People of New York City! Music bloggers who are lucky enough to be going to NYC for CMJ! Bookending this years CMJ festivities are two showcases featuring the talented bands and local labels of the Pacific Northwest, and we assure you, they are very worthy of your time. The Maldives, who tour minimally outside of Seattle are coming special for the Mt. Fuji showcase, so please don’t miss your chance to see them. And I think you’ve probably heard of a little Seattle label called Sub Pop and it’s offshoot Hardly Art…

October 20th at Bruar Falls, 245 Grand St.
Mt Fuji CMJ Showcase featuring
10.15pm Whore Moans
11pm Maldives
11.45pm Black Whales
(See the poster above)

October 24th at the Mercury Lounge
The Sub Pop/Hardly Art CMJ Showcase featuring
7pm Unnatural Helpers
8pm Dum Dum Girls
9pm Moondoggies
10pm The Dutchess & The Duke
11pm Golden Triangle
12am Pissed Jeans
1am Obits
2am Male Bonding

KEXP will be there broadcasting live performances every day and hosting a film festival. Locals the Blakes and the Moondoggies will both be stopping by to get in a session, in addition to bands like the XX. It’s actually a pretty wide ranging lineup, very much in the spirit of the fest.

There are a few other showcases which will will be featuring other Seattle area bands including:

October 20th at the Santos House Party Basement
10.30 Flexions
11.30 Unnatural Helpers

October 20th at the Suffolk
9.00 Tennis Pro

October 21st at Wicked Willies
9.00pm The Purrs

October 22nd at Googies Lounge
8.00pm Kasey Anderson

October 22nd at Union Hall
11.00pm Army Navy

October 23rd at Googies Lounge
7.30pm Kate Tucker

October 23rd at Crash Mansion (Downstairs)
9.15pm The Blakes
10.45pm Army Navy

October 24th at Union Pool
7.40pm Flexions

October 24th at the Gramercy Theater
10.10pm Blue Scholars

October 24th at the Suffolk
10pm D. Black
11.00 Champagne Champagne

This is your chance NYC to see a number of bands we’ve helped to get you to know and there’s plenty of talent to chew on from those listings alone.  Of course there is an insane number of other non-Seattle bands playing CMJ, you can find the complete schedule for the festival online.

Grizzly Bear ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Some notable calendar listings have appeared in the past week or so we thought you might want to be aware of:

Grizzly Bear coming to the Moore Theater, Friday October 16th
$23 - presale starts Thursday July 16 through the Moore. PW: KEXP.

Monotonix coming to Neumos September 19th
$13 - 21+ - Tickets available at Ticketswest

Pearl Jam coming to Key Arena September 21st and 22nd
$68 - Tickets go on sale to the General Public, Saturday July 18 at Ticketmaster.

The Dirty Three coming to the Crocodile September 18th
$15 - 21+ - Get tickets from the Crocodile

Fruit Bats coming to the Crocodile August 20th
$12 - 21+ - Get tickets from the Crocodile

MP3 - “Ruminant Band” by the Fruit Bats courtesy of Sub Pop

KEXP Summer Mural Concert Series at the Seattle Center Mural Amphitheater
All these shows are free and all-ages, including the BBQ. Food and beverages will be available for purchase.

Friday 7/31, 5-8pm
Blitzen Trapper
Throw Me the Statue
This week daytrotter posted their session with Blitzen Trapper.

Friday 8/7, 5-8pm
Dyme Def
Fresh Espresso

Saturday 8/8, 7th Annual KEXP BBQ! 2-9pm
Dinosaur Jr
Viva Voce
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Japandroids
Born Anchors
Champagne Champagne

Friday 8/14, 5-8pm
The Dodos
Army Navy
We highly recommend streaming the Dodo’s new album Time to Die at timetodie.net.

Friday 8/21, 5-8pm
Fruit Bats
Johnny and the Moon

Army Navy ::: Photo by Josh

Army Navy, who was set to play Seattle at Neumos tonight with the Purrs, got their gear stolen yesterday. They asked us to put the word out for those who might come across such equipment in pawn shops and the like in the area. The list of stolen items continues below the fold so keep an eye out! I believe that missing Telecaster is the one in the picture above, and you can head over to a recent flickr set we took to get a look at the other guitars.

Army Navy Stolen Gear 5/17/09

Guitars

1. 1977 Fender Telecaster Cherry Burst with Fralin Pickups. Missing volume and tone nobs. Partial Serial # S_____8

(In a Black Original Fender Rectangular Hard Shell Case-broken in places w/ styrofoam showing. The original pickups are in the case as are the missing knobs for the guitar. There is a plain black guitar strap.)

