The Ironclads CD Release Show ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

As a person who goes to grippa shows, it’s a hopeless task to put properly put into any meaningful order the favorite shows they’ve been two beyond saying a few were the very best or stand out as special moments and deserve recognition as such for the annals. So I’ve chosen a list of twenty shows and sets from this year that I’ll never forget, presented in chronological order.

Blind Pilot @ The Triple Door (January 2009) - read the full review

The Murder City Devils first show back at the Showbox at the Market (February 2009) - read the full review

Dan Auerbach at the Showbox at the Market (March 2009) - read the full review

The Ironclads CD Release w/ Hands, Whore Moans, What What Now (April 2009) - read the full review

Blue Moon 75th Anniversary Show w/ High Class Wreckage, Thee Emergency, Hopscotch Boys, and The Whore Moans (April 2009) - read the full review

The Lonely Forest CD Release at the Vera Project (April 2009) - read the full review

Bon Iver at Sasquatch (May 2009) - read the full review

Nurses at the South Pole (DIY venue) (June 2009) - read the full review

David Bazan in a Living Room in Edmonds (June 2009) - read the full review

Robin and Josh ::: Photo on Film by Josh Lovseth

Robin Pecknold at Neumos (July 2009) - read the full review

Rural Alberta Advantage at the Sunset Tavern (July 2009) - read the full review

Widower, Pearly Gate Music, Final Spins at Sunset Tavern (July 2009) - read the full review

Doe Bay Fest (August 2009) - read the full review

The Maldives CD Release at the Tractor Tavern w/ The Moondoggies and Zoe Muth & The Lost High Rollers (August 2009) - read the full review

Macklemore at Bumbershoot (September 2009) - read the full review

Dirty Three at the Crocodile (September 2009) - read the full review

Fanfarlo at Chop Suey (September 2009) - read the full review

Grizzly Bear at the Moore (October 2009) - read the full review

Black Eyes & Neckties Last Show (October 31, 2009) - eulogy never written

Regina Spektor at the Paramount (November 2009) - read the full review

Taking in the Bay at Doe Bay Music Fest ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

The Whore Moans ::: photo by Josh Lovseth  

Even exhuasted after three weeks of touring and (not) sleeping god knows where, The Whore Moans still put on a show that puts most rock bands to shame.  This photo is of the final scream on such a night at The Sunset Tavern this March when the band was just hours away from the bed they’d been dreaming of for weeks. It’s a moment of tirumph, agony, and punk rock all wrapped up in a classic Nikki O. and Jonny shriek. You can almost hear it through the photo.

People of New York City! Music bloggers who are lucky enough to be going to NYC for CMJ! Bookending this years CMJ festivities are two showcases featuring the talented bands and local labels of the Pacific Northwest, and we assure you, they are very worthy of your time. The Maldives, who tour minimally outside of Seattle are coming special for the Mt. Fuji showcase, so please don’t miss your chance to see them. And I think you’ve probably heard of a little Seattle label called Sub Pop and it’s offshoot Hardly Art…

October 20th at Bruar Falls, 245 Grand St.
Mt Fuji CMJ Showcase featuring
10.15pm Whore Moans
11pm Maldives
11.45pm Black Whales
(See the poster above)

October 24th at the Mercury Lounge
The Sub Pop/Hardly Art CMJ Showcase featuring
7pm Unnatural Helpers
8pm Dum Dum Girls
9pm Moondoggies
10pm The Dutchess & The Duke
11pm Golden Triangle
12am Pissed Jeans
1am Obits
2am Male Bonding

KEXP will be there broadcasting live performances every day and hosting a film festival. Locals the Blakes and the Moondoggies will both be stopping by to get in a session, in addition to bands like the XX. It’s actually a pretty wide ranging lineup, very much in the spirit of the fest.

