, the sparks from the refinery glowed on wall overhead, the ceiling and walls were pitch black.

Why? happened next. Fuck. I just lost a half hour of writing by accidentally navigating away from this page. Here's a setlist instead:

Waterfalls
???
The Vowels, pt. 2
Good Friday
These Few Presidents
Song of the Sad Assassin
the Hoofs
Yo Yo Bye Bye
Rubber Traits
the Hollows
Gnashville
Crushed Bones
A Sky For Shooting Horses Under
Twenty-Eight
Gemini (Birthday Song)
By Torpedos or Crohns

And a highlight reel: perfect quiet harmonies on "Good Friday;" Josiah killing it on drums and xylophone; the extended outro on "the Hoofs;" the mic feedback on the line "I was walking through San Antonio before sound check" and stretched bass on "Yo Yo Bye Bye;" the anecdote about meeting Fishbone brought on by Yoni's botching the word "wishbone" on "Rubber Traits;" the pitch-bent guitar and mumbled second chorus on "the Hollows" (by far their song that comes most dangerously close to "rap rock" with its distorted guitar breakdown); the live whistling on "Gnashville;" Yoni's voice sounding thin on "Crushed Bones;" Doug McDiarmid nailing the demanding keyboard arpeggio of "A Sky for Shooting Horses Under;" the fake-out shit talk leading up to the hair-raisingly awesome "Gemini (Birthday Song)."

Live on Letterman. This band has got the "guitar and drum blues duo" thing down to a science now. Their new Danger Mouse produced album Attack and Release is one of the best rock records so far this year. Put it on your list of things to pick up at Record Store Day tomorrow.

I just wanted an opportunity to put these two album covers next to each other. Last night, my boyfriend and I were sitting around our living room, where this California Love LP, Reaping the Whirlwind (2006), is presently leaning up against a bookshelf. We kept staring at it and laughing at how ridiculous and hilarious it is, since it includes so many metal and punk-rock artwork clichés: in other words, how amazingly awesome it is. This is a small image, so let me explain a bit:

1. The grim reaper, with sickle.
2. A plane crashed into the iconic Capitol Records building.
3. A huge pile of skulls, with a few still-alive arms and hands reaching up through them.
4. Some of the skulls have the names of major record labels printed on their foreheads.
5. A vulture carrying away some kind of tiny corpse.
6. Metal lettering.

This of course brought to mind a favorite LP of mine, Government Warning’s No Moderation (also 2006). At the time, we were too cozy to get off the couch to dig this record out and put the two side by side. No Moderation’s album artwork includes:

1. A skeleton patient in a hospital bed who has just died.
2. The skeleton patient is holding an American flag and a bible.
3. A skeleton nurse holding a syringe.
4. A graveyard.

Being into punk rock lo these many years, I love this kind of album art, no matter how silly it is. And these are both really great albums, by the way. I’ve spoken enough about No Moderation in the past, but I don’t think I’ve mentioned this California Love LP. One word: grindcore. It is seriously rocking—just classic, straight-up grind. It’s my number-three favorite music to copyedit to when the office gets too loud here at The Stranger. And California Love include members of Look Back and Laugh, the Bay Area’s premier thrashy hardcore straight-edge band. You can’t go wrong there.

Someday, I will use better video equipment than a point-and-shoot digital camera. I wish I had better gear last night, because this clip doesn't represent the effect of Dave Longstreth and his tremendous band--and it certainly didn't catch the countless people looking at each other between songs with massive grins. I too fell in line, exposing my teeth end-to-end for half of show, even after having seen the Dirty Projectors a few times already. Their sets feel like something new every time--Longstreth attacks his guitar in nearly Jandek-ian fashion, hitting what seems like any note he pleases, between eruptions of high-pitched three-part harmony and careful, instrumental swells. But there's nothing random about these arrangements, made obvious later in the set when he and his fellow guitarist played the same, seemingly random lead guitar part with perhaps a quarter-second difference in time--far more jarring than an effects pedal trying to duplicate the same thing.

I saw Longstreth play solo at a years-ago SXSW, stuck in a lonely cafe's back room with an audience of 13 people, as he leapt around a massive stage and squealed while a DVD of crudely animated swans flew around on the screen behind him. I kinda wish he still did the freakish solo bit, but his current band, together for a least a year now, has transformed from an awkward addition to his songwriting to a damn near imperative part of his sound. Lord help Dave if the singing female duo ever ditches him to start their own band.

