Other than the vociferous rock Cicadas bestowed upon me at their last show on Thursday, they also introduced me to the band Sparks. This was one of those, "How had I never heard of these guys?" moments; despite my love for 70s prog Sparks had slipped under my radar. This introduction was followed strangely enough (or not) by an Idolator post yesterday about the band and how they will be performing their 21 albums over the course of 21 nights at Shepherds Bush Empire, starting last night. The final night will showcase a new release from the band Exotic Creatures of the Deep. 1974's Kimono My House was their breakthrough, with the single "This Town Ain't Big Enough For Both of Us" reaching #2 on the charts. Though their sound in this era fits somewhere between Queen and Yes this live performance is from a disco program, so, not surprisingly, no on in the audience seems to give a fuck about what they are doing. This song slays.

We've arrived at the last two countries:

Spain has always guaranteed an er… typically Spanish song. Sung in Spanish (quite like the French), sometimes up-tempo, a little old-fashioned. You name it. There was Mocedades in 1973 (Eres Tu –2nd place), Azucar Moreno in 1990 (Bandido – 5th place), Annabel Conde (Vuelve Conmigo – 2nd place) in 1995 and the gorgeous Beth in 2003 (Dime - 8th place). This year they’re sending Elvis. Rodolfo Chikilicuatre has an insane DIY dance routine called Baila el chiki chiki (“dance the chiki chiki” - kinda like the Macarena, but better). In case you’re wondering what he’s on about, there’s a translation and most of it its made clear by the fantastic dance routine. I’m a big fan and this should definitely keep Spain out of the bottom four.

Serbia qualified for the final by winning last year. No, I won’t plug Marija Serifovic again, but she deserved to win. And this year, they might just win the whole damn thing again. Jelena Tomasevic sings Oro, yet another folky ballad from Serbia. And, obviously, I really like this one. Zeljko Joksimovic, the writer of Oro, took part once in Eurovision (runner up in 2004 with Lane Moje), he wrote the Bosnian entry in 2006 (third place for Hari Mata Hari) and this year he’s one of the presenters of the show. In short, he’s the new Johnny Logan, a contemporary Mr Eurovision. Oro is in the same style as his previous Eurovision entries, but since I liked all of those, I don’t mind. I looked for a translation of the lyrics to find out what she’s singing about, but the lyrics might as well still be in Serbian… : “My wheat, do not sleep, kiss him, put me to sleep/ Do not break my ice, it lacks water/ Do not put salt on my wound, there are no tears” Erm. Yes. Well, whatever the lyrics, it’s obvious that once again this is Tragedy with a capital T.
And what better way to end this godforsaken Eurovision preview?

So that were all 43 participating countries.
Rehearsals are well underway in Belgrade and so far there's been a minor Russia/Greece incident (they both use too many props for the one stagedoor), Dima Bilan re-grew his mullet, Isis Gee's teeth are scarier than they appeared in the video, Ireland's turkey admitted to liking both cocks and hens (whatever gets him the votes), Belgium sucks and is the frontrunner for the infamous Barbara Dex award (the award for the worst dress... well, at least then we'll win something), Iceland and Sweden battle it out over the botox, there's a lot of pyro (pyrotechnics are this year's wind machines) and Finland is performing shirtless.
As to who will win, no-one knows, though Russia, the Ukraine and Croatia are hot favourites.
All will be revealed next Tuesday, Thursday and -finally- Saturday.

Coming up: tips for your very own Eurovision party.

Sorry if it's old news, but news this good deserves to be repeated.

For what it's worth, I've had the melody of Fleet Foxes' "White Winter Hymnal" stuck in my head most of the afternoon. It is a fine melody.

Playing with baby mice and a video camera? Is it just me, or are they turning into Sid and Nancy?

Not good (not surprising), but here it is anyway:

(Blame tipster Matt Hickey for this being posted, he made me do it.)

Not sure why it took me this long to pick up on Shearwater's similarities with Talk Talk. As a Line Out news roundup pointed out yesterday, the band's latest single includes a live cover of "The Rainbow" from TT's Spirit of Eden, and boy, Shearwater owes something to that album--the high-key vocals, the smattering of strings, the understated, whomping drums, and, of course, the very British-ness of it all. Lead singer Jon Meiburg has always sounded like a Shakespeare play actor who's grown tired of simply speaking, now singing every one of his metered thoughts with a bold, breaking fragility as if he breaks out in song when he's walking down the street or shopping in the supermarket. While that vocal affinity continues in Rook, the new album has begun to really break away from the feeling that the band's an Okkervil River side project (sure was, of course, complete with Will Sheff being co-songwriter for a long time).

Even last year's Palo Santo still held on to the southern gothic character of Okkervil River; now, Meiburg has gripped this boat's wheel, guiding his group over the sea en route to Europe. Before the album's first song ends, that boat meets its untimely destruction: "As the splinter flies apart, to your bow, to the biggest wave / but your angel's on holiday / and that wave rises slowly and breaks." Cue swell of horns, violins, and feedback, then imagine the band flailing in the frigid Atlantic, only to float to a nondescript island where bands like Beirut, Sigur Ros, and Talk Talk have emigrated. Album cornerstone "Home Life" sets roots in this new locale and sees the band do something surprisingly constructive with a silky, jazzy rhythm section. The heap of strings, piano and flutes might've sounded like the celebratory gypsy music of Devotchka if Meiburg wasn't there to make the proceedings more sinister and romantically violent: "Now the boys are away / and such kicks they are having / slashing away at those forest walls with their bitter knives," he coos, as if he were that overzealous Shakespeare actor pleading with an onion at QFC. There's a good chunk of rock in this album as well, with both "Rooks" and "The Snow Leopard" nodding toward the band's Okkervil roots, though the latter steps outside of Okkervil's desperation for literacy, leaving space for the song's instrumental heft and allowing a huge riff to ebb and rise until toppling over at the end of the five-minute runtime. Really, stepping back and allowing the tide to tell the story is Rook's strongest play.

