Kim is relieved the debate is actually going to happen. She'll be watching with friends tonight before working all weekend. Saturday, she'll take a break for a quiet night out, and then she'll close the weekend off getting funky in the balcony of Jazz Alley with Maceo. You can take the boy off the farm, but...MvB will be spending Saturday in a barn, hauling away old equipment, so Sunday he'll be recovering at Top Pot,......

Last night at Benaroya Hall, author Richard Powers read from a new short story called "Modulation." It was classic Powers; a dense, far-reaching, and meticulously vivid tale of a computer virus that infects music player devices via filesharing sites. He weaves the story around four different individuals: a Japanese hacker recently released from prison and now employed by the RIAA to huntdown filesharers, a Brazilian journalist researching soldiers in Iraq who blast ear-crunching music from......

Alas poor Ulrich. We knew him, Horatio, way back when he was just a simple German lad, before his first two albums dropped, and certainly before he spent years recording his latest LP, Goodbye. Seamlessly merging full-fledged songwriting and indie shoegaze elements with electronic music, Schnauss' third album features heavy delays, dense synth echoes, and major guitar reverb, all in all a veritable tower of song. No wonder Goodbye took three solid years of......

For local fans of electronic music, it's finally the weekend you've been waiting for, as it's time for the third edition of the Decibel Festival, starting tonight and running until Sunday. The festival promises some of the world's best electronic music artists, and this year's addition of Optical, promises some of the best multimedia as well. Hardcore followers of electronic music scene don't need any advice regarding what they should see this weekend. They bought......

A little something for everyone. Consider next Monday's show the icing on the delicious music-y cake. Tuesday 12th >>> Sarathan Records Showcase w/The Purrs, Two Loons for Tea, Christopher Blue, Shane Bartell at Neumo's. Local label Sarathan Records is going to show off some of the bands on their roster. They've got great t-shirt designs, so the merch is top-notch. 8pm; $5. 21+ >>> Jeff Lang at Tractor Tavern. A blues guitar master from......

[This is part three of a series of posts on Movement, Detroit's Electronic Music Festival, held Memorial Day weekend. Part one introduced the festival using Seattle events as points of reference. Part two described the musical experience.] Along with a Seattle contingent of attendees, the last few editions of the Detroit Electronic Music Festival have featured Seattle talent on the bill. Last year Jeff Samuel played the Paxahau-sponsored Underground Stage, while Jerry Abstract played an......

[This is part two of a series of posts on Movement, Detroit's Electronic Music Festival, held Memorial Day weekend. Part one introduced the festival using Seattle events as points of reference.] As with any good music festival, Movement/DEMF draws the crowds by way of compelling musical acts. Despite the festival organization moving to new hands once again this year, the lineup didn't suffer at all, managing to provide a large degree of variety and exploring......

Seattlest has mastered the art of being in two places at once. Sasquatch took part of our attention for the long weekend, but we also managed to get ourselves to Detroit for Movement, Detroit's Electronic Music Festival (DEMF). Started in 2000, the festival has operated as a celebration of Detroit music culture, with a primary focus on techno. Seattlest has attended almost every year since the second, with this trip providing an annual highlight. In......

The middle of the year is approaching, so we think it's fair to give you an update on the folks we listed as creating some of the best tracks to come out of the area last year. For those of you who missed out the first time, here's a second chance to hear what the Pac NW is putting out into the world. Suntzu Sound - Tickles SunTzu Sound is building on their momentum in......

You've got two options for where you should be Saturday night. Sure, there's more going on, but you'll have to trust us when we say that these two are where the action is. Anything else just won't be as good...unless it is. Buzz has been high for the Seattle return of Jamie Lidell. After stealing the show opening for Four Tet last year, the praise has been non-stop, and rightfully so. Lidell manages to make......

There's nothing like a lack of information to build curiosity and suspense. Local label/collective Mass Mvmnt (read "Mass Movement") has taken that approach very much to heart, with only a trickle of information being released over the last year. The veil of secrecy is being removed tonight however, with a showcase at the War Room featuring almost their entire roster in celebration of new releases by FCS North and Time Promises Power. So why all......

