Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Homo / Drinking / Nightlife / Tonight / #1 Fan Your (SuperGay!) Weekend Begins…NOW.
Posted by Adrian Ryan on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 5:54 PM
Buck up, silly queer! Gay Pride is happening all around you, and the world is filling with club nights and other super gay happenings. But if your P-R-I-D-E hasn’t really put its gay sneakers on and started running just yet (mine started in March, and might never be able to stop now…), now’s the time to start blowing your big gay wad. Because tonight, this is happening:
David Richie, who is dazzling, and DJ L.A. Kendal, who is off the fucking hizzle in general, invented it. (They also gave birth to the beautiful beast that was HotMess...R.I.P.) And as you can see, the event is billed as, um, "a multi-poly-omni art experiment". I'm not sure what that means exactly, but there's almost naked people in the picture. And music. And The BOoze. So, heeey. (Also, I have it on bad authority that this adorable creature is in town, and will be wandering the shadows at this event, too. I'm merely sayin'.)
These is some Hard Times, chile! Brave the wind! Get your gay on! TONIGHT!
War Room (722 East Pike), 9PM, $5.
Legal / Zzzzzzzzzzzzz Richard Marx Issues Verbal Bitch Slap to RIAA!
Posted by Grant Brissey on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 5:17 PM
Richard Marx goes for some street cred regarding the $1.92 million playlist:
As a longtime professional songwriter, I have always objected to the practice of illegal downloading of music. I have also always, however, been sympathetic to the average music fan, who has been consistently financially abused by the greedy actions of major labels. These labels, until recently, were responsible for the distribution of the majority of recorded music, and instead of nurturing the industry and doing their best to provide the highest quality of music to the fans, they predominantly chose to ream the consumer and fill their pockets.So now we have a "judgment" in a case of illegal downloading, and it seems to me, especially in these extremely volatile economic times, that holding Ms. Thomas-Rasset accountable for the continuing daily actions of hundreds of thousands of people is, at best, misguided and at worst, farcical. Her accountability itself is not in question, but this show of force posing as judicial come-uppance is clearly abusive. Ms. Thomas-Rasset, I think you got a raw deal, and I'm ashamed to have my name associated with this issue.
Via Ars Technica
MP3 New U.S.E. - "K.I.S.S.I.N.G."
Posted by Megan Seling on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 4:20 PM
A couple months ago, you got a sneak peak of the new U.S.E. record Loveworld with the song "All the World." Well the band just released another new song from the album (being released August 4th, same day as Throw Me the Statue's Creaturesque).
"K.I.S.S.I.N.G." is a little love song to you from a cute robot who's totally in love and just wants to dance. You can buy it for your very own here.
U.S.E. - "K.I.S.S.I.N.G."
U.S.E. are playing Bumbershoot September 6th.
Questionland Burning Question
Posted by Megan Seling on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 2:02 PM
Nightlife Is Black Senate Cursed?
Posted by Jonah Spangenthal-Lee on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 1:32 PM
Wherever local rap group Black Senate goes, trouble seems to follow.
In January, Black Senate member Trama was injured in a shooting at Chop Suey where rapper 29-e was killed. Two weeks later, another Black Senator, Contajus, was wounded in a shooting in Everett. Now, police records indicate that a man who was stabbed outside of a show at a Fremont nightclub earlier this week was also acquainted with the group.
According to a police report released earlier today by SPD, a female friend of Black Senate was leaving the Nectar Lounge on June 21—where the group was performing—when she got into a fight with her boyfriend. A Fremont resident taking out his trash told the two to keep it down, which apparently enraged the boyfriend.
The boyfriend and the neighbor got into an altercation, the report says, before another neighbor came out to see what was going on.
The boyfriend went back into Nectar, returned with a group of men, and a fight broke out. One of the neighbors pulled a knife and, according to police, stabbed one of the men in the group in the armpit.
