SWL #35: Feral Children, "Street of Dreams"

The new album by Feral Children, Too Much, Too Little, can be called energetic and summery, even frenetic at some points, but it has its quiet moments, too. "Street of Dreams" is the last song on the album, and it kind of reminds me of a lullaby if you sang a lullaby at dawn. The song conjures sleepy awakenings, starting quiet with an ambient-like chord background and piano, gently building with calm chanting and leaping glissando. You don't hear words until a minute into the song; they're not really the focus of the song, heavily enhanced and blurry. Then it fades again to the piano and glissando. Maybe it's the song for when you wake up early enough to see the sunrise, and then go back to bed. It's a great ending to a solid third album.

*Updated 8/18* Upcoming Seattle Shows

I picked a crappy week to leave town, but I'll be a good sport and carry on with my blogger duties anyhow. Major national/international acts include prolific shoegaze progenitors My Bloody Valentine in their only PNW performance of this tour (god knows if Kevin will even do another), Montreal's Majical Cloudz, formerly local alt country queen Neko Case, and of course Atlas Sound, the solo project of Deerhunter's Bradford Cox. However, lots and lots of great local stuff too. BLSPHM is gonna be at Chop Suey with Windswept Plains and Animal Lover on Wednesday; Brain Fruit are playing the Comet with Youryoungbody and Airport on Thursday; Secret Colors are playing with Young Braised at Cairo Seattle on Friday; and the list goes on and on and on! Don't forget that Bummershoot (not Bumbershoot) is happening at the end of the month. The DIY festival includes several great events at venues all of the city including Black Lodge, Josephine, and Heartland. More info here. Have a great week everyone!

August

Slack Fest, Stanwood, WA, August 23-24

Bumbershoot, Seattle Center, August 31-September 2

Bummershoot: Hollow Earth, Ravenna Park, Heartland, Black Lodge, Fusion Cafe, Fremont Bridge and The Josephine, August 30 to September 1, Seattle, WA

18 Jeff Rosenstock (BTMI) & Sean Nelson (Harvey Danger) at Porchlight

18 Thee Samedi, Apparitions, Animal Lover, and Shunny Bunny and the Bad Boy Bailey at Ground Zero

18 Neko Case at Paramount Theatre

18 Darto, Seacats, Animals Lover, and Elch at Heartland

18 Pedestrian Deposit, HOB, Lightning Kills Eagle, Drishti, and Andrew Scott Young at Josephine

18 Liquid Sky: The Cassfield, Gang Cult, and Ea$y Iri$ at Therapy Lounge

19 Grenades, The Helm, Bone Dance, Cascabel at Black Lodge

20 Majical Cloudz at Barboza

20 Special Explosion, Is/Is, Autococoon, and Winebago at Heartland

20 Telekinesis in-store at Sonic Boom Records (free)

21 My Bloody Valentine at Showbox SoDo (note change)

21 BLSPHM, Wind Swept Planes, Animal Lover, and Lucid Aisle at Chop Suey

21 Julie Byrne, GRR, and Craig Salt Peters Band at Heartland

21 Atlas Sound with Ponytime and Pollens at Neumos
21 Jason Lescaleet, Fairlight Empress at Black Lodge

22 Truckasauras, Chris Davis of Brain Fruit, Airport, and Bath House at The Comet (note changes)

23 Men Without Hats, The Scarves and more at El Corazon

23 Lusine, Natasha Kmeto, Vox Mod at Seattle Center Mural Amphitheatre

23 Young Braised, Secret Colors, DJs Rezound and Cousin Cole at Cairo Seattle

23 Little Comets and Special Guests at Vera Project

23 The Ironclads with MITTS at Blue Moon

24 Stickers, Lie, Peeping Tomboys, and Slashed Tires at Heartland

24 Taurus, Aerial Ruin, A Story of Rats, and Samara at Black Lodge   

24 The Red Elvises at The Tractor

24 Stones Throw Soul Tour with Dam-funk, The Stepkids, and Myron & E at The Crocodile

24 Sam Flax, Part Time, Mega Bog, and Punishment at Cairo Seattle

24 Trust with DJ’s Kidhops, Jutsice&Treasure, and guests at Lo-Fi

24 The Blasters with special guests at El Corazon

25 Black Nite Crash, Dead Teeth, Yonder at The Comet

25 The Beach Boys (Note: Love kicked the other BB out so it’s just him and Bruce Johnston) at Snoqualmie Casino Mountain View Plaza  

