Besnard Lakes ::: photo by Brittney Bush Bollay

“Don’t put those in!” the woman to my right admonished as I reached for my earplugs. “Just listen and let your mind be blown.” Her eyes displayed such an intensity of conviction that I felt compelled to obey, and tucked the plastic case back into my pocket.

Despite the possible audiological consequences, my neighbor had the right idea. The Besnard Lakes make a sound so full, so rich, so textured that it really oughtn’t be diluted with any barrier. It needs to be heard fully, and perhaps felt fully too. It needs to wrap around your head and seep into your pores.

As the fog machine obscured my view and the music carried my mind away, I entered that trancelike state I was so familiar with from listening to Are The Roaring Night at home. Live, though, the experience was twice as intense. “This is the closest I’ll ever get to going to church,” said the man on my left. Packed together in the small, foggy room, the audience transcended our day to day cares. With The Besnard Lakes as our spiritual guides, we ascended, and we flew.

Read More from Brittney about The Besnard Lakes: HERE

The Morning Benders at the Crocodile ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

BIG ECHO will be without a doubt one of my favorite records of 2010 once it ends. An energetic and ethereal set at the Crocodile a few weeks back by San Fransisco’s The Morning Benders only impressed the sense of vintage grandeur that sets this band apart, to be asked along for inernational jaunts by the likes of Grizzly Bear and . They’ve released a new video for the song “Promises,” and it’s tongue-in-cheek depiction of an underage hipster Bonnie and Clyde could be described as cute. I don’t like the word “cute” usually, but for this video it seems to work. In a Wes Anderson kind of way.

They’ll next be back in Seattle as a part of an effort supporting the nationwide Broken Bells tour when it swings through an already sold out Showbox at the Market on May 25th. For the rest of us I’m hoping Block Party is smart enough to snag ‘em…

Fanfarlo ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

I’m on time for work, always. So why do I have to be late for shows, even when I am actually trying to show up on time? Inevitably, the shows we end up late for have a super sweet band who we catch only a song or two of. Dropping in on the second to last song of April Smith and the Great Picture Show who was filling the early opening slot for Fanfarlo, might’ve been the worst mistake I’ve made yet this year. People were swing dancing up front, and everybody I talked to was talking about her after the set. Oh well, next time I guess. There will definitely be a next time. She has personality.

This was already my “next time” with Fanfarlo, and once again I had enticed a few others to come out to the show. Though Fanfarlo is a U.K. based band, they’ve hardly been resting on their laurels and have been working Seattle hard, swinging through three times in the last six months. Considering they’re still a relatively new orchestral indie band, the buzz in the room just preceding the set felt unusual, and once things got going an unusual amount of dedication was out on display. I suppose great bands bring this kind of thing out in people, but uptight Seattlites aren’t usually the ones to show their love so in the open. Then again I could hardly fault them given my own strange love for this band.

Everything about this band’s presence indicates they’ve got a momentum like I haven’t quite seen since Grizzly Bear following the release of Yellow House at Neumos. There was something magical in the air that night I couldn’t put my finger on, something that has now taken them places, and has had me and seemingly everyone else enchanted ever since. Whether or not Fanfarlo are another Grizzly Bear, at this point I couldn’t say. But I most definitely can say that Fanfarlo continues to keep me enchanted. And that there will undoubtedly be next time with them too. Another next time. Not many bands can keep my attention in this way anymore. Yet Fanfarlo does.

Yes, there is definitely something magical here.

April Smith and the Great Picture Show ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

April Smith and the Great Picture Show ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

April Smith and the Great Picture Show ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Fanfarlo ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Fanfarlo ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Fanfarlo ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Flickr: Fanfarlo with April Smith and the Great Picture Show at The Crocodile

Don’t get me wrong. I love guitars. I’ve been attempting to teach myself (with the help of friends) for almost a decade now. For the past fifty years the amplified electric guitar has held sway as the front-and-center-piece of American popular music thanks to the Chuck Berry’s, Jimi Hendrix’s and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s of the world. But in the new decade we’re entering into, I’ve got a feeling the supremacy of the six-string will come to it’s close and a more fully featured version of our popular music will find it’s footing. In 2010 I’m looking to bands like Freelance Whales, The Local Natives, Dinosaur Feathers, Beach House, Joanna Newsom, and of course Arcade Fire (new record promised!) all to prove me right and steal thei share of the spotlight this year. (Some are derisively terming this emerging group of bands as ‘NPR Rock,’ and I think Michael Azerrad recent defense of them is right, defending the results of practiced and serious musicians as being “constructive in an intelligent, open-hearted way.” Being earnest never got anyone any legitimate rock cred I guess.)

