Meet Cooper. He's almost three days old. We had a little moment, a few hours after he was born late Thursday afternoon. All the doctors and nurses had left us alone and the room was suddenly silent. My brilliant wife said we should put some music on, which suddenly reminded me that we get to choose his first song. This is a ritual you don't really read about; it's not a baptism or a cutting of the cord. But it felt very weighty as I picked up the iPod to run through the menu. [...]
L ast spring, I'm waiting for the #3 Downtown bus at the corner of Main and Broadway. I'm on my way in for a 12-hour shift, on a Sunday, so I'm not in a great mood to start with. The bus, unreliable at the best of times, seems to follow no schedule at all on Sundays. So I've got to get out way ahead of time just be on time. I've got to hustle like a keener just to keep from being a slob. But here comes the bus, I can see it way down the street. During the week, [...]
I had a couple of emails yesterday inquiring about my Mom who some of you might recall has Alzheimer's and moved to a nursing home last July. If there's an upside to the disease, it's that it eventually steals your memory along with your desire to maintain connections with things or people with whom you'd normally miss when taken from your home and placed in a senior's facility, [...]
VAMPIRE WEEKEND (FFO paul simon, passion pit, the very best, girls) following up from their hugely successful eponymous debut, 'contra' was released mid-january to similarly high-praise. vampire weekend's multi-cultural, genre-spanning style remains but 'contra' is broader and more polished. producer and band-member rostam batmanglij again excels with his subtle orchestral arragements while koeing's songwriting has sharpened, the result is another warm, clever and peppy pop-record. i think ur a contra [...]
Here's the deal. Three out of every four bands we get PR-type e-mails about supposedly put on insane live shows. This is often a lie. However, to call Monotonix's live show insane might actually be an understatement (for more proof see this FADER F2 in-depth piece on the band). We caught them at Siren Festival on Coney Island this summer and were legitimately worried for the safety of the band, the fans, the Cyclone, even the extra long hot dogs were at risk. Somehow the group had never suffered a major injury through all their climbing and [...]
Whenever I see videos where a female performer is dressed in nurse outfits or equally risque clothes, I just assume the director came up with the treatment because he'd like to see the performer in said outfits. And since Nick Cannon directed the video for Mariah Carey's "Up Out My Face," I'm going to assume that that's definitely the reason here, since that guy is just the worst. Wild N' Out? More like Wild N' Obnoxiously Unwatchable . But yeah, here's Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj in nurses outfits and dressed [...]
A 12-part documentary series chronicling intimate performances by northwest bands, Into the Woods represents what producer Jordan Kinley terms "a return to ritual." The ritual, in this case, is translated as the sense of community that develops when friends gather together to hear and play music. The first episode, screening tonight at Holocene, features Wampire and a group of close friends as they journey over the snowy mountain passes to a cabin in the woods near Mt. Hood. Kinley sat down with us to talk about the project, and explain why—if for no reason other than to see [...]
My God, when the Tallest Man On Earth came and played Rontoms, those were just phenomenal. The kind of thing where he holds a note or nails a phrase and it makes the hair on the back of your neck stand up. Thankfully, the Swede is getting back at it. He's signed with Dead Oceans (home to our own beloved Nurses), who will release his second album, The Wild Hunt , on April 13th. A US tour will surely follow. But that feels like a long time to wait. Fortunately there's a single to [...]
If you don't listen carefully, you might miss him. With a flow that strings detached alliteration, off kilter-metaphors and why-hasn't-he-taken-a-breath -yet delivery, Cloudy October is not always the easiest guy to grok. So the first lyrics he delivers from "Inlaw (Alternate Take)" are pretty intuitive: "Reach until the speech impedes." But if you put on your thinking cap and keep your ears open, the emcee's cunning is brought to life as he bends words and pronunciations to describe his dreams ("I awaken with my eyes still shut, just to get a rush and a million bucks") and his lyrics ("thoughtful, awful, [...]
Asian Man Records offer package deal to help Haiti Asian Man Records have put together a package deal in an effort to offer fans a chance to help Haiti. All of the funds will go directly to Partners in Health , an organization started by Dr. Paul Farmer, the subject of the best selling book, "Mountains Beyond Mountains" about his life's quest to care for the impoverished people of Haiti. PIH has been in Haiti opening/running clinics and hospitals for 20+ years, and currently have 50 [...]
An ongoing collaboration of local musicians and friends, Honeycomb has many familiar faces, such as cellist Nate Blaz of Geographer and folk singer-songwriter Kacey Johansing . This local flavor has together created a new EP scheduled out this spring. The release party for the EP will work in conjunction with Honeycomb's Noise Pop appearance (with John Vanderslice , Nurses and Conspiracy of Venus at the Swedish American Music [...]
