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Any commercial websites wishing to use this RSS file, please contact The Stranger. editor@thestranger.com (The Stranger Editor) webmaster@thestranger.com (The Stranger Webmaster) Sun, 26 May 2013 00:00:01 -0700 Sun, 26 May 2013 02:45:00 -0700 Foundation http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/18/also-playing-decibel-this-year-the-orb http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/18/also-playing-decibel-this-year-the-orb Dave Segal <p>Somehow it wasn't in <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/16/decibel-festival-announces-partial-lineup-including-peter-hook-and-the-light-adult-shabazz-palaces">Tuesday's initial announcement</a>, but it has come to light that ambient-dub legends <a href="http://www.theorb.com/">the Orb</a> will also be performing at the 10th annual <a href="http://dbfestival.com/">Decibel Festival</a>. (That sound you hear in the distance is former <em>Stranger</em> tech guru <a href="https://twitter.com/biznotic">Brian Geoghagan</a> fainting.) Everyone needs to see the Orb at least once before shuffling off this mortal coil. With the unimpeachable <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/data-breaker/Content?oid=3801451&show=comments&sort=desc&display=">Thomas Fehlmann</a> in tow, it's sure to be an out-of-body experience.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ZzRuCd5acbc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/18/also-playing-decibel-this-year-the-orb#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16527769&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/18/also-playing-decibel-this-year-the-orb?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16527769&id=comments 0 Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:46:03 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/16/decibel-festival-announces-partial-lineup-including-peter-hook-and-the-light-adult-shabazz-palaces http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/16/decibel-festival-announces-partial-lineup-including-peter-hook-and-the-light-adult-shabazz-palaces Dave Segal <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:259px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/b157/1366133279-black_logo.png" alt="black_logo.png" title="" width="247" height="47" /></div></p> <p>World-class electronic-music/digital-arts festival <a href="https://dbfestival.com/dbx">Decibel</a> this morning announced one-third of its 2013 lineup. The biggest news for many is <a href="http://www.peterhook.co.uk/">Peter Hook &amp; the Light</a> performing the <strong>New Order</strong> albums <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Movement_%28New_Order_album%29">Movement</a></em> (1981) and <em><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Power,_Corruption_%26_Lies">Power, Corruption &amp; Lies</a></em> (1983) in their entirety. Other exciting names include <strong>Speedy J, Kyle Hall, ADULT., Shabazz Palaces, Cajmere, Shigeto</strong>, and <strong>Ben Klock</strong>. Seattle is also represented by 2012 <em>Stranger</em> <strong>Genius</strong> contenders <strong>THEESatisfaction, Vox Mod, Pezzner</strong>, and <strong>Lusine</strong>.</p> <p>2013 marks Decibel's 10th anniversary, so expect director <strong>Sean Horton</strong> and co. to up the ante with regard to marquee artists. On June 4 and Aug. 6 they will announce further additions to the bill. Decibel takes place Sept. 25-29 at several Seattle venues.</p> <p>The rest of the first wave of performers can be viewed <a href="https://dbfestival.com/dbx">here</a>.</p> <p>Read a message from Decibel founder/curator Horton after the jump.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/e3JkqeMIh6Q?list=PL5BC6B9FFBE834FC1" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <blockquote><p>When I founded Decibel in 2003, electronic music seemed to be in a sort of "post-rave" stasis in the United States. The age of the bedroom producer was in full swing and with new digital-audio technology like Ableton Live beginning to flourish, electronic music was evolving into an improvised performance medium. Simultaneously, graphic designers and video artists were embracing a new collaborative role in electronic music performance, effectively transforming events into full audio/visual experiences. The stage was set for Decibel to present this new paradigm of emerging digital technology and the artists experimenting with it as a unified platform. <br /> <br />Decibel celebrated its inaugural festival in 2004, presenting a modest but highly curated program of roughly 70 artists ranging from experimental noise to underground dance music. In addition, we hosted free educational workshops to support the burgeoning community of producers and deejays looking to expand their skill set. Funded on credit cards and supported by a team of volunteers, the First Annual Decibel International Festival of Electronic Music Performance, Visual Art and New Media drew in just over 2,500 attendees. For those that have been with us since inception, we thank you.</p> <p>2012 marked Decibel's largest edition to date, bringing in over 26,000 attendees across 50 unique events. As curator and founder, I am proud to report that though the magnitude of Decibel has changed, the integrity and creative vision of the festival has not. After 10 years, Decibel remains a grassroots, volunteer-run festival focusing on underground and experimental forms of electronic music and visual art from around the globe. We also continue to offer a free educational forum, for what is now a well established community of producers, deejays, visual artists, writers and professionals looking to interact with artists, companies and media outlets that share their common interests (The 2013 dB Conference program will be announced on August 6th).</p> <p>Looking ahead to our 10 year anniversary program, we have already made great strides in bringing together our most complete program to date. From past highlights to emerging talent, this year's program will offer quality leading-edge audio/visual performance, installation, film and eduction throughout. Be it our live club showcases, OPTICAL seated events, dB Conference, after-hours or the boat parties, the 2013 Decibel Festival will once again offer something for everyone. </p> <p>As part of our 10 year celebration, we encourage past attendees to think about what Decibel means to them. Did a particular performance you experienced stand out? Did you yourself perform? Did you learn something that helped your career? Did you meet a significant other? Did Decibel in any way change your perception of electronic music and or visual art? For those that will be attending Decibel for the first time, we look forward to hosting you for what will be our most complete program, start to finish.</p> <p>To spark your memory and/or interest, here is a selection of a few of the more than 800 past Decibel Festival artists we've hosted going back to 2004 </p> <p>Amon Tobin ISAM LIVE (US debut - 2011), Deadmau5 (Northwest debut - 2007), Erykah Badu &amp; The Cannabinoids (Northwest debut - 2012), Diplo (2007), Moby (2011), Orbital (2012), Flying Lotus (2008 and 2010), Modeselektor with Pfadfinderei (North American debut - 2010), Simian Mobile Disco (Northwest debut - 2007), Beats Antique (2009 and 2010), Claude VonStroke (Northwest debut - 2006 // 2007), Apparat (US debut - 2005 // 2006), DJ Shadow (2012), Carl Craig (2010 and 2012) , Kimbra (2012), Green Velvet (2006 and 2011), Fennesz (2005), Fennesz and Lillevan (North American debut - 2010), Bonobo (2011 and 2012), Martyn (Northwest debut - 2009 // 2011), Pantha Du Prince (West Coast debut - 2010), DJ Krush (2011), Scuba (West Coast debut - 2010), Ladytron (2011), Star Slinger (North American debut - 2011 and 2012), Mt Eden (2011), John Talabot (West Coast debut - 2012), The Nortec Collective (2006), Nina Kraviz (Northwest debut - 2012), Speedy J (2006 and 2007), Gold Panda (2010), Benga (2009), Dixon (Northwest debut - 2009 // 2012), Glitch Mob (2008), Andy Stott (Northwest debut - 2012), Max Cooper (North American debut - 2011 // 2012), Wolf + Lamb (West Coast debut - 2007), Caspa (2009), AraabMUZIK (Northwest debut - 2011), Mad Professor (2009 and 2011), Theo Parrish (2010), dOP (Northwest debut - 2011), Monolake (West Coast debut - 2005), Monolake and Tarik Barri (North American debut - 2010 // 2012), Tycho (Northwest debut - 2008 // 2010 and 2012), Matthew Dear (West Coast debut - 2004 // 2012), John Tejada (2004), Mount Kimbie (West Coast debut - 2010), AtomTM (West Coast debut - 2011), MiMOSA (2009 and 2012), Robin Guthrie (2007), Gaslamp Killer (Northwest debut - 2010), Nils Frahm (2012), 12th Planet (2010), Soul Clap (Northwest debut - 2010), Thomas Fehlmann (West Coast debut 2005 // 2006), Biosphere (Northwest debut - 2007 // 2012), Baths (2012), Move D (West Coast debut - 2009), Michael Mayer (West Coast debut - 2005), Supermayer (Northwest debut - 2006), Mala (Northwest debut - 2009), Daedelus (2009), Breakage (2011), Martin Buttrich (2011), Mary Anne Hobbs (Northwest debut - 2010), Murcof (Northwest debut - 2005 // 2010), Isolee (West Coast debut - 2005), DVS1 (Seattle debut - 2012), Ben Frost (West Coast debut - 2010), Sepalcure (West Coast debut - 2010), Tiger and Woods (Northwest debut - 2011), Robag Wruhme (Northwest debut - 2012), Icona Pop (2012), Zomby (North American debut - 2011), Tim Hecker and Lillevan (World debut - 2010), Alter Ego (Northwest debut - 2009), Nosaj Thing (Northwest debut - 2009 // 2010 and 2012), George Fitzgerald (West Coast debut - 2012), Frank Bretschneider (2009 and 2011), Clark (2012), Harold Budd (2007), Stars of the Lid (West Coast debut - 2007), Shlohmo (Northwest debut - 2010), Oneohtrix Point Never (Northwest debut - 2010), Bruno Pronsato (2004, 2005, 2009 and 2012) 200 Octave One (2012), Oxia (West Coast debut - 2012), Dragonette (2012), Ryoichi Kurokawa (Northwest debut - 2006), Brodinski (Northwest debut - 2009) Tipper (2004, 2005 and 2012), XXXY (2012), Byetone (Northwest debut - 2007 // 2012), Jimmy Edgar (2012), Kyle Hall (West Coast debut - 2010 // 2011), Demdike Stare (2012), Objekt (North American debut - 2012), Public Lover (West Coast debut - 2012), Roman Flugel (2012), Robert Henke (US debut - 2010), Emptyset (North American debut - 2012), Pezzner (World debut - 2009), Machinedrum (2005, 2010-2012), Kevin Saunderson (2010), Loscil (2004, 2005 and 2012), edIT (2005), Robert Babicz (West Coast debut - 2007), Jeff Samuel (2004, 2007 and 2012), The Sight Below (World debut - 2008 // 2009, 2010 and 2012), Alex Smoke (Northwest debut - 2006), Deadbeat (West Coast debut - 2005), Lusine (2005 - 2010 and 2012), Markus Nikolai (2004), Akufen (2005), [A]pendics.shuffle (2004, 2006, 2008), Pinch (2009), Derek Plaslaiko (2007 - 2010), Jon McMillion (2006, 2011 and 2012), Jerry Abstract (2004 - 2009 // 2012), Jacob London (World debut - 2005 // 2007).</p></blockquote> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/16/decibel-festival-announces-partial-lineup-including-peter-hook-and-the-light-adult-shabazz-palaces#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16506477&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/16/decibel-festival-announces-partial-lineup-including-peter-hook-and-the-light-adult-shabazz-palaces?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16506477&id=comments 1 Decibel Festival Announces Partial Lineup, Including Peter Hook &amp; the Light, ADULT., Shabazz Palaces Tue, 16 Apr 2013 10:32:08 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/01/a-time-for-dub-enter-zam-zam http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/01/a-time-for-dub-enter-zam-zam Charles Mudede <p>Those <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=11053">who remember Portland</a>'s dub label Bucolic Sound Investigations (BSI) will be happy to learn that two of its key figures, Ezra Ereckson and Tracy Harrison, have launched a new dub label called <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/ZamZam-Sounds/341150589257161">Zam Zam</a>. A taste of what's in store can be heard on this sample, which features dubs by Bristol's Rob Smith, one half of the groundbreaking duo <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_%26_Mighty">Smith &amp; Mighty</a>...<br /><iframe width="100%" height="450" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Fplaylists%2F4002371"></iframe><br />Along with the heavy dubs come beautiful album covers...<br /><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:412px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/ab5d/1364852703-429711_10151361666297406_1105078682_n.jpg" alt="429711_10151361666297406_1105078682_n.jpg" title="" width="400" height="400" /></div> <br />Dub is the master.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/01/a-time-for-dub-enter-zam-zam#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16392300&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/04/01/a-time-for-dub-enter-zam-zam?