The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Line Out: Dept. of Corrections

Apologies to You, WaMü

Emily Nokes — Wed, 08 May 2013 14:25:53 -0700

Aw geez, we made a boo boo in the Up & Coming section this week by leaving out glorious racket-makers WaMü from this blurb for tonight's show at Black Lodge.

WaMü booked the show and then weren't listed in the blurb's header. Please accept this picture of my cat, Doctor O, as an apology.

Now listen to their music and go to this show if you know what's good for you!

Viafuckt by WaMü

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MTNS: You Have the Right to Yoga, Enya, and Horse Masks

Emily Nokes — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:23:58 -0700

MTNS are on tour right now with Oakland band Laughters (I'm green with taco/swimming hole/Lone Star jealousy!) and as usual, Arizona cops seem a little overzealous in their policing... as well as their Facebook activity.

Yep, that's a comment from the officer that stopped them on Monday. MTNS drummer Daniel reports from the road:

We were on our way to New Mexico for a show at The Plant and we got pulled over for failing to wait three seconds to get in front of a semi. The cops said they could smell a vague scent of marijuana. They asked to search us and since we knew we didn't have anything, we agreed.

They patted us down and had us stand on the side of the road for three hours where we smoked cigarettes and attempted to do yoga. They found a Horse mask, sea shells from the redwood forest, and a pyramid headdress made by our friend Adair Tudor in the van. When the cops searched my bag, they found an Enya cassette and Valentine's candy hearts. They were highly confused/amused by our choice of lifestyle, but they seemed to come to the conclusion we were harmless weirdos.

The officer who ended up posting on our Facebook wall said (during the detainment), "I thought you guys were in a heavy band," and sang the line "come sail away." He asked how to find our band on the internet. We explained how to find us and he looked up a video of us from when we played the Crocodile (with "this is the first time the cops have ever been called to the Crocodile" as the description). He stopped watching after 30 seconds (I think seeing me in a white nightgown might have had something to do with it).

They finished the search and let us leave with our mason jar of whiskey three hours behind schedule... so no, officer, we didn't make our New Mexico show.

Well, good thing you can't go to jail for a faint weed smell, even in AZ. Here's hoping better luck finds them on the rest of their tour stops!

3/13- 3/17 Austin, TX (SXSW)
3/18 New Orleans, LA
3/20 Mississippi, MO
3/21 Nashville, TN @ Springwater
3/22 Columbia, SC @ Hunter Gatherer
3/24 Durham, NC @ Pinhook
3/26 Pittsburgh, PA @ Gooskis Bar
3/27 Philly, PA @ Lava Space
3/28 Boston, MA @ Discovery Zone
3/29 Brooklyn, NY @ Public Assembly Brooklyn
3/30 Brooklyn @ the Ho_Se
3/31 Brooklyn @ Silent Barn
4/1 Cincinnati, OH @ Rake Ends Bar
4/2 Cleveland @ Now That's Class!
4/3- Detroit @ PJ's Lager House
4/4- Chicago, IL
4/5- Milwaukee, WI
4/6- Iowa
4/7- Denver, CO
4/9- SLC, UT
4/10- Reno, NV
4/11- SF, CA
4/12- Oakland, CA
4/13- Portland, OR @ Multiplex
4/14- Seattle, WA @ Vermillion

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Thao & the Get Down Stay Down Will be at Sonic Boom Records TOMORROW (Friday)!

Megan Seling — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:52:28 -0800

In this week's Up & Coming section, we erroneously said that the Thao & the Get Down Stay Down Sonic Boom in-store was Saturday, February 9th. It is actually Friday, February 8th. It starts at 6 pm (FRIDAY! TOMORROW!) and it will be great. Go!

(And we apologize for the error.)

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(Alleged) Police Standoff Whippit Guy: What's on Yr iPod?

Derek Erdman — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 15:26:01 -0800

Earlier today, the LAPD surrounded a man in a car after a slow speed chase that began as a DUI. Helicopter footage then showed the alleged suspect filling balloons from a tank and then inhaling the contents in the front seat before being tazed and apprehended by officers. You can view the compelling footage here.

"You have the right to marinara."

The question is, what was he listening to while huffing that sweet, sweet gas?

"Gimme Pizza" by Olsen Twins + Friends
"Oxy Cotton" by Lil Whyte
"Ridin In Da Chevy" by Three 6 Mafia
"On & On (Chopped & Screwed)" by Erykah Badu

WELL, WHAT DO YOU THINK, LINE OUT READERS?

Thanks, Brian Turner!

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The Vibrators Tomorrow @ El Corazon

Emily Nokes — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 11:12:30 -0700

Sometimes a venue has two shows, on the same exact day, at the same exact time, and it makes for confusing calendar compiling. Especially when you are stoned to the bone.

JK! It just slipped through the cracks, and only one show made it in the calendar. Which is a shame, because the Vibrators are wonderful! British punks that have been at it since the '70s! Enjoy this song and make it down to the show—the Vibrators are playing the lounge area of El Corazon, as opposed to the other showing happening on the stage (???).

ALL AGES/BAR W/ID - $10 ADV / $12 DOS - Doors at 7PM/Show at 8PM

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Jeff From De La Soul B-Sides (Not) In Prison For Murder*

Derek Erdman — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 14:52:40 -0800

Biographies on subjects that I have little interest in have become my cable television, which is how I've wound up currently reading Michael J. Fox's post-Parkinson's memoir, Lucky Man. The book starts off with Fox's description of an action film from the early 1990s co-starring James Woods called The Hard Way. I can't remember anything about this movie, so I looked it up on my webfone and was surprised to learn that it featured an early acting performance by Mos Def. That got me to thinking about how I don't really even know Mos Def's age, and upon inspection learned that he's associated with the Native Tongues Posse, which always gets me thinking about the Jungle Brothers and De La Soul. For some reason, the De La Soul track that swirls around in my head most is "Brain Washed Follower." It's a hilarious b-side from the "Me Myself and I" 12" which features a youngster named Jeff telling De La Soul all of the things that they're doing wrong as rappers. He gives them a hard time about not driving Nissan Maximas. He says they should have dookie gold chains. De La replies that they'd rather take mass transit and spend money on video games.

