Last week’s Yeasayer set at Neumo’s was preceded by one band, Chicago crazymakers Icy Demons. Last night’s M83 show also had only one opener, School of Seven Bells. And on top of that, the show actually started early, with M83 taking the stage at 10:20 p.m. Last night’s show wasn’t the most amazing thing ever. The French electro-shoegazers are *reeeeeally* low-key in terms of audience interaction, and the sound mix, especially at the beginning......

FUNNY OR DIE!: Canadian comedian Jon Lajoie joins forces with the certifiably crazy (and ergo super fun) Murder Dice and Righteous Trash, a.k.a. Colin Johnson, a.k.a. Nectar's booker, in creating a night of guaranteed off-the-wall hilarity and frenzied upper music to launch you into the week on the right foot. Check out FunnyOrDie.com for a taste of Lajoie before you go, and get to Nectar in plenty of time to buy one of those delicious......

As far as we can tell, Icy Demons are neither icy nor demons. Instead, they are fronted by a guy playing upright bass and wearing panda pants who could easily be Wesley Willis' nephew. The Demons kinda remind us of The Unicorns, in that every song seems to contain bits and pieces of multiple songs from multiple genres, both hits and misses. For the final song of the Chicago band's all-over-the-place opening set, the......

MONSTER MASH: Everyone's favorite non-robotic, non-dinosar body of awesome, a.k.a. the ferocious, hard-banging electronica/hiphop group Truckasaurus, is playing at Neumos with Head Like A Kite and Slender Means on Saturday. Heads up--Truckasaurus might be a band and not a car-eating machine, but they can still metaphorically smash your face in with their thumping, crunching, stomping version of music. It's beautiful, too. Imagine that! 8 p.m., Saturday // Neumos // $8 // 21+ A PROMISE IS......

Yeasayer's appearance at Neumos has already been plugged today, but Seattlest would be remiss if we didn't also advise showing up for tonight's openers, Icy Demons. The video above is from their 2004 album Fight Back!, showing the band's more mellow side, but helps to get across the band's light-hearted vibe. Their latest album, Miami Ice, deftly switches between the 8-bit party jam of the title track and jazzier fare like "Jantar Mantar." Rather......

The Breeders played at a packed, swampy Neumos last night; the air was heavy and humid from the approaching rainstorm, and by the time they came on, at 11:30 p.m., we were a coupla-few beers into the evening and our eyelids were a little droopy. That changed quickly. We've been living under a rock the last few years, so we had no idea the Deal sisters had put out a new album, Mountain Battles--we just......

Everybody's favorite local indie band with a thirteen-year-old drummer has got themselves a record deal. As reported by Pitchfork, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band has signed to Dead Oceans (home to Bishop Allen, Evangelicals, Bowerbirds, and more). MSHVB will release its currently untitled full-length debut Spring 2009, with Scott Colburn (Arcade Fire, Animal Collective, as well as the MSHVB EP) and the band at the co-producing helm. To celebrate, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band will......

JOHN FUCKING UPDIKE: His gallivanting rabbits may have lost a step, Updike reports: "When, against my better judgment, I glance back at my prose from 20 or 30 years ago, the quality I admire and fear to have lost is its carefree bounce, its snap, its exuberant air of slight excess." But as a critic he's an admirably close, inquisitive reader, and of course he's still John fucking Updike to all of us, so......

COO COO CANNONBALL: The Breeders are at Neumo's tonight. The freaking Breeders, people. If we hadn't already made up our minds to spend the evening watching a guy we'd never heard about until yesterday, we would so be there. But you should go, because the Breeders are responsible for a good chunk of our development as a songwriter, and homage needs to be paid. Dammit. The Breeders! Seriously. 8 p.m. doors // Neumos // $25......

