The Stranger: Line Out

New Band Idea!

Eric Grandy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:45:26 MST

New Times Viking: short, scuzzy punk pop about looting and pillaging alt weekly newspapers. Brandon Ivers figures this has at least a five person market.

Unrelated: Go see Times New Viking (and Deerhunter) tonight at Neumos.

Head Like a Kite Meet the 'Survivor' Film Crew, Scratch Nuts

Dave Segal — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:26:58 MST

Seattle electro-rock duo Head Like a Kite have been touring with the film crew from Survivor documenting them, reality-TV-style. The idea is for HLAK to do seven gigs in seven days on $700, all while being filmed practically 24/7. If HLAK can survive this ordeal, they can get “the gig of a lifetime before thousands.” It’s part of a web-based show called On the Brink, and it’s being co-ordinated by AT&T.

HLAK bring the ruckus to Neumos for a free show Sat. Nov. 22 with local fun-bringing 8-bit funkateers Truckasauras and Slender Means. Expect a jam between—let’s call ’em Head Like a Truck—as they strive for a seamless transition between their sets.

Sounding harried by their hectic schedule, HLAK drummer/Line Out contributor Trent Moorman sent this communiqué: “Three cameras filming all time. It's all kind of too much. I mean, they film everything, like I scratch my nuts and they film it. They put a big logo on the side of the van and shit. But they gave us sweet, trick-ass cell phones. Anyway, should be interesting. They make us set up our shit and play in random places and truck stops. I'm not selling out; I'm scratching my nuts.”

Also, this just in from Mr. Moorman: A riot broke out at HLAK's Meany Middle School gig this afternoon in Capitol Hill. Students went wild and had to be herded back to class. Plus, an AT&T rep had his phone stolen.

Head Like a Kite, On the Brink

The Unheard Arthur Russell

Dave Segal — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:40:31 MST

Dusted has an interesting edition of its weekly Listed feature up today with Audika Records boss Steve Knutson, who’s released Arthur Russell’s excellent World of Echo, Calling Out of Context, First Thought Best Thought, and the Springfield EP. He describes in fascinating detail 10 Arthur Russell tracks in Russell partner Tom Lee’s archives that will never (so he says) be released. What a tease.

Also, Matt Wolf’s beautiful, incisive Russell documentary, Wild Combination, is now available on DVD. Russell fanatics and people who love amazing, hard-to-classify music should investigate.

Trailer for Wild Combination

A Quick Reminder that Sleepy Eyes of Death Are Great (and They're Playing Tonight at Chop Suey)

Megan Seling — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 13:07:03 MST

&leftbgIf you're still undecided between all of tonight's offerings, I suggest you give a little more consideration to the party at Chop Suey because locals Sleepy Eyes of Death are on the bill. For tonight's show, the band's finally coming out of record-making hibernation. Hooray!

(Sidenote: The band's been recording with Matt Bayles of Minus the Bear, Botch, Isis fame—he's going to make them sound so fucking killer...)

If you've yet to see Sleepy Eyes' light/fog/live guitar/live drum/maze of synths/half-man/half-robot flurry, you're blowing it. Correct that wrong right quick, my friend. And if you've seen 'em before, now's a great time to see them again. With the new record in the can (they're aiming for a January release), we're surely going to see some of that new material creep into the set.

And now, some sonic evidence to attest to their greatness:

"Eyes Spliced Open"

"Collapse"

And here's a live video that doesn't do the band justice as far as sound goes, but gives you an idea of how aesthetically awesome their show is:

That's my pitch. I hope it helps in your decision-making process.

And Then Last Night...

Megan Seling — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:18:51 MST

Like Eric said, last night's Hold Steady/Drive-By Truckers show had its issues mostly due to a) the weirdo crowd and b) the less than spectacular sound in the venue, but regardless of the imperfect environment, I was still able to walk away from the Showbox Sodo with a glow like I had OD'd on Zoloft. Craig Finn's enthusiasm and pure love for music (and everyone who loves music) is so infectious and refreshing. The dude doesn't care if you're 16 or 46, if you're an orange cowgirl or a pale punk rocker... he just wants to rock with you and dance with you and sing to you and hear you sing back to him.

It's awesome. It's awesome that after being involved in music for as many years as he's been—as a fan and a performer in a couple of bands of varying success—that he can be so content and positive when so many people in the industry and in his position... aren't. There are too many burnt out, bitter people. Too many rockstars, too many assholes, both on the stage and in the crowd. I'm sometimes one of them. Craig Finn reminds us we don't have to be... I don't have to be. It's awesome. There's no better way to say it—it's just fucking awesome.

There. That is all I have to say about that.

(Also, for all the hardcore Hold Steady fans: At last night's show I managed to snag a t-shirt and a drumhead signed by every member of the band. They drew funny pictures on it—it's neat. As much as I'd love to keep the prize for myself, both items will be up for grabs in this year's Strangercrombie auction. Start saving your money now.)

Lordy Lordy Look Who's Forty

David Schmader — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 12:02:05 MST

40 years ago, The Beatles AKA "The White Album" AKA the Beatles' best album AKA the Beatles' worst album AKA the messy double album that could've been pared down into the world's greatest single album was released, and today lots of people are talking and writing about it.

I love the Beatles, but I don't especially love The Beatles, which for me is all about the John songs—"I'm So Tired," "Dear Prudence," "Happiness is a Warm Gun," "Cry Baby Cry," the beautiful stoner version of "Revolution"—that I've since isolated in a playlist to spare me from ever having to hear "Don't Pass Me By" again. I'd rather listen to "Revolution #9" for three weeks straight than "Don't Pass Me By" once.

Justice Unplugged

Eric Grandy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:23:48 MST

A few days/Internet light years old, but still good for some yuks, the "Justice Unplugged" shock horror. URB reports:

A photo has surface of Justice performing with the controller run by Gaspard clearly not plugged in. The photo has no date, but it is presumably from their recent US "DJ tour" where URB saw them using this set-up at HARD Haunted Mansion. Of course, you can see the USB cable lying next to the controller, meaning Gaspard is probably thinking at that moment "Sacre Blue! Why iz this controller not working!?" rather than "These kidz are so stupiid. I'm not even plugged in!"

