Kevin Murphy ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

When it comes to local records I am most excited be released in 2010, there’s no competition: The Moondoggies’ Tidelands, due out October 23 on Hardly Art.

Last Saturday, we got a sneak peek of some of the songs when Moondoggies front-man Kevin Murphy played a solo set at The Blue Moon. It was a quiet night at The Moon, reminiscent of the first Moondoggies shows we saw there years ago, when the band was testing out the songs that would become Don’t Be a Stranger and before the delights of their drawl were widely discovered and lauded. Kevin’s set included old Moondoggies favorites like “Undertaker,” a solid rambling cover of Tom Waits’ “Pancho’s Lament” and a number of new songs from the forthcoming Tidelands and the just released You’ll Find No Answers Here EP.

My favorite song of the night was “A Lot of People on My Mind,” the final track on Tidelands and the last song Kevin played. Its a mournful love song, that shows Murphy maturing as a song writer and singer. I can’t wait to hear what the song sounds like with Caleb Quick on Rhodes and a full Moondoggies backing, but even in its skeletal solo form it is achingly beautiful and stands shoulder-to-shoulder with the band’s best. Take a listen and a look for yourself:

Carissa’s Wierd ::: photo by Josh Lovseth

Mat Brooke: “This is so much different than playing house parties and basements.”
Jen Ghetto: “You can’t even believe it.”

Some bands, no matter how gifted the musicians are or how beautiful the songs they write, are best suited for basements, small clubs and the intimacy of headphones. And having seen the rapturous whisper that is Carissa’s Wierd barely able to compete with a chatty crowd of a thousand at The Showbox last Friday, I’m positive when I say that they are such a band.

Last Friday, the lauded and long-missed Seattle band took the stage for the first time in seven years in front of the largest crowd they had ever played at a nearly sold-out Showbox. Seeing them take the stage with looks of disbelief and trepidation, trying to fathom that the crowd was there for them and their repeated heartfelt thank yous, was by my estimation, an unmissable moment in Seattle music history. Unfortunately the din of conversation that challenged the delicacy of Carissa’s Wierd and a back bar full of people hell bent on proving Seattle will talk through anything, didn’t seem to agree with the momentousness of the occasion or the reverence it deserved.

It wasn’t all conversation that was challenging the band on stage, all over the Showbox there were people shrieking with unabashed ecstasy and making sounds usually not heard outside of the bedroom. And throughout the Showbox, which I traversed trying to find the best spot to actually hear Jen, Mat and Sera harmonize, games of “Who’s the Biggest Cariss’a Wierd Fan Here?” were being played. It’s a game jam band fans are most familiar with, the one where people yell out “Oh I know it!” or “Oh my God its _____” at the first note they recognize. They then proceed to sing along at the top of their lungs to further prove their devotion to and archival knowledge of the band. 30-somethings around me giggled about how seeing Aveo and Carissa’s Wierd made them feel like they were in college again and everywhere I looked there were wide grins and lots of happily tear stained cheeks.

Those sounds, as well as Mat’s emphatic thank yous to the crowd (including the telling “thank you so much, this is the biggest show we’ve ever played”), didn’t distract from the show as much as the conversation; rather they punctuated and reminded that what was happening at the moment was special, a once-in-a-lifetime event. The songs that got the biggest reactions from the crowd were the few songs like “Blanket Stare” and “Alphabet on the Manhole” that didn’t make Hardly Art’s retrospective, where knowing and singing along was a mark of true, original fandom.

Had I been such an original fan, and this wasn’t the lone time I had the chance to breathe with the band’s sighing songs, perhaps the chattiness wouldn’t have bothered me so much. But I wasn’t. I just discovered Carissa’s Wierd this year, courtesy of Kevin Cole’s afternoon show on KEXP and have spent the majority of this year listening to their albums on repeat and kicking myself for having never seen them. When Hardly Art announced they would be reissuing the band’s records, including a “Best Of” and that Carissa’s Wierd would be performing once again, I actually yelped with joy and sent an ALL CAPS thank you to my friendly Hardly Art press person. I didn’t care that I’d paid a lot of money for copies of the original releases on Amazon, I just relished in the fact that I would be able to hear these songs that have lived in my heart and headphones all year, live and against all odds. The world was a wonderful, giving, redeeming place and from the moment the show was announced, I counted down the days with giddy anticipation.