"Song of the Sad Assassin"

"The Vowels, Pt. 2"

Click here to read Eric Grandy's review of the show.

Via BrooklynVegan:

The highly anticipated 3-D video version for Björk's latest single "Wanderlust" will have its nationwide debut as part of National Record Store Day on April 19. During the inaugural event, music retailers nationwide will join together to celebrate and recognize the value and unique culture of independent record stores. As part of the day, over 300 stores will offer special events and giveaways including the distribution of 10,000 3-D glasses for customers to view "Wanderlust" on in-store kiosks and at home. In addition to Björk's contribution, other artists including Metallica, Steve Earle and Interpol will participate in the day with signings and performances at various local record stores.

And some of those lucky 300 stores are right here in Seattle--Satisfaction Records, and every location of Easy Street, Sonic Boom, and Silver Platters are all on the list of places where you can pick up your pair of glasses. Since there are "only" 10,000 of them in America, it'd be smart to get there sooner rather than later.

For a full list of everything happening in Seattle on Record Store Day (tomorrow!), click right here.

To see the video, click here.

A list of all stores participating can be found here.

32 more in the Flickr Pool here.

Video coming later today!

(Megan’s post about it – here.)

Sonic Boom Records’ Jason Hughes breaks it down:

Jason, what is this Record Store Day?
Jason: Record Store Day is a great reminder of the importance of independent neighborhood record stores and businesses in general. We've tried to make it more about the music community by donating money from cupcake sales (graciously provided by another great independent business, Cupcake Royale) and from our new record slip mats directly to the Vera Project. Additionally, we are donating 10% of our sales to Music4life.

What is Music4life?
Music4Life provides funding for instruments and music programs in Seattle Public Schools. Hopefully, folks can feel good about buying music or cupcakes from us on Saturday. There will be a bunch of great in-stores as well.

Here’s a previous clip of Jason in his Ballard cave office talking about what music sells when. Back in Black is a summer seller:

Pre-sale started on Tuesday, a lot of you probably get your tickets then, but for those of you lollygaggin', tickets officially went on sale this morning to the general public.

The line-up, should you have forgotten it:

Friday July 25
Vampire Weekend
Les Savy Fav
Girl Talk
U.S.E.
The Dodos
Jay Reatard
Akimbo
Pwrfl Power
Past Lives
Black Eyes And Neckties
Champagne Champagne

Saturday July 26
Surprise guest!!
The Hold Steady
Chromeo
Kimya Dawson
Darker My Love
The Butchers And The Builders
The Hands
Velella Velella
The Physics
Man Plus
Little Party And Bad Business

Click to buy advance tickets for Friday.
Click to buy advance tickets for Saturday.
Click to buy a two-day pass.

By JohnnyOnyx.

Bad news first - RIP E Street Band’s Danny Federici

Babyshambles gets street cred - Pete Doherty relocated after rumors of prison attack

C’mon, wasn’t Rob Halford available? - Lance Bass does PSA for Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network

I’d still prefer a laser light show - Metallica to launch enigmatic website

Big news - Developments in the Big Business camp

Making a career out of writing sad songs and getting paid by the tear - Silver Jews reveal tour and new album info

12-Jun Seattle, WA @ Neumos

Arm's Way is out May, 20th.

The Eurovision Song Contest is the yearly pinnacle of kitsch, camp, over-the-top acts, over-the-top heartfelt ballads, disco-ish songs, and don’t even get me started on the outfits… The only moment in the year where Europe is one. “One” in the sense that all over Europe everyone ridicules the other countries’ tastes in music. Truly the spirit of unity! And let’s be fair, in this day and age of bland English popsongs, where else are you going to hear a Croatian song about stilettos (Severina - Moja Stikla –ESC 2006)? Or a Ukranian warrior song? With whips!? (Ruslana – Wild Dances –ESC Winner 2004) Or see a dancing penguin (Sophie & Magaly: Papa Pingouin -ESC 1980)? Such cultural highlights would be lost without Eurovision!