Shearwater opens for Clinic tonight at Neumo's.

From the Chicago Sun Times:

THE R. KELLY JURORS

The jury of eight whites and four blacks includes:

* An African-American woman whose husband is a Baptist pastor

* An African-American man who identified himself as a Christian

* A white male executive with two kids who said he thinks Kelly is guilty and that "child pornography is about as low as it gets"

* A 20-something white woman studying criminal justice who wants to be a police officer

* An African-American man who is a culinary student

* A white man who has served on two civil juries that arrived at a verdict

* A black woman who is a teacher's assistant at a Catholic school

* A white male compliance officer at a downtown investment firm who had an "Impeach Bush" button on his book bag

* A white woman who works in a suburban high school

* A 68-year-old man who emigrated to the United States from Romania

* A white man who recently graduated from the University of Kansas and was once arrested for marijuana possession

* A white male with a goatee whose brother was once turned down for a job with the state's attorney's office

It’s been a slow week in the world of music. Today’s crop of headlines is particularly banal. I offer the following trivial news bits as proof that nothing of interest is happening. Just be thankful you’re spared from the latest American Idol updates or news on Pete Wentz’s bachelor party.

Department of corrections - Arcade Fire is not scoring a soundtrack

Street cred - DMX pleads not guilty to animal cruelty and possession

You’re still the one - Shania Twain and producer husband plan for divorce

Not quite Obama vs. McCain - Disturbed and Dillinger Escape Plan are bickering

Creepy - Amy Winehouse and Pete Doherty post videos of rodent play

But with work to do, I can't go outside to play kickball, so I'll have to be happy staying inside listening to Kickball.

"Underground Husbands"

"Fight"

"Pocketknife"

"Invisible Cities"

Stolen.

This in from “C”:

I witnessed Slats' hat being stolen by some fuckface at the Cha Cha last night. The thief made a quick and stealthy run from the outside smoking area and snatched Slats' hat on his way past. It was a very quick and startling incident. Most of the witnesses were shocked and confused, as was Slats who spent about twenty minutes searching under the table for his hat.
A girl at the table made a rescue attempt but returned empty handed.
It was obvious that Slats was quite upset about the loss of the hat.
No one really got a good look at the perpetrator. I personally hope this chicken-shit bastard is disemboweled and dumped under some bushes.

* Reward: Whoever finds and returns Slats's hat to Slats will be Stranger President for a day. They will also receive a KFC biscuit.

* (Since there is no real Stranger President, whoever finds Slats' hat will be President of my Stranger Line Out posts for a day. And get a biscuit.)

In Athens, GA, people (frat dudes) used to steal Michael Stipe's hats sometimes and he would be most unpleased.

On this post about Wednesday night's Fleet Foxes/Mudhoney show at the Sunset, Get Your Shine Box comments:

What a non-review. Next time post it in the food section.

Who would have thought that I would start to pine for the "objective" Kathleen Wilson era of Stranger music journalism.

It's probably folly to engage with the comments like this, but fuck it (and, yes, we all pine for the days of Kathleen Wilson, get over it), you're right. It was kind of a non-review. I was trying to be a good sport and engage with some music that's never really grabbed me, trying to give it the benefit of the doubt, see what other people see, be "objective" (a myth, nowhere moreso than in criticism). The truth is that—minus occasional instances of truly dazzling songwriting—the trad-garage rock/folk end of the Sub Pop spectrum frequently bores the shit out of me. I always feel like it's more for the old guard that's been with Sub Pop for all these past 20 years, although I know there's plenty of people my age going nuts for Fleet Foxes right now (I look forward to the moment they win me over, maybe it'll even be the next time I see them). So there's something for you to chew on.

Do you need some soul on this warm Friday? If so, I would highly recommend checking out Talcum tonight at The Wild Rose. This relatively new night is hosted by Gene, member of the Emerald City Soul Club, who will be spinning original northern soul 45rpm records all night long for you to shake & dance to. The first one, a couple of months back was a lot of fun and had the dance floor packed throughout the night. It's nice to see good soul music making it's way to Capitol Hill on a Friday night.

For More Information on Talcum click here.

Clinic are at Neumo's tonight; Michaelangelo Matos reviewed the band's new album, Do It, in this week's paper:

No band better exemplifies the Curse of the Perfect Debut than Clinic. Leaving aside a self-titled CD collecting their early singles, the Liverpool quartet began with 2000's Internal Wrangler, one of those albums that record geeks of a certain stripe live for—a mad, endlessly replayable compendium of sonic devices citing a dead-on assortment of historical landmarks that moves so fast but packs in so much you're alternately shocked and relieved it's only a half-hour long. Internal Wrangler exposed every trick Clinic have up their collective sleeve, setting the band's subsequent work up for failure. How do you reinvent a sound that's already constantly reinvented itself song to song? How do you top the moment when your enthusiasm for those tricks comes through most vividly?

The rest can be found here.

Nas is in town tonight, playing Showbox Sodo. In My Philosophy, Larry Mizell reminds you to not get your hopes up to high:

But unlike the absolutely essential classic Illmatic (which even Mr. Jones recently admitted made fans expect too much from him for the rest of his career), no album sums up Nas better than his 2001 "comeback" album. While it held some of Nas's best work, period, it also held some of his worst, most ill-considered duds ("Smokin'," "Braveheart Party"). Simply put, Nas is best embodied by something as tragically inconsistent as Still.

