Last month, I was invited on short notice to attend the 2009 Sasquatch Music Festival, a three-day event happening over Memorial Day Weekend at the Gorge Ampitheatre in central Washington state. My role for the weekend was to post updates to KEXP's Facebook account about all the great bands I was seeing; naturally, I also took notes to write up a review of the weekend. With so many bands to cover, I'll do my best to keep this short and sweet.

Read about Saturday at Sasquatch.

Sunday

I meant to start Sunday morning by seeing Viva Voce and Point Juncture, WA, but we arrived back at the Gorge too late for either act. However, I was just in time to run into KEXP's DJ Shannon, walking over to the Wookie Stage to see Hockey, and so I joined her for that. Hockey's lead singer looked ridiculously young, like 15, but certainly sang very well. The band had something of a disco vibe, with funky bass lines and dance beats; as they sang in one song, "This ain't no Roxy Music." Rather, their clean, energetic sound was similar to CSS or New Young Pony Club, and very enjoyable. The singer described the last song as, "It's like a dance verse with an Aerosmith chorus," which was amusing and not too far off.

Next up was John Vanderslice. I'd never paid much attention to him until I was given a copy of his 2005 album Pixel Revolt last summer, and then kept being surprised to discover these good unfamiliar songs coming up in shuffle were from that album. That quality of surprising goodness also came up during this set. His music was mostly mid-tempo rock, sunnier-sounding more often than not but with occasional moodiness or hints of harder edges and darkness. It's more complex than it seems at first, and I believe it's that subtle complexity and deceptive sunniness that accounts for the factor of surprise. Vanderslice is definitely worth checking out.

St. Vincent, the stage/band name of musician Annie Clark, was one of the acts I was most looking forward to, and she did not disappoint. Although her music is rooted in indie pop, it has strong art-rock elements as well. Clark can thrash out or play sweetly, even doing both in the same song, such as "Now, Now" from 2007's release Marry Me. Indeed, featuring as it does violin, saxophone, flute, and even a little clarinet, her music might be better called chamber rock. "Marrow", which she described as the "dance track" from this year's album Actor, felt too off-kilter with its complicated rhythms to be considered an ordinary dance pop song. I thought her set was very cool, and really want to get her two albums now.

I finally left the Wookie Stage for a bit, just to get a bite to eat and wander around a little, but I made sure to get back in time for The Airborne Toxic Event. I first saw them back in February 2007 after hearing them live on KEXP, and really enjoyed their set that night. This time, they started out sounding harder-edged, more rock and less pop, at least for the first couple songs. However, they haven't left the violin out, and musician Anna Bulbrook knows how to rock it. The 'Event are not my dearly-departed Dambuilders, but they're still sounding good and I'm looking forward to hearing how they grow.

Another band I was excited to see was M83, but I hadn't expected it to be the performance of the weekend. M83's bright, summery synthpop was perfect for the late-afternoon hour, and their huge anthemic sound swept up the audience in a big loving embrace. Featuring several singles from their most recent album, Saturdays = Youth, their set bounced from trance to dance and built its way up to a heavy techno party track that had the whole audience hopping. On a day, a weekend, that featured numerous cool bands and good performances, this one was amazing and blew everyone away.

Wrapping up the day for me was Natalie Portman's Shaved Head in the Comedy/Dance Tent. Their high-energy synthpop, backed with a heavy rock beat, carried on the dance party that M83 had kicked off. I found however that they could have used some variety in their style for my taste: it was fine I suppose for a continuous dance party, but after a while it started to grind. "Shrill" also came to mind. Still, they were definitely bringing the fun for a lot of people, and offered a decent conclusion to the day.

See my Sasquatch Music Festival 2009: Sunday photo set on Flickr.

Last month, I was invited on short notice to attend the 2009 Sasquatch Music Festival, a three-day event happening over Memorial Day Weekend at the Gorge Ampitheatre in central Washington state. My role for the weekend was to post updates to KEXP's Facebook account about all the great bands I was seeing; naturally, I also took notes to write up a review of the weekend. With so many bands to cover, I'll do my best to keep this short and sweet.

Read about Sunday at Sasquatch.