Gaspard offers a reasonable explanation:
"Yeah, shit happens! I remember the story, I couldn't remember the city but i think it was in Manchester. I didn't noticed at first, because as you can see I was looking at the computer to launch the next vocal hook and right after I realised that the blue screen went black, so there was no way possible it could work. So I plugged it back in, big deal! And the next thing you know is this picture."

The Roots Flip It

Brendan Kiley — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:16:44 MST

The Roots flipped their double-decker bus outside Paris a few hours ago, giving ?uestlove the opportunity to blog from the roadside:

i don’t wanna get all deep like it was an omen but those that know me (look at my twit/facebook/myspace/okayplayer/blip history) know that when not onstage i am glued to my computer, doing some sort of activity like converting music or tv shows. but this was a rare occurrence in which i actually went to sleep.
next thing i knew was the most surreal feeling ever….
was i upside down?
why am i covered in cereal?
oh shit….that coffee pot is coming for my face!!!
in reality the crash was all of about 7 seconds….but to do a 360 on the highway and end up ramped up (the van that crashed into ours was UNDER our double decker bus) in the air….is….well…
a frigging miracle.

And then whip out his cellphone: "Just wanna be the first celeb to twit... from an ambulance."

"Why am I covered in cereal?" That, my friends is the eternal question.

Ashlee Simpson's New Baby...

Paul Constant — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:14:20 MST

...is named Bronx Mowgli Wentz. That is all.

On That First Night...

Eric Grandy — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 10:40:39 MST

...of the Hold Steady and Drive By Truckers' two night stint at the Showbox SoDo in Seattle:

-The place was about half-empty. Tonight is supposedly about to sell out. A few possible explanations: People would rather go out on a Friday given the choice, or they would rather go to this show when it's 21+ and they can drink throughout the venue rather than be penned in the back, or maybe more people would just rather see the Drive-By Truckers headline over Hold Steady (as will happen tonight) than the other way around (as happened last night).

-About the drinkers being confined to the back of the room, it made things kind of weird whenever Craig Finn spat out some climactic, sing-along lyric about drinking. This was apparent from the very first song, "Constructive Summer," on which Finn commands the crowd to "raise a toast to saint Joe Strummer," then ad libbed, "come on, get 'em up!" The enthusiastic crowd dutifully raised their hands, but of course, they had nothing with which to toast. (Also, there are kind of just a lot of Hold Steady lyrics that seem kind of awkward sing-alongs for the all-ages set; maybe I don't give the kids enough credit in terms of self-awareness and perspective, but what always struck me as great about Finn's narratives about fucked up kids is that he has enough remove, both in years and as an omnipotent storyteller, to lend them some poignancy.)

-I mentioned how at Wednesday night's Of Montreal show the sound at the SoDo was as good and loud as I'd ever heard it. Last night the sound was not so hot. The bass guitar and kick drum were too loud and muddy, and the guitar was weak when it should have been triumphant, although the vocals and the keys sounded fine. That can't be an easy room to run sound, and it's probably a lot easier to dial in a good mix when the room is full of people, rather than a mostly exposed concrete box.

-I don't know whether to attribute this to the Drive-By Truckers or the SoDo or the Hold Steady, but damn there were some serious meatheads and their bronzed cowgirls counterparts out last night in the bar section, air-guitaring, jabbing at each other and spitting drinks, freak dancing during the Hold Steady. Not to get all HRO about shit, but "Is the Hold Steady mainstream?" I know the band plays some pretty big summer festivals and all, but I always thought a big part of their appeal was that Finn's songs were about losers, hoodrats, misfits, and other outcast fuckups. I guess any old drinking song, regardless of its subtleties and sarcasms, is good enough for the bros.

-Despite the ambience and the acoustics, the Hold Steady played a pretty great set, including "Multitude of Casualties," "Chips Ahoy," "Sequestered in Memphis," "Massive Nights," "Party Pit," "Stevie Nix," "Stuck Between Stations," "Guys Go For Looks, Girls Go For Status," "Your Little Hoodrat Friend," "Stay Positive," "Slapped Actress," an encore of "First Night," and several others. Finn changed up the odd line here or there, throwing little treats out for the dedicated—the last line of "Massive Nights" became, "The chaperone said, 'I though you were saving yourself for the scene'," and one chorus of "Slapped Actress" became, "Some nights it's just entertainment, and tomorrow night it's work." Cute. He also did a couple endearing monologues, one explaining the name of the "Rock and Roll Means Well" tour: "a smarter man than me [Mike Cooley] once said, 'Rock and roll means well, but it can't help telling young boys lies.'" Another was about how, after quitting Lifter Puller and moving to NYC in 2000 to "be a writer or something" but instead just spending two years drinking, Finn saw tourmates the Drive-By Truckers at the Bowery Ballroom and that's when he decided to start another band.

-Of course, the other endearing thing Finn did was geek the fuck out onstage, dancing and grinning and flailing from the microphone like it was electrocuting him every other line. I realized last night that, not only are Finn's gestures theatrically outsized, they also really put the camp in "the camps down by the river." For instance, for the line in "Stuck Between Stations" about "the night that we thought John Berryman could fly/but he didn't so he died," Finn straight up turned his arms into airplane wings. For the line, "Don't tell the DJ's, they already suspect us," on "Slapped Actress," Finn made a record scratching motion with one hand and "scratched" "already" into "a-a-a-a-a-a." For the line about doing a jitterbug, Finn did the goofiest approximation of dancing this side of a junior high. If you're not really invested in your rock stars being cool or having to take them seriously (and you shouldn't be), then it's all good fun.

-Overall, though, between the small crowd, the drinking pen, the d-bags, the bad sound, and the work-night reserve, I found myself explaining to my guest, who had never seen the Hold Steady before, that this wasn't really the best introduction to the band that he could have hoped for. We ended up leaving before the end of the encore. Hopefully, he'll still spend some time with the records.

Tonight in Music: The Lucky Dragons, the Hold Steady and Drive-By Truckers, Shadow Dancer, Deerhunter, Daniel G. Harmann, and more

Megan Seling — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:00:00 MST

The Hold Steady and Drive-By Truckers are back tonight for round two at the Showbox. Woo! And the Lucky Dragons are playing the Vera Project. Dave Segal interviewed the band for this week's issue:

Immersed in L.A.'s fertile DIY culture, based in autonomous zones like the Smell, Echo Curio, and Dublab, Lucky Dragons, according to Rara, view everything they produce as a collaboration. "Our live performances are designed to generate equal power-sharing situations between members of the audience and ourselves," she elaborates. "I would say our working process is similar—hinged on the idea of living in a kind of equality, creating that collaborative space."