Besides all that, you know and I know—and you know that I know—that Nasir is a notoriously spotty performer. Bad breath control, raggedy voice (too many White Owls, god), lackadaisical movement, and overbearing hypemen have typified every Nas show I've ever seen. I'm not saying that because I don't want you to go see Esco at Showbox Sodo on Friday, May 16—I do! I want you to support the openers, my man D.Black, my dudes Grynch, and DJ Nphared. I want you to scream your lungs out when the man many of you proclaim as hiphop's greatest MC emerges onstage. I just don't want you to be disappointed. No expectations.

Also happening...

The Evaporators, Voodoo Organist, TacocaT, Science & Junk
(Funhouse) I will first and forever love Nardwuar the Human Serviette, frontman of Vancouver, BC, goof punks the Evaporators, as possibly the greatest interviewer punk rock has ever produced (sorry, Spiv). Like a (more) absurd and antagonistic Barbara Walters, Nardwuar assaults subjects ranging from Quiet Riot to Snoop Dogg with quick wit, a depth of pop-trivia knowledge that goes beyond dorky to just plain stupefying, and his signature "doot doola doot doo." Secondarily, I love Nardwuar and the Evaporators for providing the soundtrack for the one and only time I ever drunkenly made out in a mosh pit (my deepest apologies go out to everyone else who was at that year's Yo Yo a Go Go). Keep on rockin' the free world, Nardwuar. ERIC GRANDY

French Kicks, the Joggers, the Quiet Ones
(Chop Suey) French Kicks long ago shed the "NY garage band" image that was tacked onto them after emerging from a diverse music scene at the same time as the Strokes and the Walkmen, which is good news for everyone involved. Their fourth album, Swimming, was released digitally in April from Vagrant Records, with hard copies arriving in stores on May 20. Produced and mixed by the band, Swimming is held up by chiming guitars and showcases lead singer Nick Stumpf's pleasant croon; it is their proudest achievement to date. Portland's the Joggers, former labelmates of French Kicks, provide support. MATT GARMAN

All these shows and more can be found in our calendar.

The Vulture has news that Vampire Weekend was name-checked yesterday in Sally Forth. Sally Forth, if you don't know already, is the comic strip whose target audience is girls aged 10-16 who enjoy wearing fanny packs and vests to school. It's probably best recognizable for the smug smirks on the faces of its main characters, as well as their hollow, soul-sucking eyes. It reads as if the most bland sitcom on the face of the Earth had every last inkling of humor sucked from it.

To Vampire Weekend: it was a good couple months, there, guys. Sorry Sally Forth had to go and ruin it for you.

At Chop Suey

With Friends Like These is Matt Shaw, Tyler Coffey, Brian Pake from Spook the Horse, and drummer Justin Cronk from Vendetta Red. They make real deal, volume enhanced rock. Cronk is super tight, and the three-tiered vocals of Shaw, Coffey, and Pake spread the stage and the room with an intensely toned caterwaul. Veiled in their strain, the words search then find, “We made it home to our beds / We’re dead and gone for good.” The band holes up in their Fremont bunker studio called Toy Box to record. They’re constantly laying down new material and building their sound. Two guitars bound, Fugazi born, and carving out land mass. With Friends Like These making music like this, you hear no space wasted.

Sam Squared, With Friends Like These, The Femurs. $6, 21+

Sub Pop throws a damn good party. Last night, at the Sunset celebrated the upcoming May 20th deluxe rerelease of Mudhoney's Superfuzz Bigmuff as well as the label's 20 odd years of going out of business. Much loved deluxe lunch cart Skillet was serving burgers and other items out back. Above their menu was written, "Happy Wednesday, Sub Pop," and I couldn't decide if it was more that the label hardly needs an excuse to celebrate or that they're powerful enough now to own entire days of the week. Van Halen's Diver Down rested on an unplugged turntable downstairs (have at me, Paulus).

"Our record's better than we are live, I promise," said The Duchess & The Duke's Duke, Jesse Lortz after their first couple songs. But they were just fine live, a cheap-beer soaked basement blues group, part garage psych, part dispirited folk, all glum and Seattle gray. Duchess Kimberly Morrison shared vocal and guitar duties with Lortz, and the band was rounded out by Ruben Mendez (Coconut Coolouts) and a drummer who mostly played tambourine and shakers. Their upcoming record, She's the Duchess, He's the Duke, due out July 8th, is just a little more flatteringly mixed than their live set was, that's all. Either way, their songs are subtly insistent enough to at least half remember hungover.

I spent much of last night trying to remember when was the last time I saw Mudhoney. Maybe I was still just a teenager? I know the last time I missed seeing them was while visiting an ex in San Francisco—she was meeting a new guy at their show; I did something else that night, probably involving drinking. In any case, Mudhoney were always a kind of background band for me, coming up as I did in the mid/late '90s. They were around, and I knew a couple of their songs, but they weren't really on my regular concert itinerary. I think I would have (and quite possible have, while under the influence) liked their shows a lot when I was a kid, though. Even at this late stage in the band's career, they play with a game, easy energy. Mark Arm lunges forward on one leg, classic hardcore singer style, mic in both hands, howling or stalks around the stage, lanky and mean. The bassist pounded out grooves and pulled the occasional goofy smile to friends in the crowd. The drummer and guitarist were invisible from my vantage point, but they were definitely audible; the band's volume and feedback remains undiminished by age. They didn't play "Touch Me I'm Sick."