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=16392300&id=comments 2 A Time for Dub: Enter Zam Zam Mon, 01 Apr 2013 14:32:13 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/01/03/data-breaker-all-the-2012-regrets-that-are-fit-to-print http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/01/03/data-breaker-all-the-2012-regrets-that-are-fit-to-print Dave Segal <p>I&#8217;m a pragmatic motherfucker who doesn&#8217;t like to raise my hopes overly high or adjust &#8217;em too low. Overall, though, 2012 was a very good year for Data Breaker-y happenings. Decibel Festival alone provided enough highlights to keep even the surliest curmudgeon buzzin&#8217; for weeks. But as this is <em>The Stranger</em>&#8217;s annual Regrets issue, we&#8217;re obligated to accentuate the negative. So here are the things that harshed my mellow this year (remind me never to use that phrase again.) Data Breaker regrets the following things:</p> <p><strong>Ill Cosby departing Seattle for Washington, DC.</strong> As regular readers know, Cos was an integral figure in Seattle&#8217;s electronic-music scene, running the globally renowned future-bass label Car Crash Set, DJing various forward-thinking nights around town, producing his own excellent tracks, webcasting on sub.fm, and promoting shows by artists who rarely made it to Seattle. You could argue that one&#8217;s residence doesn&#8217;t matter as much in the 21st-century world of interconnectedness, but Cos is also a contender for nicest guy in the world, so his presence is missed.</p> <p><strong>Decibel Festival lasting five days.</strong> This might be one of those cringe-worthy first-world problems, but it is possible to have too much of a good thing. Decibel seemed optimal at four days, and even then, the last night&#8217;s crowds looked like extras from a disaster movie. As Decibel appeared to have its most financially successful year yet in 2012, scaling back likely isn&#8217;t up for debate. Still, let&#8217;s plant that seed in Sean Horton and company&#8217;s collective brains.</p> <p><u><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/data-breaker/Content?oid=15650876">Continue reading &#187;</a></u></p> Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2013/01/03/data-breaker-all-the-2012-regrets-that-are-fit-to-print?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15656720&id=comments 0 Thu, 03 Jan 2013 09:35:02 -0800 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/12/24/moebius-humanoid http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/12/24/moebius-humanoid Sean Jewell <p><iframe width="400" height="100" style="position: relative; display: block; width: 400px; height: 100px;" src="http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/v=2/album=1476646383/size=venti/bgcol=FFFFFF/linkcol=4285BB/" allowtransparency="true" frameborder="0"><a href="http://unsoundamerica.bandcamp.com/album/moebius-humanoid-an-unauthorized-musical-tribute">Moebius: Humanoid (An Unauthorized Musical Tribute) by Vox Mod</a></iframe></p> <p><strong>Moebius</strong> is the pseydonym of Parisian realist, script writer, and comic book artist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Giraud">Jean Giraud</a>. You may not recognize the name, but you've seen his work. His story concepts for films like <strong>Heavy Metal</strong> and <strong>Alien</strong>, his wordless adventure comic <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arzach">Arzach</a>, his western comic series <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blueberry_(comics)">Blueberry</a>, and his iconic "Parable" chapter of the<a href="http://marvel1980s.blogspot.com/2011/01/1988-silver-surfer-parable.html"> Silver Surfer</a> changed the face of science fiction storytelling over the last 40 years.</p> <p><a href="http://www.voxmod.com/">Vox Mod</a> is the psuedonym of local, but otherworldly, electronica artist <strong>Scot Porter</strong>, who teamed up with his brother <strong>Kyle Porter</strong> (Lazer Kitty, The Walking Wounded) to complete their latest installment of their <a href="http://www.unsoundamerica.com/2012/Welcome.html">UnSound America Artist Series</a>, which works as follows: </p> <blockquote><p>The Artist Series is an ongoing, revolving-door collaboration featuring core members of U/A including Kyle Porter, Vox Mod, and potentially many others. Each album is inspired by and dedicated to a particular visual artist. The process begins with one composer who completes their tracks as desired. This composer then hands their music off to a collaborator. The second person adds their own sounds, taking into account their own personal feelings on the subject matter and the original mix. The end result is a two-stage musical experience designed to expose our listeners to great works of art and the people behind them. </p></blockquote> <p><em>Humanoid</em> is their (unauthorized) tribute to the artist who died earlier this year. It soars with cinematic feel, evincing the extra terrestrial vision <strong>Giraud</strong> executed so vividly in his oil paintings and illustrations. <strong>Vox Mod</strong> has hinted to the influence in his earlier works, naming a track "Moebius" on his 2011 work <a href="http://voxmod.bandcamp.com/album/hazmat"><em>HAZMAT</em></a>, but the effect is fully realized here in a six chapter series of songs that breath a soundtrack into <strong>Jean Giraud</strong>'s work. </p> <p>Check out the song "Arzach", originally a wordless comic that relied on illustrations alone to tell the story of a <strong>pterodactyl piloting truth seeker</strong>. Here the brothers have made escalating arpeggios float over a terrain of beats, and used careening whistle to simulate the feeling of flying, before landing softly on the next track. </p> <p>Go download the whole thing for free over <a href="http://www.unsoundamerica.com/2012/The_Artist_Series.html">here</a>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/12/24/moebius-humanoid#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15589528&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> New Releases Decibel 206 http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/12/24/moebius-humanoid?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15589528&id=comments 0 Mon, 24 Dec 2012 15:27:04 -0800 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/12/12/decibel-festival-announces-2013-dates-offers-discount-passes http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/12/12/decibel-festival-announces-2013-dates-offers-discount-passes Dave Segal <p>Seattle's world-class electronic-music/digital-arts festival <a href="http://dbfestival.com/">Decibel</a> will take place at various venues <strong>Sept. 25-29, 2013</strong>. This will be the event's 10th anniversary. If current trends prevail, expect it to be the biggest and best one yet; 2012's dB had over <strong>26,000 attendees</strong>, up from 2,500 in 2004. You can purchase discounted passes for $150 (before fees) <a href="http://dbfestival.strangertickets.com/">here</a>. </p> <p>[Check out <strong>DJ Shadow</strong>'s entire 2012 Decibel set from Showbox Sodo after the cut.]</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jKj4e-Bbkrw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/12/12/decibel-festival-announces-2013-dates-offers-discount-passes#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15511805&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Decibel Upcoming http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/12/12/decibel-festival-announces-2013-dates-offers-discount-passes?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15511805&id=comments 0 Wed, 12 Dec 2012 11:59:48 -0800 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/11/15/the-ghost-in-the-future-is-vox-mod http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/11/15/the-ghost-in-the-future-is-vox-mod Charles Mudede <p>The local producer Vox Mod <a href="http://voxmod.bandcamp.com/album/capsule-selected-transient-works-04-09">has just released Capsule</a>, a collection of beats that draw from contemporary, 90s, and 80s futurism. One beat, 'Neo-Tokyo Pt. 2' does, as Vox explained to me in an email, have the mood of "a dark sci-fi city much like Neo-Tokyo in <em>Ghost In The Shell</em> or <em>Akira</em>." Another beat, "Infinite In Formation," is cruelly short. "Hologram Ghost" is spooky funk. "Queue (Please Wait)" is cinema for a spaceship. "Let Go" is jazz for robots. "Collapse" transports us to the horizon of a massive galatic event. There's lots to enjoy and admire in this work.<br /><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:500px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/e8bc/1352941031-screen_shot_2012-11-14_at_4.55.55_pm.png" alt="Screen_shot_2012-11-14_at_4.55.55_PM.png" title="" width="500" height="332" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Angel Ceballos - www.robotangel.com</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/11/15/the-ghost-in-the-future-is-vox-mod#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15288077&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Decibel 206 http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/11/15/the-ghost-in-the-future-is-vox-mod?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=15288077&id=comments 0 The Ghost In the Future Is Vox Mod Angel Ceballos - www.robotangel.com Thu, 15 Nov 2012 11:08:10 -0800 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/10/02/pizza-shirt-guy-some-shows-i-saw-on-friday http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/10/02/pizza-shirt-guy-some-shows-i-saw-on-friday Emily Nokes <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/4498/1349220213-pizza_shirt.jpg" alt="Pizza shirt guy!!!" title="Pizza shirt guy!!!" width="500" height="669" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Derek Erdman </li><li class="imageCaption">Pizza shirt guy!!!</li></ul></div></p> <p>On Friday I went on down to Belltown for the <strong>Ariel Pink &amp; Friends</strong> Decibel showcase. I missed BODYGUARD, but got there just in time for <strong>DaM-FunK</strong>, which was pretty DaM boring (<em>I KNOW</em> what the little hat he puts on the 'a' means, I'm making that joke either way HA HA). He started off with some promising funkiness, but it turned out to be just repetitive repetitiveness forever, eternally, without end, etc. There WAS a<strong> keytar </strong>involved though, which did add some points! Always points for keytars! </p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/82b9/1349220837-photo-3.jpg" alt="Ariel Pink" title="Ariel Pink " width="500" height="373" /><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">Ariel Pink </li></ul></div></p> <p>I saw <strong>Ariel Pink</strong> having a cigarette outside before his show and really wanted to crack his back and give him some <strong>posture tips</strong> like an overbearing aunt&#8212;"You're so cute! You just need to stand up straight! You're going to be hunched over by the time you're 50!"</p> <p>Mr. Pink started his set with a song about <strong>nymphomaniacs</strong>, which included an extended "Love Me Do" breakdown (with the lyrics changed to be too dirty for me to want to type right now). I think I saw five songs, and they all sounded true-to-recording. I'm only telling you that because people have <strong>grumbled</strong> in the past about his live shows sucking because his lo lo lofi recordings are hard to mimic with a band. Grumble no more!</p> <p>I then sped over to the <strong>Funhouse</strong> to see the <strong>Unnatural Helpers</strong> show. Everyone was raving about the three opening bands (which I missed because I COULDN'T WIN WITH THESE SHOW TIMINGS)&#8212;<a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Survival-Knife/202335756537516">Survival Knife</a>, <a href="http://broughttoyoubythestickers.bandcamp.com/">Stickers</a>, and <a href="http://thesewimps.bandcamp.com/">Wimps</a> (LOVE Stickers Wimps, hope to see Survival Knife soooon). The Helpers finale included an extended jam session featuring friends on <strong>trombone</strong> and saxophone!</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/10/02/1349222564-helps.jpg" alt="Helpers n horns!" title="Helpers n horns!" width="500" height="373" /><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">Helpers n' horns!</li></ul></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/10/02/pizza-shirt-guy-some-shows-i-saw-on-friday#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14896351&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Fashion Nightlife Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/10/02/pizza-shirt-guy-some-shows-i-saw-on-friday?