If you’re gonna make an album with orchestral arrangements care of living legend composer Van Dyke Parks, you’re gonna have to go all out to perform it right. That’s why the first half of super English major/elven queen Joanna Newsom’s grandiose show last night at Benaroya Hall featured the accompaniment of local 29-piece chamber orchestra the Northwest Sinfonia to cover her last full-length, the epic five-song masterpiece Ys ("ees"). It’s not hard to recreate a lushly recorded album when you’ve got the combination of the Sinfonia, Newsom’s three-person touring group---which she’s termed the "Ys Street Band"---and Newsom plucking complex polyrhythms (and making it look easy) on an ornate harp, itself a work of art. more ›

tomorrow night. So excited, in fact, that we thought we'd go to the Google to find out what sorts of happenings are going to, well, happen tomorrow in celebration of the big release. more ›

A NADER REMEMBERS: Recalling his childhood in Winstead, Connecticut, former presidential candidate and longtime political and social activist Ralph Nader offers 17 values a child should learn to become a conscientious adult. Not helping elect neo-fascists was, unfortunately, #18. more ›

Joanna Newsom---child-voiced chanteuse/classically trained harpist/hyperliterate woodland nymph---took the stage at the Showbox last night looking just as we expected: with long, flowing hair and donning a red garment more nightgown than dress. Climbing behind her harp, she was totally Holly Hobbie at the renaissance faire. She kicked off her set solo by launching into "Bridges and Balloons" and "The Book of Right-On," both off her first album, before playing a traditional Scottish tune. Cradling the harp against her body, she delicately caressed, plucked, palmed, and stroked the strings, each technique creating a distinctly different tone. more ›

That's what Teddy Roosevelt said anyway, and former Mariners manager Bob Melvin certainly goes into the "poor spirits" category. Melvin's timid, uninspired field generalship earned him the nickname "Bobby By The Book." Every decision of Melvin's was supported by strategic tradition and statistical verification. more ›