The man with the knife was arrested for assault.
According to Black Senate member D-Lo, the man who was stabbed has a business relationship with the group, but downplayed any connection between Black Senate and this recent incident. "It’s sad that it’s occurring but there’s no relation [to Black Senate]," D-Lo says. "There’s no problem with this group. It’s a bad coincidence."
D-Lo says no Black Senate members were involved in the altercation.
Show Review / Last Night El Hombre En Negro: Rodriguez, Arthur & Yu @ Triple Door
Posted by Dave Segal on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 12:36 PM
Arthur & Yu play amiable, shaggy country rock that could’ve been made at any point in the past 40-some years. It’s utterly familiar-sounding and comforting; you could say it’s optimal dinner music, really, so it made sense for them to open at Triple Door for Sixto Rodriguez (no cutlery was jostled nor were glasses shattered during Arthur & Yu’s set).
Many of the six-piece’s songs have a dewy, wonderstruck quality; their rockingest moments are lighter than most rock bands’ gentlest passages. A&Y tread that fine line between sublime and soporific; your predilection for trad. arr. folk tunes and No Depression(RIP)-endorsed music will dictate whether you shriek or shrug to their supremely pleasant material.
Rodriguez looked cool as hell, even nearing 67, even with Light in the Attic label boss Matt Sullivan gingerly helping him to walk onstage; Rodriguez is El Hombre En Negro, Johnny Cash’s Mexican-American analogue. Backed by a keyboardist with a broken right thumb, bassist, guitarist, drummer, flautist, trombonist, and clarinetist (the lineup included SF band the Fresh & Onlys and Throw Me the Statue brassman Galen Green), Rodriguez strummed an acoustic and sang with a frail yet vibrant dignity. The large group lent Rodriguez’s songs a subtle grandiosity, which drowned out the singer on the Donovan-tastic orchestral opener, “Inner City Blues.” He eventually came up in the mix and sounded stronger, but initially I feared that this was going to be a repeat of Arthur Lee’s last go-round with Love, during which Lee's voice failed miserably to reach the high registers.
Between songs, Rodriguez dispensed advice and aphorisms. “There’s only one thing worse than a lying b-i-t-c-h—a lying p-r-i-c-k.” “Wanna know the secret of life? Breathe in, breathe out. Wanna know the two most important words regarding relationships? Yes, dear.” After a rousing, robustly psychedelic version of “Only Good For Conversation,” Rodriguez averred that neither men nor women could be trusted. When one woman shouted, “I like your smile,” Rodriguez smiled and said, “It’s bullshit, but keep talking, baby.” He did this in such a charming manner that you knew the admirer will treasure that denouncement for the rest of her life.
Right before the man’s signature classic, “Sugar Man” (refreshing that he didn’t save this till the end), Rodriguez removed his black suit jacket to reveal a black sleeveless shirt; his black pants were tucked into black boots and his sunglasses were black. The song, as always, revealed a remarkable balance between euphoria (the wind instruments) and bummer (the bass and drums). The band built it to a chaotic clamor at one point, and then returned to order and calm, before finishing with a dramatic flourish not heard on the LP version. Rodriguez & co. also embellished “Climb Up on My Music” with tasteful dosages of SF acid-rock quicksilver.
The three-track encore contained some of the night’s best music, with “I’m Gonna Live Till I Die” serving as a potent manifestation of Rodriguez’s seize-the-day ethos. “Can’t Get Away” exuded a gripping, soaring joy that was tempered by an undercurrent of disenchantment, something that living in Detroit instills in its natives for life. Rodriguez closed the set with a solo acoustic rendition of the mid-’60s-Dylan-esque “Jane S. Piddy,” with its refrain, “I know you’re lonely” poignantly quivering in the hushed air. The crowd responded with a standing O.
