Currently dominating my playlist is NY band Dinosaur Feathers’ new record Fantasy Memorial. They playfully channel the vocal heavy, world music influenced pop that’s so in style right now into some of the catchiest, most dancinest pop songs I’ve heard in 2010. “Dancinest” is a word, right? It should be.

mp3: “Vendela Vida” by Dinosaur Feathers from Fantasy Memorial

If I could be at SXSW this week, this would be the band that I would probably have to see more than once. There sure are plenty of opportunity’s…

DINOSAUR FEATHERS at SXSW

3/18 - SXSW - Dominican Joe’s Coffee - All Your Friends Party - 2pm
3/18 - SXSW - Homeslice Pizza - Music by the Slice party - 5pm
3/18 - SXSW - Creekside Lounge - Pop Tarts Suck Toasted party - 9pm
3/19 - SXSW - Agave - Ghost Town day party - 1pm
3/19 - SXSW - Galaxy Room - Official SXSW showcase - 8pm
3/20 - SXSW - End of Ear - In-Store - 2pm

I eagerly await some west coast dates.

The Globes at Georgetown Music Fest ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Globes are going to SXSW this year. Though no official announcement from the Barsuk camp has made it’s way onto the net, we’ve known of their involvement with the label via seeing them make an appearance at the Barsuk holiday party, a few words in a column by Hannah Levin, and some other more informal channels. A look at the day-by-day schedule for SXSW and the Barsuk showcase gives us a clue that maybe we should be expecting an announcement soon about the partnership:

March 18, 2010
Red Eyed Fly
(715 Red River St) (18+)
Barsuk
The Globes 8:00 p.m.
Blunt Mechanic 9:00 p.m.
Pearly Gate Music 10:00 p.m.
The Wooden Birds 11:00 p.m.
Rocky Votolato 12:00 a.m.
Phantogram 1:00 a.m.

Local labels supporting locals bands is something we can always get behind.

Macklemore ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

This party just get’s better every year. Two stages and a hip hop showcase? This is how Seattle’s party at SXSW should be going down. It’s happening Saturday, March 20th at the Beauty Bar, starting 12 noon. It’s no doubt free, but you’ll likely need an RSVP. We’ll keep you up to date on that info as it arrives. On to the good stuff. Peep this year’s lineup:

Main Stage
The Cave Singers
The Dutchess & the Duke
Fences
The Lonely Forest
The Moondoggies
Rocky Votolato

Second Stage
Grand Hallway
The Maldives
The Staxx Brothers

Hip Hop Showcase
Dark Time Sunshine
Dyme Def
Grynch
Macklemore
Mash Hall (formerly known as They Live!)
THEESatisfaction

Um… can this party happen in Seattle?

The second stage isn’t a side stage, it’s the stage where the big bands get more time to setup. And a hip hop showcase is long overdue. The organizers definitely made this a destination party that well represents the face of the emerging Seattle music scene at this very moment.

Follow the action on twitter with @sxswSeattleParT and be a part of the action by tagging your posts #TheSeattleParty and #sxsw.

Src: Austin Statesmen

Rusty Gold from michael jeter on Vimeo.

[Warning: Video above may be NSFW. If you consider out-of-focus penis NSFW. -The Editor]

This is a tour to phone dad about. San Fransisco Americana-tinged mega-group Or, The Whale have joined forces with Seattle’s own likeminded mega-group the Maldives to make the ride down to SXSW this March a whole lot more fun. These two bands both put out strong records last year, made friends after playing a few dates together, and now they’re hoping to ride each other’s coattails a bit. Since my pop had to jet a bit early for my birthday show, this will be the show I’ll be making him the sell on. I don’t think it’ll be a hard sell at all.

The video above is a song called “Rusty Gold” from Or, The Whale’s self-titled LP, released in September of 2009.

Or, The Whale Winter 2010 Tour Dates

Feb 27th - Solana Beach, CA Belly Up Tavern
Mar 9th - Portland, OR Doug Fir Lounge ^
Mar 10th - Seattle, WA Tractor Tavern ^
Mar 11th - Cottage Grove, OR Axe and Fiddle ^
Mar 12th - San Francisco, CA The Independent ^
Mar 13th - Los Angeles, CA Hotel Cafe ^
Mar 14th - San Diego, CA Bar Pink ^
Mar 15th - Tucscon, AZ Club Congress ^
Mar 17th - Mar 20th - Austin, TX SXSW

^ = w/ The Maldives

The Maldives will be playing the SXSW Seattle Party themselves on March 20th, happening again this year at The Beauty Bar, where they’ll be joined by . Then they’ll looping around back into Utah and Boise for a few dates after SXSW. Those dates are below.

