December 26, 2008
Since there were so many incredible local releases this year, it would’ve been negligent to not have a solely local Best Songs of 2008 list. I expanded the idea of ‘local’ to go beyond Seattle and include our musical neighbors to the south, Portland. Hope you enjoy my first Best of list of 2008, more lists coming soon!
1. The Moondoggies - Changin’
2. Wild Orchid Children - Birth of a Cabin
3. The Dutchess and The Duke - Resevoir Park
4. Kay Kay and His Weathered Undergound - Night of The Star Child’s Funk
5. The Whore Moans - Nerve Tonic!
6. J. Tillman - Steel on Steel
7. The Fleet Foxes- Mykonos
8. Sera Cahoone - Only As The Day Is Long
9. See Me River - Don’t Pray For Blood
10. The Hands - Praying Hands Make Fist (Or Be Chopped Off)
11. Blue Scholars - Butter & Guns
12. Bark Hide and Horn - Trumpeter Swan
13. Thee Emergency - Hopped Up For The Git Down
14. The Builders & The Butchers - Bringin’ Home The Rain
15. A Gun That Shoots Knives - Stay in School
16. Shy In Sunshine - Recognition
17. We Wrote The Book on Connectors - Mimosas
18. Starfucker - Pop Song
19. The New Faces - Impulse
20. Hey Marseilles - Rio
(p.s.) According to my Itunes, my most listened to local track of 2008 is Kay Kay’s: Night of The Star Child’s Funk.
Posted by abbey in Best of Lists, Features
Tags: a-gun-that-shoots-knives, Bark Hide and Horn, best of 2008, Best of Lists, blue-scholars, hey marseilles, j. tilman, Kay Kay and His Weathered Underground, local music, Seattle Songs, see me river, sera-cahoone, Shy in Sunshine, Starfucker, The Best Songs of 2008, the builders & the butchers, the dutchess and the duke, The Fleet Foxes, the new faces, the-Hands, The-Moondoggies, The-Whore-Moans, thee-emergency, Top 20 Songs of 2008, We-Wrote-The-Book-on-Connectors, wild orchid children
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December 3, 2008
The New Faces at the High Dive ::: Photo by Josh
Following their Sound Off! competition win, the New Faces have had a busy 2008, releasing an album and playing every venue that will have them, culminating in a Bumbershoot appearance at the EMP Sky Church. And this year’s momentum still hasn’t yet stopped for this trio: they’re playing KEXP’s Audioasis Benefit show this Saturday at the Sunset Tavern.
August 20, 2008
The New Faces ::: Photo by Josh
If, before you’ve even released a record, on the hottest day of the year, you can attract a full crowd to dance in a bar, you know you’ve got something going. That was exactly the case on Saturday at the High Dive in Fremont for the New Faces‘ record release show, and the trio seemed to appreciate the attention of playing to such an enthusiastic group. If there was any doubt as to whether these young gents are ready for their moment in the sun, with a new record titled Two Years out next week and a Bumbershoot appearance to boot, Saturday’s set was confirmation that no doubt should exist.
Two Years is a strangely mature sounding album for a threesome of under-agers, and so is their performance. Lead singer Nico Janssen’s voice is deep and expressive, youthful but not overwrought. The other two members sing backup and do it well. And drummer Conor Sisk is officially my new favorite drummer (around these parts at least) for his impressive display of precision drumming on Saturday, his style reminding me strongly of the National’s Bryan Devendorf. For Sisk, flash and volume take a backseat to the speed and finesse required to play the New Faces songbook, and he never misses a beat.
Being a local music blogger I’m often asked what are the best new things I’ve been hearing and seeing lately. I often struggle to come up with a good answer, because for a music blogger that is a loaded question. In the New Faces, I finally feel without reservation that I have an easy (and good) answer to that question.
Two Years is out in stores everywhere August 26 on Loveless Records. As the Sound Off! competition winners for 2008, the New Faces will be kicking off Bumbershoot Saturday August 30 at 12:30pm at the EMP Skychurch stage. On Monday August 25th at Noon they’ll be playing a live set in the KEXP studio’s. Could a local band have a better week planned out? I don’t think so.
The New Faces ::: Photo by Josh
Flickr: The New Faces Record Release Show at the High Dive with Man Plus, Elba and Paris Spleen on August 16, 2008
