Founding The Cure member Laurence “Lol” Tolhurst plays Seattle on October 8th at “The Main Stage” [anyone know what this is?].
You can hear some tracks from Levinhurst’s brand new album ‘House By The Sea’:
nobody_cares.mp3
heart_and_soul.mp3
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DRM-free tracks! 256kbps! 89¢ per song!
Stand aside, iTunes Store, there’s some new crack on the street I need to spend my money on. Amazon MP3 Download Store.
This is big news, folks. This (no DRM) is what what Steve Jobs has done on a small scale at the iTunes Store with one label, but a bit bigger (two labels), and better quality files.
Apple is good, but competition is better.
But there’s a bit of a downside… you need to get the Amazon MP3 downloader. Not a terrible hassle, but why can’t we just download the music after we buy it? Why a downloader?
The Mac downloader, “Amazon MP3 Downloader”, clocks in at 1.1MB and is a Universal binary, meaning it will work on G3, G4, G5 and newer Intel-powered Macs. You get the downloader when you buy your first track or album.
The buy/download process was less than streamlined, and in my haste I bought The Reminder twice. I have a support ticket in currently asking for a refund for one copy, which comes to $9.79 with Washington State tax. I expect this to improve, and I note that the service is still in beta.
Read about why I parted ways with the iTunes store back in Fall, 2005, on my Mac blog, AppleSwitcher.com.
Salon’s take on Amazon’s MP3 store. Ars Technica’s take.
The Reminder review coming soon.
Have you used it? Do you plan to? Let’s hear your feedback.
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Thursday October 25, 2007 10:00pm
Location: Rendezvous Jewelbox Theater 2320 2nd ave
A special evening with prog country metal specialists Wah Wah Exit Wound!
Heavy drone guitar exorcisms by the Australian string manipulator par excellence Oren Ambarchi!
Demonic string possessions by Seattle’s favorite troubadour Sir Richard Bishop!
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Heavy on visuals, light on vocals. That’s my take.
I’ll have more tomorrow — er, later today — but a) the stage was a launch platform for the Most Visual Effects I’ve Seen at a Show(tm), while b) singer Wayne Coyne’s voice was very poor, like he had a chest cold. <- yesterday
today -> It’s no secret that he and J. Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. have two of the most unPavarotti -like voices in rock. But I was alarmed at how poor Coyne’s vocals were… “paper thin” came to mind. Is his voice always like this? He held his chest with his left hand for much of the show, which could indicate pain, illness, or well, anything.
The good news about all of this is that — buck up, Sparky! — you don’t have to have a strong voice to front a rock band!
They played old and new hits, 1993’s She Don’t Use Jelly and Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots pt 1. And other material. It was ok, but I wasn’t blown away.
Coyne’s near-constant prodding of the crowd to sing along at a level he was satisfied with, plus his interminable, rambling monologues about George W. Bush, the US’s various wars, and love, got tiresome. Not that there’s anything wrong with speaking out against our insane puppet of a president, but if you do as the frontman at a concert, make your point (once) and get back to the music.
The Flaming Lips certainly do not fall under the Shut Up And Rock rock band header.
But I’m a critic. It’s my job to be critical. Overall, the crowd was appreciative, the sound at the Paramount was good, and the spectacle was grand. If you’re a diehard FL fan, there’s nothing I could say that would take away from your experience.
(In a 100% stoner move, I parked at a Taxi Cabs Only 11:30-2am spot (that’s not the stoner move, I was aware of it). My buddy Joe assured me we’d be out by 11:30. Halfway through the show I look at my watch and lo and behold, it’s 11:30. So I go out and move it. Then I come back and the band is not only still playing, but they play about 6 more songs, including an encore.
Then it hits me: having just returned from Denver the day before, my watch was still on Mountain time! It was 10:30 when I left. Pass the bong.)
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I think I may have discovered the best thing this year. Yes, something even better than a statuette of Jesus teaching kids how to kick ass in the name of the lord. How can it be you ask. Such a statuette would be inspiring as well as elegant.
Well, before you pu-pu my claims, let me explain. 2 local sensations, the Blakes, and the Cops are billed to play TOGETHER at the Crocodile on Friday, October 5th. Yes, my friends, the thing that puts it over the top.. it’s not even a school night. Praise be to little 9lb 5oz baby Jesus!
Hi-YA!
Both of these bands are known for their live performances, and this is slated to be the release party for the Blakes new CD, which-if it even remotely compares to the last one-should be fantastic.
So it looks like you can grab tix at Sonic Boom, or your favorite rip-off online joint for $8 (+ripoff)
Go forth and rock. See ya there.
I’ll be the one with the halo.
