Johnny Marr Joins Modest Mouse

Johnny Marr, ex-guitarist of 80s pop legends The Smiths, has joined Seattle’s Modest Mouse, and recorded with them on their soon-to-be-released album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. He will tour with the band in the spring.

Modest Mouse singer Isaac Brock:

“I took a long shot really. I was like, ‘You know, I really like that guy’s guitar playing. There’s no chance in hell he’s going to say yes, but why not give him a call?’”

This is really interesting to me. I grew up listening (wearing-out-tapes-style listening) to The Smiths. And while not all of Modest Mouse’s repertoire speaks to me, I consider them a damn good band. This should be good.

Popularity: 10%

Easy Street Records

The West Seattle Easy Street Records is not your average cafe.

Besides serving breakfast and lunch (”solid grub“), the store features CDs, vinyl and a tickets to area concerts. Oh, and Pearl Jam played there for a surprise 10-year anniversary show on April 29th, 2005, for about 125 people who were lucky enough to show up for a regular party.

Popularity: 16%

A diversion from music

I’ve been on a mission lately to find a movie that I have a memory of watching while I was a kid in the 70s. I could swear it was Journey to the Center of the Earth but to my dismay, when I watched it last night, it was not the movie that I remembered so fondly. So I went on a quest today to my co-workers to see if they knew (Dan, you were going to be back up b/c you have that friend who knows all things movies and music — you can still quiz him though.) Here’s my memory: “There was this vehicle that had a drill-shaped thingy at the front. It carried an expedition (a group of people) down thru the middle of the earth where they found a lost civilization that included dinosaurs.” You would think “journey to the center of the earth”, right? However, I was told after 5 minutes of deliberation, it could be “The Land that Time Forgot”. I’m going to rent it from Netflix ASAP.

Here’s some other very memorable childhood movies — do any of these ring a bell? What are yours?

1. Logan’s Run

2. Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger – the one with the skeletons that attack

3 The Bermuda Depths (made for TV movie on ABC that even Scarecrow doesn’t have a copy of)

4. The Land that Time Forgot

5. Clash of the Titans

6. The Time Machine

7. The Omega Man

8. Barbarella (well this is more a current sci-fi fave rather than a childhood as it’s not fit for a child!)

9. And my MOST favorite of them all: Flash Gordon Oh it’s so good and a must see for everyone who loves trashy sci fi. It’s the movie with the Queen Soundtrack.
That’s all I can think of now!

Breaking News: (1 hour later) — ok I think I REALLY found the movie that my description matches — it’s “At the Earth’s Core” — sounds horrible but now I have to check it out for sure.

Popularity: 8%

Heard today…

…Sirens Sister today at Solstice Coffee on the Ave.

When I walked in, the baristas were bumpin’ Blue Scholars and it sounded RICH. Their sound system is as good as any PA system I’ve heard in a record- (or dare I say) stereo shop, and it was up to like eight!

Soon after, this Bono-like voice came over the speakers, and after about three tracks, I had to ask who was playing. I’m not a huge U2 fan (unlike Jules), but this was catchy and I was just in the right mood for something a little more upbeat.

I’ll be dipped if they don’t sound like Achtung-era U2 with updated production and a dash of faster-paced latter-day Pearl Jam.

According to the barista, they are the remnants of now-defunct Vendetta Red. Said he: “They’re my girlfriend’s best-friend’s boyfriend’s band…” in fine small-town Seattle fashion. And according to the ever-informative MySpace Music page, they are playing 5 Jan in Bellevue at The Rock Bottom.

(Holy cow. As I write this, Pandora just selected Blue Scholars’ “Freewheelin’”.)

http://www.myspace.com/sirenssister

Apologies to Jules for the sarcasm.

Popularity: 7%

Coming soon!

My boyfriend will be playing at nuemos on Jan 19! I’m so excited. Ya’ll should check out him and his band. They’re pretty good. Though it gets sort of annoying when the crowd gives him flack about not playing any Pavement songs.

Popularity: 6%

Quick Thoughts

• Seattle local band The Earaches sound good. Check them out.

• Arctic Monkey’s The View From The Afternoon video is outstanding.

• Beirut had to cancel their fall tour only 5 weeks in due to exhaustion of member Zach, who was hospitalized.

The next morning Zach got lost in the Louvre. “Cubism is a farce,” he whispered to a overweight Dutch tourist. Under the English Channel, en route to London, Zach noted the relative comfort of being “chunneled”. In a dank Soho apothecary he sought a remedy for exhaustion and aversion to French bedbugs. The apothecary tried vainly to quote Prince Charles recent royal address to the greater public of Britian: “In light of having seen my wife unrobed and wigless in the disingenuous florescent light of a cheap hotel room, I do apologize to the nation and myself for unquestioning faith in her eternal beauty. She is old and ugly and so am I.” That is funny Zach dourly noted, but it does not help me at all not one bloody bit. “I must return to New Mexico to decompress.” Parliament was eerily quiet. One cannot argue with the plain truth.

Popularity: 9%

Wolfmother Photos

The Silversun Pickups/Wolfmother show took place a month ago. One helluva lineup - I had turned down tickets back in September when the show was announced as it was rumored to be $40+ with “convenience” charges. But day of show, the ticket genie appeared and seven of us stormed the Nite Lite for drinks and merriment pre-show, only to discover that the drink fairy was a friend of Mike, the ticket genie… Somehow I still got pictures….and here are some small-res versions:

Popularity: 7%