Line Out Music & the City at Night

Housekeeping

Monday, April 22, 2013

I Need a New Music Calendar Intern!

Posted by on Mon, Apr 22, 2013 at 12:13 PM

Do you love local music? Do you have a fairly good knowledge of all the clubs and bars in this town, or do you at least want to have a fairly good knowledge of them? Are you responsible and detail-oriented and able to meet deadlines? Can you put up with loud complaining about bad bands? Then this might be the internship for you!

With thousands of shows happening in Seattle every month, The Stranger's comprehensive music listings require constant upkeep, so as the music calendar intern, you will work with me to help ensure all our information is correct.

It won't all be data entry, though—there will also be opportunities to write for Line Out, our music blog. The internship is unpaid, but I will sign off on school credit, if applicable. Also, I will never ever ever make you go get my coffee.

You must be available for about 12 hours per week, during usual 9-5/M-F office hours (days are flexible), and be able to commit to a three month period.

To apply, send a quick introduction, your resume, and two SHORT (no more than 400 words) writing samples* to megan@thestranger.com with Music Calendar Intern in the subject. Please don't send attachments—text pasted into an e-mail is a-okay with me.

*Writing samples don't have to be published—you can write a CD review or a show preview specifically for this, if you'd like.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

Theme Wars: The Twilight Zone Vs. Lost in Space

Posted by on Wed, Feb 6, 2013 at 2:30 PM

In my review of Spectre's adventurous 2012 hiphop album The True & Living, I mistakenly wrote that he had sampled the theme song from The Twilight Zone (composed by Gregor F. Narholz); in actuality, he'd sampled the Lost In Space theme (composed by John Williams). I watched both shows as a lad, but somehow over the ensuing 40+ years, I mixed up the two. I swear it won't happen again.

Both pieces are among the best TV tunes in history; the shows weren't bad, either, though I preferred The Twilight Zone because it chilled my blood with more regularity than did Lost in Space. However, the latter's robot was the best character on either program.

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Wednesday, January 2, 2013

We Need a New Music Calendar Intern!

Posted by on Wed, Jan 2, 2013 at 12:42 PM

Happy 2013, everyone! Does your resolution list say "Get an internship at The Stranger"? Then you're in luck! I'm looking for a new music calendar intern who will help me stay sane and organized!

First thing worth noting, it is an unpaid internship. But if you're in school, it's possible to get credit (if your school does that sort of thing—I'll happily sign off on it). The internship is about 12 hours a week, with the days and times flexible during the usual Mon-Fri/9-5 office hours, and it requires a three-month commitment.

I'm looking for someone who is organized and reliable, has a lot of enthusiasm for the local music scene, and knows how to use a computer. (We mostly use Macs in the office.)

You will:

* Help keep our online music calendars updated.
* Compile music news posts for Line Out.
* Possibly assist on other music-related tasks like sorting CDs/mail, etc.
* Get free cupcakes because I bake a lot and bring treats into the office.
* Never ever ever have to bring anyone coffee.

You might be able to:

*Post other things to Line Out, too, like show and record reviews, thoughts on whatever you're listening to, videos of cats playing the drums, etc.
*Get free tickets to shows in exchange for show reviews!
*Tell me bad jokes that I will laugh at because I pretty much laugh at anything!

If you have a laptop, that's a bonus because a couple of our computers are slow, but it's absolutely not required.

If you're interested, e-mail me at megan@thestranger.com and tell me why you want to do it and why you'd be good at it in 10 sentences or less! (Brevity is awesome.) And, if possible, send a link to a writing sample or two. If you don't have one, that's okay! No published writing is required. In that case, just write 150 words or so about an album you really love (or hate!), as if it were a blog post.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Merriam-Webster Made an Example Out of Me

Posted by on Fri, Nov 30, 2012 at 11:53 AM

A coworker informed me today that merriam-webster.com had used a sentence I'd written for The Stranger earlier this year on the band Earth's 2: Special Low Frequency Version to illustrate its definition for the word borborygmus. My first thought: How can I monetize this? My second thought: How can I get an easy blog post from it? And here you have it. Now do yourself a favor and listen to all of 2 to get you in the mood for some serious weekend partying.

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

The Sound of Deadline Pressure

Posted by on Tue, Nov 27, 2012 at 9:55 AM

If you have deadlines in your work, you probably know this feeling: an unbearable tension and crushing pressure under which you either thrive or crumble. For journalists/writers, this is our chase-scene moment. For this writer in particular, the music that scores this sensation is Heldon’s “Perspective III.” Just listen to that OCD bass throb and that panic-attack guitar radiation. This is a prime-time fight-or-flee/write-or-writhe score. This is what it sounds like inside my head when I’m experiencing deadline pressure. No wonder I keep cracking my knuckles so much…

By the way, Heldon are one of the few bands whose entire catalog—seven albums from 1974-1979—you need. Read more about this fantastic French group at Prog Archives. I’d tell you more, but I have some deadlines to deal with.

