BATTLING HIPSTER SHOWS: Which music venue will the hoodied fixie-riders descend upon tonight? We think the vast majority will suffer the all-ages (no drinking) five-band-strong line-up at the Vera Project with Raggedy Annes, Strong Killings, and Japanther. The stragglers, who can't see a show without PBR or at a venue off the Hill, will be heading to Chop Suey for Does It Offend You, Yeah? and Team Robespierre. more ›

U-N-I, the L.A. headliners at last night's show at Chop Suey, is the profoundly West Coast hiphop equivalent of human superficial fascia: loosely, intricately webbed, sticky, and pliable. Tricky, surprising beats backed Thurzday and Y-O's tight rap in a dizzying but relaxed kind of way. The night was solid for such an unsung show, with performances from some of 2008's most promising local acts: J. Pinder (his ballsy, impeccable timing meshing perfectly with high-power Vitamin D beats), the infectiously vibrant GMK, and Stranger fave The Physics. more ›

Despite what you may have heard the past few days--scuttlebutt about the sale of the Showbox Market and subsequent consolidation of venues at the SoDo location--it turns out that the original (and best) Showbox is staying right where it is, thankyouverymuch. Says Chad Queirolo, Talent Buyer/Manager for both Showboxes: It used to be once a year an especially virulent rumor that the Showbox lease would end in March. This has been happening for at... more ›

If you're a Cuban exile somehow randomly transplanted from Miami to Seattle, don't go see The Cook at Seattle Rep. The overwhelming majority of sources (including this play) depict you as pretty angry, and The Cook will only further piss you off. If you're anyone else, go see it--You'll love it, although it may also piss you off. If you're a hipster or, less likely, a commie, dress up in your little Castro hat for the occasion. more ›

Towards the very end of last night's People Talking and Singing, as the clock ticked past 10:00 and John Roderick announced he'd play another song and take a few requests from the audience, our butts chimed in: "Hey, this is starting to go on a little long." more ›

True confessions time: We've never set foot in 826 Seattle. We think we might have seen the building once, at night, while driving somewhere else. more ›

What the world needs is more shows like the one Portland's Hillstomp performed at the Tractor on Friday. Ok, we're predisposed to love this band for some reason, but after finally seeing them live we're absolutely sure the South will rise again. Will we be better off when they've transformed us all into dirty rockin hillbillies? Well, it'll be a change, at least. more ›

Or we should have gone to see Brand Upon the Brain. Or stayed home to watch 30 Rock. Even Dancing with the Stars probably would have been more exciting than last night's show at Neumo's. Normally, we'd side with Donte, but we're going to have to go with Eric Grandy over at the Stranger on this one: Project Jenny, Project Jan fucking sucked. Perhaps they were casualties of a nearly empty house, which seemed odd considering that doors opened at 9 instead of 8, and they didn't even go on until after 10, all of which may have had something to do with the absence of Dirty Projectors. Regardless, their music was flat and uninspired. We went expecting dorky raps with handclaps and cowbell--maybe a smaller-scale Scissor Sisters--and after just one song spent the set chatting with another Seattlest contributor over beers back at the bar as the monotonous beats drizzled in from the main room. We agreed that maybe if we'd stumbled into their set a bit tipsy with a full crowd, we could have gotten into it, but weren't certain even that would save them. more ›

About three lives ago, when we were living in a scientific research station in Ecuador, we watched The Postman (Il Postino) with a group of Westerners. After the movie, which is one of our favorites, we were sitting there, wondering why the room had suddenly gotten all dusty, when a privileged teenage British hipster/tourist named Aelys (pronounced like Alice, but her parents preferred the Welsh spelling) announced that she hadn't liked the movie because it was too slow. Charlie's Angels 2, she liked, but not this. more ›

The past two days, contributors Jeremy "The Seattle Samurai" Barker and Katie "The Kalama Quickdraw" Tiehen debated the age-old question of whether Seattle or Portland is better. more ›

Seattle. Portland. Which one's better? You may say: "How can you choose? Each has their good points. It's like asking which religion is better." Guess what, asshole, that Negative Nellie attitude is the reason nobody ever asks for your fucking opinion. Jerk. To the debate! First up, it's a pro-Seattle opinion. more ›

Sulking after having missed most of the music festival that took place in our own backyard last weekend, Seattlest ventured down I-5 to check out the northwest’s other early September music festival, Musicfest Northwest. We strolled over to Towne Lounge off SW Burnside St. Friday night for a roller coaster night of local sound and lots and lots cheap booze. more ›

After all, the Seattle P-I's got a story on the recent street violence, the Seattle Times has coverage of the war zone and the thug factor. And although three of the four incidents since June occurred after 10pm, it's easily worth the $500,000 the city will spend over the next four months to keep lunch hour safe in Westlake Park. We were there, and we've never felt more secure -- which was great because we couldn't find any bike racks in front of Westlake Mall and had to lock our bike to a trash can. more ›