Rodriguez is one of those rare music-biz stories: a cult figure revered by diggers/obsessive collectors who gets his due recognition and broader exposure decades after his classics dropped, and is still alive to reap the belated rewards. (On that note, Light in the Attic should be nominated for some kind of award for catalyzing this Rodriguez revival.) It’s safe to say everyone in the full Triple Door last night felt privileged to have witnessed Rodriguez and his yeoman pickup band.
Set list:
Inner City Blues
I Wonder
To Whom It May Concern
Crucify Your Mind
Only Good For Conversation
Sugar Man
Rich Folks Hoax
Like Janis
I Think Of You
Establishment Blues
You'd Like To Admit It
Climb Up On My Music
Forget It
—-
I'm Gonna Live Till I Die
Can't Get Away
Jane S. Piddy
All photos by Hilary Harris, more after the jump...
Legal / News Mad Rad: Not Guilty!
Posted by Eric Grandy on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 11:49 AM
Just got off the phone with Mad Rad's Terry Radjaw, who reports that today, following two days in court, Buffalo Madonna and DJ Darwin were both found not guilty of the charges filed against them following last year's scuffle at Neumos.
"The two bouncers' stories didn't add up," says Radjaw. "And then Buffalo took the stand and told the truth, and the jury had his side and knew he was telling the truth."
"It feels good," he continues. "I'm glad we fought it the way we fought it versus just copping a plea."
Does he think this will improve the band's standing with Neumos and other Seattle clubs?
"I don't know. It'd be great if it did. We obviously weren't at fault here in the eyes of the judicial system, and those security guards don't work there anymore, so hopefully. That's why we weren't all like, 'fuck Neumos,' when this happened, because we knew we'd get it ironed out eventually."
??!! / Teh Internets It's the Thought That Counts
Posted by David Schmader on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 11:28 AM
Thank you, itemnotasdescribed.com.
Decibel Re: Decibel Announces Preliminary Lineup
Posted by Eric Grandy on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 11:12 AM
Lost of good stuff in this preliminary line-up for Decibel Festival. But, really, one of these acts makes me waaaay more excited than all the others, and that's Alter Ego. Yes, "Rocker" is probably entirely responsible for Justice, et al, but you can hardly hold that against them (Alter Ego, that is; hold it against Justice all you want).
Anyway, Alter Ego's work goes way beyond that song, and it's pretty consistently great, combining fucking ridiculous big techno rave-ups with a much-welcome sense of humor. Just yesterday I was listening to What's Next, the remix companion to their recent album Why Not?, and damn, there's some good stuff on there. For one thing, the source material is awesome—stupid thick synths, insanely nagging melodies—for another, Alter Ego enlist some top-quality friends to reinterpret the stuff (Carl Craig, Modeselektor, Supermayer, Joakim, Koze). Here's Supermayer's relatively subdued remix of "Jolly Joker":
I cannot wait to see Alter Ego tear the fucking roof off Seattle.
Song The Blow Responds!
Posted by Christopher Frizzelle on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 10:31 AM
A couple weeks ago, Eric Grandy wrote about a nagging question he's always had about The Blow's song "Parentheses"—"It's a minor complaint, as the song is like 99.99% perfect"—off the (fucking great) 2006 album Paper Television. Eric's basic problem is with this lyric in the chorus: "And when you're holding me/we make a pair of parentheses." As Eric pointed out:
A pair of parantheses encasing plenty of space looks like this:(plenty of space)
But if we're talking about people as punctuation, wouldn't two parentheses holding each other look like:
))
Khaela Maricich, aka The Blow, has written a response to Eric's question. Here tis:
It's nice, and a little surreal, to read that people could be interested enough in something that I have made to nit pick over the grammer and specifications of the imagery. To a certain degree, I feel that if I didn't get the idea all the way across in the song, if there is confusion about what I really meant, then it would be sort of cheating for me to go tacking on notes of clarification after the fact. However, my approach to my live shows has been to use them to put the songs from the album into context and to flesh out what I meant with the lyrics. A written explanation could be viewed as a mini show from the comfort of my couch.There have been a couple of requests to use the song "Parentheses" in commercials. In a pitch from Secret deodorant, their sketches showed a girl with her arms up over her head that would be shown when the lyrics about parentheses came up. I guess in that case, the metaphorical arms of the deodorant are holding the girl, making her feel safe (by encasing her smell?). I suppose that the feeling I was trying to nail wouldn't be that different from the security of knowing that strangers can't smell your b.o. The subtlety though, and the romance of it for me, which didn't seem to be there in the Secret commercial pitch, is that there exists a person with whom you could let go a bit, someone with whom you could lay side by side, holding each other, unworried about odors, and feel space to talk about things that you don't understand and can't easily describe.