This got me to thinking, 23 years on, whatever happened to Jeff?

Jeff's name is actually Chi-Ali. He released an LP called The Fabulous Chi-Ali in 1992, most of the tracks were produced by the Beatnuts. A year before that he appeared on a Black Sheep track from their first record. The track is "Pass the 40," and I've heard it at least 100 times, but I somehow never made the connection. It was two years after the De La track, and his voice had changed a bit. Ali's music career slowed down in the late 1990s. Shortly after the turn of the century, he fatally shot his girlfriend's brother. He eluded apprehension for a year, appearing twice on America's Most Wanted. He was arrested in 2001 and is currently serving a 14-year sentence at Sing Sing Correctional Facility.

FYI, this news is 10 years old.

Tube-track links after the jump.

*Please note, I received this message from a reader named Joshua Savoie: "I saw an article you wrote in The Stranger talking about Jeff from the De La Soul albums having been in jail for murder. Jeff and Chi Ali are not the same person. Chi Ali is the kid from the Black Sheep albums, not De la Soul. Below is an interview with Chi Ali, at 40:07 he talks specifically about being confused with Jeff."

De La Soul's "Brain Washed Follower"

De La Soul's "The Mack Daddy on the Left"

Chi-Ali's "Funky Lemonade"

Black Sheep's "Pass the 40"

Chi Ali Mini-Documentary:

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Did You Know There are Two Bands Called Slowdance?

Megan Seling — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 11:46:29 -0700

One is Slow Dance with a space, the other is Slowdance without the space. One sounds appropriate for the Pretty In Pink soundtrack, the other (says Larry) provides "Grimy, sleazy, slizzard fun."

And which one is playing the Capitol Hill Block Party this weekend? NOT the one we (okay, I) originally wrote up in the guide. Oops! Turns out, the Slow Dance you can see at the Cha Cha on Saturday is the one that comes approved by Mr. Mizell. The Slow Dance with the space. The Slow Dance that doesn't sound anything like the Pretty In Pink soundtrack.

I regret the error.

Update your schedules accordingly. Now here's the correct Slow Dance:

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Charles Is Wrong

Dominic Holden — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 11:43:25 -0700

Charles Mudede is wrong about dub. He said last night at the Tom Skerritt Happy Hour that King Tubby isn't an artist but simply a "technician." Sure, he helped create a genre of music, Charles concedes, but he was just "twirling knobs."

King Tubby may have started as the sound technician named Osbourne Ruddock, my dear Charles, but his wooden little boxes of echos and effects were not simply musical processing of a craftsman. He chiseled away the original tracks (choruses, versus, rhythm guitar, bass, drums, organ) to make entirely new tracks, sometimes unrecognizable from the original, in the same way a sculptor uncovers a bust under a heap of rock.

The mid-'60s tracks he started with were lumps of granite, blank canvasses. That is, most of the Rock Steady songs were merely craft. With the genius of Don Drummond gone from ska after that unfortunate incident involving murder, the slowed-down Jamaican genre of 1967 was, while harmonious and pretty, a slapdash combination of US Southern R&B covers with a flat Mento chuck-chuck-chuck on the off-beat. Most of studios were sounds factories capitalizing on a ghetto full of fine falsettos and and boys with stars in their eyes. These songs already had the hand of one technician in the first mix (sometimes King Tubby) but this second pass was not merely tinkering.

Vocals were eliminated, sometimes leaving only the essential phrases or creating new meaning. The bass guitar was introduced as the band leader; other instruments enter and get scuttled off stage at the director's pleasure. Tubby would pare down what had been a veritable hippie drum circle of repetition into a re-prioritized, syncopated conversation of sounds and ideas. He not only did it, he thought of it and built the tools to do it. That's artwork. The knobs were simply the chisel, Charles.

Here's a fine example in King Tubby's Braces Tower Tub, which transformed any song players of instruments sat down to record into a moonscape:

WHERE CHARLES IS RIGHT (Because He Agrees With Me): We agree that King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown is the pinnacle dub album and the penultimate is Super Ape. The former produced by Augustus Pablo and the second by Lee "Scratch" Perry, you should own them both. Charles and I further agree that Perry is the superior producer. Perry took ordinary artists and turned them into history.

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Dear KEXP, Part II

Bethany Jean Clement — Fri, 27 May 2011 12:57:58 -0700

DO NOT PLAY THAT PORTLANDIA SONG* EVER AGAIN. Same with Flight of the Conchords' "Business Time." Only funny the first time, if that.

Now "Detachable Penis" by King Missile—that never gets old. Thanks for that this morning!

*UPDATE: I mean the horrible "The Dream of the '90s Is Alive in Portland"—thank you, Mr. Baxter.

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Dear KEXP, Please Institute a Ban on "Wake Up" by Arcade Fire

Bethany Jean Clement — Thu, 26 May 2011 09:17:50 -0700

You just played it yet again. Everyone has heard it too many times—yes, it is undeniably anthemic, but it has become tired.

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Caperin': Different Break-up Comforts For Everybody.

Derek Erdman — Mon, 02 May 2011 12:35:18 -0700

I was eating a poached egg on toast earlier today when the song "Empty Box Blues" from Opal's Early Recordings came on the shuffle. It immediately took me back to the worst break up of my life, sometime during 9th grade. The thing I remember the most about the break-up, aside from both people involved acting particularly mean toward each other, was the girl hand delivering a letter to me in the middle of it. I was so glad to see her, hoping for a moment that there was a chance that we were going to be back together. She didn't say anything, just handed me the envelope at my front door and then walked away. I was horrified to find no olive branches inside, simply sketches of my nose in profile. She knew how much I didn't like my nose and she'd always made mention of it when we argued. I have a vague memory of having sex in the Myrtle Hill Cemetery after this incident, while huffing amyl nitrite. I have no idea what 14 year-olds were doing with amyl nitrite, or having sex in cemeteries, or even caring about break-ups. Since then that record is the only conscious recurring memory that I have of that break-up, and every time I hear a song from it, I'm certain that I spend at least one second thinking about that awful two-month period.

