
Matthew Marcus write in the comments.
Point of order, though: Tony Blair only ascended to power in 1997, and contrary to *some* revisionist histories it took more than five minutes for the public to become disaffected with New Labour
Tony Blair won the general election in 1997, but he became New Labour's party leader in 1994. It seemed like a big deal at the time, something in the wind, but are we exaggerating our memories? While it also may have taken a little longer for the general public's attitude to turn on Blair's government — not really until the Iraq war — the mood in pop-culture, from Mike Leigh to "Transmetropolitan" to Noel Gallagher, was of relatively quick lesser-of-evils disenchantment.
Keekee writes.
Isn't it funny how Blur started to sound like certain American music after 'Parklife'?
Blur definitely went all Pavement after the collapse of Britpop, and I remember 1997's Blur being taken as either a necessary shift of style or a cultural betrayal by a lot of fans, causing a lot of arguments, but that's, of course, a separate story, not a contradiction.
Brandon writes.
There was also this little thing called 'rave' that was pretty awesome, too.
It's true, but there's also that period in-between the comedown of Madchester/acid house in the early '90s and mid-'90s Britpop, which was filled with your Pop Will Eat Itself and Carter: The Unstoppable Sex Machine — not to take anything away from them — before suede changed everything. Britpop is also often seen as one of rave's after-shocks, holding a lot of its same political and musical attitudes, but, in a way, picking up the optimistic torch and finishing the job.
BONUS: Munch on a clip of the DJ from the "Undeclared" pilot mixing straight, East-Coast thug hip-hop with Britpop. Go on.
Seems there's a benefit for "a special girl with some monster hospital bills." Moreover, there's some damn-fine local acts playing, and it's at the Mars Bar—a great, off-the-path place to see a show.
Oh Man!
Sam Squared
Lonesome Rhodes & the Good Company
Go there and feel good.

Aaron Edge, that is. He’s the new drummer of the Tad Doyle-led Seattle group Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, replacing Eric Akre. (Edge—who was Himsa's founding guitarist—also toils as an editorial designer for the publication you’re reading right this instant. He also plays in these groups: Requin (bass), Hellvetika (all music/vox), and Tsuga (all music/vox). Feeling lazy yet?)
I haven’t heard much of Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, but what I have caught bears resemblance to the de-tuned, speared-Mastodon guitar groan of early Earth with beats that hit you like slow-motion punches thrown in Hollywood thrillers. It’s kind of like delayed mortification, and it feels really good. Sometimes they let up on the gloom/doom and psych out on a more ethereal plane. But it still carries that patented Tad heaviness.
Forever is a long time, Brothers of the Sonic Cloth imply, and they’re just getting warmed up to provide the soundtrack for infinity’s gradual disintegration. (Hey, it's Friday and I have a wicked headache.)
Via pitchfork:
Pitchfork: So, Kill Rock Stars, eh? How did that come about?Hutch Harris: Oh hell yeah! They're located in Portland now, most of their bands are from Portland. Really, it's all about Portland. Kill Rock Stars pursued us very aggressively and made us a great offer.
They must not have heard about how Seattle is, like, totally better than Austin, NY, and LA.
Blake Schwarzenbach is making music again. Nothing else matters.
Just kidding. Here's a small collection of today's music headlines:
Kanye West: Arrested again.
Juanes: Wins big at Latin Grammys.
The Hives and Cyndi Lauper: Make Christmas music together.
The Get Up Kids: Reunite. (Which will only be cool if they promise to not play anything from On a Wire and after.)
Sublime: Might be reuniting with a new vocalist.
New York Dolls: Recording a new record with Todd Rundgren.
Via Tiny Lucky Genius aka the Unicorn's Tear:
It's not 1993, and no you aren't dreaming Aaron Cometbus and Blake Schwarzenbach have a band. Thorns of Life, and they are playing house shows in Brooklyn.
Geek out.
Of Montreal play the Showbox Sodo next Wednesday and it will, without a doubt, be one of the most fantastic displays of live entertainment you witness this year.