Fleet Foxes headlined, following Mudhoney's well-worn ruckus with tender four-part harmonies and woodland reverie. It could only have been higher contrast if they'd followed, say, Wolf Eyes. But the band—new flash—really does sound gorgeous, pulling off the whole rustic, wide-eyed, back-to-the-land hymnals thing with easy musicianship and able choruses. It was a treat getting to hear them in a room small and quiet enough to really allow for their dynamics. That damn (delicious) Skillet burger (not to mention the PBR and today's deadlines) got the best of me, though, and I missed the latter half of their set. I hope they didn't play "Touch Me I'm Sick." I would hate to have missed that. Seriously.

Only in the past few months did I fall in love with Bellingham's Cicadas--gnarly, spiraling instrumental tunes with blistering basslines and scary-fast drums. And now the fuckers are breaking up. I could've made you stars, dudes. STARS.

But at least I'll get to see them, if only once, before they call it quits.

They're playing tonight at the Blue Moon Tavern in the U-District, and I have it on good authority that the band puts on an enthralling live show. Here's the only evidence I could find online, but the band's far to furious and fast for a point and shoot video camera so it just sounds like a swamp filled with exploding robots.

Then again, even if they suck, you won't lose any money as it is--as all Blue Moon shows are--totally free.

Rad Touch (featuring Party Crasher, Line Out poster, Fall Out Boy hater Jeff Kirby) are also playing.

Rad Touch sounds like this.

Thanks for the (few) memories, Cicadas. If only we had met sooner.

The Smoking Gun has the Foo Fighters' nine-page rider, which is a more entertaining than the usual requests for clean socks and veggie trays.

Click here to waste 10 minutes.

Erykah Badu played Radio City Music Hall on Friday night... Instead of saying that Badu’s performance will not be bettered any time soon (though it won’t), I’ll say that her show gave everyone in the house serious bragging rights. Dylan in 1965, Metallica in 1985, Bad Brains in 1981—it was one of those points on the arc. If you want to know who is at her peak, who is both of her moment and channelling so many forces that her work spills out over the edges of history and stops time, that’s Erykah Badu in 2008.

The whole review is here.

And, since we're on the subject of Badu, here is possibly the best first sentence Charles Mudede's ever written.

Music's most adorable man and wife duo have made their new album Re-Arrange Us available to stream on their Myspace page. Unfortunately, someone coded their own audio stream into one of their comments causing Latin-American music to start playing after about a minute, without the option of turning it off or even seeing where it's coming from. So until the Mates get that little glitch under control you can enjoy their new record simultaneously with Spanish singing and a horn section.

Re-Arrange Us comes out May 20th on Barsuk.

I hate the future - Musical instruments pt. 1

I hate the future - Musical instruments pt. 2

I hate cross-marketing - Bad bands and bad food combine forces

I love Seattle… - but sometimes its history makes me sad (Mia Zapata)

I love Seattle’s hardcore scene alumni - Greg Anderson (Brotherhood, Engine Kid) and his two new albums

I love Thor - Lots of news in the Shearwater camp

If you missed out on tickets for the Posies show at Neumo's this Saturday (which is also a CD release for Beautiful Escape: The Songs of the Posies Revisited, and a party with the promise of surprise guests throughout the night), then you'll be happy to hear that Neumo's has just added a second performance from the band!

Doors for the early show are at 7 pm, doors for the later show are at 11:10.

Visit www.neumos.com for all the info.

Keyboard player Jared Bell of the Phoenix, AZ drum and keys duo Lymbyc Systym gets mountain sized chunks of sound out of his keys. You would never know there wasn’t a guitar player on stage with them. Jared spoke from New Hampshire enrout to Montreal.

Talk set up for me. What's your set up?
Jared: For the live set up, I use a Hohner Clavinet D6, a Nord Electro, a Microkorg and a Roland 303 Dr. Sample.

I used to carry around a Fender Rhodes, but I just recently replaced it with the Nord, since it can also replicate Wurlitzer and Rhodes piano in one.

What pedals or effects are you using to get such a huge sound?
My pedal setup is really simple. I just use a Line 6 delay pedal, an Akai Headrush looping pedal, and a volume pedal. Most of the "huge" sound, comes from my Clavinet.

The Clavinet is a mechanical keyboard that basically works like a guitar. It has guitar strings and pick-ups inside, so when you press down a key, you are actually striking a guitar string which then resonates above the pickup, just like a guitar. I run the Clavinet through a volume pedal, then into a delay pedal, then to my amp. I generally use really heavy delay.

What amps are you using?
Right now I have an SWR bass and two Fender guitar amps. I used a Vox AC30 for a while, which has a great tone.

How do you achieve that signature Jared *Jrod* sound?
The Clavinet. It’s magic. The clavinet was really made famous by people like Stevie Wonder on “Superstition” and Herbie Hancock on Headhunters. It’s the really robotic sounding keyboard on a lot of 70s funk albums.

Unfortunately, not many people experiment with the instrument beyond that "funky" sound, which I think is a travesty. That sound is totally played out. Imagine if every guitar player had the same tone. It would be ridiculous! The Clavinet is mechanical and works just like a guitar, which means there is an almost limitless array of ways to experiment with it.

A main part of my live sound is me messing around with and controlling feedback. The Clavinet has amazing feedback, just like a guitar. I also do a lot of dramatic swells, which are created using my volume pedal in combination with heavy delay. I really like to use delay that slowly shifts out of pitch over time. It creates a really ominous, yet beautiful sound.

What do you like best about your set up?
I like that it is simple. Not many pedals to mess with, or get in the way of things. I think the best tones are created by keeping things simple, and just being creative using what you have around. Any instrument can sound good if you work with it. I experiment as much as possible, and try to find new textures and tones I haven't heard before. I really like using keyboards I've never seen or played before, and just intuitively messing with the knobs without paying attention to what they are supposed to do.

