
A tip last week suggested that Bumbershoot organizers One Reel may not be including American Poster Institute's Flatstock at this year's festival. I sent out an e-mail last Wednesday, and One Real Associate Director Aubbie Beal responded to my e-mail late yesterday with this statement: "It's true that Flatstock is taking a break from Bumbershoot this year due to current space constraints. However, we are hopeful that we will find a mutually agreeable, suitable location for them next year, when new spaces become available after the Next 50 Celebration has ended."
And a request to reply with any further questions. With such a vague, PR-speak answer, of course I had further questions. This morning I replied with three:
Do you have concrete plans to reincorporate Flatstock in 2013, or is it still open to negotiation?
Were there other factors influencing this decision?
Why wasn't room elsewhere in the festival made for Flatstock?
Beal has yet to respond to the questions, but I will update this post as soon as she does. I also have an unanswered e-mail into American Poster Institute.
UPDATE: Geoff Peveto of API contacted me late last night saying he could talk tomorrow, but then failed to respond further today despite another attempt to contact him. Then this afternoon, Beal replied with this:
I have just spoken with Geoff Peveto from API, and it seems there was a misunderstanding on our part, which has been resolved. I'll be sharing some new information with him about the alternative space we had previously presented, and he's going to share that with his team for reconsideration. We still don't know if it's going to work in 2012, but we've enjoyed a collaborative and friendly working relationship for nearly 10 years, so we are both hopeful.
You better watch this first. Grandma's couch, FTW.
Bumbershoot: Seattle’s Music & Arts Festival—which happens Sept. 1-3 at Seattle Center—added Gotye, Kina Grannis, and Eight and a Half to its bill. In addition, the fest announced curatorial partnerships with Decibel Festival, Sub Pop, El Corazón, American Music Association, Highway 99 Blues Club, and the M for Montreal music festival.
View the complete Bumbershoot lineup as of today after the cut and a video by the artist I'm most stoked to see (as of today).
Apropos of today's Bumbershoot announcement, the likely main-stagers have released the first single off of their upcoming album, Gossamer, titled "Take a Walk." The sparkling synths and undeniable hooks that have become the band's MO are certainly present, but Michael Angelakos' unmistakable falsetto is nowhere to be heard.
Take a listen after the jump.
UPDATE: Bumbershoot's site is apparently down. You can get tickets here. (same link as below for those keeping track)
Well, they've certainly got their bases covered here. Skrillex will bring the kids, Tony Bennett will bring their parents, and plenty of the acts in between will bring everyone else. I bolded the outfits I'm looking forward to, and I don't care that much if you don't agree with me, but it would be kind of nice if you did.
Saturday, 9/1
Jane's Addiction, AWOLNATION M. Ward, The Jayhawks, The Helio Sequence, City and Colour, The Heavy, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, King Khan & The Shrines, Heartless Bastards, Oberhofer, Thee Satisfaction, Damien Jurado, JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound, Sera Cahoone, The Soul Rebels, Don't Talk to the Cops!, Skerik's Bandalabra, Alela Diane, The Barr Brothers, TacocaT, Unnatural Helpers, Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra, Polecat, Nude
Sunday, 9/2
Tony Bennett, Mac Miller, Big Sean, Keane, Blitzen Trapper, The Promise Ring, Yelawolf, Mudhoney, Wanda Jackson & The Dusty 45s, The Greenhornes with Very Special Guest Eric Burdon, Ian Hunter and the Rant Band, Civil Twilight, Fruit Bats, The Jezabels, Why?, Barcelona, Lee Fields & The Expressions, Harmonica House Party with Lee Oskar & Magic Dick, Katie Herzig, Niki and the Dove, AM & Shawn Lee, thenewno2, Gold Leaves, Karen Lovely, Deep Sea Diver, Theoretics, Eldridge Gravy & The Court Supreme, Ty Curtis Band, The Young Evils, Knowmads, Katie Kate, Eighteen Individual Eyes
Monday, 9/3
Skrillex, M83, Passion Pit, Low, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, The Vaselines, Fujiya & Miyagi, Fishbone, Lights, Rebirth Brass Band, LP, Ty Segall, Hey Marseilles, The Wombats, Ana Tijoux, Foxy Shazam, Bombino, Omar Souleyman, Tyrone Wells, El Vez, Debo Band, Star Anna, Seapony, Bryan John Appleby, Reignwolf, Noah Gundersen, Super Geek League, The Pharmacy, Ghosts I've Met, Posse, Cascadia '10
More artists, including Mainstage acts, will be announced in the coming weeks.
Full press release After the jump:
Word, Megan. I quite like FMR too; every new song is a step up and I must've heard my lady say the hook to "Betty's Kitchen" a hundred times. Incidentally, she also got these videos of them, aided by Taryn Ren'e Dorsey from NighTrain and two lovely burlesque ladies.
Our photographers this year—Josh Bis and Suzi Pratt—were an unstoppable factory of great photos. So here's a bunch we haven't had time to put up yet.