Alithea O'Dell: NO (r)EGRETS

The purpose of this post isn't to recall all of the details of breakups and what I listened to as they happened, but instead could serve as a guide if you're having a tough time yourself. I've been asking people for the last couple of days if they have a particular record or song that they revisit during difficult parts of their lives. Some people rely on old favorites, some people seek out something they haven't heard before. I tend to fixate on a record that happens into my orbit at the moment, I can distinctly remember being comforted by Robert Wyatt's Rock Bottom, My War by Black Flag, while another time listening only to "These Are The Ghosts" by Band Of Bees on repeat for at least three weeks. Now when I chance upon these things, I'm taken back to those times, the terrible feeling usually also returns. Sometimes when I'm feeling forlorn, I seek these things out for comfort or a different way to feel. Here are some things that other people use for cushion. How about you?

Scott Schaaf: Two cliche ones, Joni Mitchell's Blue and Elliott Smith's Either/Or.

Sierra Dufault: Get Lonely by the Mountain Goats.

Erin West: Always The Carpenters when I'm sad. I'll never be as sad as Karen, and the comparison makes me feel better.

Ellen Paul: "Lonely Anywhere" by The Everybodyfield.

Dave Depper: Way back in 2000, Elliott Smith's Figure 8 came out on the same day I broke up with the first person I was ever in love with, and MAN, does that record has some permanent associations goin' on...

Hugh Elliott: Oddly enough sometimes it wasn't sad songs about breaking up but sad songs about being in love. Like "Protection" by Massive Attack.

Traci Eggleston: Charles Mingus puts me in a good mood.

Eli Anderson: People are going to think I'm joking but...Kraftwerk's Radio-Activity.

Suzie Strait: Leonard Cohen hurts so good.

Kevin Jones: C'mon people, Elliot Smith? More like THE DESCENDENTS!

Kilynn Kiki: Moon Pix by Cat Power.

Steve Wampus Reynolds: Sebadoh's Bubble and Scrape, Brenda Lee and GBV's "Trap Soul Door" are great. Of course, this is distant memory for me.

Edward Crouse: "Every Time We Say Goodbye" Ella Fitzgerald; "Cigarettes and Coffee" Otis Redding; "The Love I Have For You" Alberta Hunter; "I Had a Love Once" Peggy Lee; "Blaming It All on Love" Kevin Ayers; "Just Another High" Roxy Music; "The Warmth of the Sun" Beach Boys; "I Wish I Never Saw the Shine" - Ronettes.

Wheels Capponi: Anything by Reigning Sound or Zodiac Mindwarp.

Angie O Genesis: I pretty much only listen to Tom Waits in tough situations, invariably he has made something that applies to my feelings.

Erika Bradley: I have a memory of looping Henry Rollins' "Liar", sometime in college.

Mariella Borero: Bon Iver makes me suicidal but in a good way.

Jacob Daneman: Harry Nilsson's rendition of Randy Newman's "Living Without You" is devastating. Also, Sharon Van Etten's first full length, Because I Was In Love.

Tamara Smith: My ex and I had a jokey theme song for our early almost-break-up: "You Dropped the Bomb On Me" by The Gap Band. Then when we really did decide to break up, it was the more predictable Joy Division tune, "Love Will Tear Us Apart".

Black McQuack: When I go to sleep I will put on the Radiohead album In Rainbows and let it loop all night. Therefore it sucks all of the depression out of me while I'm unconscious and I feel better the next day.

Tom Goheen: When I was in the fifth grade, it was Cinderella's Long Cold Winter and the extremely obvious "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)". Singing along with Tom Keifer really got the tears going for my 12 year old self.

Erika Ficzeri Cervenka: James Blunt.

Joe Dennis: I don't think I have any break up records, per se. Unless I count about half of the records I've made. I guess I associate bad times with making music, rather than just listening to it. I do like watching the movie Hi Fidelity for some reason. Lots of records in that one...and break up shit.

Brian MacDonald: The Specials S/T. It's not only just a good break-up record, it's a great general purpose depression record. The songs dismiss the social rat-race all 'round, a relative rarity. Maybe best for guys, though?

Rebekka Eileen Federle: "Burn" from Usher's Confessions. If You're Feeling Sinister and Boy With the Arab Strap when being broken up with. A lot of Kanye when instigating the break up.

Tyler Soverns: "Nobody" by Keith Sweat.

Becky Eaton: Skycycle's cover of "God Only Knows".

Graham Hickey: "Mushroom Art" by Guided By Voices.

Lisa G. French: Sebadoh, Depeche Mode, the Smiths, Joy Division. I went through a phase where i watched the movie Singles after every break-up and then listened to a ton of Smashing Pumpkins (just the first two albums though, they're the only ones that count in my book).

Benny Bongos: The best of Earl Klugh, right before the cops barged in and stopped me from blowing my brains out.

Jenny Joyal: Violent Femmes!

Tim O'Donnell: "After The Goldrush". Song and album.

Jessica Saunders: The Flaming Lips' Soft Bulletin, The Traveling Wilburys Collection, Pixies' Trompe le Monde, Pavement's Terror Twilight, & Radiohead's The Bends. For some reason these have always gotten me through the tough times.

Travis Ritter: I listen to a lot of Nick Cave (Tender Prey, The Good Son, and Prayers on Fire by The Birthday Party). Also high on the break-up playback: Electrelane's No Shouts No Calls, Love and Rockets' Seventh Dream of Teenage Heaven, Tom Waits' The Heart of Saturday Night and The VSS singles comp on GSL. Breaking up sucks, but getting together is harder.

Dre Gordon: Drugs and Alice Cooper. I will never understand why people like Radiohead.

Michael Fox: Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant".

Phil Ceplice: I've always referred my down and dumped lady friends to "No Guilt" by the Waitresses.

Caitie O'Toole: Fleetwood Mac's Tusk and of course "You're Breakin' My Heart" by Harry Nilsson.

