Thursday, July 9, 2009

Thank You Showbox, That Was the Most Fucked Up Show I've Seen in Forever

Posted by Kelly O on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 10:21 PM

I was a little worried that yesterday's show starring WWF wrestling legend Jake The Snake, and sideshow freaks, the Jim Rose Circus, might be, well, a little boring. I mean, dudes have aged. I worried for not. Maybe because I got pulled up onstage and got to stand on Jim Rose's head, while he pressed his whole face into a pile of broken glass, maybe that's why I had a amazing time. Or maybe it was because the show also had these 10 other things...

1. Genuine Non-Ironic Superfans

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This guy told me he met Jake 20 years ago, and last night, meeting him again, Jake remembered his name (it's "Junior", BTW).

2. A Great Big Scary Snake

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They performed for a long time before he went and finally got it. Then the show ended a little abruptly because they couldn't get it under control, or back in the burlap bag.

3. The Human Dart Board

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Watching 30-some drunk people take turns throwing darts at this guy's back made everyone squirm. I saw him wipe a tear from his eye too. Crybaby.

Lots more after the jump...

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Win Tix to Psychic Ills' July 13 Show

Posted by Dave Segal on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 4:56 PM

Local psychedelic-arts collective Portable Shrines is hosting the Psychic Ills/Indian Jewelry/Backward Masks show Mon. July 13. The organizers are holding ticket give-aways (guest list spots) at Wall of Sound and the Capitol Hill Sonic Boom. Portable Shrines will draw winners' names Sun. July 12. Enter! This shit's going to be amazing.

My Stranger Suggests blurb is below.

Psychic Ills, Indian Jewelry
MUSIC
Local psychedelic-arts collective Portable Shrines has hit the jackpot tonight, landing two of America's finest mind-warpers. Indian Jewelry, from Texas, excel at both erecting majestic drones and forging a sort of tantric garage rock that makes a thrilling virtue out of repetitive, distortion-saturated riffing. Brooklyn's Psychic Ills have morphed from 13th Floor Elevators/Spacemen 3 acolytes into a much stranger beast, a kind of lysergic dub unit. On the recent Mirror Eye, their tracks throb, glow, and drift in a disorienting haze. (Funhouse, 206 Fifth Ave N, 374-8400. 9:30 pm, $7, 21+.)

LITA's Betty Davis Reissue Campaign Continues

Posted by Dave Segal on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 4:17 PM

If Nasty Gal and Is It Love or Desire are half as good as Betty Davis and They Say I'm Different, which contain some of the most outrageously lascivious funk ever, they'll be worth the long wait.

LIGHT IN THE ATTIC TO RELEASE LOST BETTY DAVIS ALBUM, REISSUE CLASSIC THIRD RECORD

On October 6th Light In The Attic Records will release the never before heard (and never bootlegged) lost album Is It Love Or Desire, as well as reissue the classic third release Nasty Gal, by unparalleled funkstress Betty Davis.

Betty Davis was a musical maverick with a vision. Imagine substance, sex, and grit combined with a badass band that could deliver the funk bed backbone to the sultry music between the sheets.

Ahead of it’s time in 1975, Davis’ unapologetically uncompromising, self-referential album Nasty Gal showed her digging deeper into her musical and cultural expression that ever before. Riding high with a new record label, a series of high profile relationships, and an intensely sexualized live performance, Davis was poised to take the world by storm. From the title tracks mutant groove to the ballad co-written by one-time husband Miles Davis, Nasty Gal is Hendrix and Sly Stone inspired funk-rock at it’s finest.

Is It Love Or Desire (1976), on the other hand, is a little known gem in the Davis catalog. After cutting Nasty Gal for Island Records, Davis recorded her most personal and expressive record to date at Louisiana’s remote Studio In The Country. Unfortunately a creative difference with the label caused the record to be unexpectedly shelved and was never released to the public... Now, thirty-plus years later, Light In The Attic is proud to announce that Betty Davis’ time has arrived!

Both mastered from the original tapes, Is It Love Or Desire features detailed liner notes by Oliver Wang (Soul Sides), the originally intended risqué artwork housed in a lavishly packaged digipak, rare photos, archival material, and recent interviews with Davis and her skin-tight band Funk House; while the Nasty Gal re-release features new liner notes by John Ballon (Wax Poetics 2007 Davis cover story), original album art, complete lyrics, rare photos, and interviews, all housed in a beautiful foil-stamped digipak.

These releases cement this bold soul sister’s undeniable contributions to music and popular culture. Long live Betty Davis!

Sugababes : "Get Sexy"

Posted by Dean Fawkes on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 3:46 PM

Another year into the void. Another lead-off Sugababes single.

Take that, going-to-split rumor villains!



As a debut to the girls' seventh full-length album, it sounds —zzz! — American.

The group's just signed on to Jay-Z's label and apparently been working in Los Angeles with producers of Beyoncé, Lady GaGa, and Rihanna, so it's not a whole shock.

