The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper

So I've Got This Baby Bird...

Brendan Kiley — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:08:54 -0700

I've got a fledgling in my kitchen. Apparently, it fell out of its nest. A determined neighbor had rescued it from the ground a block away, where it was hopping around in a garden—but she declared she couldn't keep it because she has cats.

And now it's on my kitchen counter.

I called the folks at PAWS, who are checking to see whether they can take it under their sheltering wings. In the meantime... any advice?

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

I'm Canceling Netflix and Putting the Mayoral "Read and Greet" Video on a Loop

Goldy — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 17:10:23 -0700

The Seattle Channel has posted the full video of Monday's mayoral "read and greet" at the downtown Seattle Public Library. So if you're curious about Peter Steinbrueck's blackvoice performance, skip ahead to the 33:53 mark. Or, if like me, you just enjoy being lulled to sleep at night by the melodious voices of mayoral candidates reading from their favorite books, just watch the whole thing.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Ex-Stranger Danger: Outtakes From the Sean Nelson Interview

Dave Segal — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:56:17 -0700

Much of the interview I conducted with Sean Nelson for this week's feature ended up unused. Here are some highlights from the outtakes. It's goddamn long. Thanks for reading.

The Stranger: Is “Kicking Me out of the Band” [the final song of Nelson's solo debut, Make Good Choices] an invented story or is that based in experience?
Sean Nelson: That’s totally invented. I was in London in the 2000s and I read a huge feature in the NME. The British music press is obviously a hyperbole factory. That’s something I really enjoy. But it seemed ridiculous. It was at a time when I still had my ear to the ground and gave a shit about contemporary pop music—which I’m feeling less and less now. In the article, they would refer to the band’s audience as ‘This Band Generation. We’ve all grown up with these songs.’ I had heard the name of the band twice, but in England they were the 10,000th iteration of the Beatles. I thought it was hilarious. It struck me that there are only a couple of band narratives, and they can be applied to a whole lot of bands. I find it humorous when bands that have two albums get described as legacy acts. The drama in the band when one of the two guys develops a drug problem and the one friend is not at all cool with it. But rather than going off and licking his wounds, the drug addict guy becomes defiant—which is a thing I have seen. And in the last bit of the song where the guy’s reeling off names of all these musicians who were notorious drug addicts and amazing songwriters and recording artists as a way of saying, ‘Don’t tell me not to do drugs. Keith Richards did drugs. Are you saying I’m not as good as Keith Richards?’ And almost certainly, you’re not as good as Keith Richards. I really like that thing that people with a serious problem do before they’re ready to deal with the problem, which is treat it like it’s an amazing gift that they have.

Where did the dialog from the beginning of “The World Owes Me a Living” originate?
That is an argument between two voices in one head. It’s like that Leonard Cohen song, ‘Bird on a Wire’: ‘You must not ask for so much/Why don’t you ask for more?’ That lives so powerfully in me. I guess less so now, as I get older. I hope I’ve resolved a lot of those feelings. It’s like, ‘No one cares about me. Why does no one care about me?’ The answer comes, ‘You don’t deserve to be cared about. You’re not worth it.’ It’s a dramatization of bipolar disorder in a major way. Because I didn’t set out to do that I didn’t feel weird about it. I like that song, and again, it’s as accurate a representation of the things in my inner life as I have ever done. I’m not at all proud to have those things, but they do occur. And then they resolve into who you actually are. It’s like id and superego.

Kelly O

You’ve worked as both a critic and as a musician. Do you think that the skills of the former come to bear on the latter for you? Has it been a hindrance to have that critical mindset when you go to make music? Does that hamstring you sometimes?
It used to, in a broader, cultural way, I think. There used to be much bigger divide between writing about music and writing music. The thing that has happened in the last 10 years is that everybody is constantly airing their opinions about everything, in public. As a consequence, there’s not a stigma attached to it among musicians—or less so than there was. I was privy to a lot of conversations among musicians where they would say, ‘Why would you even write a review of something? It’s so meaningless and parasitic and secondary.’ Sometimes I would keep my mouth shut. Sometimes I would say, I don’t see a huge difference between writing about music and writing music because they both are responses to music. If you love music, you want to say something to it.

If you’re fortunate enough to say it with music in a way that anyone wants to hear, you’re doing great. If you don’t have that luck or that luxury… I’ve always felt it comes from the same place, among the people whom I like and respect.

The other consequence of it is that I have massively less interest in writing about music, because everybody’s doing it. So it doesn’t feel like there’s as much to contribute. I don’t know if it’s bad, necessarily—although I do think it’s bad. You used to have to be selected by editors or publishers or even readers to be worth reading or taken seriously. Now that part of the equation is gone. Everybody just says everything they’re thinking about every glass of water. I feel good that I have less of an impulse to be constantly broadcasting my feelings about things. I do sort of miss it sometimes. I just wrote my first review in a long time for that new Talkhouse publication Michael Azerrad’s doing. It’s musicians writing about musicians. Which never would’ve flown 10 years ago. He never could’ve gotten people to do that. it was a 1200-word thing about the new Eleanor Friedberger album. It took me a long time to write it. I used to be able to pump out 1200 words before lunch without too much difficulty. It didn’t mean I didn’t take it seriously; I just had that muscle pretty well-oiled.

Now, I think, ‘Is this something I feel like I could say to this person’s face?’ In one way, it’s an interesting ethical question. In another way, it should have nothing to do with writing criticism. But with me it does. Something crossed over in me at a certain point where I began to think of myself… it was more important for me to do the primary source material than the secondary. I think Facebook and Twitter have more to do with that than getting older. The modicum of success I had in music was tainted by my work as a critic in some ways—especially around here. Eventually though I realized I just didn’t care as much. I certainly didn’t care about keeping up with music. But as it applies to the hypercritical impulse in assessing your own music? It probably did hamper… it was partly why this record took a long time to do. But it’s not because I was thinking, ‘What would a critic say?’ I didn’t necessarily believe critics would say anything. I didn’t have a reason to believe it would be fully in the conversation. I’ll be interested to see if it does become part of the conversation.