Doug Lussenhop: LCD Soundsystem's "Someone Great" made it worse once.

Shannon Leah Fitzgerald: Devotchka, Sufjan and for a cheer up, Meatloaf's "Paradise By The Dashboard Light". Also, the classic Stevie Nicks and Don Henley duet, "Leather and Lace".

She Marie: Side 2 of Over The Edge by the Wipers. That music is DEPRESSING. Also, Patsy Cline. Holy shit, that lady will steal some serious tears from my swollen eyes. Radio-Activity by Kraftwerk, totally, so bleak. My Bloody Valentine's Loveless too, although it makes me want to get in the saddle again and roll around in some bedding.

Sarah Burden: I haven't broken up with anybody since high school, but that "Do You Love Me Now?" song by The Breeders was my song back then. Now I would recommend like the entire Nilsson catolog.

Phil Hall: Metallica's ...And Justice For All.

James Downing: Negative Approach, Agnostic Front & Superchunk.

Grant Brissey: Perfect From Now On by Built To Spill.

Molly Rae La Rocco: In college, Melody of Certain Damaged Lemons by Blonde Redhead. Post college, You Think It's Like This but Really It's Like This by Mirah. Especially "La Familia" from that record.

Nestor Brûlée: Orange Juice's "Rip It Up & Start Again". Lee Hazlewood's Requiem For An Almost Lady.

Lelah Maupin: I second Tusk. I listened to 69 Love Songs almost exclusively for like 7 months.

Heather Thomas: Dionne Warwick's "Walk on By", Patsy Cline's "I Fall to Pieces" & the Searchers' "Needles and Pins". Kelly Hogan's "I Still Love You" and Dusty Springfield. These are the stand out tracks on the Crying Under the Disco Ball mix. Also there is some train wreck Ani Difranco album that is a detailed account of her bustin' up a marriage.

Andrew Larson: Bob Dylan's "Idiot Wind" from Blood on the Tracks.

Kerri Harrop: "You'll Lose A Good Thing" by Barbara Lynn. Also "Who's Loving You" by Jackson 5

Callie Spies: "Love Has No Pride" by Linda Ronstadt and "Why Can't He Be You" by Patsy Cline. This is making me really sad, Derek.

Suzie Strait: I second watching High Fidelity and Singles.

Aja Pecknold: Have One on Me by Joanna Newsom.

Joe Rufa: "Tracks of My Tears" by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles. "Love Hurts" by Roy Orbison is a good way to give your break up that perfect movie script feel. So good!

Annie Hagar: Magnetic Fields. Just, all of it.

Lelah Maupin: Carlos Ruiz prefers Nazareth.

Mairead Case: Shoot Out The Lights & Harvest & Judee Sill.

Joe Losurdo: Husker Du's "I Will Never Forget You" and Jerry Reed's "She Got The Goldmine".

Brian Morford: The Best of Bread.

Stephanie Christian: Singer-songwriters, Photoshop, and lots of pot.

Jessica Thompson: "I Didn't Mean To Touch Your Hand" by 2mex.

C.m. Ruiz: "Free Bird".

Nick Perkins: The soundtrack to the film Triumph of the Will has never failed to get me over the gaping self-doubt. That or some Chuck Mangione, can do wonder work. Also, Metal Machine Music.

Rachel Herman: Beulah's Yoko, which was, you know, also the band's breakup record.

Ruben Mendez: I would always buy new music. Maybe Sebadoh III if I was feeling sorry for myself. But new music was always the best to get out of bad head spaces. Then again, I was always the one doing the breaking up, so I would listen to 2 Live Crew or Dr. Dre.

Christy Feltman: Jets To Brazil.

Shel G'brg: Journey and Bikini Kill.

David Williams: Really, people? Prince's "When You Were Mine".

Patricia Preston: Everyone will probably laugh at me, but being the queen of broken and bad relationships I have to choose "Wasted Time" by the Eagles. I can already hear Derek sigh and say, "Oh, Mother."

Chris Estey: Batallion of Saints' "I Want To Make You Scream". Then the Stranglers' "Bring On The Nubiles".

Traci Eggleston: Die Antwoord's $O$. Also any Erykah Badu, Arthur Russell, Gang of Four, Air, or Gaga.

Gerard Cosloy reports: NOW THAT THEY'RE DEAD, WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN TO THE BABY? Derek Erdman wants breakup songs? This is the motherfucker of all breakup songs:

BONUS OTHER CAPERS:

My friends were thrown out of Dale Chihuly's birthday party and all you get is this lousy drawing.

Heavy Metal Parking Lot: I'd jump it's bones.

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An Idiot Like I Am: My First Regret of 2011

Megan Seling — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 10:31:55 -0800

A few weeks ago I reviewed Strange Like We Are, the new record by local band Campfire OK. Overall, it was a positive review. I said "While they're every bit as organic as nature-loving artists like Fleet Foxes or even the Moondoggies, Campfire OK are also a bit more complex, involving many orchestral characteristics—sweeping, dramatic piano and perfectly placed blasts of horns."

I also said the title track of the album, was "a marching folk-rock anthem aimed at taking back the streets from 'pastels and deep V-necks' (which are obnoxiously plentiful in Seattle) and finding a place where the band can fit in, where people are 'strange like they are.'"

But one comment (the only comment) on the review points out that I might've totally missed the mark on the song's meaning:

I'm pretty sure the deep v-necks are referring to scrubs, since the rest of the song seems to refer to a hospital—sirens,murphy-style beds, etc.

Also, this band doesn't really sound much like the fleet foxes at all.

While I will not correct my Fleet Foxes mention, because I never said they sounded like the Fleet Foxes but rather were just as "organic" and nature-loving (which is true—were I to ever go camping with either band I would demand they bring their instruments for campfire sing-alongs), I am actually pretty embarrassed about the fact that I might've totally fucked up the meaning on the song—of course it's about hospitals! Sirens, beds, blue pastels—why didn't I catch that before? Sigh. (For the record NPR wasn't completely sure, either).

