Neumo's was humid as a swamp, and crowded with Rocky Votolato fans who sang along under their breath to every song, from the trim blonde woman in the black slacks and black summer-weight jacket, chunky blonde leather bag slung over her shoulder, to the greasy dark-haired guy in beat-up jeans, with sleeve tattoos. "It's good to be home!" announced Rocky, and then laughed post-ironically. After an 8-month European tour, he's back in Seattle for a......

Here's the whole story: Wednesday night we went to Neumo's to hear We Are Scientists (WAS). There. That's not a good story? Ah, okay, okay, we'll...we'll punch it up. More first act? We Are Scientists are not scientists (Ha! Misdirection!) but are two guys called Keith Murray (guitar, lead vocals) and Chris Cain (bass guitar, backing vocals), and then there's two other guys, a drummer and a keyboard fellow. (We're tempted to go on and......

Tonight, head out to an event that will keep your finger on the pulse of the Seattle music scene. Seattle’s very hidden and very trendy Sole Repair Shop hosts six local artists: The Half Brothers, birds may bite, Gretta Harley, Johntana (featuring John Osebold of the indie-prog band “Awesome”), Trent Hill and Misty Weaver. It’s also the CD release party for Misty Weaver’s “Lost Saints for Long Roads,” and includes a cakewalk (win non-edible......

The end is near! You're running out of chances to stand in line for a SIFF film, so if you haven't yet, get on it. Things wrap up this weekend. In the meantime, here's the rundown on our picks for today through Thursday. It's quite a week. For all SIFF screenings, the general/member ticket prices are $11/$9 (and matinees $8/$7), except for gala screenings and other special events, which cost more. It's your last chance......

Last fall, the blogosphere was abuzzin' about Jacksonville, Florida's Black Kids. Their self-produced debut EP, Wizard of Ahhs, garnered them some major attention on both sides of the pond when they made the four-song demo available for free download via the MySpace. The Kids' five-piece band (two of which are indeed black) make catchy, driving, dance-happy songs somehow reminiscent of both The Cure and Go! Team. They've just wrapped up touring the UK, they......

Part of the reason we Zipcar-ed out to Ballard was to see the space that The Space (aka the 608 Club, at 608 NW 65th) is in. We found a door that said 608 on it and walked into a foyer crammed with electric organs and keyboards and a couch. People glanced up at us, but we kept on, down a hall to a small merch table that also contained a paper bag filled with......

Hollywood Knowledge: Tonight the Northwest Screenwriters Guild hosts a talk with special guest actor/screenwriter Walter Dalton. Dalton has written for TV (Laverne and Shirley, Barney Miller, Benson) and appeared on it (Rhoda, Mork and Mindy, Northern Exposure, and Millennium). He'll discuss a Hollywood career's ins and outs, then hang around for a Q&A session. Saturday he'll lead a workshop on pitching. Friday 7-9pm, Saturday 10am-2pm // NWSG, Clear Channel Bldg, 351 Elliott Ave W......

Indie underground vets Les Savy Fav manage to be both experimental and catchy. It's a tough balancing act, but the NYC quartet pulls it off with aplomb, especially on latest (and greatest) album Let's Stay Friends. The art-leaning band with academically-inclined lyrics is equally well-known for its intense live shows, with frantic frontman Tim Harrington providing a great deal of the spastic energy and wildman antics, as well as the costumes and gratuitous nudity.......

Seattlest feels dirty (not in a good way) after reading the Oxford American's article on indie rock and Seattle. Bill Wasik's piece about indie rock and the blogs and radio stations who love them revolves around Seattle and KEXP. He frames us as the first city of indie rock, which, first of all, doesn't seem right. We have a decent amount of indie-type bands and some clubs and Capitol Hill, but... do you think we're......

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. Eskimo & Sons started off the evening’s lineup, giving the venue a mixed dose of......

Portland's alt-country meets indie-electro sextet Blitzen Trapper has been hyped up the wazoo lately. They'll be playing a free show at the Croc tonight with Jennifer Gentle and Hypatia Lake. Tomorrow night the Croc's got a great all-ages line-up, with Throw Me the Statue, Bishop Allen and Page France. Indie popsters Page France sure do love them handclaps. Meanwhile, folks 21+ can head to Ballard for the flat-out rawk of Thee Emergency and Iceage Cobra......