KEXP is having an auction of some kind where they sell off a lot of crap they have lying around to the highest bidder. Fanboys and girls of the radio station can get a place at the High Dive VIP table, the transmitter, their urinal (those wacky DJs), or an evening with Systems Coordinator Cyrus Despres. more ›

It’s been just about a week and a half now since the grandmasters of interplanetary French electro-house graced Seattlest’s fine city. Now that the formerly much-anticipated Alive 2007 tour is almost over, Seattlest can only get its Daft Punk fix through the blogosphere, comparing online video posts and reading contentious hipster blogs that argue about at whom’s house the robo-duo first played. more ›

Oh Seattle, you make us feel so . more ›

Seattlest arrived on scene soon after the Capitol Hill Block Party had opened. We wandered, checked out the stage locations and thought about getting a beer, then spotted a booth touting free bottled water. It looked like the booth had something to do with praying to the Earth Spirits or some other new wave white hippy crap, but we decided to take our chances. We asked for a water and oddly enough their were no questions asked of Seattlest, no "Is your spirit at peace with the world?" or "Do you ever cry for Mother Nature?" We did, however, get thoroughly eye-fucked by our water purveyor. We told him thank you, took a mental bath and off we went to hear some music. (And before you reactionaries out there start accusing us of homophobia, get over yourselves. We're not talking about getting "checked out." We're talking about a look that said, Right now, in my mind, I'm eating spaghetti off of your chest.) more ›

British band The Klaxons started to receive attention almost immediately after their debut 2006 singles, as is prone to happen in the buzz-happy UK. The rock outfit is decidedly arty but catchy, hailed as champions of the "new rave" movement, a response to their citing influence by early rave culture. Thankfully, the "movement" never caught on Stateside, although the hipster set has all too willingly adopted neon back into their wardrobes. Despite that association, Klaxons have been touring non-stop since the release of their debut album, Myths of the Near Future, which doesn't smack of that rave influence other than in some of the song's energy and hints of psychedelia. It's worth ignoring the hype and simply taking the music at face value, since The Klaxons have produced a collection of songs that stand on their own. more ›

Seattlest caught the Hands at the Georgetown Music Fest a few weeks ago and their set inspired us to go out and get their disc "So Sweet" which we love, even though we could not deny it when a friend said it sounded like an updated Stones CD. The Hands and Thee Emergency are playing at the Funhouse on Saturday in a show where the Hipster Threat Level is "Very High." It should definitely be worth getting the boots out for, though. Here's Thee Emergency because we couldn't find any Youtube for The Hands: more ›

Ladies, now that Pride is over, are you looking for a rock show chockful of straight men? Tuesday at Neumo's, jazz-leaning post-rock godfathers Tortoise will play to a room full of guys, and you can have your pick of the litter. Whether your type is the indie rock snob, the closet prog lover, or the patchouli-reeking Phish fan, they'll all be in attendance, and they'll be glad to see a woman or two who also appreciates the experimental Chicago five-piece's genre-defying instrumentals. You won't have to buy a drink all night, guaranteed. more ›

No, Seattlest didn't quite make it to everything on the checklist we created last Friday, but we did manage to stay out past midnight on both weekend evenings, proving we've still got it after all. more ›

Hey, whaddya know? Ever since the Showbox upped the service fees and made a pact with the devil, their bookings have been less than stellar. In fact, we haven't been to the downtown venue for a single show so far this year, which is totally out of the ordinary. more ›

We here in the Ist-A-Verse know that we're sensational, but it's very rare that we get a chance to be sensationalistic. This week, we've decided to have ourselves a little fun and try our hand at tacky tabloid headlines, using nothing more than our favorite posts from this week. more ›

ELECTION NIGHT PARTY: Get happy with Cary Moon and the People's Waterfront Coalition, the prophets of the surface/transit waterfront. more ›

After spending all day yesterday leading up to the Menomena show at the Croc singing the Muppets' menah-menah doo doo da doo doo song in our heads, we were stoked to have a band that sounds exactly like Radiohead buzzing in our ears. Or, as it were, buzzing all over our bodies. (We were standing dangerously close to the speakers.) more ›

This past weekend Seattlest visited Gothamist's stomping grounds. We were there for the farewell shows of Rainer Maria, but had our days free to see the sights and take in the New York experience. We stumbled upon a once-in-a-lifetime event in the world of street art, and amazing as it was, we couldn't help but to be struck by what lessons it could have for Seattle. more ›

If you're still in the dark this week (and you're presumably reading this at work), well, here are some shows to keep you warm in the evening. If you've got power, take it easy and kick back with your friends and family. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone. more ›

Music: The electronic talent of Guillermo Scott Herren's Prefuse 73 show at Chop Suey tonight comes highly recommended from every quarter of the Seattle media scape, and after listening to some of his work you can see why. more ›

--Even The Stranger's Brendan Kiley, who knows from killing animals, is surprised that the U.S. Army tortures live pigs as a training exercise. more ›

Much like Izzy, Seattlest was curled up in a ball(gown) throughout most of the Grey's Anatomy summer break. Now, Sunday is the new thursday and it's just Grey's, OK? Saying the full name is so last season. more ›