Results tagged “vitamind”

MEET ME IN THE CHAMBER: We don't need to sell the symphony fans on chamber music, but maybe you rock and rollers could use a little primer. Catch six chamber ensembles at Town Hall tonight, and get your chamber music in 15-minute doses. It's like tapas, but with violins.

We were walking down Broadway at lunchtime trying to decide on the perfect uncrowded, sun-soaking lunchspot, when it came to us. Actually, it was printed on a sign that advertised La Puerta's lunch specials. That's when we remembered that La Puerta has an upstairs deck overlooking Broadway -- and that their food is resolutely mediocre, virtually guaranteeing light occupancy. How right we were. Just one couple was sitting outside, discussing a California "growing" operation. We had our choice of tables con umbrella and sin umbrella. We went sin. This is a strictly a health issue for us; as you know, a vitamin D deficiency will kill you dead. And sun-starved Seattleites tend to have dipsticks that read ADD MORE when it comes to D. "Some doctors" say that 10-15 minutes of non-SPF sun exposure is all it takes. We don't know, we're not a medical doctor. All we know is that a) our chimichanga was subpar, b) Chicagoans sneer at Seattle's winters, and c) we should have never told you about our secret sun spot.

U-N-I, the L.A. headliners at last night's show at Chop Suey, is the profoundly West Coast hiphop equivalent of human superficial fascia: loosely, intricately webbed, sticky, and pliable. Tricky, surprising beats backed Thurzday and Y-O's tight rap in a dizzying but relaxed kind of way. The night was solid for such an unsung show, with performances from some of 2008's most promising local acts: J. Pinder (his ballsy, impeccable timing meshing perfectly with high-power Vitamin D beats), the infectiously vibrant GMK, and Stranger fave The Physics.

Last night, Seattlest hit up the Red Bull Big Tune 2007 Championship at Neumos just like we said we would. The idea of the competition was to showcase U.S. hip-hop producers in the form of a beat battle, tournament-style; in between rounds we were treated to the skills of DV-One and Just Blaze, and also to a mini-concert from giants De La Soul. We were not expecting this last, and it was kinda fun. Our favorite part was seeing Neumos packed with locals excited about hip-hop, though. "The whole city's here," Courage of Eastern Sunz commented before the rounds began. "Do you know what the prize is?" No, we did not, but later we discovered the winning producer would be going home with some expensive sound monitors and a recording date in LA with a hip-hop star. Sweet.

Heads up, Seattle: there's a Beat Battle going down at Neumos tonight (Thursday)! It's called something dorky like "Red Bull Big Tune Championships," but don't let the name fool you. De La Soul will be there, Brainstorm will be there, Daps1 (we hope) will be there. Vitamin D's on the bill, and Sabzi of Blue Scholars is planning on strutting his stuff. Neumos has DV-One of recently (some would say wrongfully) convicted fame on the bill as the host DJ... It should be a fantastic time. We'll report on Friday.

There are plenty of us for whom both the successful season of the Seahawks and the less-than-stellar season of the Supersonics mean absolutely nothing, other than potential for increased traffic. While we may watch highlights on ESPN, most professional sports just don't have any appeal. Watching the less than heralded sports is where the real action is. Who doesn't marvel at the technique of Kobayashi, the overexcited commentators of the dart championships, or the sublime grace of curling? For sheer entertainment, it's the offbeat competitions that can't be beat, and they're well worth the strange looks you get when you tell people what you're doing with your time. We've already touched on Seattle's propensity for finding new ways to declare winners and losers, part of the reason we love this town. Tonight features two very different takes on the "battle" concept, one for head nodding, the other for more corporeal reactions.