I've been trying to describe that particular indescribable in songs and performances for a long time. In my mind I just refer to it as "the weirdness." Generally, I am trying to address how bizarre it is to exist here alive on the planet, and then the web of awkwardnesses that radiate ouwtards from there. On some occasions I feel like people have understood me. Certain audiences, certain nights, I have felt like the veneer got pulled back and we shared a moment of that strange raw awareness. But I really wonder how the Secret deodorant people heard the lyric about "there's plenty space to encase whatever weird way my mind goes." Does the song just sound poppy enough that they didn't notice that part? Or do they totally get it, and understand that teenage girls do get into existential trip-outs, and believe that this would be a deeper sellng point? My stance lately is to just say the thing that I am thinking about as clearly as I can, and then let people either get it or not get it. It's hard, though, as I tend to be the type who will obsess over whether or not people understand me. It hadn't even occured to me that there could be uncertainty about the physical positioning of the snuggled bodies in the refrain.
Khaela Maricich, ladies and gentlemen.
Decibel Decibel Announces Preliminary Lineup
Posted by Dave Segal on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 10:22 AM
There's much to be excited about with the list of artists below, with techno and dubstep especially well represented. Dozens more artists will be booked in the coming months. We will report additions as we receive the information. Decibel Festival happens Sept. 24-27 at various Seattle venues.
Alex Under (ES) : Alter Ego (DE) : Andrew Weatherall (UK) : Benga (UK) : Boxcutter (UK) : Bruno Pronsato (DE) : Caspa (UK) : Daedalus (US) : Goldmund (US) : KiloWatts (US) : Lusine (US) : Mad Professor (UK) : Martyn (US) : Mary Anne Hobbs (UK) : Megasoid (CA) : Mikael Stavöstrand (SE) : Monolake (DE) : Mountains (US) : Move D (DE) : N-Type (UK) : Nosaj Thing (US) : Pezzner (US) : Reagenz (UK / US) : Spacetime Continuum (US) : Sub Swara (US) : Tadeo (ES) : Tanner Ross (US) : Voodeux (US) : The Wighnomy Brothers (DE)
Tonight Tonight in Music: David Byrne, Tom Brosseau, K'naan
Posted by Chris Govella on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 9:00 AM
David ByrneAt age 57, this Talking Heads icon exhibited phenomenal athletic grace and stamina during his February concert at Benaroya. Byrne performed much of the two albums he recorded with fellow genius Brian Eno—as well as some of the Heads' most scintillating output—as if it were 1983, not 2009. Much of Byrne's appeal now hinges on nostalgia, but rarely do old chestnuts burn (down the house) as brightly as this spry New Yorker's avant-rock compositions. (Paramount Theatre, 911 Pine St, 467-5510. 7:30 pm, $45, all ages.) Dave Segal
In Up & Coming tonight:
Tom Brosseau, Zera Marvel(Tractor) Listening to Tom Brosseau's semi-nasal voice, you wouldn't initially think of it as a successful vehicle for the blues. (In fact, some of his tracks sound more like the ragtime classics that Robert Crumb has built a whole noncartoonist side career championing.) But combined with his minimalist guitar playing, some of Brosseau's sadder songs—especially "Rose"—definitely evoke some of that dust-bowl longing. If his tracks came with an old-record pop and hiss added in, you might get confused about when the songs were written. You can draw a family tree that would make perfect sense: Brosseau's folk is as much a full-blooded cousin to the blues as Josh Ritter's early work was kin to bluegrass. PAUL CONSTANT
Matisyahu, K'naan(Moore) Writing about the Canadian-by-way-of-Somalia rapper K'naan back in March, I said, "Time will tell if [the just released] Troubadour jells into something as significant as [2006's] The Dusty Foot Philosopher..." And three months later, I can report that it has not. Still, consider that a testament to the brilliance of Philosopher, not a dis of Troubadour, which remains a sturdy if unspectacular release by a spectacular talent whose gifts are fully evident in his live show, which headliner Matisyahu will have to work his ass off to top. DAVID SCHMADER
Kelly O talks with Airpocalypse:
US Air Guitar Championships - Seattle RegionalTell me what you're training for.