Fischbeck further expounds on Lucky Dragons' MO: "I think before we made sounds, we were a band, and everything we've done since the beginning was to change the simple thing of what it means to be a band. This often, but not always, means making or rearranging sounds."

Read his piece on the band here.

And here's what else is happening around town, via this week's Up & Comings:

Shadow Dancer - "Cowbois"

Shadow Dancer, Sleepy Eyes of Death, Milkplant, C-Leb
(Chop Suey) Shadow Dancer (British producers Paul and Al Farrier) bring their Boys Noize–affiliated electro rock to Seattle for the first time. You know the drill: distorted bass corkscrewing in your face, coked-up 4/4 rhythms, suggestive vocal snippets, frayed tones haunting the periphery and hinting at chaos. This is definitive mid/late-'00s hipster party musique. Allowing for the usual cultural lag time, next year's Hollywood flicks should be lousy with it. Seattle techno knob-twiddler and recent Data Breaker subject Milkplant (Justin Pennell) drops heady, high-definition techno with the sort of rugged Midwestern flavor that's been making the world sweat for decades. Grandiose, drone-y synth purveyors Sleepy Eyes of Death are one Seattle rock band that can hang tough with the electronic bods. DAVE SEGAL

Deerhunter "Agoraphobia"

Deerhunter, Times New Viking, Past Lives
(Neumos) Deerhunter's new album, Microcastle, is ostensibly the band's "pop" album, although astute listeners will have discerned a steady pop sensibility underneath even their most shoegazey layers of overdriven effects on Cryptograms. Still, Microcastle is a far more simple, straightforward affair, putting the guitar washes and reverb further in the background of slightly sweeter though still plenty melancholy songs, the most outstanding of which is the fuzzy Sonic Youth daydream "Nothing Ever Happened." Where Deerhunter are carefully composed and artfully layered, Times New Viking are gleefully raw and rough around the edges, all buzzing lo-fi punk sing-along and ramshackle rhythm and melody. The counterintuitive pairing should make for a great show. ERIC GRANDY

Daniel G. Harmann - "Last Swim of the Year"

Goodness, Daniel G. Harmann & the Trouble Starts
(Tractor) What freezes you about Daniel G. Harmann's music is the expanse—a quietly loud expanse. It scans across a highway bridge at night. Someone driving realizes the perfection of hands. Harmann's songs transition and cut from quiet and clean to loud and distorted. They're like fall: muted but loud, sad yet uplifting. The clean, introspective sections of his sound long in a way that makes you long. The louder, voluminous sections of his distorted songs drive in a way that makes you want to drive. You'll see your hands on the steering wheel and realize how perfectly they are designed. When Harmann and his band (the Trouble Starts) get loud, it's more a movement to volume, a use of light and dark they wield well. TRENT MOORMAN

Complete listings can be found here.

Fun Is The New Cool

Dean Fawkes — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 20:29:45 MST

Let us bask in the glow of Little Boots.

Little Boots is from Blackpool, England.

She used to be in a band called Dead Disco.

She cuts right in the line of the new millennium's beyond-the-call-of-duty female popstars that includes Annie, Ladyhawke, Parralox, Roisin Murphy, and might be, if we're lucky, able to stand tall next to Robyn, Lily Allen, or Siobhan Donaghy.

Look! Horses! Space!

There isn't much music out there yet, but let's go assume-a-lot.

Let's assume Little Boots, a.k.a. Victoria Hesketh, is as good as she already sounds. Judging by her delicate and lush voice, which comes across as both assured and on the edge of hard luck, and the way it attaches itself to the slow, swirling, locked-in-a-Moroder-hole that is "Stuck On Repeat," the flared-out, acid-blessed little anthem that is "Every Little Earthquake," and the undeniably and absolutely and unpredictably remarkable "Meddle," well, her pop instincts could stomp out cities.

Let's assume she's named after Nat Cassidy's play about Christopher Marlowe and Caligua, "The Reckoning Of Kit & Little Boots".

Let's assume that it's true that her singles come with fantasy-art sticker tattoos.

Let's also assume that her bedroom YouTube covers of Wiley, Human League, Haddaway, Planet Perfecto, Girls Aloud, Estelle, Miley Cyrus, Hot Chip, happy hardcore, and Alphabeat show that she doesn't care what you think.

But most of all, let's assume she's not hiding a debut album of dire, mid-paced, excitement-killing — quote-fingers! — mature songs, throwing it all away already.

Popjustice writes, "Little Boots is a totally bullet-proof 21st century popstar. This is Kylie and the Pet Shop Boys all in one person."

Little Boots is, in other words, a single girl's celebration of pop. Modern but not pretentious. Sophisticated but not snide. Fantastic in a bright, talented, left-field, sometimes ridiculous, and promisingly unique sort of way.

Little Boots wants us to believe that she will never let us down.

Little Boots can make pop a better place.

Little Boots says, "Fun Is The New Cool".

100% fan-crush.

Holy Shit, That's Cool

Christopher Frizzelle — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:51:09 MST

They run a business that's dark on Sunday mornings, they need to make money somehow, this economy is shitty for everyone, and denying equal rights to gay people—to say nothing of love and genuine respect—is still acceptable to a majority of Americans. Considering all that, this is pretty fucking cool of Neumos.

I'm surprised. Happily surprised. So happy I'm going to skip what I was going to do right after work and have a drink at Moe instead. And if Severin's there I'm going to give him a hug. And maybe grab his ass.

Thinking of Seeing the Hold Steady and Drive-By Truckers Tomorrow?

Megan Seling — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 14:43:16 MST

And still haven't gotten your ticket? Word from the Showbox Sodo is that Friday night's 21+ show is ohsoclose to selling out.

So you, ticketless music fan, have two options: a) Buy your ticket right now! or b) Go to the show tonight! Like me.

Tonight the Hold Steady close out the show, tomorrow Drive-By Truckers are headlining.

Can You Make It Say

Paul Constant — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:29:29 MST

Now, via the Presurfer, Pete Drake and his talking guitar:

I can totally see somebody bringing this gimmick back and making a shalikashvillion dollars as a one-hit wonder.

