Off to conquer Bumbershoot ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

This is what our Bumbershoot schedule looks like, because we are insane. If you’d like to see what covering Bumbershoot looks like with a lens focused on local talent, follow our schedule. It usually means catching 15 minutes of sets here and 15 minutes of another set there. It always means running around Seattle Center like a marathoner.

If you’d like to actually take your time and enjoy full sets at Bumbershoot, follow the schedule below, but with just the bolded choices. Sometimes we bold events at the same time, even for you, because it is worth splitting your time between two acts. Spend Saturday finding the best short cut between stages and by Monday, you’ll be a pro. We’ll see you all over the Seattle Center grounds this weekend!

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Saturday September 4th

12:15 - Grynch (Fisher Green)
1:15 - Star Anna & The Laughing Dogs (Starbucks Stage)
2:45 - Zoe Muth & Her Lost High Rollers (Northwest Court)
3:00 - The Maldives (Starbucks Stage)
3:45 - Wheedle’s Grove (Fisher Green)
4:30 to 6:00 - The Round (Northwest Court)
4:45 - Justin Townes Earle (Starbucks Stage)
5:30 - The Decemberists (Mainstage)
6:45 - See Me River (EMP Skychurch)
7:15 - Neko Case (Mainstage)
7:30 - Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros (Broad Street)
8:15 - The Cute Lepers (EMP Skychurch)
9:00 - Bob Dylan (Mainstage)
9:45 - Visqueen (EMP Skychurch)

Hey Marseilles ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Sunday September 5th

12:30 - Unnatural Helpers (Broad Street Stage) or School of Rock All-Stars (EMP Skychurch)
1:15 - Horse Feathers (Starbucks Stage)
2:00 - The Lonely H (EMP Skychurch)
2:15 - Hey Marseilles (Broad Street) or Fresh Espresso (Fisher Green)
3:30 - The Redwood Plan (EMP Skychurch)
4:00 - Dave Bazan (Broad Street)
5:45 - Ra Ra Riot (Broad Street)
6:45 - Fences (EMP Skychurch)
7:30 - Delorean (Broad Street ) or for pure train wreck potential … Hole (Mainstage)
8:15 - The Physics (EMP Skychurch)
9:15 - Weezer (Mainstage)
9:30 - Fatal Lucciano (EMP Sky Church)

Japandroids ::: photo by Josh Lovseth

Monday September 6th

11:45 - Brent Amaker & The Rodeo (Starbucks Stage)
12:30 - Bobby Bare Jr. (Broad Street) or People Eating People (EMP Skychurch)
1:15 - JEFF The Brotherhood (Center Square)
2:45 - Chris Pureka (Northwest Court)
4:00 - Meat Puppets (Broad Street)
4:45 - THEESatisfaction (EMP Skychurch) or Baroness (Center Square)
5:00 - The Moondoggies (Starbucks Stage)
5:45 - Japandroids - (Broad Street)
6:30 - Anvil (Center Square)
6:45 - Jenny & Jonny (Starbucks Stage)
7:45 - Wild Orchid Children (EMP Sky Church)
8:00 - Laura Veirs & The Hall of Flames (Northwest Court)
9:00 - Mary J. Blige (Mainstage)
9:15 - The Thermals (Broad Street)

Junius ::: Photo Courtesy of Fanatic Promotion

Do any of you have friends you haven’t seen in a while? I ask you that question assuming that you have had some form of companionship at one point of your life.  If the answer to my question was “yes,” then I want you to think back to ancient history. Let us go back in time to a place where there was no such thing as social networking, smart phones hadn’t been invented yet, some guy who failed at running the Texas Rangers was your President and the #1 song of the year was “Crazy in Love” by a relatively unknown artist by the name of Beyonce Knowles. Ladies and gentlemen, let us go back to 2003.

In 2003, I met/saw Junius in a small club in Boston and was blown away. They were young, they were shaved, they hadn’t started wearing all-black yet and if I remember correctly, they were still weren’t signed to Radar Recordings (awesome record label).  Even though one of my dear friends has Junius cover art tattoed on his arm, I have failed to keep track of this band until recently. As with anyone you haven’t seen in a long time, things have changed. Obviously speaking completely in superficial terms, the band wears all black now and are a bearded lot. Musically, I remember them being quite ferocious and noisy. Sure their stage space has always been dominated by pedal boards with the necessary tools to create a dreamscape, but I don’t remember their songs being as airy. Some of the Junius I’ve been listening to lately has a B-grade Depeche Mode feel, I’m not sure I approve of it. What makes it worse is that it’s predictable and leaves little to the imagination. Hopefully these songs are just an anamoly and my memory of them being great in Boston is correct.  In a live setting, Junius are much more impressive and crushing than they are on record. This band isn’t Neurosis. Let’s not get carried away like the doldrums at Rolling Stone but they have bite nonetheless.