There are a few other showcases which will will be featuring other Seattle area bands including:

October 20th at the Santos House Party Basement
10.30 Flexions
11.30 Unnatural Helpers

October 20th at the Suffolk
9.00 Tennis Pro

October 21st at Wicked Willies
9.00pm The Purrs

October 22nd at Googies Lounge
8.00pm Kasey Anderson

October 22nd at Union Hall
11.00pm Army Navy

October 23rd at Googies Lounge
7.30pm Kate Tucker

October 23rd at Crash Mansion (Downstairs)
9.15pm The Blakes
10.45pm Army Navy

October 24th at Union Pool
7.40pm Flexions

October 24th at the Gramercy Theater
10.10pm Blue Scholars

October 24th at the Suffolk
10pm D. Black
11.00 Champagne Champagne

This is your chance NYC to see a number of bands we’ve helped to get you to know and there’s plenty of talent to chew on from those listings alone.  Of course there is an insane number of other non-Seattle bands playing CMJ, you can find the complete schedule for the festival online.

Elvis Perkins ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Day One is done. We managed to avoid the rain completely and instead were drenched in good music and performances… a trend we hope that continues tomorrow. We’ll have full coverage later this week including posts and photos from new contributors, but to tide you over here are a couple pictures from today’s Bumbershoot. Speaking of tomorrow, we have some recommendations check them out here.

 Hey Marseilles at KEXP’s Music Lounge ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

Mayer Hawthorne ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

Nick of Elvis Perkins in Dearland ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

The Whore Moans Present! Black Atom ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

One Final Song ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

In the past three years of running Sound on the Sound, we’ve loved and lost a lot of great local bands. It’s the heartbreak no one warned us about when we started. Over the course of these three years, we’ve caught more final shows and sets than we would’ve liked, of some truly great bands. These shows are always bittersweet, because faced with the prospect of never playing together again, most bands bring it like never before.

Of all the final sets we’ve caught, none have come close to the emotional outpouring we witnessed and participated in for The Ironclads at the High Dive Saturday night. Rife with technical issues, it wasn’t the band’s best set, but it was unforgettable. People watched the set with quivering chins and tears streaming down their faces (and by ‘people’ I mean the Whore Moans, What What Now, this here music blogger and many others) as they sang along to every last word. The band itself fought back tears on stage and lost that battle, as a crowd full of friends and fans shouted requests, jokes, and “please don’t go’s.”  All bands have a cadre of friends, family, and significant others who come to their shows, but no band I’ve ever witnessed has had a more impassioned (and growing) group of followers than the Ironclads. Unlike any other group of supporters, their crowd mirrors the spirited verve that endeared us so to the band in the first place.

As the Ironclads finished what was set to be their final song, the bright, careening near chaos and infinitely sing-alongable “Bullet Train” — the crowd erupted into cheers of “one more song.” The audience’s cries for more were louder than anything amplified from the High Dive speakers all night. In a decision he probably regrets, but we are forever grateful for, the sound guy at The High Dive granted the audience’s wishes, by allowing the Ironclads to play one final song.

With the first frantic strains of “Cape Canveral,” the song that acted as my gateway to the addicting exhilaration of the Ironclads, it was clear that the crowd would not be contained. After some momentary mosh pit style shoving, a few brave members of the crowd stormed the stage to sing along to the ill-fated astronaut tune one last time. And after one person got on stage, the rest of the excited crowd wasn’t about to be left behind. The line of glasses hugging the stage’s edge, forgotten in order to better pump both fists in the air, tumbled and shattered with the rush of the crowd. It was chaos, but beautifully so. (Probably not so much for the High Dive, of course.)

With most mics pushed to the side by the storming crowd, the enamored audience, not the Ironclads themselves, sang lead vocals for that final song. Arms wrapped tightly around each other and heads tossed back in mix of a collective anguish and celebration, they sang louder with each repeated chorus of “CAPE, CAPE, CAN-AV-RALL. CAPE, CAPE, CAN-AV-RALL.” In that final bridge, with the plaintive a capella refrain of “I’M FREE, I’M FREE,” everyone laid bare their own overflowing devotion. And for one last wonderful moment, we were all Ironclads.

Phil and Thom ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

Thom and Nora ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

A Tearful Jamie tells the Crowd There Will Be One More Song ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

Jamie Enjoys Vocal Backing By Fans and Friends ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

One Last Song with The Ironclads ::: photo by Abbey Simmons

Flickr: The Ironclads at the High Dive, August 29th, 2009

The Whore Moans - Wall of a Song

So good to have video proof that our Blue Moon 75th Anniversary show was as crazy as we remember it being.