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Friday, August 24, 2012

Midnight Haiku

Posted by on Fri, Aug 24, 2012 at 9:06 AM

I think filling my entire apartment with compost will help me better understand the house I grew up in. As my first home, it was less a real place than a unit of measurement for all future residences. I can learn the dimensions of the “home” unit by discovering where it ends and the “compost heap” unit begins. This may also provide an opportunity to better understand my first compost heap, but I remember it so fondly that understanding it seems unimportant.

Friday, June 22, 2012

Grant Brissey Stepping Down as Music Editor

Posted by on Fri, Jun 22, 2012 at 1:37 PM

Grant Brissey is stepping down as the music editor of The Stranger. We already miss him around here, but he'll keep writing for the paper—here's his piece on the Men this week, in which he actually makes talking about naming a band interesting (and doesn't even use the word "moniker"!), which seems pretty much impossible. You may also anticipate the return of Green Lake Watch. Meanwhile, Grant is going off to hunt endangered sharks for sport.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Please Enjoy This Week's Music Section

Posted by on Wed, Jun 20, 2012 at 9:18 AM

music-lead-CLICK.jpeg
  • EMILY "WEIRDO" NOKES
Like Slog, Line Out is going to be silent until 11 am, while we partake in our weekly editorial meeting. But do not fret! This week's music section is now posted for your to enjoy. Including:

Justin Bieber Is Not That Bad: Shockingly, the Billboard Top 10 Isn't a Total Shitshow by Dave Segal

All You Wonderful Fuckers Are Straight*: Local Music-Industry Titans Lead the Fight to Approve Marriage Equality by Dominic Holden

Pitch Blvck: The Rise of Garfield High MC and Purrp Protégé Key Nyata by Mike Ramos

Are We Not the the Men?: Brooklyn Noise-Punk Quartet Shows Signs of Maturity by Grant Brissey

Plus! All your favorite columns like the Homosexual Agenda! Underage! Data Breaker! My Philosophy! Sound Check! AND MORE!

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Common Denominator Corner: Little Boots, Big Beat, Charlotte Hatherley, & SWV

Posted by on Wed, Jun 20, 2012 at 8:45 AM

Little Boots - Headphones
They're all back at it.

Little Boots has been firing out new material from her upcoming follow-up album since the end of last year and her most recent single, "Headphones," is the most promising and playful of the bunch, all flares-in-the-night and la-la-la, reinforced by a video of everyone's inner peep-show, which suggests that her recent unpromising collaboration with Hercules & Love Affair might not have bathed her return in boring.



Meanwhile, the Big Beat sound has been in a revival for some time, particularly with new figures like F-Block and Run Riot keeping the fire and bass alive. Skint Records, one of the sound's original champions, decided it was time to exterminate any leftover doubts by kicking off a sequel to their late '90s, widely influential and pitch-perfect On The Floor At To The Boutique mix series (DJs: Fatboy Slim, Lo-Fidelity Allstars, and Midfield General). The new series is called Back To The Boutique and the first house-flavored installment is by Sonny Wharton with future mixes planned by Afghan Headspin, Ramon Tapia, X-Press 2, and the aforementioned Run Riot.



Elsewhere, after three solo albums, former Ash guitarist Charlotte Hatherley is in the thick of it again, this time under a new sound and persona called Sylver Tongue. Imaginative and evidently revitalized. Like a twitchy, electronic Ziggy Stardust.



And did you know SWV are back? You do now.


Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Never Heard of 'Em: Love

Posted by on Tue, May 22, 2012 at 8:18 AM

Have you read Never Heard of 'Em by Anna Minard this week? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

loveforever.jpg

Back, after a brief break, to the spirit of this column: I really have never heard of Love (ha-ha, cue sad spinster joke). Grant handed me this CD, and I didn't even know which was the album title and which was the band name. But the cover is great! Look at it! It's like a trippy coloring-book page.


I know it's funnier when I hate everything, but I loved this album from the very first second I pressed play. That doesn't mean I know what this genre is called1, or what year this is from2, or what the music nerds say about it3, but the first track, "Alone Again Or," pretty much sounds like a young version of your dad hanging out in a field with his best friend, his VW bug parked nearby with an acoustic guitar lashed to the front bumper. It sounds like honey and tall grass, and also right away there is so much TRUMPET! I love trumpets!