What do you like least about your set up?
Setting it up and tearing it down.

Where did Lymbyc Systym play last night?
We played in the basement of the Peterborough, NH Public Library. It was kind of crazy to play in a library. It was a really old building.

Did you rock the ‘Science Fiction Section’?
We rocked all the sections pretty much. But I'd say we rocked the Mystery Section the hardest.

When asked what he is listening to at this moment, El-P, the founder of Def Jux, and the subject of an article I wrote this week, said the soundtrack for Steven Soderbergh's remake of Andrie Tarkovsky's Solaris. "Yeah, the movie sucks, but the soundtrack is really great. I can't stop listening to it. There's something there I want to figure out."

I bought the soundtrack, listened to it, and came to agree with El-P--it's a beautiful and meticulous work of movie music. But I think this is the secret of the score's success: it sounds like a soundtrack for a movie that has never been made. Its music, produced by Cliff Martinez, does not connect with its movie, and so the music has a ghostly quality. It's music without the presence and weight of its image.

In recent years the big four tend to be the “bottom four”. Do they not make enough of an effort, are they not considered cool and hip, or.... as Terry Wogan seems to think, does Europe hate them and their alliance with the US? Hm, I hardly think someone in Hungary will say “ooh I loved that song from the UK, but since they’re at war in Iraq I refuse to vote for them. I know, I’ll vote for Albania instead”.
For me the Big Four generally don’t make enough of an effort, they send music that doesn’t appeal to the Eurovision audience and they tend to exaggerate. Spain and Germany got decent results in 2004. Even the UK did alright with James Fox in 2005 (in Belgian terms 16th place is nothing to mock). So there.
The Big four (specifically France and the Uk) are used to dominating the contest because they sung in languages a lot of other European countries understood. Since the free language choice they no longer have that edge and it’s taking some time to get used to it.
But still, let’s see what our big financial contributors (thank you for that by the way) are sending this year.

The UK sent some real horrors in recent years. Who could forget their first ever null points in 2003 (and really, get over it, do you know how many times Belgium got null points? And it was more than deserved). Jemini had problems with their earphones (that’s the story anyway). Result: no points. Surprising? No. The song was a decent-enough trashy dance song, but the vocals were horrid. They also tried with Daz Sampson, some kind of rap thing about school (urgh) and last year they sent Scooch: calculated camp, innuendos (four fifths of Europe didn’t get it, but still), flight attendant uniforms, European flags, the lot. I quite liked it, but when you’re on after Verka Serduchka, you really don’t stand a chance.
This year they’re going with Andy Abraham who’s singing Even If. It’s funky, it’s decent, it’s quite catchy, there are actual instruments on stage and Andy shakes his ass like there’s no tomorrow. The UK deserve a good place with this, but this song will probably be too “normal” to stick in the mind. If you’ve got the time (or the inclination) have a look at Michelle Gayle, runner up of the national selection in the UK: she brings a 50s kinda Birdie Dance. Just imagine her backing singers and the turkey from Ireland… what a team.

Speaking of that turkey, I just heard he brought his own wind machine to Eurovision. Eurovision needs more wind machines, it's a fact.

Eurovision is the time where Germany proves that they do have a sense of humour (you heard it here first, folks). Back in 1979 they sent the incredible “Dschinghis Khan” with the song of the same name. A memorable performance. In 1998 they sent the magnificent Guildo Horn and his band “die Orthopädischen Strümpfe” (the orthopaedic stockings) with “Guildo hat euch lieb” (Guildo loves you), a man for whom the stage was one big jungle gym. Then there was Stefan Raab in 2000 with Wadde Hadde Dudde Da. And Lou who sang “let’s get happy and let’s be gay” in a very heavy German accent in 2003 and came 11th. (She claimed “let’s be gay” was not an intentional attempt to grab the gay vote. Right. Sure.) Unfortunately Germany seems a bit devoid of fun this year. With No Angels and the song Disappear they’re sending a completely unmemorable thing. We’ve got Big Hair Angel, Shabby Angel, Barbie Angel and Posh Angel trying to be sexy and making an attempt at flag-waving with parts of their outfit. They get points for that, but I fear it’s going to be Bottom Four for this one. One of the comments on Youtube was quite fitting: “with a song like this we’ll only get points from Austria and Switzerland”.
Oh, you bloc-voters, you.

Wah! Look at that, Jesus is taking part in Eurovision!! Quick, check his hands and feet for stigmata, to see if he’s the real deal. La douce France is entering Eurovision with a bit of a riot on their hands. Sebastien Tellier's song (Divine) is… not in French. Probably the first year ever that a Eurovision song for France is not in French . France’s entry from last year (Les Fatals Picards ) could hardly be considered completely French either, but they sang in a kind of Franglais (“je cours, je cours, I’ve lost l’amour et without you, seul à Paris…”) and wore pink ties designed by Gaultier, so at least that was something . Those poor French! This year, half the contest starts singing in a foreign language but instead of French, they’re all picking Italian, and then their own representative claims he can’t sing about love in French, so he has to choose English. Apparently though, he has given in to the frazzled nerves of the French nation and agreed to sing parts of it in French. We’ll see. A friend of mine came up with the idea to have the English lyrics simultaneously translated on the backdrop during his performance. The French politicians will be happy and the rest of Europe gets a free French lesson, thus promoting the French language yet again. Not that the lyrics make much sense, but hey. You can’t have everything.
This song is unlike any other song in Eurovision, it' s some kind of electro-y, disco-y, retro-y... er... listen, I don't know what it is, let's just say it's something good, I do love it, but –alas- I doubt it’ll do much of anything vote-wise.