2. Epiphone Tabacco Burst Dot with Cream Colored P94-T Pickup on Neck.

(In black Epiphone Hard Shell Case)

3. Epiphone 1970’s Crestwood Guitar. Natural Light Wood Finish.

[In black Hard Shell Case with stickers on the front (Teenage Fanclub, etc). The case has a brown leather guitar strap in it.]

4. Black 1977 Jazz Bass with White Pick Guard, Fralin pickups.

(Canvas Blue Soft Case w/ brown trim.)

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s fair to say that I’ve had a mini-man-crush on Army Navy ever since I started banging last years record, and two live shows later my crush is still going strong. It’s the shiniest pop you’re bound to come across these days, and they pull it off marvelously. These guys don’t really have a rock n’ roll image to keep up exactly, but for their latest video “Saints,” they have a little bit of fun make-believing they are “living the dream” so to speak.

Army Navy plays Neumos May 18.

Here is my list of what I consider to the be the “best” releases I’ve heard this year, full albums and EP’s, local and not, self-released or with a label. Regular readers probably won’t find too much surprising but there are a few that we may have not featured very much, probably because I just didn’t have too much to add to the already existing narrative. Most notable among that list is my number one choice From Emma, Forever Ago, by Bon Iver, AKA Justin Vernon. Each listen of this debut LP proffers a new detail to my ear and generates a renewed catharsis within my soul.

Before I start opining any further and get out of control (we’re saving that for next week’s official Northwest-themed lists), here are my favorites from the past year…

Josh’s Top 25 Releases of 2008

1. Bon Iver - From Emma, Forever Ago |myspace|
2. Dead Confederate - Wrecking Ball |myspace|
3. The Moondoggies - Don’t Be A Stranger |myspace|
4. J Tillman - Vacilando Territory Blues (Digital Release Only) |myspace|
5. The Whigs - Mission Control |myspace|
6. The Dutchess and the Duke - She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke |myspace|
7. Wild Orchid Children - S/T EP |myspace|
8. Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground - S/T LP |myspace|
9. Starfucker - S/T LP |myspace|
10. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours |myspace|
11. The Notwist - Devil, You + Me |myspace|
12. Noah and the Whale - Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down |myspace|
13. Land of Talk - Some Are Lakes |myspace|
14. Fleet Foxes - S/T LP |myspace|
15. The Dodos - Visiter |myspace|
16 See Me River - Time Machine |myspace|
17. Jake One - White Van Music |myspace|
18. Whore Moans - Hello From the Radio Wasteland |myspace|
19. The Pica Beats - Bring Back the Claws … |myspace|
20. Thee Emergency - SOLID |myspace|
21. Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off the Lavender Bridge |myspace|
22. The Saturday Knights - Mingle |myspace|
23. Army Navy - S/T LP |myspace|
24. Horse Feathers - House with No Home |myspace|
25. Crystal Stilts - Alight of Night |myspace |

The album I listened to the most that was actually from last year but didn’t discover until this year…

The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism |myspace|

You’ll notice TV on the Radio, Of Montreal, Portishead, and Deerhunter aren’t in there. Nor Lil Wayne. I’m sorry (but not that sorry) to say I’ve listened to all of these records and they just didn’t do it for me. Dear, Science is certainly an innovative record, but I didn’t connect enough to warrant the repeated listens of those listed above. Vampire Weekend’s record is another that fits that profile, a well realized album that unfortunately for me is without any lasting impact. And I’ve diligently searched for the quality in the Deerhunter album that has everyone shouting, but I’m just completely missing it.

Today you can buy the MP3 album of Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago from Amazon for 5 bucks. After my ringing endorsement, and at that price, you have no good reason not to go get it.

You might have noticed that we’ve featured the Army Navy’s song “My Thin Sides” on the blog this week, and it just so happens that the band has released a video for the same song this week. You should watch it above.

In case you hadn’t noticed, Army Navy is the project of one Justin Kennedy (and friends), and they’ve released their first self-titled LP in the US in October of this year. You may (but probably won’t) recognize Kennedy from his time with Pinwheel, a short-lived band he founded with Ben Gibbard pre-Death Cab. After moving to LA and focusing on his own personal music development for a while and recruiting a new team of musicians, Army Navy is the result, matching the forceful rhythmic attitude of modern Brit rock with the summery disposition of a Southern California lifestyle.

Army Navy is playing tonight in Fremont at the Nectar Lounge with the Takeover UK and the Shys.