I think you’re underestimating yourself.
That’s sort of my strategy. [smiles] I don’t mean it in a cavalier way. Underestimating my skill or talent, that’s between me and my confessor. [laughs] But underestimating my value in the marketplace of music, whatever it is now, I have a leg up because I have a bit of a body of work and an interesting history in some ways. I have a hard time imagining myself being fashionable with 19 year olds—or, certainly, 12 year olds. It’s been nice. I’ve consciously stopped reading reviews about 10 years ago. Well, no, I read the Pitchfork review of the last Harvey Danger album and then that was it. I didn’t read any of the reviews for my movies, never self-Googled, anything like that. for a long time I felt a lot better. Not because they were all bad but because when they were good they were not satisfying and when they were bad they were infuriating. Sometimes when they were good they were bad.

With Make Good Choices, it’s me and the guy [Jeff Rosenstock] who put the record out. The label [Really Records] is a one-man operation. So I think not reading the reviews that the publicist sends, it’s more will than I have to exert. I am really curious. So far everything I’ve read has been not just friendly … It so happens that the early-adopting critics were huge Harvey Danger fans. They’re writing meaningful criticism about it. a lot of it’s praise—and that’s nice, I’m not going to deny it—but they’re actually taking it seriously. There was a long time where no matter what I did, I could be absolutely certain that the first paragraph would be a snide dismissal of ‘Flagpole Sitta’ with a little twist at the end of ‘But I like it okay.’ No one could just admit that they liked it or say they hated it. It was always couched in dismissal. I happened to be hypersensitive to that. Which is a stupid thing to be, but I am nonetheless.

Did the gold record [for Harvey Danger's debut album, Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?] end up being more of an albatross than an asset, ultimately?
In the short term, maybe. The second Harvey Danger album [King James Version], forget about how much money the label spent… it sold like 25,000 copies or something. Which, in the mind of the band that made the first record, was more people than we would’ve ever imagined reaching. We probably never would’ve reached all those people had we not had the huge success with the first record. It’s a frame around the band, forever. And the band had a lot more material. Obviously, you always feel like your stuff is more interesting than you get credit for. I know every band feels that way.

Nowadays, there is zero stigma attached to success in this culture, as far as I can tell. There is no such thing as selling out. There is no such thing as being too interested in money. And there’s no such thing as being a major-label band anymore, in that way. I felt like a lot of the shit we got was a reflexive reaction to the cultural archetype that we were stepping into—being a small band that signs to a major and goes for the gold. Had anyone taken a closer look at us, it would’ve been clear that, even if we wanted to do that, we did not have the tools. [laughs] We weren’t capable of that kind of craftiness. We were lucky to get as far as we did. But we really cared about what we made, more than I could ever say. We really gave a shit. To be dismissed that way, for me, it was a particular kind of agony. But the other side of it, the thing that’s not an albatross at all, is now it’s 15 years later and I’m sure people my age have that same kind of tongue-in-cheek, casual, wrist-flip dismissal reflex. People who are younger, it’s just not part of their world. What it means is that they’re familiar with that song. A staggering number love that song and in another way grew up with it.

Are you living comfortably off the royalties from “Flagpole Sitta” and Where Have All the Merrymakers Gone?
No. I make a small amount of money every four months off of royalties. It’s not enough live on. But it allows me not to have a day job because I can cobble together a living from that plus three or four other things. Which is a huge blessing. Although it also helps you go crazy from time to time.

You should rejoin The Stranger.
I would, if there were some jobs around. Maybe. I loved working at The Stranger. The last job I had at The Stranger was overseeing the transition from the intentionally bad website to the website as it exists now. I was the editor of Slog. It felt like a performance every week. Every meeting was like a rehearsal. I loved that. There’s an element to the job now that’s basically looking in the mirror all day. It’s inane. I miss the days when you’d write something really incendiary and you’d get two letters, one of which would get published—part of it. The viciousness of anonymous comments is repugnant.

Bands have to be so solicitous of everybody all the time now. I was always for breaking down the barriers, being personable, and not acting like a rock-star asshole. To whatever degree my position was mystify-able, I did my best to demystify it to anybody who cared. But now you basically have to put your social security number on every T-shirt you sell. The percentage of conversations I’ve been a part of and overheard about how do you make a living, how much did your record cost to make, how much did you get paid tonight, how much money is in your wallet? I don’t come from a place where you ask people those questions. It’s not interesting. Can’t we talk about the fucking songs for a minute? Also, everybody talks in superlatives, constantly. There are no degrees of meaning. Everything is the best or the worst.

You’re turning 40 tomorrow, if my research is correct. How do you feel about your achievements at this milestone marker? You seem to be on an upward swing.
Things are good. The label’s great, I’m in a great relationship, I’m making music with my wife—she plays in my band, I sing with her in her band. We have a dog. I’m getting a steady trickle of movie jobs. This year I’ve been in two movies. My scenes have been with three Oscar nominees and four reasonably huge movie stars. Not that that’s the measure of quality, but it feels legitimate. One movie is Megan Griffiths’s Lucky Them, which has Toni Collette and Thomas Haden Church, whom I did my scenes with. Johnny Depp is in it, apparently. Two or three days ago I did a scene in Lynn Shelton’s new movie, which is with Keira Knightley and Chloë Moretz, who are half my age and 10 times the pro I am. It’s nice to be able to work in both fields, because they’re both important to me. I have another record’s worth of songs that I think will take less than nine years to make. Also, the band that Shenandoah [Davis] helped me assemble to support this record is feeling really good. We’ve only played two shows and I wanted to wait till we played a couple shows before I committed to doing a tour. But they’re really good. It’s her and these three guys from a band called Jenny Invert. They moved here from New Mexico a few years ago. They have their own shorthand for communicating with each other and they’re all super-good players and nice guys. Young—not kids, but young. And eager to be playing music that at least has some audience.