The rules of Eurovision are simple. Every country that’s an active member of the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) can take part. You don’t necessarily have to be European, Israel’s been taking part since the 70s! Every country sends a song that’s under three minutes long, there can be no more than six people on stage, no live animals either (though cardboard cut-outs are fine (Alf Poier – “Weil der Mensch zählt” – ESC 2003), all the vocals must be sung live, since the late 90s you can choose the language you sing in (though countries like France and Spain tend to stick to their own language, well… most of the time), political messages and pornography are not allowed, and the participating country must air the complete contest (the cause for the Lebanon’s withdrawal a few years ago when they refused to air the Israeli entry).
After all the songs have been shown, every country gets to vote for their favourites (usually through televote) and awards 12, 10, 8-1 points to their top 10 songs. You’re obviously not allowed to vote for your own country. The country with the most points wins, and gets… nothing! Well, they get the honour of having won and the financial backlash of hosting the contest the next year. Who wouldn’t be up for that?!

The next couple of weeks I’ll be reviewing all the songs that are taking part in the contest in Belgrade this year. Why? Well, because someone was crazy enough to ask me. Or maybe I volunteered… I’m not quite sure anymore.
I’m from in Belgium, at the heart of Europe (or so we like to think), incidentally a country that’s been taking part since the very beginning in 1956. Without much success, but still.

Ideally, Eurovision should be watched with a bunch of friends, in a house filled with flags (you need flags to wave during the songs, there’s no other way), some alcohol, score sheets and plenty of discussion. Afterwards, when the normal folks have gone home, I tend to watch the contest again with the 2 other Eurovision freaks I know and watch the show in depth. Just try and listen to the songs when 10 people are commenting on the choreography, it’s impossible.

Eurovision night when I was a kid was invariably the same thing. My parents would watch it and remark that the festival used to be a lot better. They’d keep watching though. Year after year. When the time came for the scores, “Hello Belgrade, this is Brussels calling”, my father would complain the voting was political, usually when some Scandinavian country gave another Scandinavian country their 12 points. When The Netherlands was the only country in the whole contest to give Belgium any points, he usually called it “justified”. Of course. When the winner was announced my father stayed with his verdict that it was “all about politics” and “he’d never watch again”. Until the next year, obviously.

There’s no denying that countries don’t get points just on the merits of the song. E.g. Cyprus will generally give their 12 to Greece and vice versa. And yes, Eastern Europe seems to benefit more from this than western countries (And hey, let’s not forget ex-Yugoslavia: Honestly, first they go to war against each other, then gain independence and the first thing they do when they enter Eurovision -undeniably one of the reasons they wanted to be independent in the first place- is vote for each other.) Despite all that, neighbours voting for each other or emigrants voting for their home country hasn’t decided on a winner just yet.

This year, the contest is at a record of 43 countries taking part in two semi-finals (May 20 and 22) with 19 countries each. The top 9 (and 1 wildcard) of each semi-final will go through to the final on May 24th where they’ll join the Big Four (UK, France, Germany and Spain, the main financial contributors to the contest who automatically qualify for the final) and last year’s winner Serbia. The songs are a mix of trashy Eurobeats, ethnic ballads, weird acts and er… a turkey. Something for everyone!

To start things off, here’s last year’s winner: Marija Serifovic (Serbia) with her lesbian-styled Molitva (being honest, it’s the only believable choreography they could’ve thought up).

And to show you the other side of Eurovision: last year’s runner up: Ukraine’s Verka Serduchka- Dancing Lasha Tumbai.

I absolutely love both songs, in case you were wondering

Claymore, Red Museum, Castle Grey Skull, Ghidorah, the Final Collapse
(Ground Zero) It's been a long time coming. This weekend, Claymore, Bremerton's best thrash- happy metal band, play their last two shows ever. Claymore's death knell sounded when Aaron Yost and Jerome Sauer joined Kane Hodder. But despite two members pulling double duty, Claymore gave it the ol' college try before announcing their end nearly a year ago. Since the announcement, the band finished writing some new material and wrapped up recording that full-length they always promised they'd put out. They'll be giving the recording away for free at both farewell performances. Tonight's show in Bellevue could be great, but tomorrow's show at Jackson Hall in Bremerton will be nutso. Bremerton kids lose their shit, and Claymore's blasts of fury only eggs 'em on. MEGAN SELING

Listen to Claymore:
"The Arsonist of Second Avenue"

"A Contest of Oracles"

^{Blitzen Trapper}

Blitzen Trapper, Fleet Foxes, the Quiet Ones
(Neumo's) Tonight, Fleet Foxes return from their first national tour (you can log on to www.the stranger.com/lineout to read a tour diary of their adventures), and it's a homecoming worth celebrating. Oh, how I've missed the boys' sweeping, four-part-harmony-laced songs about rivers and mountains and all the beauty found in nature. It hasn't been spring without it! But even more exciting about this show is that it's with Portland sextet Blitzen Trapper, who also summon the feel-good vibes of '70s sounds but boast a groovier "dancing in a fringed vest after a few beers" sort of energy. The Quiet Ones have a little twang themselves, but it's inspired more by Pavement than the Band. MEGAN SELING

