Sunday, March 31, 2013

*Updated 3/31* Upcoming Seattle Shows



Hey all. We're still in Oahu until Monday night, but being a slave to your passions is a full time job, so we decided to post our weekly update anyway. There are a bunch of killer shows going down this week. My personal choices are the JUJU Fuzz evening at Electric Tea Garden, Party Animal (Kool A.D. from Das Racist) at Heartland, Briana Marela at the Comet, Anacortes' Karl Blau at Heartland or How to Dress Well at Barboza (if you didn't get to see him when he came through in December), and last but not least... Billy F**KING Bragg at the Neptune! Have a great week.

March
31 Comadre, No Sir, Lee Corey Oswald Livingston Seagull at Black Lodge
31 JUJU Fuzz (African dance music) with DJ Slow, Explorateur and Veins at Electric Tea Garden
31 Fuzzy Cloaks, Johnny De Courcy, Brain Drain and So Pitted at the Comet
April 
2 Party Animal, Monogamy Party, Cold Lake, Neighbors and “DJ” El Mizell at Heartland
3 Billy Bragg at Neptune
4 The Pharmacy, Cosmonauts, Chastity Belt at Black Lodge
5 Kinski with Mark McGuire and Bali Girls at The Sunset
5 MALAIKAT DAN SINGA, Yada Yada Blues Band, Briana Marela at the Comet
6 Karl Blau, Pleasure Beauties, Corner Kick at Heartland
6 Alt-J at Neptune
6 Sky Ferreira with How to Dress Well at Barboza
6 Wimps, Dude York and Chastity Belt at Blue Moon
7 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at Paramount Theater
7 Pressures, Void Vision, Futility and Dr. Troy at Electric Tea Garden
8 Spiritualized at Neptune
9 Jessie Ware at The Crocodile
13 CD release Party Deux: EURODANCEPARTYUSASUPERCOOL, Correspondents with Ava Grapes, Prawnyxx at The Josephine
14 Naomi Punk, The Exquisites, Wild Moth and Elch at Black Lodge
15 Johnny Marr at Neumos (moved from the 5th--my bad?)
15 Bad Religion at Showbox at SODO
15 The Telescopes, LSD, Flavor Crystals, Black Nite Crash at the Comet.
16 Bat for Lashes at the Showbox at the Market
17 Medical Record Showcase Pressures, Void Vision and Futility at Electric Tea Garden
18 The Revival Tour 2013 with Rocky Votolato, Chuck Ragan (Hot Water Music), Tim McIlrath (Rise Against) and more at Showbox at The Market
18 Airport, Black Hat, Bankie Phones, and Magisterial at Electric Tea Garden
19 Big Eyes, Shivas, Hornet Let and Mega Bog at the Josephine
19 Gems with Gold Wolf Galaxy and Vox Mod at The Sunset
20 Abbey Arts presents CATHEDRALS: Mirah, Moondoggies acoustic, Shenandoah Davis at St Mark's
20 The Men and Dude York at Vera Project
23 James Blake at The Neptune 
24 Purity Ring at Neptune
24 Grave Babies, Dreamsalon and Starskate at the Mercury
25 Week of Wonders, Seacat, Detective Agency and Say Calm at Columbia City Theater
26 Chad Valley and Ski Lodge at Barboza
26 Space Needles, Universe People and the Gallow Swings at Blue Moon
30 Mindless Self Indulgence at Showbox at the Market
30 Crystal Castles at Moore 

May
1 Bleached, EX-COPS and Guests at Chop Suey
1 New Build with NO CEREMONY/// at Neumos
2 Marina and the Diamonds with Charli XCX at Showbox at the Market
2 & 3 Allen Stone's Prom-Themed Bumbershoot Final Lineup Announcement Party at The Crocodile 
4 Metz at Neumos
5 Stacian, Samantha Glass and DR. Troy at Electric Tea Garden
10 Kisses and Trails and Ways at Barboza
10 Dude York, Vapor Trails (Ron 9/Love Battery) Pytons, We Are Golden at The Highline
12 The Appleseed Cast, Hospital Ships and Guests at Chop Suey           
15 MGMT at Showbox SODO
16 Hair and Space Museum and JJAAXXNN at Electric Tea Garden
17 Yo La Tengo at Showbox at the Market
17 Beat Connection at Neumos
19 Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death at El Corazon
22 Flying Lotus with Thundercat at Showbox SODO
25 Thermals and WIMPS at Neumos
25 Avi Buffalo at Barboza 

