Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Block Party Choose Built to Spill's Capitol Hill Block Party Setlist!
Posted by Megan Seling on Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 10:40 AM
Built to Spill are playing the Capitol Hill Block Party on July 24th, and wouldn't you know it, they can't figure out what songs to play. I guess that's what happens after 17 years of being a band. But their indecisiveness is your gain—Built to Spill, KEXP, and The Stranger are giving the fans a chance to choose the setlist!
Below is a list is of every Built to Spill song the band has ever released, including some B-sides and covers. So, which song do you most want them to play? Vote for your favorite between now and July 18th, and then come Block Party time, Built to Spill will play the songs with the most votes. You can also vote at KEXP.org.
The Capitol Hill Block Party is July 24-25 and also features Sonic Youth, the Jesus Lizard, the Gossip, and many others (see full line-up here). Tickets are on sale now at Ticketswest.com, all Rudy's Barbershops, select QFC locations, and Moe Bar.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Homo / Drinking / Drugs / Nightlife / Tonight / Conflict of Interest Freak Turns 400—Nation Roars!
Posted by Adrian Ryan on Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 6:45 PM
Tonight we toast the interminable decay of one of Seattle's darkest blazing stars: The indomitable and quite clinically mad and morose and loping and terrifying and dazzling punk-drag performance artiste Miss Jacqueline Hell. (Miss Jackie, if yo' nasty. And you are.)
This year marks her fourth centennial. Being four hundred years old, she is celebrating at The Crescent Tavern (1413 East Olive Way), which is singularly appropriate, and still smells like total ass. (Take care of it people—the charm is GONE!) Not that I'd ever insinuate that Jackie smells like ass, of course. Especially not on her birthday.
There's a Jackie Hell look-alike contest at midnight! The event goes from 9 PM-till-2 fucking AM!
Won't you join her?
Oh, and, um, Jackie Hell is totally completely biographied here, by the way. Ahem. Order it gift-wrapped!
Happy birthday, you hideous, glorious freak!
Legal / ??!! Today in Excessive Fines
Posted by Grant Brissey on Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 6:42 PM
When the judge declared a mistrial two years ago, Jammie Thomas-Rasset opted for a new trail instead of settling like the more than 30,000 people the RIAA has sued or threatened. (In her case, settling would have still meant $222,000 in fines.) Today Thomas-Rasset was found to have infringed 24 songs by downloading them with Kazaa. For this, she was fined $1.92 million—or $80,000 a song. Good luck collecting that.
Via wired.com and latimes.com.
Tonight Zaimph Plays Free Show @ Dissonant Plane
Posted by Dave Segal on Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 5:51 PM
At 7 pm tonight, Dissonant Plane hosts Zaïmph, aka Marcia Bassett of Hototogisu (with Matthew Bower) and Double Leopards (among other projects). Zaïmph is near the forefront of today’s noise/drone underground, generating densely layered, disorienting, atomized waves of guitar and vocals. It's riveting stuff for long-attention-spanned aesthetes.
[Dissonant Plane, 5459 Leary Ave NW, 206.784.5163.]
Press release after the cut.
On Tour / #1 Fan Blureunionizing
Posted by Dean Fawkes on Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 4:08 PM
If the last week is anything to go by, Blur have come back with a bit of class.
Remember? Months ago? When the original band announced they'd be reuniting for the first time in over a decade, and putting on a summer show in London's Hyde Park?
Tip! Iceberg!
Nothing's more foul than a reunion, but all the band's moves since then have been smart and refreshingly personal. In the last few days, Blur did a show on a microscopic stage at the East Anglian Railway Museum, the spot where Blur first played, twenty years ago, for a birthday. Then, a couple of nights later, they showed up for a surprise gig at the legendary Rough Trade Records, setting in motion a whole planned series of sold-out shows that include a Glastonbury headline, a dwarfish student-union date where members of the band first met, and their now double-day-sized Hyde Park celebration.
And the songs! While singles like 1992's "Popscene," 1997's "Beetlebum," and 1994's "Girls & Boys" have been in the sets — and should be there, fucking classics — so are relatively obscure and hardly fan-favored ones like "Colin Zeal," "Trimm Trabb," "Essex Dogs," and the timeless (and wonderful!) "Badhead".
Oh, yeah. The new best-of? Crazy pants.
Unlike the one in 2000, Midlife: A Beginner's Guide To Blur — a nice self-dig and a reference to their biggest album — is all over the place. "Bugman"? Into "He Thought Of Cars"? "Blue Jeans"? Into "Song 2"? And "Death Of A Party"? Into "The Universal"? Madness. The whole thing's an odd confetti splash of big and small songs, a mass-market brew of hits and what-has-to-be personal favorites.
Boom! Sold.
Blur have also started some web-widget thing. Inside, they've been adding live and rehearsal footage here and there, which is nice.
See if it works.
We like the use of The Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant" before "Bank Holiday." We like hearing the criminally undervalued "Out Of Time" unspool itself into the waters again. We really like the skronked out new touches to the head-on blitzkrieg-sunshine bit of "Sunday Sunday".