Listen to the Quiet Ones:
"Girls & Uniforms"

"Biggest Loves"

Listen to the Fleet Foxes:
"White Winter Hymnal"

^{Stars of the Lid photo by Lucinda Chua}

Stars of the Lid, Christopher Willits, Lusine (Triple Door) Thankfully, you can sit down for this one. Triple Door's cozy interior and readily accessible bar make it a prime location for savoring the rare live Stars of the Lid experience. The sweeping minimalist majesty of this Texas two-piece certainly requires a comfy seat and a stiff drink. The duo create a symphonic ebb and flow of droning tones through heavily effected guitar, keyboards, and piano that's accentuated in the live setting with string players and abstracted film-collage projections. Their output is so symphonic and lulling that at times it threatens to fall into that dreaded new-age camp, yet their affinity for tasteful instrumentation (no pan flutes or wind chimes, thankfully) manages to keep their soothing sounds in the realm of ambient music. BRIAN COOK

Listen to Stars of the Lid:
"Apreludes (in C Sharp Major)"

A-Trak, Sinden, Steve Aoki, Nick Catchdubs
(War Room) DJ A-Trak is proving an accomplished, multitasking hustler in the modern youth culture, a world in which hiphop and indie rock are beginning to eat each other's tails with gleeful abandon. With his Fool's Gold label, he has Svengalied the recent breaks of crossover stars like the infinitely crush-worthy Kid Sister and, among other high-profile gigs, he has been Kanye West's faithful running mate since 2004. On his website, A-Trak outlines his dramatic ascent in very simple and reasonably humble terms—he started young, practiced a lot, and, as a scrawny, screw-faced 15-year-old, took the DMC World DJ Championship. Generally eschewing some of the more sci-fi-sound-effect predilections of some DJs of the last decade, A-Trak is a turntablist of a pretty classic '90s mold, masterful at hyperactive beat juggling and Herculean scratch virtuosity. SAM MICKENS

Visit www.djatrak.com to hear DJ A-Trak.

Also tonight--CunninLynguists at Chop Suey. Via My Philisophy by Larry Mizell:

Having the distinction of probably being the most popular slept-on crew in the U.S., Deacon, Natti, and Kno are six albums deep (if you count the two Sloppy Seconds mixtapes, which you should) and they show no signs of slowing down.

There are two camps that the 'Lynguists always get compared to, and that's 'cause it makes perfect sense: They really do sound like the love child of Little Brother and the Dungeon Family conglomerate.

And as always, you can find your perfect match in our online calendar.

Nouns just arrived on my desk, and it is exactly what I needed today: A glorious, rainbow-colored, sun-drenched, fuzzed-out blast, all hopeful and energetic and inspired. The exact opposite of sitting in a cubicle on a gray day drinking diet coke and pulling out hair. More on this one soon.

Words and photos by Morgan Keuler

Sorry everybody, no Kanye pictures from last night. Apparently everything really has gone to his head. We (the photographers) were told there just wasn't enough room in the pit for everything that was going to go on during his show. Stand back, that glow in the dark jacket and glasses pairing is too much for people to be so close too. 'That damn Kanye, he's so hot right now!' Apparently that's why were going to have to shoot ALL of the opening acts from the sound board at the back of the arena.

But after Lupe, they realized we'd be in the way at the sound board (shocker!?), and let us go up to the pit. And by THEY, I mean the tour people, not STG or Key Arena reps. All of the above were actually exceedingly nice about it, but perhaps as expected, everything was pretty disorganized for the first night of the tour. That's not a big surprise when you've got, no joke, 12 buses and 5 semis worth of people and gear to coordinate.

All of the performances were on point. I was surprised they had Lupe go on first, and though his set was good, it didn't have enough time to develop into anything like this or this.

N*E*R*D was "The Pharell Williams show," and he definitely provided the oddest moment of the night--after N*E*R*D's set, he came back on the stage about 20 minutes later, I was thinking he was going to introduce Rihanna, but he gave a heart felt apology for swearing during their performance because there were kids in the audience! Really? It didn't occur to you that there'd be some kids amongst the 15,000+ fans there? And, really, who fucking cares?