A discussion of "More Good News From the Front":
That’s the real aberration. I really like that because there’s not much there. There aren’t more than two-and-a-half chords. All the motion comes from the bass. But I like the words. They’re heavily inspired by My Dinner With Andre. There’s a little sample of a saxophone in there that felt like an absurd choice, but exactly the right choice. That came about because I had been over to Steve Fisk’s house and he played me that Beakers record [Four Steps Toward a Cultural Revolution] he was remastering. He said, ‘Check out this sax,’ and a week later I was with Walla and thought ‘Eureka,’ we gotta use that. [From “Red Towel”] The Beakers were Seattle’s version of Gang of Four.

I love that phase of Seattle, before there was any interest or hope. The bands that stuck it out at that time in Seattle music tend to be the ones I love, more than subsequent ones in some ways. Like the Blackouts. Bill Rieflin plays in the Robyn Hitchcock band; he was the drummer in the Blackouts. They were great. If they were a new band, they’d sound very contemporary. And very tough and arch in a way that a lot of bands today don’t seem to manage, even though they try.

The guy from the Beakers, when Harvey Danger first started playing shows, he had a band called the Gardenias. They were hilarious. We played a ton of shows with them. I always thought he was the coolest, least likely guy to be in a band. I have this little treasure chest of local heroes. These musicians made their own way; there was no precedent for what they were doing. Robyn’s a brilliant example of that. he’s been putting out records for 35 years.

I was on Steve Jones’s radio show with Robyn Hitchock and his band. It was a Sex Pistol and a Soft Boy together, which never would’ve happened in London in 1977. They never would’ve been in the same place. We got together and played ‘See Emily Play’ by Pink Floyd. So it was three generations of British weirdos coming together in a corporate radio station in the mid 2000s—and I got to be there. I love being a witness to stuff like that. that’s the asterisk I get to carry around everywhere I go. It allows me to get backstage at a lot of shows. It’s opened a lot of doors.

The Beatles or the Stones?
[No hesitation] The Beatles. I don’t even see how that’s a question. I like the Stones, but the Beatles are Shakespeare.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Gallup Says 70 Percent of Americans Are "Emotionally Disconnected" at Work

Ansel Herz — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:55:44 -0700

Seattle may have low unemployment, but across the country, those with jobs don't really enjoy their work, according to a new Gallup poll. (There's plenty of knee-slapping laughter and energy here at The Stranger, so this doesn't seem to be an issue here, I'm happy to report.)

Only 30 percent of workers "were engaged, or involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to their workplace," which incidentally is the highest figure Gallup's ever recorded in its annual State of the Workforce survey. Not surprisingly, the largest percentages of dissatisfied workers are employed in low-paying service sector jobs, and that's the fastest growing job segment in the nation. But hey, a shitty job you hate is better than no job, right?

Right?

That's the argument that cuddly NPR economics reporter Adam Davidson made about sweatshop workers after the Bangladesh factory collapse in the New York Times. And who am I to argue with Adam Davidson.

A quote from Marx on the alienation of the worker would seem appropriate here, but I don't want to step on Mudede's toes. Here's French anarchist Proudhon instead:

The problem before the working classes then is not to conquer but to overcome at the same time power and monopoly, which means creating, out of the people’s guts and labour’s profundity, a greater authority, a more powerful fact, that surrounds and subjugates capital and the state.

James Gandolfini

Paul Constant — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:43:17 -0700

Deadline is reporting (and Variety is corroborating) that the Sopranos star has died. He was 51.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Publishers Will Subtly Alter the Text of E-Books So You Can't Pirate Them

Paul Constant — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:19:44 -0700

This sounds like the worst DRM scam yet:

German researchers have created a new DRM feature that changes the text and punctuation of an e-book ever so slightly. Called SiDiM, which Google translates to “secure documents by individual marking,” the changes are unique to each e-book sold. These alterations serve as a digital watermark that can be used to track books that have had any other DRM layers stripped out of them before being shared online. The researchers are hoping the new DRM feature will curb digital piracy by simply making consumers paranoid that they’ll be caught if they share an e-book illicitly.

Moby Lives has more reactions to this scheme. As Nick Harkaway points out in the post, treating your customers like criminals is a very bad idea.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

SL Letter of the Day: Cousin Couple

Dan Savage — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:15:46 -0700

Dan Savage is on a book tour for his new book American Savage: Insights, Slights, and Fights on Faith, Sex, Love, and Politics. Please enjoy this Savage Love letter from the archives. This letter was originally published November 29, 2007:

I am a young female currently in a relationship and I want to be honest with my boyfriend. A few years before I met my boyfriend, I met someone in my family. I guess he would be my second cousin. His mother is my father's first cousin. Anyway, we met one Christmas at a family get-together and ended up having sex. Would it be dishonest not to tell my current or any future lovers this detail about my sex life?

One Shameful Secret

My response after the jump...

You're not going to make the cut for the U.S. Incest Olympic Team doing your father's cousin's son, OSS. But don't take my word for it.