26 Whirr, Nothing, Vibragun, and Nostalgist at Vera Project

27 Chastity Belt Release show with Dude York and Ubu Roi at Barboza

28 The Deep End with Casewag, Anthony Robinsion, and Evan Diehl at Vermillion Art Bar

29 MOTOR VII feat. Pete Swanson at LoFi Performance Gallery

29 MTNS, Elephant Rifle, Haunted Horses, and Big Trughk at The Comet

31 Grave Babies, Teepee, Red Traces, Jetman Jet Team at Victory Lounge

31 Cold Cave at Neumos

31 Rainbow Wolves, Friend Enforcer, Stalebirth, Power Animal, and Brevrkor at The Josephine

31 Grave Babies, Teepee, Red Traces, Jetman Jet Team at Victory Lounge

   

September

4 Titus Andronicus and Special Guests at the Vera Project

4 Austra with Diana at Neumos

4 Titus Andronicus and Special Guests at Vera Project

5 Godspeed You Black Emperor at Showbox SoDo

5 The Psychedelic Furs at Showbox at the Market

6 Bleeding Rainbow at Barboza

6 Weapons of Mass Destruction, Menami, and Karmedic at Atlas Clothing

6 Sonny and The Sunsets, Love as Laughter, and Memories at The Tractor

6 Youth Lagoon with Pure X at Neumos

7 Ty Segall with Mike Donovan (Sic Alps) at Neumos

9 WHY? at Neumos

10 The Weeknd at Paramount

12 DJ Shadow All Basses Covered 2013 DJ Set at Neumos

14 James Murphy DJ set with Shit Robot at Neumos

14 Monogamy Party (record release), Gaytheist, and Haunted Horses at Chop Suey

15 Julia Holter at Barboza

17 Blondie at King County’s Marymoor Park

17 Woods with The Fresh and Onlys at Barboza

18 Neko Case at Paramount

19 Porcelain Raft at Barboza

19 Lori Goldston, Cock & Swan, Ionophore, and Corey Brewer at Heartland

19-20 The National at Paramount

21 The Vibrators, New Iron Front, and No Buffer at El Corazon

21 Augustus Blackheart, Basement Party, Pitschouse, and Lucarne at Cafe Racer

20 Islands, Matt Hires, Paradise Fears at Vera Project

22 Youryoungbody with Kelli Frances Corrado, Golden Gardens and DJ Ea$y Iri$ at Barboza

23 Savages at Neumos

25 Dirty Beaches, SISU and Chasms at Barboza

25 Evian Christ, Vessel, and The Haxan Cloak at Chop Suey

25 Guttermouth, Agent Orange and more at El Corazon

26 Teenage Bottlerocket, The Queers, and more at El Corazon

27 Little Boots with Light Asylum and Young Galaxy at Neumos

27 Ecstatic Cosmic Union with DJ El Hefe and Guests at Cafe Racer

28 Kinski, with Unnatural Helpers, Big Eyes, and Trash Fire at The Sunset Tavern

28 Gold Panda with ODesza and Abbott at Neumos

28 Db Festival 2013: Hush Hush Showcase with Cyril Hahn, Ryan Hemsworth, Kid Smpl, DJAO, and Domokos at The Crocodile 

October

2 Pet Shop Boys at Paramount

7 Christian Death with guests at El Corazon

9 Disclosure at Showbox Sodo

9 Delorean at Neumos

10 Godflesh with Prurient and Nails at Neumos

10 Fucked Up with Terror and more at El Corazon

10 Karl Blau at The Tractor

11 GWAR with Whitechapel, Iron Reagan, and A Band of Orcs at Showbox SoDo

11 Princess with Pipsisewah at Blue Moon

15 La Luz at Sonic Boom--Free

15 Holy Ghost! at Neumos

15 Crystal Stilts at Barboza

18 Hunx & His Punx, Wimps, and Coconut Coolouts at Chop Suey

23 Keep Shelly in Athens and Chad Valley at Barboza

23 Empire of the Sun at the Paramount

23 Braids with Hundred Waters and Special Guests at The Sunset

23 Widowspeak, and Pure Bathing Culture at Chop Suey

23 Haim at Neumos

23 Walk the Moon at Showbox SoDo

25 Cocorosie at Neumos

November

2 SoMo and special guests at Vera Project

6 Of Montreal at Neumos

12 Toro Y Moi and Classixx at Showbox at the Market

12 Crocodiles at Barboza

15 Jessie Ware at the Neptune

20 James Blake at Showbox at the Market

20 Vienna Teng at Neptune

20 Bill Callahan with Mick Turner at Neumos

SWL #34, Casewag, "Missing You"

