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April 24, 2013

Kathleen’s Spring Playlist: Chaos and Calm

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Spring music in the past has been different for me. I always wanted something to evoke the riotous bloom of flowers, the world opening its clenched palms toward the jolly sun. The rain splattering on thirsty ground, and on the wet shins of kids running around in the park for the first time since October. I have always played music that’s about one metronome tick away from full on summer anthems. But spring is not summer. It is not blistering pavement and burying toes in sand, not sweaty nights spent on top of the covers, with naked permeable skin soaking up night breezes through thrown open windows. It is not the azure sparkle of summer days, or the smoky closeness of summer nights. Spring is its own being. And suddenly, this reluctant spring, I wanted to find its true voice.

In that way, this playlist completely anthropomorphizes spring. If spring could sing to you beyond the enthusiastic birds outside your window (BIRDS, WE GET IT, YOU’RE BIRDS) then this is what I think it would say.

I spent the past week examining spring. I have plenty of time, since summer doesn’t slather on sunblock and join the party until about July in Seattle. So far in March and April, Seattle has had buckets and buckets of rain. Not normal buckets, either. Buckets sent from Mount Olympus. Old Testament buckets. Buckets that even Roald Dahl’s BFG couldn’t hoist.

It’s been wet, is what I’m saying.

Also last week we had hail. So everyone stop making fun of the Mayans because I was sure the world was about to collapse in on itself for those ten minutes.

But we’ve also had sunny days. Days where I sat out on the deck and accidentally got a really weird tan line that I will still be sporting when I make next year’s spring playlist.

What I have noticed, though, is that spring is unpredictable. It hasn’t quite decided. One day you’re rushing out to Golden Gardens with perspiring beers in tow, giddy and sun drunk, and the next day you’re scowling at the sky as your boots fill up with about seven quarts of rain water. Spring is what summer needs. For summer’s show-offy splendor, we need the heavenly sky rivers and we need the days of sunny, growing rest. We need a gentle shake from the hibernation of winter. Also we need to have some time to find a spare hour to deal with the reality of showing legs again. Or perhaps that’s just me.

This spring playlist is dedicated to the necessary, annoying, totally separate spring identity. The indecisive, warm, chilly, stretched days that don’t really give a flying…kite whether or not we were planning on grilling. It is here to make you dance, and to make you rest. To be alone, and to entangle yourself in loving arms. It is a playlist of contradictions that work together, all bundled in the magnificent kinetic energy that is this transition season. Find the beat, sing a long, embrace the chaos. Summer will be here soon, and your tan lines will be just as funny as mine.

(Also, I danced like a fool at a wedding last weekend to “American Music” with Abbey, and it did wonders for my well-being and happiness. I suggest you do the same.)

January 11, 2011

My 2010: In One Ear and Out The Other (the “Live” show)

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Baroness at Bumbershoot ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

Ladies and Gentlemen, hold on to your hats, this is for all the marbles….

“You’re Not From Around Here…Are You?” – Best Live Performance By A Touring Act

Winner(s): Goodie Mob. Coalesce. Baroness. Almost Winner(s): Jay Electronica.

Judging by the fact that I have multiple winners listed, this was a difficult decision to make. Goodie Mob gave me a reason to believe in the concept of “reunion tours” again. I graduated from the school of thought where if you break up once, you should probably stay separated. Unless you’re a fan of daytime television or have the desire to construct a Greek tragedy in which you are the star, it’s probably in the best interest of all parties involved. This Goodie Mob tour could’ve went a lot like a Naughty By Nature (who?) reunion tour. But it didn’t. Big Gipp rocking a bullet proof vest in tongue and cheek fashion. Cee-Lo playing the part of the big bad wolf by blowing the “house” down with his vocals. It was a thing of beauty. Coalesce took a decade of mockery by yours truly and shoved it down my throat and into the pit of my stomach. I’m still removing the crow from my teeth and the show happened back in May. Baroness may be the crown jewel of this trio. They braved the elements. an unfavorable set-time (competing with lots of other acts at Bumbershoot) and still came out as the undeniable kings of the mountain. They literally destroyed generations of people. Never have I seen someone who isn’t old enough to know the mathematical concept of “multiplication” rock out so hard. They performed with a precision and charisma that was unmatched in the calendar year of 2010. Kudos to them. On the other hand….