Then Rihanna was her fine Barbadian pop/R&B Jay-Z protege self, though sadly no silver body paint.

I didn't have it in me to stick around for Kayne's performance, but something tells me it would have looked just like this with a bunch of glow in the dark shit...

^{Picture from Bumbershoot 2006}

Words and photos by Morgan Keuler

With the current interest or exhaustion of the current presidential campaign, I thought that this 1977 latin flavored disco track "Hail To The Teeth" by District of Columbia for some reason felt appropriate. I recently came across this Salsoul Records release, and it's quickly becoming one of my favorite disco cuts. Enjoy the campaign.

District of Columbia - Hail to the Teeth

Northwest Top 10
Best Selling Northwest Artists at Local Independent Record Stores for the week of April 10

1. FLEET FOXES Sun Giant EP (Sub Pop)
2. SERA CAHOONE Only as the Day Is Long (Sub Pop)
3. THE HELIO SEQUENCE Keep Your Eyes Ahead (Sub Pop)
4. EDDIE VEDDER Music for the Motion Picture Into the Wild (J)
5. COLIN MELOY Colin Meloy Sings Live (Kill Rock Stars)
6. GRAND ARCHIVES Grand Archives (Sub Pop)
7. STEPHEN MALKMUS Real Emotional Trash (Matador)
8. VOYAGER ONE Afterhours in the Afterlife (Loveless)
9. DESTROYER Trouble in Dreams (Merge)
10. BRANDI CARLILE Live at Easy Street Records (Columbia)

Compiled from figures at Sonic Boom (Capitol Hill and Ballard) and Easy Street (Queen Anne and West Seattle).

I inferred and erred:

I totally dug your article in the Stranger this week, but wanted to let you in on a tip: The Stevie on the radio of "The Beaches All Closed" is actually Stevie Nicks.

This, of course, changes everything.

Gnarls Barkley has released their album The Odd Couple for free on the internet. Only it's called elpuoC ddO ehT and it's the entire album compressed into one thirty-something minute-long track, played backward.

I've listened to it, and, honestly, I kind of love it. I had no idea that backwards music could be so soothing. I think it helps that Gnarls Barkley don't use a lot of guitars in their music; guitars sound really grating when they're played backwards. But the beats on this album make a soft sucking sound--as in the sound of suction and not the sound of badness--and it's trance-y and mellow for the majority of the album.

Parts of songs sound like calliope music, and Danger Mouse clearly uses backward samples, because occasionally, there'll be the sound of something--a bird song or a sound effect, say--that goes forward while everything else is going backward. Those work like freaky little signposts, to remind the listener that the album is not being played in the proper direction. It's actually pretty easy to forget. The most vibrant song on the album is "nuR," the reverse of the current single "Run." It's fast and jerky and it sounds like a schoolyard fight between two large armies of children. There don't seem to be any calls for the listener to commit suicide or surrender their lives to Satan, which is a little disappointing.

Kevin Suggs is with us today to talk about slap back delay. Kevin is KEXP’s in-studio live performance engineer, and has spend two weeks alone with Cat Power’s Chan Marshall recording her for You Are Free.

Delay is an effect that can bolster a mix and widen an instrument’s sound. Basically, delay takes your audio signal and plays it back after the set ‘delay time.’ The delay time can range from several milliseconds to several seconds. Delays can be echo-like, see reggae dub: it’s like this MON-mon. SEE-see? JA-ja. Delays can mimic loops if set to repeat, or they can wash out longer like abstract ripples.

When the delay time is very short (40 to 120 milliseconds), it’s called a slap back delay. The term slap back refers to the use of a single echo. The slap back is just loud enough to be heard as a discrete echo, right behind the instrument or voice it’s put on. Slap back is very popular in 1950s-style rockabilly recordings.

Mr. Suggs, can you slap dat ass for me? I mean, talk some slap back delay? What do you think of when you think slap back?
Suggs: I think of early Elvis and all the Sun Records stuff from the 50’s. Sounds like Elvis is singing in a cave. They were using tape delays back then so getting a longer delay was a bit trickier. John Lennon loved it as well, but his were a bit shorter, almost a doubling effect. I’ve done a few rockabilly records and I just keep the vocal delay time set at somewhere between 140 and 150 milliseconds. Seems to work great for most of those up-tempo tunes. Keep the feedback or repeats down. You just want one quick slap and that’s about it. I find it can work well with more modern rock vocals too, but set the delay at around 160 or so. That takes it out of that rockabilly place yet still has the same effect. Try it on instruments as well. It can put a little bounce into a track that needs to jump.