As we noted in our review of the show, a gaggle of A/V Kids and art students were there to record and capture the insanity of a Whore Moans set. And boy did they ever. This video is pure punk chaos.

A big thanks to Alex Hagenah who braved the pit to record this video and for sending it our way….it’s fucking awesome.

If our absolutely kick-ass poster, the Seattlest endorsement, the Stranger Staff Pick, or the jaw-dropping line up of local rock hasn’t convinced you to come to our Blue Moon Anniversary Celebration show tomorrow night already, well, you may be hopeless. (Or, alternatively, going to see The Thermals.) I am not exaggerating when I say tomorrow night’s line up is my dream local line-up. This is the line-up I’ve been trying to put together for almost three years, and it’s finally happening tomorrow: the Hopscotch Boys, Thee Emergency, and the Whore Moans all on my favorite stage.

If all that isn’t enough to convice you and you need just  tiny bit more encouragement to come out tomorrow night, I figured a little photographic encouragement could only help. So, here’s a taste of the insanity that will be occurring in celebration of the Blue Moon Tavern tomorrow night:

Hopscotch Boys:

Thee Emergency:

Whore Moans:

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Here is my list of what I consider to the be the “best” releases I’ve heard this year, full albums and EP’s, local and not, self-released or with a label. Regular readers probably won’t find too much surprising but there are a few that we may have not featured very much, probably because I just didn’t have too much to add to the already existing narrative. Most notable among that list is my number one choice From Emma, Forever Ago, by Bon Iver, AKA Justin Vernon. Each listen of this debut LP proffers a new detail to my ear and generates a renewed catharsis within my soul.

Before I start opining any further and get out of control (we’re saving that for next week’s official Northwest-themed lists), here are my favorites from the past year…

Josh’s Top 25 Releases of 2008

1. Bon Iver - From Emma, Forever Ago |myspace|
2. Dead Confederate - Wrecking Ball |myspace|
3. The Moondoggies - Don’t Be A Stranger |myspace|
4. J Tillman - Vacilando Territory Blues (Digital Release Only) |myspace|
5. The Whigs - Mission Control |myspace|
6. The Dutchess and the Duke - She’s the Dutchess, He’s the Duke |myspace|
7. Wild Orchid Children - S/T EP |myspace|
8. Kay Kay And His Weathered Underground - S/T LP |myspace|
9. Starfucker - S/T LP |myspace|
10. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours |myspace|
11. The Notwist - Devil, You + Me |myspace|
12. Noah and the Whale - Peaceful, The World Lays Me Down |myspace|
13. Land of Talk - Some Are Lakes |myspace|
14. Fleet Foxes - S/T LP |myspace|
15. The Dodos - Visiter |myspace|
16 See Me River - Time Machine |myspace|
17. Jake One - White Van Music |myspace|
18. Whore Moans - Hello From the Radio Wasteland |myspace|
19. The Pica Beats - Bring Back the Claws … |myspace|
20. Thee Emergency - SOLID |myspace|
21. Lightspeed Champion - Falling Off the Lavender Bridge |myspace|
22. The Saturday Knights - Mingle |myspace|
23. Army Navy - S/T LP |myspace|
24. Horse Feathers - House with No Home |myspace|
25. Crystal Stilts - Alight of Night |myspace |

The album I listened to the most that was actually from last year but didn’t discover until this year…

The Avett Brothers - Emotionalism |myspace|

You’ll notice TV on the Radio, Of Montreal, Portishead, and Deerhunter aren’t in there. Nor Lil Wayne. I’m sorry (but not that sorry) to say I’ve listened to all of these records and they just didn’t do it for me. Dear, Science is certainly an innovative record, but I didn’t connect enough to warrant the repeated listens of those listed above. Vampire Weekend’s record is another that fits that profile, a well realized album that unfortunately for me is without any lasting impact. And I’ve diligently searched for the quality in the Deerhunter album that has everyone shouting, but I’m just completely missing it.