But instead of assuming that commenter as right, and fretting over completely missing the point of the song, I asked band members Mychal Goodweather and Brandon Milner if they could possibly clarify the situation:

Did I indeed completely misinterpret the meaning of the song?

Brandon: It's delightful when people ascribe their own meanings to songs. A song might be about a can of soup and someone will think it perfectly captures their inner loneliness. That said, I'm all for songs being called "anthemic," so thank you.

Mychal: I agree with Brandon, and we are so glad you like the record. "Strange Like We Are" may be about taking back the streets that are riddled with pastel deep-v's and may also be about a hospital. I can neither confirm nor deny what the song is ACTUALLY about. I just write the words, I don't know what they mean. With that in mind, we should write a song about plaid shirts and utilikilts. That would be a smash hit.

So if the song is not about taking back the streets from the current influx of the chillwave/V-neck wearing trend, are Campfire OK chillwave fans?

Brandon: First, I had to actually go look that term up. Apparently it was invented by a blogger, after eating a dubious brownie, trying to tie together some bands he thought sounded alike. Anyway, I listened to some bands in that genre to see what the fuss was about. I'm all for using strange noises and laptops in music (the Campfire OK album has lots of ear candy recorded that way) but I generally thought they all sounded like early New Order or early ’80s synth pop combined with really shy guys who mumble a lot with reverb.

Mychal: I, like Brandon, had to google the term. I think that there are some really cool aspects to it, and like all varieties of music if it is done well and tasteful it can be great. An over-use of anything can get annoying, but when done well it is fantastic!

Here's the band performing the song live on KEXP. Watch, listen, and decide for yourself what you think it's about (the album version can be heard at campfireok.com):

Strange Like We Are from Christian Sorensen Hansen on Vimeo.

And on another note, I declare this quote from Mychal to be my new motto for 2011: "I just write the words, I don't know what they mean."

Amen, sir.

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What Percentage of Male Pee Actually Makes It Into the Toilet or Urinal?

Trent Moorman — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 12:35:41 -0800

A Long Way Down

Seems like lately, there has been more and more pee on the floor in the men’s room. The other night at a show, I went to the bathroom, and it was clear that some dude had pee’d, and had completely missed the toilet for the duration of his pee. Maybe he was texting, maybe he was concentrating on his beer, maybe his eyes were closed, because not a single drop of his pee could have made it into the toilet. Maybe he was seeing triple, and thought he was peeing into a toilet.

Sometimes, it’s hard. There are challenges. Sometimes pee surges out. Slight misses happen, a drop here or there is OK. Alcohol transforms the urinal or toilet into a moving target. Taller guys have farther to aim. Sometimes, aiming is simply too difficult.

Sometimes (subconsciously), the male species misses toilets and urinals on purpose, as a marking of the territory. When there are potential mates in the vicinity, the male animalistic brain feels a need to spread scent.

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I Went to "Juggalo Island", and I Don't Remember It Looking Like This

Kelly O — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:03:23 -0700

I think The 'Fam is sick of assholes like me who went to The 2010 Gathering of The Juggalos and offered up images (like these) for non-'Fam to scorn and pass judgement upon. Here's a video THEY filmed at The Gathering. Huh. I didn't see any of the mermaids. Or the hot dog buns. Damn. Where was I?

You know whut would be the shit?
If we had our own island, man....

Lets trip in the sun

I got my toes in the sand, watchin hoes play volleyball.
It's summer time, and I'm feeling jolly ya'll.
Food on the fire, boats in the water and takin time off from my serial slaughteren.
Here for the weekend, me and these friends, sunny sunshine, and blue skies never end.
Theres a mermaid, wavin' me to come in, underwater on my balls she's hummin.
Smokin on a phat one, we come to have fun, I got my dick in your hotdog bun...

more lyrics after the jump

....pouring out shots for everybody that's sippin, let's get loose now, skinny dippin.
Don't hate me cause the speedo I'm wearin, got your girlfriend starin.
We out here, sky's so clear, ice cold beer, suntan, topless, BITCH, come over here.

CHORUS: On Juggalo island, We can be one. Let our nuts hang by the water. On Juggalo island, we can have fun. We can let go, by the water.

Bang! Pow! Boom!, sunny like high noon, met some 'lettes, and they all comin over soon.
Have a luau I'm getting blew out, come over here if you ever get threw out.
We gotta place for ya, never will ignore ya, gotta hot plate and a drink we gonna pour ya.
Corpse on tha grill, plays on the one, two, and around here the dead have fun too
Stiffs in the water, float and we see you, doing flips in the air on a sea-do
No cops, unless they pourin out shots, unless ur helping us smoke these crops.
Surfin on the big one, havin big fun, fuckin with a big fat one under the sun.
lettin them hang, doing our thang, listen to them up and down the beach everybody sing.

CHORUS

.... And when the sun goes down, we up all night, dance of the dead, boogywoogy in the moon light.
Fuck the rules, right? The dead do bite, listen to the ouiji board, we can only do right.
Can't do wrong, fatty in a blue thong, everybody can't be together with you gone.
Come get with this, wicked ridiculous, This world is ours every bit of this.

Get you a burger with cheese, enjoy the breeze, I'm choppin coconuts outta palm trees
And we all in, a free ballin, see me shore side, surfin on a dolphin.
Grass skirt, dead hola girls, hatchets, and whutever your fishing hook catches.
We don't leave without you, so lets hang, Boom Pow Bang, lets do the damn thang.

CHORUS

Let's trip in the sun (repeat)

CHORUS

Lyrics from metrolyrics.com

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Correction: Mogwai's Burning Actually Playing Monday at Northwest Film Forum

Eric Grandy — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 16:13:17 -0700

Not Wednesday at EMP as this week's Up & Coming erroneously reported. So:

Monday 8/23
Burning (Mogwai film)

(Northwest Film Forum) Scottish score rockers Mogwai make such a good soundtrack for almost anything (see Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait) that it almost seems like a shame to see a film that merely sets their expansive, mostly instrumental aches to images of them playing live—that is, a concert documentary. Still, it's a beautiful film, shot in dramatic black and white, with the camera alternately coming in close on the musicians so that only a partial glimpse of them is seen (hands on a keyboard, a grimace on a face) and hanging back with a sense of unobtrusive, observational distance, catching a street scene outside the concert venue or the sway of a couple embraced in the audience, their eyes shut, their faces lit up. And Mogwai's songs sound ripping good here. It just needs more head-butting. ERIC GRANDY

We regret the error.