This weekend the National Weather service is calling for mid-70s to 80 degrees. You may want to recover from heatstroke by rehydrating in an air-conditioned theater with other bepinkenned Seattleites, and their melanin-endowed friends savoring their little moment of schadenfreude. (Here's the Seattle Times cheat sheet on the various venues.) · We caught the press screening for the not entirely laugh-free Death at a Funeral with a friend who said, summing up Frank Oz's......

Yes, we're Folklife enthusiasts. Where else can you get a funnel cake, a hip-hop spitfest, a latin dance party, and a contest for liars, all in one place? We quoted Prince in the headline because we wouldn't be surprised if he showed up at Folklife this year. There is so much shit going on this weekend, and you don't have to drive all the way to the silly Gorge and pay through your nose......

Another sold-out Saturday night at the Showbox. Another amazing performance by another amazing band it’s taken us too long to see. Indie-rock experimentalists, Blonde Redhead, really gave us a show we may never have seen before. Both visually and sonically stimulating, we walked away from the Showbox Saturday night feeling curiously mesmerized. The girl, Kazu Makino, a blue sparrow with an eerie voice and twin brothers, Simone and Amedeo Pace -- all genuinely seemed to......

Wednesday, January 3 >>> The Intelligence at Chop Suey. We're still waiting for a new album from these local guys - hopefully one that's more Google-able than their 2005 Icky Baby. This show also includes Partman Parthorse and our personal faves the Pleasureboaters. 8pm; $6. 21+ Thursday, January 4 >>> Kled at the High Dive. Tonight's lineup boasts some of our favorite band names in town, including A Gun that Shoots Knives and We......

Last week we caught a free showing of the Brazilian documentary Favela Rising, courtesy of Scion's marketing machine. With the promise of free cocktails beforehand, we trundled down to the Harvard Exit about a half hour in advance of the show. Upon making our way upstairs to the top floor, we felt a bit like we'd crashed someone's party where we quickly realized we knew no one there. The atmosphere was more "Yo check out......

RE: the sign on the door of the North Hill Bakery, we know pigeons are crafty little disease vectors, but this seems positively intolerant. >>>City Hall, Noon-1:00pm. As Boston Globe readers know, Byron Schenkman is a "superb" and "imaginative" pianist. The Seattle resident plays a 1-hour program ranging from classical to contemporary downtown at City Hall. Hear your tax dollars at work. >>>The general area around the QFC parking lot on 15th Ave E,......

Brooklyn Indie Rockers "Dirty on Purpose" bring their own brand of gooey melodic rock to the Paradox tonight. The dirtiness is no accident, and their brand new album "Hallelujah Sirens" could easily be your soundtrack to the summer. Their refreshing mix of guitars, vocals, and reverb drive you down memorable roads; but the sound is all their own. We love the pairing with "Say Hi To Your Mom" – a band that KEXP's own Kevin......

Maybe we failed to give credit where credit was due yesterday in the Bumpershoots post. Some of the best stuff at the festival tends to not be music (notably the 826 thing from last year) and they have a lot of cool sounding events listed on their website that aren't music, but definitely are worthy of a mention. Not only will the Rat City Roller Girls be skating at Bumbershoot this year, but they will......

It's music, which we love, and video, which we also love, however in Seattlest's opinion there is no more wasted modern art form than the music video. How these two vastly expressive mediums combine to form such an awful taste is beyond us. Damn you, MTV. They're just not ever worth watching, outside, of course, of a handfull of indie rock videos that never get spun and the odd Tool offering. Yes, actually some......

Seattle musicians, if you can tear yourselves away from scanning threeimaginarygirls.com for any mention of your name for just a second and focus here we'd appreciate it. We know you're out there. We also know you're not working and right about now you're wondering how you're going to spend the day. Man, you lazy bastards. Hit the cafe again or just go straight to the bar? Just kidding - We know you're still in......

It is a sad day for the music world. None of the usual blog-snarkiness in this post, for Robert Moog, synthesizer/theremin pioneer has died. Whether you've heard of him or not, know that Moog's death is as big as Peter Jennings' death was to the world of journalism. His work helped to change the face of music, both in the rock and electronic realms. Seattle's various scenes abound with Moog influence, from the organic 4/4......