It’s sad, but some people are still genuinely surprised to learn that Seattle produces great electronic music. The fact remains that every night after the shrines to Kurt and Jimi close at the Experience Music Project, venues all over the city open their doors to droves of artists from awesome local labels like Hush Hush, Debacle, Translinguistic Other, Eiderdown, and my newest find, Pretty Young Thing Records (PYT). The microlabel, which began as a collaboration between Seattles’ Futurewife and LA’s Le Youth, serves as the home for budding Seattle house/nu-disco producer Casewag (aka. Casey Wagner). Four months after dropping his first EP, a couple of funkhouse Prince remixes appropriately titled “Homage”, Casewag returned late last month with “Missing You”, a highly infectious dance track built around a super-soulful sample from Angie Stones’ 2002 hit “Wish I Didn’t Miss You”. It might just be the only real cure for those 2:30 workday blues. You can get the original track and two remixes from label-mates Futurewife and Fukuyama as a free WAV download on the PYT Soundcloud, and you can check out Casewag on August 28 at Vermillion alongside Anthony Robinson and Evan Diehl at Vermilllion’s new electro night called “The Deep End”. For still more goodness check out Evan's podcast mix on Freq Note to promote June's edition of the monthly night.

Summer Festivals: August 16-18

VanFest 2013, August 17
Organized by Van Wolfe, $10 ($15 at the event) buys you a ticket to this all-day awesome MegaShow in Renton, WA. Plus, funds raised benefits the Alliance for Eating Disorders Awareness. Head on over to Royal Arch Park at noon and kick it till 9pm- be sure to check out Fly Moon Royalty, Eighteen Individual Eyes, Dude York, Chastity Belt, and lots of others on three different stages (and an acoustic tent!).
  
CatapultFest, August 17
FREE. Woo! Lots of festivals will break the bank, but not CatapultFest! up in lovely Anacortes, WA. What started 13 years ago as a garage show to celebrate the end of the school year has blossomed into a nicely represented, PNW-centric Mega Show. You can also join their fun run (2-mile, 7k and 15k routes). Funds raised at the event go to positive mentoring at Youth Dynamics and Catapult InFocus. The 2013 lineup is:

CatapultFest 2013 Lineup:
9pm - Hey Marseilles (2013 Headliners)
8pm - SHEBEAR (EMP Sound Off! Catapult Prize Winners)
7pm - THE FAME RIOT
6pm - Dave B. (EMP Sound Off! 1st place)
5pm - SEACATS
4pm - Special Explosion
3pm - The Terrible Buttons
2pm - Specters
1pm - Maiah Manser
12pm - New Lungs
11am - Tangerine
10am – Sleepy Lagoon

Helsing Junction Sleepover, August 16-18
Want another opportunity to get away? Head down to Rochester, WA for the Helsing Junction Sleepover, featuring fun outdoor activities (camping, picnicking, swimming), underground films, literary showcase, and music from K Records at the 30 acre Helsing Junction organic farm. And the price is only $50 for all three days plus two nights of camping. Sweet! Acts to look forward to include Ashley Eriksson, Karl Blau, LAKE, Imaginary Pants, Wampire, and Hive Dwellers.

21st Annual Salmon Arm Roots and Blues Festival, August 16-18
Music is celebrated at festivals throughout British Columbia, not just in Vancouver! And this one is located just east of Kamloops, pretty far northeast of Van. The festival organization's goal is "to encourage and promote performers from all parts of the world (with a special emphasis on Canadian talent), and to introduce audiences to the world’s incredibly diverse genres of music, musical instruments, and the artists who play them." Awesome! Bands you might catch at this one: City and Colour, Sallie Ford & The Outside Sound, and a bunch of other bands I confess I've never heard of. O, Canada!