Sick of all those cliched songs like "Livin' in the U.S.A" by the Coug or "God Bless the U.S.A." by Lee Greenwood? Yeah, us too. So we decided to throw together a not-so-conventional soundtrack for your Fourth. more ›

If you didn't get to see Paul Simon last night, let Gina regale you. We're jealous, to say the least. more ›

Paul Simon is one of the most recognizable, unmistakable voices in American music. And at 69 the legend is still working his magic and creating incredible songs. Critics are calling his most recent release (very recent - it came out on Tuesday) So Beautiful or So What his best work since the seminal Graceland and the man himself says it's probably his best work in 20 years. Well, we must say that we do agree. The new record has all the elements that has made his music instant classics and cemented Simon as one of the most influential artists of all time. You can hear the hints of Indian music and influence from African beats, mixed with soul, blues and doo-wop. It's a stunning piece of work that manages to capture everything that we love most in Simon's music. As NPR put it, "it's classic Paul Simon, conveying the sense of place and emotion he's captured, wondrously and timelessly, since the beginning." more ›

In Douglas Coupland's novel it. That little piece of lung makes their own fragments less scary." more ›

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Saturday at the Croc, we hated most of the crowd at first sight. Who invited the tools to John in the Morning at Night? Jager shots were being consumed, and there were way too many dudes in backwards white baseball caps, just chillaxing with their brahs. For this, we can only blame Vampire Weekend. more ›

Early during Sunday's Vampire Weekend set we sent a note to a friend asking, "Has KEXP frat-rock been coined a genre yet?" It was a half-flippant statement, based on the overly-enthusiastic fratty dudes standing to our left and the band's J. Crew ad appearance. In our more bitter days, we would have allowed those two factors to color our impression of the band and their output, but we'd already enjoyed Vampire Weekend's eponymous EP, so we quieted our inner hater (frat guys are people too) and judged the band on their own merits, not the hype, their appearance, or their audience. Sure, being impartial should go without saying, but if you're a long-time reader you know us bloggers are a fickle sort. more ›

Yes, the line-up for Bumbershoot is more than underwhelming, but check this shit out: more ›

After hearing "emerging Seattle choreographer" Zoe Scofield and PNB's Peter Boal at a talkin-'bout-dance panel Sunday, we were looking forward to Monday, which featured performances by Scofield and PNB. Non-dance highlights were our uber-local, fast-talking, Spalding-Grayish Matt Smith monologuing about manliness and his move to Bainbridge Island, the new wave rearrangements of cover band Nouvelle Vague (including a sing-along to "Too Drunk To Fuck"), and finishing the day inside a sweaty knot of teens listening to CocoRosie getting all rapped-up with vocal beat boxing and shiznit. We know that sounds sexy.
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First of all, we could describe it all, the minutiae, the ecstasy -- but streaming video is also fun. MSN Video was at Sasquatch, filming for future on-demand streaming starting Thursday, June 1. (We understand teasers and highlights are up now.) They have artist interviews and a blog from Sean Nelson (whom our friend thinks lives upstairs from him, after seeing him appear with the Decemberists -- "He's in a band?" he asked. "Man, he makes a racket stomping around up there. He's got a piano, too.") You can create your own playlist or just sit back and Sasquatch. more ›

As Seattle poops its collective pants over the impending Super Bowl, we’ve been busy collecting more germane goofiness. To wit... more ›