Honestly, the band I’m the most curious to see is Portland’s Ghost and Monsters. They play what I would describe as, “some straight up dude shit.” You know what I’m talking about? You go to their show and there isn’t anyone with two “X” chromosome unless they are dating someone in the band. Discordant hardcore with timings more awkward than your first kiss. Sometimes they remind me of old-school Every Time I Die but with occasional “cookie monster” vocals. I don’t like to impress my will on total strangers, but they should really consider getting rid of vocals remniscent of Sesame Street’s favorite cookie glutton. Ghosts and Monsters sound like they grew up being exposed to a lot of the same bands I was. Bands like Drowningman, Deadguy, Botch, Jerome’s Dream, Dillenger Escape Plan, pretty much anything that was cool and heavy between 1996-2002. Enjoy this band while they still fall on the floor while playing, one day they’ll be old, standing upright and singing folk songs.

Neko Case ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

Oh, the cruel games we play.

Do you enjoy mind-stimulating activities such as Soduku, New York Times Crossword Puzzles and/or Apples to Apples? If so, then you deserve a pat on the back and possibly an invitation to tutor me in a few of those areas. Especially in regard to crossword puzzles, I’m so terrible I don’t ever see myself leaving the “word find” circuit.  Luckily for people like me, there is alternative mind-stimulating game that accurately judges the content of someone’s character in three simple words. Marry. Fuck. Kill. If you want to call into question a friend’s lack of taste in other human beings, flawed thought process or how well they react under pressure, you play this game.

If you’re not familiar, let me clue you in.  You are given three options and you select “marry, fuck, kill” depending on what fictional scenario you may or may not want to happen in reality. However, I’m going to change some of the terminology. America is founded on Puritan belief (and the decimation of native populations) and I feel like we all need to get back to our Puritan roots. In keeping with the Puritan tradition, I’m changing “fuck” to “copulate with genuine feelings of desire” and I’m changing “kill” to “feverishly ignore.” Puritans had no problems with the idea of marriage, so I’m going to leave that be. I know I should have created more of an accurate “Marry.Fuck.Kill.” scenario using spreadsheets with color coded cells to signify scheduling conflicts, but those plans didn’t fit in my budget. Below the musical acts are broken down into the following categories. Some acts will just be listed while others will have brief descriptions. Enjoy.

Bands you want to “Marry” - These are bands you’ve already loved (or should have loved) for a long time,  now you’re ready to make that everlasting commitment.  You have long ignored all the flaws and blemishes related to these acts due to your blinding love for them.  They might have disappointed you with a few bad songs, a bad album or a lackluster live performance, but you stand by them because you’re suffering from the most fortunate chemical imbalance there is, love.

Bands you want to “Copulate with Genuine Feelings of Desire” – These are the bands that you’re just killing time with. Maybe you’re waiting for a more desirable band to start their set or maybe you’ve had one too many PBR’s and suddenly that bassist with the nose ring is looking hot! Easy tiger, keep your cool. You don’t want to wake up in the morning with schwag from a band that you’re not sure you like.  I’m not saying these bands aren’t worth your undivided attention, I’m just not sure you’ll have a long-term relationship with them.  Make no mistake if you find love here, I’ll be happy for you.

Bands you want to “Feverishly Ignore” – I’m not saying these bands suck, but now might be the perfect time to pretend to be having a meaningful text message conversation far away from the stage.

Read the rest of this entry »

Blowdog and Sneezy ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

Going hard on Thursday and Friday before the marathon that is Bumbershoot is probably a terrible idea, but there’s not a chance we’re going to miss a special night at the Blue Moon: The Terrible Twos.

This recipe for trouble includes sets by two-somes best known for their roles in other bands and some of our most memorable nights at The Blue Moon: The Seattle Supersonics (better known as Matt & Adm from Thee Emergency), Kurly Something (a duo featuring Kurly of A Gun That Shoots Knives), Shitty Dudes (better known as Stubby and Jeff from A Gun That Shoots Knives) and the final show ever from Blowdog and Sneezy (better known as Blowdog and Sneezy from Hopscotch Boys). The cover for the evening is, of course, two dollars. Beer is two dollars. And well-drinks are two-for-one. The most expensive part of the night will be the cab ride home.