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A Couple More Corrections to the Stranger's Capitol Hill Block Party Guide

Eric Grandy — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:27:11 -0700

In addition to the erroneous listing for Math & Physics Club in our Capitol Hill Block Party Guide, a couple other things:

Hallways have been added to the Neumos stage, Saturday at 3pm, bumping all following acts up to the next time slot until Past Lives at 9pm.

Ash Reiter has been added to the Vera stage, Saturday at 4pm.

If you're looking at the print edition of the guide, the schedules grids are correct, but the times listed in the write-ups for bands playing Saturday afternoon and evening at the Neumos stage (Beach Fossils, Drowning Men, THEESatisfaction, and Happy Birthday) are not. If you're looking at the guide online, those listings will be corrected. Our apologies for the inconvenience.

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Mistakes I Didn't Know I Was Making, or: Whale Fail

Eric Grandy — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 14:07:49 -0800

Stranger reader Josh writes in with a correction to this week's Stranger Suggests for Wednesday night's Dirty Projectors show:

There's a scene in the addenda to Dave Eggers's A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius in which the author, while kayaking, is overwhelmed by the sight of a killer whale leaping, Free Willy—style, out of the ocean in close proximity. That scene is all I can think of when trying to describe the impossible ebullience with which Dirty Projectors' Dave Longstreth yelps the words "Bitte orca!" halfway through the recent album of the same name, over an avalanche of avant-Afropop guitar. The album is a revelatory balancing act, as Longstreth's confounding arrangements coalesce again and again into irresistible melodies. (Neumos, 925 E Pike St, 709-9467. 8 pm, $15, 21+.) Eric Grandy

Writes Josh:

I can't imagine that more than ten people will notice or remember, but the whale described in the "Mistakes We Knew We Were Making" section of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius wasn't a killer whale, but a larger unspecified variety of gray whale that lifted a kayak while breaching rather than simply stunning while leaping in the distance. Anyway, it's a great story and a nice album. Thanks for the excuse to revisit both to confirm my recollections.

This sort of thing is probably why Longstreth went to Yale and I didn't.

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O, A Typo

Eric Grandy — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 10:29:33 -0700

Originally published on Thu, Aug 27, 2009 at 4:17 PM

A weirdly persistent misspelling of local music/pet-control/art-heist concern the Abodox as Abadox made me unable to locate the band's web presence during a rather hectic last week, which was then used as the "jump-off" for a light-hearted Up & Coming preview:

Monday 8/31
Abodox, the Sugar Skulls, Sleepy Workers

(Comet) When they're not battling deadly stray pit bulls or trying to "liberate" art from local taverns, the men of Abodox make music. Music with no web presence whatsoever. Metal? I'm going to guess metal. (Billmates the Sugar Skulls and Sleepy Workers both managed to erect MySpace pages, and they're, respectively, Zappa-inspired synth-and-violin art-core spastics and dour, bluesy post-punk with muddy and meandering instrumental passages.) Anyway, the Comet might want to keep an eye on that big red neon "C" tonight, in case those Abadox guys happen to "really appreciate" it. ERIC GRANDY

So, yes, the Abodox, when spelled correctly, has a myspace page. Mea culpa. (And, yes, they are decidedly metal.)

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Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band Play Mt. St. Helens on Saturday, Not Tuesday

Megan Seling — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:02:08 -0700

In this week's Up & Comings, I wrote about Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band's show on Mt. St. Helens, which I'm very excited about because this will be my first time ever seeing a live band play on an active volcano. Unfortunately, this week's Up & Comings list the show as being on Tuesday, the 18th, when the show is actually Saturday, the 15th. It's probably my fault. I'm not very good with numbers. The online version has been corrected.

We regret the error.

(And FYI, tickets are still available and for $10 extra you can go on a pre-show nature hike. Neat!)

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Anglo Prison Blues

Brendan Kiley — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 16:45:57 -0700

So it turns out that Phil Spector and Charlie Manson are both doing life in Corcoran State Prison. And Charlie wants to make a record (courtesy of the Guardian):

Manson contacted Spector shortly after the producer arrived, dispatching a guard with a note. "[Manson] said he wanted him to come over to his [cell]," Spector's wife, Rachelle, told the New York Post. "He said he considers Philip the greatest producer who ever lived."

Certainly Manson has a right to an opinion. Though his clan, the Manson Family, are known as killers, they were also conceived as a music group. Before launching the murder conspiracy that killed Sharon Tate, Manson and his followers recorded songs with the Beach Boys' Dennis Wilson. Terry Melcher, who produced the Byrds' Turn, Turn, Turn, was another acquaintance — and a target — of the group.

Smithsonian Folkways ought to throw some money at that project. It's straight down the lineage of California folk-psych pop, with a weird zag over to white prison songs. America can listen to records by Robert Pete Williams. Why not Spector and Manson?

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A. Birch Steen Was Right

Eric Grandy — Wed, 20 May 2009 14:50:04 -0700

No, not about my "silken hair" (although that too), but when our esteemed Public Editor says, "I honestly do not want to know what Ms. Grandy thinks is being communicated with the phrase 'dirty MP3 trunk-rattle'." I wouldn't know either, as that phrase should have read, "dirty MPC trunk-rattle," (as it now does online) and was meant to convey a sort of hip-hoppiness in Animal Collective's recent productions, which I gush about with all my feminine charms here.

We regret the error.