"They are second cousins," says K. C. "And second cousins can marry in every state of the U.S." K. C. is one of the editors of CousinCouples.com, a website that aims to destigmatize cousin couples whenever and wherever they're getting their three-headed-baby freak on. At CousinCouples.com you'll learn that your kind can have single-headed babies like everyone else—and that first cousins can marry in 26 states, Mexico, Canada, and all of Europe. Seeing as first-cousin marriage is largely legal and second-cousin marriage is barely taboo, OSS, having a one-night stand with a second cousin isn't anything to be ashamed of.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Join the "Rally to Proclaim Rodney Tom a Dick," 6 PM Tonight in Kirkland

Goldy — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:14:34 -0700

Okay, that's not really what the organizers are calling it. But hundreds of local voters and members of the Our Economic Future Coalition will be rallying tonight at Kirkland's Heritage Park to demand that Republican Senators Rodney Tom and Andy Hill pass a budget that prioritizes education and critical services over protecting tax loopholes for special interests.

Heritage Park was chosen because it is the dividing line between Tom and Hill's districts. As the Senate Majority Leader and chief budget writer respectively, Tom and Hill have the power to make or break a humane budget.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Microsoft's Grand Plan Comes to Fruition

The Stranger Testing Department — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:07:26 -0700

The XBone will be somewhat freer than initially advertised. MS either acquiesced to customer pressure by easing up on harsh DRM policies—or played us all for suckers in a short con designed to get their new machine more press than Sony got for the PS4. We'll play along for now.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Re: Andrew W.K. Responds to Doubts, Begins 24-Hour Drumming Record Attempt

Trent Moorman — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 16:00:10 -0700

(This is starting now, in New York. View – HERE?) Last night, Andrew W.K. responded to Line Out doubts as per this world record attempt to drum for 24-hours straight. He also clarified the rules for peeing, and that it’s actually him. Via Twitter he said:

Thank you for helping spread the word about my #drumathon with @OMusicAwards! Your words were motivating! PARTY HARD! Oh, also, based on the traditional world record guidelines, you get a 5 minute bathroom break / food break every hour. PARTY!!!

It was 2 AM PST. I wished him luck, and asked him if he should be getting some sleep. I would think you gotta be well rested if you’re going to drum for 24 straight hours. His response:

THANK YOU, TRENT!!! As part of my training, I'm staying up for 48 hours in anticipation!!! I haven't slept since Sunday night!

Also announced: Besides ?uestlove, Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Marky Ramone, Nick Jonas, Zac Hanson, and Liberty DeVitto (former drummer for Billy Joel) will join Andrew W.K. as he attempts to set a 24-hour drumming world record at Oakley’s flagship store in New York.

GOOD LUCK ANDREW W.K. I HOPE YOU DRUM FOR 24 HOURS STRAIGHT!

.@TrentMoorman doesn't think I can do the 24 hour @OmusicAwards drum challenge, and that I'm the fake Andrew W.K.!!! http://t.co/5uxcDmDRim
— ANDREW WK (@AndrewWK) June 19, 2013

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Speight Jenkins Steps Down as Director of Seattle Opera, Aidan Lang Steps Up

Brendan Kiley — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:57:56 -0700

I've been hearing for a couple of years now that the retirement of Speight Jenkins, the (mostly) beloved and longtime leader of Seattle Opera was "around the corner."

Today, that retirement has finally been announced, as well as Jenkins's replacement Aidan Lang, who was found after a hush-hush, two-year search process:

Aidan Lang, respected in the opera community for positions of leadership with New Zealand Opera, Glyndebourne Opera Festival, the Buxton Festival and Opera Zuid, has been named Seattle Opera’s third General Director effective September 1, 2014. Lang succeeds Speight Jenkins, who has led the company for more than three decades. Founded in 1963, Seattle Opera celebrates its 50th Anniversary beginning with the August 2013 production of Wagner’s Ring and culminating with the 2014 International Wagner Competition and 50th Anniversary Concert and Speight Celebration in August 2014.

This announcement marks a moment in Seattle's broader culture as well. Over the past six years or so, Seattle's other two classic performing-arts organizations (the ballet and the symphony) have transitioned away from longtime leaders (Kent Stowell/Francia Russell and Gerard Schwarz) who were intensely focused on institution-building, establishing a foothold for their medium in the city's consciousness, and congealing a reliable audience and donor cohort.

The ballet replaced Stowell/Russell with Peter Boal and the symphony replaced Schwarz with Ludovic Merlot, both exciting choices for audiences in Seattle (and beyond) who were more than ready to see those sometimes staid-seeming institutions push forward into a more daring and engaged phase of their aesthetic development.

Will the 57 year-old Lang inspire the same excitement among opera geeks? Either way, the transition seems to have been meticulously choreographed.

Some of Lang bona fides from Seattle Opera's announcement are below the jump. And you can follow him on Twitter. His most recent tweet: "Speighters gonna Speight."*

Lang has served as General Director of New Zealand Opera since 2006 with a goal of ensuring that every production is theatrically stimulating and musically ambitious. Working collaboratively is a top priority for Lang, and during his tenure New Zealand Opera implemented a series of collaborations with such companies as Glyndebourne, Opera North, and Welsh National Opera, bringing exciting productions from directors Nikolaus Lehnhoff (Jenůfa), Tim Albery (Macbeth), and Christopher Alden (Turandot) to New Zealand. In addition to bringing productions in, Lang made it a priority to develop the capacity to build productions in the country, establishing New Zealand’s first-ever opera production workshop. This achievement has resulted in international co-productions with Scottish Opera (L’italiana in Algeri), Victorian Opera (Serse), and this year’s Der Fliegende Holländer with Opera Queensland in Australia.