Apologies to our livers in advance.

If the cornucopia of choices Bumbershoot gives you doesn’t satiate your taste for live music or if you just want to keep the party going longer, there are a couple recommended kick-off and after parties happening around Seattle.

Fellow local blogger and friend Travis Hay is hosting two official Bumbershoot parties. First up is a kick off show Friday night with a bevy of local talent, where with a five dollar raffle ticket you can enter to win a pair of tickets for each day of Bumbershoot, a Sub Pop Records prize pack, a EMP/SFM prize package and a pair of tickets to Bumbershoot for Sept. 5 that give the winner side stage access to the main stage to watch Rise Against, Hole and Weezer. Hell, I’m going to buy a ticket to see if I can watch Courtney Love from the side stage.

On Sunday Travis plays host again to two big name touring bands: Surfer Blood and Dead Confederate. (Plus another Athens’ SOTS favorite: Futurebirds.)

Drop your full name in the comments below and you’ll be eligible to win a guest list spot to Sunday’s after party courtesy of Hard Rock Cafe, Travis Hay and Sound on the Sound. We’ll choose a winner on Thursday at 12pm.

Saturday night the after party is at The Crocodile with a Bumbershoot artist taking the stage for the second time that day. In the name of community courtesy, we’re not going to come out and say who it is, but we did do the research for you.

Here are the specifics on all three nights of Bumbershoot parties:

Friday September 3rd

The High Dive - The FunOfficial Bumbershoot Kick Off Party with Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, Thee Emergency, Curtains for You, and Sol - $10

Saturday September 4th

The Crocodile - A Warp Records Recording Artist and Fresh Espresso - $17

We did the internet research for you … there is only one Warp Records artist playing Bumbershoot.

Sunday September 5th

Hard Rock Cafe - Official Bumbershoot After Party with Dead Confederate, Surfer Blood and Future Birds - 10 adv/15$ night of show

Drew Grow and the Pastors’ Wives ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Music at its best is more than catchy. At its best, music moves and transforms you. Drew Grow and the Pastors’ Wives perform songs that cut to the core, spirituals with soul, but no dogma. The songs are an amalgam of folk, gospel, wailing blues, dirty rock and exploratory noise. Drew will play modest and say what he does is nothing new, but no one I can think of today sounds like Drew Grow and the Pastors’ Wives.

And no artist I’ve seen, ever, has moved or captivated an audience the way Drew and the Pastors’ wives do. I’ve yet to leave a Pastors’ Wives performance where someone wasn’t left weeping by his soul-stirring songs. During his mid-afternoon set at the Doe Bay mainstage, Drew and the Pastors’ Wives had a thick crowd of people pressed against the stage, arms wrapped tightly around each other and singing along with the conviction of the saved. After the set, one of the most powerful men in Seattle music, came up to me with tears streaming down his cheeks. “It was just SO beautiful,” was all he could manage to say.*

I admit, I was thankful for my sunglasses during the set more for their tear-hiding than sun-blocking. Inevitably, after Drew sings I am left thinking, “that must be what people who believe in God feel like when they sing and hear hymns.” It is a performance enjoyed with eyes closed tightly, arms raised aloft to the stage, heads thrown back in ecstasy and exultation and a sense you are witnessing something as a collective, not an individual. I don’t attend church anymore and I moved on from believing in God to believing in music and the people who create it, and seeing Drew Grow live is as close to a religious experience as I will ever have. You’re either a believer or not, and I am a believer. And I’m not alone. After The Pastors’ Wives Doe Bay set I overheard the following: “You know, if Drew and the Pastors’ Wives start a cult, even if we have to drink the kool-aid at the end, I’m joining.”

On September 14th, Drew Grow and the Pastors’ Wives are releasing their debut full-length. Until then, you can stream the album in its entirety on their Bandcamp. The band will be celebrating the release at Columbia City Theater on September 11th, with Pablo Trucker and Yuni in Taxco. I know that everyone and their brother are playing that night, but I wouldn’t miss this show for the world … much less The National or The Gories.

The Crowd Responds to Drew Grow and the Pastors’ Wives ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

* (I won’t say his name because I don’t want to ruin his whiskey drinking, outlaw reputation.)