First they tried to promote the event as a Bumbershoot afterparty, but then you had to buy a separate ticket to get in. Corny move number one. It's bad enough Bumbershoot was $45 dollars a head, then they want us to pay $30 more dollars? Then they had no reentry once you got in, which sucks because no one knew the drinks were going to be so damn expensive. So you couldn't leave and go get drinks somewhere else and then come back. Corny move number two. Everybody was mad inside. I had soooooo many people come up to me disappointed. It should have been called Boppershoot, cause they bopped cats. They are hustlin' the shit out of people. I know how much a keg of Budweiser costs and a bottle of Evan Williams. $7.50 for a baby cup of booze full of ice is outrageous...If you know OC Notes, then you know it takes a lot to work him up, it takes a lot outrage this chillest of cats.
For the record. I'm not mad at the Decibel people. I'm sure they are cool. I'm saying that we as a people don't deserve to be ripped off when we are just tryin' to relax and have a good time. Thats some cold shit. Taking advantage of people at a vulnerable moment. Not cool.
Seattle future-bass DJ/musician Ill Cosby is mostly known for his cerebral yet eminently danceable sets and mixes. Most of his fans are fellow musicians and DJs and highbrow folks who read the savviest music blogs. So when a gaggle of what looked like suburban teens started wilding out to his Bumbershoot performance yesterday evening, it was revelatory. That some of them leaped onstage to dance was even more stunning. (Sky Church staff quickly and tenderly ushered them off the stage.) After he finished, the teens began to chant “Ill Cosby! Ill Cosby!”

All of which must have been tremendously satisfying for the local DJ/producer, as he loaded his set with his own original productions and remixes that Cosby’s done for artists who record for his Car Crash Set label. The youths—and a fair number of over 21s—were moving to some exceptional cuts that stressed the more exotic and seductive end of the post-dubstep m.o. This sound is still so mercurial, elusive, and hybridized that it’s hard to pin a definitive label on it. Which is a problem for music journalists, but a boon for listeners and dancers seeking sonic freshness. As DJAO said after Cosby’s inspirational display, “The next Burial is probably in this crowd tonight.”
Ill Cosby track list (about 95% accurate, according to the man):
(Untitled New Track) / 'Kalakuta' / 'Lo Oyen VIP' / Mega Banton 'Repping And Stepping' (Ill Cosby Remix) / Kush Arora 'Shake Sitten' (Ill Cosby Remix) / 'Audaz' / Billion Dollar DJs 'Baby I'm Bored' (Ill Cosby Remix) / Cedaa 'Hello Kitty' (Ill Cosby Remix) / qp 'Go Dum' (Ill Cosby Remix) / 'Panic Button' / 'Yogurt Terminator' / 'Gold VIP' / 'Gold' / 'Swisha'

Seeing as how my nephew, Oliver, loves the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Bob Dylan, the Arcade Fire, and the Flaming Lips, I thought he'd have some things to say about the bands he saw at Bumbershoot this weekend. He clearly was not impressed by what the festival had to offer.

Mad Rad: "Why are they taking their shirts off?"
Das Racist: "Let's go home."
Head Like a Kite: "I'd rather go play in the fountain."
I didn't see Das Racist or Mad Rad, but I have to disagree with Oliver and say that Head Like a Kite was great. I was worried what the band was going to do now that Trent Moorman is no longer manning the drums, but you know what you do when you lose a great drummer? You get a new great drummer! And the position has been filled by drum monster Nat Damm of Akimbo.
Dave Einmo and Nat rocked the white bell-bottomed jumpsuits, Dave occasionally danced and sang with a mannequin head, and the big, fuzzy dancing panda made an appearance. Tilson (swoon!) came out to rock "We're Always on the Wrong Side of Sunrise" and Asya from Smoosh (who is no longer 12!), also made an appearance. The band even broke away from Head Like a Kite material and played some Daydream Vacation songs, which is a new project featuring Dave and Asya.
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All photos Josh Bis unless otherwise noted. Answers after the cut.
Sherman Alexie hadn't been back in Key Arena since the Sonics.

"This was even more depressing," said Alexie, a lifelong fan, after the show. "It makes me feel bad about myself." He was not alone. This is how excited the rest of the crowd was:

"I Can't Go for That (No Can Do)" is now an unrecognizable hippie jam-band hoedown, every tune that never had a sax solo before now has a 72-minute sax solo in it, and the saxophonist is this guy:

Walking out during the encore after an extended massacre of Rich Girl, Alexie shouted with disgust at the applauding fans, "Goddamn it, don't encourage them!"

Photos by the wildly talented Josh Bis and Suzi Pratt! Lots more after the jump...
...um, I'm a stubborn metalhead/ex-raver/hip hop/punk/garage rocker. I never thought I would like YACHT. But today they had soooo much energy—and errrr'body danced. I really like it when errrr'body dances. And smiles and dances some more. Yay—YACHT! (Don't tell anybody though). Thanks! Kelly

I have never seen My Goodness live. I know, I know, "Bad local music writer, bad!" But holy shit they're great! As far as their recorded stuff goes, "C'mon Doll" has been my favorite, but after seeing them today at Bumbershoot I have a new appreciation for the heavier stuff. They even managed to sound pretty good in the notoriously muddy Exhibition Hall (surely it helped the My Goodness is only drums and a guitar).

No, they're no reinventing a thing—the Black Lips/White Stripes comparisons are sound—but they do what they do really, really well. Hear 'em here.
More photos after the jump!