And, as long as you could hear them and appreciate the perfectly mixed sound that night, the band delivered upon the heart-aching promise of their albums. The emotion of songs like “You Should Be Hated Here” and “So You Wanna Be a Superhero” hit you square in the chin, which was inevitably quivering. Jen Ghetto sings in a sighing whisper that you find yourself craning towards even when listening on your headphones, thin on forcefulness, but thick with longing and sad-knowing. Mat Brooke’s voice haunts like the ghosts of loss that many of Carissa’s Wierd’s songs center around. And at times, the strains of Sarah Standard’s violin felt as if they were being played upon my spine. There were moments of magic, where with your eyes closed, the songs felt like long forgotten lullabies being sung just for you. That is to say, exactly how they sound on their albums and how I imagine they sounded in those basements and house parties a decade ago.

Even with the largest crowd of their life, Carissa’s Wierd stayed true to their original incarnation, as that band that thrived in the intimacy of small shows, sticking to the softest and slower part of their canon and refusing to sing louder or faster to match the size of the show. And just as Carissa’s Wierd wouldn’t change for their one-night reunion, it would seem Seattle hadn’t changed for Carissa’s Wierd. The faithful fans were there early and they stood rapt, hanging on every word, hands raised towards the stage in blissful praise. Meanwhile, the disinterested or less knowledgeable arrived late, chatted away mindlessly and once again completely missed the beauty and subtle brilliance in their presence. I for one am grateful that the Carrisa’s Wierd reunion show only lasted an hour and a half, but that the band and their songs get to live forever in my headphones, just where they sound the best.

Carissa’s Wierd ::: photo by Josh Lovseth

See the full set-list and more photos from the show, after the jump

Read the rest of this entry »

See All of The Moondoggies Postcards from the Road:

Volume 1
Volume 2
Volume 3
Volume 4

After an incident-less tour, tragedy strikes in Kansas.

The best things in life are the things that can potentially hurt the most. I wish I could explain why that was but I don’t have the emotional depth. Gentle reader, surely you’ve found your own personal hell in what was at one point glimmering oasis of bliss. The gods must be crazy to make life this bittersweet. The originators of reality TV, damn you polytheistic puppet masters.

The gods are planning on playing another trick on you tonight. Carissa’s Wierd (purposeful spelling errors are weird!) is reuniting at the Showbox Market for one night only to celebrate the release of their “best of” compilation. I’m in cyberspace but even I can tell that your heart is suddenly alight. The cruel part is, while your currently feeling butterflies, you should really be preparing for an emotional maelstrom in the most beautiful way. These pretty songs are meant to kill. The fact that I’ve listened to “Die” about 3430 times in the past two weeks and declared it the official anthem of summertime heartache should clue you in.

I’m a guy from the east coast; the breed I belong to doesn’t exhibit emotions unless we are tasered. The prolonged wait for summer to arrive in the Pacific Northwest and songs like “The Color That Your Own Eyes…” and “Phantom Fireworks” have turned me into quite the sensitive soul; so much so that I kind of long for the days where I didn’t spend my late night twilights immersed in unnecessary introspection. A part of me wants to attempt to count all the tears on all the faces I see at the show tonight, but I’d probably end up being one of those accounted for.

Carissa’s Wierd ::: courtesy of Hardly Art

Just when I thought I couldn’t get any more excited about the Carissa’s Weird reunion (the show is a month and six days away, not that I’m counting …) Hardly Art has released a single from the band’s forthcoming ‘Best Of’ retrospective.

“Die” is exemplary of everything I love about Carissa’s Wierd. It’s heartbreak and harmonies. It is familiar in its longing, like some old friend you never got a chance to say goodbye to and could never get over.

Whether you’re unfamiliar with Carissa’s Wierd or an old fan, you’ll want to download “Die” right now.

Download “Die” courtesy of Hardly Art

The Moondoggies “It’s a Shame, It’s a Pity” from Yours Truly on Vimeo.

It’s a big week for The Moondoggies. Not only is the band preparing to embark on a national tour backing Blitzen Trapper, complete with a stop off at Bonnaroo, but the buzz around Tidelands, their follow-up to Don’t Be a Stranger, has begun four full months before its release. Clearly, it’s not just me who is anticipating the Moondoggies follow-up with more eagerness than any other 2010 release.