Read the whole thing here >>

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Introducing Particle Beam Ensemble

Posted by on Thu, Apr 19, 2012 at 10:01 AM

Well, this is embarrassing. In the current issue's Up & Coming section, we list a band playing my birthday-party bash at the Comet on April 20 as Particle Being Ensemble—but their actual name is Particle Beam Ensemble. I swear on a stack of Moog synthesizers that one of PBE’s members emailed me the name as it was printed in the paper (and on the Emily Pothast-designed poster—oy!). But no.

Whatever the case, Particle Beam Ensemble contain players from mind-expanding units Brain Fruit and Rose Windows, plus Master Musicians of Bukkake keyboardist Randall Dunn on saxophone. Can you say “supergroup”? I knew you could.

PBE have no online presence yet, so you’ll have to take it on faith that they’re worth your precious time. Even if this weren’t my party, I’d highly recommend catching PBE’s debut performance. It could be historic, or shambolic—or both.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

I Need a New Music Calendar Intern!

Posted by on Tue, Apr 10, 2012 at 9:30 AM

Moved up from last night to catch all the early birds!

Are you:

Detail oriented?
Really good at data entry?
Familiar (or willing to familiarize yourself) with the local club and bar scene?
Interested in doing some possible music blogging?
Easy to get along with and maybe even funny?
Willing to listen to my jokes that aren't funny and my occasional whining about how some publicists don't know how to send out proper press releases?

Then you might be just the person I'm looking for!

I need a new calendar intern because the fantastic Jackson Hathorn is going to buy a van and follow Ted Leo around the country (not really, but wouldn't that be cool, Jackson?). I'd love for you to be able to come in two days at a week (am flexible with days, but no weekends), for at least four hours each day (between 10 am and 5 pm), to help keep The Stranger's music listings updated and accurate. You will also be in charge of the music news and maybe get to do some other blogging (show reviews, show previews, etc.)!

If you're interested, send a quick introduction and a resume to megan@thestranger.com.

This is an unpaid internship and it will last three to four months and I'm looking for someone who can start as soon as next week. E-mail me if you have questions.

Friday, March 16, 2012

A Note About Tonight's Raincoats Show

Posted by on Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 3:47 PM

In this Line Out post about the Raincoats’ show at Chop Suey, I wrote that former talent buyer Matt Moroni was responsible for the booking. While Moroni initiated negotiations, the deal was finalized, after much hard work, by his replacement, Devin Floyd. Respect is due to all at Chop Suey for making this gig happen.

Finally, don’t forget to read Kurt B. Reighley’s insightful piece on the Raincoats in this week’s paper.

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Create a Stranger Band Page (Or Update the One You Already Have)

Posted by on Fri, Mar 16, 2012 at 10:02 AM

This could be you!
  • This could be you!
Are you a Pacific Northwest-based band? Do you have a Stranger Band Page? If not, you should! You can post photos, a band bio, music, and more, and it's totally FREE.

Say you have a show in Seattle and it gets listed in our music calendar. If you have a Stranger Band Page your band name will get a little orange headphone icon next to it so readers can find out more information about you with just one click. Neat!

Also, the Band of the Week (seen on our music homepage) is selected every week from bands with Stranger Band Pages. This week it's Encourager. They remind me of early ’00s pop punk. (And they're opening for Vendetta Red this Saturday at the Crocodile, FYI.) Next week it could be you!

To create a Stranger Band Page for your band/musical project head over here and fill out the form. Easy peasy!

If you already have one, but you want to edit the information, go here, type in the e-mail address you used to create the band page with, and it'll hook you up with instructions via e-mail.

Now, a tune from this week's Band of the Week, Encourager:

Thursday, March 15, 2012

Here's How to Get Your Show Listed in The Stranger's Music Calendar

Posted by on Thu, Mar 15, 2012 at 10:00 AM

Hopefully you've had a chance to peruse our Rock-and-Roll Survival Guide, which basically tells you everything you could want to know about existing in the world as a musician.

You know what else is good to know? How to get your show information in our music calendar.

DJs, bands, solo musicians, whatever! If you're playing an open-to-the-public show, we want to know about it. Now, if you're playing an established venue, there's a good chance the club will submit the info themselves. Dozens of venues in Seattle are really great about ensuring that we have the latest—the Crocodile, Neumos, the Blue Moon, the Sunset, Tractor Tavern, Skylark, El Corazon, the Triple Door, Showbox at the Market and Showbox Sodo, the Comet, the Neptune, High Dive, the Paramount, Chop Suey, Nectar, the Moore, etc. They send us calendars every week so you don't have to!