THX-like intro? Whoosh. Right Said Fred bits? Plop. It doesn't recall a lot like other Sugababes singles, apart from maybe 2002's Richard X-produced "Freak Like Me," a song we hated. And yet "Get Sexy" only offers more ambivalent feelings.

Which isn't particularly a pop ideal.

The more Sugababes try to sound different, really, the more they start to sound like everyone else.

Is it possible to be loud and confident but unconvincing?

Burning Question

Posted by Megan Seling on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 2:55 PM

"What's a good record store that might have less-than-mainstream electronica?"

Sexy Saturday: Mary Kay Letourneau and Vili Fualaau at Dante's

Posted by Bethany Jean Clement on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 1:20 PM

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In May, Mary Kay Letourneau hosted Hot for Teacher night at Fuel in Pioneer Square—where, among other things, she negotiated with a bachelorette party about whether to autograph a large inflatable penis. The DJ: her former student, her reason for imprisonment, and her current husband, Vili Fualaau, a.k.a. DJ Headline.

They're back, at Dante's this Saturday. No cover.

Today's Music News

Posted by Megan Seling on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 1:08 PM

Wax Reunites: The band will play Riot Fest in Chicago in October. (I wonder if that means MTV will play their previously banned video now?)

Shouldn't He Be Concentrating on That Whole Album-For-Every-State Project?: Sufjan Stevens revisits and old record.

Low Bassist Sells Art On eBay: For $1,200 you can own the original painting featured on Low's The Great Destroyer record.

Turning Tragedy Into Triumph: When United Airlines broke his guitar and refused to pay for it, singer Dave Carroll wrote a song and made a viral video out of the situation.

I've Done Dumber Things

Posted by Megan Seling on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 12:46 PM

Last week, while listening to Phil Collins' "Against All Odds" for the first time in years, I made some flippant comment about how I could listen to that song forever. It's not the best song ever written, I know that, but I really loved it as a kid and that all came rushing back to me, so whatever.

Well my sister called my bluff. She said that I couldn't even listen to the song once every hour that I was awake for a week, let alone forever. Now I could've said "You're right, Sister, I can't." But instead, being the stubborn (and weird) person that I am, I've dedicated this week to proving her wrong (and I'm tracking my progress for evidence too).

I know. It's ridiculous. But I'm doing it anyway. And as of today, I'm halfway through the week. (I started Monday, my last day is Sunday.)

I'm not that tired of the song itself, really. It's the process of documenting each listen that's getting old. Still, I'm totally going to win. So it's worth it.

I'm just really glad I didn't say anything about "In the Air Tonight" or "Sussudio." That'd be impossible.

Makin' It

Posted by Eric Grandy on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 11:25 AM

A local DJ posted the following request to the Euphonic email list this morning:

fresh espresso

I need a copy of their "Diamond Pistols" joint for a wedding. Anyone know where I can cop it?

Cheers,

Fresh Espresso, you have arrived.

The Balls

Posted by Charles Mudede on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 11:07 AM

Yes, it's that girl who kissed someone or another. The kissing business, however, is not my concern. My concern is this...
-2.jpg...Cosmopolitan's use of ballsie language: Is it something new or old?

Today in Annoying Band Names

Posted by Dave Segal on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 11:02 AM

Low Low Low La La La Love Love Love. Musically, they're okay—shivery, gentle folk rock for those looking to get their pleasant on. But their repetition/alliteration thing has gotten out of control, and it's a huge pain to type. On top of that, it takes up way too much space on a marquee, should this British group ever reach that level. Plus, I don't think Low, the La's, or Love will take very kindly to having their monikers dragged into this.

Are people calling them L9 yet?

Hugo, Chris, Kelly, Ellis

Photo from the band's MySpace.

Celine Dion One-Ups Corey Feldman (As Usual)

Posted by Wm.™ Steven Humphrey on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 10:17 AM

On second thought, maybe Corey Feldman dressing up like Michael Jackson at the pop singer's memorial wasn't the weirdest thing ever. As things currently stand, THIS is the weirdest thing ever: Celine Dion dressed as Michael Jackson. Sweet dreams, everyone!

Hat tips to Buzzfeed.

Also Tonight: Extreme Animals, Cousin Cole

Posted by Eric Grandy on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 9:58 AM

Two more happenings tonight that are well worth your attention even if they didn't make it into the paper:

NYC DJ Cousin Cole is playing Bangers & Mash at the Seesound Lounge tonight. Cousin Cole is one half of the Flagrant Fowl label, along with DJ Pocketknife. His tastes in tracks range from hip hop to indie rock to electro and beyond, and his way with a remix is impeccable. I think my favorite thing of his is his dancey re-edit of Jesus & Mary Chain's "Just Like Honey," but this rework of the Boss' "I'm on Fire" is pretty fun, too:


Also tonight, Paper Rad-related 8-bit thrashers Extreme Animals are at the Hedreen Arts Center (901 12th Ave, call 206-296-2244 for more info). I had the distinct pleasure of catching the Animals a last year at SXSW, and it was awesome—there was a pretty hardcore feedback knob solo and an inspired cover of Archers of Loaf's "Web in Front." About this tour, the duo says:

This summer we are taking a new approach to our tour. We will spend two days in each city we visit. One night we will perform as the Extreme Animals. The other night we will present videos with live performances by Jacob Ciocci and David Wightman (Fortress of Amplitude). These later events will take place in theaters and comfortable galleries, spaces in which the audience can feel free to sit back and relax.