Among other productions, he directed the first Brazilian production of Wagner’s Ring at the historic Teatro Amazonas in Manaus. Other noted productions include Le Comte Ory (Welsh National Opera), Monteverdi’s Il ritorno d’Ulisse in patria (Lisbon), The Turn of the Screw (Salzburg) and the British premieres of The Magic Fountain by Frederick Delius (Scottish Opera) and Cornet Christoph Rolke’s Song of Love and Death by Siegfried Matthus (Glyndebourne). As Artistic Director of the Buxton Festival, Lang expanded the Festival to include Baroque and contemporary music, tripled its audience attendance, and delivered significant operating surpluses in each year.

* Not actually his most recent tweet. In fact, not one of his tweet at all. It was something Dominic said after we got the retirement announcement.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

A Location Is Set for Le Caviste, Which Will Probably Be the Best Wine Bar Ever

Bethany Jean Clement — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:46:52 -0700

David Butler—whose background includes Campagne, Cremant, and Le Gourmand, a trifecta of marvelousness—is opening a French wine bar downtown called Le Caviste. From a review I wrote of Le Gourmand:

The sommelier at Le Gourmand, David Butler, regales the curious with thrilling (really) details about soil in France, tells sly little jokes, whispers descriptions like poetry—his expertise might fairly be described as hypnotizing. For added entertainment, you can watch him assess other tables, watch him see how his overtures go, watch him leave the boring people to each boring other. When Le Gourmand closes, he intends to open a wine bar, which will be approximately the best wine bar ever.

Now, finally, the lease has been signed for 1919 Seventh Avenue downtown—it's around the corner from Barolo, facing the new federal courthouse. Butler expects a fall opening for Le Caviste. Now we must just wait.

(Speaking of sommeliers, I watched a new documentary about them, reviewed over here. David Butler is the one mentioned there who likened a wine to "flinty soil... the strike of a match, far away." He looked far into the distance as he said it, catapulting the mind through space and time. The wine was excellent.)

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

New Local Video: wimps "Nap"

Kelly O — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:40:49 -0700

Introducing... Bagface! Man, I love this song... Go wimps, go!

Directed and edited Katarina Countiss.

wimps play the Comet Tavern with Indian Wars, Fuzzy Cloaks, and So Pitted next Friday, June 28th.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Happy Birthday Macklemore Martial Arts Paper Doll Fantasy Kit™

Derek Erdman — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:30:12 -0700

Ask your grandma, can I have her throwing stars?

Read all about it over on Line Out.

Currently Hanging: Adream de Valdivia's Reproducible Death Shroud

Nathaniel Deines — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:14:08 -0700

Courtesy the artist
Father's Funerary Mantle, 54 by 76 inches, by Adream de Valdivia, at Bherd Studios.

Seattle artist Adream de Valdivia—originally from Tri-Cities—made this mantle, traditionally used to wrap the dead, to honor his father and also other family members lost to cartel violence in Mexico. The symbol-heavy images appear to be applied mechanically, as if commercially printed. Rather than detracting from the work, its easy reproducibility acts as a grim promise of the continuing output of the War on Drugs.

The piece is at Bherd Studios, part of the group show 2nd Amendment: A Visual Dialogue. A full review will appear in next week's paper.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Banks Be Banks

Charles Mudede — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:13:14 -0700

Same as it ever was...

New study confirms allegations made by state prosecutors that some of the nation’s biggest banks are violating the terms of the $25 billion national mortgage settlement, the landmark agreement to clean up shoddy foreclosure practices.

The court-appointed monitor of the settlement on Wednesday issued a report saying Citigroup, Bank of America, Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase have dragged their feet in processing homeowners’ requests for lower monthly loan payments.

Same as it ever was...

The most common problem found among the servicers, in particular at Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo, was failure to notify homeowners of any missing documents in their modification requests within five days of receipt, according to the settlement monitor, Joseph A. Smith Jr. Citigroup and Bank of America were also cited for providing inaccurate information in letters they must send to borrowers before beginning a foreclosure.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

We Love the Bees Event

Gillian Anderson — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:03:59 -0700

In honor of Pollinator Week, Lucid Lounge is hosting a We Love the Bees event tonight. University of Washington biology lecturer Evan Sugden, who specializes in the ecology, evolution, and systematics of bees, will give a talk about creating a healthy environment for bees. Then there will be a showing of the new film Vanishing of the Bees (narrated by Ellen Page!). They are even creating a special Queen Bee cocktail, and the proceeds for the rest of the summer will go to local bee organizations. This looks like an interesting event!

Lucid Lounge, 5241 University Way NE, 7 pm, free, 21+.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Um, The Stranger Has Not Made Its Mayoral Endorsement

Dominic Holden — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:02:30 -0700

This afternoon in the Seattle Times, Emily Heffter has a piece that is—well—wrong. It concludes that an article published today in The Stranger terrorizing all nine mayoral candidates somehow revealed our newspaper intends to endorse Mayor Mike McGinn. For the record, The Stranger is 100 percent undecided in the mayor's race right now.

But Heffter—who I've lauded as a good reporter in the past—contends The Stranger showed its hand because we have "praise" for McGinn while we "heap criticism" on Murray. "Any remaining doubt about who The Stranger newspaper would back in this year’s crowded mayor’s race is probably settled," Heffter writes. Again, this isn't true.

