We’ve had an unbelievable week of live performances in the KEXP studios, with the likes of Sloan, A Gun That Shoots Knives, The Sea Navy, What Made Milwaukee Famous, Blonde Redhead, Rufus Wainwright, and The Cave Singers. If you missed any of these performances, you can go back and listen on our Streaming Archive. Also, be sure to check pictures of the bands snapped by our staff of amazing photographers. Just follow the links to the band listed above. And there’s much more to follow in the weeks ahead.
Seattle is infested with touring bands right about now, and it’s impossible to make acceptable decisions on who to go see. Jarvis Cocker or Viva Voce on Monday? Frog Eyes or Bright Eyes on Tuesday? (I know which I’d want!) Kings of Leon, LCD Soundsystem or Joseph Arthur on Wednesday? Arctic Monkeys or !!! on Thursday? Mando Diao or The Decemberists on Friday? Andrew Bird and Apostle of Hustle or Tapes ‘N Tapes on Saturday? Ridiculous! And among these traveling troubadours are another handful of more-than-worthy shows featuring local bands, like Friday’s “Seattle Does Elvis” benefit for 826 Seattle or Saturday’s Audioasis Live @ High Dive, which is a benefit for Seattle Works and is followed by the Sonic Reducer Anniversary show. Whatever city you live in, you too may be facing similar problems as musicians have hit the road for festival season.
And when it comes to festivals, Coachella attracts many of the best artists each year, and this year’s lineup was no exception. Reports are already coming in from the three-day marathon that ended literally hours ago. Bjork, Interpol, Arcade Fire, Happy Mondays, Amy Winehouse and too many others to list here, played to enthusiastic crowds who endured three-hour traffic jams for the privilege. (And, yes, Scarlett Johansson did perform with Jesus & Mary Chain).
If you weren’t lucky enough to be there, then hopefully you were smart enough to watch the performances from home, courtesy of AT&T’s Blue Room, which broadcast over 30 performances live from various stages throughout the festival. Missed that too? No worries — that’s the beauty of the Internet. Hundreds of video clips have already been added to YouTube, some good, some bad, and some downright pathetic. Here are a few of the good ones:
Everyone’s always hoping to catch a glimpse of Bjork and whatever kooky outfit she might be wearing, and in this performance of “Wanderlust,” from AT&T’s Blue Room, you can see that the Icelandic pixies didn’t disappoint:
Crowds clamored to catch Arcade Fire, who played songs from both Funeral and Neon Bible, such as “Antichrist Television Blues,” which was also broadcast by AT&T:
Major corporations were hardly the only ones capturing the magic at the festival. Sometimes it seems like more of the audience is filming the performances than watching them. Check out the number of cameras in the Amy Winehouse clip:
Of course, most clips are unwatchable for any more than 30 seconds, but the energy of the crowd is best captured from deep within it, as in this rousing sing-along with Peter Bjorn & John:
Seattleite Jason Grimes made the trek to the desert and shot this footage of Silversun Pickups performing “Lazy Eye” (thanks for the catch, Brian) “Kissing Families”:
Many, many more Coachella videos are sure to appear after the sun-wearied wayward concert-goers arrive back home, but if you’re anxious for more right now, check out these clips:
Andrew Bird
Regina Spector
Arctic Monkeys
Jarvis Cocker
Cornelius
LCD Soundsystem
And if you’re in the Austin area this month, be sure to check out the Hot Freaks + Gorilla vs. Bear residency we’re sponsoring at The Mohawk. The shows are 18 and over and will run you only $2 ($4 if you’re under 21). For more information, go visit Gorilla vs. Bear.
May 1: Peel
May 8: White Denim
May 15: Peel
May 22: White Denim
Here are a couple of songs to get you in the mood:
White Denim – ShakeShakeShake (MP3)
Peel – In The City (MP3)
If you see any good Coachella videos or have any music news to share, email us at blog@kexp.org.
What a great line-up for a blistering cold Wednesday night (2/25) at Neumo’s. Not a lot of weekday shows have a line-up quite this diverse, and local opener Telekinesis set the tone with an amazingly fresh set of Beatles-esque pop from their brand new EP, Coast of Carolina. The show was their final warm up before a small tour with Ra Ra Riot and Cut Off Your Hands that was starting the next morning. Not only are they a great local band and some of the friendliest musicians you’ll ever meet, but they also taught us that raccoons were “Nature’s Bandits” so they were educating us as well.