The Thermals at Bumbershoot ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

“Who Are You Boning For Your Success?” Worst Live Performance By A “Touring” Band

Winner: Free Energy. Almost Winner: The Thermals.

For as long as Free Energy are in existence, this is their award to lose. The kings of pomp. How many Mick Jagger “How To Be A Frontman” VHS tapes can we watch in one night? No. Let’s choreograph the moves we see in RockBand.  Maybe if we wear makeup, people like us more? Suddenly we’re opening for a souless, cowardly Weezer. Go figure. The Thermals are a band that I enjoy, at times. Here’s where I utter the predictable “I like the first album, but that’s it” go-to critic line. I saw them in the KEXP Bumbershoot Lounge or what have you. Easily one of the most boring, uninspired performances I’ve ever seen. Billy Corgan is looking in the mirror, shining his bald head and mocking toasting this display of live mediocrity. Well done. The well-trained people in the audience clapped after every song. Why? Was it because it was live radio and that was your job as a studio audience? Sheep. I wanted to “boo” and maybe “hiss.” Tomatoes would have been heaved in the Thermals general direction. There is the possibility that the Thermals were saving their passion for the Broad Street Stage later on that tonight. That’s not a legit excuse in my opinion.

Drew Grow and the Pastors’ Wives ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

“‘It’s Getting Better All The Time…’No Seriously Your Band Is Like That Beatles Song…” Live Show Award.

Winner: Drew Grow and the Pastor’s Wives. Almost Winner(s): What What Now.

I’m just stating the facts. Every time I see Drew Grow and the Pastor’s Wives, they are better than the time before…and they are always really good. After the first four or five times this happened, I was shocked. Now this is just something I expect. It’s too bad for them, they’re fucked by their own greatness.  Sooner or later I fully expect Drew Grow to utter this in the middle of a live performance: “While all of you had your eyes closed during It All Comes Right, Seth and Jeremiah have built a spaceship out of your adoration. Look around you. Ladies and Gentlemen, we are currently floating in space…I’m not kidding.” I wouldn’t be surprised in the slightest. In fact, I demand that this happens the next time I see them. Don’t mind me. I’m a first child. We’re the spoiled ones.

See the rest of Phil’s live favorites (and least favorites) after the jump… (more…)

November 18, 2010

Hollerado & Free Energy at the Crocodile

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North of Northwest

 

Hollerado ::: photo by Brittney Bush Bollay

The Crocodile was indisputably Party Central last Thursday as two of the most energetic and purely joyful bands in powerpop shared a bill and sometimes a stage.

Up first was Canada’s Hollerado, whose musical talent is matched by their sense of play. Those in the crowd who weren’t drawn in by the group’s hook-laden pop and almost hyperactive stage presence were converted by their repeated firing of a confetti cannon (no one doesn’t like a confetti cannon) and the whimsical six-foot drinking straw they created to circumvent Washington’s infamous “no drinking on stage” rule. Simply put, Hollerado charms like a roomful of puppies, and makes more pleasant noises to boot.

If headliners Free Energy were daunted by having such a tough act to follow, they didn’t show it. All cool confidence, they took the confetti-covered stage with a swagger that was just enough tongue-in-cheek and kept the crowd’s high spirits up. Free Energy has a knack for writing songs that you somehow know all the words to instantly, making almost every song a sing-along. Vocalist Paul Spranger’s slightly goofy Mick Jagger strut is a little awkward, but mostly endearing, and in fact the band overall is just dorky enough to be accessible and just cool enough to make you want to watch. It’s a funny little line they stride, but it works for them: no one left the Crocodile that night unhappy.