First, we ribbed everyone. Everyone. We said Peter Steinbrueck's vision for Seattle was the "mid-1970s," for Christ's sake. We said Joey Gray's best shot as winning was "massive voter fraud" and that Bruce Harrell will probably "die in Bellevue." We also had a knock on McGinn, based on his substantive policy failures (light rail, police accountability, the arena); that is, we called out his failure to fulfill the tenets of his campaign and obligations of his job. That's a big knock. We also said his weakness is "hot wings." For Murray, we noted his accomplishments in Olympia, but our criticisms were arguably more trivial. Such as his recent comment about this being "the ugliest campaign Seattle has ever seen." You could say we were harsher on Murray or harsher on McGinn. (We were trying to be equal-opportunity dicks!) And for the record, we've also been blistering about McGinn's handling of the police department for the last three years. We'll be sitting down with mayoral candidates next week and issuing our endorsements on July 17. Until then, reading too much into the "unhelpful guide" to the mayor's race we published today is a mistake.

So I'll be as straight with you as a faggot can be: The Stranger could endorse any candidate in the race (okay, not Joey Gray). But seriously: It's up for grabs. Anyone who tells you differently has a dog in the fight. And the Seattle Times has a dog in the fight. That paper has been campaigning against Mike McGinn for four years straight.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Baked Alaska

Bethany Jean Clement — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 15:00:49 -0700

Oh my god, we are so screwed. (Also today in climate change: Dan Savage's amazing piece comparing climate change deniers to... well, just go read it.)

Thanks, Greg.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Macklemore Martial Arts Paper Doll Fantasy Kit™

Derek Erdman — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:55:01 -0700

It's Macklemore's birthday! Happy birthday, Macklemore! This year, you're the recipient of a gift, in the form of this Macklemore Martial Arts Paper Doll Fantasy Kit™.

Download a hi-res version here.

What can you do with the Macklemore Martial Arts Paper Doll Fantasy Kit™? A lot of things, I suppose. Roundhouse kicks to jealous local rappers? Perhaps. Sweep the leg of opportunist managers looking for a percentage? Maybe. Twin Dragons in Search of Pearls to the groin of bootleg t-shirt merchants? Absolutely!

Of course, the best gift is this year is the Kidz Bop version of "Thrift Shop." DUH.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Stream Master Musicians of Bukkake’s Grand New LP, Far West

Dave Segal — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:43:30 -0700

Important Records; art by Simon Fowler

Shapeshifting Seattle ethnodelic troupe Master Musicians of Bukkake released their Far West album yesterday on Important Records. The Quietus has a full stream of the group's fifth studio album here.

After going deeply into the Far East with their Totem trilogy, 2012 Stranger music Genius contenders MMOB majestically return to their natural domain, with powerful results. I wrote about the LP's first two songs—"White Mountain Return" and "Gnomi"—in previous Line Out posts; the rest of Far West conjures a kind of otherworldly yet pastoral vibe, an ultravivid, ritualistic folkadelia that makes your life seem utterly momentous while it's gently roaring through your headspace. This stuff sounds at once forbiddingly Medieval and contemporary—a real deity-tickling triumph.

Album credits after the jump.

Far West tracklising:
1. ‘White Mountain Return’
2. ‘γη-νομος : GNOMI’
3. ‘Arche’
4. ‘Cave Of Light – The Prima Materia’
5. ‘You Are A Dream Like Your Dreamer – The Dark Peace’
6. ‘Circular Ruins’

Note: lyrics and music for “Circular Ruins” based on the Jorge Louis Borges story of the same title.

MASTER MUSICIANS OF BUKKAKE is:
David Abramson: percussion, drums, tef, shaman shakers, green fog
B.R.A.D: percussion, vocals, candles, sights unseen
Don McGreevy: percussion, drums, 12 string electric and acoustic guitar, mellotron, bass, brass arrangements
Randall Dunn: korg analog synths, mellotron, divining rod, water seeking foolishness
Milky: electric and acoustic guitar, synths, vocals, mossy fuzz
Timm Mason: electric guitar, serge modular synth, electric bass, insects

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

3 From The Town: Grayskul, Fleeta Partee, and Steezie Nasa

Larry Mizell, Jr. — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:30:15 -0700

In which you check three flavors of Seattle rap in one post—lyrical, loving, gangsta—call it Neapolitan. Dive in.

It's nice to know that despite all the stuff Onry Ozzborn and JFK have going on (solo careers, plus the groups Dark Time Sunshine and Th3rdz), that they haven't forgotten about Grayskul. Michael and Jeffrey are due to release Zenith, their first work in five years, this fall on Fake Four.

The words "this is hiphop" typically evoke "this is Sparta"—a war-cry, a line in the sand: this is hiphop, and that is not. That kind of tired true-school stance is, in this man's opinon, myopic, fearful of change, and still going strong after all these years. However! Let it be known that Fleeta Partee's "This Is Hiphop" (produced by Jake One) is not that: no, this song is a celebration, an affirmation.

Moor Gang's Steezie Nasa, and his co-d D Valley, want you to know that they are what is known as "about that life"; that life being one that heavily involves uns, narcotics and large quantities of cash. Here they're caught on camera in the midst of nefarious activites in this clip for the RaisedByyWolves-produced "Air Em Out", which I believe is his first new music since last year's "Art Of War".

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Amazon Is Getting Into the Spy Game

Paul Constant — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:10:44 -0700

Quartz has the exclusive:

You can now add “spymaster” to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’s various titles. On Friday June 14, a US Government Accountability Office (GAO) report elaborated on previous reports that Amazon had won a $600 million contract to build a “private cloud” for the CIA...[on their employment site,] Amazon is looking for engineers who already have a “Top Secret / Sensitive Compartmented Information” clearance, or are willing to go through the elaborate screening process required to get it. TS/SCI is the highest security clearance offered by the US government, and getting it requires having your background thoroughly vetted.