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14896351&id=comments 0 Pizza Shirt Guy + Some Shows I Saw on Friday Pizza Shirt Guy!!! Derek Erdman Tue, 02 Oct 2012 17:13:48 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/10/01/decibel-festival-days-4-and-5-nils-frahm-matthew-dear-bruno-pronsato-windy-and-carl-public-lover-etc http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/10/01/decibel-festival-days-4-and-5-nils-frahm-matthew-dear-bruno-pronsato-windy-and-carl-public-lover-etc Dave Segal <p>Decibel&#8217;s fourth and fifth days couldn&#8217;t match its first three, and consequently I suffered from a severe aesthetic comedown, as well as general fatigue. (Will you please sign my petition to scale back Decibel to 4 days?). Still, here are some highlights and medlights [<em>sic</em>]. </p> <p><strong>SATURDAY SEPT. 29</strong><br /><strong>Nils Frahm</strong> stole the night, in many people&#8217;s ears. I missed the first part of his performance (<strong>Orcas</strong>&#8217; technical problems with Broadway Performance Hall's infrastructure shifted the time slots; ultimately they never sorted them out and Orcas didn&#8217;t play), but he reportedly dazzled by drumming with two mallets on his piano&#8217;s body and innards. You could hear a pen click (that was me; sorry!) during Frahm&#8217;s gorgeous lyrical impressionism and crystalline melancholy motifs on piano and electric organ. His touch can be extremely feathery or violently percussive; no matter the approach, though, Frahm&#8217;s music is wholly inspirational. He provoked the most vigorous standing ovation and cheers I heard all festival.</p> <p>Following Frahm&#8217;s breathtaking show, I flit between <strong>Q</strong> and <strong>Neumos</strong>, catching snippets of <strong>Dave Aju</strong>&#8217;s live set and <strong>Roman Fl&#252;gel</strong> and <strong>Nina Kraviz</strong>&#8217;s DJ sets. The former&#8217;s off-center techno sounded good in Q, but one wished for higher definition to the high and low ends. What I heard of Fl&#252;gel and Kraviz&#8217;s selections was solid, but only catching the early stages of their stints didn&#8217;t allow for any definitive conclusions. Matthew Dear&#8217;s live performance at Showbox at the Market was beckoning.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/5d23/1349134372-mathewdear-04.jpg" alt="Matthew Dear" title="Matthew Dear" width="500" height="429" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Jack Newton</li><li class="imageCaption">Matthew Dear</li></ul></div><br /> <br /><strong>Matthew Dear</strong> and his three band members looked debonair as hell in black suits, and Dear proved himself to be an exceptional tambourine player. He also wielded guitar and sang like a romantic pop crooner with a range/tone similar to <strong>Kevin Ayers</strong> and <strong>Bill Callahan</strong>. (A laptop was kept discreetly off to the side.) The drums were banging and the songs were catchy, leaning heavily on the new <em>Beams</em> and <em>Black City</em>. I prefer Dear in purist techno mode, though, so this show didn&#8217;t really move me. It sounded like <strong>INXS</strong>, if they were really, really good.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/4bd0/1349134482-mathewdear-02.jpg" alt="Matthew Dear" title="Matthew Dear" width="500" height="700" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Jack Newton</li><li class="imageCaption">Matthew Dear</li></ul></div></p> <p>Afterhours at <strong>Re-bar</strong>, former Seattle dynamo <strong>Bruno Pronsato</strong> went on at 4 am and immediately the bass started crunching in a manner that did not please the artist, not one bit. No matter. Pronsato kept pumping out the tonally weird and fuckworthily rhythmic tracks (he has the most piquant percussion sounds this side of <strong>Ricardo Villalobos</strong>), each one better than the last. <strong>Randy Jones</strong> (aka <strong>Caro</strong>) joined him to sing on the classic tech-house epic <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFuqyHMoPjk">&#8220;Nobody Calls,&#8221;</a> providing a highlight. A pretty full Re-bar crowd kept grinding to Pronsato&#8217;s quirky, sexy techno till 5:15 am. Funny to think that in Berlin (Bruno&#8217;s base of operations), this would&#8217;ve been a warm-up slot.</p> <p><strong>SUNDAY SEPT. 30</strong></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/34e3/1349134638-img_8544.jpg" alt="Windy &amp; Carl" title="Windy &amp; Carl" width="500" height="357" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Jack Newton</li><li class="imageCaption">Windy &amp; Carl</li></ul></div></p> <p><a href="http://www.kranky.net/artists/windycarl.html">Windy &amp; Carl</a> decided to make this Decibel appearance their final concert <em>ever</em>. Holy shit. The Dearborn, Michigan duo&#8212;who make the most gentle-souled ambient rock&#8212;never really changed over the course of their 20-year career. They simply remained in gorgeous stasis. This final performance began with "<strong>Baby Alpaca Wool Pulled Over My Eyes,"</strong> as Windy cooed &#8220;<em>ooooooooo</em>&#8221; while she and Carl spurred tingles and goose bumps with plangently beautiful, slowly caressed electric guitars. They followed with a jangly lullaby whose sweet, gradual undulations and jewel-glinting tones tolled as if they had all the time in the world. Windy &amp; Carl&#8217;s penultimate song was a morose yet hopeful ballad full of liquid grace. They ended the night with little puffs of discord, which might have been as turbulent as I&#8217;ve ever heard them. Big climaxes seem alien to them, but they gamely gave it a shot. This is a band who&#8217;s probably never unleashed a crescendo in their lives. Their music exists in a perpetual corona of bliss, devoid of extravagant gestures. While I would&#8217;ve liked to see them bow out with a cover of <strong>T.Rex&#8217;s &#8220;Life&#8217;s a Gas,&#8221;</strong> this mild storm did have a suitably valedictorian, composed air to it. Windy &amp; Carl may be <del>over</del> done with live performance, but the couple still runs <a href="http://www.stormyrecords.com/">Stormy Records</a>, which is a great shop. <del>Farewell, W&C, and thanks for all the sublime shivers.</del></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/10/01/1349134729-img_8559.jpg" alt="Windy" title="Windy " width="500" height="701" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Jack Newton</li><li class="imageCaption">Windy </li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/10/01/1349134809-img_8537.jpg" alt="Carl" title="Carl" width="500" height="701" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Jack Newton</li><li class="imageCaption">Carl</li></ul></div></p> <p>To <strong>Neumos</strong>. <strong>Public Lover</strong> (<strong>Bruno Pronsato</strong> and vocalist <strong>Ninca Leece</strong>, who are lovers; true story) serves as Bruno&#8217;s outlet for more accessible house music. More linear, smoother, and sleeker than his experimental techno excursions, Public Lover&#8217;s tracks ride lush keyboard pads, sophisticated funk rhythms, and Leece's sweet, poignant diva=isms to that grown-up realm of house music for people who havent&#8217; been to a rave in 15 years. This is serious baby-making music&#8212;literally, as Leece is five months pregnant. </p> <p><strong>John Talabot</strong> was good, I suppose, in a Hot Chip pop-house sort of way, but by this point, my critical faculties had pretty much gone AWOL. The packed, steamy club throbbed to their uplifting, percussively busy cuts, but to my veteran Decibellion ears, this finale lacked the massive climactic punch of some past fests (<strong>Alter Ego, Monolake, Supermayer</strong>, etc.). Still, at least I got through the entire festival without once hearing anybody utter the word &#8220;EDM.&#8221;</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/10/01/decibel-festival-days-4-and-5-nils-frahm-matthew-dear-bruno-pronsato-windy-and-carl-public-lover-etc#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14905391&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/10/01/decibel-festival-days-4-and-5-nils-frahm-matthew-dear-bruno-pronsato-windy-and-carl-public-lover-etc?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14905391&id=comments 0 Decibel Festival, Days 4 &amp; 5: Nils Frahm, Matthew Dear, Bruno Pronsato, Windy &amp; Carl, Public Lover, Etc. Matthew Dear Jack Newton Mon, 01 Oct 2012 16:45:33 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/10/01/daphni-jiaolong http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/10/01/daphni-jiaolong Sean Jewell <p>Canadian composer <strong>Dan Snaith</strong> is the maestro behind the icy/ass-shaking synthesis that is <strong>Caribou</strong>, a live instrumentation, downer disco, psychedelic band/project who have always worn his deeply ingrained electronica DJ ways on their sleeve.<br /> <br />In 2011 Dan began working under the moniker <strong>Daphni</strong>, an entirely electronic effort that captures more clearly the world beat influences that lay just beneath the surfaces of <strong>Caribou</strong>'s live percussion and keys.</p> <p>His new album <em>JIAOLONG</em> is available to stream in its entirety for the first time over at <a href="http://www.residentadvisor.net/feed-item.aspx?id=53133">Resident Advisor </a>. </p> <p>Heavy, sustained cello samples clamor with robot winces, claps, and every percussion instrument available on a drum package, from bongos to timbales. The distorted beats become so baptized in their own holy spirit, they break out in sparse vocal sample chants like &#8220;<em>Ye-ye-ye</em>.&#8221; At times, it&#8217;s like a Caribou album played through cheap, tinny computer speakers&#8212;that somehow improves their sound&#8212;and at others it&#8217;s the trance inducing ritual of a tribe of trogloxenes, confined to the darkness of the club, guided by the light of the laser machine, and sustained by the rave cave's slinky, bottomless beats.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/VscTvSzoqNk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/zL6mc1reQ7A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/10/01/daphni-jiaolong#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14902375&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> New Releases Drugs Album Decibel Video http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/10/01/daphni-jiaolong?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14902375&id=comments 0 Mon, 01 Oct 2012 12:32:28 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/decibel-festival-disappointment-xlr8r-showcase http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/decibel-festival-disappointment-xlr8r-showcase Sean Jewell <p>Perhaphs my expectations were too high for <a href="http://dbfestival.com/showcase/?xlr8r_presents">Decibel Festival&#8217;s XLR8R showcase</a>. With the crushing blow of the removal of British sample savant <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPbD_2yNlew&feature=plcp">Actress</a> from the bill due to visa complications, I was already let down before the show began. Things got better when some friends from out of town joined the caravan. We made our way into the city talking about <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcX_-QP2HAc">Craig Johnson Records</a>, <a href="http://www.joemcphee.com/?page=3">Joe McPhee Music</a> (Seattle shit, natch), Vancouver Jazz festivals gone by, and bop and acid jazz greats like <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y7EGQzn8e1k">Pharoah Sanders </a>and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YVOd1hK0_w">Elvin Jones</a> shows we were lucky enough to catch years ago.</p> <p>The DJ set in the car ran from<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DM8V3xVA4IQ&feature=related"> Dead Meadow</a> to <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzNohGZPqlA">The Surfaris</a>, and even some Greh Kihn band for good measure. Everyone was primed for something good.</p> <p>The line at the <strong>Baltic Room</strong> was well out the door when we arrived at 9:30, and the DJ set from <a href="http://soundcloud.com/shawn-reynaldo">Shawn Reynaldo</a> was a pastiche of techno and house spilling out onto the sidewalk (his sound was no where near the experimental techno/tropical trip hip hop he's capable of). I began to wonder how one could found an <a href="http://thisisluckyme.com/category/mixtapes/">imprint</a> on something so dull. Instead of waiting in line we cruised around the corner to Taylor Shellfish Farms for some delicious Kumamoto oysters and drinks.The atmosphere on the hill was lively, <strong>Country Joe and the Fish</strong> blared out of the speakers at the oyster bar. Weed and cigar smoke made it&#8217;s way into the restaurant from the street. We made it into the <strong>Baltic Room</strong> at 10pm and the DJ set could not end soon enough. When it finally did, Gulls took the stage at roughly ten &#8216;til 11, well into his scheduled set time.