What’s the trick when you use it on instruments? I’ve heard you use slap back on keys, and it totally makes the song. They sound so full, so rad.
The trick there is to get the delay time right. To do that I solo up the snare and put the delay on it till I find the correct subdivisions that don’t mess with the rhythm. Then I put it on the keys. It’s probably a bit longer than a slap but not much. More like quarter notes rather than eighth or sixteenth notes. Also I think it’ll have a few more repeats to it. When I put slap on vocals I don't always go for an exact subdivision, I just use my ear. Vocals are a lead instrument and don't always follow closely to the rhythm of the rest of the group.

Cause I'm Fuckin Innocent.

Good find, John.

Or, get the new Gnarls Barkley album for free.

The only catch is, it's backwards.

Lately, I've been thinking about how music can make lines that read stupid on paper sound absolutely amazing. Call it the New Order effect. This occurred to me the other day, as I was walking home, and the Black Dominoes remix of of Vampire Weekend's "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" (recommended) came on my portable music player.

Like a lot of lyrics, "Do you wanna fuck / like you know I do?," doesn't look like much typed out, but damn if dude's voice-cracking howl doesn't just sell the shit out of it, disproving every dumb trend piece about what lilly-frail preppies these guys are with the most blunt, appealing come on indie rock's heard in years.

Possibly related: "In a town so small / there's no escaping you" from Belle & Sebastian's "Dirty Dream Number Two," although that line holds up a little better on paper (or an lcd screen), it still benefits mightily from the head-hanging, weeping violins that underpin its delivery.

If I were a comments-thirsty sort, I might open the floor for suggestions of other possibly questionable lines made poignant by their musical accompaniment, but that would be gauche, right?

Return of the digital delay pt. 1 - Swervedriver plan U.S. tour

Return of the digital delay pt. 2 - Denali plays reunion show

Give it up already pt. 1 - New Judas Priest album on the way

Give it up already pt. 2 - Ryan Adams hates country music. Did he forget he was in Whiskeytown?

Music and the internet pt. 1 - New live Nick Cave tracks available on iTunes

Music and internet pt. 2 - IFPI involves unwilling hiphop artist in Pirate Bay legal case

By Steve Schwartz.

It was supposed to be released next week, but a leak forced the band to release it early.

Visit www.weezer.com to hear the full version of "Pork and Beans."

I'm listening to it right now... I really dig the huge, power pop chorus. It gives me a little hope for the new record.

Wait, did he really just sing "Timbaland knows the way to reach the top of the chart/Maybe if I work with him I can perfect the art"?

Sigh.

Hope = shattered.

Pitchfork.tv also just premiered this new Dan Deacon video for the song "Okie Dokie." And people thought that Gnarls Barkley video would cause seizures? This is nuts.

This video makes me want to take up needpoint.

(ht PitchforkTV)

Record stores across America are dying. Maybe everyone stealing music from the internet is what's killing them. Maybe bands giving their albums away for free is what's killing them. Maybe it's MySpace, maybe it's YouTube, maybe it's YOU.

In order to celebrate independent record stores across the nation, give them love (and business) Alliance of Independent Media Stores, Coalition Of Independent Music Stores, Music Monitor Network, Newbury Comics, Value Music Group of Indie Stores have founded April 19th as Record Store Day.

"On this day, all of these stores will simultaneously link and act as one with the purpose of celebrating the culture and unique place that they occupy both in their local communities and nationally," says RecordStoreDay.com. Record stores across the nation will be having sales, selling exclusive merchandise, hosting in-stores, and giving away free shit all day long.

A bunch of local businesses are participating. Here's the rundown of what'll be happening around town:

Easy Street: In-store performances by Mark Pickerel and Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter at the Queen Anne location. 5 pm, free. Also, everything in both stores not already on sale will be 20% off all day long.

Everyday Music: Enter to win an autographed copy of the Tom Waits box set People Take Warning! Murder Ballads & Disaster Songs 1913-1938. There will also be free CD samplers, a storewide sale, and other goodies.

Silver Platters: All four locations (Queen Anne, Bellevue, Southcenter, and Northgate) are offering 20% off on all vinyl, box sets, CD singles, and Billboard Collections CDs, and one day only DVD specials (starting at $3.99). Each location has it's own in-store specials and they also have tons of live music through the day.