Lawsuit of the Day

Grant Brissey — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 13:28:08 MST

This lawsuit is baffling.

The squabble is over a fake letter sent out by Taco Bell Corp. asking 50 Cent to change his name for one day to 79 Cent, 89 Cent or 99 Cent to help publicize its value menu.

In return, the company offered to donate $10,000 to the charity of his choice. The rapper, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, has sued for trademark infringement.

Via Billboard

More of Tonight's Music!

Megan Seling — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:29:42 MST

I already posted about tonight's Rafael Anton Irisarri show with Tom Brosseau at the Triple Door. (Click here if you're interested.) But I neglected to include all the other stuff mentioned in this week's music section that's also happening this evening. So, without further adieu:

The Hold Steady - "Chips Ahoy"

The Hold Steady, Drive-By Truckers
(Showbox Sodo) Drive-By Truckers and the Hold Steady share enough in common for them to make sense as a package tour. Both bands mine the sounds of Americana—Southern-accented roadhouse blues for the Truckers, E Street bar-cum-arena rock for the Hold Steady. Both deal with similar themes—alcohol; the road; tragic romance; religion and its failings; the dark, sometimes criminal underbelly of American life. But their handling of these themes is a study in contrast. Drive-By Truckers plow into things head-on, or, if you prefer, no ice; the Hold Steady, on the other hand, approach their subjects with the gift of Craig Finn's literary remove and considerable lyrical wit, lending their down-and-out narratives as much sincerity as the Truckers', but also a winning mix of enthusiasm, grim humor, and a rewarding serial continuity and self-referentiality. Both shows should be great, but I know whom I'd pick as a headliner. ERIC GRANDY

White Rainbow live in Atlanta

White Rainbow, PWRFL Power
(UW HUB) The folkie formula is tried and true. Man, often bearded, hears the call of nature and writes a plethora of songs about spirits and being one with nature. See: Devendra Banhart, Animal Collective, and a smattering of Northwest groups. Because he's toured with Banhart and hails from the natural mecca of Portland, people may be inclined to pigeonhole Adam Forkner's solo unit White Rainbow into the influx of indie bands going green. But that would be misguided, as the versatile Forkner deftly experiments with sounds and effects to create complex and pulsing noise soundscapes one second, and touching, relatable love songs the next. To consider White Rainbow a simple tree hugger would be your first mistake, and missing this rare Seattle performance would be your second. CASEY CATHERWOOD

Icy Demons - "Spywatchers"

Yeasayer, Icy Demons
(Neumos) My first exposure to Icy Demons was via Pink Skull's remix of their song "1850." It was not exactly a representative introduction. More helpful is the knowledge that this band share a key member with carny spazzes Man Man and now defunct free-form freaks Need New Body. Icy Demons' latest, Miami Ice, scans from faint, tropically inflected chill-outs ("Summer Samba," "Jantar Mantar") to coolly sedate electro pop ("Centurion") to cartoon psych pop (the aforementioned "1850"). Overall, I think I'd stick with the remixes. Yeasayer combine soft rocking vocal harmonies, gospel chants, creeping flashbacks of new-agey psychedelia, and the frail/anthemic interplay of contemporaries like TV on the Radio or Arcade Fire, only in service of less immediately catchy songs full of vague apocalyptic dread. ERIC GRANDY

And the Score also has a couple suggestions, and you can always find all the rest of tonight's listings in our online calendar.

Moogerfooger Freqbox

Trent Moorman — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:39:33 MST

Big World Breaks (Blue Scholars) and Red Eye Flight guitar player Dan Rapport presents us with the third installment in Pedal Month. Dan knows and enjoys all aspects of gear. He likes to touch gear. Schematics and circuits comfort him, much the way cuddling a baby goat might comfort non gear heads.

Today Dan is talking about the Moog Moogerfooger MF-107 FreqBox:

Why do you like this pedal so much? Why is it your baby goat?
The Moog Freqbox is not like any other effect pedal I've ever heard of. Although it can sound a lot like several different pedals, including a fuzz or an envelope filter / follower, it's fundamental design is pretty unique. Basically it's the same style analog oscillator from one of Moogs synthesizers who's frequency (or pitch) can be controlled by the notes of another instrument (guitar, bass, keyboard, etc). An analog oscillator is a tone generator used in many old-school (and some newer) synthesizers to generate the basic notes and sound of the instrument. The way that the Freqbox works is to take the incoming signal from your instrument and track its pitches to sync up with the internal oscillator of the pedal. In this way it's not exactly an effect per se but more of an analog synth who's pitches can be controlled by the pitches of your guitar.

How else can it be used?
It’s also an effect in that it substantially changes the tone of your instrument to have a more synth-like sound to it as well as some seriously wild fuzz feedback distortion. It has an envelope follower built into it that can change the frequency of the oscillator depending on how loud or soft you play which gives you an auto-wah sound that’s much more complex and dynamic sounding. The great thing about all the Moogerfooger pedals from a guitar player's standpoint is that every knob or parameter on the pedal has an input on the back of the pedal so that you can hook up an expression pedal (like a wah wah) and "turn" the knob using your foot. On the Freqbox this allows you to turn off the oscillator sync and play the guitar with your hands as well as the pitch of the internal oscillator with your foot, essentially creating two tones. It sounds really really crazy and completely unique.

Are there any pedals similar to this one?
There have been other pedals that have tried to do similar things as the Freqbox, yeah. The main one I can think of is the Line 6 FM-4 Filter Modeler. It's a great device but it's not an analog pedal and therefore can’t replicate the sound of the analog oscillator synthesizer which the Freqbox can because it IS and analog oscillator synth, in a pedal!

How has this pedal affected you personally? How have you been using it?
Personally, I've been waiting my whole guitar playing life of fifteen plus years for an effect like this. I've always been interested in the synthesizer sounds I heard on the old Herbie Hancock, Funkadelic, Stevie Wonder, and Gary Numan albums of the 70's and wished I could make those sounds on the guitar. And many years ago I just finally gave up and bought an old Moog Synth. Now there's this Freqbox pedal that can make those sounds available on the guitar. It's a really revolutionary design, sounds totally rad, and it's completely analog. I've been using it a lot in the recording studio with my group Red Eye Flight. It sounds great on guitar leads and I've also used it a lot with the Wurlitzer electric piano for some really twisted sounds. I've also used it a bit in the past with Big World Breaks when we do the breakdance shows. We've done this thing where we pit a breakdancer versus a musician in the band and have a battle. The Freqbox is my secret weapon for that.