</p> <p>The sound in the <strong>Baltic Room</strong> is perfect for its size. It&#8217;s your basic rockbox with solid walls, where bass and high tones resonate nicely anywhere you stand. <a href="http://soundcloud.com/gulls">Gulls</a> passionately worked his sampler, and sometimes his single CDJ and controller. His compositions have an air of politeness, and operate with a much different set of manners than typical techno or house, but overall his songs spent a lot of time building to nowhere. At one point the composition even halted for well over a minute; why, I don&#8217;t know. Perhaps he was channeling <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gN2zcLBr_VM">John Cage</a>. At moments <strong>Gulls</strong>' minimal hopping instrumentals showed flashes of brilliance, but by the time his work built up to something entertaining, he was well past his own set time, and 10 mintues past the 6 mintues signal he&#8217;d been flashed by the stage manager. I was itching to hear something with more edge. </p> <p>It wasn&#8217;t until 11:30 when another house DJ took to the tables to prove that access to an Apple, dual pioneer CDJs, and Serato software does <em>not</em> a hopping club make. The dancefloor stood straight up and motionless as <strong>Teengirl Fantasy</strong> moved in with their mountains of equipment. <br /><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNxhgua6K6A&feature=BFa&list=ALHTd1VmZQRNqmGexknDM-zMLKWzV2p-YG">Teengirl Fantasy</a> set up quick (or tried to), and cut the DJ short (right in the middle of a song, it seemed) and with half their equipment online, 50 percent of the crew began working synth-squeals and throbbing wet beats out of an mAudio keyboard and mixer. By the time a wiring snag was worked out to get the other half of the duo plugged in, it was midnight, and the music actually began to reach a level of appreciable madness. <strong>Teengirl Fantasy</strong>&#8217;s two keyboards, multiple samplers, mixers, and turntables were turning out the abstract breathy rhythms, indiscernible samples, and a hot mess of beats one would expect from a world-class festival. By the time they were into their set and making some pretty good noise, I had to leave. </p> <p>Down at the bar I saw <strong>Gulls</strong> exchanging his drink ticket for a tequila, looking visibly disappointed, then leaving the showcase himself. I guess he couldn&#8217;t stick around for <strong>Nosaj Thing</strong>, either.<br /> <br />On the way home I heard <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YivFyoUVD3Q&feature=related">Boogaloo Joe Jones</a> for the first time. I heard a lot better music <em>outside</em> <strong>Decibel Festival</strong> than I did <em>in</em>, but chalk this one up to a good night out with friends. Sometimes the journey is the destination.</p> <p>P.S...If anyone saw Nosaj fill me in below!</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/decibel-festival-disappointment-xlr8r-showcase#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14891771&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/decibel-festival-disappointment-xlr8r-showcase?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14891771&id=comments 1 Sat, 29 Sep 2012 20:05:41 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/boe-oddisey-at-do-over http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/boe-oddisey-at-do-over Trent Moorman <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:437px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/673a/1348965101-boe.jpg" alt="Boe.jpg" title="" width="425" height="572" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">T. Moorman</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p>This is Boe Oddisey of <strong>The Boe Oddisey Scarf Dance and Art Company</strong>. Boe was basking and doling to the J Rocc, Dam-Funk, Nosaj Thing, and Supreme La Rock of the Decibel <a href="http://dbfestival.com/attend/schedule/">Do-Over</a> in the sun at the Broadway Performance Hall Plaza. Boe came to Seattle from Bremerton in 1971. He says, &#8220;Celebrate and seize the day.&#8221; Boe gives out hugs, and art, and is available for private parties. I love Boe. He&#8217;s a beautiful addition to our city. He says, &#8220;All fan mail welcomed at PMB B40, 1463 E. Republican St, Seattle, WA, 98102. Exotic and/or all age scarf dancing, comedy, abstract, acrylic painting, massage <em>for you</em>. Clean, sober, tobacco free, vegan option on life. Just do it. The time is now. We are here.&#8221;</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/boe-oddisey-at-do-over#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14891260&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Right Now Decibel Love http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/boe-oddisey-at-do-over?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14891260&id=comments 4 Boe Oddisey at Do-Over T. Moorman Sat, 29 Sep 2012 18:08:58 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/decibel-festival-day-3-biosphere-eleh-emptyset-kangding-ray-byetone http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/decibel-festival-day-3-biosphere-eleh-emptyset-kangding-ray-byetone Dave Segal <p>Some incredible shit went down Friday at Decibel. Some of it sounded like this. </p> <p><strong>BIOSPHERE @ BROADWAY PERFORMANCE HALL</strong><br />Honestly, <strong>Biosphere</strong> (Norway&#8217;s Geir Jenssen) put on a more varied, dynamic show at last year&#8217;s <strong>Substrata</strong>. His set last night wasn&#8217;t bad by any means, but the first track&#8217;s rhythm remained unvarying for about 15 minutes. Don't get me wrong, it was a fine rhythm (tom/2 kicks &amp; 4 cymbal taps), but some changes wouldn&#8217;t have gone amiss. Like a masterly soundtrack composer, Biosphere increased the tension of his teeming, momentous drones in subtle increments. There was something almost classically Hollywood about the suspenseful atmospheres and melancholy grandeur of much of Biosphere&#8217;s performance. Toward the end, things became more limpidly ambient until a chilling synth part came in, sounding like <strong>Bernard Herrmann</strong>&#8217;s shrieking strings from <em>Psycho</em> flattened into a monotone <em>EEEEEEEE</em>. Aaaand scene&#8230;</p> <p><strong>ELEH @ BROADWAY PERFORMANCE HALL</strong><br /><strong>Eleh</strong> is cloaked in mystery. His identity is known only to a select circle of initiates. His music is so minimal, it makes <strong>Pan_sonic</strong> sound like <strong>ELP</strong>. Last night, he sat on the floor in the dark, his back to the audience, as he caressed a keyboard and tinkered with a Serge modular synthesizer that looked like it was shipped straight from <strong>Morton Subotnick</strong>&#8217;s studio ca. 1968. (Thank Allah Eleh wasn&#8217;t playing yet another fucking silver Mac.) Eleh began with keening, wispy tones that curled over a perpetual, faint universal 60-hz hum. Eventually, booming bass belches, methodically spaced, issued like a belligerent household appliance rebelling against its duties. This was followed by a fluctuating bass tone that felt like a blanket sweeping over you and tucking you in for your eternal dirt nap. Par-TAY. The epitome of an anti-personality, Eleh got up and walked offstage without acknowledging the crowd, as his sound continued to was and wane. Soon after, the lights went on. The end.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/1448/1348997824-screen_shot_2012-09-29_at_3.43.35_pm.png" alt="Emptyset" title="Emptyset" width="500" height="330" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Heather Schofner</li><li class="imageCaption">Emptyset</li></ul></div></p> <p><strong>EMPTYSET @ MELROSE MARKET STUDIOS</strong><br />If you thought nothing could top Thursday&#8217;s <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/decibel-festival-day-2-maria-minerva-djao-cut-hands-demdike-stare-andy-stott">Modern Love Records showcase</a> (mea culpa), <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yakp_psoMaU">Emptyset</a> kind of proved you wrong at the <strong>Raster-Noton</strong> showcase. (Raster-Noton has been one of the best labels on the planet since 1999.) The British duo played techno that belonged in an S&M grindhouse, its vicious tones and vengeful beats meting out punishment for the sheer glee of it. Machismo played a role in this music, but it didn&#8217;t come off as obnoxious, even at its most militaristic (beats going off like artillery). Emptyset&#8217;s heavy, maximal tekno bore some of the most obese kickdrums ever to give speakers embolisms. At times, their brutalist, abstractions recalled <strong>Fred Bigot</strong>&#8217;s bass-intensive slugfests. At others, the tempo picked up to a swift yet still massively heavy cruising speed, augmented by crazy, serrated, mechanized textures. Often you felt like you were in the presence of an <strong>megalomaniacal automaton</strong>. Frequently you felt like you were in an abattoir&#8212;or a war. &#8220;<strong>That was original</strong>,&#8221; someone said afterward. Um, yeah.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/df4d/1348998013-screen_shot_2012-09-29_at_3.43.50_pm.png" alt="Emptyset" title="Emptyset" width="500" height="330" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Heather Schofner</li><li class="imageCaption">Emptyset</li></ul></div></p> <p><strong>KANGDING RAY @ MELROSE MARKET STUDIOS</strong><br />Following Emptyset can&#8217;t be easy, but <strong>Kangding Ray</strong> killed it with a seriously grooving dance set. His techno&#8217;s heavy and complex, often shattering the genre&#8217;s gridlike tendencies. The bulk of his performance consisted of 130-bpm noisy techno that oddly made me think of &#8217;90s titans like <strong>Prototype 909</strong> and <strong>Psychick Warriors Ov Gaia</strong>. There was also some <strong>Shitkatapult</strong>-style <em>schaffel</em> going on and some cosmic-dusted, blobular techno that made me regret not dosing. What a master Kangding Ray be.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/a8ca/1348997935-screen_shot_2012-09-29_at_3.43.15_pm.png" alt="Byetone" title="Byetone" width="500" height="330" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Heather Schofner</li><li class="imageCaption">Byetone</li></ul></div></p> <p><strong>BYETONE @ MELROSE MARKET STUDIOS</strong><br /><strong>Byetone</strong> started his set this with shredding, menacing minimalism abristle with glowering tones. Gradually, he transitioned into an intricate electro steez with punishing bass. Most of his set sounded like an oblique homage to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YPiCeLwh5o">Kraftwerk&#8217;s &#8220;Numbers&#8221;</a> (electro&#8217;s funky-as-fuck ground zero), an epic robotic boogie that intensified as it progressed, as numbers flashed on the screens in Melrose Market Studios, my favorite bunker-like facility in Seattle. Modern Love and Raster-Noton showcases on successive nights? Decibel quite possibly has already shot its copious wad.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/decibel-festival-day-3-biosphere-eleh-emptyset-kangding-ray-byetone#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14890540&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Last Night Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/decibel-festival-day-3-biosphere-eleh-emptyset-kangding-ray-byetone?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14890540&id=comments 0 Decibel Festival, Day 3: Biosphere, Eleh, Emptyset, Kangding Ray, Byetone Emptyset Heather Schofner Sat, 29 Sep 2012 15:54:34 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/erykah-badu-and-the-cannabinoids-and-the-swamp-of-bass http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/erykah-badu-and-the-cannabinoids-and-the-swamp-of-bass Trent Moorman <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/fbd1/1348947912-badu.jpg" alt="Badu.jpg" title="" width="500" height="319" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">T. Moorman</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p>The bass in mix for <a href="http://thecannabinoids.tumblr.com">Erykah Badu and the Cannabinoids</a> at the Paramount Theater was overpowering, and there were 17 laptops onstage. Actually I counted seven, with one of the Cannabinoids regularly pressing the &#8220;wind chime&#8221; button. On the floor, toward the rear of the Faberg&#233; confines of the Paramount, the sound was a swampy mess. Reports from the balcony were that the bass overpowered up there as well. Her vocals were completely indiscernible, washed in realms of reverb and delay, but she still owned it powerfully. In the live context of her show with the Cannabinoids, Badu&#8217;s voice slots in more as an instrument, so understanding every word isn&#8217;t what I think she&#8217;s going for anyway. Highpoint was a <a href="http://youtu.be/A7lbY-THNHc">Flying Lotus number</a> off <em>Until the Quiet Comes</em> out October 2 in the US. Occasionally she palmed at a drum pad (hello bass) to her left, (with a brain to her right) sometimes topping off the plain of the song with a hand-tied 808 flurry. Projections sailed through seas of animated ganglia and Tron-world dolly shots of the pyramids. Songs mostly stayed on their own mid to down tempo flight paths with few key changes, and when they touched down, for my ears, the bass just overtook too much. It was one of those shows that seemed to drain, not charge. I love Erykah Badu, though; she can do no wrong. Maybe I should have been stoned. (Brain picture after jump.)</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/2573/1348948588-badu2.jpg" alt="badu2.jpg" title="" width="500" height="508" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">T. Moorman</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/erykah-badu-and-the-cannabinoids-and-the-swamp-of-bass#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14889810&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Last Night Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/29/erykah-badu-and-the-cannabinoids-and-the-swamp-of-bass?