Eric Grandy saw the band perform last month in New York, a kick off to their tour, and here's just a small excerpt of the spectacle he witnessed:
Midway through Of Montreal's show last Friday night at New York City's Roseland Ballroom, bandleader Kevin Barnes—wearing gold-lamé hot pants, makeup, and (naturally) nothing else—rode out onstage atop a live horse, singing into a microphone in one hand and gently stroking the animal's white mane with the other. It wasn't the weirdest sight of the night—the whole show played out like one unbelievably surreal dream—but it was the most quietly stunning.Elsewhere in the performance, Barnes appeared as an electric-blue mariachi with a pink sombrero strapped to his back; as a red-robed pope enthroned with a sexy nun lying at his feet; as a Voltron-like being with a giant head and limbs operated by invisible black-clad figures, in a pair of roller skates the size of bumper cars with an oversized blue-sequin fanny pack to match; as a centaur with working hind legs provided by someone in the modified ass section of a two-man horse costume; and as a ghost or mummy covered in white shaving cream. He emerged from a curtained box carried by four lumpy, golden, doughboyish bearers. He was entertained by a sword dancer in an inflated polka-dotted garbage bag wielding what looked like giant crab legs. He was begged for (but decided to deny) clemency by a prisoner in an animal mask. He was hung and sang while dangling from his noose. He rose again from a white coffin. He shot glitter out of a spotlight-shining cannon.
Does that sound like something you want to see? Of course it does. If you want to see Of Montreal for FREE next Wednesday, e-mail your first and last name to lineout@thestranger.com. Put Of Montreal in the subject line, so I know what tickets your entering for.
A winner will be chosen at random at 5 pm tonight. TONIGHT. So enter now!
Update: A winner has been selected. Congratulations, Julissa! For all of you who didn't win, I'm sorry. You can still buy tickets to the show via Ticketmaster.
Now here's another taste of what to expect from the band next week:
The Score profiles tonight's performance of Eyvind Kang's Grass. The piece will be performed by a nine-piece ensemble also featuring Stuart Dempster and Julian Priester, trumpeter Cuong Vu, and pianist Cristina Valdés. Read all about it here.
Grampall Jookabox will perform at Vera tonight with PWRFL Power and the Terrordactyls, and his new record, Ropechain, received a three-and-a-half star review in this week's issue. Not too shabby. Read the full review here.
And finally, here are a few more suggestions from this week's Up & Comings:
The Dirtbombs, Little Claw, Thee Emergency
(Chop Suey) The Dirtbombs' dual-drum, dual-bass lineup guarantees you a quality American garage-rock encounter. The Mick Collins–fronted Detroit band have been doing it for 13 years, and their live show will slather you in punk and soul and fuzz. They're classic like a hand-tooled leather saddle. The 2008 release of We Have You Surrounded (In the Red) sees the Dirtbombs going deep and thematically basing the album on graphic novelist Alan Moore's comic-book story called "Leopard Man at C & A's." It's dark and deals with urban blight. Come to Chop Suey, straddle a barstool saddle, get deep, and ride the sounds of some musical legends. TRENT MOORMAN See also Stranger Suggests.
Large Professor of Main Source, J.Pinder, Wizdom, DJ Marc Sense
(Nectar) Large Professor is a rapper/producer who represents hiphop in the condition of courage, pleasure, and intelligence. The Harlem-born genius has produced three hiphop classics of the modern period with Main Source; three tracks on one of the greatest albums of the '90s, Illmatic; and the most famous of all shelved albums in the history of hiphop, The LP. However, Geffen, the company that refused to release the album, did drop the beautiful track "Ijuswannachill," which contains these wonderful lines: "Nevertheless, in 3-D's Large Profess/With what I would call a bullshit-proof vest/And yes, I make the beats you could feel in your chest/And write the rhymes that reflect a young man blessed/With the mind and motivation hitting your station/Coming back to attack over a ghetto vacation/For the hiphop nation." CHARLES MUDEDE See also My Philosophy, Album Review.
Young Sportsmen, Peter Parker, Guns & Rossetti
(Sunset) Damn you, Young Sportsmen. Good bands aren't supposed to call it quits. There should be some kind of executive committee that makes these kinds of decisions and ensures that bands making great, stick-in-your-head, toe-tapping pop songs are forced to soldier on while the legions of mediocre underachievers are forced into retirement. Tonight is the last chance to see one of Seattle's most underrated treasures, so resist the seasonal urge to hibernate and get your butt (and the rest of your body) down to the Sunset before the Young Sportsmen ride off to follow their own setting sun. Their perfectly crafted, melodic tunes will be sorely missed. BARBARA MITCHELL
If you need more, our online calendar has the complete list of tonight's shows.