Two bands who can count themselves among the vanguard of this new, more expansive pop movement are playing the Crocodile this Wednesday February 24th. Headlining is U.K.’s Fanfarlo who we’ve gushed about previously, making one of my favorite records of 2009. Filling the warmup slot is April Smith & The Great Picture Show who are just popping onto our radar with her bawdy, over-the-top singing, sly winks and cute dresses.

At first blush, Smith is a character out a musical, larger than life and blissfully unaware she should be anything but herself. The video I’ve featured above of her doing the short number “Maybe” explains her appeal far better than I can say in words. If you have heard of her, you’ve probably heard her single “Colors”:

MP3: “Colors” by April Smith & The Great Picture Show from Songs for a Sinking Ship

If you’re still on the fence about showing up early Wednesday, Daytrotter recently published April Smith’s session, which in four songs gives a good sense of what she’s really all about.

Update (2/23): Starting today at Spinner you can stream all of April Smith’s new record Songs for a Sinking Ship.

Atlas Sound readies the crowd for “FOLK JAMS!” ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

As Atlas Sound’s Bradford Cox arrived to the Croc via Taxi just before showtime and shuffled through via Tribunali with bags full of pedals, we realized he was probably coming from weather-wracked Atlanta. Cox remarked from the stage that indeed his journey was “interesting” and lasted 14 hours, though it didn’t seem to dampen his spirits one bit. If anything the situation made Cox talkative and far more comfortable being the sole person on stage as a sole performer than I could have imagined for a guy who usually filter’s himself through layers of pedals. By the end of the night, we’d been asked to imagine the Croc as Cox’s bedroom, “a safe place” to share “folk jams” among friends. Cox’s humor made for a highly memorable first live Atlas Sound experience, and even missing his “poltergeisty” voice appliance cuts like “Walkabout” and “Criminals” turned out incredibly good live.

Fresh Espresso tried to get things going early, but with a restless crowd who would rather talk than participate, the usually strong interactive elements of the set came off flat. They were the only of the three acts appearing this night to also appear on the Sasquatch line-up, and I think their style will go over a bit better in that setting. And though their record Astrocoast is a great record, headliner Surfer Blood may be suffering a bit from over-hype, being asked to headline before they’re completely ready for that expectation. I’ll be ready to hear these gents again in 6 months, once they’ve doing it every day for a while and they are as tight as can be.

Following the second band, threaded together crowd-sourced video’s created for the “I am Sasquatch” campaign revealed revealed the big names on the line up to the delighted squeals and cheers of hipsters surrounding me. Vampire Weekend and LCD Soundsystem were the big winners on that count, with Massive Attack being the big silent “Wha?” For us of course the small names and locals who didn’t get mentioned were the highlights of the full list: Nurses, The Local Natives, Shabazz Palaces, The Lonely Forest.

Adam Zacks, you’ve done it again. I mean where else can you see Ween and Public Enemy on the same stage?

Fresh Espresso ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Fresh Espresso ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Atlas Sound ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Surfer Blood ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Surfer Blood ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Flickr: The Sasquatch Launch Party at the Crocodile with Surfer Blood, Atlas Sound, and Fresh Espresso

Surfer Blood at Chop Suey ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Want to get an early line on those sure to be in high-damand ticket’s for Monday’s free Crocodile show that aren’t even available yet? Here’s how:

Esurance is currently running a ticket giveaway via Facebook. All people have to do is tell us what their favorite song would be if they were Sasquatch, himself. Our favorite three answers will win a pair of tickets to the Launch Party on 2/15. Winners will be announced tomorrow morning at 9am. All the details can be found at www.facebook.com/esurance.

Sasquatch is doing something a little different for the 2010 festival. They’ll be announcing the festival’s eagerly anticipated line-up at a free live show next Monday (February 15th) at the Crocodile. The evening will feature three bands we’d be thrilled to see at Sasquatch itself: the summer sounds of Surfer Blood, the epic experimentation of Bradford Cox as Atlas Sound, and Seattle’s favorite party soundtrack, Fresh Espresso.

