Clap Your Hands Say Yeah rose to prominence in 2005 with a highly acclaimed self-titled debut. Following the group’s sophomore effort, Some Loud Thunder, the group announced a hiatus. After working on various side projects, members of CYHSY are back with a new album called "Hysterical." Primary songwriter Alec Ounsworth recently took a few minutes away from band practice to speak with Seattlest about recording the new album, music criticism, and what fans can expect at Tuesday’s show at the Neptune. more ›

If the night were to express itself musically, its soundtrack would likely resemble the songs of Low. For nearly twenty years, the Minnesota group has been playing haunting music that speaks to the dark places in and around us. Tonight the band takes the stage at Neumos in support of 'C’mon,' a record put out on Sub Pop earlier this year. more ›

As the weekend approaches with so much music and performance to get to around town, many are reflecting on (and maybe still recovering from) Bumbershoot. Reviews on last weekend’s festival have been appearing in local websites, with the feedback being quite mixed. Here’s a look at what some are saying about the state of the city’s largest arts fest. more ›

The Antlers became a major presence in indie music with the release of Hospice, the epic 2009 record that made it onto many year-end best-of lists. Hailed by many as a masterpiece, the album features intricately orchestrated arrangements and raw vocals that pack an emotional intensity paralleled on few records since. Two years later, the Antlers are visiting Seattle in support of their new record, Burst Apart; Seattlest spoke with primary songwriter Peter Silberman about the new record, the evolution of his band, and tonight’s show at the Neptune. more ›

Each year Bumbershoot features an enviable lineup of national and international music acts. Just as impressive, though, is the collection of homegrown talent to grace the art fest’s stages. Saturday at the festival featured many Seattle artists representing a wide range of musical genres, including rising electronic duo Beat Connection. more ›

After a long day of music, theatre, dance, and other performance, Saturday at Bumbershoot concluded with tired crowds resting in the common areas of the festival grounds. Among the most popular sites was Seattle Center’s Fountain Lawn, where STRFKR provided the chilled soundtrack for the collective calm down. more ›

Saturday afternoon at Bumbershoot and the mood is celebratory, expectant. The crowds are already deep, and everyone is basking in the bright sunshine knowing that three days of music and performance lie ahead. Among the first musical acts to help kick things off: Seattle pop masters Craft Spells, who just left the Fountain Lawn Stage to the cheers of hometown fans. more ›

Last October, the Eels played the Moore Theatre in support of 'Tomorrow Morning,' the last album in a trilogy of records exploring what happens when love doesn't work out. Since then, the music vehicle of Los Angeles-based artist E has toured Europe and the U.S., performing some 100 shows over the course of a year. With its tour winding down, the band plays tonight at the Showbox. The Seattlest spoke with E about the recent record trilogy, his memoir, and touring. more ›

‘Thanks for the Ether,’ Rasputina’s groundbreaking debut album from 1996, demonstrated to a generation of indie rock fans that the cello wasn’t just for classical music. Tonight lead songstress Melora Creager and her bandmates bring their cello-driven rock to the Tractor Tavern. more ›

It’s been four years since the last album from Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter—much too long for fans of the Seattle outfit. Tonight the band plays a record release show for 'Marble Son,' a tranformative album featuring a bigger sound. more ›

Despite putting out records for more than 20 years, first under the moniker Smog and now under his birth name, Bill Callahan remains underappreciated. People familiar with the artist, though, often place Callahan among the best songwriters in America. The understated master performs at Neumos tonight. more ›

Just as summer could not have arrived soon enough in Seattle, neither could this occasion—Cibo Matto on tour again. A decade after disbanding, Yuko Honda and Miho Hatori bring their unique fusion of pop, jazz, hip hop and half a dozen other genres to Neumos. Make your way over after enjoying some after-work sunshine. more ›

Vocals and percussion are the only elements of Wildbirds and Peacedrums’ music. While this might seem to simplify the task of describing the band’s sound, that is far from the case. The Swedish duo, comprised of married couple Mariam Wallentin and Andreas Werliin, delivers songs that capture aspects of improvisational jazz, stripped-down blues, down-home folk and contemporary pop. Wildbirds and Peacedrums play the Triple Door tonight. more ›