DETROIT ROCK CITY: Can't get in to the sold-out Tom Morello/Nightwatchmen show at the Showbox tonight? Well, your consolation prize is that tix are still available to Detroit rock 'n' roll extremists Electric Six. A fusion of, well, pretty much everything, Electric Six's shows are supposed to be awesome. With Local H and Japanese Motors. 8 p.m. // Neumo's, 925 E. Pike St. // $15, 21+ QUEER FOLK: Cleveland author Linas Alsenas reads from his......

So, for the life of us, we couldn't figure out how to write this preview. Tomorrow, one of our favorite bands, Eagles of Death Metal, is playing Neumo's, and we'd really like to figure out a good way to totally jazz you up, dear readers, about this show. But we're not sure where to start, other than to express our immense enthusiasm and to tell you, you should go. Don't let the name frighten you;......

SWEDISH SUGAR POP: Swedish songstress Lykke Li returns to Seattle to vamp and stamp and otherwise sex up her blend of hook-tastic bubblegum and Euro-artsong. Here's her video for her single "Little Bit," but we warn you that after listening to it, you will fall deeply in love with the very next person you see. That only lasts about 15 minutes, but trust us, it can get awkward. High-energy Britpop/electronica group Friendly Fires opens. This......

BOOZE AND SCHMOOZE: Michelle Goodman has written a book called My So-Called Freelance Life! (Full disclosure: this Seattlest let ourselves be interviewed for another book she wrote.) Tonight, she'll be reading from the book and providing folks with snacks and drinks, prizes, and an opportunity to network will fellow freelancers. Get thee to Office Nomads for the party/reading. 7 p.m. // Office Nomads // Free, kids welcome THE THURSDAY NIGHTS: You may already know this,......

Even if you're going to tonight's John in the Morning at Night, Friday's best bet is DJ/blue-eyed soul man/gold lamé bathrobe-wearer/consummate performer Jamie Lidell, along with opener Janelle Monae at Showbox. Jamie also has an instore at Easy Street Queen Anne this evening at 6:30 p.m. Meanwhile, there's the Anticon two-fer of Why? and Restiform Bodies at the Vera Project.......

Talented Toronto singer-songwriter young'un Justin Nozuka has spent the entire week traversing the wilds of the internets. On his virtual tour, he already made stops to deposit videos of exclusive performances at Pop Culture Madness! and Stop Okay Go, along with his MySpace profile and iLike page. Today he pulls into the station at Seattlest with his current single "After Tonight" off debut album Holly (awww, named after his mama). In real life, Nozuka......

ALL INCLUSIVE: Knowledge is power. Bone up on making your website design more accessible to every PC, Mac, and Blackberry by taking this course, sponsored by Refresh Seattle. Consultant Wendy Chisholm will speak and everyone will head over to the Red Door for snacks afterward. 6:00 p.m. // Fremont Public Library, 731 N. 35th St. // Free WEDDING SEASON: Our ex-boyfriend from college introduced us to the excellent band The Wedding Present. Even his......

Tonight, drink pricey beers at the WaMu Theater (hey, they need the money!) before The Kills and The Raconteurs. You best get there early; believe us, it takes a lotta beers to make Jack White look pretty, but no drinks at all to make him sound good. If you'd rather get your face first country-rocked gently and then melted off, head to the Tractor for Shim with The Maldives opening. It's like a Bumbershoot Sky......

A special note for all you out there with tix to the CSS/Tilly on the Wall show tonight: Don't forget, it's been moved from the Showbox up to Neumos. And trust us, you don't want to miss this party: CSS has been kicking ass with their indie-rock-meets-dance-pop sound for a few years now, a fine Brazillian import from Sup Pop. Filling out the line-up tonight is Tilly and the Wall, an Omaha based indie......

Mayor Nickels's mysterious two-pronged plan to "grow" the city's live music scene was unveiled at a press conference at Neumos this morning: first, the 2009-2010 city budget includes an admissions tax exemption clause for live music venues such as Nectar Lounge, Neumos and--if it ever opens up again--the Crocodile. And second, according to their press release, the Mayor's Office has compiled a "comprehensive nightlife establishment guidebook" (available online here) as a resource for business owners......