Lucky for us all, we got a sonic peek at Tidelands courtesy of Yours Truly who filmed The Moondoggies performing “It’s a Shame, It’s a Pity” in the ladies’ restroom of The Independent.  For the clear acoustics and sweet harmonies you would think The Moondoggies were in a church rather than some cramped bathroom, a testament not only to the band, but the skillful filming of Yours Truly. When two of your favorite things come together and collaborate, it is a beautiful thing, and this video is proof.

But the video wasn’t all us Moondoggies fans were rewarded with this week, Hardly Art also announced that there would be a special limited edition EP of left-over tracks from Tidelands, scheduled to be released on June 8th. And these aren’t throw-away tunes, if you’ve seen the Moondoggies in the past year, some of the tracks from You’ll Find No Answers Here will be fond favorites.  Courtesy of Hardly Art we have one such track for you to download: “Fly Mamma Fly”.

And if a brand new video and song weren’t enough for you, The Moondoggies will also be playing all over Seattle in the coming days. Tonight the band is headlining Neumos, as well as opening the show as Grant Olsen’s backing band for their new side project “Magic Mountains.”  As if two gigs in a single day wasn’t enough, the band will be playing the next night as part of the “Bare” all a capella evening at the Fremont Abbey. It should come as no surprise, I’ll be at all three sets and I recommend you do the same.

Check back on Sound on the Sound for more from the Moondoggies soon, the band will be sending us postcards from their national tour in another installment of “Postcards from the Road.”

Follow the jump for the complete tracklists for Tidelands and You’ll Find No Answers Here.

Read the rest of this entry »

I don’t get many, okay, any press releases that make me actually yelp “YES!” uncontrollably. But the news that one of my favorite local labels, Hardly Art have joined forces with one of my favorite dearly departed Seattle bands, Carissa’s Wierd did exactly that. And yes, my co-workers at the day job are looking at me like I’m nuts, rightly so.

Hardly Art will be releasing a “Best Of” album (entitled:  They’ll Only Miss You When You Leave: Songs 1996-2003) from the bands’ heart-breaking catalog. There’s  also talk of Carissa’s Wierd reissues in the future of all the albums that made the band one of the most beloved and buzzed about in Seattle. This, is a blessing, believe me, as someone who just tried to find a copy of Ugly But Honest.

And if that’s not enough, Carissa’s Wierd will be reuniting for at least one Seattle area show to celebrate the July 13th release of the Best Of compilation. Those words are actually hard to type because they are so exciting to me. (I missed Carissa’s Wierd live the first go-round because I wasn’t 21 and I thought I’d never get the chance to see them.)

Here’s the track list of the best of, with the promise of much more news to come soon from Hardly Art and Carissa’s Wierd.

Carissa’s Wierd - They’ll Only Miss You When You Leave: Songs 1996-2003
Release: July 13, 2010

01. Low Budget Slow Motion Soundtrack Song For the Leaving Scene
02. Die
03. The Color That Your Eyes Changed With the Color of Your Hair
04. One Night Stand
05. You Should Be Hated Here
06. Drunk w/ the Only Saints I Know
07. Phantom Fireworks
08. So You Wanna Be A Superhero
09. Brooke Daniels’ Tiny Broken Fingers
10. Ignorant Piece of Shit
11. Blessed Arms That Hold You Tight, Freezing Cold and Alone
12. Blue Champagne Glass
13. September Come Take This Heart Away
14. All Apologies and Smiles, Yours Truely, Ugly Valentine
15. Sympathy Bush
16. They’ll Only Miss You When You Leave

I love Hardly Art.  Have loved ‘em since they just crushed 2008 with Moondoggies, Le Loup, Pica Beats and The Dutchess and The Duke.  And though I can’t say I’ve been as enraptured with some of their recent sophomore releases, the good folk over at that label are continuing to make choices that surprise and intrigue me.

Such as they’re recent decision to pretty much stock their 2010 calender with heavy experiment noise bands like Talbot Tagora (I’m still trying to find some of my hearing from their basement Greenhouse show) and big, brash thrash punk like Unnatural Helpers.  So far, I’m happy. Shit-eating, green in the face from giggling happy about these choices.