Lady Miss Kier Deee-jaying @ War Room Tomorrow

Dave Segal — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:22:45 MST

I found out about this show too late to include it in Up&Coming or Data Breaker, but it may be of interest to some of you. Deee-lite singer/lyricist Lady Miss Kier will be spinning records at the War Room Fri. Nov. 21, courtesy of the Muse and Cherry promotional organizations. Kier is known for her fun, stylistically diverse sets and flamboyant demeanor behind the decks.

The War Room is located at 722 E Pike St. in Capitol Hill. Cover is $7 before 10 pm, $9 after.

Below is a video of Lady Miss Kier on LSD. Just because.

The Last You Will Hear About Of Montreal From Me For a Very Long While

Eric Grandy — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:30:19 MST

Having already written more or less everything I've wanted to about Of Montreal's new album and tour, I was planning to just recap last night's show with a simple litany of the things I saw onstage. Sure, a lot of it would be the same as the show a month ago in NYC, but when I interviewed Kevin Barnes recently, he assured me that, while Seattle would be lacking at least one live horse, it would also see several new production elements replacing ones from just a month ago. In any case, I loved that show so much that I'd have been happy to watch the whole thing repeated verbatim.

Only, whatever new elements were added to the show were minor enough that they didn't make it into my notes (and I was taking notes). Apparently, the Showbox SoDo stage was smaller than the band were used to on this tour, and that they'd had to scale down some of the theatrics or at least figure out how to do them in a more confined space. And, really, it just seemed like the same show from a month ago, only scaled-down and much looser. It wasn't going to make for much of a new litany, anyway. (If you want, just read the first five paragraphs of this review and omit maybe every third of fourth thing that happened.)

But the second they started playing "So Begins Our Alabee," their second song of the night, I realized that even if the stage show underwhelmed by comparison it wouldn't matter (and not only because most people wouldn't be making such a comparison), because Of Montreal are a fantastic band no matter how much of a spectacle they put on. Their songs are sprawling lyrical odysseys even when they're contained within just a few minutes of glorious, neon pop, and last night the band played their songs with both robotic tightness and funky abandon, the sound was as good and loud as I'd ever heard it at the SoDo, and the crowd was sold-out, raving and rapturous. I don't have much to say about the show that I haven't already said, but it was just a great show, right up to the closing cover of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" (which Barnes had said the band was retiring before this show).

On a side note: A funny thing happened on the way to the theater. A police officer pulled over our cab as we were passing through downtown. We figured our driver had pulled a bad turn or something, but no. Apparently, mere moments before we grabbed a cab at the Shell station on Broadway and Pike, someone robbed the Blockbuster video, and they thought it was us. After a few minutes of checking our IDs, frisking us, and asking us repeatedly whether we'd been in Blockbuster that night, we were told we'd be listed as subjects but not suspects in the police report and that was it, we could go on our way. All of which is only to say: At the very least, HEALTH beats the hell out of being detained by the cops.

Another side note: Making conversation in line for the box office, a stranger mentioned how Paste had dubbed Barnes "the new Bowie," and then went on for a bit about how "all music writing is lazy." God bless you, stranger.

Tonight in Music: Rafael Anton Irisarri with Tom Brosseau

Megan Seling — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 09:00:12 MST

Tonight Rafael Anton Irisarri performs at the Triple Door with Tom Brosseau. Rafael Anton Irisarri is also known as the Sight Below, and Dave Segal profiled the enigmatic musician in last week's paper. An excerpt:

The Sight Below's music conjures thoughts of cold climes, dew, somber walks through frost-covered forests, isolation, ornate cathedrals, and thrumming wombs. He asserts that the Pacific Northwest's "landscape, weather, and overall aesthetic" have profoundly influenced his work.

Glider arose out of the Sight Below's reignited love affair with the guitar, both playing it and listening to music heavily relying on that instrument. As a 14-year-old, he had his mind blown by MBV's "Only Shallow," but his love of minimal-techno savants like Basic Channel, Sleeparchive, and Pan Sonic couldn't be denied, so he "tried to create a marriage of the two." Many people who've heard Glider reference Gas (German producer/Kompakt Records cofounder Wolfgang Voigt), a comparison the Sight Below readily accepts, calling his music "perfect."

You can read the rest of Segal's article here. Then hit up Ghostly International's website to download a free copy of his EP No Place for Us.

Rafael Anton Irisarri will be performing his solo material tonight.

This Week in Music

Eric Grandy — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 15:54:40 MST

Everett True poses 10 Questions for Vivian Girls, and then, of course, proceeds to kind of answer most of them himself:

1. The first pressing of your album earlier this year sold out real fast—do you have tons of friends?

Katy: "Ha ha. We wish!"

Vivian Girls lift their influences from the right direction—the Wipers, Nirvana, the Shangri-Las—but of course sound nothing like... well, the first two. Indeed, Vivian Girls are so naive about their musical heritage—Fizzbombs, Shop Assistants, Talulah Gosh, especially Girls At Our Best!—that they describe their sound as "shoegaze." Um, the Brit shoegazers of the early '90s never jarred. And to call My Bloody Valentine shoegazers is like saying Sonic Youth are a pretty good noise band. True, but missing the point.

Sam McPheeters considers the newness, oldness, and sub-primeness of the New Kids on the Block:

More to the point, what is the current formula for the Middle-Aged Man Band? Who's the Remorseful Guy? Which one is the Gum Disease Guy? Guy Struggling With an Addiction to Online Pornography? Guy Who Lost Money in a Bad Restaurant Investment?

Dave Segal pieces together the puzzle that is Lucky Dragons:

Luke Fischbeck and Sarah Rara move quickly and smartly. The core of the prolific project known as Lucky Dragons, they make music (19 albums and counting) and art (they host a weekly collaborative drawing society called Sumi Ink Club) as if there were no tomorrow; they squeeze the day with their prodigious creative energies. The world—at least the minuscule portion of the populace aware of them—is richer for it. Oh, and Lucky Dragons also run Glaciers of Nice, "a small press and internet community." Feeling lazy yet?

And we help you get shit-faced with the Hold Steady (like you need help):

Plus, there's a ton of Album Reviews, this week's Up & Coming shows, and much, much more.