Queen Anne:
1:00 The Mary McPage Band
2:00 Matt Jorgensen + 451
3:00 Pat Monahan
4:00 Kim Archer Band
5:00 Bee Simonds
6:00 Speaker Speaker
7:00 Low-Fi
8:00 The Pharmacy
9:00 How and Lightning

Bellevue Crossroads:
1:00 Interlake High School Jazz Band
2:30 Tribaljazz
3:30 Amateur Radio Operator
5:00 Hadley Caliman

Southcenter:
1:00 DJ ECM/Slantooth

Sonic Boom: Both locations (Capitol Hill and Ballard) will be selling Cupcake Royale cupcakes and new Sonic Boom slip mats, with all the proceeds going to the Vera project. They'll also have exclusive vinyl including a Stephen Malkmus 10" and 7"s from Built to Spill, Death Cab, Black Keys, REM, and more. There will be other free surprises included with every purchase, and a sidewalk sale with CDs, rock books, posters, and more starting at $1. 10% of Saturday's sales will be donated to Music4life. Topping it off, they have live music and DJs all day.

Capitol Hill:
1:00 Vinnie Blackshadow
3:00 John Roderick (Long Winters) DJ Set
5:00 The Dutchess and The Duke

Ballard:
3:00 Vinnie Blackshadow
4:00 Aqueduct
5:30 Mono in VCF
7:00 The Moondoggies

Of course, there are more stores around town that shouldn't go ignored--Jive Time, Bop Street, Wall of Sound, and Singles Going Steady.

For more information about Record Store Day, visit www.recordstoreday.com.

Got something going on at your store? E-mail megan@thestranger.com and I'll add it to the list.

Earlier this week, it was reported that Amy Winehouse was working on the title track for the new James Bond movie. Her rep says that's untrue:

The Back To Black star was rumoured to be working on the theme song for superspy's latest outing with acclaimed DJ and producer Mark Ronson - and was even tipped as the best artist for the job by former Beatle Paul McCartney.

But the soul sensation's representative has denied the reports, insisting the star is working with Ronson on her highly anticipated third album, expected to be ready for release early next year.

Her spokesman tells People.com, "Amy has been in the studio working on songs for her new album with Mark Ronson. Recording for anything else is pure speculation."

Also being speculated, whether or not the singer will survive the process of writing a new album. She looks worse every day. That's a nice lookin' femur you got there, Amy.

Why? is playing the Vera Project tonight. That show got plenty of love in this week's paper--Mark Donuts wrote about the in the music section, and it's also a Stranger Suggests. From Donuts's story:

Why? deliver perfect pop for the modern age, throwing fat pitches and nasty curveballs. Of the hundred or so lyrical gems on Alopecia, one of the most arresting is on "The Hollows": "In Berlin I saw/two men fuck/in a dark corner of a basketball court/just a slight jingle of pocket change pulsing."

It's delivered in nasal deadpan over straightforward, palm-muted electric-guitar eighth notes with decidedly pop phrasing.

Read the whole story here. And here's Grandy's hard sell in the Suggests:

Why?, Mount Eerie, Julie Doiron, Generifus (Vera Project) In case you missed my 4,000 words on the subject in last week's issue: I'm totally gay for Phil Elverum of Mount Eerie. Same goes for tonight's headliner, Why?. Both bands write songs about existential worry and wonder, but while Mount Eerie find solace in the natural world, Why? get nauseated in the Whole Foods parking lot. Their dark, hiphop-inflected lyricism is airtight, telescoping from minute detail to overwhelming dread in the turn of a phrase, and the band's rhythms and melodies are equally agile. (Vera Project, Seattle Center, 956-8372. 7:30 pm, $9/$8 with club card, all ages.) Eric Grandy

Here's the video for Why?'s "Song of the Sad Assassin":

^{No Kids photo by Sarah Cass}

Also featured in this week's music section is Eric Grandy's story on No Kids and Hot Chip that argues that (contrary to what Sasha Fere-Jones' claims) indie rock isn't too white after all. Hot Chip aren't playing until Tuesday, but No Kids are at Chop Suey tonight with Dirty Projectors.