El Corazón is ground zero for the Seattle regional air-guitar competition. The survivor gets the privilege of competing in the nationals, where one of our nation's greatest will be chosen to represent the USA at the world finals in Oulu, Finland.Are you worried about competition here in Seattle?
Absolutely. The ranks of great air guitarists grow with each passing day, and every competition brings a finer crop of new recruits. Seattle has several seasoned air guitarists at the moment, some of whom I have battled onstage.
Upcoming New Fest on the Block
Posted by Gina Young on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 12:57 AM
Orcas Island boasts many things: a beautiful ferry ride, Native American History, gigantic purple and orange starfish, occasional whale spotting and now, an upstart music festival.
The second annual Doe Bay Music Festival is scheduled for August 14th and 15th 2009 at Doe Bay on Orcas Island, and although it might seem to aspire to the ranks of a Capitol Hill Block Party or a Bumbershoot, the little festival that could also prides itself on being different.
“This is a family owned and operated event,” says Kevin Sur, whose company Artist Home Booking is organizing the event, “We're taking a very grassroots approach to everything, from the promotion to the catering.”
Whereas most Summer Festivals in the Northwest boast attendance upwards of 150,000, Kevin is actually excited that Doe Bay won’t be nearly that large. A musician himself (who formerly toured with Luckie Strike and currently fronts Indian Valley Line), he laments the “overcrowding” that can sometimes get in the way of enjoying a favorite band at a festival. Doe Bay will be capping attendance this year at 750.
The 2009 lineup is heavy on the alt country and indie rock, currently boasting The Long Winters, David Bazan, The Maldives, Hey Marseilles, The Lonely Forest, Friday Mile and The Moondoggies — and don’t expect completely traditional performances, either.
“People who come shouldn't be surprised to find that they'll be able to catch the different artists performing impromptu sets aside from their scheduled times in random tucked away places around the retreat,” says Kevin. Last year, for example, the Maldives performed an unscheduled morning set on the beach that many attendees trickled out of their tents and cabins to catch.
I asked Kevin what in particular he was looking forward to this year. “I'm especially excited to see The Long Winters, as well as David Bazan, who used to front Pedro the Lion. I've seen them both, but there is just something about seeing all these amazing bands in this beautiful, pristine setting that will make it unlike any time I have seen them before.”
Doe Bay Music Festival tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets and accommodation information is available via Doe Bay (360) 376-2291 or www.doebay.com
Zzzzzzzzzzzzz "Just in case you're one of those people who think this was originally a Soft Cell song."
Posted by Megan Seling on Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 12:00 AM
My friend Neil just schooled me. I had no idea "Tainted Love" wasn't a Soft Cell original.
Gloria Jones - "Tainted Love" (1964)
I blame my ignorance on the fact that I was born in 1980.*
*At least I knew it wasn't a Marilyn Manson song, right??
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