Next up were New Zealand indie rockers Cut Off Your Hands. Definitely the most energetic band of the night, their raw energy was an interesting switch from the sweet melodic pop of Telekinesis and Ra Ra Riot. When the lead singer Nick Johnston wasn’t jumping on kick drums and flailing on the sweat-covered stage, he was busy leaping into the crowd, microphone stand in hand, cords wrapped around everyone’s feet and necks. Their music sounded very British at times, but their tight mix of bass and drums and harmonized vocals set them apart. They played most of the songs from their new debut album, You and I. Their live version of “Turn Cold” was definitely an eye opener and I would have to think that Phil Hadfield is one of the better bassists performing right now. Think of a British version of We Are Scientists and you’d be close. You just have to smile at bands that have so much fun at what they do.
Rounding out the line-up and capping off a fantastic evening were New York headliners Ra Ra Riot. The band took the stage to a loud applause and it was obvious this was who the crowd was waiting to hear. Being on local label Barsuk probably didn’t hurt either. Ra Ra Riot has played a few shows in Seattle already and actually recorded their amazing new album, The Rhumb Line here in Woodinville. As is strangely typical for a lot of NY bands, they consider Seattle their second home and we just eat that stuff up.We love you too, NY! Why the connection between New York and Seattle? Nobody seems to know — maybe we just both like good music? The stage went from almost empty to almost full with the 6 members of the band and a host of “non-typical” instruments littering the stage. There was a lot of stuff going on up there; a full standing cello of sorts, a violin player, guitars, drummer, keyboards, and a singer. Surprisingly, they make it all work. For most live bands, strings are typically an afterthought but after listening I’m not sure their sound would be possible without them. The new songs exploded off the stage and sounded amazing live. Definitely the “tightest” band of the night and new songs like “Dying is Fine” and “Ghost Under Rocks” were noticeable favorites. Just another Wednesday night in Seattle..
All three bands will play a host of West Coast shows before heading to SXSW and Ra Ra Riot will play several more shows in Seattle this year.
Lesli Wood at Three Imaginary Girls’ Exile in Guyville tribute night photo by Nathan Howard
It’s Pride Weekend here in Seattle. That means a lot of things to a lot of different people. If you’re a culture warrior on the right you might see it as the first signs towards the Rapture – and may even be bullish on the prospects. For others, it means that Seattle is a big party all weekend long. It could just be me, but I prefer the latter.
While the events I’m recommending below aren’t official Pride events, the weekend does force everyone else to up their game.
Lushy at the High Dive, Friday, June 27 at 6pm
After a long work week at work, I’m often really eager to go directly from the office to a rock club. With that mind, bless the people at the High Dive for their Friday night Happy Hour shows.
Tonight, they have the lounge-pop band Lushy, who are one of the most fun to watch. In their songs, people drink martinis and ride Vespas but at their shows, everyone dances to the fun, upbeat, catchy tunes. Lushy is the ideal band to kick off this summer weekend.
The Saturday Knights CD Release at Nectar, Friday, June 27
You’ve been listening to the audio stream of the Saturday Knights’ brand new album Mingle, half here and half at My Old Kentucky Blog, all week long and tonight you can see the perfect hip hop soundtrack to your summer at Nectar.
Here’s the video to their single “45″:
The Tea Cozies at the High Dive, Saturday, June 28
I know I am more than a little biased, but I’m still recovering from TIG’s freaking amazing 6th birthday party and celebration of Liz Phair’s masterpiece debut, Exile in Guyville. 9 bands played the album’s 18 tracks in order and all were fantastic but I knew that Rachel Flotard and Lesli Wood would be phenomenal – and they most certainly were. The biggest, most pleasant surprise for me, though, was the Tea Cozies absolutely perfect version of “Gunshy”. They increased the volume and tempo but lost nothing in the power of the lyrics. It was stunning to watch.
I have yet to see the Tea Cozies play a live set of their own, but needless to say I am anxious to do so very soon. As luck would have it, they are playing at the High Dive on Saturday night with the Ice Age Cobra and the Who The Hells.