June 2013
6 They Might Be Giants at Showbox at SODO
7 Alkaline Trio at Showbox at the Market
14 Mount Kimbie, Holy Other and Vinyl Williams at Neumos
21 The Dandy Warhols at Showbox at the Market
22 Camera Obscura at Showbox at the Market 

July 
17 The Postal Service at the Rose Garden Arena in Portland, OR
19 Peter Murphy performing only Bauhaus material with Ours at Showbox at the Market

Thursday, March 28, 2013

SWL #8: Swamp Meat, "Ball of Dirt"


When he's not engineering, mixing, or designing album artwork for his friends as Halfshell Records, Daniel Onufer is busy recording bluesy psych-pop as part of Seattle trio Swamp Meat. On 2012's Tomorrow, Onufer and band-mates Laura Seniow and Geoff Traeger demonstrate their knack for generating songs with a surprisingly strong and unassuming pop sensibility. "Ball of Dirt" is my favorite off that record at the moment; I've been listening to this song on repeat for the last few days and I can't get over it's lovely, fuzzy melody and unkempt vocals. Catch Swamp Meat at Heartland on the 29th (tomorrow night) along with Mega Bog and Bad Weather California.

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

SWL #7: Detective Agency, "Just Like Heaven (The Cure Cover)"


I’ve been in love with English post-punk/goth godfathers The Cure since high school and I’m extremely leery of covers of their material. To be fair, they can be well done, like Dinosaur Jr.’s take on “Just Like Heaven”, but 311’s dub jam version of “Lovesong” still makes me ill. So, when I clicked on Detective Agency's cover of “Just Like Heaven” I was more than a little apprehensive about what the Seattle garage-pop group had done to one of my all-time favorite songs. The track is a low-key and playful acoustic duet, and although they take few liberties with the original melody, these changes (especially the male/female contrast) turn the song into an unaffected sing-a-long—recapturing, but not impersonating the feeling of the original. I approve. You can see Detective Agency at Columbia City Theater on the 25th of April.

Sunday, March 24, 2013

*Updated 3/24* Upcoming Seattle Shows



To start with, let me say that Barboza is the place to be this week--whether you see the Arbutus Records showcase on the 26th (Arbutus released Grimes' early records before she signed with 4AD), Ducktails with Mark McGuire on the 28th (Mondanile is also in Real Estate and McGuire was in Emeralds), or the fabled Shawn Reed of Night People records as part of Wet Hair on the 30th, you can't go wrong. Other shows of note: Nor-Cal garage titan, Ty Segall, is coming to the Black Lodge with his new band, Fuzz; unfortunately, they will be playing at the same time that Texas' Pure X will be melting the Rendezvous with reverb-drenched pop music. English folk/soul up-and-comer, Lianne La Haves, is going to be at the Crocodile; Week of Wonders will be christening Atlas Clothing in Fremont; Vox Mod is celebrating the release of their new record at Vermillion, and CT PAK's Justin Timbreline and Moose Portrait will be taking over the Glitterbox. 

However, we will not be at any of these shows because we're going to Oahu for the week. I don't expect anyone to feel bad for me, but if anyone gets any cool pictures, tweet them to us @ngdseattle so I can live vicariously through you. Have a great week!

March
24 Pony Time, Stickers, Universe People and Ubu Roi at Heartland
24 Lianne La Havas at the Crocodile
26 Grave Babies at Chop Suey
26 Doldrums with Blue Hawaii and Sean Nicholas Savage at Barboza
26 Fuzz (Ty Segall), Night Beats, Unnatural Helpers, Wimps at Black Lodge 
26 Pure X with Swamp Meat at Rendezvous
27 Graves at Sea, Aldebaran and Ash Borer at Black Lodge
27 Widowspeak at Chop Suey
27 The Specials at Showbox at the Market
27 The Joy Formidable at Neptune
27 Ducktails with Mark McGuire at Barboza
28 Week of Wonders, Vacation Club, Crys Branden Daniel and the Chics at Black Lodge
29 Phoenix at Paramount
29 The Pharmacy, Scream Queen, JAN, and YOURYOUNGBODY at the Comet
29 Vox Mod, OcNotes, Olav and DJ Riz at Vermillion
30 Merchandise with Wet Hair + Naomi Punk at Barboza
30 Justin Timbreline, Moose Portrait and Battle Sound Grammer at the Glitterbox
30 Week of Wonders and YOURYOUNGBODY at ATLAS Clothing
30 Yuni in Taxco with Orchids and Charms at Rendevous
30 Dreamsalon, Sex Church, and the Lindseys at Highline
31 Comadre, No Sir, Lee Corey Oswald Livingston Seagull at Black Lodge
31 JUJU Fuzz (African dance music) with DJ Slow, Explorateur and Veins at Electric Tea Garden
31 Fuzzy Cloaks, Johnny De Courcy, Brain Drain and So Pitted at the Comet