Re: Unicorns, Kittens, Pitbulls, and Slugs

Eric Grandy — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:31:04 MST

Really, I just missed the way we used to grade things back at Evergreen. We'll be adding more icons as needed, so if you have any suggestions, feel free to let us know. And remember, music criticism isn't the fucking WASL.

On Relistening to the Shins' Third Album at the Gym Last Night, a Year and Nine Months After Giving It a Negative Review in The Stranger

Christopher Frizzelle — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:57:36 MST

The thing that's fucked about lifting weights, a thing that keeps good people out of gyms, is that you aren't doing enough things at once. There is nothing to occupy your mind. You're just supposed to sit there and lift this mass of matter again and again and again and again and again and again and again? And then do that again? And then move to another bench and do that again, with a different thing? Could there be anything more boring? It occurred to me last night at the gym that my happiest few weeks there were the weeks in February 2007 when I was listening to the Shins' third album, Wincing the Night Away, on repeat, not cuz it's a particularly energetic album (it ain't), but cuz I'd agreed to review it for the paper, and listening to an endless loop of it and trying to figure out what there was to say about it gave me something—something other than again and again and again and again and again and again and again—to think about.

I'm notoriously slow on the uptake, new-music-wise, and the newest stuff Grandy has pointed me towards—the Pica Beats (excellent), Vivian Girls (likewise; also Everett True has a longer piece about them in the paper that goes live today)—are not on my iPod owing to some mental block I have about taking the time to synch my iPod to my computer, and so last night at the gym, unable to think of anything better to listen to, I put on Wincing the Night Away. Just to see how it's been doing.

The rest of this writes itself—it was better than I remembered! It was better than I said! In that review I argued that the single "Phantom Limb" was a "weak" and "anemic" and too much like "New Slang" to get excited about, but this winter, as opposed to last year's winter, its anemia seems welcome. In the dark, post-election, layoff-ish anxiety of this winter, "Phantom Limb" seems slow in a pleasant way, like how a diazepam drip is slow in a pleasant way. And "Sea Legs" isn't "tedious" at all, or all that "long," and the janky noise collisions at the end—all the beeps and burps and redirects, which James Mercer once told an interviewer were just leftover scraps of beats and melodies that he let play all on top of each other after he got up to take a leak in the studio or something (don't remember the anecdote exactly)—aren't annoying at all, really, and are a blast of friendly/creative/unexpected air.

The tedium I detected was probably just the tedium of again and again and again and again and again and again and again infecting the way I was listening. A couple weeks ago, an acquaintance mentioned that he'd just listened to Wincing the Night Away for the first time on a road trip. "GREAT road trip album!" he said. He went on and on about it. I thought about what kind of album it would be if you were listening to it on the highway, as stuff outside the car grew bigger and flew by you, as opposed to listening to it while lifting weights in a mirrored basement, and it seemed like an entirely different album.

As for why I gave it two stars back then—two stars!—I, uh, I don't know what to say, except that, though the first two Shins albums are better than the third, giving Wincing the Night Away two stars was (to use Megan Seling's favorite word) retarded. Then again, the whole starring system is retarded. It's a dodge. It tells you so little. To this end, it was startling in a great way to be signing off on pages yesterday and see that Grandy has designed a new scheme for rating albums, a scheme I fully support.

Wincing the Night Away is definitely a slug, though there's an argument to be made for unicorn.

Bye Bye the Pharmacy

Megan Seling — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:53:19 MST

For awhile there, it seemed like all the cool kids were moving to Portland. Now Seattle's losing a few more familiar faces... to New Orleans.

It is with a wee bit of a sadness (but also a good helping of hope and excitement, we’ll add) that we must announce the departure from our lovely city of one of the scene’s (and our) tried and true favorites, THE PHARMACY, as they prepare to move to New Orleans in early 2009.

But the Pharmacy play a show every week! You know, when they're not on tour for three months at a time. They're a local staple! I've seen 'em at Healthy Times Fun Club, I've seen 'em at the Crocodile, I've seen 'em at the Fusion Cafe, and the Vera Project and the Block Party and in the middle of the street in Ballard... I've seen the Pharmacy more than I've seen almost any band, and I've probably only gone to 2% of their local shows. They play. all. the. time.

And why are they going? Because of the beignets. The goddamn beignets! But can you blame them? Beignets are delicious.

Says singer Scottie:

“We’re totally excited about New Orleans. We took some time off there on this tour during Halloween and election night and it was amazing. During the Day of the Dead celebration some of us covered our faces with powdered sugar from the beignets from Café Dumonde. New Orleans has such an amazing musical heritage: Fats Domino, Wild Tchoupitoulas, Randy Newman… It’s always inspiring to be there and this time we decided that we really want to stay!”

I guess Nirvana, Heart, and the Sonic just aren't good enough anymore.

The move isn't until January, so we have them for another month or so. So hooray for that. They're playing the Comet on New Year's Eve with the Cute Lepers and Wallpaper, and then they'll play their last show as Seattle citizens on January 2nd at Healthy Times Fun Club.

Their last Seattle show (you know, until they tour again) will probably go something like this finale at their CD release show earlier this year (which was also at HTFC, appropriately enough):

The Stranger's Music Department Is Looking for Interns

Megan Seling — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:00:19 MST

If you love music, love writing, love writing about music, love taking pictures at rock shows, are pretty decent with a computer, nice, and want to experience what it's like to work for The Stranger, then e-mail your resume and a couple writing samples to megan@thestranger.com.

Enthusiasm is more important than experience, in this case. Your writing samples don't have to have been published anywhere—you can just write up a favorite CD or a recent show if you'd like. And if you fancy yourself a photographer, include a link to some of your work (this is not a required skill, but it is a plus—and link to a Flickr page is fine).

For the internship you'll only be required to come to the office a couple times a week, and we're pretty flexible with days. But we're not flexible with flakiness, so only e-mail if you're reliable and not a jerk.

(This internship is unpaid, but if you're a student we will definitely sign whatever you need us to sign in order to get you school credit for your time served. Also, there's often candy in the office, and you are welcome to eat as much of it as you'd like.)

Rodriguez to Play LA & SF (But Not Seattle)

Dave Segal — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:27:57 MST

Detroit folk singer Rodriguez is playing Los Angeles Nov. 21 and San Francisco Nov. 23. That's great news, as Rodriguez has never played west of his hometown, Detroit.