 

Hollerado::: photo by Brittney Bush Bollay

 

Free Energy ::: photo by Brittney Bush Bollay

 

Free Energy ::: photo by Brittney Bush Bollay

March 8, 2010

Free Energy, Foreign Born and Salmon Thrasher at Chop Suey

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freeenergy1

Free Energy ::: Press Photo

First impressions are meant for job interviews, not the music business. In case you’re like millions of other Americans and myself, you forgot what it’s like to go to a job interview. Let me refresh your memory. A job interview is when you dress up, go to the location of the job you are applying for and proceed to tell the person (or people) interviewing you why you should be hired. You’re the best. You work really hard and never sleep. You say your prayers and eat your vitamins. You’ll say whatever gets you a paycheck. Sometimes the gamble pays off but more often than not, especially nowadays, you’re just not what they’re looking for.

So when I saw Salmon Thrasher’s first show at my neighborhood bar, Café Racer, I didn’t let my first impression of them be my final one. It was a weird show. There were some technical difficulties, the songs sounded like they were still coming together and I remember at one point, a piece of the ceiling fell down upon them during their set. Sigh. Why is it that first shows always feel the weirdest? Flash forward a couple months and this band is legit. They sounded especially tight on Chop Suey’s stage. Chugga-chugga-choo-choo they were a well oiled machine. The only thing I ask is when they are done putting together their album; I want them to use a salmon shredding a half-pipe on the cover. If you’re going to use a name like Salmon Thrasher for your band, you’ve got to take advantage of all the literal imagery you can to represent your band.

Next on stage was Philadelphia’s Free Energy, a band who is currently on tour with the night’s headliner, Foreign Born. Now before I completely rip this band to pieces, I want to start with the positives. These dudes can all play their instruments, the lead guitarist in particular. They write songs that sound great. What I mean by that is, the songs they write sound good, but the actual songs are pretty forgettable. When you listen to this band on Myspace you think “I mean this isn’t the worst thing ever, just kind of sounds like a band that really likes the Strokes, playing Battle of the Bands in suburbia somewhere…” I mean we’ve all heard bands like that. However, the thing that really hurts Free Energy is their live show. Too much posturing, at points I thought I was watching (and I’m totally_fucking_serious) the Jonas Brothers or a skinny jean version of Hanson. It was one of the most inauthentic performances I’ve ever seen. Rock n’ roll should never be this harmless, especially if you’re from Philly. At times I felt completely emasculated just watching these dudes. And it’s sad, because bands like this get to play good shows and huge festivals like SXSW, all the time. And for what..? Because they might have some sort of mass appeal that in all probability won’t actually be realized? Sure, bro. Free Energy might want to do something about this little problem of theirs. Maybe they should just become the Beatles and stop touring? All I know, judging from the other night, onstage they look like some guys who are in a band for the sake of saying that they’re in a band. So I guess it was fitting that they played a show on Capitol Hill. With all that being said, I’m not going to let my first impression be my final one. If I have a chance to see Free Energy again, I’ll take that chance. I wouldn’t mind them proving me wrong.

Foreign Born were much different than the rock n’ roll switchblade riot that is Salmon Thrasher and the Hello Kitty pop of Free Energy. They had this “We kind of sound like Yeasayer, if you’re really not into that first Yeasayer album,” thing going on. The lead singer kept on reminding of Bono. I blame it on the hat he was wearing and the acoustic guitar he was strumming in the forefront. At one point he was harassed by a drunkard who was wearing an Ozzfest shirt, and needless to say, the Ozzfest guy was obviously at the wrong show. Foreign Born was certainly different and interesting. “Vacationing People” was my favorite song that they played. The band has a lot of elements within it, but none of them go outside their boundaries. I say that to mean they’re completely complimentary: everyone is doing what they have to do to make the song sound as good as it can. I can appreciate that because it’s much easier said than done, and especially when egos can potentially get in the way. Foreign Born, I salute you.