April
3 Billy Brag at Neptune
5 Johnny Marr at Neumos
5 Kinski with Mark McGuire and Bali Girls at The Sunset
6 Alt-J at Neptune
6 Sky Ferreira with How to Dress Well at Barboza
6 Wimps, Dude York and Chastity Belt at Blue Moon
7 Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds at Paramount Theater
7 Pressures, Void Vision, Futility and Dr. Troy at Electric Tea Garden
8 Spiritualized at Neptune
9 Jessie Ware at The Crocodile
14 Naomi Punk, The Exquisites, Wild Moth and Elch at Black Lodge
15 Bad Religion at Showbox at SODO
16 Bat for Lashes at the Showbox at the Market
17 Medical Record Showcase Pressures, Void Vision and Futility at Electric Tea Garden
18 The Revival Tour 2013 with Rocky Votolato, Chuck Ragan (Hot Water Music), Tim McIlrath (Rise Against) and more at Showbox at The Market
18 Airport, Black Hat, Bankie Phones, and Magisterial at Electric Tea Garden
19 Big Eyes, Shivas, Hornet Let and Mega Bog at the Josephine
19 Gems with Gold Wolf Galaxy and Vox Mod at The Sunset
20 Abbey Arts presents CATHEDRALS: Mirah, Moondoggies acoustic, Shenandoah Davis at St Mark's
20 The Men and Dude York at Vera Project
23 James Blake at The Neptune 
24 Purity Ring at Neptune
26 Chad Valley and Ski Lodge at Barboza
26 Space Needles, Universe People and the Gallow Swings at Blue Moon
30 Crystal Castles at Moore

May
1 Bleached, EX-COPS and Guests at Chop Suey
1 New Build with NO CEREMONY/// at Neumos
2 Marina and the Diamonds with Charli XCX at Showbox at the Market
4 Metz at Neumos
5 Stacian, Samantha Glass and DR. Troy at Electric Tea Garden
10 Kisses and Trails and Ways at Barboza
12 The Appleseed Cast, Hospital Ships and Guests at Chop Suey           
15 MGMT at Showbox SODO
16 Hair and Space Museum and JJAAXXNN at Electric Tea Garden
17 Yo La Tengo at Showbox at the Market
19 Cannibal Corpse and Napalm Death at El Corazon
22 Flying Lotus with Thundercat at Showbox SODO
25 Thermals and WIMPS at Neumos
25 Avi Buffalo at Barboza

June 2013
6 They Might Be Giants at Showbox at SODO
14 Mount Kimbie, Holy Other and Vinyl Williams at Neumos
22 Camera Obscura at Showbox at the Market

July
19 Peter Murphy performing only Bauhaus material with Ours at Showbox at the Market

Friday, March 22, 2013

Our Picks for Record Store Day 2013 (April 20th)