About the comeback gig, bassist Alex James wrote, "The sound of music I never thought I'd hear again."
And, "Not a dry eye in the house."
Maybe they do know what they're doing.
Last Night Overheard at the Germs
Posted by Brendan Kiley on Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 3:51 PM
The Up and Coming for the Germs show last night:
(Neumos) Look, don't even sweat it that the Germs have replaced Darby Crash with a 31-year-old Hollywood actor named Shane West who starred in that reverent, dull movie about Darby Crash last year. Never mind the children dressed like 1977 and the creaky old geezers like Jello Biafra and Fat Mike who are whining that that's disrespectful or inauthentic. Darby Crash was the opposite of authenticity—he was a Ziggy Stardust fan, a fabulist and epic liar who burned up his life trying to turn it into myth. So some buffed and blow-dried Hollywood type with nice skin and well-tended teeth wants to step into the shoes Jan Paul Beahm willfully vacated almost 30 years ago? I'm not so sure Darby Crash would've disapproved. BRENDAN KILEY
The reader response:
If darby was alive today he would've had one of his minions give you a germs burn on your eyeball and laughed his ass off while you whined. dick.
An email from my little brother time-stamped 6:26 am:
Just spent a handful of hours w/ Don Bolles (drummer for the Germs). It was pretty awesome and he was really cool. I told him about your review... totally dug what you were saying... feels the same way... Also told him about your x-mas gift of Germicide to me and how it led me down the merry, wayward path.
The new Darby, sadly, didn't do right by his idol because he tried to imitate the old Darby. He looked like an actor, not someone who's seized the Darby Crash mantle and run into the sunset. He should've had his own costume, his own singing style, maybe do Manimal with a string quartet. Instead, he was just not-Darby.
But the scene was still weird and fun. One rumor: "That's Kurt Cobain's mom Wendy and sister Kimberly."
The real action was on the sidewalk, where young punks who couldn't (or wouldn't) pay to go in watched the band through the door, sang along and then heckled, and debated the merits of trying to crash past the bouncer.
One guy: "If he really wanted to be Darby Crash, he should've shown up with needles in his arms."
One dude to his friend: "Go in and rush the door."
The friend: "Then I'd just be following your instructions."
The best part: When Nü-Darby tried to give a shout-out to the punks on the sidewalk. "Hey you guys on the patio? Does it sound better back there?"
"Sounds like shit!" one of the sidewalk punks said. "Unlearn how to play your instruments!"
More photos, all by Kelly O of course, after the jump.
Song Not Sure Which Built to Spill Song to Vote For?
Posted by Megan Seling on Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 1:44 PM
Since the band has something like 80 songs to choose from, it's a daunting task to vote for just one favorite. So, if you're hemming and hawing over which tune gets your support, might I suggest you give one more listen to the best Built to Spill song ever? It's called "She's Real," and it's a cover of a song originally done by Kicking Giant. Also: It is amazing.
Built to Spill - "She's Real"
Sound Check No-Fi Soul: Reaper and Rebellion
Posted by Trent Moorman on Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 1:20 PM
Mark Heimer of No-Fi Soul Rebellion is a gyrating Vesuvius of dance and singing screams. He gets in faces when he performs and spreads the sweat of his love. He is an explosion. He’s also a gear head. Mark and I sat in his jacuzzi, drank cold Strawberry Quick through looped straws, and he talked about recording and editing audio with a system called Reaper.
No-Fi Soul Rebellion: "Dark Arts"
What is Reaper?
Mark: Reaper is a digital audio workstation for Mac & PC. 'A multi-track audio and MIDI recording, editing, processing, mixing, and mastering environment' so they say. Using just your trusty computer and no other software, you can import any audio and MIDI, synthesize, sample, compose, arrange, edit, mix, and master.
Why do you like it?
3 main reasons: 1. The feature set is huge and is always being updated and expanded based on user suggestions and comments from Reaper's online forums. Version 3 came out a couple of weeks ago and there have already been three big updates since then not only fixing bugs, but adding more features. 2. The routing is super flexible and easy. You can have as many tracks as your computer can handle and any of the tracks can act as a bus. 3. The price. For a non-commercial product license (for users who make under $22,000 a year from music) the cost is $60 and that includes updates up to version 4.99. For commercial users the cost is $225, which is still way cheaper than a lot of industry standard programs with the same features. You can also download the installer (which is a ridiculously small file size considering the scope of the program) from their website and try it for thirty days with all the features. That’s a pretty generous amount of time to figure out if the program is up your alley.
How did you discover it?
Just nerding around the internet. A couple of years ago I was still using a hard disk recorder to record all my No-Fi stuff. Then I got into FL Studio and became obsessed with computer based audio and midi recording. It's amazing how much you can do recording and production wise on computers and how inexpensive it is.
If you were an animal, what would you be?
A tree sloth because they are super slow and always look strangely happy and self-satisfied.
Why should people use Reaper?
The workflow is really nice because it is based on a tool-less editing system and I really appreciate that the developer listens to what the user wants and is always seeking to stabilize and improve the program.
Who is it best suited for?