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P Smoov Night

Charles Mudede — Fri, 08 May 2009 12:07:37 -0700

It's now corrected on the web, but earlier this week I made the error of attributing a rap (on "Something New") performed by P Smoov to Rik Rude, his partner in the Fresh Espresso project. P was not at all pleased by that error, which resulted from a lack of adequate production info for the unreleased Glamour album. The unstoppable Smoov kindly provided me with this information yesterday:

FRESH ESPRESSO - "GLAMOUR" (debut album released on OUT FOR STARDOM)

1. Espresso - All Lyrics/vocals written and performed by RIK RUDE. Beat Produced by P SMOOV

2. Diamond Pistols - Chorus by RIK RUDE and P SMOOV. Verse 1: RIK RUDE, verse 2: P SMOOV. Beat Produced by P SMOOV

3. Big or Small - Chorus and Bridge by P SMOOV. Verse 1+2 by RIK RUDE. Additional female vocals by SARAH SMALLEY. Beat Produced by P SMOOV

4. Vader Rap - Chorus and Bridge by P SMOOV. Verse 1+2 by RIK RUDE. Beat Produced by P SMOOV

5. Something New - Chorus by P SMOOV with backup vocals by SARAH SMALLEY. Verse 1+2 by P SMOOV. Beat Produced by P SMOOV

6. The Lazerbeams - Chorus by P SMOOV. Verse 1+2 by RIK RUDE. Beat Produced by P SMOOV

7. Right Here - Chorus by P SMOOV. VERSE 1+2 by RIK RUDE. Beat Produced by P SMOOV

8. Girls and Fast Cars - Chorus by P SMOOV and RIK RUDE. Verse 1 by RIK RUDE Verse 2 by P SMOOV. Beat Produced by P SMOOV

9. Elegant - Chorus by P SMOOV and RIK RUDE. Verse 1 by RIK RUDE Verse 2 by P SMOOV. Beat Produced by P SMOOV

10. Gigantic - Chorus by P SMOOV and RIK RUDE. Verse 1+2 by RIK RUDE. Beat Produced by P SMOOV

11. We Desire What's Real - Chorus by RIK RUDE. Verse 1+2 by RIK RUDE. Beat Produced by P SMOOV. Trumpets by Luke Lenentine

12. All Around the World - Chorus by P SMOOV and RIK RUDE. Verse 1+2 by RIK RUDE. Beat Produced by P SMOOV

13. Show Me How You Do - Chorus by P SMOOV. Verse 1+2 by RIK RUDE. Beat Produced by P SMOOV

14. Coffee Talk (Feat. MR LIF and GRIEVES) - Chorus by P SMOOV, GRIEVES, and MR. LIF. Verse 1 by MR LIF Verse 2 by P SMOOV Verse 3 by RIK RUDE Verse 4 by GRIEVES. Beat Produced by P SMOOV.

There it is! Also, tonight, Friday night, is P Smoov night. He performs in Fremont with both Fresh Espresso and Mad Rad. Fresh Espresso will be on stage at the High Dive at at 11:00 pm, and Mad Rad at Nectar at midnight.

As for Sylvain Debusschere, who is mentioned in the Up & Comings preview for Mad Rad's show tonight, he is a young Parisian who is a big fan of P Smoov's work. I will write more about him in the future.

The image, which is by Ben Blood, is from P Smoov's Myspace account.

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If You Were Planning to Catch Maps & Atlases April 5...

Dave Segal — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 10:32:21 -0700

Stranger freelancer Brian Cook informs us that they will not be playing the Dredg/Torche show at Neumos this Sunday. Instead, From Monument to Masses will be the opening the night.

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Tut Tut, Now Check Ya Facts

Eric Grandy — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 10:28:49 -0800

In this week's review of Japanthers's latest album Tut Tut, Now Shake Ya Butt, I erroneously referred to drummer Ian Vanek's older brother and CEO/CFO/Janitor of Montana-based label Wantage USA as Matt Vanek. His name is in fact Josh Vanek (I was likely thinking of Japanther's bassist Matt Reily at the time). We regret the error.

(Thanks to Jeff for the correction.)

Japanther play tonight at the Funhouse, 9:30pm, $7, 21+, with TacocaT, Mosquito Bandito, and Problems

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Policing My Police Teeth Analogies

Eric Grandy — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:00:47 -0800

Man, I had a hell of a time reviewing Police Teeth's new album, Real Size Monster Series this week (you can read the whole review here). Where I think I may have most failed the local punk rock quartet is in the comparison department, where I perhaps questionably deployed Q and Not U, Braid, and Piebald (fucking Piebald, a band I haven't even listened to in maybe six or seven years, so really I'm just going on shaky memories with that one) in an attempt to get at the Seattle band's sound. Oh, and Bow + Arrow. (Also, not included in the review: "I Made Out With You Before You Were Cool" has a pop punk bridge that's total Sicko.) I don't know, maybe some of those aren't so far off as far as they're deployed in the review, but I turned the piece in with the nagging feeling that the perfect reference points were still just on tip of my tongue. So, I put it to you gentle readers of Line Out: What the fuck are Police Teeth reminding me of?

Whatever it is, I just want to make clear, in case the review didn't already: I am really, really feeling this record. The production sounds a little muddy in the low to mid range, but the songs are great—seriously searing, pissed-off punk rock fuck yous at their finest. I have yet to see Police Teeth live—they're playing tonight but I unfortunately won't be able to make this show either—but they are now in my to-do pile in a major way. I have a feeling these songs sound like 100-proof fire live.

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The Ian Curtis-alike It’s Okay to Like

Dave Segal — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 17:15:54 -0800

In this article, I bemoaned—among other things—the biters of Ian Curtis’ sepulchral bellow. Let’s amend that to allow for one such Joy Division fanboy singer: Alan Hempsall of Crispy Ambulance.

The Manchester band’s peak came on “The Presence,” a rare example of spectral gothic dub. (Other than Dif Juz, who else sounded like this?) It appears in all of its 13-minute glory on Live on a Hot August Night EP (Factory Benelux, 1981). The video below halves its duration, but you can still get the gist of the song’s brooding splendor (the Martin Hannett production rules).

Thanks to my brother for reminding me of this (mostly) unknown pleasure.

Crispy Ambulance- “The Presence”

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Re: Tonight in Music, or: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Katy Perry Concert

Eric Grandy — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 09:24:54 -0800

First of all, the correction—this band:

...Not playing at the Katy Perry concert tonight.