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SIR RICHARD BISHOP ::: Polytheistic Fragments (Drag City, 2007)
“Easy listening music for noise freaks.” –Dave Webb (Wah Wah Exit Wound, Girth)
The title may not be totally apt — Sir Richard Bishop has spent most of his career so far from any realm of “easy listening” that it’s simply an approximation of what he does now — which is far beyond easy listening. “Noise freaks” might be a misnomer, since his former troupe Sun City Girls weren’t really a noise band per-se, but more of an anarchist-anthropological performance art assault. For the last couple of years, the SCG guitarist has been releasing a series of solo records and touring to highlight the less combative side of his music, revealing an incredibly skilled, tasteful, and (fucking) sweet guitarist. This is his second this year alone (following the more out-there While My Guitar Violently Bleeds) and his first for Drag City (home to Bishop protege, Six Organs of Admittance and still bragging about being the original home of Pavement).
Being more familiar with his improvised guitar pieces and the assaultive insanity of his work with Sun City Girls, Polytheistic Fragments came as a pleasant shock. The disc actually works as an album as opposed to a series of instruments or improvisations. “Cross My Palm with Silver,” the opener, is a primer for all the Drag City-indie kids that probably haven’t delved into these regions before — a solo guitar tripping over styles ranging East to West (forgive the cliche) bearing similarity to his previous Improvika, but formed into an actual song. This flows into a spooky, out-there slide guitar peace which sounds like the prelude to a peaceful alien invasion titled “Hecate’s Dream.” There’s a bunch of solo acoustic ventures to enjoy, but my favorite moments are when he veers from the pre-ordained path. “Cemetery Gates” shifts the attention to piano, hand drums and various other instruments — sounds like he’s looking back to ground Sun City Girls explored on Exotica on $5 a Day but with something in mind other than schizophrenic fits. “Saraswati” is an extended piano piece — simple notes drifting beautifully over the drone of a sitar for 11 minutes. “Tennessee Porch Swing” ditches all the psychedelia and experimentalism to explore the most unhop but fabulous of genres — Chet Atkins style country melodicism. The albums final track might be the best, “Ecstacies in the Open Air.” Opening with just acoustic guitars and flute-like keyboards, the album eventually builds into sailing electric guitar harmonies, sending the listener off desiring, more more more.
Sir Richard Bishop has a bunch of Seattle dates approaching: Thursday, 9/20 @ the Triple Door w/ Low; Wednesday, 10/10 @ the Triple Door w/ Bill Callahan; Thursday, 10/25 @ the Rendezvous w/ Oren Ambarchi, Wah Wah Exit Wound
THURSTON MOORE ::: Trees Outside the Academy (Ecstatic Peace, 2007)
The Sonic Youth mainman’s second “song-based” solo album (he’s got a shit ton of weird experimental/noise releases outside of his venerable throne band) consists mainly of pleasantly strummed acoustic guitars, violin alternating on spooky to melodic accompianment, SY-style grooves (provided by their drummer, Steve Shelly), and shredding classic rock leads by J. Mascis (whose Amherst, MA studio the album was recorded at). Thin acoustic Thurston Moore sounds like a big deal? Not really. He already headed his flagship band in that direction with “Or,” the closer to their 2006 rock’n'roller Rather Ripped. This album sounds like most any SY Thurston Moore songs from ‘98 to the present, but instead of a chiming pawn shop Fender, we get acoustic guitars and actual leads. Listening now, there’s even riffs pulled straight from “Pink Steam.” Don’t get me wrong — Sonic Youth have been recycling the same formula since about ’87’s Sister and I still own 18 of their albums (and related side projects) and will probably get more. This is one of my favorite formulas ever, and it seems to still harvest rewards.
Thurston Moore plays Neumo’s on October 24th.
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Brooklyn-based rock & roll band Salt & Samovar embarked on their first US tour on September 13 in support of their debut record, Old Joy, New Joy.
S&S very much yank their tunes from the topsoil of Walt Whitman’s dreams, with Moltz’s earthy, elegiac vocals bolstered by his bandmates’ three-part harmony. A caravan of American roots music…
–Buzz Poole, The Village Voice
The band plays foot stomping psyche-garage tunes with intense lead vocals, warm boy-girl harmonies, and some impressive lead guitar shredding.
–fiddlewhileyouburn.com
Listen to tracks from Old Joy, New Joy at www.myspace.com/saltandsamovar
It sounds good. I might check them out.
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“Please hold your ‘woo woo’ until after the set. This is going to be good” – David Yow Last night I watched Qui and Lozen put on an amazing show at the Crocodile Cafe. I had heard some good things about Lozen, but hadn’t had the chance to see them. They are a female duo (sisters?) from Tacoma. Their music is heavy and driving. Normally I’m not really into music that is staight up metal, but their’s has just enough artsy touches and unconventional song structures to keep me interested. I picked up a copy of their album, Enemies Against Power. I like it, but it doesn’t quite sink its teeth in the way their live show did. Here is a non-album clip from Youtube. (thanks to Youtube, you never have to go out into the world and experience things first hand ever again)
364 days before last night’s show, David Yow was here in Seattle (remember?) for one, of only three, Scratch Acid reunion shows (the other two were in Chicago, for Touch and Go Record’s 25th anniversary party, and Austin, their home town).
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