Local record shops serve an important cultural role by connecting people to their local scene, local businesses, and to the broader world. It’s for this reason that since 2007 the third Saturday in April has been devoted to Record Store Day. The now international holiday is celebrated by labels and artists of all sizes and genres with the release of unique titles and reissues that encourage people to get out and buy--most of which are not available elsewhere. The official list of releases has been announced and we’ve gone through and picked out the titles that we’re most excited about. You can find the entire list here, and the list of participating Seattle stores here (everybody from what I can see).
  1. At the Drive-In, Relationship of Command 12-inch vinyl 
  2. Best Coast, "Fear of My Identity"/"Who Have I Become" 7-inch vinyl 
  3. Black Lips/Icky Blossums, "Cowboy Nights" 7-inch vinyl 
  4. Bonobo, The North Borders 10-inch vinyl box set 
  5. David Bowie, "The Stars (Are Out Tonight)" 7-inch vinyl 
  6. Billy Bragg, "No One Knows Nothing Anymore"/"Song of the Iceberg" 
  7. Braid, Frames & Canvas 12-inch vinyl 
  8. Brian Eno and Grizzly Bear, "Lux"/"Sleeping Ute" (Nicolas Jaar remixes) 10-inch vinyl 
  9. Cake, "Sheep Go to Heaven"/Jesus Wrote a Blank Check" 7-inch vinyl]] 
  10. Captain Beefheart, Frank Freeman's Dance Club 12-inch vinyl
  11. King Dude, Sing Songs Together 7-inch vinyl 
  12. The Cure, Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me 12-inch vinyl 
  13. Cut Copy, Bright Like Neon Love 12-inch vinyl 
  14. David Bowie, "Drive-In Saturday Night"/"Drive-In Saturday Night (Russel Harty Plus Pop Version) 7-inch picture disc 
  15. Earth Crisis, Firestorm 12-inch vinyl 
  16. Flaming Lips, Zaireeka vinyl box set 
  17. Gil Scott-Heron & Brian Jackson, "The Bottle" 7-inch vinyl 
  18. The Glove, Blue Sunshine 12-inch vinyl 
  19. Grizzly Bear, Horn of Plenty 12-inch vinyl 
  20. The Hold Steady, "Criminal Fingers" 7-inch vinyl 
  21. Hüsker Dü, "Amusement" 7-inch vinyl 
  22. Daniel Johnston, Fun 12-inch vinyl 
  23. The Joy Formidable, A Minute's Silence 
  24. Junior Boys, Even Truer 
  25. Stephen Malkmus and Friends, Ege Bamyasi 12-inch vinyl 
  26. Mercury Rev, Deserted Songs 12-inch vinyl 
  27. MGMT, "Alien Days" cassette 
  28. Misfits, "Side By Side: Skulls" 7-inch picture disc 
  29. Moby, "The Lonely Night" 7-inch vinyl 
  30. Moon Duo, Circles Remixed 12-inch vinyl 
  31. Thurston Moore, The Only Way To Go 12-inch vinyl
  32. No Bunny, Love Visions 7-inch vinyl box set 
  33. Orange Juice, Texas Fever 12-inch vinyl 
  34. Orange Juice, Rip It Up 12-inch vinyl 
  35. Orange Juice, The Orange Juice 12-inch vinyl 
  36. Orange Juice, You Can't Hide Your Love Forever 12-inch vinyl 
  37. Van Dyke Parks, Super Chief vinyl 
  38. Van Dyke Parks, Song Cycle vinyl 
  39. Phoenix, "Entertainment" 7-inch vinyl 
  40. A Place To Bury Strangers, Strange Moon 12-inch vinyl 
  41. Placebo, B3 EP 10-inch vinyl 
  42. Public Image Ltd., "Public Image"/"The Cowboy Song" 12-inch vinyl 
  43. Pulp, "After You" 12-inch vinyl 
  44. Pussy Galore, Groovy Hate Fuck 12-inch vinyl 
  45. Rhye, Open 12-inch vinyl 
  46. Rise, Face to Face 10-inch LP 
  47. Ty Segall, Ty Rex 2 7-inch vinyl 
  48. Sigur Rós, Agaetis Byrjun LP 
  49. Elliott Smith, Alternate Versions from Either/Or 7-inch vinyl 
  50. Sonny & the Sunsets, "Imagine" (John Lennon cover) / "Surfer Girl" (Beach Boys cover) 7-inch vinyl 
  51. Sonny & the Sunsets, Tomorrow Is Alright 12-inch vinyl 
  52. Superchunk, "Void"/"Faith" 7-inch vinyl 
  53. Surfer Blood, "Demon Dance"/"Slow Six" 7-inch vinyl 
  54. Tame Impala, Tame Impala EP 12-inch vinyl 
  55. Tegan & Sara, Closer Remixed 12-inch vinyl 
  56. Various Artists, The Taste of Burger Records cassette 
  57. The Thermals, Desperate Ground Demos EP 7-inch vinyl 
  58. Destroyer, This Night 12-inch vinyl 
  59. Trashmen, Live at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go St. Paul Minn. 1966 7-inch vinyl 
  60. Sharon Van Etten, "We are Fine" 7-inch vinyl 
  61. Jozef van Wissem featuring Jim Jarmusch, Apokatastasis 7-inch vinyl 
  62. The xx, Jamie xx Edits 12-inch vinyl 
  63. Frank Zappa, "I'm the Slime"/"Montant" 7-inch vinyl
  64. Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Animal X 
  65. Garbage, Because The Night 10-inch

Thursday, March 21, 2013

Our Review of This Weekend's Show Choices (March 22nd and 23, 2013)

