The last full day of full viaduct closure, the city checks in to see how everyone's commuting week went. Also: John Doe apparently knows that the West Seattle Easy Street is the best one, West 5 gets 15 minutes, and the Seal Sitters have some more seal safety tips. more ›

EVERYONE IN THE CULT LOVES YOU: As we were saying the other week, tonight is a night that will live in Seattle rock 'n' roll history. The Cult is at the Moore, playing a live version of their smash 1985 album Love. That's hits like "Nirvana," "Big Neon Glitter," "Brother Wolf, Sister Moon," "Revolution," and "She Sells Sanctuary"--now how much would you pay? (Hopefully $30 or $40 because that's what tickets are going for.) more ›

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. more ›

What'll you have: Dewars or Redhook? Go to Saint, Hazlewood, Shorty's, or the West Seattle Easy Street Records tonight, plunk down some cash, toss back a drink and support The Vera Project, one of the city's most avid supporters and nurturers of Seattle's underage music scene. Starting tonight and running through Saturday, participating bars around town will donate money to the Vera for every Dewars or Redhook you buy in a fundraising effort called A Drink For The Kids. Locations switch up every night, so check the website for times/places. What a fantastic, easy excuse to get drunk and simultaneously support a very deserving local venue! more ›

For a brief moment last night, it was summer in Seattle. Inside the sold-out Ting Tings show at Chop Suey, it was hot and humid. The house was packed with young people drinking, dancing, and carousing. The music was pounding, and the gays were in full effect—all the trademark signs of summer. And then, about half an hour later, it was over. more ›

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Musicians who remain active in the recording industry for over 20 years usually become internationally famous and aim to save the world, or quietly cultivate a devout fan base by emancipating humanity one pair of ears at a time. Mark Pickerel—drummer, vocalist, and Ellensburg native—has followed the latter career path. more ›

Vedder’s first solo music video—for his critically lauded and Grammy-nominated Into the Wild song “Guaranteed”—airs on VH1 (and VH1.com) on Monday. Perfect timing, then, for the ever-more-famous guy to bump into his 1992 self while browsing Easy Street’s vinyl bins. Serendipity! more ›

The past few months have seen Mr. “Wes C. Addle”—Eddie Vedder—looking more like Mr. Tinseltown than just another (incredibly talented) Easy Street customer. Times don’t look like they’ll be a-changin’ in 2008. more ›

The last time multi-culti multi-genre singer-songwriter Manu Chao hit the Seattle area was at Sasquatch this summer (see above). Singing in French, Spanish, Arabic, Galician, Catalan, English, Portuguese, Italian, and Wolof, Chao fuses a variety of styles, including rock, reggae, punk and ska. So this ain't your grandma's drum circle's world music. There's no word as to when he's headed back to the Northwest, but if you're looking to experience the Spanish political punk in your own home, Nacional Records just released a limited quantity of the double vinyl version of his latest album La Radiolina today, available at Sonic Boom, Easy Street, and Everyday Music. more ›

This summer Manu Chao showed his love to Seattle (and the rest of Washington) with an explosive set at Sasquatch (above). The seriously broadly multilingual and multicultural songwriter—he's French-born and -raised of Galician-Basque origins and sings in French, Spanish, Arabic, Galician, Catalan, English, Portuguese, Italian, and Wolof, often mixing languages within the same song—Chao fuses a variety of styles, including rock, reggae, punk and ska. With his hodgepodge of genres and tongues, he crosses cultural boundaries and appeals to many listeners who don't typically dive into "world" music. No doubt that's part of the reason why he just won his first Latin Grammy. If you're looking to experience the true Spanish political punk in your own home, Nacional Records is releasing a limited quantity of the double vinyl version of his latest album La Radiolina tomorrow. It'll be available at Sonic Boom, Easy Street, and Everyday Music. more ›

After kittens yawning and cross-species friendship, dear sweet Jens Lekman may be the most precious thing found in all of nature. The Gothenberg Swede makes orchestral pop songs in the vein of Morrissey or the Magnetic Fields without even being gay (just European). To promote Night Falls Over Kortedala, one of the best reviewed albums of the year, Jens has been touring around the States with his almost-all-girl backing band: more ›

