Results tagged “crocodile”

Don’t forget to grab a copy of GIVE, a new compilation featuring local and national musicians, including Ben Gibbard, Fleet Foxes, The Cave Singers, D. Black, David Bazan, Le Loup, and plenty more. The album, out today, costs $7 and is available online, in Caffe Vita shops, Easy Street Records,
 Sonic Boom Records, University Book Store, The Crocodile, Sorrento Hotel, and
 Neumos. 100% of the proceeds go toward Art Corps and Seattle area food banks. And if this rings your bell, keep your eyes open for the benefit concert on December 3 at The Crocodile.

CALL IT GOOF-HOP Kid Koala plays Nectar tonight. The Vancouver-born DJ makes relaxing hiphop/glitch-flavored songs. He’s one of those people whom it seems unfair to call a "DJ" because his records are more than remixes: his music is uniquely, goofily relaxing. His first record, Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, sounds like a dance club on Sesame Street. Kid Koala is a rare thing: a DJ who just wants to make you smile. With Adira.

Dirty Three play depressing but somehow uplifting songs. The group instrumental music takes elements from jazz, folk, chamber music, and traditional rock. They’re led by Nick Cave’s favorite violinist--fans of Cave’s brand of Australian literary post-punk rock will enjoy this.

John Vanderslice is such a nice guy that his niceness sometimes overshadows his skill as a songwriter. Vanderslice tours tirelessly, gives interview time to anyone who wants to talk to him, and promotes fellow musicians with the selfless dedication of a sidekick in a romantic comedy. That level of nice makes it easy to forget that he’s also one of the most interesting songwriters touring today.

• This morning, one lady driving her Mini Cooper wasn't feeling super-duper after she crashed into a parked car on Madison, and flipped her car on its side.
• Talk about a tough day on the job for Department of Ecology workers: today they received word that two trains cars collided, spilling nearly 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel on the train tracks in SoDo.
• Could more changes be coming to the Crocodile/Via Tribunali space at Second and Blanchard? Hideous Belltown snapped a few pictures of the missing wall and found more breezy cha-cha-changes are currently taking place. Because every bar needs a garage door?

CAMPY: Nina Persson was a teenage crush of ours, back when she was producing brilliantly guileless pop with her band the Cardigans. So it's nice to see she's back on the road with a new band, A Camp, which began as a collaboration between her and soundtrack artist/husband Nathan Larson (damn you!) and Niclas Frisk. Now they're touring with a veritable who's who of American rock, including Kevin Marsh of Guided by Voices and James Iha of the Smashing Pumpkins and A Perfect Circle, all in support of a brilliant new album called Colonia (their second) that's somewhat akin to what would happen if Abba bred with the Carpenters.

DEAD GIRL ART: Today it will be warm and sunny, which means it's a good day to break out of the office at lunch, snag a free parking spot at the Frye, and pop into their cafe for a bite before enjoying some disturbing paintings. Their exhibit Over Julia's Dead Body showcases Gabriel von Max, a Munich Secessionist "best known for his paintings of beautiful, dead women." Gabriel was into spiritualism, somnambulism, and painting with a dark palette.

Has anyone ever told you that you reminded them of someone else? More often than not, these comparisons are mildly entertaining. Sometimes comparisons can be flattering and other times, definitively less so. But regardless of where these comparisons fall on the spectrum, there comes a point where the novelty wears off and you want to be evaluated on your own merits. Murray Lightburn of The Dears reached this point some time ago.

THE BIG SHOW: Tonight is the official opening gala of the 2009 Seattle International Film Festival. The film showing is , a wacky British satire of contemporary politics, with a talented ensemble cast including James Gandolfini, who (except for Gandolfini) are expected to be in attendance at the gala tonight. For non-members, you can get in for $50, which gets you into the movie (at the Paramount) as well as a couple drink tickets and some hors d'oeuvres. For $100, you can access to the open bar. And for $200, you get the first-born child of one of Swaziland's most well-regarded actors.

Sweden is a country like no other. Somehow, its disparate raw ingredients, a few of which include a rich history of inclement weather, rule by Vikings, close-knit communities, and welfare states, have created some of the most affable, accomplished, and worldly people on the planet. Melding influences as varied as those that shaped his homeland, Emil Svanängen (under the pseudonym Loney Dear) creates some of the most beautiful and epically arresting music found anywhere on the globe. Like his fellow Scandinavian brethren Sigur Ros and fellow countryman Jose Gonzales, Loney Dear brings the world intricately crafted emotive music on a larger-than-life yet incredibly personal level.

