Results tagged “pop”

Has anyone ever told you that you reminded them of someone else? More often than not, these comparisons are mildly entertaining. Sometimes comparisons can be flattering and other times, definitively less so. But regardless of where these comparisons fall on the spectrum, there comes a point where the novelty wears off and you want to be evaluated on your own merits. Murray Lightburn of The Dears reached this point some time ago.

It’s premature to judge the latest incarnation of the famed Second Avenue venue from one loud night there...but we will anyways. Pleasantly, there were less hipster types this time around, but then again Friday night’s sound wasn’t boring indie pop, so the rock may have scared some away.

A.C. Newman is hard to get a fix on, period. The fact that he's invariably described as the "frontman" for The New Pornographers only raises the question of why anyone leading so phenomenally successful a band needs a solo career.

LIKE MOVIES FOR CHOCOLATE: Tonight is movie night at Theo Chocolate on Phinney, and--you'll never guess, we'll just tell you--they're showing Like Water for Chocolate. (Rotten Tomatoes says it's 89 percent fresh!) But it sounds a little different than a night at the megaplex: "We will be serving up hot chocolate, popcorn and other special surprises. Be sure to bring your own camping chair, or cushion to sit on, and snuggle up in front of the fire." Reservations are required: call 206-632-5100 to book your spot.

       

There was some excitement on the street before Lykke Li took the stage for a full house at the Showbox, so maybe that's why we felt out of sync with the slow-boil, drum-and-bass(ish) start to the concert. We'd wondered how Lykke Li would take to headlining at such a large venue, and the answer was stark shafts of light, atmospheric smoke, and a heavy hand on the bass end of the soundboard. It was miles away from the Swedish pop songbird we'd seen at the Triple Door in May of last year, but it grew on us, hearing the fierce, sweet, ear-candling pop lyrics of "Little Bit" and "Tonight" lofted over over a booming cataract of drums--and seeing a whole roomful of Seattle concertgoers dancing. Meanwhile, Lykke Li dervished her way around the stage, alternating between staring off with soulful eyes and brandishing various sticks at the cymbals, band, and anyone else who might have needed a little kick in the pants. She's touring with a set drawn from her album Youth Novels, which we have yet to grow tired of hearing--it's bracing to hear a twenty-something writing lyrics so idiosyncratically well in, for her, a foreign language. Even at the back the conversational rumble would die down, everyone's eyes glued to the stage, the Showbox's many bartenders with nothing to do but run a cloth over the bar until the next song ended.

DANCE DANCE DANCE: Pint-size Swedish ex-ballerina Lykke Li returns to Seattle for her largest venue yet, the Showbox at the Market. Last time we saw her, we said she has "an extra helping of cute and an idiosyncratic voice: breathy baby-girl ("Liddle bit in love wi' you," she sings, and your heart melts) mixed with Swedish soul. Her first full album is Youth Novels. Live, she's in perpetual motion, sashaying around the stage, swiveling her hips, one hand pushing the audience back, the other punishing a cymbal with a drumstick." We're not saying it's because her parents were hippies, but she's got a hell of an onstage work ethic.

Friday night was our first visit to Chop Suey since the shooting a month or so ago, and the security situation was basically a nightmare. A line of will-call ticket holders wrapped east up the block to the hot-dog vendor's cart. It took almost twenty minutes to get the roped off entry, where a bouncer was already bouncing an enraged young man, furious that he was unable to get into the sold-out show, while his girlfriend, wearing what was little more than an homage to a miniskirt, stared on mortified as he unleashed a tirade only partly in English.

Portland-based Blind Pilot were not only chosen as Starbucks' "Pick of the Week" for the week of January 3rd, they're also loved by NPR and KEXP, and now, by us.

Mog, a pretty cool music site (tagline: "Because The Web Mostly Sucks"), posted a cute video interview with guitar player/producer Chris Walla and drummer Jason McGerr of Death Cab For Cutie. They talk about lots of things, including music (shocking), and there are plenty of dramatic shots of the guys' fidgeting hands. It's just...cute. They're still our Seattle boys at heart!

The Saturday Knights/Budos Band show at Nectar on Friday night was sold out by 9:30 p.m., as in guest lists closed, no further entrance, and crowds of people partying outside the gates. Seattlest arrived at a normally respectable hour of 10:45 p.m. to find the Budos Band's shiny brass horns blaring, congo drums thumping, and every inch of Nectar packed with happy people.

FREE BOOTY: Scion is desperate to be cool, and the latest result of that pathological drive is a CD sampler of work from IHEARTCOMIX, the LA-based label/lifestyle company. The CD is available at Scion dealerships, but the real cool news is that IHEARTCOMIX is sending dj Franki Chan (with Radiocl*t and Drop the Lime) on a limited and exclusive tour to support the release that comes to the War Room tonight. The show's free, but you have to RSVP here first.

Love it or hate it, there's no denying the commercial success of Kidz Bop. A big hit with the kids, as well as their parents, the family-friendly Kidz Bop series has sold 10.5 million CDs in the past seven years, no small feat in the dying music industry. And to think, all they're doing is taking pop songs (sometimes current, sometimes retro) and adding incredibly chipper kids' vocals to the mix.