Finally, after five years of screwing around, making babies and whatnot, Imperial Teen are back with a new album and touring the country with their made-in-California indie pop. more ›

First things first: the Tegan and Sara show at the Triple Door tonight is sold out, but we did see a lot of SRO happening last night, so you might take your chances. Or simply show up at the Queen Anne Easy Street Records at 4pm today for their in-store appearance. Either way, they come highly recommended by us, and you might as well make plans to see them at the Showbox on December 3. more ›

We've seen Rocky Votolato's name splashed all over the web and heard the DJs out there mention him enough times that we finally had to stop and say, OK -- what's the deal with this guy. We streamed yesterday's live in-studio on KEXP and well, we didn't get much work done. So enthralled were we that it was all we could do to wiggle the mouse around, do a little tappy tap of the keys, make it look like we were working. more ›

Atlas Clothing at the corner of Pike and Broadway has been having a lot of success with their all-ages music shows recently so they're stepping up to two nights a week. Tonight are the Young Sportsman and tomorrow is Central Services and Shorthand for Epic. If you've been to Atlas for the clothes but not the music and are wondering how it's set up, it looks something like this. Here's the Young Sportsman from last year sounding very GBV: more ›

MUSIC: For the nine millionth time, get your ass to Easy Street to see Aqueduct's all-ages in-store performance. more ›

Have we mentioned that we're really enjoying the new Aqueduct? Because we are. Pitchfork hasn't weighed in on Or Give Me Death just yet, but we're fully expecting a glowing review. How could they not appreciate David Terry's catchy-ass pop songs chockful of witty lyrics? Come on! Do yourself a favor and stream the album here. Or, y'know, you could go out and buy it, now that it's available for purchase. more ›

If there's one thing singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist David Terry loves, it's a juicy pop hook. On his third Aqueduct full-length, Or Give Me Death [stream the entire album here], along with big drum sounds and ELO synth riffs, he's incorporated mariachi horns, string arrangements, layered vocals, and piano lines, making it his most mature release yet. And yes, we say that knowing full well that the album contains "As You Wish" [mp3], which just so happens to be the best blatant Princess Bride-cribbing song EVER. more ›

Steve Jobs announced yesterday that he'll advocate eliminating copy protection for downloaded songs, also known as DRM. We asked our various music dorks what they think. more ›

Tuesday, January 30 more ›

In the spirit of an earlier post in which we asked you to vote for your top-five albums of 2006 via KEXP, Seattlest would now love it if you'd narrow it down to your top-five Northwest albums via Three Imaginary Girls. In addition to letting your voice be heard, the girls are promising that every ballot cast will be entered into a drawing for a "prize pack of fun imaginary goodies." more ›

Tuesday 7th more ›

Wednesday 25th more ›

Seattlest doesn't find this picture funny at all. We know firsthand how hard those awkward years of high school can be. The pimples, the pants that didn't fit right, the God-awful hours spent wishing Heather Cannon would think of us as more than that creepy guy staring at her. If you think this picture is funny, well, you're a bad person. more ›

This was filmed at Easy Street in April and should be a pretty good indicator as to what to expect at the Showbox tonight. Give or take a bunch of smoke and water damage. more ›

After kicking our collective asses for four consecutive days, the heat is finally backing down. So pull yourself together. Go outside again -- especially to Capitol Hill this weekend. more ›

Continuing on with Musical Muwednesday you should pay attention to the band with the coolest name, if not the most original sound, ever: Editors are at Easy Street for a 6:30 in-store today if you're looking to get all close and personal with the boys. The Brits absolutely crush on these guys and when have they ever been wrong. Still, you haven't made it until you've rocked Easy Street Records. more ›

Back in 2002, the Crocodile had a perfect storm of a show, and not-yet-Seattlest was lucky enough to be in attendance for a bill whose lineup still gets followed to this day. The earnest indie rock of Mellowdrone, followed by the Brit-rock-with-tender-voices of both South and Elbow prompted Seattlest to spend more on merch at that show than has been spent since. As album release cycles go, they all still tend to hit Seattle on tour around the same time (Elbow two weeks ago, Mellowdrone soon), but it's doubtful that oh-so-perfect lineup will ever be replicated. more ›

Seattlest serves up musical jambalaya for the masses… Delicious! more ›