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Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Album / ??!! Are You Fucking Kidding, Kanye?

Posted by Megan Seling on Tue, Jun 18, 2013 at 10:51 AM

Along with the rest of the world, I listened to Yeezus this morning, now that it's up on Spotify. Turns out Kanye West loves to stick his dick in things. Who knew? Also, look who makes a guest appearance on the song "I Am a God" (in which West demands that someone bring him some croissants):

Screen_shot_2013-06-18_at_10.29.32_AM.png

TEN THOUSAND SIGHS.

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Thursday, June 13, 2013

Hellevant / Very Great / Bieber Fever / Album / 206 Today's Music News: Lil Wayne Plans Retirement, Sex with Socks, and So Much More

Posted by Kyle Fleck on Thu, Jun 13, 2013 at 12:04 PM

Lil Wayne Calling It Quits?: After releasing Tha Carter 5, Lil Wayne told Jimmy Kimmel he plans to retire and spend more time with his children. Does anyone actually believe when musicians say things like this anymore, particularly musicians as absurdly prolific as Wayne?

Sir Paul Invades Colbert: And plays a whole bunch of Beatles and Wings songs. He is a charming lad, that one.

Justin Bieber Is Finally Going to Space: On Christmas, with his manager and, oh I don't know, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kate Winslet and Russell Brand. NBD for the Biebs. Just another day in the life.

Beth Gibbon Goes Solo: The Portishead frontwoman has a new album coming out, to be released via Domino Records.

"I Have Sex Real Good with Socks On": Quoth Big Boi in an entertaining GQ interview. Apparently "it's a secret that all men who slingin' heavy pipe know about." Wasn't Rachel's ex-fiance on Friends worried that she broke up with him because he wore his socks during sex?

Rose Windows Will Make You Feel Epic: The Windows' debut album The Sun Dogs comes out on June 25. Early word is very positive. Whet your appetite until then with "Native Dreams."

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Wednesday, June 12, 2013

New Releases / Very Great / Album / On Tour John Grant: The Greatest Motherfucker You're Ever Gonna Meet

Posted by Kathy Fennessy on Wed, Jun 12, 2013 at 10:36 AM

Bella Union-Partisan

John Grant
Pale Green Ghosts
(Bella Union-Partisan Records)

I am the greatest motherfucker you're ever gonna meet / from the top of my head down to the tips of the toes on my feet / So, go ahead and love me while it's still a crime / but don't forget you could be laughing 65% more of the time.
—John Grant, "GMF"

Recorded in Reykjavík with GusGus's Biggi Veira, former Czars front man and Midlake sideman John Grant's Pale Green Ghosts is one of the year's most surprising records—it's also one of the best.

I could tell from the first few electronic pulses that I would like it, but in truth, I'd already read a few things about the album—the Other Music summary, the Pitchfork review—so I had some idea as to what to expect: a gut-wrenchingly confessional song cycle with none of the reedy singing that makes so many coffeehouse troubadours so un-listenable.

And that's because this isn't a folk record and Grant's rich baritone voice is hardly reedy. Nor does he over-enunciate every word, a musical-theater trope drives me around the bend. No, this is dance music. And fuck-you music. But the beats never overwhelm the lyrics, and he barely raises his beautiful voice, which just makes his statements sting all the more, i.e. "You think I hate myself, but it's you I hate." That's right: his sophomore release recounts a breakup. It's also his first full-length since revealing his HIV+ status. Suffice to say: anger fuels this art.

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Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Album / Love Album Review: RVIVR's The Beauty Between

Posted by Megan Seling on Wed, Jun 5, 2013 at 11:37 AM

RVIVR
The Beauty Between
(Rumbletowne)
***** (out of 5)

<a href="http://rvivr.bandcamp.com/album/the-beauty-between">The Beauty Between by RVIVR</a>

My RVIVR affair was love at first listen—in 2010, they made my heart leap with their Dirty Water EP, a quick five-song listen that included a spirit-strengthening cover of Shellshag's "Resilient Bastard." At the time, the band came off as an optimistic, scrappy punk-rock outfit from Olympia—lovable for their infectious attitude more than anything else. Then came my introduction to their self-titled full-length, a wickedly cathartic celebration of life. The optimistic, pepped-up punk songs are delivered with an honest-feeling, nonsloppy recklessness—as though it was recorded in a single take with their friends in the room because they'd planned to go inner-tubing after the record was done.