The Maldives at SXSW and beyond:

Mar 20th - The Beauty Bar - Austin, TX
Mar 21st - Lola’s Saloon - Fort Worth, Texas
Mar 24th - Bar Deluxe - Salt Lake City, Utah
Mar 25th - The Bouquet - Boise, Idaho

Tickets for the Tractor Tavern show on March 10th, a bill that also includes PDX band Weinland, can be had at TicketWeb for $10 adv.

Blind Pilot at the Triple Door ::: Photo by Josh

Blind Pilot is already having a banner 2009 and things are just getting started. Last week while they were in SXSW they had a set broadcast on NPR. A few months ago they were asked to play Carson Daly. Now as just as they roll into east coast, they’ve got the wind at their backs on news that they’ll be supporting the Decemberists for the first leg of the The Hazards of Love tour (including an already announced date at Sasquatch). We put their album from last year 3 Rounds and A Sound at #11 on our top Northwest Albums of 2008, so you can probably guess that we thought this course of events was destiny being fulfilled.

Youtube: “Go On, Say It” by Blind Pilot from 3 Rounds, And A Sound

All the new tour dates with the Decemberists are listed below the fold. For their currently in progress tour, they are playing the Mercury Lounge in New York, Tuesday March 31, before heading back to the west coast for a few dates in April.

Read the rest of this entry »

Did you miss the live broadcast of the Decemberists performing The Hazards of Love last night on KEXP? Whether you did or you just want to listen to it again, you can stream it at NPR.org and I highly suggest you do. It’s clearly a hot stream today considering I wasn’t even able to pull up NPR’s page earlier today. Featuring the full cast of characters in Lavender Diamond’ Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden, I think it manages to be as epic as the band had hoped. Also take a moment to swoon over the openers Avett Brothers set.

The Hazards of Love will be released in stores, next Tuesday March 24, but you can find it on the iTunes Store as I write.

The title track from the Thermals soon to be released 4th LP Now We Can See has been freely available for a while now, along with a couple of others floating around, but today’s NPR Song of the Day is a new one to me. It’s titled “When We Were Alive,” and doesn’t stray too far from the classic Thermals formula or the cultural introspection that proved so successful on the previous album with the opening lyrics “we closed our minds, we shut our traps, we built a house, the house collapsed.” Now We Can See arrives April 7, but for now, stream that song of the day above, and take home the MP3 below.

MP3: “Now We Can See” by the Thermals from Now We Can See out April 7, 2009 on Kill Rock Stars

After representing Portland and Kill Rock Stars down at SXSW playing no less than eight parties in Austin, the band will come back to the Northwest, to play a CD release show first in their hometown of Portland at the Wonder Ballroom on April 9, and then in Seattle at Neumos on April 11. Then it’s off on a 6 week tour of the lower 48. One thing seems a little special about the tour though, in that it seems they’ve gone to pains to make sure most of the shows around the country are all-ages or 18+.

This video is for “Everything With You,” the lead single from NY, NY’s The Pains of Being Pure at Heart’s debut self-titled full-length, which came out on Slumberland Records last month. They’ve correctly characterize themselves as “hyper-melodic”, and in our book that’s not a bad thing at all, because it’s all about the voices. In fact we happen to think their new record is catchy as all get out. A devilish fusion of the Smiths’ commitment to creating captivating vocal melodies and Belle and Sebastian’s knack for catchy upbeat pop, The Pains new record comes along at just the right time, filling the niche of music that can accompany me during the transition into the sunny summer months.

MP3: “Everything with You” by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart courtesy of Slumberland Records

MP3: “Come Saturday” by The Pains of Being Pure at Heart from The Pains of Being Pure at Heart courtesy of Slumberland Records

The Pains don’t have any dates yet scheduled for Seattle (the do for just about everywhere else in the world though), but Eric Grandy over at the Stranger promises us a summer date in Seattle will appear soon, so not to worry. Capitol Hill Block Party 2009 maybe? They are playing the Pitchfork Fest in Chicago Mid-July, among other festivals so something like that doesn’t seem entirely out of the question. And the Stranger is heavily involved in the Block Party each year usually…

Most immediately, this week The Pains of Being Pure at Heart are playing a bevy of dates at SXSW, all of which you can find below the fold. When I say bevy I mean ten, including four in one day, many of which some might consider the “cooler” parties, with two separate visits to Emo’s Jr in the same day. Impressive.

Read the rest of this entry »

For some the now certain demise of the P-I has been a forgone conclusion for some time and local freelance rock columnist Travis Hay having seen the writing on the wall has just relaunched his music column on his very own blog at earcandybeat.com. In his final P-I column published yesterday Travis talks about this week’s re-opening of the Crocodile, and how it’s a bit different on the inside than it used to be. A second floor even!

This Saturday Ear Candy is having a bloggy birthday show at the High Dive on Saturday and the lineup is a doosie, with Brent Amaker and the Rodeo, WE Wrote the Book on Connectors, Team Gina and The Fucking Eagles all taking the stage. For the occasion, Travis utilized the WE Wrote the Book on Connectors Songwriting Service (only $18 for a custom song) to write a theme song for his blog. The results are not bad.