However! Rodriguez's legendary 1970 LP Cold Fact was reissued by Light in the Attic this year. So, wouldn't it make sense to have Señor Rodriguez play in the city (i.e., Seattle) where the label that so magnanimously rescued his classic opus from oblivion is based? Yes, it would. But it's not happening.

One, two, three: ARGH!

I asked LITA boss Matt Sullivan why there's no Seatown booking. I'll update this post when/if I hear from him. (You can read the press release after the jump.)

UPDATE: Sullivan, who is in LA attending to Rodriguez's transportation needs, responds: "For Seattle, it was too difficult to pull off due to the Thanksgiving holidays. However, in May 2009, we'll be re-releasing Rodriguez's brilliant second album entitled Coming From Reality (originally released in 1971) and hope to bring him to Seattle around the release." Awesome news.

Here's a video of a little-heard Rodriguez track not on Cold Fact, "Climb Up on My Music":

Coldplay Featuring Jay-Z (Or: Jay-Zeezer Is Better Than Anything Jay-Z Could Ever Do With Coldplay)

Megan Seling — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:00:00 MST

Coldplay (featuring Jay-Z) - "Lost +"

Eh, whatever. It's not that interesting to me. When it comes to Jay-Z/indie nerd collaborations, frankly I'm partial to the Jay-Zeezer shit that was all over the internet a couple years back. Like... "Buddy Holly" with "99 Problems"?

YES, PLEASE.

Jay-Zeezer - "99 Problems with Buddy Holly"

I will always find this video hilarious.

Tonight in Music: Of Montreal, Apollo Sunshine

Megan Seling — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:00:33 MST

Of Montreal - "Id Engager"

Of Montreal
In support of their brilliantly bizarre new album, Skeletal Lamping, Of Montreal are touring with the most ornate, out-of-this-world indie-rock show this side of the Flaming Lips (and with better songs, too!). At an early tour stop in NYC, the show included: centaurs, satyrs, people in animal masks, simulated nudes, giant roller skates, an evil pope, a sexy nun, some amorphous gold idols, a saloon brawl, a paramilitary raid, a hanging, a resurrection, and a live motherfucking horse. Expect to see more or less everything except the horse. (Showbox Sodo, 1700 First Ave S, 628-0888. 8 pm, $20, all ages.) ERIC GRANDY

Speaking of Of Montreal, be sure to check out Eric Grandy's interview with the band's frontman Kevin Barnes.

Apollo Sunshine - "Singing To The Earth"

Apollo Sunshine, Dead Confederate, Feral Children
(Chop Suey) Apollo Sunshine's Shall Noise Upon spawns from three multi-instrumentalists whose joyous, expansive songcraft channels the spiritual bliss of George Harrison's All Things Must Pass without obviously emulating that landmark LP's Spectorized Krishna rock. Apollo Sunshine—Jesse Gallagher, Sam Cohen, and Jeremy Black—lean toward psychedelia's whimsical end, but not cloyingly so. And they throw a few change-ups, too: "Brotherhood of Death" chugs headlong, like if Canned Heat joined forces with early Meat Puppets; "The Funky Chamberlain (Who Begot Who)" recalls Lothar and the Hand People's "Machines" (always a good thing), but it's funkier; "Green Green Lawns of Outer Space" sounds like Raymond Scott gone Hawaiian. Casual, free-range brilliance lives. DAVE SEGAL

Also tonight: Studio at Havana, Grynch at Nectar, and all the rest.

Today's Music News: Late Edition

Megan Seling — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:25:52 MST

Foo Fight!: The Foo Fighters will be guest stars on an upcoming episode of Top Chef. It's possible that I'm the only person who thinks this is awesome.

Healing Well: Travis Barker is back in the studio.

That's One Way to Find Inspiration: Michael Jackson has a $350,000 "brain guru," paid to "get his creative juices flowing." He is, of course, not the one footing the bill.

That Stinks: Prince is being sued by a perfume company.

Breakin' the Law: Suge Knight faces drug, battery charges.

Need More Proof That Rivers Is Nuts?

Megan Seling — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:15:23 MST

Well he shows it and says it himself in his new video for the old song "My Brain Is Working Overtime."

There's no embed code, so you have to visit weezer.com to watch it.

The song will appear on his second solo release Alone II: The Home Recordings Of Rivers Cuomo, which will be in stores next Tuesday.

Losing My LCD Soundsystem?

Eric Grandy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 15:39:35 MST

Fact reports on the (maybe question mark maybe not) impending end of LCD Soundsytem. Let the rumor mill roll:

Hot Chip's ginger-mopped Al Doyle, who moonlights as guitarist for LCD Soundsystem, told BBC 6 Music that the latter project is "on permanent hold":

"I don't think James is going to do anything more under that name [LCD Soundsystem]. I think he'd like to do something with the same personnel possibly next year.

Meanwhile, Murphy has given an interview to the NME which apparently contradicts Doyle, and suggests the third LCD Soundsystem album is in its embryonic stages:

"I write all my music in my head, I never demo," claims Murphy, perhaps a little spuriously. "I get to a point where there are too many songs and I have to get them recorded. I recently felt that. I've got eight in my head - that's critical mass."

(ht: Idolator)

I Had to Suffer, Now You Do Too

Megan Seling — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:38:08 MST

Misery loves company. I can't not show you this. Ladies and gentlemen, the worst video, the worst song, my worst experience of 2008:

Brokencyde - "Freaxxx"

My favorite line: "Convertible top, and the wheels spin/I can taste that ice when my grill is in. If you want me baby feel me in/'cause I don't waste my time with lesbians."

Fuuuuuuuuck. It's awful. I'm sorry I put you through that.

Now that it's over, cleanse your pallet here.

Today in Justin Timberlake

Wm. Steven Humphrey — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 14:05:00 MST

R&B poptart Rihanna (Umbrella-ella-ella) has a new video for her song "Rehab" — which would mean absolutely nothing to anyone except for the fact that JUSTIN FREAKING TIMBERLAKE IS ALL UP IN THIS MESS!! The video is all about Rihanna and JT's tortured desert relationship (and here I was thinking Justin was still in a city relationship with that skank Jessica Biel). Anyway, Rihanna dresses like a stripper while Justin dresses like George Michael in the "Faith" video. And while they don't seem very happy with each other, they do a shit-ton of "smoldering." I hope these two crazy kids can get their relationship back together... otherwise, their tiny trailer is going to seem a lot smaller.