Coming up: Spain and Serbia.

by BrittneyBush.

Today, the Stranger Suggests:

Paul Baribeau at Dearborn on Woodland
You are forgiven for not knowing who Paul Baribeau is—I don't think the Midwestern singer/songwriter has ever played a venue in Seattle that wasn't a house. His songs are so minimal and sweet and serious that they slide right under any sort of radar, like a stealth bomber loaded with lyrics about brown-haired girls and 10 things to do before you die. Request his cover of Bruce Springsteen's "Into the Fire," a song he makes better by shouting it over his acoustic guitar. (Dearborn on Woodland, 4131 Woodland Park Ave N, www.myspace.com/dearbornhouse. 8 pm, donations for touring bands, all ages.) ARI SPOOL

The Kills are also in town, playing Neumo's tonight. In this week's paper, Kurt B. Reiley interviewed the band's Alison Mosshart:

Your new record, Midnight Boom, sounds peppier, more upbeat. Does this reflect a sea change in your lives or just a conscious musical decision?

We had a brilliant time making the record. We didn't feel any stress. We didn't care when it got finished or how long it was going to take. We were laughing all the time, and you can hear that.

Sometimes when a band tries to change tack artistically, they psych themselves out, but you avoided that.

The only thing we really wanted was to make a modern record. We love old bands, old gear, old recording methods, old everything. For the first time, we said, "Let's try and fit into modern times and see what happens." It was interesting. Working on a computer was quite a painful process. We didn't like it and probably won't do it again. But in the end, we were happy to see that no matter what we did, it still sounded like the Kills.

Also happening:

To the Waves, Post Harbor, Helms Alee
(King Cobra) Jesse Fox has turned yet another project into gold. In the late-'90s, Fox was frontman for the urgent (and tragically underrated) local rock outfit Polecat. This decade he started Leuko, which was still on the heavy-guitar side of rock but with more memorable melodies and catchy choruses. As if he's not busy enough working as a firefighter and sitting in as the new drummer for the recently reunited Seaweed, now he's launched new band To the Waves. To the Waves' dynamic songs combine bursts of intensity that recall Polecat's turbulence with moments that melt into seas of dreamy, melancholy strings and piano. MEGAN SELING

Click here to listen to To the Waves.

El Perro del Mar, Lykke Li, Anna Ternheim
(Triple Door) There aren't many artists as well-suited to spring as El Perro del Mar—unless you count fellow Swede Lykke Li, who's joining her delicately voiced countrywoman on this tour. While Li has a slightly Feistian quirkiness underpinning her work, El Perro del Mar specializes in quiet, pastel-colored folk-pop that's as pretty and pure as a vase full of freshly picked daisies. Her latest album, From the Valley to the Stars, (out on local label the Control Group) is the sound of fragile tendrils of hope tentatively emerging after a long, frozen winter; that underlying melancholy serves to keep the songs from being overly precious. The bill is balanced by the autumnal, almost Nico-esque sounds of another Swede, Anna Ternheim. BARBARA MITCHELL

Who else walks around the city listening to music pretending they're in a music video and/or movie?

I do.

I totally do.

Today I was in Death Cab's "Transatlanticism" video. Last night I was in Hold Steady's "First Night" and the Clash's "Lost in the Supermarket."

I'm a star.

Last Friday, I went and checked out local Seattle deejay, DJ Riz, at his weekly Friday night gig at the Re-bar. He really blew me away a couple of weeks ago at Studio! where he played a special rare set of disco and funk cuts. I was excited to see him at his usual residency, which consisted of more deep house and funk grooves. I found the set to be as equally brilliant as a few weeks back. That being said, he ended his set with Edwin Starr's 1978 disco classic "Contact" and I haven't been able to get it out of my head ever since. This track, which was released on the Clean LP, can be described as Starr's re-emergence into the club and disco scene of the late 1970's. The track has some solid percussion work, and does a nice job blending the lines between his move into the disco realm and his earlier soul roots. It's safe to say Edwin Starr had a very accomplished musical career with many solid releases during the late 60's and 70's, however there might not be another song in his collection that can move a floor like "Contact".

Download Edwin Starr's classic disco boogie cut "Contact" by going here.

I would also recommend checking out DJ Riz every Friday night at the Re-bar (1114 Howell Street) for some great mixing of deep house and funk.

Take the SLATS.

Tonight at the Funhouse, Pain Cocktail is playing. Pain Cocktail is the punk rock band of the controversial and vaunted Slats.

To get to this show, you don’t need to drive or take the bus, you can glide closely behind Slats as Denny Way rolls underneath him in a technique known as drafting. Don’t take the S.L.U.T., take the Slats. Slats may turn his amp levels up and down a lot . Yes, he may order a long island ice tea in the middle of the set. Yes he may make his guitar feedback, and it may be the loudest thing on stage. But that’s the way it should be. What some call a 'shitstravaganza', others call punk. And punk is perfect.

9:30 PM, $5. +21

Bands playing: How And Lightning, Pain Cocktail, Paul Diamond Blow, 
Sioux City Pete.


Just a word that this song is killing me right now. I've listened to it five times in the last hour.

Veronika Fischer & Band get a beautiful funked out re-work here on this brilliant re-edit by German DJ Hans Nieswandt (aka Edith Honnegger). I have no idea what the hell there on about something about "driving the course"?

Who wouldn't want to get down to some groovy-ass German funk? Who I ask??!?!

I'm sure this will get played out tonight somewhere funky and soulful!

Veronika Fischer & Band - Hey, Wir Fahr'n Mit Dem Zug

A world stripped of emotion would be a world stripped of song.