While their newest album, The Beauty Between, starts with the same relentless spirit the band has carried throughout its short career, it does, for the first time, take a more vulnerable turn.

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Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Breaking News / Celeb / Hellevant / Very Great / Crap / Album / In the Studio / Video / 206 Today's Music News: Today's Disease News, Danny Brown Thinks Cereal's Overrated, New Albums from Riff Raff and David Lynch

Posted by Kyle Fleck on Tue, Jun 4, 2013 at 11:37 AM

Jonathan Poneman Diagnosed with Parkinson's: The Sub Pop cofounder went public with his diagnosis this morning, explaining how grappling with the disease has given him a new perspective on his life. Many well wishes to Poneman and those close to him.

And Sharon Jones is Undergoing "Immediate Surgery" for Cancer: Canceling her tour and postponing release of her latest album. Luckily, the stage-one cancer on her bile duct (whoa! I didn't know that was a thing) is "operable and curable." Good luck to you in surgery, Ms. Jones!

Soulja Boy Takes on The Bachelorette: And makes a pretty amazing music video after recruiting the show's stars to be extras. Inane!

David Lynch to Release Second Album: Because people went crazy for Crazy Clown Time, apparently. Definitely curious to hear his collaboration with Lykke Li.

Everything That's Right with Music Today: Skrillex and Riff Raff have an album coming out together, Riff told MTV Australia.

Danny Brown Has the Best Laugh in the World: Check out Detroit rapper Danny Brown explain why he thinks cereal's overrated. Agreed! I don't eat soggy things either.

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Monday, June 3, 2013

Album / Upcoming / 206 What's Up Seattle? Mixtape Listening Party @ Linda's June 4

Posted by Dave Segal on Mon, Jun 3, 2013 at 1:22 PM

Haunted Horses' drummer Myke Pelly has compiled the second mixtape of What's Up Seattle? and will be hosting a listening party Tues. June 4 at Linda's Tavern (8:30 pm, free, 21+), along with KEXP's Audioasis.

The 15-track comp features contributions from some of the city's most riveting bands, including Brain Fruit, MTNS, Dreamdecay, Naomi Punk, the Numbs, and Wimps. Overall, it's a vivid picture of what's happening in Seattle's rock underground ca. 2013: tuneful (post) punk, uncorny goth darkness, exploratory noise, and leftfield electronic excursions—although it could use some shoegaze and psych rock. Maybe next time. Favorite discovery: Celebrater, whose "Boyfriends" sounds like a bizarre new strain of ye olde triphop. [Just found out that Celebrater is Taylor Wingett (current guitarist for Exquisites, former guitarist of Footwork). Celebrater used to be called Secondary.]

More info here.

<a href="http://whatsupseattle.bandcamp.com/album/mixtape-no-2">Mixtape No.2 by What's Up Seattle</a>

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Friday, May 31, 2013

Album / Upcoming Great Scots: Boards of Canada's Tomorrow's Harvest Transmitting Live June 3

Posted by Dave Segal on Fri, May 31, 2013 at 9:13 AM

Eager to hear Scottish duo Boards of Canada's new album, Tomorrow's Harvest? Luckily for you, Warp Records and the group are transmitting it live Mon. June 3 at 1 pm PST in advance of its June 11 release date. Call me daft, punk, but I'll bet you my copy of Hi Scores that Tomorrow's Harvest will be a more satisfying listen than Random Access Memories. Log on here for that BOC goodness.

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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Album / 206 Oh-Zone Players: Hair and Space Museum's Heliosheath

Posted by Dave Segal on Tue, May 28, 2013 at 2:04 PM

Hair and Space Museum have released their debut recording, Heliosheath, described by the duo as “an homage to the current location of the Voyager 1 space probe, the first man made object to leave our Solar System.... More recordings may or may not be released in the future, depending on the fate of Voyager 1.”