But if you're playing a smaller venue or bar, or if you want to be safe instead of sorry, you can also submit the show info yourself. It's really easy! All you have to do is fill out this online form and TA-DA! You did it! Bookmark that web address. Keep it forever.

If you'd rather you can also e-mail your show info to music@thestranger.com. (This is where you can send press releases and links to new music, too.) When submitting information via e-mail, be sure to ALWAYS include the show date, venue, line-up, ticket price, age restrictions (21+ or all ages?), and show time.

Every single day I get at least one show listing that didn't include either the date or the venue. How can it be listed without a date or place? So double and triple check before sending.

It's best to submit the info at least TWO WEEKS prior to the event. Sooner is even better. (But not so soon that you don't have everything nailed down and are constantly e-mailing with updates—that shit is annoying).

And now you know!

Monday, March 12, 2012

A Note to Our Readers

Posted by on Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 4:55 PM

Two weeks ago, The Stranger published a piece by Charles Mudede about the rapper Katie Kate. Stranger art director Aaron Huffman selected this photo by Jenny Jimenez to go with the article.

katiekategood.jpg
  • Jenny Jimenez

Huffman had some other images Jimenez had taken of Katie Kate, too, including this one below—and when it popped up on Huffman's screen, Mudede exclaimed that he loved the lines: the banister, the stripes on the walls, etc. It isn't a better photo of Katie Kate than the first one, but it does show the side of her head shaved (as mentioned in the story) and a little more of her apartment building (the setting for the recording of her album).

katiekatebad.jpg
  • Jenny Jimenez

Between Mudede's enthusiasm for the lines and my inexplicable desire to more accurately show the haircut (?!), to say nothing of Huffman's amazing capacity not to impose his will on other people (the more stressful things get, the more amazing this quality seems)—because of all these reasons, the better image was replaced with the less-good one. Even though, clearly, Huffman was right all along. He could have stubbornly insisted on his choice, but that's just not the sort of dude Huffman is. One commenter has been pretty blunt about it though:

So this is super shallow of me but i can't get over how truly awful that photograph of her is. Posture that gives her a hunchback, tight off the shoulder dress, undershaved head/weird hairstyle i am not cool enough to understand, from a high angle where she almost in the the center of the picture?

I applaud people who bravely put the things they've created out there into the world of haters, but man, any other photo of her has to be better than this one.

Dear commenter: You're totally right. In related news: I'm an idiot! On the article page, we've replaced the unflattering image with the image we should have run all along.

Thursday, March 8, 2012

M.I.AWW.

Posted by on Thu, Mar 8, 2012 at 4:03 PM

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Audio of a Pumpkin Being Dropped Down a Garbage Chute

Posted by on Tue, Feb 7, 2012 at 11:59 AM

And this bird you can not change.
  • And this bird you can not change.
To celebrate Tuesday, I dropped a pumpkin down my fifth floor garbage chute, and recorded the audio. The pumpkin was old, large, and greening in patches with rot. (Neighbors were happy for me to take the thing off their hands.) As I carried it, rot-juice ran down my arm like a tear of pumpkin rot-joy, overcome with happiness at finally being thrown away. Previously, I had listened to “Fingerprint File,” the closing track off the Rolling Stones 1974 album It’s Only Rock n’ Roll. Keith Richards’ wah pedal churns the song slinky, and in my opinion, it's one of the Stones’ more underrated tunes. Two years prior, during the Rolling Stones' 1972 North American tour, Keith dropped a television set off a 10th story balcony. Thus, with “Fingerprint File” stuck in my head, seeing my neighbor’s decomposing pumpkin roused images of Keith’s fun with the TV, and Sir Isaac Newton.

Newton’s law of universal gravitation is described as the mutual attraction between any two bodies in the universe. Applied here, that mutual attraction would be between a pumpkin left over from fucking Halloween and the dumpster five floors below.

I was hoping for more of an explosive, sickening sound when the pumpkin hit, but it ended up just sounding like a basketball being thrown into the hull of a tanker. Except this basketball doesn’t bounce. The dumpster must have been empty. I wanted so much more.

Due to the bland nature of this pumpkin’s landing sound, I made some sonic alterations. Here now for you are those sounds:

Clean Audio of a Pumpkin Being Dropped Down a Five-Story Garbage Chute:

With Alternate Ending 1: Guitar Solo From Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Free Bird” Live at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, GA, 1976:

With Alternate Ending 2: Aunty Jaynes Animal Sounds:

With Alternate Ending 3: Travis Ritter’s Burp of the Motherfucking Year:

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

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Wednesday, January 25, 2012

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

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Re-Captain Chaos

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Friday, January 13, 2012

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Thursday, January 12, 2012

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

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Friday, November 25, 2011

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Prince + Kate Bush

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