CHECK IT OUT! (By the way, am I the only person who thinks Rihanna sounds a little like Mr. Haney from Green Acres?)

Rihanna - New Music - More Music Videos

Looking For a Few Good Interns...

Megan Seling — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:38:26 MST

For the music/web department at The Stranger!

If you love music, love writing, love writing about music, love taking pictures at rock shows, and want to experience what it's like to work for The Stranger, then e-mail your resume and a couple writing samples to megan@thestranger.com.

Enthusiasm is more important than experience, in this case. Your writing samples don't have to have been published anywhere—you can write up a favorite CD or a recent show if you'd like. And if you fancy yourself a photographer, include a link to some of your work (not required, but a plus, and a Flickr page is fine).

“I clear [the dance floor] and fill it with nerds”

Dave Segal — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 13:08:47 MST

In my brief time spent in Southern California, I had the pleasure of frequently witnessing the DJ skills of the Gaslamp Killer. He was one of the few solar-flare bright spots during those mostly musically anemic OC days.

A resident of the highly respected Low End Theory weekly in LA, GLK (William Bensussen) is a hyperkinetic maniac behind the decks, giving eclecticism a renewed sense of vigor, scratching like a mofo, and talking entertaining shit on the mic off the top of his dome. His sets ranged from the filthiest new hiphop to the Flying Lotus school of abstract beat science to obscure vintage funk and psych rock to 10cc’s “The Worst Band in the World” (one of J Dilla’s secret weapons, by the way), and much more.

Anyway, the fine monthly publication LA Record has a cover story on the GLK up on its site, and it’s a good intro to this on-the-rise 26-year-old DJ, who’s played the legendary Andy Votel’s B-Music night in Manchester, England. Keep a close watch on this one.

The Gaslamp Killer

Also Tonight: A Benefit for Jamie Spiess of Husbands, Love Your Wives

Eric Grandy — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 12:38:25 MST

Tonight at the Sunset*: a benefit for Jamie Spiess of Husbands, Love Your Wives featuring the so-solid lineup of the Moondoggies, the Maldives, Final Spins, the Banyans, and Grand Hallway (as well as perhaps some Husbands, Love Your Wives sing alongs to close out the night). All proceeds will go towards helping Spiess cover medical costs stemming from a recent hospitalization for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Suggested donation is $8.

Spiess writes:

im just trying to spread the word that depression is a serious issue in this town, and people need to treat it before they end up where i did. it was a terrible place, and there are rough times ahead for sure.

make sure that you mention what i am mostly in need of hugs and good friends around tonight.

you could also mention that i am releasing (packaging right now)
a song-more story telling song swap that i have been doing with damien jurado while he has been in europe and unable to be with me. also, a song joe from the final spins wrote a song for me in the hospital and that will be on there, as well of two of my songs dealing with this story to close.

so the little ep is nameless of yet
but tracks are
1. from her hospital bed- from jamie to damien
2. tell me you'll go on-from damien to jamie
3. another sunny day-from joe to jamie
4. coffenberry lake-by jamie spiess
5. i love my ghost- song by jamie spiess

its a story tale of friends thru the hardest time and these songs will never go outside of these few cds. im giving them for free or for donations just to thank people.

* I nearly cried with joy when I opened the Sunset's webpage and it didn't resize my fucking browser anymore! Welcome to the 21st, Sunset! Now, if we could just get Spiess to do something about that damn comma in her band name...

Tonight in Music: O'Death, In Flames

Megan Seling — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:20:36 MST

O'Death - "Down To Rest"

O'Death, Hillstomp, Gravelroad
(High Dive) O'Death hail from the Brooklyn borough of New York City, but they sound more like they reside in a rural shack in the Appalachians, where presumably they would fund their intentionally raw recordings by selling handmade folk crafts and moonshine. A few elements serve to dislocate this band from Brooklyn to Bumfuck—fiddle, banjo, clangorous drums that sound like they could only have been played that loud in the middle of nowhere—but nothing transports the band so much as lead singer Greg Jamie's slightly feral, possibly moonshine-blind yelps. O'Death tag themselves as "gothic/country/punk" on that most ubiquitous of social networking sites, and indeed, what most separates them from similar sets of city slickers with country affectations is a dark, deranged vibe so pronounced as to border on burlesque. ERIC GRANDY

In Flames - "Moonsheild" (live)

In Flames, Gojira
(Showbox Sodo) During the early '90s, in Gothenburg, Sweden, In Flames (along with At the Gates and Dark Tranquility) decided to put some chocolate in their peanut butter and add melody to death metal. It was a great idea to mix brutal drumming, scalding riffs, and growls with soaring melodies. At least it was, like, 20 years ago. Nowadays, the genre's a dead horse that's been processed into something closer to emo hardcore than death metal. So that sucks. But In Flames still have a couple bushels of old songs that defined the genre and will inspire some mighty whipping of dreads. The second they start playing "Moonshield," it won't matter how good melodic death metal is now, because at one point it was the best. SHANE MEHLING

The rest of today's music listings can be found in our online calendar. Have at 'em!

Obama and Hip-Hop

Jen Graves — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 10:12:04 MST

Will hip-hop have to change it up now?

If It’s Too Cloud, You’re Too Boring: The Cumulus Festival

Dave Segal — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:23:32 MST

The Luna Moth: post-rockin' in the free world.

Seattle’s post-rock community—you know who you are, I think—will get its own festival Jan. 23-25, 2009. Organized by the Luna Moth bassist Levi Fuller, Mark Schlipper, and Kenny Day, Cumulus Festival will showcase some of the Northwest’s most adventurous rock groups at Chop Suey (Jan. 23; Earth will be headlining), King Cobra (Jan. 24), and Vera Project (Jan. 25).

The lineup includes the following bands:

Beast, Please Be Still
Bronze Fawn
Corespondents
Deelay Ceelay
Earth
The Friendly Skies
Hypatia Lake
Joy Wants Eternity
The Luna Moth
Perish the Island
Snowman Plan
This Is a Process of a Still Life
Unlearn
Waves & Radiation
You.May.Die.in.the.Desert

Check Cumulus’ website for more information, as it trickles in.