Ice-T says, “Hate is an emotion that can take a fool over. When I was younger, I couldn’t control it. Hating caused me to write a majority of my lyrics. Now I can laugh at it.”

The Beatles say, “All you need is love, love, love is all you need.”

Miriam Webster says, “Emotion is the affective aspect of consciousness: feeling. A state of feeling. A conscious mental reaction (as anger or fear).

Mary J. Blige says, “Don’t need no hateration, holleratin in this dance.”

2:30 Update: This poll is lacking a 'Heartbreak' choice and I fully realize that. It should be in there. I am sorry. (Thank you TinyMuscles.)

So then:

Which is most likely to lead to good song writing?

Which is most likely to lead to bad song writing?

Found in the Stranger's Flickr Pool, taken by dan10things.

*There's a cartoon hand going down a pair of cartoon pants, and a two legged dog in this new Man Man video. So if you can't watch that sort of thing at work, wait until you get home to watch it.

(ht to pitchfork)

Robyn, as already reported on Line Out, is NOT playing at Neumo's tonight. Sorry.

Tapes 'n Tapes is at the Showbox, though! Michaelangelo Matos reviewed their new album, Walk It Off, in this week's paper:

Tapes 'n Tapes
Walk It Off
(XL)
***

The knock on music beloved by blogs is that bloggers are too frequently beholden to instantaneous turnover for their analyses to mean much. So the fact that this Twin Cities quartet were picked up (or picked on) as a blog favorite is sort of amusing, because they're anything but immediate.

The first time through Walk It Off, Tapes 'n Tapes' second album, was honestly confusing: Sure, it's guitar-based indie rock, but it sounded awfully undifferentiated. So much for web hype. But the next couple listens settled it in, and I started hearing songs—even better, I started hearing guitars.

Those guitars tend more toward hyperactive rhythm than lead lines or even noise. They're not especially tricked up, à la Sonic Youth and their woolly progeny. Though they get loud pretty frequently—most ecstatically, and clinically, on the expansive opener, "Le Ruse," and the bottled-tension closing number, "The Dirty Dirty"—the guitars, like the band's songs, generally stay neatly ordered.

If Tapes 'n Tapes recall any single band it's the Pixies, only Tapes 'n Tapes' melodic and rhythmic sense is staccato rather than widescreen-dramatic. Josh Grier's gulping, fragile vocals are mixed back just enough to bob to the surface without dominating. "Conquest" is an instructive exception: In addition to its attractively loose strumming and cymbal-bell-accented drums, Grier is further up front, but my attention keeps wandering to the rhythm section and a buried, tricky little synth part. MICHAELANGELO MATOS

Also tonight, the Posies 20th Anniversary celebration continues in Tacoma:

The Posies, the Joshua Cain Band, Bumma Stoge
(Hell's Kitchen) They just keep going. This spring, the Posies celebrate 20 years of making magical pop songs. While Ken Stringfellow and company's more recent efforts have been less memorable (2005's Every Kind of Light neglected to deliver the kind of addicting hooks that make 1997's Frosting on the Beater so cherished), the band are still worth celebrating, with a back catalog of gems that are forever the soundtrack to my teen and young-adult years. "Dream All Day" blasted as I drove down the highway for the first time alone after getting my license; "Coming Right Along" haunted and hugged me through my first heartbreak. This anniversary is as much ours as it is theirs. MEGAN SELING

Check out our online listings for more.

RIP #1 - Phil Spector’s engineer Larry Levine passes at 80

RIP #2 - Secretly Canadian recording artist LonPaul Ellrich passes

Kansas? Nebraska? But no Seattle? - Sigur Ros reveals new tour dates; studio footage of new record

Hip-hop at Glastonbury - Jay-Z responds to Noel Gallagher’s asinine comments

Attention Limewire users - The RIAA reveals their piracy tracking tactics

Pissin’ off PETA and Catholics - Gorgoroth’s controversial Krakow performance now on DVD

In our last installment of "As If You Didn't Have Enough Reasons to Hate Everclear," the Portland-based ex-junkie/wife-beating/alt-rockers played Seattle's #1 homophobic, misogynist breeder church, Mars Hill. In this installment, they're playing at hot above-the-international-law torture resort GITMO. It's unclear whether this is as part of the military's hilarious music as torture practice:

EVERCLEAR have added two special dates to their Spring/Summer tour: a May 26 Memorial Day concert at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and a July 6 performance at the Marine Corps base at Kaneohe Bay, Oahu. “These two are important to the band,” says singer and guitarist ART ALEXAKIS of the multi-platinum EVERCLEAR. “There are folks in uniform all over the world, and at home, looking out for us--and to play for them is an honor. Not a bad way to spend the holiday weekends, not at all.”

The new video by Chicago instrumentalists Pelican, featuring Hydra Head Records manager Mark Thompson as a hopeful singer stuggling to find the band's audition in the desert, debuts on Headbanger's Ball this weekend:

Pelican play the Showbox SODO on May 23rd with Thrice and Circa Survive.

The long-awaited debut Truckasauras album Tea Parties, Guns & Valor doesn't drop officially for another two weeks, but local digital music retailer Necodo is getting the jump on the competition by selling it now, and they've put together a streaming player so you can check out the whole thing. Enjoy.

Via the AP:

NEW YORK (AP) - A weeping Remy Ma was sentenced to eight years in prison Tuesday for shooting a woman outside a Manhattan nightclub.

"I feel so bad for all the physical and mental pain you've gone through," the Grammy-nominated rapper told the victim. "This has taken a toll on us and both our families. I would never wish you harm and I pray the best for all of us."

The entertainer, whose real name is Remy Smith, had faced up to 25 years in prison for assault, weapon possession and attempted coercion for shooting Makeda Barnes Joseph last July in a dispute over money.