Patrick Watson is no mere man; with his band The Wooden Arms (also the name of his new album, out last week), he's a rag-tag music machine. Using piano, guitars, ukulele, cello, violin, and horns alongside even more unconventional instrumentation such as bicycle parts and wine bottles, the Montreal-based artist gets comparisons to Andrew Bird, Jeff Buckley, and Sufjan Stevens. It's weird and wonderful stuff--chamber pop compositions by M. Ward's eccentric uncle--and it grabbed us immediately.

NONCONFORMIST INDIE ROCK GOD: That's right, Destroyer (aka Dan Bejar aka the "unofficial" wine-swilling member of the New Pornographers) is in town tonight, ready to baptize the new Crocodile with...frankly, you never quite know with Dan. One recent album, Destroyer's Rubies, opened with an over-nine-minute track, with Bejar announcing portentously, "Cast myself towards infinity, trust me, I had my reasons." Trouble in Dreams was summed up as "shitfaced" by Pitchfork, who also called Bejar an "untouchable wizard." What a character! If you haven't had a chance to visit the new Croc yet, this show is as good a reason as any.

BICYCLE ROLLING: Pioneer Square's 88 Keys Dueling Piano and Sports Bar is kicking off their roller biking (if that's an appropriate name) tournaments and grudge matches tonight. Wikipedia schooled us on the relevant history: bicycle rolling was originally popular in Britain in the 1950s. It also states that people would normally partake in the rolling matches before watching movies at the cinema (strange), or while waiting in between dances at dance halls (even stranger). Roller racing is still popular in Britain, mainly with the bicycle messenger community, heading tournaments under the name Rollapalooza. Bizarre? Maybe, but we're still curious about this seemingly grueling activity of biking on rollers to the imaginary finish line. 88 Keys will be supplying the bikes, but it is recommended to wear or bring street shoes.

In our continuing quest to get other people to do our work for us, we're accepting reader submissions for Seattlest posts. Enter, and if we select your blog post, you'll win a pair of tickets to the Tuesday (April 14) show at the new Crocodile, starring Dr. Dog, The Cave Singers, and Golden Boots. The rules are these: Enter by posting a link to your blog post in the comments section of this post. You have until 5 p.m. Monday. Then we'll pick our favorite, and reprint your post on Seattlest next week. We're leaving the topic open--just make sure it relates to Seattle in some way. PS: Make sure you didn't give us your spam email in your profile, or we won't be able to tell you you won.

It’s premature to judge the latest incarnation of the famed Second Avenue venue from one loud night there...but we will anyways. Pleasantly, there were less hipster types this time around, but then again Friday night’s sound wasn’t boring indie pop, so the rock may have scared some away.

• Seattle Metblogs sent Josh over to The Croc for last night's Soundcheck, and true to form, he brought back a report and some photos. Jealous!
• Mmm, fry bread. And mmm, justice! West Seattle Blog gives ups to the Duwamish tribal "Fry Bread For Justice" event happening this weekend.
• Andrew over at Seattle Transit Blog speaks up in support of the federally funded overpass between Microsoft's campus sections.

The pictures tell 1000 words, but here's 259 more on the new Crocodile.

• Big Blog won points with a post about The Bachelor's ex-wife and her YouTubed guest spot as a groupie on local band Out From Underneath's Seattle-heavy music video. Onwards and upwards, Gas Works Park.
• The blog formerly known as bigasscity is quoting none other than ZZ Top while crunching the numbers about Metro's projected budget shortfall and how much money the city could have saved by rejecting the bored tunnel viaduct replacement option.
• Cliff Mass thinks it's "pretty definite": we're looking at more snow, probably on Sunday. Actually, that works well with our schedule. How kind of the gods to check with Seattlest HQ's Google Calendar before sending the cold front!

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday! At Seattle's own Chop Suey: It's I! Heart! Rummage!

Mayor Nickels's mysterious two-pronged plan to "grow" the city's live music scene was unveiled at a press conference at Neumos this morning: first, the 2009-2010 city budget includes an admissions tax exemption clause for live music venues such as Nectar Lounge, Neumos and--if it ever opens up again--the Crocodile. And second, according to their press release, the Mayor's Office has compiled a "comprehensive nightlife establishment guidebook" (available online here) as a resource for business owners who are looking to open and run a successful music venue.