Today you can buy the MP3 album of Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago from Amazon for 5 bucks. After my ringing endorsement, and at that price, you have no good reason not to go get it.

Here are my favorite songs of 2007. Just by coincidence, the last five of the first ten songs are by local bands.

1. “Fake Empire” - The National from Boxer

2. “Golden Skans” - Klaxons from Myths of the Near Future

3. “The Opposite of Hallelujah” - Jens Lekman from Night Falls Over Kortedala

4. “Heretics” - Andrew Bird from Armchair Apocrypha

5. “Reckoner” - Radiohead from In Rainbows

6. “Don’t You Know” - Whalebones from the Morning Man EP

7. “Attack of the Cobrasaurus” - Thee Emergency from the Live at Chuck Norris EP

8. “X-Ray Eyes” - Whore Moans from Watch Out For This Thing

9. “Paper Birds” - Siberian from Hey Celestial! EP and With Me

10. “For Rebecca” - Solvents from Manresa Castle

Ten other very worthy mentions include:
“Wet And Rusting” - Menomena from Friend And Foe

“I’m Gonna Live the Life I Sing About In My Song” - Shane Tutmarc and the Traveling Mercies from I’m gonna Live the Life I Sing About In My Song

“Seeds of Night” - The Cave Singers from Invitation Songs

“Talkin’ Nascar” - Bhi Bhiman from The Cookbook

“Is There A Ghost” - Band of Horses from Cease to Begin

“Nantes” - Beirut from The Flying Club Cup

“You’re A Wolf” - Sea Wolf from Leaves in the River

“Bur Oak” - Bowerbirds from Hymns for a Dark Horse

“Intervention” - The Arcade Fire from Neon Bible

“The Air We Breathe” - Figurines from When the Deer Wore Blue

My Favorite Covers of 2007

Numerous cover albums came out this year but far and above the rest was the I’m Not There Soundtrack, which included many current artists covering exclusively Bob Dylan songs from many different albums. My three picks I especially thought did justice to the songs and stand with the original.

“Ballad of a Thin Man” - Stephen Malkmus and the Million Dollar Bashers from the I’m Not There Soundtrack

“You Ain’t Goin Nowhere” - Glen Hansard and Marketa Iglova from the I’m Not There Soundtrack

“Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again” - Cat Power from the I’m Not There Soundtrack

Friday night at the Blue Moon, a few of our favorite local bands came together to benefit a new sound system for the Blue Moon, and it was a smashing success by all accounts. One day bar records were toppled and at one point during the A Gun That Shoots Knive set, the Blue Moon had to stop admitting people it was so full. In the many years that booker Jason Josephes (JJ) has been working the Blue Moon, he could only recall one other time where they had reached capacity and had to turn people away. I’ve been saying it for some time now and I’ll say it again: The Blue Moon is the place to be.

As we arrived Red Rapture had just finished playing to an full already bar who’s tenants ran the gamut from the usual regulars to freshly-arrived and wide-eyed college students. This show (or more precisely the Whore Moans) was recommended by the Stranger as the event of the evening in Seattle, so that probably accounted for the larger than expected crowd, but even full, the Moon never felt too claustrophobic or uncomfortable.

The Hopscotch Boys once again started their set with the full frontal attack, Blowdog wasting no time in wading into the crowd, going nose to nose and frenetically screaming in the face of anyone and everyone. Thankfully the slamdancers sat this one out, otherwise I had the feeling the night might start to get out of hand things were so intense. A Gun That Shoot Knives, fronted by Space Jesus Stubby tonight, followed and put on the best set of theirs I’ve seen in some time. As the last act of the night, the Whore Moans proved they might just be one of the most exciting acts happening in Seattle right now. They always seem to be having more fun than the rest of us.

As for the benefit element of the night, things could not have gone better. As I said earlier, a tidy sum was earned for a new sound system. Blowdog only got $7 stuffed down his pants during the Hopscotch Boys set, but between other donations and the bands forgoing their take for the night, day one of the benefit netted over a grand. Oh snap! To all who came: You guys are champs! Here’s a few pictures.

The Hopscotch Boys

A Gun that Shoots Knives

The Whore Moans