March 22nd 

Unknown Mortal Orchestra with Foxygen and Wampire at Crocodile:
This show is officially sold out, so I won't say much about this event except that those of you concerned with lo-fi, psych-flavored, indie rock should find a place to camp and scrounge tickets. Listen below to hear what you're missing.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra, "Ffunny Ffrends"
Foxygen, "San Francisco"

 


White Lung with Monogamy Party and TacocaT at Chop Suey:
 White Lung is female fronted post/speed punk band from Vancouver that write songs steeped in a strong sense of hardcore urgency. Local favorites Monogamy Party and TacocaT bring a similar level of punk-punk/hardcore fury, and altogether I'm sure you won't get a moment of peace all evening.  
White lung, "Deadbeat"
Monogamy Party, "Drunk or Dying"



Black Hat, Lie, KORBAN, Bardo.Basho, and Daniel Shuman at Heartland: 
 The release of Spectral Disorder on Debacle Records (a NGD favorite) was a fitting introduction for Seattle's experimental music community to Oakland transplant Nelson Bean, whose songs push the limits of ambient experimental music through the incorporation of soul-shaking tribal and industrial themes. He is joined by Lie (cold-punk) and Koban (industrial punk/darkwave) from Vancouver, Bardo.Basho from CTPAK records (sounds like a stripped-down, experimental version of tUnE-yArDs), and Daniel Shuman of Sabbath Assembly. Should be a strange evening fit for those who revel in experimental music.  


Black Hat, "#000000"
Lie, "Muse-DEMO"
Kōban, "Down in the well"
Golden Grrls, Detective Agency with Chastity Belt at Cairo Seattle:
Golden Grrls will be supporting Brilliant Colors and Veronica Falls at the Tractor on the 21st, but you can also see them as a headliner at Cairo Seattle the following evening. For the Cairo show they are supported by the Seattle garage pop-ers, Detective Agency, and the always prolific Chastity Belt. Lots of nerdy dancing and good times for the twee inclined.

Golden Grrls, "Past Tense"
Detective Agency, "Daggers"






Gems listening party at Vermillion Art Bar:
Gems are funky in a way that is almost unfathomable to the uninitiated. The Seattle-based band utilizes two different drummers and two keyboardists to sculpt their stellar electro-grooves, and on their only release to date, 2011’s eponymous ep, it definitely pays off. The band is having a listening party for their new record, titled "Tall Mountain", at Vermillion on the 22nd of this month. Be there or be square.

Gems, "Phillip's Glass Eye"



March 23nd 
Landmine Marathon, Transient, Brain Scraper at Black Lodge: This show is going to be brutal. Landmine Marathon is a killer death metal band from Phoenix and they will be joined by Portland's Transient (grindcore) and Seattle's own Brain Scraper (black metal/ crust).

Landmine Marathon, "Dead Horses"

Transient, "Smash Therapy" Brain Scraper, "Lobotomizer"




Charms, the Echo Echo Echos, So Pitted, The Lindseys at Blue Moon:
Charms are a garage indie band from Seattle that feature distant vocals delivered over crisp, dreamy (almost sonic youth-ish) guitars and crashing symbols. They are joined by the Echo Echo Echos, who self-identify as making "music for a beach day", as well as So Pitted, and The Lindseys.
 
Charms, "Wartime"

The Echo Echo Echos, "Surfer Girl"
 




Thrones, Midlife Vacation, Mutant Video and Total Life at Heartland:

A night (actually a weekend if you go to Heartland both nights) worth of sonic oddities. Kevin Doria (also of Growing) is celebrating the rebirth of his Total Life moniker with a new album titled Bender/Drifter on Debacle Records and this is the release show. Doria is joined by Midlife Vacation and Mutant Video, both of which will warp your fragile brain with droning electronics. Mutant video is described on bandcamp as "creeped out basement men playing John Carpenter soundtrack jams at 16 rpm with a strong hardcore undercurrent". This is where I'll probably be on Saturday night. 


Total Life, "Bender"

Midlife Vacation, "Weird Baggage"


Waxahatchee at Porchlight:
Waxahatchee's "Be Good" was named one of NPR's top 100 songs of 2012 and its not hard to see why people find Alabama's Katie Crutchfield so endearing. She delivers folk music in a way that avoids all the boredom-inducing pitfalls of many singer-songwriters and instead goes strait for the down-homeness in your heart you didn't even know you had. 
 
Waxahatchee, "Black Candy"