"Threadless T-Shirts and PBR" by Seattlest Flickr user SlightlyNorth A: Drinking with Seattlest at our monthly Happy Hour at Moe Bar (925 E. Pike). And, yes, that would be the wisest answer. We'll be there a little before 5 p.m., because we don't work in an office. When you come is up to you. But, really, it's Monday, and we're a rad bunch of bloggers. What else do you need? You don't want to miss......

Tonight's the all-ages Red Bull Big Tune Battle at Neumo's. It's a big hiphop competition (twelve producers are picked to compete, whittled down from the eighty who applied from all over the Northwest and even northern California), and the regional showdown for one of the only legit national beat battles. This year's featured guests are Detroit's Black Milk and Elzhi. It's also the surprisingly sold-out Rancid and Less Than Jake show at the Showbox SoDo.......

PHILOSOPHY!: Slavoj Žižek occupies a place in the intellectual world akin to that of Noam Chomsky, at once both a (perceived) leading philosopher and theorist and a public intellectual who commands the respect of the educated masses, weighing in on the issues of the day in more accessible publications like the London Review of Books. So, after thirty-plus books in English, hundreds of articles and essays, a tabloid-style wedding to an Argentinian supermodel-cum-Lacanian theorist, and......

Head to the Sunset tonight for Sub Pop band Oxford Collapse. Along with Love as Laughter, it's a veritable indie pop fest! It's hard to know what to expect from a hardcore band named Fucked Up, but apparently it involves manboobs and a bunny mask. They're also playing tonight, at the Vera Project.......

GAMERS GONE WIRED: sudo apt-get PAX-10!!!!11one1!! The gamer convention of the year is upon us. On Friday, "Girls and Games: The Growing Role of Women in the Game Industry" at 4:30 p.m. caught our eye. On Saturday, "Is Casual Killing Core Games?" at 6 p.m. sounded interesting. Ken Levine of BioShock fame delivers the keynote address on Friday night, and there will be music and LAN parties! Ahhh, we just had a nerdgasm. Friday through......

IN A WU TANG WAY: Not being of the hip-hop persuasion ourselves, Seattlest asked our resident hip-hop guru Katelyn how relevant it may be to people that Gza of Wu Tang Clan fame is playing at Neumo's tonight. She basically said it was relevant "in a Wu Tang way." We don't know what that means, but if you do, then Neumo's is your place to be. 8 p.m. doors // Neumo's // $20 YOUR BRAIN......

Break out the hackysack and butterfly wings, because former Phish bassist Mike Gordon is at the Tractor tonight in support of his new solo record, The Green Sparrow. Sub Pop singer-songwriters Sera Cahoone and Daniel Martin Moore play Neumo's, while The Architects bring the crazy to El Corazon.......

We first heard of Nellie McKay as a folkie singer-songwriter/piano player, but her latest effort sees her doing some more ambitious big band work. It makes us think of James Bond film scores or maybe musical theater from the '70s. It's fun, that's what matters. It's also thoughtful and lyrically driven stuff that occasionally breaks into raps and chants, kind of spoken word stuff that's equal parts ranty and politically sound. Just check it for......

GOOD MUSICALS, FINALLY: Contemporary Classics presents its fifth annual "New Voices" festival tonight at Seattle Rep's PONCHO Forum. Bringing together songs from leading musical theatre composers and Seattle's top performers, local musical guru Brandon Ivie seeks to dispel the notion that musical theatre is dead, whatever the mediocre fare on Broadway. As composers incorporate modern forms like rock and hiphop into the repertoire, and writers see the campy theatricality of musical as a means to......

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......

Tonight, head to the Sunset for the shoegaze stylings of Film School. There's also L.A. pop mainstay Adam Marsland at the Skylark and local troubadour Rocky Votolato at Neumo's.......