SWL #1: Briana Marela, "Everything Is New"

 

It’s almost criminal that an artist capable of making a song like this has escaped my notice for so long. Side A of Briana Marela’s self-released 2010 cassette, Ocean Water Lake, ends with a live track titled “Everything Is New”, and it’s one of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard this year. The song prominently features Marela’s soulful a capella vocals: at first stark and melancholy with an almost confessional feel, but soon growing into what sounds like an auditory affirmation as each section begins looping back on itself. Toward the 5-minute mark the vocals are joined by the measured sound of mechanical breath as she repeats, “What matters when everything is new/all we have is now”. Wonderful.

Artist Review: Children of Kids

 

Seattle's Children of Kids are a trio composed of Madeline Franks, Madison Levine, and Richie Nelson, and in some ways they're more a project than a band. That's really the only way to describe them, because the 2011 migration of Franks and Levine from Chicago to join Nelson in Seattle led to more than just the continuation of their band, it also resulted in the creation of CTPAK Records. Since the label's formation, the three (with the help of others) have drawn on their grassroots approach to musicianship to create a collaborative label that offers production, engineering, mixing and mastering to a growing group of artists. However, if the online excitement about CTPAK showcases and releases has left you wondering whether the band that began it all deserves your attention, then I want to assure you that is does. 

Source: Katarina Countiss via Katablog, Thanks, Katarina!

To date they have only released one full-length album and two EPs, but in that time the group has morphed from a duo of just Levine and Franks on 2010’s IIIΔIII, into a quartet with the addition of Callum Plews and Richie Nelson for 2011’s Prism, and finally into their current Seattle manifestation as a trio. Their last EP, titled “Pony Tales”, was released in July of 2012 and it features some of their most beautiful work yet.

Despite these changes, every incarnation of Children of Kids has produced interesting results as they dabbled to varying degrees with formulas utilizing dream-folk, post-twee, and experimental electronica. The dreamy acoustic guitar work, and soaring, reverb-laden vocals on IIIΔIII standouts like “Bloodstar” remind me of the early work of Liz Harris’ Grouper project, but with a distinct folk flavor that makes it all their own.

Prisms seems like the true starting point for their current formation. It retains the measured, but never lazy pace established on the previous release, but also cultivates an underlying feeling of playful wonder through its upbeat tempo. To be sure, the duo’s presence is retained, but new features like piano, bubbling electronics, noise, and even house-inspired beats on some tracks make for soulful additions.   

The Pony Tales EP is an extension of everything that they began on Prisms, but it’s clear that the individual members have become more confident—this is particularly apparent in the vocals and electronic work.

The group has been playing pretty regularly around the Seattle area for some time now, and while they don’t have any new shows listed at present, stay tuned for new dates in the Upcoming Shows section. All of their work is available on bandcamp and a new record, tentatively titled The Purpose, is slated to be out soon. 

Announcing Vol. II of the Anacortes Unknown Music Series' OURS Festival

 

The Anacortes Unknown Music Series has officially announced the current lineup for vol. II of the OURS music festival. The event is scheduled to take place in two parts on Saturday, March 23^rd from 4:00pm to midnight at an old church building in downtown Anacortes called the Unknown (1202 7th St.)

The list includes:

Broken Water

Lori Goldston

Lois

Ô Paon

Allyson Foster

Lloyd & Michael

Jae Choi

DJ Weird Cactus

And Marianna Ritchey 

Passes are only $25 and you also get a gourmet nutritious meal! Get tickets here.

For more: http://www.anacortesunknown.com/

March 18 addendum: The White House in Anacortes is holding a free show in conjunction with the "OURS" festival on the 22nd. It will feature performances by Brumes, Autococoon, Eleanor Murray, Cumulus, Briana Marela, Katie Jennings, Emma Cooper, Maryjane Dunphe, and projections by Austin Tretwold with Sunday brunch per donation. 

If you want still more on the performing artists then try here.