Saturday

As this was my first visit to the Gorge, I wandered about for a bit to check out the grounds, before settling in at the Wookie Stage (yes, that's what they called it, and yes the proper spelling for the Star Wars species is wookiee) to hear Owl City. Between the bouncy synthpop music and the lead singer sounding so much like Ben Gibbard, the band might as well be considered The Postal Service v2.0. I thought it was good stuff, but I could see them being criticized as too derivative. Still, if you're longing for more music like The Postal Service, Owl City are worth checking out.

My first visit to the ampitheatre Mainstage, with its gorgeous view of the Columbia River, was to hear modern-rock band Doves. Style-wise, I felt they sounded somewhat like Evan Dando (of the Lemonheads) leading the band Editors. Some of my friends rave about them, but their music never really kept my ear, or so I thought; I was surprised to find that I recognized more of the songs than I expected, and actually knew most of them. Despite that unexpected familiarity, I still felt most of the songs didn't really grab me, but I decided Doves were pretty good after all.

Back at the Wookie Stage, King Khan & the Shrines put on a blazing show that was hotter than the sun. Bare-chested and wearing a flamboyant feathered headdress and golden cape, King Khan led his band in a series of fast and furious party music that ranged back to fifties-style rock, rhythm and blues, and old-school funk. Crazy stage antics included a go-go cheerleader who danced for the whole set, a musician running forward to drop his trousers with his genitals tucked hidden between his legs and dancing in circles during "I Wanna Be A Girl", and Khan donning a Mexican wrestling mask at the end of his set. He balanced out the raucous songs with a slow and spooky blues tune and a silly and raunchy "psychedelic erotic gospel". Although this was not my favorite set of the weekend, it was definitely the flashiest for showmanship and a lot of fun.

I was up at least three hours earlier than usual in the morning that day in order to catch my ride to the Gorge, and between that and the intense desert sun, I was already feeling pretty wiped out by late afternoon. Fortunately the next band was Sun Kil Moon, whose quiet moody songs were perfect for chilling out. I recognized a couple from their first album, but I was so tired that I mostly zoned out through their set. Hopefully I can see them again when I have the energy to listen. Besides Sun Kil Moon, the other band I had really wanted to hear on Saturday was the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, who played the early-evening Mainstage set. Unfortunately I had developed a headache from tiredness, and felt too removed to get into their music, so after just a few songs I left.

However, I still had an hour before my ride back to the hotel was leaving, so I went over to the Comedy/Dance Tent to catch James Pants. James Pants is all about the good time party, and although it was pretty loud in the tent, his music still lifted my spirits despite my fatigue. He was funky! dancey! a little bit crazy! a little bit spooky! or, as he said at one point, "First what we do is make you feel good about yourself! Then what we do is make you feel better about yourself! Then what we do is make you feel creepy about yourself!" I never did get to the creepy feeling, which is just as well; instead, he helped me end the day on a high note.

See my Sasquatch Music Festival 2009: Saturday photo set on Flickr.

Don't try to tell me that your feet are made of lead
Two choices, hang back or get ahead,
Lead the pack, get it in your head to
Keep on moving, keep on moving
Ha ha haaa, yeah

"Inertia", The Wonder Stuff

Inertia has been holding me back for months. Inertia is another name for myself. "It's not a boy's name, it's not a girl's name / Inertia I'd call my child all the same." As the Wonder Stuff point out, moving forward has its own inertia. I just need to overcome the inertia of rest. Convert my potential into kinetic.

I have a little movement in some areas; you've seen some of that, with so many posts devoted to music and now with some of that writing being done for KEXP and not just for myself. I need movement in several other areas, important areas. But I have such trouble getting going. I could use a push. Can you help?

Lift your foot. Take a step. Lift the other foot, take another step. Now you're walking. You can move. You have motivation. You choose not to move, you fear where the path leads, or you shirk from following it because it looks steep. When the ground crumbles behind you, beneath you, will you finally step forward? Will you take a leap? Or will you let inertia pull you down, let yourself slide away with the ground?

This is not directed at anyone but myself. I'm just getting the thoughts out of my head, they take up too much room, they crowd out the useful ones, they add to the weight of inertia holding me down, in place. Words bind me and ground me, words open me and free me. Words are not the problem, I am the problem, I am the solution. Friends help me find the solution, friends help me move forward, friends help me overcome the inertia that is myself and be the inertia that is also myself. Immovable object, irresistible force. 