It'd be nice to be able to say that the electronic music scene is able to avoid the trappings of the Seattle hipsteritis. You'd think that when most of your product is meant for dancing, that that's what a crowd will do. Hardly. Even with a healthy crowd, it takes a lot of time (and liquid courage) to get a crowd worked up, and that's usually "worked up" by Seattle standards, which implies a lot......

ConWorks has been bringing some interesting acts into their renovated lobby/stage space. The diversity in the inaugural lineup is nothing short of impressive, ranging from jazz to electronic music, from those with followings to the more obscure. The primary issue thus far has seemed to stem from a strong lack of promotion. Perhaps the art crowd is in the know, but knowledge of this set of events has yet to really percolate into the public.......

Do you remember the nineties, when electronic music was hailed as the "next big thing?" MTV had its show Amp, which showed nothing but videos from electronic artists (some of them absolutely amazing). The rave scene was in full swing, and glowstick shares were trading up. Of course it couldn't last, and it didn't. There are plenty of reasons why it didn't work out they way some executives thought it would, but the lack......

Last week Seattlest went to a rave at the never-mentioned Aristocrats. While not quite a resolution for the new year, we're certainly trying to experience some new things, musically and otherwise. It wasn't the most attended party in history, but it was fun to hear some gritty house and ghettotech on a club system and to see that the younguns are still out there for their beat marathons, despite the same claims that plague the......

After bringing in the new year with an exercise of excess (well, unless you're Seattlest), you likely created a new resolution to take it a bit easier on yourself. Well, it's been the better part of a week and the weekend is approaching, so it's time to realize that you made that resolution in haste, and you should be more realistic and adjust accordingly. Excess is fine, so long as it's in the right groups......

The past year has been a good one for Seattle. The Decibel Festival, Red Bull Music Academy, and one-off shows brought in talent to a degree that's inconsistent with the actual size of our metropolis. Seattle's producers and DJs also managed to make waves outside the region, with well-received releases and appearances at world-reknowned festivals. Most importantly, the year is closing with strong momentum, setting up next year to further propel the Seattle scene. In......

Like jazz, DJ-oriented music actively fosters the idea of the remix, artists stripping a song to its essence before building it into a new whole. The best remixes blend the characters of both the original producer and remixer, resulting in a track that's neither here nor there, but both at the same time. Tonight's ArRange performance at McCaw hall remixes the concept itself, with some of the most influential producers of the last 40 years......

The Red Bull Music Academy continues to march its way through Seattle's clubs, and it continues to only improve in its offerings. It was thought that the main education would be by the few lucky attendees. As it turns out, the Academy is educating Seattle crowds as well, with lecturers' DJ sets providing lessons to their respective listeners. Monday Biz Markie taught us left coasters a little about classic hip hop (with only a few......

Seattlest fell fast in love with Nortec Collective's Tijuana Sessions Vol. 1 the moment we heard it. We were finally coming down off our Ozomatli high (insanely good salsa music, smooshed together with really good hip-hop and the best live shows we've ever seen) and stumbled across it, thanks to Amazon's recommendation engine. We love really good, complex, electronic music such as Amon Tobin, Prefuse 73, and Squarepusher. We are also, independent of that, big......

1) Mercir (EMP Sky Church) - We started the day with some electro indie rock. With moody vocals, usually more atmospheric than lyrical, this three piece uses guitars, keyboards and a latop computer to create a rich wall of sound. 2) Citizen Cope (Main Stage) - We keep hearing about how great Citizen Cope is. That “Bullet in a Target” song is everywhere. Prior to Saturday, the other songs we heard by him (aka Clarence......

Prepare to have another of your September weekends booked up. This year's Decibel Festival website was officially released on Tuesday, coinciding with the launch of presale passes last week. For those of you unfamiliar with Decibel, it's Seattle's own electronic music festival, bringing in DJs and producers from around the world, but with special emphasis on the regional scene. Spanning across five venues, Decibel will take over from September 22-25, with a mix of DJs,......

Our friend really loves the Ruby Doe, playing the Sunset Tavern tomorrow night. Our friend's two favorite bands of all time are Helmet and Soundgarden, so if you happen to share his opinion, you might want to stop on by. He also loves chicken wings and nachos, so you might want to grab a bite before the show. If you are more into the Arcade Fire, then you might want to go to Neumo's tomorrow......