Glass Candy at Chop Suey, Saturday, June 28
This night kicks off a new dance party night at Chop Suey called Cassette! They lined up an excellent band to headline the inaugural night, too. Portland’s Glass Candy released their album B/E/A/T/B/O/X last year and it, borrowing heavily from Italo Disco (ditching most of their no-wave tendencies in the process) and created a dance floor classic. “Beatific” would sound equally fresh and exciting in 1975 as it does in 2008.
Here’s some footage playing “Beatific” about 3 months ago in San Francisco:
See you out and about,
Chris Burlingame
*Three Imaginary Girls*
High iPod rotation:
Shane Tutmarc and the Traveling Mercies
Tea for Julie
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
(Three Imaginary Girls is a Seattle-based website that showcases the great music of the Northwest and beyond to music lovers worldwide. We post a Seattle live show calendar to help you fill your day-planner with loads of great shows, as well as record reviews, live show reviews, and an imagi-blog to entertain you throughout the day.)
Kurt Vile at KEXP on 9/28/2011 // photo credit: Victoria Holt (more photos)
The KEXP DJs hear thousands of albums every year, but in 2011, which ten really stood out for them? Find out as KEXP looks at each DJ’s list through the month of December nike air max 91, leading up to our 2011 Top 90.3 Countdowncheap beats by dr dre, as voted on by YOU, the KEXP listener beats by dre headphones sale! Voting ends on Monday, December 19th, so let us know your favorites now, and tune in on Friday, December 30th to hear which albums made the list!
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased tracks, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s selection, featured on The Morning Show with John Richards Beats by Dr. Dre, is “Dark Darkness” by CHLLNGR from the 2011 album Haven on Green Owl.
CHLLNGR – Dark Darkness (MP3)
CHLLNGR is actually the pseudonym of Copenhagen-based producer Steve Borth, born and raised in California and currently living in Copenhagen, Denmark. Best known for his remixes for The XX and MIA, CHLLNGR draws from a variety of sources (dub, bass music, R&B) and musical influences — rocksteady and old school 60′s Jamaican music – to create a unique, yet highly accessible, style that doesn’t neatly fit inside any particular genre. Before Haven, Borth hadn’t really played around with straight up electronic music beats by dre on sale, using all electronics, yet his new album has a dark and haunted vibe, combining the darkest elements of his bass heavy dub influenced roots with more familiar R&B pop. Our featured song, “Dark Darkness,” is one of the stand out tracks from the album and a excellent example of his new work. CHLLNGR also co-produced an EP with Sub Pop’s Spoek Mathambo. File under: James Blake, Dedication, Street Halo.
CHLLNGR was scheduled to perform Decibel Festival this past week but had to cancel last minute (for many artists who canceled, visa issues were the cause). But maybe you can catch up with him on Facebook and listen to more of his music on Soundcloud. Right now headphone, you can check out the video for “Ask For,” the first single on the new album:
There was a time when I could juggle seeing both on and off schedule shows at London Fashion Week and for me, there shouldn't really be a precedent between one over the other as there is a vitality in London's off-schedule that eventually does feed into London's on-schedule. Still, I'll give it a bash even if it does mean I turn up to shows looking like a rabid, sweaty mess. Seeing as I can't feign nonchalence, I prefer a trickle of sweat, rubbish hair and creased clothes. Last Sepember, on the first day of London Fashion Week, I was doing a particularly sweaty back-n-forth marathon between Someset House and Freemason's Hall to try and see the Merit Award and Ones to Watch shows organised by Vauxhall Fashion Scout.
I quite literally scrambled to get backstage at the S/S 12 Ones to Watch show as I couldn't stay for the whole thing just so I could make a mental note of what was going on. Phoebe English was one of the four participants of the show, with whom I definitely hovered around the most. English's name is hard to forget. From her BA collection to her MA, both completed at Central Saint Martins, her work was something that I was eager to see how it would progress. From the dark and hair-driven knitwear of her MA collection,Nike Air Max 2012 Womens, she turned to an unexpected use of smocking. In fact, she coaxed something quite beautiful and delicate out of what was essentially reams and reams of heavy calico had smocked and pleated up into a bulky surface texture.