Reaper can be as simple as Garage Band or as complex as Pro-Tools all dependent on the user. And if you get confused they have a great Wiki page / manual and forums to help you along.
What are the advantages to using this Reaper?
The power, performance, flexibility, compatibility, and stability are all major advantages of using the program. Plus, you can customize the appearance and colors and themes, which is I think is pretty sweet, just because it is.
Sweet. What are the disadvantages to using it?
I have yet to find a disadvantage, but I am a sure by the time I do they probably will have fixed it based on user comments and suggestions.
Where do your instinctual dance moves come from? Do you rehearse them? You don’t move like a tree sloth when you are gyrating on people in the crowd.
All moves are improvisational. No rehearsing. My instincts stem from what I wished I looked like when I dance and what I actually look like when I dance.
No-Fi Soul Rebellion plays Saturday, June 20th in Tacoma at Hell’s Kitchen.
Love Burial on the Walls
Posted by Charles Mudede on Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 12:44 PM
After Burial, there is the French artist JR, whose work (big posters of people) is located in the poorer parts of Rio de Janeiro.
The feeling of Burial's music is this feeling—the big city, the many, many people, the giants, the ants, and all of those distant, city lights.
News / Gossip Holy Mountain Visited by WSCLB, Now on Hiatus
Posted by Dave Segal on Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 11:13 AM
Holy Mountain, an art space/warehouse venue in South Lake Union known for its adventurous booking policy (Black Dice/Wolf Eyes, Past Lives, Talbot Tagora, etc.) and aesthetics, recently received a visit from the Washington State Liquor Control Board, which told the all-ages club's owners to cease selling beer and allowing smoking indoors. Consequently, Holy Mountain has stopped hosting shows until its organizers decide whether they want to continue throwing events without booze and smoking.
We have a call into the venue's residents. Stay tuned for more info.
UPDATE: A Holy Mountain organizer responds: "None of what you wrote is true. I don’t know who you talked to. We don’t even really do shows anymore. The Liquor Control Board never visited us. For the last four or five shows that we did do, we didn’t allow smoking or alcohol inside at all. We're not sure whether we're going to do shows anymore."
I heard about the WSLCB's visit to Holy Mountain from three separate sources, none of whom hold any antagonism toward Holy Mountain. I have a call and an email in to the WSLCB and will report what I hear as soon as they respond.
Nightlife Don't Punch a Gift Bouncer in the Mouth
Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 10:07 AM
On June 14th at about 1:30 AM, Seattle police responded to an assault call at the War Room on Capitol Hill. At the club, security staff told police that as they were removing the man from the bar after a fight, the man "spun around" and punched a bouncer in the face.
One bouncer tackled the man, held him on the ground until he calmed down. Even though the man had allegedly attacked a bouncer, club security told the man they would let him go if he would just leave the club. However, when club security let the man up, the man took another swing at a bouncer. This time, security staff grabbed the man again and held him until police arrived.
The man was booked into the King County Jail for investigation of assault.
Media This Is So Deeply Incriminating of Our Age
Posted by David Schmader on Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 9:44 AM
If Will.i.am is this age's Dylan, this age needs to end.
Lawyers: Is this in any way prosecutable? Malicious comparison? Felony gall? First-degree bullshit?
Will.i.am: Suck.u.do (and I typically like you and your brilliantly stupid songs.)
Tonight Tonight in Music: The Quiet Ones, Kinski, Dar Sirena
Posted by Chris Govella on Thu, Jun 18, 2009 at 9:00 AM
In this week's Up & Coming listings:
The Quiet Ones, Kinski, Marty Marquis(Crocodile) The Quiet Ones—three brothers, two of whom are twins, and one friend—are my sleeper hit of the summer. They released Better Walk Than Ride Like That last year, and I remember thinking (and writing) at the time that it was a fine record with obvious nods to Wilco. But "fine" doesn't usually stick, and away they went into the "soon to be forgotten" pile. But after being reintroduced to them weeks ago, on a hot, sunny afternoon, everything clicked into place—their bright Beatles-esque harmonies, their fun guitar riffs, their playful drumming. Their songs are delightful and imperfect packages of pop, and I want to spend the rest of the summer doing nothing but going on picnics while listening to them. MEGAN SELING
Dave Segal on Dar Sirena tonight:
Dar Sirena, 100Pieces(Mars Bar) Seattle trio Dar Sirena—Katrina Ellison, Erin Lau, and Victoria Jacobs—use Indian harmonium, Middle Eastern drums, castanets, and electronic percussion to forge a kind of mournful, meditative plainsong. If you're into this sort of ritualistic world music, their compositions induce a swirly-headed swooning and a sense of well-being that comes from consuming a plate of organic couscous. They also blend Butoh, flamenco, and belly dance. 100Pieces, by contrast, upset your equilibrium with unnerving ambience, pitiless beats, and tonal aggression. The plaything of one Murder and Joy Von Spain (an über-talented avant-garde/electronic composer who likes to blow off steam in Seattle's noise underground), 100Pieces are more about sonic shocks than chakras, making this lineup an odd one. DAVE SEGAL
For more concerts and shows, check our online music calendar.
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