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14889810&id=comments 3 Erykah Badu and the Cannabinoids - And the Swamp of Bass T. Moorman Sat, 29 Sep 2012 13:33:09 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/julianna-barwick-and-maria-minerva http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/julianna-barwick-and-maria-minerva Kathy Fennessy <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:487px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/c43b/1348845294-decibel.jpg" alt="Glowing Decibel logo" title="Glowing Decibel logo " width="475" height="359" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">K.C. Fennessy</li><li class="imageCaption">Glowing Decibel logo between sets</li></ul></div></p> <p>It's to the advantage of artists and audiences alike that <a href="http://dbfestival.com/">Decibel</a> discourages flash photography and limits picture-taking to the first three songs of each set (there might be exceptions, but those were the basic rules laid out in the press logistics mailing). It's also why the photos below aren't all that great, but at least you get the gist of Brooklyn's <strong>Julianna Barwick</strong> and London's <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/07/24/estonian-brings-hazed-beats-to-town">Maria Minerva</a>, who both performed solo at the Triple Door as part of the <strong>Optical 2: Ascension</strong> showcase (I wasn't able to catch Lulacruza and Anenon, who rounded out the bill).</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:487px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/6103/1348845699-julianna_barwick2.jpg" alt="julianna_barwick2.jpg" title="" width="475" height="322" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">K.C. Fennessy</li><li class="imageCaption">Former Louisiana resident Julianna Barwick</li></ul></div></p> <p>The two women provided a study in contrasts, since Barwick took a beat-free, heavenly-choir approach, reminiscent of the <strong>Cocteau Twins</strong> or <strong>Sigur R&#243;s</strong>, while Minerva came on like a one-woman <strong>Dead Can Dance</strong> or <strong>New Age Steppers</strong> with deep, dubbed-out grooves and more energetic vocals. If Minerva were to end up on a bill with <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/06/19/neneh-cherry-meets-the-thing">Neneh Cherry</a>, it would make perfect sense&#8212;and I hope she does. </p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:487px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/c0f3/1348846168-julianna_barwick.jpg" alt="julianna_barwick.jpg" title="" width="475" height="365" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">K.C. Fennessy</li><li class="imageCaption">2011's <em>The Magic Place</em> is out on Asthmatic Kitty</li></ul></div></p> <p>The fluidly-changing film clips that unfurled behind Barwick included grainy scenes from nature, like a fog-enshrouded forest and time-lapse flora photography, while Minerva opted for computer-generated imagery, like luminescent crystals and black-and-white geometric shapes. Belgian artist-musician <strong>Christina Vantzou</strong>, who'll be participating in Saturday's <a href="http://dbfestival.com/showcase/?optical_4%3A_discreet_tones">Optical 4: Discreet Tones</a> and Sunday's <a href="http://dbfestival.com/showcase/?optical_5%3A_undercurrent">Optical 5: Undercurrent</a> showcases, provided Barwick's evocative visuals. </p> <p>While I would describe Julianna's music as more ethereal than sexless, Maria roots hers in the body; it isn't soulful, in the conventional sense, but more rhythmic and earthy. I was feeling it. Barwick's set was lovely, but I found my mind wandering as there wasn't much variation from track to track. Granted, that may have been her very intention: to offer a soundtrack for inner contemplation&#8212;in which case it worked a treat. I was just hoping for something more immediately engaging. </p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:487px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/09/28/1348846398-maria_minerva2.jpg" alt="maria_minerva2.jpg" title="" width="475" height="348" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">K.C. Fennessy</li><li class="imageCaption">Former Estonia resident Maria Minerva</li></ul></div></p> <p>In person, Minerva is taller than she appears in publicity photos and her rig was low, so she was bent over much of the time. My back hurt just to watch her ministrations, but she danced around, too, which might've helped (Barwick remained rooted to the same spot the entire time). She also triggered a greater variety of sounds&#8212;though I could never quite see what she was doing&#8212;making her look like a mad scientist as compared to the consistently cool, calm Barwick.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:487px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/09/28/1348846671-maria_minerva3.jpg" alt="maria_minerva3.jpg" title="" width="475" height="366" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">K.C. Fennessy</li><li class="imageCaption">2011's <em>Cabaret Cixous</em> is out on Not Not Fun</li></ul></div></p> <p>If Minerva's set was more to my personal taste, I'm glad that I made time for Barwick (not being familiar with her recorded work, I had originally planned on Maria alone). Before leaving the stage, Minerva mentioned that she was looking forward to catching <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/demdike-stare-and-director-jean-rollin">Demdike Stare</a> and <strong>Andy Stott</strong> at Melrose Market Studios. I would've been, too, if I wasn't so tired&#8212;they were scheduled to go on at 12am and 1am respectively&#8212;so I'm glad I caught Demdike's great re-score for <em><strong>La Vampire Nue</strong></em> on Wednesday instead. If you missed the film, it's out now on DVD, but that score really made the experience complete (I just wish the festival could've shown the original subtitled version, since the music sometimes drowned out the dubbed dialogue...not that dialogue was ever Jean Rollin's strong suit).</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/julianna-barwick-and-maria-minerva#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14880867&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Last Night Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/julianna-barwick-and-maria-minerva?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14880867&id=comments 0 Julianna Barwick and Maria Minerva Glowing Decibel logo K.C. Fennessy Fri, 28 Sep 2012 17:17:25 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/decibel-fest-photos-orbital-paramount-theatre http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/decibel-fest-photos-orbital-paramount-theatre Dave Segal <p><em>Stranger</em> photographer <strong>Jack Newton</strong> snapped some sweet pics of <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/sound-check/Content?oid=14847610">Orbital</a> last night at the <strong>Paramount</strong>. A friend who went said he left after 30 minutes because Orbital sounded "too normal." What's your take?</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/76e3/1348875491-orbital-01.jpg" alt="Orbital-01.JPG" title="" width="500" height="357" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Jack Newton</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/897f/1348875554-orbital-02.jpg" alt="You gotta have Hartnoll." title="You gotta have Hartnoll." width="500" height="357" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Jack Newton</li><li class="imageCaption">You gotta have Hartnoll.</li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/f5d1/1348875643-orbital-03.jpg" alt="These Chimeing men." title="These Chimeing men." width="500" height="357" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Jack Newton</li><li class="imageCaption">These "Chime"ing men.</li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/09/28/1348875748-orbital-04.jpg" alt="We were going to dedicate Planet of the Shapes to Segal, but the bastard never showed." title="We were going to dedicate Planet of the Shapes to Segal, but the bastard never showed." width="500" height="357" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Jack Newton</li><li class="imageCaption">"We were going to dedicate 'Planet of the Shapes' to Segal, but the bastard never showed."</li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/09/28/1348875824-orbital-05.jpg" alt="Im still not sure which ones Paul and which ones Phil." title="Im still not sure which ones Paul and which ones Phil." width="500" height="357" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Jack Newton</li><li class="imageCaption">I'm still not sure which one's Paul and which one's Phil.</li></ul></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/decibel-fest-photos-orbital-paramount-theatre#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14884391&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Last Night Decibel Photo http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/decibel-fest-photos-orbital-paramount-theatre?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14884391&id=comments 0 Decibel Fest Photos: Orbital @ Paramount Theatre You gotta have Hartnoll. Jack Newton Fri, 28 Sep 2012 16:45:32 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/decibel-festival-day-2-maria-minerva-djao-cut-hands-demdike-stare-andy-stott http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/decibel-festival-day-2-maria-minerva-djao-cut-hands-demdike-stare-andy-stott Dave Segal <p>Last night, my little slice of <strong>Decibel</strong> was so intense and amazing. It went something like this&#8230;</p> <p><strong>MARIA MINERVA @ TRIPLE DOOR</strong><br /><strong>Maria Minerva</strong> looked like she was dressed to perform some modern dance, but instead she (wo)manned her gear with one hand and gripped the mic in the other. With these rudimentary tools, she enchanted a sedate crowd at Triple Door, a venue that always seems too posh for the music I go there to hear. Minerva slung her voice like a lasso, flamboyantly swooping up and down her register while coaxing distorted keyboard ululations. Her set largely explored a languid sort of dub and electronic pop hybrid, but sometimes diverged into deep drone zones, sculpted airplane-engine roar, lopsided house music, midtempo funk, and, during the last track, a Moog-like babble that evoked <strong>Mort Garson, Dick Hyman</strong>, and <strong>Gershon Kingsley</strong>. Lots of people were leaving throughout the performance (probably to see <strong>Orbital</strong>, who, according to reports I heard, were weak). Bad choice, people.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/c8fe/1348871177-mariaminerva-01.jpg" alt="Maria Minerva" title="Maria Minerva" width="500" height="700" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Jack Newton</li><li class="imageCaption">Maria Minerva</li></ul></div></p> <p><strong>DJAO @ BARBOZA</strong><br />I will keep saying this until it happens (or it doesn&#8217;t): Local producer <strong>DJAO</strong> (aka <strong>Alex Osuch</strong>) is going to blow up, any year now. He led off the <a href="http://www.droppinggems.com/">Dropping Gems</a> showcase with a masterly set of slow-your-roll hiphop/future bass spectrality that had the crowd transfixed. DJAO contrasted ocean-floor bass pressure with ethereal tone impressionism and angelic croons (his own) to stunningly beautiful and yearning effect. And as the sole practitioner of <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/03/02/are-you-ready-for-chiltonwave">Chiltonwave</a>&#8482;, he scropped and chewed <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pte3Jg-2Ax4">Big Star&#8217;s &#8220;Thirteen&#8221;</a> until it gradually deliquesced into a pool of molasses-y loveliness. <strong>DUG</strong> DJ <strong>Jon Fran&#231;ois</strong> said, &#8220;I like [DJAO&#8217;s music] because I feel like I&#8217;m alone when I&#8217;m listening to it, even in a club.&#8221; Achieving that sort of intimacy is a special skill.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/2280/1348871296-picture_1.png" alt="DJAO" title="DJAO" width="500" height="328" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Heather Schofner</li><li class="imageCaption">DJAO</li></ul></div></p> <p><strong>CUT HANDS @ MELROSE MARKET STUDIOS</strong><br />I hate to be that guy, but if you missed the <a href="http://dbfestival.com/showcase/?modern_love_showcase">Modern Love Records showcase</a> at MMS, you fucked up, badly. <strong>Cut Hands</strong> (<strong>William Bennett</strong> of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitehouse_%28band%29">Whitehouse</a>, looking like your favorite humanities professor) unleashed a sadistic rhythm orgy, a relentless barrage of percussion and flayed frequencies, for a little over an hour. It was one of the most intense sets I&#8217;ve seen at Decibel, and I&#8217;ve been going since year 1. Cut Hands&#8217; most recent album is titled <em>Afro Noise</em>, and that&#8217;s what the man delivered. An iconoclastic Caucasian Brit messing around with Ghanaian and Congolese rhythms risks accusations of cultural colonialism, but fuck, this shit sounds phenomenal, so loosen up, Mr. Politically Correct. Bennett, now in his 50s, danced feverishly to his own clattering madness, an elephant stampede of kick/kettle drums&#8212;or maybe frame drums the size of a satellite dish? Whatever they were, they left you dazed and contused. Frequent metallic tonalities clanged like gangbusters and drums progressively became more weapon-like as the night wore on. You couldn't help feeling thoroughly pummeled. So damn primal...