Mogwai's sound is a study in extremes. The Glasgow band excels at delivering ethereal synth arrangements alongside massive guitar riffs and crashing drums. The result is a gauzy, atmospheric aesthetic that gives way to periodic sonic eruptions. If you're in the mood for for some explosions of sound, make your way to Showbox at the Market for tonight's show. more ›

“Gloss Drop,” the long-awaited second full-length album from Battles, is set for release next month. Fans needn't wait, though, to get their fix of the experimental outfit from Brooklyn. Battles play the Crocodile tonight. more ›

It's Tuesday. Most of the workweek lies ahead. Rain's in the forecast. Many Seattleites are still smarting from weekend misadventures in love. Well, when the going gets tough, the tough find company. And nowhere will those unlucky in love (or otherwise malcontent) find a better companion than at the Tractor tonight, where Jessica Lea Mayfield brings her brand of brooding neo-folk. more ›

Tonight is a show full of bands that have been working their asses off in the Seattle music scene for years, but seem to have just begun hitting their stride. BOAT has been together since around 2005 and they've been in and out of the Seattle limelight over the last six years. We have been a fan of the band since their show a couple years ago at the Vera Project, when they headlined following a performance by Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground. You can imagine the two bands have very different audience,s and that night the concertgoers were about ninety-five percent Kay Kay fans. That just left more BOAT for the rest of us to enjoy, even when lead singer David Crane nearly tripped over the Christmas lights he wrapped around himself for funsies. Their 2010 Bumbershoot performance in the EMP shoved them back into the media spotlight as they played a killer show that impressed several Seattle music blogs. It seems they've earned a decent following in the city that has maintained throughout their six years of existence. It's time they were kicked up a notch and hopefully this show will start the ascent. more ›

He is We caught our attention a little while ago. We've been using bandcamp.com as a sort of jumping off point to find new bands in Seattle that may not have made a splash in our music scene yet. Being one of the most popular groups when you search for Seattle bands, we figured they might be worth a listen. They definitely veer off the beaten path a bit when it comes to typical music from this area. However, they stick to the popular singer/songwriter style with acoustic guitar and back-to-basics feel. Featuring a female on lead vocals for the most part, the lyrics tend to be more touchy-feely, rather than story-teller, but enjoyable none the less. more ›

Tonight will be another magical night of music at Columbia City Theater as The Round enchants Seattle art lovers yet again. The Round, which usually takes place at Fremont Abbey Arts Center, is a mixture of art and music that leaves you feeling enriched and wishing you could make an Etsy store of crafts of your own. There are Rounds now being held throughout the state as well as the country; one of which was held this last week at the South by Southwest music festival in Austin (Round #7 there) with Campfire OK and Noah Gundersen performing amongst others. This is the first Round being held at Columbia City Theater, but we're pretty sure it won't be the last. more ›

Devo hit the road and began a short tour on Tuesday night in Seattle. Granted, band members’ average age is above AARP eligibility and their show at the Moore didn’t sell out. However that did not stop them from putting on one energetic performance. more ›

St Patty's Day is just around the corner and we're sure there's tons of options out there that will get you drunk enough to be embarrassed the next day. Why not add some music to that party so you can get your Irish (or whatever nationality you're feeling at the moment) dancing shoes on and shake it like no one's watching? more ›

If you're not on the Bumberfans email list but you know you're headed to Bumbershoot this year, then have we got some news for you. It looks like organizers are switching it up a little bit again this year. More like they're changing things back to the way they had been after last year's disappointing revenue. more ›

He has a charming smile, a sweet demeanor and a voice that would lull anyone into submission. Mangan's show Friday at the Sunset gave us the opportunity to be up close and personal with him and his band especially when he walked into the crowd singing and then jumped up on the bar. It may have been a sneaky way to grab a beer during his set, but man did the crowd love it. The Thoughts and the Monday Mornings put on a great set starting off the night. Keep a keen eye on the Monday Mornings especially, they may be involved in a special show next month. In any case, we hope Dan Mangan comes back soon, those baby blues should be seen in better light than the Sunset's staple dark red. more ›