Go read the whole story.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Kim Thompson

Paul Constant — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:47:58 -0700

Local publisher Fantagraphics Books sent out a press release with the sad news that co-publisher Kim Thompson passed away this morning. With Gary Groth, Thompson helped build Fantagraphics, which is the best comic book publisher in the United States. He had impeccable taste, he was a tireless champion of great comics, and I'll miss seeing him at events down at the Fantagraphics Bookstore in Georgetown. Here's the statement that Fantagraphics sent out:

Fantagraphics co-publisher Kim Thompson died at 6:30 this morning, June 19. "He was my partner and close friend for 36 years," said Gary Groth.

Thompson was born in Denmark in 1956. He grew up in Europe, a lifelong comics fan, reading both European and American comics in Denmark, France, and Germany. He was an active fan in his teen years, writing to comics — his letters appeared in Marvel's letter columns circa early 1970s — and contributing to fanzines from his various European perches. At the age of 21, he set foot, for the first time, on American soil, in late 1977. One "fanzine" he had not contributed to was The Comics Journal, which Groth and Michael Catron began publishing in July of 1976. That was soon to change.

"Within a few weeks of his arrival," said Groth, "he came over to our 'office,' which was the spare bedroom of my apartment, and was introduced by a mutual friend — it was a fan visit. We were operating out of College Park, Maryland and Kim's parents had moved to Fairfax, Virginia, both Washington DC suburbs. Kim loved the energy around the Journal and the whole idea of a magazine devoted to writing about comics, and asked if he could help. We needed all the help we could get, of course, so we gladly accepted his offer. He started to come over every day and was soon camping out on the floor. The three of us were living and breathing The Comics Journal 24 hours a day."

Thompson became an owner when Catron took a job at DC Comics in 1978. As he became more familiar with the editorial process, Thompson became more and more integral to the magazine, assembling and writing news and conducting interviews with professionals. Thompson's career in comics began here.

In 1981, Fantagraphics began publishing comics (such as Jack Jackson's Los Tejanos, Don Rosa's Comics and Stories, and, in 1982, Love and Rockets). Thompson was always evangelical about bandes dessinées and wanted to bring the best of European comics to America; in 1981, Thompson selected and translated the first of many European graphic novels for American publication — Herman Huppen's The Survivors: Talons of Blood (followed by a 2nd volume in 1983). Thompson's involvement in The Comics Journal diminished in 1982 when he took over the editorship of Amazing Heroes, a bi-weekly magazine devoted to more mainstream comics (with occasional forays into alternative and even foreign comics). Thompson helmed Amazing Heroes through 204 issues until 1992.

Among Thompson's signature achievements in comics were Critters, a funny-animal anthology that ran from 50 issues between 1985 to 1990 and is perhaps best known for introducing the world to Stan Sakai's Usagi Yojimbo; and Zero Zero, an alternative comics anthology that also ran for 50 issues over five years — between 1995 and 2000 — and featured work by, among others, Kim Deitch, Dave Cooper, Al Columbia, Spain Rodriguez, Joe Sacco, David Mazzuchelli, and Joyce Farmer. His most recent enthusiasm was spearheading a line of European graphic novel translations, including two major series of volumes by two of the most significant living European artists — Jacques Tardi (It Was the War of the Trenches, Like a Sniper Lining up His Shot, The Astonishing Exploits of Lucien Brindavoine) and Jason (Hey, Wait..., I Killed Adolf Hitler, Low Moon, The Left Bank Gang) — and such respected work as Ulli Lust's Today Is the Last Day of the Rest of Your Life, Lorenzo Mattotti's The Crackle of the Frost, Gabriella Giandelli's Interiorae, and what may be his crowning achievement as an editor/translator, Guy Peelaert's The Adventures of Jodelle.

Throughout his career at Fantagraphics, Thompson was active in every aspect of the company, selecting books, working closely with authors, guiding books through the editorial and production process. "Kim leaves an enormous legacy behind him," said Groth, "not just all the European graphic novels that would never have been published here if not or his devotion, knowledge, and skills, but for all the American cartoonists he edited, ranging from Stan Sakai to Joe Sacco to Chris Ware, and his too infrequent critical writing about the medium. His love and devotion to comics was unmatched. I can't truly convey how crushing this is for all of us who've known and loved and worked with him over he years."

Thompson was diagnosed with lung cancer in late February. He is survived by his wife, Lynn Emmert, his mother and father, Aase and John, and his brother Mark.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Burial is Four Tet?

Charles Mudede — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:39:14 -0700

First, the identity of the dubstep accelerator named Burial was unknown. Then it was revealed that Burial was some chap called William Bevan. Now people are saying Burial is in fact the electronic producer Four Tet.

Following widespread speculation that Kieran Hebden (Four Tet) might also be the individual making music under the pseudonym of Burial, a series of new developments in the theory have confirmed that Hebden is indeed the man behind both aliases.

I honestly do not know what to think. True, Four Tet is very talented, but Burial is undoubtedly a genius. Also, I never liked their collaborations...

If this story is true, then Kieran Hebden is on some serious Jekyll-and-Hyde shit.

UPDATE: I knew something was wrong with this story, but I did not listen to my instincts and instead fell right into the hole.

UPDATE:
From someone who knows what he is talking about...

@mudede no it's been a solid rumour for a while. I'm just assuming its true until he definitely denies it.
— Dëclan K (@agentdeclan) June 19, 2013

The story about the Turkish techno mom? Outlandish; the story about Four Tet being Burial, not outlandish.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

This Weekend (and Next Week) at Northwest Film Forum: An Amazing Festival of Documentaries

David Schmader — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:30:01 -0700

"Where to begin?" writes Charles Mudede in this week's Festive column. "The Northwest Film Forum's N-E-X D-O-C-S series, which features innovative documentaries from around the world, is simply packed with brilliant things, striking images, innovative narrative forms."