Last week, Idolator reported that Alphabeat had dropped off the Katy Perry tour. Music nerds groused in their comments, and I capped my U&C for tonight's show with the following lament:

And why the hell are Alphabeat off this bill now? I would've gone just to see them.

But our ever-scrupulous fact checkers got word from the Showbox that, despite Idolator's announcement and Aphabeat not having any tour dates listed on their website or myspace, that the band was still on the bill. So, the ending was amended to:

I would go just to see Danish wonky popsters Alphabeat, though.

Which is technically still correct—I would go, if they were they actually playing. But then, on Tuesday, after the paper had gone to print, the Showbox sent an email confirming that, yes, Alphabeat were off the bill, to be replaced by some band called Daylights, whose myspace page has banner ads featuring the douchey-looking band for Coca-Cola and Miller.

All of which sausage-making is terribly boring and not really important, since the show is sold-out anyway, but still, I can't be the only person who was considering braving that terror just for the sake of those adorable Danes, and it's as good an excuse as any to post the above video.

(Also, let it be known: for every time something like this happens, which is like once in two years, our fact-checkers save my ass several times a week on stuff as potentially embarrassing as confusing Al Green for Marvin Gaye—really, fireable offense type stuff—so, thank you, fact checkers!)

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The YACHT Club

Eric Grandy — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:53:30 -0800

A comment on this week's Best of 2008 column:

wtf grandy? no YACHT? you fail.
Posted by YACHT CLUB

First of all, we're all informal friends on the internet, right? Addressing people by only their last names makes one sound like a gym teacher.

Second, I assume we're talking about YACHT's sole 2008 release, "Summer Song," (although I guess we could also be talking about his early '08 work designing manilla envelope sleeves for the then new macbook air), which song was "originally recorded as a love letter to tourmates LCD Soundsystem," according to press materials that also state, "YACHT is as surprised as you are that DFA wanted to release the song."

I'll post the video of the song below, and it is a pretty great, home-grown-in-Portland video [update: Jason Josephes points out that said video is a nod to Tapeheads, which I deeply regret having still not seen in 2008], with its comically amateur video director within the video literally throwing everything at YACHT that his non-existent budget allows in an attempt to make them more (exciting?) than they are, hoping that something sticks, and actually kind of neon tar-and-feathering them in the process.

But I didn't put the song in my Best of 2008 clusterfuck, because, really I maybe listened to it once in 2008 before preparing this post. It just didn't do it for me (and, also, I've just heard the sinlge and not the b-sides). I definitely hear the love letter to Sound of Silver angle in the bass, the "live"/acoustic percussion, the reverby vocals, but to me it all lands more as pastiche than homage—it's YACHT got innocuous. (As a side note, YACHT's "Platinum" and LCD's "Get Innocuous" have almost the exact same synth groove.) Listening to it again, it's a fine enough summery dance jam, and it's growing on me even, but I still don't quite yet buy YACHT as this cool, collected repeater of dance floor mantras as opposed to his old overenthusiastic spaz, but maybe I'll be better convinced by their forthcoming album, See Mystery Lights, in 2009.

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Impaired Focus

Eric Grandy — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 14:15:31 -0800

In this week's column, I reported that Mune Yamakawa had left FCS. Last night, Yamakawa, over the roar of the drunk Australians (?) at the Cha Cha, corrected me: He's just taking a break from FCS, but he's still very much a part of the band. Also, apparently that wasn't quite the Free Sheep Foundation's last party ever in that space, although they are out of there as of the new year. We regret the errors.

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Quick, Name One of the Other Guys From the Killers!

Eric Grandy — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 15:45:25 -0800

In last week's Up & Comings, I wrote:

So, the Killers are Mormons, and the Mormons funneled shitloads of money into passing California's anti-gay-marriage amendment, Proposition 8. Of course, it would be unfair to dismiss the Killers just because of the actions of their bigoted, crazy-talking church (Did you know Jesus Christ visited America's Wild West? It's true!). It would be plenty fair, though, to dismiss the band because their few great singles are now two full albums behind them ("When You Were Young" was just okay). Their latest, Day & Age, was produced by Les Rythmes Digitales/Jacques Lu Cont/Thin White Duke mastermind Stuart Price, so it sounds sharp enough, but it's just more new-wave rehash, lazy rock, and radio-ready power balladry—well worth boycotting solely on its own merits.

Today, the Stranger received this email from someone at Universal Music Group (emphasis, but not underline, added):

Subject: ERIC GRANDY ? research, maybe ?

FYI...
The Killers are not ALL Mormons.
The lead singer (Brandon Flowers) is.
None of the other members are.

It seems entirely ridiculous you would make such a blanket statement about the band regardless. They had nothing to do with the Mormon money that backed Proposition 8. Also, FYI, they just put out a new Christmas song for RED, featuring Elton John and Neil Tennant. I have a hard time believing those two artists would be comfortable working with a band that you seem to imply has connections to hate.

Nice plug and point taken (although, technically, I argued to not dismiss the Killers because of Mormonism and Prop 8 but rather because their new album blows). That preview should've read:

So, the Killers' Brandon Flowers is Mormon, and the Mormons funneled shitloads of money into passing California's anti-gay-marriage amendment, Proposition 8. Of course, it would be unfair to dismiss the Killers just because of the actions of their frontman's bigoted, crazy-talking church (Did you know Jesus Christ visited America's Wild West? It's true!). It would be plenty fair, though, to dismiss the band because their few great singles are now two full albums behind them ("When You Were Young" was just okay). Their latest, Day & Age, was produced by Les Rythmes Digitales/Jacques Lu Cont/Thin White Duke mastermind Stuart Price, so it sounds sharp enough, but it's just more new-wave rehash, lazy rock, and radio-ready power balladry—well worth boycotting solely on its own merits.

My sincere apologies to the Killers, Flowers, Universal Music Group, Elton John, and Neil Tennant. But not the Mormon Church. And not the gays—you all are still an abomination in the eyes of God and his son, Wild West Jesus.

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