</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/2dab/1348871373-picture_2.png" alt="Cut Hands" title="Cut Hands" width="500" height="346" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Heather Schofner</li><li class="imageCaption">Cut Hands</li></ul></div></p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/09/28/1348871615-dendikestare-01.jpg" alt="Demdike Stare" title="Demdike Stare" width="500" height="700" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Jack Newton</li><li class="imageCaption">Demdike Stare</li></ul></div></p> <p><strong>DEMDIKE STARE @ MELROSE MARKET STUDIOS</strong><br />Nobody&#8217;s better right now at the imaginary horror-film soundtrack game than <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/alchemical-brothers/Content?oid=14778522">Demdike Stare</a>. Their cantankerous drones are supremely elemental and soul-stirring, piercing the dark of heartness [<em>sic</em>]. Sometimes they entered a solemnly ritualistic mode, like a 21st-century <strong>:Zoviet-France:</strong>, sometimes the instilled a volcanic panic with great clouds of disturbulence, sometimes they shifted into a black-lunged techno gallop. Whatever style they chose, it complemented extremely well the phantasmal collage of creepy cinematic footage flickering behind them. Demdike Stare totally lived up to my&#8212;and everyone else&#8217;s&#8212;hyperbole. </p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/09/28/1348871672-picture_3.png" alt="Demdike Stare" title="Demdike Stare" width="500" height="356" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Heather Schofner</li><li class="imageCaption">Demdike Stare</li></ul></div></p> <p><strong>ANDY STOTT @ MELROSE MARKET STUDIOS</strong><br />By the time <strong>Stott</strong> went on, around 2 am, I was zombified something awful. But he oozed out some black-and-white techno that trudged like the intro to <strong>Black Sabbath's "Iron Man,"</strong> but with a killer 4/4 pulse behind it. Stott&#8217;s new material is reviving that heroin-house sound <a href="http://www.koener.de/porterricks.htm">Porter Ricks</a> pioneered in the &#8217;90s, and it&#8217;s about freakin&#8217; time. Halfway through Stott&#8217;s performance, I pretty much surrendered to fatigue and pondered torching my notebook&#8212;which was quickly becoming illegible and gobbledygook-strewn anyway.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/09/28/1348871738-picture_4.png" alt="Andy Stott" title="Andy Stott" width="500" height="756" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Heather Schofner</li><li class="imageCaption">Andy Stott</li></ul></div></p> <p>Make no mistake, <a href="http://dbfestival.com/showcase/?modern_love_showcase">Modern Love</a> dudes set the bar so damn high, I don&#8217;t think anyone else will surpass them at Decibel (unless the <a href="http://dbfestival.com/showcase/?raster-noton_showcase">Raster-Noton</a> crew pulls off an upset). </p> <p>What I love about acts on this Modern Love bill is that their music is devoid of fun&#8212;it makes fun completely <em>irrelevant</em>. This music <em>transcends</em> fun; it takes you deeper into yourself than you want to go, but once you get there, you can't believe how thrilling that inner sphere is. It&#8217;s the music world&#8217;s most profound mind/body fuck currently available. <strong>Orbital</strong> ain&#8217;t gonna give you that&#8212;not in 2012, Jim.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/decibel-festival-day-2-maria-minerva-djao-cut-hands-demdike-stare-andy-stott#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14883420&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Last Night Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/decibel-festival-day-2-maria-minerva-djao-cut-hands-demdike-stare-andy-stott?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14883420&id=comments 7 Decibel Festival, Day 2: Maria Minerva, DJAO, Cut Hands, Demdike Stare, Andy Stott Maria Minerva Jack Newton Fri, 28 Sep 2012 15:42:15 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/the-best-electronic-music-smorgasbordmarathon-in-the-us-a-tightly-compressed-guide-to-whats-happening-tonight-at-decibel-festival http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/the-best-electronic-music-smorgasbordmarathon-in-the-us-a-tightly-compressed-guide-to-whats-happening-tonight-at-decibel-festival Dave Segal <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/1b60/1348794559-url.jpeg" alt="url.jpeg" title="" width="500" height="260" /></div></p> <p><strong>Motor City Masters, Fri Sept 28, 9 pm, Showbox at the Market:</strong> Detroit techno's eternal importance to electronic music gets reiterated with performances by Carl Craig (aka 69, the most talented of the second wave of Motor City producer/DJs along with Jeff Mills and Rob Hood), Octave One (old-school, soulful trackmakers who remain relevant today), and former Seattleite/ex-Detroiter Jerry Abstract, whose DJ sets tap into the hardest and best specimens from back in the day and right now.</p> <p><strong>Raster-Noton Showcase, Fri Sept 28, 10:30 pm, Melrose Market Studios: </strong>Raster-Noton is the damn-near-infallible German experimental-electronic label. Its artists' highbrow aural emanations and severe, geometric visual accompaniments have yielded legendary results at past Decibel and MUTEK fests. Byetone and Kangding Ray bring a shocking rhythmic vitality to R-N's patented op-art minimalism and bleepy pointillism. These eggheads' tracks will stun you with their funkiness and danceability. Emptyset makes minimal techno that's coated in tar and throbbing with primeval vengefulness. Charles Bronson would love it.</p> <p><strong>Optical 3: Touch 30, Fri Sept 28, 7 pm, Broadway Performance Hall:</strong> On this bill of elite atmosphere conjurers, the most intriguing figure is Eleh. This enigma creates some of the most tabula-rasa'd drone that ever droned you into the Zen zone. With Jon Wozencroft, Biosphere, the Sight Below, lissom, and Leo Mayberry.</p> <p><strong>XLR8R Presents, Fri Sept 28, 9 pm, Baltic Room:</strong> The music on Actress's three scintillating albums slithers among pre- and post-dubstep genres with slick friction. Strange textures, eerily beautiful atmospheres, and coiled rhythms send you down fascinating and surprising alleyways. With Gulls, Teengirl Fantasy, and Ghosts on Tape.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/the-best-electronic-music-smorgasbordmarathon-in-the-us-a-tightly-compressed-guide-to-whats-happening-tonight-at-decibel-festival#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14876083&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Dancing Tonight Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/the-best-electronic-music-smorgasbordmarathon-in-the-us-a-tightly-compressed-guide-to-whats-happening-tonight-at-decibel-festival?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14876083&id=comments 0 The Best Electronic-Music Smorgasbord/Marathon in the US: A Tightly Compressed Guide to What's Happening Tonight at Decibel Festival Fri, 28 Sep 2012 10:20:58 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/decibels-getting-coverage-in-media-festivals-and-retail-outlets-panel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/decibels-getting-coverage-in-media-festivals-and-retail-outlets-panel Dave Segal <p>This afternoon from 2 to 3 at <strong>Broadway Performance Hall</strong> I'll be participating in a panel discussion about <strong>getting coverage</strong> in the media, festivals, and retail outlets. Joining me on this <strong>Decibel Festival</strong>-sanctioned panel will be <strong>Darek Mazzone</strong> (<a href="http://kexp.org/dj/DarekMazzone">KEXP</a>), <strong>Shawn Reynaldo</strong> (<a href="http://www.xlr8r.com/contributors/shawn-reynaldo">XLR8R</a>), <strong>Alain Mongeau</strong> (<a href="http://www.mutek.org">MUTEK</a>), <strong>Andrew Ryce</strong> (<a href="http://www.residentadvisor.net/profile/andrewryce/contrib">Resident Advisor</a>), and <strong>Rachel Gibbs</strong> (music curator for <a href="http://www.victoriassecret.com/">Victoria's Secret</a>). If you're a musician who's looking for tips on how to get more exposure (and revenue), you may want to attend. <a href="http://decibelfestival2012.sched.org/event/5706f78e093241422199bd30839d8f55#.UGXSeBhqPfZ">More information here</a>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/decibels-getting-coverage-in-media-festivals-and-retail-outlets-panel#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14881292&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Conflict of Interest Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/28/decibels-getting-coverage-in-media-festivals-and-retail-outlets-panel?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14881292&id=comments 0 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:48:47 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/need-a-ticket-for-orbital-tonight http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/need-a-ticket-for-orbital-tonight Dave Segal <p>If you answered yes, I can direct you to someone looking to unload one, for face value and fees. Email me at dsegal@thestranger.com and I'll connect you with him.</p> <p><a href="http://dbfestival.com/program/artists/?orbital">Orbital</a> play the <strong>Paramount Theatre</strong> with <strong>Paul Chambers</strong>. </p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/E9USCcjfNm8" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/need-a-ticket-for-orbital-tonight#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14875208&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/need-a-ticket-for-orbital-tonight?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14875208&id=comments 0 Thu, 27 Sep 2012 16:48:54 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/dabrye-in-barboza-citywised http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/dabrye-in-barboza-citywised Trent Moorman <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:448px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/850f/1348776195-dabryedb.jpg" alt="Snapshot of the Visuals Projected" title="Snapshot of the Visuals Projected " width="436" height="250" /><ul><li class="imageCredit"></li><li class="imageCaption">Snapshot of the Visuals Projected </li></ul></div></p> <p>Ann Arbor based <a href="http://ghostly.com/artists/dabrye">Dabrye</a> phased in and out of his citywise cuts slyly last night at Barboza. After some technical difficulties and delay, he began his set with the <em>Close Encounters of the Third Kind</em> theme. All was a head nod/body job from that point on. Dabrye&#8217;s a devotee of downtowned, crate dug beats. He lowballed, highballed, J Dilla-balled and ball-balled, with nothing too full bore, and nothing overstated. His trafficked pulses are natural, with stems from funk, jive, and R&B. Highpoints for me were the instrumental in-betweens. <strong>The oddball crossovers, where beats converged in transition.</strong> The main line would fade out, and the weirder, bizarre-er rhythm would be left alone, paired with a looping or sampled sound. The beat seemed bigger then, more hopping, more impossible to ignore.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/dabrye-in-barboza-citywised#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14870744&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Last Night Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/dabrye-in-barboza-citywised?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14870744&id=comments 0 Dabrye in Barboza: Citywised Snapshot of the Visuals Projected Thu, 27 Sep 2012 13:28:39 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/decibel-fest-day-1-demdike-stare-kid-smpl-monolake-clark-etc http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/decibel-fest-day-1-demdike-stare-kid-smpl-monolake-clark-etc Dave Segal <p>Even on relatively light opening nights, <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-best-electronic-music-smorgasbordmarathon-in-the-us/Content?oid=14847470">Decibel</a> is overwhelming. For example&#8230; </p> <p><strong>DEMDIKE STARE RE-SCORING JEAN ROLLIN&#8217;S <em>LA VAMPIRE NUE</em> @ BROADWAY PERFORMANCE HALL</strong><br /><a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/alchemical-brothers/Content?oid=14778522">Demdike Stare</a>&#8217;s re-purposed score for this kitsch softcore-erotica/faux-existential-horror flick outclassed the movie by several orders of magnitude; I&#8217;m <em>still</em> trying to figure out by exactly how much. The British duo sat to the left of the screen and unspooled tenebrous drones and cobra-charming beats and eerie airs in conjunction with Rollin&#8217;s garish images. Where the director seemingly wanted us to cower in fright, we guffawed. <em>La Vampire Nue</em> was reconfigured into an hour for this performance, but we got the gist fairly quickly. Demdike Stare lent the farcical film an ominous gravitas it didn&#8217;t really earn&#8212;but I&#8217;m grateful that they did.