It’s a line up that would sell out if The Crocodile was charging $20 a pop, so you better believe it will be a packed show with that oh-so-enticing free price tag. Here’s how you can guarantee you’ll not only see three great bands, but you’ll be the first on the block to hear who’ll be serenading you over Memorial Day Weekend.

Free tickets are available courtesy of Esurance by listening to 107.7 The End all week to win, or by stopping by either Easy Street Records locations starting Friday, February 12^th at 9:00 a.m. (limit 2 per person).

Discs of Fury vs. the Bat Lord ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

For one night only, the Discs of Fury brought another epic tale to the Crocodile stage, an original rock opera that makes others pale in comparison, or at least pale that they’re in any way associated with these laugh-a-minute goofballs of uncommon musical ability. The journey of the pre-destined hero has been rehashed countless times over, but it’s never been told quite like the story of Marvin Lazer and his quest to vanquish the Evil Bat Lord of Ganymede. Though Discs of Fury is by it’s very nature making fun of the classical hero story arc and so all of the elements are familiar, in no usual fantasy tale would you expect the mark of the hero to be a “THUG LIFE” tattoo across the span of his back or have a typical Van Damme action movie training montage reinterpreted into a live (and highly comedic) form.

Though the performance is an unabashed parody, it’s a parody with real guts: Discs of Fury are an honest to god arena rock super-group. Every instrument has a massive presence, to match with protagonist Marvin Lazer’s son-of-Freddie-Mercury pipes. A joke transformed into a Queen song will be almost invariably funnier than the original. An entire joke hero story expressed in song is pee-your-pants funny. For an hour and a half.

As promised WE Wrote the Book on Connectors were incorporated into the story, as shiny sequined “Captains of the Future,” with drummer Rick filling the shoes of the JERKBOT, of course. (Because Rick IS a jerk.)

Travis of WE ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Rick enjoying the big kit ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Mike is smokin’ hot on that guitar ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Discs of Fury ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Fated Love? ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Wait. Robots from the future in a fantasy epic? ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Obligatory Training Montage (which leads into the obligatory dance party…) ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Flickr: Discs of Fury, WE Wrote the Book on Connectors at the Crocodile

Saturday - January 23, 2010

ROCK OPERA at the CROCODILE

starring DISCS OF FURY and WE WROTE THE BOOK ON CONNECTORS

Don’t miss a show to surpass all in recent memory - mythic champions wandering through the mist and on to the Crocodile’s stage. This teutonic rock opera continues Wagner’s rich tradition of the Campbellian hero-cycle and pairs all the Sturm und Drang implied with Queen-level bombastics and fantastic period garb - for one night only at the Croc.

Freely toss aside your pansy Gilbert and Sullivan sensibilities, as the soapy romance of Carmen and Madame Butterfly doesn’t enter into this Cambell-style Journey of the Hero. This night, a looming mountain of entertainment beckons you to embrace its ROCK.

SOUND ON THE SOUND cries: “Part Freddy Mercury, part Pete Townshend, and part Hedwig, Marvin Lazer spared no calorie in his quest for vocal supremacy. I swear to god I felt like I was in the middle of an eighties action movie during a couple of the training montages. It truly was a Rock Opera for the Ages.”

…it’s another all-out night of fun; a ROCK OPERA-tunity you shouldn’t pass up.

Tickets available $12adv / $15dos

“Yes!” We cry! Do not miss this show. This time around they’ve got a new storyline and are incorporating WE Wrote the Book on Connectors into the production. It will literally be a new epic tale. Making fun of old epic tales. You don’t have to be a nerd to love this stuff.

Please take a moment to remind yourself what you will be missing should you neglect to mark out this date on your calendar.

Discs of Fury ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Pearly Gate Music at the Sunset Tavern ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The album to be released by Pearly Gate Music on Barsuk Records next year is without a doubt my “Most Anticipated Release of 2010.” Self-professed shut-in Zach Tillman doesn’t write his songs with a voice quite like any other songwriter I’ve heard. With a mix of dry humor, confessional romanticism and old school folk songwriting, he strums away at his nylon string guitar and sings spiritually, the songs representing a process of personal catharsis it seems as much as a performance for others who happen to be in the room.

In Seattle, Pearly Gate Music is usually an entire band made of Tillman’s brother and some fellow Siberian conspirators. This picture is of Bill Patton, pedal steel guitarist of that band.

Pearly Gate Music opens for J Tillman at the Crocodile on Friday December 11th.