As I told Travis in an interview a short while ago, I’m glad that he’s another active and enthusiastic voice out there supporting the local northwest music scene. There’s certainly room for more of those people. That he’s continuing his blog in it’s own space is a good thing.

SXSW (the music part) starts later this week in Austin and local labels will be well represented at this year’s fest. We’ve gathered the various official local label showcases for you to peruse into one post right here, with posters and all.

The first label showcase is represented by the above poster for Sub Pop Records. Happening Thursday March 19 at the Radio Room in Austin, Sub Pop will have an outside and an inside stage going featuring twelve bands in all. I’m feeling like the Sub Pop band to watch this year is the Obits (though the Vetiver album is damn good), so it’s nice to see them on the bill and playing a bunch of official showcases at SXSW. The complete schedule for that show is below:

Sub Pop SXSW 2009 Showcase (2 stages)
The Radio Room
March 19, 2009

8:00 No Age (outside)
8:30 The Baptist Generals (inside)
9:00 Red Red Meat (outside)
9:30 Mark Sultan (inside)
10:00 Obits (outside)
10:30 Daniel Martin Moore (inside)
11:00 Vetiver (outside)
11:30 Tiny Vipers (inside)
12:00 Blitzen Trapper (outside)
12:30 Pretty & Nice (inside)
1:00 Handsome Furs (outside)

Head over to Reverb to get a complete listing of all of Sub Pop’s band appearances in Austin over the week.

Next up is Barsuk Records, who this year is sharing a showcase with Merge Records, a label who this year is attempting to break Seattle band Telekinesis. This line-up is a dream and will be worth the packed Parish.

Merge/Barsuk Showcase
Saturday, March 21
The Parish

Telekinesis – 8pm
The Wooden Birds – 9pm
Lou Barlow – 10pm
Say Hi – 11pm
The Rosebuds – 12pm
Ra Ra Riot – 1am

This year Olympia’s K Records shares a Showcase with Sufjan’s Athsmatic Kitty Records and Tomlab on Two Stages.

The Asthmatic Kitty, K Records, & Tomlab SXSW 2009 All-Star Revue (2 stages)
Wednesday, March 18, 2009 (Starts at 8pm)
Beauty Bar (617 E. 7th St.), Austin, TX

(INDOOR)
8 - Jookabox
9 - LAKE
10 - Fol Chen
11- Rafter
12 - DM Stith
1 - Jeremy Jay

(OUTDOOR)
8:15 - What’s Up?
9:15 - NO KIDS
10:15 - Desolation Wilderness
11:15 - Tara Jane O’Neil
12:15 - Parenthetical Girls
1:15 - Casiotone for the Painfully Alone

This year Sarathan Records has an afternoon showcase right on 6th Street. Yeah!

SARATHAN’S 2008 SXSW PARTY!
Thu, Mar 13th Noon-5pm
Friends Bar (208 East 6th Street, Austin TX)
FREE SHOW • 21+
RSVP @ sxsarathan08@gmail.com

12:00 Abra Moore
12:45 Peter Bradley Adams
1:30 Jason & Rachel Trachtenburg
2:15 Two Loons for Tea
3:00 The Ettes
3:45 Feral Children
4:30 War Tapes

I’m an Idiot that was last year. Sorry.

Local label Loveless Records will be representing strongly in the form of the New Faces who are playing a couple of shows in Austin most notably SXSeattle, a free (RSVP HERE) Seattle-band centered showcase at the Palm Door. Here’ the complete lineup happening Saturday afternoon:

SXSeattle
Saturday March 21
The Palm Door in Austin

Blue Scholars and Common Market – 5:15
Past Lives (Former members of The Blood Brothers and Shoplifting) – 4:30
Barcelona – 3:45
Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head – 3:00
New Faces – 2:15
Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam Band – 1:30
Dynah – 12:45
Hey Marseilles – 12:00 Noon

Finally we have Kill Rock Stars, who are sharing a bill with Bitch Magazine this year at local hot spot Club Deville for a free day party on Wednesday. This is a positively rad bill and where I would be if I were in Austin come Wednesday.

Bitch Magazine/Kill Rock Stars SXSW Day Party
(This is a FREE event, no RSVP needed)
Wednesday March 18 Noon
Club de Ville, Red River
Featuring (no times are noted yet):

The Thermals
Marnie Stern
Thao with the Get Down Stay Down
Horse Feathers
The Shaky Hands
Paper Chase

Portland label HUSH Records isn’t having a showcase this year, but will be having a number of its artists playing in Austin. They’ve provided a handy schedule of all of those appearances on their blog!

For all of you headed to Austin here’s a word of advice that I offered earlier this week to another band heading down there: “Ease into it and stay hydrated. There will be just as much free beer on the last day as there is on the first. Trust me.”