Magic (tenetivley…sorry mike) by The Mallard from Elliott Johnson on Vimeo.

How is one woman responsible for such garage swagger? Simple:

Kick Drum: Right Foot
Hi Hat / Tambourine: Left Foot
Guitar: Left and Right Arms
Singing: Mouth

Or not so simple, as it were, but The Mallard has forgone the easy route to be a one-woman lo-fi spectacular. And considering she’s responsible for some of my favorite songs of 2010, most notably the jangly “Ex” and “Floating,” which is equal parts lead and lace, taking the road less traveled has served her well. Everything The Mallard makes sounds as if it came from a long lost and cherished cassette that you inherited from your cool Aunt. The one who let you take drags off her cigarette as she told you about her wild child days, as long as you promised not to tell your Dad she still smoked. It sounds too good and too roughly ragged to be new. But it is, brand new.

You can see this one woman show in action this Sunday for free at The Bourbon Bar at Columbia City Theater. The Mallard flies at 9pm, don’t miss her.

“Nothing But Our Love”

A place of deep snows and a flagging manufacturing economy, Michigan feels a hard times place full of hardened people lately. So hearing that the new duo Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. hailed from Detroit came as a surprise, car-culture-referencing-name notwithstanding. The few songs I’ve been privy to up to this point sound straight out of the Portland house party circuit, a vivid blend of Nurses and Starfucker with the vocal sheen of Menomena. Case in point, the song “Nothing But Our Love” is a mesmerizing wonder of the avant-pop variety (with a just as mesmerizing video above), unconventional but still catchy. The not-a-care-in-the-world whistle that opens “Simple Girl” makes you envy this band’s mood before you’ve even heard a word. Either that or it makes you want to punch them in the face for being so damn happy.

Peep the video above and then head on over to Daytrotter for their session with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., one of the better sessions I’ve heard this year. Included is an impressive version of the Beach Boys “God Only Knows.”

Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. hits Seattle on Monday September 6th for the RUMBLE at the Havana Social Club. Care of them and Mesita, maybe we can hang on to summer just a little longer…

Lemolo ::: Photo by James Elliot Bailey

Lately, I’ve found myself measuring my affection (and occasional addiction) to bands via how long I keep their bandcamp/facebook/chosen dissemination site open in my plethora of tabs. Double the points (for added difficulty and inherent distaste) if its a myspace page that keeps my attention.

By this measure, there’s few local artists I’m enjoying more than Lemolo, whose myspace player and YouTube videos have been pretty much on repeat in a never closed tab for nearly a week. When the rest of the blogosphere couldn’t get enough of Sufjan’s Bandcamp, I couldn’t bare to break myself away from Lemolo’s loveliness. A little sister to the sparse but potent blues of Cat Power’s Moon Pix and local songstress Kaylee Cole’s melodic melancholy, Lemolo’s songs leave the listener aching.

And in my case, Lemolo has left my aching for more. Lucky for me, the band is in the midst of preparing a CD single due out mid-September and they have a number of upcoming local dates. Check them out September 9th at the Tractor Tavern with Drew Victor and Lizzie Huffman or September 25th at the Q Cafe with Pablo Trucker and Conservative Dad. If you’re going to give Lemolo a first listen before catching them live, I recommend watching the video below before heading over to their myspace and queuing up “Buttons,” “Old Fashioned Lover” and “Renegade.” Okay, so basically all of them. But be forewarned, you might not close that Myspace page for a few days.

I know, I know, I know - I’ve posted two tracks by The Mallard already, name-checked her shows on countless occasion and am generally a complete and total sycophant when it comes to her music, new and old.  That said, I can barely contain my excitement for this track from her new, very hard to find, cassette and this track “Old Hates Tatestale” - a churning bit of blues and garage and flat-lining melodies that spins and spuns and unravels in to a white-capped pool of noise.

Northwest, you are a lucky region, as The Mallard is diving in to her jalopy for a short jaunt up the coast.  Portland, Seattle and Bellingham will all get to experience this impressively one-womaned show, one I’ve seen countless times and am blown away a little bit more every go.

Dates:

Kimo’s - San Francisco, CA - August 25th (with other amazing act Dylan Tidyman-Jones)

The Bourbon Bar at Columbia City Theater - Seattle, WA - August 29th (Free! 9pm)

The Mallard - Old Hates Tatestale