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/e9b6/1348770259-kid_smpl___decibel_festival_2012-1.jpg" alt="Kid Smpl" title="Kid Smpl" width="500" height="364" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Heather Schofner</li><li class="imageCaption">Kid Smpl</li></ul></div></p> <p><strong>KID SMPL @ BARBOZA</strong><br /><strong>Kid Smpl</strong> (young Seattle producer <strong>Joey Butler</strong>) is an earnest disciple at the Church of Bass. His sumptuous, see-through melodies are like an anvil made out of feathers: They exude a diaphanous heaviness that projects deep reserves of emotion in every waft. I glibly created a reductive equation to describe Kid Smpl&#8217;s music, but I think it&#8217;s valid: <strong>Burial x Cocteau Twins + Robitussin + blissful mourning</strong>. His version of &#8220;night bus&#8221; is a new kind of holy minimalism, a sacred form of bass music. It&#8217;s almost too beautiful to live.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/0b77/1348770333-cyanwave___decibel_festival_2012-11.jpg" alt="Cyanwave" title="Cyanwave" width="500" height="334" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Heather Schofner</li><li class="imageCaption">Cyanwave</li></ul></div></p> <p><strong>CYANWAVE @ NEUMOS</strong><br />The Seattle duo of <strong>Justin Byrnes</strong> and <strong>Keith Kelley</strong> were the best I&#8217;ve ever seen them, pushing out fathoms-deep dub techno that harked back to the <strong>Chain Reaction</strong> label&#8217;s glory days (<strong>Porter Ricks, Fluxion, Monolake</strong>, etc.). Cyanwave were giving Neumos&#8217; specially outfitted subs a serious workout, with the kickdrums sounding like submarines thudding against each other. Heady stuff.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/5b86/1348770404-bvdub___decibel_festival_2012-14.jpg" alt="bvdub" title="bvdub" width="500" height="750" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Heather Schofner</li><li class="imageCaption">bvdub</li></ul></div></p> <p><strong>BVDUB @ NEUMOS</strong><br /><strong>bvdub</strong> (<strong>Brock Van Wey</strong>) looks like a hardcore tough guy who&#8217;d mosh you into oblivion at the drop of a power chord, but the sounds he creates float into the nexus where ambient, dub, and techno gather and engage in a gentle <em>m&#233;nage &#224; trois</em>. His set was about pensive propulsion, divine drift, and even pastel pop balladry amid the oceanic eddies of techdubient&#8482;.</p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/images/blogimages/2012/09/27/1348770530-monolake__and_tarik_barri___decibel_festival_2012-29.jpg" alt="Monolake (Tarik Barri &amp; Robert Henke)" title="Monolake (Tarik Barri &amp; Robert Henke)" width="500" height="505" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Heather Schofner</li><li class="imageCaption">Monolake (Tarik Barri &amp; Robert Henke)</li></ul></div></p> <p><strong>MONOLAKE @ NEUMOS</strong><br /><strong>Monolake</strong> (German genius <strong>Robert Henke</strong>, with visual accompaniment by <strong>Tarik Barri</strong>) never fails to boggle brains with his <strong>360&#186; cyborgasmic sonorities</strong>. No offense to everyone else on the bill (or the planet), but Henke is totally on another level of sound design. When he finally warmed up his machines, he had everything in the room vibrating like mad with the most invasive bass frequencies I&#8217;ve ever experienced. For a while, everyone looked like jagged soundwaves. It was kind of cute. Monolake unleashed hyperkinetic, hyper-clinical techno that came from the most advanced lab on Earth, from the mind of someone possessed of a super-accelerated nervous system. I caught about 30 minutes of his algebraic cha-cha before bolting to witness Clark&#8217;s set. I'd seen Monolake about five times before, but had never had the privilege of seeing Clark.</p> <p><strong>CLARK @ CROCODILE</strong><br />I thought I might regret leaving Monolake, but <strong>Clark</strong> quickly allayed my fears. The UK producer was in flamboyant, post-<strong>Dilla</strong> future-funk mode, his sonic palette full of chaos, crunch, grit, and myriad extremenesses. His surprising transitions shifted from amazingness to amazingness with chameleonic &#233;lan. At one point, Clark executed a snare-rush sneer that evoked a sandblaster set to its highest level, like <strong>Squarepusher</strong> in a particularly evil mood. For a bonus, he did a little encore that went into an extra weird atmospheric vein in overtime. </p> <p>Only four more nights of this, immune system...</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/decibel-fest-day-1-demdike-stare-kid-smpl-monolake-clark-etc#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14869271&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Last Night Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/27/decibel-fest-day-1-demdike-stare-kid-smpl-monolake-clark-etc?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14869271&id=comments 3 Decibel Fest, Day 1: Demdike Stare, Kid Smpl, Monolake, Clark, Etc. Kid Smpl Heather Schofner Thu, 27 Sep 2012 11:41:12 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/my-rough-wednesday-decibel-agenda http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/my-rough-wednesday-decibel-agenda Dave Segal <p><a href="http://dbfestival.com/">Decibel Festival</a> begins today and... you're already tired of hearing me talking about it. Sorry!</p> <p>Tonight's agenda looks great, albeit not as overwhelming as some of the fest's other nights (Thursday is going to maim, if not kill, me). Here's what I hope to catch, in case you want to stalk me or hand me your demo. To hit everything I want to hit will require self-cloning and rapid transit of the like hitherto thought impossible. But it's <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/the-best-electronic-music-smorgasbordmarathon-in-the-us/Content?oid=14847470">Decibel</a>&#8212;one must go to extraordinary lengths to squeeze every last drop of pleasure from its bountiful gifts, or one is losing. Food and sleep can wait.</p> <blockquote><p>6P <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/demdike-stare-and-director-jean-rollin">DEMDIKE STARE'S RE-SCORING OF JEAN ROLLIN'S <em>LA VAMPIRE NUE</em></a> @ BROADWAY PERFORMANCE HALL <br />825P ROBERT HENKE @ TRIPLE DOOR <br />9P JIMI JAXON @ CROCODILE<br />9P KID SMPL @ BARBOZA<br />11P BVDUB @ NEUMOS <br />1130P APPLEBLIM @ BALTIC ROOM<br />12A MONOLAKE @ NEUMOS <br />1230A CLARK @ CROCODILE <br />1245A FALTYDL @ BALTIC ROOM<br />1245A DABRYE @ BARBOZA</p></blockquote> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/0cH-V4LJNws" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/my-rough-wednesday-decibel-agenda#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14861449&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Tonight Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/my-rough-wednesday-decibel-agenda?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14861449&id=comments 0 Wed, 26 Sep 2012 13:44:25 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/demdike-stare-and-director-jean-rollin http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/demdike-stare-and-director-jean-rollin Kathy Fennessy <p><div class="blogImageRight" style="width:387px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/d174/1348682463-vampire.jpg" alt="vampire.jpg" title="" width="375" height="500" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Sinister Cinema</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p>If you don't know much about <strong>Demdike Stare</strong>, who'll be returning to town for <a href="http://dbfestival.com/">Decibel Festival 2012</a>, Dave Segal lays it out for you <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/alchemical-brothers/Content?oid=14778522">here</a>. </p> <p>Earlier this year, in advance of their triple CD <em>Tryptych</em>, Segal described the British duo (Miles Whittaker of Suum Cuique and Sean Canty of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/B-Music-Jean-Rollin-Various-Artists/dp/B0079417M0/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1348686318&sr=1-1&keywords=jean+rollin">Finders Keepers Records</a>) as "English hauntological-post-techno illuminati," so who better to provide the musical accompaniment for 1970's <strong><em>La Vampire Nue</em></strong> from horror-kink master <strong>Jean Rollin</strong>? (Demdike made their Seattle debut at May's Psychic Circle Fest.) <br /> <br />Even if Whittaker rejects the term "hauntological," Demdike Stare's music isn't worlds away from the unsettling, cinematic sounds of Julian House's <strong>Focus Group</strong> or Leyland Kirby's <strong>Caretaker</strong> (and I couldn't recommend the Focus Group's collaboration with Broadcast, <em><a href="http://kathleencfennessy.blogspot.com/2009/11/unreal-is-real-broadcast-and-focus.html">Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age</a></em>, and the Caretaker's <em>An Empty Bliss Beyond This World</em> more highly). Though Kirby was originally scheduled to attend Decibel, as V/Vm, he's no longer part of the bill.</p> <p><iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/toRZ90UMag0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe><br /><div style="text-align:center;"><small>The best known Rollin feature film remains his first, 1968's <em>The Rape of the Vampire</em>. </small></div></p> <p>As for Rollin (1938-2010), the French author, director, and porn auteur worked under his own name, as well as the aliases Michel Gentil, Robert Xavier, and Michel Gand. His specialties included <strong>vampires and naked ladies</strong>. Best title: <em>Vicious Penetrations</em> (four of his X-rated films feature the word "penetration" in the title). </p> <p>Just as Whittaker rejects a term frequently associated with his work, Rollin rejected the term "horror," possibly because he wasn't as interested in scaring audiences as in seducing them by any means necessary (lesbian vampires were a particular favorite). He also rejected comparisons to equally prolific Spanish filmmaker <strong>Jess Franco</strong>, though they sometimes worked on the same projects. </p> <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:487px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/3ee7/1348685906-vampire.jpg" alt="Still from The Nude Vampire" title="Still from The Nude Vampire" width="475" height="293" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">Redemption-Kino Lorber</li><li class="imageCaption">Still from <em>The Nude Vampire</em></li></ul></div></p> <p>Here's Rollin's own description of <em><strong>La Vampire Nue</strong></em> (<em>The Nude Vampire</em>):</p> <blockquote><p>By the time my second film rolled around I was a little wiser. I again succeeded in including certain images that were important to me: the men with animal heads; the curious drawing room-library I had rented on the Cours Perimony check, where I had a harp brought in. And a fantastic labyrinthine castle, where the naked vampire with orange veils, a candelabra in one hand, wandered.</p></blockquote> <p>I'm not familiar with the film, but I'm definitely curious. An IMDb user proclaims it "possibly the weirdest" of the eight Rollin pictures he's seen. Good or bad, it's sure to be...<em>provocative</em>, and I'm sure Whittaker and Canty have conjured up a suitably atmospheric score to accompany it. At the very least, Rollin didn't consider <em>Nue</em> the worst of his 42 (or so) films&#8212;that honor went to 1980's <em>Zombie Lake</em>. </p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="475" height="335" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/5msAscCb2CQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div><br /><div style="text-align:center;"><small>Rollin prioritized the production of imagery over the direction of actors. </small></div></p> <p><em>Demdike Stare re-score La Vampire Nue at Broadway Performance Hall <strong>today</strong> at 5:30pm. More info <a href="http://dbfestival.strangertickets.com/events/5782738/db-film-1-jean-rollins-la-vampire-nue-with-live-re-scoring-by-demdike-stare">here</a>. On Sept 27, they'll be part of the Modern Love Showcase with Andy Stott and Cut Hands at Melrose Market Studios. More <a href="http://dbfestival.strangertickets.com/events/5465899/modern-love-showcase-andy-stott-demdike-stare-cut-hands">here</a>.</em></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/demdike-stare-and-director-jean-rollin#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14860091&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Decibel Film http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/demdike-stare-and-director-jean-rollin?