From Grandy's story:

No Kids apply R&B producer T-Pain's signature Auto-Tuned digital sheen to the chorus of "Listen for It/Courtyard Music"—vocals that, the rest of the song proves, Nick Krgovich and Julia Chirka are perfectly capable of nailing unaided—over what sounds like a faint sample of ESG's "UFO." "For Halloween" has a sublimated boom-bap beat, and its aerobic vocal runs are pure modern R&B, as is the chorus of "The Beaches All Closed" or any number of other songs on their debut, Come into My House (named after a Queen Latifah single). The plucked strings of "Bluster in the Air" recall nothing so much as Dr. Dre circa The Chronic.

Listen to No Kids:
"The Beaches Are All Closed"

And from U&Cs:

Daniel Johnston, the Dead Science, PWRFL Power
(Neumo's) Last year at SXSW, Daniel Johnston told a couple jokes. One was about Jews having a pajama party in a concentration camp. The blogs quickly boiled over with rumors that the mentally unstable singer/songwriter is an anti-Semite who thinks the holocaust is hilarious. Chances are, he's not. He told a joke, a bad joke, but one need only watch the documentary The Devil and Daniel Johnston to know that Johnston's crazy, that he often does and says weird shit for no reason at all. So while some might attend this show to witness what the unpredictable guy will do next, hoping for a meltdown, hopefully most of the crowd will be there because they actually appreciate the charm of his childlike voice and his peculiar, simplistic, sometimes bittersweet anthems. MEGAN SELING

Here are a couple songs by Daniel Johnston:

"Some Things Last a Long Time"

"Grievances"

Lastly, Braille is playing Nectar with Pigeon John and Ohmega Watts. The show is only $10, which will also get you a copy of their new album The IV Edition. Mosi Reeves gave it three stars in this week's paper:

In the beginning, sparks fly from Braille's The IV Edition like an incoming air strike. Stomping bass drums from producer Ohmega Watts rattle "Beautiful Humanity" as Braille raps, "Start it like this, son, they can't shine like this one/Lyrics in my head and I'm about to spit some." Best of all is "Calculated Risk," where K-Otix from the Are flips a wheedling teakettle melody straight out of "Public Enemy No. 1" over a droll yet funky bass line. "I want to rock right now, come on!" Braille shouts as the percussion hits hard, driving the song to climax.

Hey! Do you like white people stealing soul/r&b tropes? What about white rappers that reference R Crumb and Whole Foods? Are you Sasha Frere-Jones and/or Stephen Merritt?

Then, boy, do we have a music section for you this week!

First, there's this piece on No Kids and Hot Chip and whether or not indie rock is too white:

Frere-Jones argued, essentially, that indie rock has become too white—meaning too much from the head, not enough in the hips—that it lost its sense of rhythm, its will to entertain an audience. That it's become stiff rather than funky. He cast the Arcade Fire's studied operatics against Mick Jagger's "bewitching flexion of knees and elbows." He mourned a perceived loss of miscegenation in rock, blaming "political correctness" as well as social progress, the internet, the legal hamstringing of digital sampling, and Dr. Dre for ending a fruitful era of "uneasy, sometimes inappropriate, borrowings and imitations" that went both ways, even if it tended to benefit white musicians more.

But Frere-Jones framed "indie rock" in a way convenient to proving his argument. Indie rock, in his limiting estimation, is pale almost by definition. He invoked Wilco as evidence that "indie rock" has become merely an aesthetic tag, and nothing to do with actual business allegiances. By this handy logic, then, indie rock is anything that "sounds like" indie rock, which, you know, is anything that sounds too "white." Where, for instance, is LCD Soundsystem?

And where is Hot Chip? Where is No Kids?

And this article about pale-faced anticon post-hoppers Why?:

And Wolf is not a rapper. He's like a rapper. Rappers make it rain, but in "These Few Presidents," he says Washington, Lincoln, and Hamilton are "frowning in [his] pocket." He speaks words on Alopecia, and all of them are syncopated, but most of the record is sung, taking vocal cues from Apples in Stereo or Pavement. It's progressive pop, but the sheer volume of words, phonic tricks, and humorous turns of phrase—money referred to as "presidents"—is pure hiphop.

Hell, I think Lar's even got some white folks (and southerners, at that) up in My Philosophy.

None of which, of course, answers the burning question: "Were Kanye and Beck Seperated at Birth?" You'll have to find some really serious ethnomusicologists to solve that one...

Via Rolling Stone's Rock Daily: The Gossip performing "Eyes Open" from their new live CD/DVD Live in Liverpool.