Results tagged “leonardcohen”

Silver-throated chanteuse Marissa Nadler is prone to sing a cover or two, whether it's Radiohead's "No Surprises" or something from the oeuvre of Leonard Cohen, like "Famous Blue Raincoats" (on her latest album Songs III: Bird on the Water) or "Chelsea Hotel #2" (see above).

This is a big weekend due to the Esurance® Capitol Hill Block Party alone. Tickets are not sold out yet; if nothing else, just by 'em at the door. But what to do if you want to avoid the Hill and the confluence of all those hipsters?

Peter and the Wolf [myspace], by contrast, played an unremarkable 30-minute set which out of sheer cussedness we will nonetheless remark upon. Peter and the Wolf sounds a bit grander than what we were faced with, guitarist Red Hunter (the droning homemade instrument pictured aside) and his friend Emma (singing occasional "ohhh" backup). Hunter is both a proficient picker and a strummer, and he's got a rumbly baritone that for some reason -- they're his songs, after all -- he strains into a higher register. His songs seemed to revolve around women, kinds of portraits, and his lyrics mix in the offhand, conversational run-on with a more heightened, poetic patois. He played a song about Miss Caroline, who (we understand) throws the kind of parties he's not invited to -- it's in a waltz time, and reminded us of Leonard Cohen's growly "Take This Waltz" but then shifted in tone to become more satirical, a Randy Newman take. We're beginning to think that in the South, when you want to point out someone's upscale pretensions, you break out the waltz. It must be just devastating. (Here's the Pitchfork review and their mp3 link to Safe Travels.)

The final full week of SIFF is upon us. It's time to get some last few films before the sun sets on this year's fest. This week's got a couple great music events as well: Friday night, Portastatic will be on hand to perform a specially-commissioned live score accompanying circus freakshow-themed silent film The Unknown (more about that in a few days).

As a wise man once said: "Ohhhh, we're half-way there / Ohhh-oh, living on a prayer." On Wednesday, SIFF officially reached the half-way mark. But it's by no means all downhill from here. There's still tons more great films to see before the fest is through.

Our first film-going experience at Sundance got off to an inauspicious start. There we were, fresh off our flight, catching a film in Salt Lake before heading to the festival proper in Park City. We stood around in the wait list line for the requisite two-plus hours to guarantee we got a seat (once the actual ticket holders got theirs, of course). At long last, we entered the theater and took our seats. The lights went down, the credits rolled, this was it! And then---the film's sound went out. And it stayed out. For a half hour. During that time, the film kept running, sans dialogue, while the Sundance staff struggled to figure out what was wrong and the audience grew unruly. Trust us, you do not want to be in a crowd of pissed off Mormons. There were shouts of "this is bullshit!", "turn on the lights!", "turn off the lights!", and the ever-popular "start the movie over!" When we were close to ditching out (as many had), the sound came back, the film was rewound, the audience cheered, and our Sundance experience could begin. This time for reals.

Existing somewhere between Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits is local performer Jason Webley. From humble beginnings as a U-District street performer to tours up and down the West Coast (and occasional jaunts as far away as Russia), Jason's particular blend of witty and poignant lyricism, musical arrangements (piano, guitar, accordion, and shovel often figure prominently), concerts that blend showmanship, performance art and audience interaction, and an infectious love of humor and pranksterism have earned him a loyal following of fans throughout the Seattle area.