There was a stripped back simplicity to focusing on this one texture which she treated in multiple ways by methods of bleaching,Beats By Dr.Dre Solo, wire brush fraying, dyeing and by contrasting with latex where necessary. This singularity has now earned her a key stockist in the form of Dover Street Market as well as Vauxhall Fashion Scout's Merit Award for A/W12-3. Despite my hounding her backstage back in September during a very chaotic show run-up, Phoebe very kindly let me into her studio to find out more about her S/S 12 collection. She came up with this particular type of smocking so that it was deliberately heavy and sombre as a base material but in the process, she also found ways to create lightness and delicacy with this abundance of calico. The beauty of the pieces is in the overall effect of them standing away from the body as well as up close when you see the rows of hand stitching and the threads that dangle freely from the tops, skirts and dresses. Phoebe's method of cutting into this dense smocking means that the edges of the pieces are left unfinished but don't seem contrived in the way that raw edges can be in clothing. She also cuts little slashes into the smocking to create movement in the piece and to lessen the rigidity. I especially love all the detailing that can be seen inside the piece - the choice of wooden hook and eyes, the binding and all the little stitches - they contribute to the feeling that Phoebe's pieces from this collection could have been made yesterday or hundred years ago. The comparisons to Gareth Pugh (formed on the basis of her MA collection as well as her having interned with Pugh) seems unfounded when you look at this collection closely, which shows an obsession with detailing and minutae that is feminine in an esoteric way. It's definitely a collection to linger over rather than one that hits you with instant gratification in a second.
To land Dover Street Market after just one season is a great achievement and thanks to Vauxhall Fashion Scout, her solo show in February could potentially lead to more stockists. Still, in this early stage, Phoebe can afford to really explore who she is as a designer and that'll be an interesting ride,Czech Republic Soccer Jersey, should she make the leap from off to on schedule.
I'd like to say the title was a very original/witty creation of my own but alas, Property Week beat me to it. Actually trusty Property Week was supposed to my only source of information regarding H&M's physical store UK expansion plans with the primarily Swedish chain Monki. I hear Monki banded about randomly on many a Scandi fashion blog (overriding theme of all of them - that Scandi girls and boys are sickeningly cool looking...) and I have been Monki-converted, the one time I did pop into the stores and didn't know where to look because I was either distracted by the graphic treatment of the stores (Monki creates its own fantasy-driven worlds for their stores, disregarding the one-shop-fits-all method) or the clothes which are just a little sub-Topshop prices that whilst being trend-driven are never overly referential and seem to fit into a style mould of their own that I can't describe as anything but Scandi-cool. Urgh...I think I may have used that phrase in an interview I gave at Stockholm Fashion Week and even as I said it, I could feel my eyeballs wincing at the non-specific vagueness of that term...
All I can say is that what the clothes exude is something that I feel courses through the streetstyle of Stockholm or Copenhagen, and at the admirable pricing,cheap sports jerseys, therefore would make it a pleasing addition to our busting UK high street. I also like the fact that whilst Monki is a chain, it gives off the impression of having a spirit about it that is independent which is well-reflected in its store fits,cheap Coach outlet buy, website and now publication which I stumbled upon accidentally.
On my last day of Stockholm Fashion Week though, I was fortunate enough to run into Eleonore Nygards who I knew from her own blog and her work at Modette magazine (blub blub...). She's now doing work for Monki and has recently project managed the first issue of Monki magazine which I got my hands on. She also let slip that the e-store for Monki as well as COS will be launching in the UK next year. Not sure if that's a piece of confidential information but it of course would make sense as H&M's e-commerce arm is about to launch this month. The magazine though which adds to the publishing activities that both COS and H&M do now on a regular basis was as expected, wonderful in illustrative aesthetics and also goes beyond the usual mounds of product listings by adding editorials and little featurettes.
Back to Property Week though - it says that H&M haven't made a comment regarding opening stores in the UK it's only rumoured that they're looking for London locations. The article suggests that perhaps the British high street is too over-saturated and crammed with stores for Monki to get a look in. But lo and behold,Spain Soccer Jersey, Monki has just opened its first store in Hong Kong which I suppose does mean I can get my Monki fix on my next trip back to the motherland but still, I'm sure Oxford/Regent street can budge up on the store fronts to make room for some Monki action - who's up for replacing that awful strip at the beginning of Oxford Street (TCR end...) or the random shops selling luggage with Monki?
And if you’re in the Austin area this month, be sure to check out the Hot Freaks + Gorilla vs. Bear residency we’re sponsoring at The Mohawk. The shows are 18 and over and will run you only $2 ($4 if you’re under 21). For more information, go visit Gorilla vs. Bear.
