"Careful What You Say" - Class Actress Given the synthesizer's inherently goofy sound--the rubbery beeps and boops, the cartoonish echoes, and so forth--it's a bit surprising, now that I think about it, that the instrument isn't more jovially presented as a rule. Indeed, the synthesizer is offered up rather humorlessly in rock music by and large, far more often used with austerity or gravity than with a sense of humor, even when--or maybe especially when--propelling dance music of one kind or another. Not so with "Careful What You [...]
This is a rare occasion when the announcement of a funeral is a good thing. It is a night when the event will represent a rebirth rather than death. On, Tuesday November 17th the Seattle Rock Orchestra is deconstructing The Arcade Fire' s iconic album "Funeral" and recomposing it in it's entirety to be performed by 50 piece orchestra at the Fremont Abbey. Not only is this a great opportunity for the chance to to dip into the classic side of Seattle's music talent pool, but "Funeral" [...]
When Cheryl Cole announced her plans to take a brief break from powerhouse girl group Girls Aloud and embark on a solo outing, my mind was wrought with fear as usual: Fear of an Aloud split (not true in the end), fear of wannabe-rapping (a little true in the end), and above all, a feared repeat of the faux-R&B horror that was Victoria Beckham 's solo album (not including "Let Your Head Go," obviously). As it turns out, the fears were somewhat justified-but for entirely different reasons. Cheryl Cole's debut, 3 [...]
DOWNLOAD : The Purrs - Stay With Me (MP3) DOWNLOAD : Pete & the Pirates - Jennifer (MP3) DOWNLOAD : Let's Wrestle - Tanks (MP3) DOWNLOAD : Surf City - Records of a Flagpole Skater (MP3) DOWNLOAD : Surf City - Kudos (MP3) DOWNLOAD: A Classic Education - We Can Always Run to Hawaii (MP3) A Classic Education DAYTIME : [...]
Few will balk if you happen to surprise them with a random spinning of The Specials' spook n' ska classic "Ghost Town" , but try pre-warning the same crowd with an announcement that you're going to play a cover of the song that's completely sung in Portuguese and draped in a Brazilian folk sound, and the reaction might not be as immediately positive (Odds are, you'll be met with a couple seconds of confused stares and uncomfortable silence). Still, if only for curiosity's sake, we'd recommend you give this remake, handled by London male/ female duo [...]
Shakira's She Wolf came out in Europe and Latin America this week-a month in advance of its delayed U.S. release date -and thanks to my interest in the weird titular single, I decided to give it a whirl. And much like "She Wolf" the song , She Wolf the album is strangely seductive, a dime-store disco record that pulls from influences all over the globe as the Colombian singer purrs, mewls, moans, and threatens to dissolve into giggles simply because of how much fun she's clearly having. I have no idea how this album [...]
CMJ released the band schedule for its 2009 Music Marathon & Film Festival yesterday, which is about as good a sign of fall hitting New York as the return of apple cider at Greenmarket. The festival runs from Oct. 20 - Oct. 24 and includes various venues throughout the city, and the list of featured artists would probably take all four days to read through. But skimming the selection reveals a fairly equal distribution of well-known acts like Atlas Sound and Deer Tick , anonymous locals (including krautrock-y Jeff Buckley-channelers Pocketknife), twenty-two bands who [...]
The press release below doesn't actually list all the acts performing at CMJ this year, so you're probably better off checking out cmj.sched.org to get a true idea of what's happening during this year's marathon. Of course, sched.org is a little confusing too and it doesn't list unofficial events and day parties (as far as I know), so you'll have to wait a little bit longer for info to trickle out from the blogs and other unofficial sources. Lastly, even though the press release says the schedule is "final", you can pretty much bet that things will shift [...]
Above : A nondescript autumn tree. It is today, October 1st. It doesn't seem to me that I can say much about fall that hasn't already been said - nothing about the changing colors of the leaves, and the trees eventual shedding, which is like dying, or growing old, and nothing about the ripeness of the pumpkins and squash in the dirt, nothing about harvesting, which is like collecting what is duly yours, the things you've worked hard for and deserve, nothing about the laziness of not-warm, but-really-not-very-cold afternoons, and how they stretch out and open like a [...]
The Blakes debut Souvenir at Neumos Last night The Blakes celebrated the completion and release of their newest LP Souvenir . Officially set to hit shelves on October 13, the band was selling copies to all who attended as part of their CD Release party held at Neumos. Opening acts The Purrs and Strong Killings got the night started off early and set the tone for a night of great rock. When most bands record an album, there's an interim [...]