Like we said this past Wednesday, we we had extremely high hopes for Elephant 6's return to our city. We're not quite sure where to start, seeing as the night was filled with a spontaneity that definitely topped most of the shows we've ever attended, and it most definitely took the cake for best show we've ever seen at the Vera. more ›

The evening started off a little uncertain. Alexi Murdoch's friend (and bass player) did a set of his own with an acoustic guitar sans strap. He was a little unsure and the guitar kept slipping down since he plays standing up, but had a great voice. The crowd was a bit rowdy so it was hard to hear, but we enjoyed it none the less. When Alexi took the stage it went almost completely silent. The sold out crush of people were still as the dead as he started his first quiet note into the mic. The sense of awe continued most of the set and it was amazing just to hear and see him sing. He seemed pretty shy or at the very least humble. Hopefully he'll head back our way soon and play "Orange Sky" for us next time. more ›

Despite the fact that it was a Wednesday night and cold, a decent crowd showed up at the Tractor for the somewhat unknown Scottish band, Broken Records. Unfortunately there were some people there putting on a show of their own but luckily the great Tractor staff nipped that in the bud so we could enjoy the great music. We were also impressed by U.S. Royalty. They had a really dynamic frontman reminiscent of Fitz from Fitz and the Tantrums who got the smaller crowd moving around the dance floor. We highly recommend you check out both of these groups. We also want to throw out a big apology on behalf of Seattle to Broken Records for powering through your set while the ass in the audience was talking louder than your music. We still had a great time listening to you. more ›

Dan Mangan's home is just a hop skip and a jump from Seattle, but seems to be an entire country away. Oh wait, that's because it is. Hailing from Vancouver, BC he spent very little time in his own country over the last few years touring internationally almost non-stop. He independently put out his first EP All At Once of acoustic-only songs. His work was quickly picked up by ABC Warner in 2005 and his 2009 sophmore album, Nice Nice, Very Nice, is distributed by them as well. He's not resting for one minute, either. Work has already begun on a third album by Dan and the band he tours with. He's an incredibly talented singer/songwriter with a laid-back folk-rock feel. To be completely honest, he makes all my female friends swoon uncontrollably. It's his presence as well as his lyrics that bring on such a state. He's not afraid to have fun and put himself out there. Really what more could you ask for in a musician? more ›

It was Drew Grow's first show back after his accident and he chose to have it in Seattle at the Columbia City Theater (CCT). It was obvious he and his band mates have gone through a lot in the last couple months, strong emotions were emanating from every band member throughout the set. It put a few people off, confused others, and personally it welled up some strong emotions in us as well. To be honest, it wasn't exactly the typical Drew Grow show, but we're not sure there really is such a thing. He does what he does based on what's inside himself at the time and that's why we love him so much. The new songs they played were fantastic and we can't wait to hear them on an album. As a matter of fact they've been working on some recordings at CCT. more ›

Josh Radin is another musician that owes some success in his musical career to Zach Braff. If you're a fan of the television show Scrubs, then you've definitely heard Radin's music as its been prominently used in more than one episode. His dulcet tones and sweet accessible lyrics are perfect for those dramatic or heartfelt moments amidst the goofy slapstick. That's not the only show Radin's music has graced, others like One Tree Hill, Grey's Anatomy and Brothers and Sisters have also realized the mass appeal of his music. Surprisingly, music wasn't the first or even the second or third thing Radin had attempted to make a career in. He was an art teacher at one point as well as a screenwriter. Apparently he only picked up a guitar after moving to New York City. Whatever the reason, we're glad he did. He's had three full length releases after his original 2004 EP release. The most recent, The Rock and the Tide, came out in October of last year. This is another unfortunate miss on our radar but we look forward to seeing what he's done since his initial success. more ›

Loch Lomond and Viva Voice opened up the night and it was already packed early on in the evening. We managed to scootch our way up to the front for the headliner and he was incredible. That was evidenced by the completely silent house during every one of his heartfelt songs. He's headed out on tour now with stops in San Francisco, Little Rock, SXSW and Phoenix. We'll be happy when he makes his way home to Seattle though. more ›