Heliosheath is a 24-minute interstellar hymn realized via synthesizers played by Midday Veil’s David Golightly and Emily Pothast, plus the latter’s oh-zoned chants. Hair and Space Museum coax serene, expansive drones that accrue a sacred aura the longer you listen to them. Even heard on a computer, Heliosheath triggered ASMR (autonomous sensory meridian response, aka attention induced head orgasm)—although your mileage may vary. Whatever the case, this music will do a body and mind a galaxy of good at this late juncture in human civilization.

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Celeb / Very Great / Album / Zzzzzzzzzzzzz Today's Music News: Damon Albarn Wrote an Opera, New QOTSA Album, and Inappropriate Touching

Posted by Kyle Fleck on Tue, May 28, 2013 at 12:19 PM

"The Animosity of the Nineties is Gone": Says Damon Albarn, who recently played with Oasis' Noel Gallagher in Britpop's Nas/Jay-Z moment. He's also got his first solo record coming out, an opera he wrote is coming to the States and Blur has several festival dates this summer. Busy man!

Anthony Bourdain Hearts Queens of the Stone Age: And wrote a nice, funny little bio for the band in anticipation of their new album ...Like Clockwork. Meanwhile, the band has put the album on iTunes for streaming.

Drake's Dad Causes a Stir: By (maybe?) posting the tracklist to Drake's new album Nothing Was the Same on Instagram, then promptly deleting it. Either way, the album looks to feature production by Clams Casino and James Blake, and guest spots from Frank Ocean, Justin Timberlake and A$AP Rocky.

Today in "No Touching! No Touching!": A concert-goer in Copenhagen "confused his front-row ticket with permission to ... slap [Beyonce] on the ass," and Beyonce was understandably not amused. The fan who got surprise access to Miguel's nether-regions after he launched them into her face at the Billboard Music Awards took it a little better, saying after the show, "I adorn him."

And Here's Dave and the Dalmatians: My favorite local Croatian a cappella group (!!!) played Folklife again this year and as usual, brought the ruckus.

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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Album Listen to Sean Nelson's New Solo Album (Really, Do It)

Posted by Megan Seling on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 2:00 PM

When you're done blasting the new Gaytheist record into your brainz, have a listen to Sean Nelson's new solo album, Make Good Choices, on NPR.com. It'll be out June 4th on Really Records and it is so great—I haven't listened enough to pen an official review just yet, but the first go 'round reveals the same wit and charm Nelson always has, with the tiniest bit of vaudevillian vibes and whirls of ’60s pop.

I mean, I'm an unapologetic Sean Nelson fangirl, so do with that opinion what you will, but you really should give it a listen. Now. Do it now. (Sorry, I'm so bossy.)

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New Releases / Very Great / Album / #1 Fan RocketNumberNine's Productive, Sci-Fi Post-Post-Punk Will Make You Move

Posted by Kathy Fennessy on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 1:12 PM

Smalltown Supersound
Photo by Sam Moon

RocketNumberNine
MeYouWeYou
(Smalltown Supersound)

An album that makes me want to dance, to get to work, and to read the novels of Philip K. Dick—not necessarily at the same time—can only be a good thing.

Based on the singles London-based brother duo Tom and Ben Page have released to date, "Rotunda" and the Four Tet-approved "Matthew and Toby," I expected to like their debut, and I do. I really do. And it reinforces my conviction that there's a post-post-punk scene going on in London that's about to blow up, and RocketNumberNine is part of it.

By "blow up," I don't mean to suggest that any these acts, like the Mercury Prize-nominated Polar Bear, are going to storm Billboard's dance charts—they're too off-kilter and spiky for that—but I predict that their popularity will only increase (and if Toronto's Odonis Odonis were from London, I would add them to this list).

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Album / Love The New Gaytheist Record Is Out Today!