Artist Review: The Numbs' "People"

While I apparently missed out on the tenure of U, an industrial collage act composed of Jeff Johnson and Travis Coster, I don’t think I can fully mourn the loss because both artists have gone on to do such awesome work. Coster has been keeping busy as part of the now nationally acclaimed prog-grunge band Naomi Punk, who has just had their first record "The Feeling” (originally on Couple Skate) re-released on Brookyln-based Captured Tracks, while Johnson has been performing instrumental music under the moniker The Numbs. Last year's “People” is Johnson’s first full-length under that name and while the blog-o-sphere paid a lot of attention to the single “Freaks Easy”, I feel like it fell asleep on the rest of the record, which is a crime.  

 So here’s the subjective part: what does it sound like? I guess the popular term is “junk funk” owing in equal parts to the quasi-danceable beats and copy/paste style assimilation of warbling pops, hisses, and whistles. However, while technically accurate, this description still somehow falls short, perhaps because collage work like this is by definition greater than the sum of its parts. I feel like the real strength here lies in Johnson’s ability to effectively craft such an evocative full-length from seeming unrelated pieces—like assembling a complete puzzle from the remains of 50 different throwaways.

The Numbs playing Cairo Seattle for the "People" release show--don't remember the date. 

The result? Ari Spool at Impose described “Freaks Easy” as the perfect soundtrack to a Bill Nye the Science Guy experiment montage, but I keep imagining “People” as the soundtrack to some great maniacal cartoon saga with pieces like “Schaff did it” representing the opening shots, others like “I don’t understand” conveying tragedy, and anthems like “000’0006” and “Brain Case” playing triumphantly behind a victorious protagonist. That interpretation may not resonate with everyone, but the point is that Johnson imparts both function and form to these strange and comical sounds through his skillful arrangements. In fact, its the way in which he manages to do this that most distinguishes him from one of his biggest influences, Black Dice. Regarding BD, Bjorn Copeland himself says, "In the band, there's a weird aesthetic that we nurture that's playful but has a kind of, I don't want to say nihilistic, but a critical point of view". In contrast, Johnson produces music that is hand-dipped in some ill-defined, detached passion that exists outside of this world all together.

 You can still purchase the “People” cassette through the wonderful local label Couples Skate, and don’t forget to see The Numbs in and around our city (note: Numb is a different band)

 Also, if anyone has a copy of any of U’s material beyond what’s available on bandcamp I would really like a copy.

Hey all! Check out this free album download

 If you live in Capitol Hill then you may already know about Porchlight Records, a coffee shop/record label located on 14^th ave. between Pine and Pike (they're moving to a new location early next month around the corner). However, being a U. District resident and relative n00b to Washington in general, I just found out about it while researching shops for my “Neighborhood Guide to Buying Music in Seattle” series. Being a sap for a free download, I gravitated to the free section and came  across an awesome split record.

Salt Flat is the first band to appear, and definitely the rawer of the two with a sound deeply rooted in 90’s indie pop. The label describes this female-fronted Cali act as “summer grunge”, which is accurate, but I’d add that there’s also something deeply personal about these songs that defies explanation.

The second half features 4 songs by Pretty Old, a Seattle outfit that contains Zach Bolotin, who currently co-runs the label. Their bio describes their sound as “a mix of The Weakerthans and The National with vocals having been compared to Stephin Merritt of Magnetic Fields”. Also very chill and definitely a band that I’ll be keeping an eye on.

Download the whole thing, for free, here.

Artist Review: WIMPS

 

I couldn’t have asked for a better introduction to Seattle’s Wimps than their lunacy-inducing New Year’s Eve set at the Comet (alongside Monogamy Party, Haunted Horses and Ubu Roi). I had already downloaded their E.P, but didn’t really have any idea of what to expect from a live show. Happily, I spent the all too brief set crashing around to songs about the joys of napping and workplace frustration (not to mention avoiding Matt’s flailing bass neck), and when it was all over I had not only avoided that nasty sense of false introspection the Eve usually instills, but I had also found a new favorite band.