     

That's what opener Anna Ternheim dubbed the Ternheim-Li-del Mar lineup at the Triple Door last night, the "Swedish girls tour." She was the solo singer/songwriter of the night, with a throaty, room-filling voice, a setlist stuffed with love and anti-love songs, and a guitar. (She also took over the grand piano.) "That one was about a girl who's a stalker," she mentioned off-handedly. "Any stalkers here tonight?" Her songs often ended surprisingly, in mid-flow. Twice she accompanied her iPod; a cover tune turned out to be Fleetwood Mac's "Little Lies," slowed to dirge-speed.

Get your name on the official list for Experience Music Project's 2008 Pop Conference, taking place in our very own Hendrix-drenched, spring-obsessed city from April 10–13. That's next weekend! This year's theme is "Shake, Rattle: Music, Conflict, and Change," and EMP has gathered over 160 writers, speakers and musicians to expound on the many facets of the subject. (The conference is completely, gloriously free.)

Jens Lekman just makes us happy. Last night at Neumo's, the sweet Swede gave a joyful pop performance, not too different from his show last fall, except now his all-girl backing band is smaller--only four members, two of which (including opener, My Brightest Diamond's Marla Hansen) are actually from the States--and this time around everyone was in grey instead of white. The only other dude on stage, Viktor Per Sjöberg, mans the laptop and other effects, in order to slip in samples like the Chairmen of the Board's "Give Me Just a Little More Time" during "The Opposite of Hallelujah."

That long-awaited EP from Seattle's Fleet Foxes is out, a few months in advance of the new album due June-ish. Sun Giant (Sub Pop) provokes something more than cautious optimism on the part of Pitchfork: "It's a sovereign work: a statement EP, supremely crafted and confident." An 8.7! It's also just $5, mp3 download or CD.

Sometimes we'd rather experience a new (or new-ish) band's sound in person, rather than be tipped off by their recorded work. So we haven't listened to Great Northern's streaming songs, played their (first) 2007 album, or let fly The Gutter Twins' online teaser. (We didn't even listen to that live Twins clip; sorry if the sound sucks.) Tomorrow night, when the former opens for the latter, we expect to experience true aural pleasure.

We're sure we don't need to say this, but you can't miss your caucus. This is the first year in our whole time in the Pacific Northwest where it matters what Washington voters think. If you're still wondering where to go, here are two Dem or GOP caucus locators. Caucusing starts at 1pm. We understand that if you know who you support and you don't want to spend an hour or two talking about it, you can get in and out in about half an hour.

Last week, Seattlest lamented the four-year absence of a live-in-person-on-a-Seattle-stage Mark Lanegan.

Has it really been over four years since you've taken a stage in Seattle, Mark? We could be wrong, but your late 2003 Showbox show—a great one, by the way—is the last we heard about. (QOTSA appearances don't count.) Assuming we're right, that's just silly.

On Saturday, we took our godson, his mom and his dad to Baby Loves Disco. Since we don't have a kid of our own and don't have any experience with kid-themed events, 17-month-old Eli agreed to let us interview him about the party.

What a glorious morning! The Sonics have won three of five, Edgar Martinez wasn't in the Mitchell Report, we've got a kickin' holiday party to attend tonight.

Last month, in response to a push to "reconsider" old Mudhoney songs, we said that the band never made it big because they sounded more "rough and fuzzy" than the Big Four (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains). We said that singer Mark Arm's style--as well as the band's--was "not bad, just different." After witnessing Mudhoney's transcendent assault on El Corazon Friday night, we'd like to propose a reconsideration of the band itself.

We've been delinquent.

Dear, sweet Arthur & Yu. The local band (on new Sub Pop pseudo-imprint Hardly Art) has dreamy duo Grant Olsen and Sonya Westcott at its core, with Bobby Wane, Ben Kersten, and Scott Blue rounding out the group. Their music is simple and pretty and straight outta the swinging 60s. So sez Gorilla Vs. Bear:

In a few seasons, Seattle indie stalwart Sub Pop will shed its adolescent husk and turn 20. Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman, the dudes who put Soundgarden and Nirvana in bins before major label reps stormed Seattle, will, according to this bio, celebrate "as conspicuously as they can manage."

Last Friday we saw Sea Wolf at Chop Suey. We found this Pop Matters review of their first full-length album, but if you'd like to learn more, here's an interview by Sound on the Sound.

People are strange. They say Ann Coulter is funny. They pay a $20 cover to have a conversation in a club. At the Showbox a few weeks ago, we saw Lavender Diamond, opening for the New Pornographers, cut their set short after telling the audience it was hard to play with all the talking going on. So we were worried heading back to the Showbox for the Jose Gonzalez/Tiny Vipers show because neither of them promised to be able to crush a babbling crowd into submission like the Pornographers could, and did.

Are we in White Center? Baghdad? No! We're at the former Sub Pop Records headquarters, 4th and Vine. Some kinda home furnishings store, Medallion Imports, selling crap on the sidewalk, for God's sake. What has Belltown come to?

We're trying to test Amazon's new MP3 download service because we hate CDs and iTunes and we love DRM-free music files and compensating artists for their work. Hang out with us a minute here while we try this...