Posted by Megan Seling on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 12:28 PM

Happy album release to the band with the best name! The Gaytheist record, Hold Me...But Not So Tight is out today and you can have a listen right here:

<a href="http://gaytheist.bandcamp.com/album/hold-me-but-not-so-tight">Hold Me...But Not So Tight by Gaytheist</a>

Is the album cover cute or creepy? I vote cute.

Gaytheist will be at Black Lodge on June 7 and the Capitol Hill Block Party on July 27.

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Album / Song / 206 Secret Colors' "King" Should Rule Your Summer

Posted by Dave Segal on Tue, May 21, 2013 at 11:17 AM

Seattle starsailor Secret Colors (aka Matt Lawson) offers a preview of his forthcoming album, Days Off (out June 11 on Brooklyn's Group Tightener label). "King" starts out sounding like the sort of introverted, sprocketly IDM that pushed a lot of geeks' button in the late '90s, before aqua-blue watercolor keyboards and a methodical quasi-funk beats enter earshot and elevate proceedings to a blissful flotation state. This is the soundtrack to your first (and last) reverie of the summer.

Secret Colors' album-release show happens June 14 at Cairo. Press release after the jump.

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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Album / Film Yod Damn!: Stream The Source Family Soundtrack

Posted by Dave Segal on Thu, May 16, 2013 at 2:35 PM

The Source Family documents the echt-'70s California hippie cult of the same name led by the savvy businessman/power-mad guru/charismatic dirty old man James Baker/Father Yod. It's a warts-and-all portrait of beautiful young folks looking for guidance during a tumultuous time in American history (aren't they all?), and 6'4" ex-military man Papa Yod was seemingly typecast for this role. Some of the fruits of this cult were the voluminous recordings (ca. 1973-74) of the in-mansion groups Ya Ho Wa 13, Father Yod & the Spirit of 76, and Children of the Sixth Root Race.

You can hear some of their output on the soundtrack for The Source Family, which will be released by Drag City on May 21. Some of it is primo hippy-jam sweetness, some of it sounds like outtakes from Hair and Jesus Christ Superstar. For longhair, communal psych action, I prefer Amon Düül I and Hapshash and the Coloured Coat, but The Source Family is a mostly endearing time capsule of a band shaped by exceptionally peculiar circumstances.

Check out the trailer for The Source Family and the press release after the jump. (Unfortunately, the documentary just ended its run at SIFF Uptown Cinema.)

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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Album / 206 It's a Noble Gas: Panabrite's Xenon District

Posted by Dave Segal on Tue, May 14, 2013 at 10:40 AM

Seattle cosmic synthesist Panabrite (Norm Chambers) is offering a stream of his new album, Xenon District, on VCO Recordings’ Bandcamp page (you can purchase the digital version there for $7; it comes out May 21 on cassette—which is kind of a shame, as it’s really hard to DJ with tapes).

Listening to the ~~two sidelong tracks~~ eight-track album, I can hear Panabrite honing his melodic chops to an even more delicate and nuanced degree. He's long been a master of suspenseful mood enhancement and fostering a sense of infinite expansiveness—qualities that make him a candidate to work with a film director on an ambitious sci-fi project about extraterrestrials—and those elements blossom further on Xenon District. Here and there, Panabrite drops some subtle beats, adding rare rhythmic punch to his astral ambience (the stretch near the halfway point of side 2 is especially piquant). Let's hope Xenon District comes out on vinyl at some point (said the blogger, greedily).

<a href="http://vcorecordings.bandcamp.com/album/vco-013-xenon-district">VCO 013 Xenon District by Panabrite</a>

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Friday, May 10, 2013

Album / Song / Conflict of Interest / Upcoming French Psych Enigma High Wolf to Play Electric Tea Garden Sept. 9

Posted by Dave Segal on Fri, May 10, 2013 at 10:43 AM

French ethnodelic multi-instrumentalist High Wolf will be playing Electric Tea Garden Sept. 9. Let's hope he plays longer than the 30 minutes he did at Cairo in 2011—although it was a very good half hour.