More bands have been added to the End of the Road line-up today. They include Canadian psych-rockers Black Mountain, Felice Brothers and 2008 Mercury nominees The Unthanks. The full A-Z list of today's confirmations is as follows: The Antlers Black Mountain Cate Le Bon Daredevil Christopher Wright Deer Tick Dengue Fever Django Django Don't Move Elliott Brood Felice Brothers Forest Fire Frank Fairfield Jessica Lea Mayfield Joe Pug Jonny Kearney & Lucy Farrell Ladyhawk Megafaun [...]
If you can imagine early Animal Collective jamming with the Muppet Babies , then you just about described the Marmits . Their brand of pych-pop sounds like it comes from a smoldering rabbit hole shared with the Nurses or Mr. Bungle, but as a live band, they're one of the most bizarr-o this city has to offer. The Marmits' stage banter is delivered in surreal high-pitched voices that make you feel like you're reliving childhood Saturday mornings spent in front of the television. You're scarfing sugar-packed cereal. You're singing along to nonsensical songs performed by cartoonish [...]
Bun B - Adrenaline Rush "And my Jordan game ugly, Elephant Man, I should hide myself" The story goes (of course I'm summarizing)… Earlier today I received a phone call from Bun that went something like this: Bun: "I don't want to insult your intelligence or anything, and I'm not sure if you noticed, but I've been dropping these freestyles over the past week for my upcoming project, No Mixtape" Me: "Yeah man, of course. I've actually downloaded them all" Bun: "Well, I'm about [...]
After being diagnosed with stomach cancer in December, metal god Ronnie James Dio is said to be doing well after his third chemo treatment. In a statement posted by the singer's wife/manager Wendy, Ronnie suffered a blood clot but recuperated after three days in the hospital. She added that Ronnie went to see Avatar with Dio drummer Simon Wright and even connected with a fan who was also receiving treatment at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center (see full statement below). Wendy Dio added that Heaven and Hell will release a 30th anniversary DVD in 2010. [...]
Tender Forever: My Love (Justin Timberlake) + Boyz II Men outro. I was in Portland for 48 hours. On our first night there Tender Forever happened to be playing a gig in a square downtown along with Nurses & some other bands. Her passionate Wii drumming & offstage unplugged ukulele playing had us hooked. We arranged [...]
Prayers, Condolences and Strength to all of our Brothers and Sisters affected by the earthquake in Haiti from the BlackRadioIsBack.com and FuseBox Radio Broadcast family here in the States... This is looking like a very sad tragedy so far and we can both hope & work for the best for our fellow members of the African/Black Diaspora at this time. Please hit up our comments section on any organizations where you are that are legitimate outlets of help in your areas so we can all find the best hand to hand ways [...]
This months installment of the sauce is finally finished - its heavy, but in a good way. A big shout out to Ryan Cummings for the original photography.....Enjoy. The Sauce : Volume Two (right click to download) Tracks Dean Martin & Ricky Nelson – "My Rifle, My Pony, and Me" Vic Chesnutt - "I've Flirted With You All My Life" Nurses – "Technicolor" Ruby Isle – "So Damn High" (Will Eastman Remix) Terry Poison – "Comme Ci, Comme Ca" (The Twelves Remix) [...]
We continue to ease carefully into the new year with a relatively light week for performances and new releases, although some gems among them. Laura Veirs, Vampire Weekend, Owen Pallett (aka Final Fantasy) and Freedy Johnston are among those with new efforts. Plus, a look ahead to live bills this week including Jesse Sykes, Nurses, Weinland, Leviethan, and more...AND an in-studio visit with Alan Singley & Pants Machine, who joined us recently as a nine-piece to play songs from their album Feelin' Citrus. Questions? Comments? Requests? The thread is yours....
MUSIC NEWS - The 2010 edition of the annual Noise Pop Festival (the 18th) takes place February 23rd through March 1, 2009 at venues in and around San Francisco, CA, and today, the producers of the spectacle have announced more artists to the bill- The updated list includes Magnetic Fields , YOKO ONO PLASTIC ONO BAND (with Cornelius, Yuka Honda, Sean Lennon), The Dodos & Magik Magik Orchestra collaborative performance, !!!, Harlem, Deerhoof, Mark Kozelek, Rogue Wave, Atlas Sound, The Soundtrack of Our [...]
This Week's Other Releases
Essential Mix - Riva Starr (Feb)
Cover That Don't Suck
Reuse Recycle Remix - February 8