Throw Golden Triangle in the mix, a band I’ve heard of so many times and have just, just for the first time given myself the pleasure of listening to, and I might just keel on over.  This is sexy, throbbing garage.  This is music you lay your lover down on a weather-beaten leather couch you found on the streets of Baltimore with, your hand all up on the torn holes of their leather jacket, the holes in their torn jeans providing just the right space.  This is romance with spit dripping from its chin.  Lust and love wrapped in the pulsing strobe of a coke trip gone wrong.

The video above, by talented filmmaker Micki Pellarano and featuring lead singer Alix Brown bolsters my strangely dirty thoughts.  I believe this video has masturbation in it.

Golden Triangle - Neon Noose

This list represents the strongest 25 albums we heard in 2009 from bands based in the Northwest. We approximated the Northwest as Vancouver to the North, Eugene to the South, Boise to the East, and the Olympic Peninsula West. Even though we snuck in a few Portland bands and a Vancouver band, this is largely a list of Seattle releases. We did our best to feature the vast array of the Seattle Sound in 2009, though there’s no denying some genres fared better than others–genres that you might be surprised by, genres we were surprised by. If there was any doubt left, 2009 proved Seattle isn’t just a rock town.

2009 was an incredible year for local music in Seattle. There’ve been some unnecessary put-downs of Seattle’s musical output in 2009, because the scene didn’t spawn a new Fleet Foxes, Band of Horses, or Death Cab for Cutie, and the biggest local record label didn’t sign a single Seattle band. That’s “the industry” and Sub Pop’s loss, not ours. Just because the rest of the world isn’t blasting The Maldives or Macklemore yet (or even if they never do) it doesn’t reflect poorly on the scene or the talented folks who call Seattle home. From our front row vantage point, Seattle had an embarrassment of riches in the local music department.

The local hip hop scene bubbled with excitement and slowly-but-surely burgeoned into a topic on everyone’s lips, thanks to the energy of head-turning acts like They Live!, Champagne Champagne, Fresh Espresso, Macklemore, as well as the notorious antics of Mad Rad. Across town from Pike St., Ballard Avenue continued to cultivate a tight-knit community of Americana and rockin’ country bands where pedal steel and fiddle were the instruments du jour. The Maldives, The Moondoggies, Sera Cahoone, Zoe Muth and so many others inhabited both the stages and the bars at the Conor Byrne, the Sunset Tavern, Hatties Hat, and the now 15-year-old environs of the Tractor Tavern, feeding a spirit of collaboration and verve. King Cobra, a rock club which opened up in 2008 in the wake of the Crocodile Cafe’s closing, shut its doors after barely a year of rough business–just in time for a newly revamped Crocodile (without the Cafe in the name) to reclaim its place in March as one of the premier venues in Seattle to see live local music.

While Seattle didn’t spawn a new Fleet Foxes sized success in 2009, we certainly won’t be surprised if a few of the many bands on this list find national attention come 2010. No matter what, we’ll look back on 2009 with warm nostalgia as a vibrant year of local music, when we saw these bands play in living rooms and local bars: the year Seattle knew the words before everyone else could sing along.

25. Zebra by Karl Blau (K Records)

Psychedelic shape-shifter Karl Blau creates an utterly Northwest soundscape that identifies strongly with the output of the Haight-Ashbury facilitated psych movement, as well as the more modern creative likes of Grizzly Bear. “Waiting for the Wind” reminds me of Esquivel’s avant, arty piano, while “Welcome in NW” sounds like it was banged out of an actual sixties basement, fueled by homegrown psilocybins. “‘Tha Ole Moon Smile” makes me do a “Is this a Sixto Rodriguez cut I haven’t heard?” double-take every time. Each new song turns in a completely different direction. By the end you’re left dazed, trying to decipher where you started and what just happened. What happened was Blau presented a reverent journey into musical history through a warped and hazy Technicolor filter. [Josh]