In the convertible Ghia. Top down. Tunes blasting. Love the Ripple life . . . Kyle Andrews - Real Blasty First CD popped into the player with a touch of trepidation, not being a fan of much of the "oh so coy" indie-pop crafted by young men locked in their rooms with a keyboard and a copy of ProTools. Think something like Bright Eyes and I'll drift off quicker than a fresh drip of Michael Jackson's propofol. Imagine [...]
![[reminder] The Blakes @ Neumos (9-29-2009)](http://cache.elbo.ws/posts/2018379_lg.jpg)
The Blakes CD Release Party Just a friendly reminder: The Blakes , Seattle's favorite '60s-inspired garage rockers, will be treating their locals with new live tunes tomorrow night. The band will officially release their new album Souvenir on October 13, but an early purchase can be made for all who attend Tuesday's night's show. The night will kick off at 8PM at Neumos and is only $10 (tickets purchased online here or at any Rudy's Barbershop ). Stage support includes The Purrs [...]
Eight years after her solo debut, former Mazzy Star singer Hope Sandoval's long-awaited sophomore solo album Through The Devil Softly will finally be released on September 29th. It was well worth the wait. Backed by The Warm Inventions (featuring My Bloody Valentine's Colm O'Ciosoig), the driving force behind this new album is unquestionably Hope Sandoval's unique voice. Written and recorded over the past two years in Northern California and Ireland's Wicklow Mountains, Through The Devil Softly is much more reminiscent of Mazzy Star's [...]
Buck up everyone summer is over and it's time to get back to work. We here at the Finest Kiss loath work, but we do what we've gotta do to get by. If you need a little something to get by this may be just the thing. To quote Mick Jones, It's multipurpose in a jar, If you ain`t ill it`ll fix your car. So carry it around with you, put it in your car, stuff it away into cupboards because you never know when you might need it. download : basementcast #7 (~140Mb) [...]
Halfway there! Welcome to the middle of The Rawking Refuses To Stop! 's countdown of the Top 100 Albums of the Decade. To start from the beginning, click below: 100-81 | 80-61 | 60-41 | 40-21 | 20-1 #s 60-41 after the jump! 60. Joanna Newsom - Ys 10-minute songs. An original folktale about a doomed romance between a monkey and bear. Played on a harp. A mission [...]
The Purrs play the part of the persistent underdog well. The band is one that you've probably heard of. You've likely read a positive review about them in your favorite online music reading place ( guilty ). They're probably a band that you've inadvertently stumbled upon in some Ballard venue on some rainy weeknight. Yet they're likely not the first band that comes to mind when somebody posits the question, "What's your favorite guitar pop band in Seattle?" Well, the dudes aren't ready to give in; not to fickle audiences, not to unappreciative labels, and surely not [...]
Welcome to another weekly installment of the Friday Mixtape. I really can't think of anything to say about this week's mix- just let it stand on its own. So, download it, listen to it, and leave some comments about it- if you like. Tracklisting: Felt - Protagonists Kate Earl - Melody Kings Of Convenience - Mrs Cold Other [...]
The Purrs Amused, Confused & More Bad News Self-Released [2009] Fire Note Says: No excuse rock n' roll! Album Review: The Purrs play the type of music most indie heads love to wrap their ears around but keep secretly to themselves because they don't want their favorite band to have too much exposure. On the groups fourth record Amused, Confused & More Bad News , the Seattle group offers up [...]
Last week while I was listening to Kevin Cole on KEXP he played a song from Purrs ' new album followed by the Dream Syndicate 's Tell Me When It's Over which reminded me of a couple things. One, how much I love Kevin Cole's kid in a candy store approach to his daily show (you never know what he might grab off the shelf) and two: how much the Purrs seem to be influenced by the Paisley Underground. About a year ago when I saw them across the street from the Green [...]
I've always had a soft spot for trashy, filthy electropop divas with threadbare vocal talent but silly charm in spades (Peaches, Uffie, and the Lovefoxxx of days gone by). It's only logical that I was very excited for Amanda Blank's debut album I Love You , after she stood out to me on Steve Aoki's "We Are Rockstars" mix, or her various other outings with Spank Rock. First things first: what's a bit disappointing is that she isn't all that filthy here; she's more like moderately edgy. I don't think she says anything worse than [...]
new music from vampire weekend – cousins + music video
WKND PLYLST!! This has nothing to do with NEW MOON!
HOT CHIP TAKE another crack at IT and I’m IN
The Beach House Theory of 2k10.
Friday Five: Surf Songs