Read Charles's rave reviews of three films in the series—People's Park, Trash Dance, and Public Hearing—here.

However, N-E-X-D-O-C-S has so much good stuff, we didn't have room to praise it all in the paper. Here's Dave Segal's review of Death Metal Angola.:

Death metal—an extreme form of rock birthed in the US in the’80s—is an unlikely catalyst of morale boosting in Angola, a southern African nation devastated by civil war in the late 20th century. Jeremy Xido’s documentary centers on the Herculean efforts of Sonia Ferreira—who also runs the Okutiuka orphanage—and guitarist/vocalist Wilker Flores to hold Angola’s first rock festival. (“[Our music] is a scream in revolt,” explains Flores.) It’s surprising and amusing to see rock—and one of the whitest strains of it, no less—fire the hopes of 21st-century black Africans. But these Angolan death-metal bands shred righteously, and once more the regenerative power of music is reaffirmed. (DAVE SEGAL)

N-E-X-D-O-C-S runs at Northwest Film Forum from June 21-26. Full info here.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

"Social Painting Launches in Seattle Bars and Restaurants"

Jen Graves — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:53:18 -0700

From the inbox:

A fresh new way to do a girl’s night out, date night, birthday party or team building event has arrived and is taking the city’s bar scene by storm. Paint Nite, a leader in the viral social painting phenomenon, today announced its expansion into the Seattle market. Paint Nite is a fun and creative way for people to drink, paint and socialize with others in the comfort of their favorite local bar or restaurant.

Courtesy of Paint Nite
This is what Social Painting looks like.
“Seattle has some of the most talented artists in the country and an amazing bar scene, the ideal combination for great Paint Nites,” said co-founder Dan Hermann. “Paint Nite offers a creative way to have a few drinks with friends or meet new people in a laid back atmosphere — you don’t need to have an ounce of artistic ability, you just need to be open to having fun!”

A relatively new phenomenon, social painting brings people together for a guided painting session in a creative, social environment. While participants mingle with old friends and make new ones, a professional artist provides step-by-step instruction, allowing attendees to turn a blank canvas into a final piece of personalized art in about two hours.

Active in more than 20 cities including New York, Miami, Chicago and Boston, Paint Nite presents weekly events across the U.S. and Canada, with more than 50 local artists hosting thousands of participants in over 250 different venues every week.

What the PR doesn't say, and what you find out when you do a search for Paint Nite events coming up in Seattle, is that a ticket to Paint Nite is $45. You have to buy food and drinks from the hosting venue (Von's 1000 Spirits Gusto Bistro, Ballard Annex Oyster House, Buckley's Belltown Private Room, Black Bottle, Henry's Tavern, and Fado Irish Pub are all hosting Paint Nites in July).

I guess if you've got 45 bucks to spare and a hankering to paint, well, there you have it. I'm kind of curious how this'll go. I'm also curious how much the local artists get paid for each two-hour session. Your ticket includes "a 16” X 20” canvas, paints, brushes, a smock, and professional instruction."

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Trailer Fight Club

Paul Constant — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:22:59 -0700

The idea of pitting Ron Burgundy against the age of 24-hour cable news is perhaps the most obvious idea for an Anchorman sequel, but I'm glad they decided to go that way. It's definitely the most fertile ground for satire. And now the trailer for Anchorman 2 is released, and it looks like this:

Meanwhile, a lot of film blogs I respect are excited about this The Lego® Movie trailer. I'm a lot more skeptical. Sure, kids will love seeing all their favorite characters in one movie, and I'm sure this thing will make a shit-ton of money. But this kind of thing is very hard to pull off. Movies with all sorts of disparate intellectual properties can work out well—Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, the Toy Story movies—but it seems as though skittish lawyers could suck the joy out of the proceedings real quick:

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

For the Love of Miaow

Derek Erdman — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:09:02 -0700

Hailing from Manchester, the mostly overlooked Miaow started in 1984, was lead by the square-jawed Cath Carroll, covered by Unrest and then vanished four years later. Lately, I've been just been repeatedly listening to "When It All Comes Down (Catechism)," a longer version of the below track, which was also done by Unrest on their A Factory Record 7".

Here's also their excellent first single from 1985, "Belle Vue" and the b-side from the 12" version, "Grocer's Devil Daughter," which is pretty good.

The original video for "When It All Comes Down" is rather excellent, lo-fi and clumsy:

After Miaow, Cath Carroll joined the Hit Parade and released some solo records, one on Unrest's Teen Beat label. She also married ex-Big Black guitar player Santiago Durango, but it appears that they've since divorced. Info on the other members is scant.

Another nice thing is that original pressings of Miaow's records are fairly affordable, if you're the type of person interested in such a thing.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]

Jobs-Killing Socialism Drives Seattle's Unemployment Rate Down to 4.7 Percent

Goldy — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 12:06:47 -0700

The Seattle metro area's unemployment rate plunged to 4.7 percent in May, according to the latest monthly report (PDF) released today by the Washington State Employment Security Department. Economists generally consider five percent unemployment to be "full employment" (although that's easy for an employed economist to say).

That represents a significant decline from April's 5.1 percent rate at the same time the region's resident labor force grew 0.7 percent. Statewide the unemployment rate fell from 7.0 percent in April to 6.8 percent in May. The national unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 7.6 percent.

Of course there are reasons to question the accuracy and volatility of such monthly statistics, but as an apples to apples comparison it is clear that Seattle's economy is doing considerably better than much of the rest of the nation. So what's to explain our relatively tight labor market? Clearly our war on cars, our jobs-killing paid sick leave ordinance, our high property taxes, and our incompetent, ornery mayor.

[ Comment on this story ]

[ Subscribe to the comments on this story ]