Tonight Fri 2-8 Let the Spirit Move You - Delta Spirit at El Corozon

If you’re looking for a place to get your groove on tonight there is one more show I’d like to add to the already stacked line-up of events this evening. Tonight at El Corozon, Delta Spirit roll on up on our soggy corner of the country from San Diego bringing with them their bluesy americana take on rock and roll. Hopefully a little sunshine too, but that would be weird, cus its like gunna be night-time and stuff. This show is one of the many displaced Crocodile shows, thankfully absorbed by our wealth of other venues out there. Their song Gimmie Some Motivation was featured as one of KEXP’s songs of the day and totally hooked me into checking out more of their music. All of which seemed to carry the same quality. You can hear Gimmie Some Motivation (read-have it-) at this link.

In the 2+ years that I have been writing for this here little blog, I don’t think I’ve ever had the opportunity to recommend a show at El Corozon. I’m not sure if it’s because the venue typically books the hard-core shows which, let’s just say, tend to be little too specialized for me, or because this was formerly a Croc booking. I just know that for the most part, every time I look at the calendar hardly recognize a name on the listing. When it was Graceland, it seemed like I was going to shows there every other weekend. I just hope to get more chances to check it out as it IS a great venue.

Before the show you can check out our friends at Cafe Venus and Mars Bar located just up the street at 609 Eastlake. Cool laid back joint tucked into the strange void that is Eastlake Ave E.

Rock the Vote, Ya’ll!

In light of the Washington State Caucuses happening this Saturday, please GO SUPPORT YOUR CANDIDATE tomorrow. But since it is a music blog, I guess I should probably tie it into music somehow, right? Well I was curious to see who popular musicians are supporting — I found this interesting little tidbit on the internet I thought I would share:

REPUBLICANS
Mike Huckabee: Ted Nugent

John McCain: Burt Bacharach

Mitt Romney: Pat Boone, Donny Osmond, Marie Osmond

DEMOCRATS
Hillary Clinton: Madonna, Carly Simon, Tony Bennett, Jon Bon Jovi, Melissa Etheridge, Carole King, Janet Jackson, Quincy Jones, 50 Cent, Mya, Timbaland, Barbra Streisand, Merle Haggard, Elvis Costello

Barack Obama: Babyface, Jeff Tweedy, the Goo Goo Dolls, Macy Gray, Ne-Yo, Will Smith, Usher, Stevie Wonder, Harry Connick Jr., Pete Wentz , Win Butler (arcade fire), will.i.am/the Black Eyed Peas, the Grateful Dead, Jeff Tweedy, Conor Oberst, Joanna Newsom, the Cool Kids, Stephan Jenkins, OK Go, Shudder to Think, Dave Matthews, Pearl Jam

Also the most ridiculous quote I read from 50 cent: “(Hilliary) is a way for us to have Bill Clinton be president again, and he did a great job during his term” 50 cent is LAME.

Don’t know where your caucus is? Find it here: http://www.wa-democrats.org/caucusfinder

This music fan will be supporting Obama tomorrow.

SOUND OFF! Finals at EMP

FINAL happen Sat March 1 - 8:00
Winners from previous 3 rounds play for ultimate under 21 NW title
Previous final round bands have included
Schoolyard Heroes, Idiot Pilot, Mon Frere, The Lonely H, Dyme Def, Capitol Basement, The Lonely Forest and Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head

SOUND OFF! Round 3 at EMP

Semifinal Round “3″ Sat, February 23 features
Deer City, Issaquah, WA Listen
Kusikia, Tacoma, WA Listen
Man Down Medic, Seattle, WA Listen
Shotty, Kirkland, WA Listen

SOUND OFF! Round 2 at EMP

Semifinal round 2 Sat, Feb 16th - 8:00 features
KnowMads, Seattle, WA Listen
The Nextdoor Neighbors, Olympia, WA Listen
Pat Goodwin, Seattle, WA Listen
Scribes, Seattle, WA Listen

SOUND OFF! Round 1 at EMP

Semifinals round 1 - Sat Feb 9th - 8:00 features
The Batteries, Carnation, WA listen
The Dead Are Judged, Marysville, WA listen
New Faces, Port Townsend, WA listen
and
Southgate, Pendleton, OR listen

Sound Off! The under 21 Battle of the Bands

For the seventh year running, EMP hosts the all under 21 NW Battle of the Bands Competition, Sound Off! The event is meant to give young performers a once in a lifetime chance to showcase to Seattle what they have. In the past, bands such as Schoolyard Heroes, Idiot Pilot, Mon Frere, The Lonely H, Dyme Def, Capitol Basement, The Lonely Forest and Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head have all battled it out in the finals and into our playlists.