Wimps, which consist of Rachel Ratner (guitar/vocals), Matt Nyce (bass/vocals), and Dave Ramm (drums) deal in an awesomely stark, surf-tinged punk aesthetic, but that’s not what makes them special. What sets this group apart from the saturated DIY-punk community is their blistering energy and Nyce and Ratner’s clever, howling delivery of seemingly simple lyrical themes. Punk is not unaccustomed to songs (and whole records) based on topics like banality or anxiety, but where much of punk imparts that all too familiar “I’m about to crack” feel, Wimps songs have a sense of DEVO-esque maniacal humor that says, “meh… so what?” In addition, there is a subtle architecture to songs like the title track of their new record, “Repeat”, which is hard not to love (listen below). That song, whose lyrics read, “When your life seems stuck on repeat/Eat sleep, eat sleep, eat sleep” is transformed from a good song into a great song by awesome touches like cyclic rhythm lines and vocal parroting. Their first full length was just released on End of Time Records yesterday and you can listen to "Repeat" below. Come see them at Black Lodge on the 26th with The Trashies and more!

In the spirit of the new year, I asked Rachael for a 2012 list to share with you, and here it is:

Top 5 Wimps moments of 2012

1. Attempting to dry underpants in a motel microwave and instead lighting them on fire
2. Meeting Richie K, the guy who drew the Dookie album cover. He was really nice.
3. Spending a sunny afternoon in Dolores Park, SF
4. Swimming in every hole we could find
5. Endless hours of the most insulting inter-band free style rap battles imaginable

Artist Review: Naomi Punk

 

Through either time or inclination, Seattleites have largely abandoned grunge. I found this out soon after moving here when I went to a show where the band were heckled for doing a Nirvana song just because they were “in Seattle after all”. So you can imagine my surprise when I started to hear more and more about an Olympia-based band called Naomi Punk whose inspiration is, in part, derived from that lineage.

The band, which recently moved from Seattle’s own Couple Skate Records to the excellent Captured Tracks label, does have many of aforementioned grunge fixins, such as simple, chord heavy and distortion-rich melodies. However, somehow they manage to avoid its pitfalls. For one thing, while the songs are heavily distorted, they don’t insult your intelligence by using tacky song structures filled with predictable “this is the chorus” style pandering. Instead they crash along, injecting just enough of their art-punk influence to create music that feels personal and relevant, but without that annoying insistence that you become depressed or fill your closet with flannel.

The Feeling has just been re-released on Captured Tracks and Naomi Punk will be playing alongside Texas’ Parquet Courts and Olympia’s Sick Sad World at Cairo Seattle on the 19^th of this month. Enjoy the video for “Burned body” below.

Artist Review: Pure Bathing Culture

 

         

It’s really not hard to understand why a disproportionate percentage of the hipster backlash sometimes falls on the dream pop genre. Genres like punk and hardcore are a sonic assault on the senses; they don’t ask for permission, they just wash straight over and through you (so that even a bad punk show can still leave you drenched in sweat).  But dreamy pop music is different. It doesn’t force, instead, its power lies in its ability to guide the listener. Unfortunately, when it’s done poorly, songs that are meant to guide succeed in dragging—ultimately making ethereal vibes sound cold and their musicians seem despondent. The current popularity of such acts means that there is more junk out there than ever before, and it’s hard not to just write it all off.

Enter Portland’s Pure Bathing Culture, composed of Sarah Versprille and Daniel Hindman (they are joined live by bassist Zach Tillman). Since coming across their s/t EP last year on Father Daughter Records I’ve come to believe that this band is what Beach House should sound like. In fact, they do share a number of similarities, including slow, rich female vocals and reverb-laden guitar rifts, but PBC songs are somehow warmer (potentially due to the time that Sarah and Daniel have spent in various folk bands, such as Vetiver).  In addition, I’ve seen them twice and I’m always on the lookout for them to return to Seattle because they’re even better live than on the record. Sarah’s presence is intense but engaging and is well complemented by Daniel’s carefree nature and seemingly effortless guitar style. I really can’t wait until they put out a full length. Until then, here is a live version of an as yet unreleased track called “Pendulum Song”.