Smith, 26, begged the judge for leniency for the sake of "my little boy," saying she grew up "surrounded by failure, violence and poverty," but "made something out of nothing" from her life.

State Supreme Court Justice Rena Uviller said she recognized that Smith had had a difficult childhood, but noted the victim had nearly died and will never be the same physically. Uviller called the rapper "a young woman whose anger is out of control."

One of the more "sexy themed" disco compilations to come out is thefifth volume in the The Mood Mosaic series entitled, Supervixens. This compilation that was released by Discomagic Records in the mid 1990's brings together some of disco's more erotic rarities. The record also tends to standout a bit more from the others in the The Mood Mosaic series, which tend to lend themselves more for cocktail lounge hour rather than a disco floor. This very rare album consists of some real disco gems including Marta Acuna's "Dance, Dance, Dance", Roundtree "Get On Up", Black Devil's "Follow Me", Chain Reaction's "Dance Freak" and Sylvia's sexy disco classic "The Lollipop Man" among others. Overall this is a great themed disco compilation that puts some disco's more harder-to-find classics all in one place.

Download Sylvia's "The Lollipop Man" and Roundtree's "Get On Up by going here.

Death Cab For Cutie's new album, Narrow Stairs is out today. Long time DCFC fan and former fellow Bellinghamster Jeff Kirby reviews the album for this week's Stranger, out tomorrow. But you, Line Out reader, can taste what's on Kirby's mind-grapes right now:

Death Cab For Cutie
Narrow Stairs
(Atlantic)

***1/2

With their first couple albums, Death Cab For Cutie established a sound that was uniquely their own, one which not only launched the band into stardom but also became a foundation for the 21st century’s new generation of indie/emo rock. But, seemingly intent not to be pigeonholed into a sound they helped solidify, each subsequent Death Cab release has expanded their sound in new directions while never losing their knack for to dressing up dispirited lyrics in carefully catchy pop melodies. Both Transatlanticism and Plans even hinted at overarching themes—the former dealt with love being conquered by physical distance, the latter with growing old and emotionally distant. Neither quite coalesced into bona fide concept albums, though, feeling instead feeling like collections of likeminded songs.

Narrow Stairs finally achieves that level of cohesion. Once again, the songs deal with hapless and infelicitous love, but this time a perceptible, almost narrative theme unfolds from song to song. “I Will Possess Your Heart,” the 8-and-a-half minute single that beings with a brooding, 5-minute instrumental jam, explores the sadly deluded, stalker-ish certainty that eventually, the song’s indifferent subject will love the singer in return. “Talking Bird” is like a lullaby, simple and familiar, with Ben Gibbard wistfully promising, “It’s all here for you as long as you don’t fly away.” Key lines of several songs are startlingly dismal: “You can do better than me, but I can’t do better than you,” “You look so defeated lying there in your new twin size bed”—even the driving 80s rock beat of “Long Division” can’t hide the desperation in its chorus, “He had sworn not to be what he’d been before, to be a remainder.”

Despite the heavy heart, there's a renewed sonic energy pumping through Narrow Stairs’ lovesick and deflated veins. Musically upbeat as it is lyrically despairing, Narrow Stairs is acutely mimetic of an optimistic but fatally flawed relationship, and though the sentiment expressed is notably depressing, it is undeniably well crafted. JEFF KIRBY

(ht to Hickey)

Last night, I fed one dollar into Smith's jukebox (which, to my mind, has an ok, but not great, selection) and picked four songs. Not one of my selected songs played (it came close once, playing the wrong song from the right album, which only made it worse). Did the jukebox malfunction? Did I? My friends assured me that I had been using the standard procedure for entering selections into a jukebox, but I wondered, had I failed to press some elusive but vital button? In any case, it's only a dollar, no big deal, but I was set on hearing these songs:

Galaxie 500 - "Ceremony"

Bikini Kill - "Anti-Pleasure Dissertation"

Next time, Smith.

Photo by Abbey for soundonthesound. See more in the Stranger Flickr Pool.

Instead of its usual national tour, Ozzfest has been shortened to one date this year, August 9th at Pizza Hut Park in Dallas. Ozzy and Metallica are the headliners, accompanied by a slough of utter crap, save for the headliners of the "Texas Stage" the Sword, Soilent Green, and the hesitant respect Serj Tankian has earned for being both forward thinking and articulate. Mongoloid metal-heads around the country are fuming that this suck-fest is not coming to their backyard, and have began typing hateful diarrhea on the Ozzfest message board before un-clenching their fists:

"This Suck This is bullshit ozzfest is only going to be a one day show in TX. Well I am gland that all of other summer tour is not like this like warped tour now we got a new summer tour call rockstar mayhem tour I hope it better than ozzfest"

"really it be ok. with two ass hole who don't know how run a show are their show now. an Texas does have hurricanes dumb ass is was called Rita. And where could put ozzfest other then Texas. Try California. we don't fuck our sister. imbreaded ass clowns"

The full line-up:

OZZY OSBOURNE / METALLICA / SERJ TANKIAN / HELLYEAH / JONATHAN DAVIS / CAVALERA CONSPIRACY / SHADOWS FALL / APOCALYPTICA / IN THIS MOMENT / All-Star Tribute To "Dimebag" Darrell Abbott

Second Stage: / SEVENDUST / DEVILDRIVER / KINGDOM OF SORROW / SOILENT GREEN / WITCHCRAFT / GOATWHORE

Texas (Third) Stage:
THE SWORD / DROWNING POOL / RIGOR MORTIS

Furious that this sadness parade isn't coming to Seattle? Feel free to delight us with angry sentence fragments in our comments section.

(ht