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14860091&id=comments 0 Demdike Stare and Director Jean Rollin Still from The Nude Vampire Sinister Cinema Wed, 26 Sep 2012 12:47:02 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/speakers-added-to-neumos-for-decibel-moths-will-make-it-to-the-fucking-sun http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/speakers-added-to-neumos-for-decibel-moths-will-make-it-to-the-fucking-sun Trent Moorman <p><div class="blogImageCenter" style="width:512px;"><img src="http://www.thestranger.com/binary/4b12/1348645611-dbspeakers.jpg" alt="dbSpeakers.jpg" title="" width="500" height="295" /><ul><li class="imageCredit">T. Moorman</li><li class="imageCaption"></li></ul></div></p> <p>Voluminous will be the volume in Neumos for the 2012 Decibel Festival. As of last night, the additional speakers were loaded in. These shiny black <strong>monoliths of low-end splendor</strong> now await you at the front of the stage, like afterlives for your ears. There are speakers hanging from the back of the room as well. The system is surround, pristine, and hearty. Sonics will be chiseled and pinpoint, arriving sound waves to your hearing, chest cavities, and aortas from the inside out. </p> <p>In other words, analog moths will fly though digital flame, but with these additional speakers, the insecta arthropoda will instantly be blotted out by <strong>the actual fucking sun</strong>, the bass sun. Earplugs may be advised, unless you&#8217;re a 500,000 mile wide moth, and you want to land on the sun.</p> <p>The <a href="http://dbfestival.com/showcase/?db_in_dub">DB in Dub Showcase</a> is tonight&#8217;s presentation. Monolake, Tarik Barri, bvdub, and Cyanwave will be going, and carving.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/speakers-added-to-neumos-for-decibel-moths-will-make-it-to-the-fucking-sun#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14852634&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Decibel Business http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/speakers-added-to-neumos-for-decibel-moths-will-make-it-to-the-fucking-sun?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14852634&id=comments 3 Speakers Added to Neumos for Decibel: Moths Will Make it to the Fucking Sun T. Moorman Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:24:56 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/where-to-eat-if-youre-attending-decibel-festival http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/where-to-eat-if-youre-attending-decibel-festival Dave Segal <p>Are you attending <a href="http://dbfestival.com/">Decibel Festival</a>, which starts today and runs through Sun. Sept. 30? Do you eat? All right, then, <a href="http://www.plasmodium.net/etcetera/a-foodies-guide-to-decibel/">Plasmodium</a>&#8217;s <strong>Kristina Childs</strong> (a great DJ and organizer of the notorious <strong>KRAKT</strong> night&#8212;relaunching Oct. 5 at <strong>Electric Tea Garden</strong>) has provided a guide to some of the restaurants in Decibel&#8217;s proximity that may be nice to your palate. [Insert &#8220;eat to the beat&#8221; non-joke here.] Read all about it at <a href="http://www.plasmodium.net/etcetera/a-foodies-guide-to-decibel/">plasmodium.net</a>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/where-to-eat-if-youre-attending-decibel-festival#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14859772&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/where-to-eat-if-youre-attending-decibel-festival?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14859772&id=comments 0 Wed, 26 Sep 2012 11:02:35 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/three-must-see-acts-at-decibel-that-might-be-flying-under-your-radar http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/three-must-see-acts-at-decibel-that-might-be-flying-under-your-radar Chris Aldrich <p><a href="http://dbfestival.com">Decibel Festival</a> kicks off today and runs through Sun. Sept. 30th! There's so much action to be had this year, it's easy for artists to get lost in the mental shuffle. Here are three acts you should have penciled firmly into what is already, I'm sure, a packed schedule.</p> <p><strong>Roman Fl&#252;gel</strong></p> <p>Roman Fl&#252;gel is a powerhouse in the world of techno. He spearheads staple dance music labels <strong>Playhouse</strong>, <strong>Klang</strong>, and <strong>Ongaku</strong> and has worked with next-level producers like <strong>Sven V&#228;th</strong> and <strong>Daft Punk</strong>. His productivity under his own name or various monikers (<strong>Acid Jesus</strong>, <strong>Alter Ego</strong>, <strong>Eight Miles High</strong>, <strong>Roman IV </strong>etc.) is unparalleled and of the highest quality. Fl&#252;gel's a DJ's DJ and he sets a gold standard for effortlessly weaving together the best of 20+ years of dance-music. His multiple performances over Decibel weekend promise to affirm the sheer power of techno and its ability to make you completely lose your shit.</p> <p><em>Roman Fl&#252;gel performs at Nuemos, alongside Max Cooper, Matt Tolfrey, and David Martin, Sat Sept. 29, and at Q Nightclub with Nina Kraviz, and Dave Aju. $20 adv./free with Db Pass</em></p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/8t8_uB9VmSA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p><br /><strong>Public Lover</strong></p> <p>Public Lover is the collaborative project of <strong>Ninca Leece</strong> and hometown hero <strong>Bruno Pronsato</strong>, who, since his relocation to Berlin several years ago, has risen to the upper echelon of contemporary techno producers. While Pronsato's live sets always veer toward the heady, jacked-up, and bizarre end of the minimal-techno spectrum, Public Lover is like night and day by comparison, the "come-down" music to Pronsato's otherworldly peak-time material. Expect melancholic, organic rhythms that embrace the lofty and jazzier elements of dance music, creating a mature and subtle sound that, when coupled with Leece's vocal work, will be a perfect way to close out the festival.</p> <p><em>Public Lover perform at Neumos, Sept 30, alongside John Talabot and Pezzner. $18 adv/free with Db Pass.</em></p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/TyhFzCuXGVk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p><br /><strong>Cyanwave</strong></p> <p>Cyanwave is the brainchild of local artists <strong>Keith Kelley</strong> and <strong>Justin Brynes</strong>. The two have been producing spaced-out, dub techno since 2008 and have dialed their craft down to a science. Performed using a combination of analog and digital components, their set at Decibel is slated to be one of their most complex and advanced to date, with a grip of new material in store. If you like your dance music washed out in massive walls of reverb and to sound like it was created at the final outpost of some distant galaxy, these are your guys. </p> <p><em>Cyanwave perform at Nuemos, Sept 26, alongside Monolake, Tarik Barri, and bvdub. $18 adv./free with Db pass</em></p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vo72kQZg0z4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>Full Decibel Festival schedule and pass info at <a href="http://www.dbfestival.com">www.dbfestival.com</a><a href=""></a></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/three-must-see-acts-at-decibel-that-might-be-flying-under-your-radar#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14850008&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/26/three-must-see-acts-at-decibel-that-might-be-flying-under-your-radar?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14850008&id=comments 2 Wed, 26 Sep 2012 09:46:41 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/25/nosaj-thing-replaces-actress-on-xlr8r-showcase-decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/25/nosaj-thing-replaces-actress-on-xlr8r-showcase-decibel Dave Segal <p>Due to problems obtaining a visa, British producer <a href="http://www.discogs.com/artist/Actress">Actress</a> will not be performing at the <a href="http://dbfestival.com/showcase/?xlr8r_presents">XLR8R showcase</a> at <a href="http://dbfestival.com/program/artists/?kimbra">Decibel</a> (Fri. Sept. 28 at <strong>Baltic Room</strong>). California laptop sorcerer <a href="http://www.nosajthing.com/">Nosaj Thing</a> will replace him. Nothing against Nosaj, who's great, but this is a major bummer, as Actress has one of the most intriguing, hard-to-categorize bodies of work in the post-dubstep diaspora&#8212;and he's never played Seattle.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/g5QhxGyAwcM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OOJa05eMA_Q" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/25/nosaj-thing-replaces-actress-on-xlr8r-showcase-decibel#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14846417&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/25/nosaj-thing-replaces-actress-on-xlr8r-showcase-decibel?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14846417&id=comments 2 Tue, 25 Sep 2012 12:00:12 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/21/get-a-free-download-of-nils-frahms-screws-catch-him-at-decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/21/get-a-free-download-of-nils-frahms-screws-catch-him-at-decibel Dave Segal <p>Berlin-based pianist <a href="http://www.durtonstudio.com/projects/detail/project/63">Nils Frahm</a> is offering a free download of his new album, <em><a href="http://screws.durtonstudio.com/">Screws</a></em>, a nine-song work that he executed with nine fingers, as his thumb was in a cast at the time. Frahm violated doctor&#8217;s orders to make this album; the least you can do is absorb its delicate beauty and meditative nobility. At last year's Substrata festival, Frahm's set was a striking highlight, one of the most galvanizing exhibitions of minimalist/maximalist piano sorcery I've ever witnessed. <strong>Thom Yorke</strong>&#8217;s a Frahm fan, too, for what it&#8217;s worth (a lot, actually). Check out <em>Screws</em> <a href="http://screws.durtonstudio.com/">here</a>. </p> <p><a href="http://dbfestival.com/program/artists/?nils-frahm">Nils Frahm</a> plays Decibel Festival&#8217;s <a href="http://dbfestival.strangertickets.com/events/5470471/optical-4-discreet-tones-nils-frahm-orcas-sylvain-chauveau-cfcf">Optical 4: Discreet Tones</a> showcase, Sat. Sept. 29 at Broadway Performance Hall with <strong>Orcas</strong>, <strong>Sylvain Chauveau</strong>, and <strong>CFCF</strong>.</p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/21/get-a-free-download-of-nils-frahms-screws-catch-him-at-decibel#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14813965&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Album Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/21/get-a-free-download-of-nils-frahms-screws-catch-him-at-decibel?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14813965&id=comments 0 Fri, 21 Sep 2012 10:11:33 -0700 The Stranger http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/18/decibel-fest-announces-its-conference-schedule http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/18/decibel-fest-announces-its-conference-schedule Dave Segal <p>In addition to a stacked lineup of world-class audio and visual talent, <a href="http://dbfestival.com/">Decibel Festival</a> hosts a <a href="http://dbfestival.com/program/conference/">conference</a> that spans three days full of varied panel discussions at Broadway Performance Hall from 12 pm to 6 pm Sept. 26-28. (I&#8217;ll be participating in a panel Friday Sept. 28 at noon titled <strong>&#8220;Getting Coverage in Media, Festivals and Retail Outlets,&#8221;</strong> if you&#8217;re looking to flex your heckling muscles.) There are also some practical seminars on how to use <strong>Max for Ableton Live</strong>, <strong>Tempest Drum Machine Master Class</strong> with the inventor <strong>Roger Linn</strong>, <strong>Building Home Studios on a Budget</strong>, <strong>Sounds, Spaces &amp; Machines</strong> with <strong>Robert Henke</strong> (aka <strong>Monolake</strong> and Ableton engineer), <strong>Your Next Album Could Be a Video Game</strong>, and more. </p> <p><a href="http://dbfestival.com/program/conference/">Check out the whole program here</a>.</p> <p><div style="text-align:center;"><iframe width="420" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EO8TMZCGYDc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></p> <p>[ <a href="http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/18/decibel-fest-announces-its-conference-schedule#comments">Comment on this story</a> ]</p> <p>[ <a href="http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14778765&amp;id=comments">Subscribe to the comments on this story</a> ]</p> Decibel http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2012/09/18/decibel-fest-announces-its-conference-schedule?show=comments#readerComments http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Rss.xml?oid=14778765&id=comments 0 Tue, 18 Sep 2012 14:40:08 -0700 The Stranger