24. From Slaveships to Spaceships by Khingz (self-released)

Much like D. Black’s record this year, Khingz’ From Slaveships to Spaceships finds an MC ignoring hip-hop’s self-imposed strictures about toughness and content, and succeeding through sheer force of purpose and humor. Even though MC Khalil Equiano left town for a while and now lives in British Columbia with his significant other, he obviously loves his hometown scene and returned to the Northwest with this new album in tow, showcasing a rapid-fire rhyming style and spitting dense, wordy verses filled with references to science fiction and his former life on Seattle’s Southside. This is another record distinguished by its brazen autobiographical nature and the surety of the conclusions that follow. “Intellect is a weapon,” he says in “Escape Society.” “You’re at war, please respect it, your struggle is a blessing, embrace, don’t deflect it.” Hip-hop was once widely known as a vehicle for imparting social understanding, and Khingz’ latest is his contribution toward seeing it return once more to that primary function. [Josh]

23. Life On Earth by Tiny Vipers (Sub Pop Records)

Each time I listen to this record I’m reminded that I should probably mentally prepare myself before taking in a whole Tiny Vipers record, unsure if the tears that will inevitably form in my eyes are due to the inherent sadness being communicated, or if I can attribute it to the effect of the one-of-a-kind voice of Jesy Fortino. Four songs in, “Dreamer” hits the headphones; as she coos, “I’m dying for a way out,” I feel as though I’m vibrating on an inter-dimensional frequency, able to sense every haunting ghost, able to see each person’s natural aura of sadness in hues of deep blue. Even though I know this record isn’t for everyone, and though I can’t guarantee you’ll like this record as much as I did, I can guarantee it will change your perspective. If you let it, Life On Earth will overwhelm you. Whether you like it or not, the remainder of your day after a listen is liable to be heightened emotionally because of it. [Josh]

22. The Way We Live by Erik Blood (self-released)

It’s very possible that Erik Blood went around to every hot studio in London ,yoinked every good idea he heard and used it for himself. If he didn’t, maybe they should be coming to him, because he clearly has lots of good ideas. Early on, the title track, “To Leave America,” and “Home & Walk” all synthesize the best of the expansive guitar and organ Brit-rock sound (think Doves), while later in “Broken Glass” and “Too Early & Too Late” we’re notified Blood also has a handle on turning uncomplicated rhythms into sonically interesting pop songs that also sound modern. My one criticism of the record would be that the material is all over the place, and maybe he should have stuck to a rock record instead of including the final two R&B inspired cuts. But then again, “Better Days” is one of the stronger tracks on the record, fusing soul-ish singing with very rock backing to unexpectedly great results. There is something to be said for being able to do experiment with anything and make it sound not just good, but as good as those who do it best. [Josh]

21. Ali’Yah by D. Black (Sportin’ Life Records)

Though much of the recent focus on Seattle hip-hop has been tied to the so-called “3rd-wave” of party rap, one can’t ignore the continued influence of the second wave and its socially conscious approach to concept and performance. In his second album, Ali’Yah, D. Black does a 180 from his previous effort–a stereotypical rap record where he thought he had to be hard–instead opting to be completely REAL about his choices, his identity, and his mistakes. The record is an indictment of his former gangsta self, and by dropping in “The Return,” “I can’t associate with them fake ones/to add to their fake bullets coming out of fake guns,” he’s no doubt turning his back on old friends and the possibility of success by usual means. Yet one can only come away from this record with the conclusion that D. Black is not only confident in his conviction, but righteous. As I said earlier this year, “the force of his example on this record serves to quash any weak retorts that it’s not so easy to turn your back on the game. Not simply inflammatory words, he’s genuinely attempting to engage a nuanced conversation from the inside.” [Josh]

20. Shouting At A Silent Sky by Shane Tutmarc (self-released)

For almost the entirety of his musical career, Shane Tutmarc has been on a journey through history, beginning with an intense interest in classic pop lyricists before more recently being entranced by the gospel recordings of Elvis and the songs of the South. Billed as his first solo effort as Shane Tutmarc, Shouting At A Silent Skyis also probably the most complete, and therefore satisfying, of his recent records–though the Traveling Mercies records are notable themselves for their raw pre-rock quality. By recruiting a few ringers to form his studio support (local producer Johnny Sangster among them), Shane was able to focus on just being Shane at the mic, and the practiced performer really showed through. If Shane’s music occasionally seems styled from another era, just remember that when they came up with the term ‘Rock n’ Roll’, this is what they were talking about: dirtied up blues and church numbers warning about “Crimes of Passion” and the dangers of “Idle Hands.” [Josh]

Read the rest of Sound on the Sound’s Top 25 Northwest Albums of 2009 after the jump

Read the rest of this entry »