But before we get to the final, we get to work through The Semifinals (which should be noted, happen in THREE parts) begining this Sat the 9th and continuing on the 16th and the 23rd. The semi’s feature 4 bands apiece and the winner of each will proceed to the Final on sat Mar 1st. Each round costs all of 7 bucks for students and EMP members, 10 for the rest of us to get in. All shows happen in the Sky Church which is almost worth sitting and staring at even without a band playing.

Here’s the lineup for each of the “semi”finals with finals TBA.
I’ve heard most of the first night’s bands on KEXP’s Audioasis with Lisa Wood last Friday. I personally think New Faces have a solid shot. The lead singer-all of 16- has already come into a full rich baritone voice without any of the Peter Brady crackles. I have yet to listen to the bands for the remaining nights but I have links to all their MySpace pages if you want to hear them out.

With the track record that this event has, I’d recommend checking out as many of the rounds as you can.

Semifinals round 1 - Sat Feb 9th f- 8:00 features
The Batteries, Carnation, WA listen
The Dead Are Judged, Marysville, WA listen
New Faces, Port Townsend, WA listen
and
Southgate, Pendleton, OR listen

Semifinal round 2 Sat, Feb 16th - 8:00 features
KnowMads, Seattle, WA Listen
The Nextdoor Neighbors, Olympia, WA Listen
Pat Goodwin, Seattle, WA Listen
Scribes, Seattle, WA Listen

Semifinal Round “3″ Sat, February 23 features
Deer City, Issaquah, WA Listen
Kusikia, Tacoma, WA Listen
Man Down Medic, Seattle, WA Listen
Shotty, Kirkland, WA Listen

FINAL happen Sat March 1 - 8:00

To Sia, is to Believa

I recently received a packet from Universal Records including a variety of their established and newer artists. I was immediately hesitant of even looking at these CDs as I’m not one to coddle the industry juggernauts, but on the other hand, I’m also open to giving anything it’s fair try before writing it off. It’s kind of nice going into something without (or with low) expectations as it seems to leave the door open for newness without the initial comparisons and critiques. As I played through the disks I found myself surprisingly entertained and revisiting a couple of them.

The first album I was drawn to was the newest release from Sia, Some People Have Real Problems. You might recognize Sia from her 2004 single Breathe Me that was featured on the TV series Six Feet Under and also made it into heavy rotation on KEXP in numerous remixed versions by Four Tet, Ulrich Schnauss, Mylo and Mr. Dan. I hadn’t listened to any of Sia’s other albums since then, so hearing her voice again was familiar and soothing. This album - and for the most part, Sia herself - is presented in a lighthearted, childish way with obvious stick figure drawings representing all of the songs. (I.E. a chocolate bar with a scowl and a gun for the song Death by Chocolate.) On the cover, Sia sings into a make-believe microphone of markers with which she’s apparently doodled on herself with innocent abandon. Given this, I was expecting some teen pop music I would easily dismiss rather than the smokey, crackling vocals that came through sounding like the coals of a low ebbing fire. The high point of the album for me is her sultry cover of I Go To Sleep, by the Kinks and later made popular by the Pretenders. It is in this already great song where Sia’s vocal talents are free to express the song  rather than strain to establish it.
Sia will be in town, playing the Showbox MKT, Thursday, Feb 21st.  For a sneak peek, you can check out these links for the single Electric Bird and the video for Buttons.

The other surprise in the package I received was a single by the emerging artist Duffy who is apparently NOT so “emerging” in England where she is selling out shows left, right and center (or is that centre). Sounding much more like Amy Weinhouse than the Mickey Mouse pop I was expecting, with a name like Duffy. I have high hopes for the upcoming release Rockferry due out March 3. Check out the video for the single Mercy here.