Tonight's show is billed as a screening, which means maybe you won't get to see the band do this (but just maybe they'll still bust out a few songs—please!?):

Tonight in Music: Seahouse, Music from Final Fantasy, Wah Wah Exit Wound

Posted by Chris Govella on Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 9:00 AM

In Underage:

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Seahouse, Masters and Johnson, Last Slice of Butter, The Raindrops

From their first, sloppy shows at the Old Fire House in 2007 to the first time they destroyed a party at now-defunct Central District DIY house the Ark, Issaquah's Seahouse have always been something very special, as evidenced by the unanimously stoked crowds that meet them everywhere they go. Their simple, lo-fi sing-alongs encompass all that it is to be a suburban teenager—but on their first full-length album, PNW, they elevate their poppy basement jams to full-on summer-soundtrack material. The inhuman beat of Nick Leumpert, flat-out the city's best young drummer, lays the groundwork for the band's grimy guitars and the blooming teenage lyrical prowess of vocalist and frontman Max Smith-Holmes. Whether being hopelessly lost in love, anticipating the end of school, or welling up with hometown pride, PNW is a raw and honest trip through Smith-Holmes's hang-ups and enthusiasms.

In The Score:

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Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy with Seattle Symphony

(Benaroya Hall) Earle Brown, a compadre of John Cage and Morton Feldman in the so-called New York School, would have deemed Nobuo Uematsu's score to Final Fantasy a prime specimen of "open form." Brown coined the term in the 1950s to describe performing a composition by shuffling and joining seemingly separate sections of a score on the spot. Written music becomes like a deck of cards in poker; every deal is part of the game, yet some hands will be stronger than others. Composers for computer games do the same thing, penning snippets (some just two or four beats long) and phrase-length segments able to wallpaper and withstand the sudden transitions, almost endless looping, ambient sound, and omnipresent special effects that pervade gameplay (ka-BOOM!). After I extract myself from the Final Fantasy tutorial to grab a snack, my (in)actions still cocompose the music, which owes equal debts to prog rock and Carmina Burana: Drums and tinkling percussion buttress stomping rhythms, sentimental tunes, and the occasional doom-bellowing choir..

In Up & Coming tonight:

Coconut Coolouts, Mean Jeans, Little Cuts

(Funhouse) The thing to love about Coconut Coolouts is that they're always playing. Not as in they're always playing their instruments; it just feels as though they are always at play, always having fun. (Naming tracks "Party Jail" and "Shotgun Party" probably help to keep the good-times vibe a-comin'.) I don't mean this in a "they're-sure-having-fun-up-there" backhanded slap sort of way; I mean they're always experimenting and pursuing the sound of fun wherever it tries to hide. Rhythmic hand claps? Why not? What sounds like 200 people singing the chorus of a song? Sure! The Coconut Coolouts are scientists in the partyest laboratory on earth, and they want you to be a guinea pig. Say yes. PAUL CONSTANT

Wah Wah Exit Wound, Diminished Men, the Abodox

(Blue Moon) Wah Wah Exit Wound brashly thread abrasive post-rock guitar textures through prog-rock convolutions—sort of like a less-bombastic Mars Volta or maybe Polvo tackling King Crimson's Red. Whatever the case, WWEW do their thing—a thing not many have the skill and guts to do—very well. Seattle's Diminished Men are mainly known for casting surf rock in starkly noirish shadows and infusing it with kitsch-free drama. But they also veer off the reverbed, twangy path into more abstract, chilling territory ripe for scoring classic giallo films, fusing Goblin with Ennio Morricone. The Abodox apply cataclysmic pressure to the metal genre until it becomes spectacular torrents of magma. Technical prowess meets raging fury in the Abodox's creations, and we all go home bruised and drained. Proper loud, complex music from right here. DAVE SEGAL

Skeletonwitch, Saviours, Trap Them, Black Breath

(Chop Suey) Skeletonwitch is a stupid band name. They sound fucking evil—grunting zombie vocals and guitar solos that could pierce your soul—but their name kills the vibe. I picture them sitting around, probably stoned, bantering, "Dude, you know what's scary? Skeletons." "Yeah, dude, those are scary! You know what would be even scarier? A skeleton witch!" "Fuck, man, a skeleton witch? That'd be fuckin' scary!" They might as well be called Mummywolf or Vampirefrankenstein. Openers Saviours are less goofy. Their stoner-rific metal is epic—less monster mash and more "I will punish you by way of thundering guitar riff." And their name doesn't sound like a third grader made it up. MEGAN SELING

Remember to check our online calendar with a complete listing of live music and DJs going on tonight.

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