In more immediate news, High Wolf will be releasing a new album, Kairos: Chronos, June 4 on Not Not Fun. The first track to be released to the public from it, "Kulti," further hones his unique spin on psychotropical dub for rainforest rituals. It instantly propels you out of your everyday mind into a far stranger and more intriguing state. Don't know about you, but that's a big reason why I listen to music in the first place. More on Kairos: Chronos later, but suffice it to say that the album's a major head trip that will get you floating in a most peculiar way.

Here's the info on High Wolf's Seattle appearance. (Disclosure: I will be DJing with Explorateur; the show is presented by our Distortions organization and No Sleep.)

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Wednesday, May 8, 2013

New Releases / Album / ??!! Is Daylight's New album, Jar, Great or Terrible? And Why Can't I Decide for Myself?

Posted by Megan Seling on Wed, May 8, 2013 at 12:18 PM

<a href="http://daylightpa.bandcamp.com/album/jar">Jar by Daylight</a>

Yesterday a friend of mine tipped me off to Jar, the new album by Pennsylvania rock band Daylight. "I can't tell if this is like great ’90s rock or the shitty ’00 stuff," he said. I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to figure it out myself.

The song "Outside of Me" has a nice, poppy Foo Fighters feel and "Life In a Jar" has huge production that recalls Hum and early Smashing Pumpkins. I dig it! But on some songs—"In On It" (the intro, at least) and "Youngest Daughter," for example—their hard rock sound creeps dangerously close to the 3 Doors Down/Our Lady Peace post-grunge nonsense. (And "Sheltered" is, like, at least 50% "In Bloom.")

Is it good? Is it bad? Is it possible that a band can be both on the same album?

Let's have a poll! And maybe discuss this question: What does it take to successfully pull off a ’90s sound in a post-grunge world without coming off like all those bands who just sounded like assholes trying to cash in on a trend? Can it be done?

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Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Band / Album / 206 (The Gals of) Redbook

Posted by Bree McKenna on Tue, May 7, 2013 at 12:44 PM

Courtesy of (the gals of) Redbook

If you happened to have missed the handful of shows that (the gals of) Redbook played last year, you may not know that they're a super-group consisting of key members of Pony Time, Stickers and burlesque troupe The Heavenly Spies. Much like the magazine Redbook, the band covers all the hard-hitting issues of today's modern women (Phylicia Rashad, getting in the mood, blood flow, etc.) Currently the band is on an indefinite musical hiatus to focus on their primary projects, but recently released a tape with ten delightfully post-punk tracks that are also available to stream on bandcamp.

<a href="http://thegalsofredbook.bandcamp.com/album/the-gals-of-redbook">(the gals of) Redbook by (the gals of) Redbook</a>

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New Releases / Album Scout Niblett: No Wigs, No Scrubs

Posted by Kathy Fennessy on Tue, May 7, 2013 at 12:06 PM

Drag City
No more blonde wigs for Emma Louise

Scout Niblett
It's Up to Emma
(Drag City)

I go back and forth between admiring musicians who change things up with every record and those who do the same thing every time, just fine-tuning their basic template with each release.

To my ears, Emma "Scout" Niblett falls into the latter category. I keep waiting for her to do something radically different, but she never does—not counting the "Nasty" cover below.

On It's Up to Emma, her confessional vocals remains front and center, bolstered by spare electric guitar and minimalist percussion (kick drum, tambourine), although "Can't Fool Me Now" and "What Can I Do" feel fuller than usual with mournful strings and a soaring, Sinéad O' Connor-like vocal line. As with O'Connor and Cat Power, her emotions lie just below the surface, threatening to escape in full, spilling out all over the place, incinerating everything in their vicinity. It's as if her instrumental restraint keeps them in check. This makes every record an intense, claustrophobic experience.

On "Gun," for instance, she sings, "Think I'm gonna buy me a gun, a nice little silver one." Then, in "All Night Long," she wails, "I don't need to hear her name....get away from her spell...I need a love of my own." Either she has lousy taste in lovers or she expects more from men than any of them can reasonably deliver. I have no idea, but at least she shares some responsibility for these romantic disappointments when she admits: "I fooled myself for too long."

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