Remember you can write. Remember you've kept journals all these years just for this purpose, to formulate your thoughts, to formalize your thoughts, to wrestle the endless gyres into structured paragraphs with beginning and importantly with end. The word spoken cannot be unsaid. Words have movement. Words move your thoughts. Words let you move and shape and structure and reorder and analyze and interpret and understand your thoughts. Use your words. Were you not born with words? Perhaps not, but the being who you are has always had words, cannot remember and is no longer the being who could not read, who did not have words. Be who you are. Become who you want to be. 

Get it in your head to keep on moving, keep on moving.

Last week I went to Nectar Lounge to see The Juan MacLean and The Field, two electronic artists I didn't know much about but remembered liking what I'd heard by them on the radio. I came away loving both bands, and wrote a review of the show which is now posted here on the KEXP Blog. Unfortunately I was up in the balcony for all of The Field's set and took only one photo that wasn't worth using in the review (too dark, too far away), but I got some decent ones of The Juan MacLean. 

I did actually take notes while I was at the Sasquatch Music Festival, but for various reasons I haven't got around to writing up a review yet. Hopefully I'll get that done in the next couple days, and post it here. Likewise I also have the "John In The Morning At Night" KEXP benefit show to review. I also have to write a new installment of "Know Your Subgenres" for the KEXP Blog, and that also should be done in the next couple days.

On Thursday May 7, I went to Chop Suey to see Hotels, with Erik Blood and Silver Teeth. Oddly enough, I had just met Blood the week before through mutual friends at the My Bloody Valentine show, but had no idea who he was until a few days after the fact. Unfortunately the show began earlier than I expected, and I missed Silver Teeth. Chop Suey often seems to start weekday shows on the early side, with the first band playing at 8:30, and while that's a good practice for getting in a crowd who might not normally get to shows, it does tend to throw off the regular concert-goers. Still, I have more than one friend who'd appreciate seeing more clubs set earlier start times for shows.

Erik Blood is a member of Seattle band the Turn-ons, and created his "solo" album for music that didn't fit with that band. However, not only did all the members of the Turn-ons contribute to the album, most if not all of them also joined on stage along with three other musicians for the backing band, creating a seven-piece lineup. Musically, Blood started from a basic mid-'90s alternative rock sound, with influences from shoegaze and pop. His song "To Leave America," which I recognized from KEXP airplay, was a good example of this style. However, he soon showed his skill with a variety of styles and a knack for catchy tunes. Saying he was going to try something different, he played a slow R&B crooner that, most of the way through the song, unexpectedly broke into a lovely shoegazery guitar wash (reminiscent of Kitchens of Distinction, I thought). It was a neat juxtaposition of styles, as was a later song that clearly drew upon '60s pop music. I really enjoyed the whole set, and although I wasn't able to pick up the CD The Way We Live that night, I hope to do so soon.

Hotels are becoming a challenge for me: there are only so many ways to say "I love this band!", after all. Their music is dynamic and complex but fits together with precision; it sounds full, but not overly busy. Often it feels very joyful even when the lyrics are wistful or bitter, and as I've remarked before, it urges the listener to get up and move. Indeed, before playing "Hydra," lead singer Blake declared, "You ought to dance more!", and while no real outright dancing ensued (this was a Seattle hipster audience, after all), there was definitely movement in the audience. Their moodier pieces, such as "The Heart That Hears Like A Bat," have a grand sweep to them not unlike the cinematic cabaret sound of Mono in VCF; it's perhaps not surprising then that their next album, currently in the works, is to have a spy-movie "James Bond in space" theme to it. Much to my delight, they gave us a taste of that next album by debuting a new song, "The Bat Watusi," which was perhaps a bit harder-edged and sounded great. Expect to keep reading more happy reviews of Hotels from me; better yet, go check them out yourself.

On Saturday May 2, I went to Neumos to see Mono in VCF and the Fading Collection. They were opening for Spectrum, a project of Pete "Sonic Boom" Kember, formerly with Spaceman 3. Only the front half of the main room was open for the show, which seemed odd for a Saturday night, and led to some sound problems at least for Spectrum; as Kember noted, the room was twice as big during sound check.

The Fading Collection mentioned that they are (still) working on a new record, planning to release a five-song EP in a few months and a full-length album next year. They played a few of the new songs at this show, which sounded solid, though for some reason I'm a little concerned the new music will end up being too like their previous work. One possible direction they could pursue, given their extensive use of sampled rhythm tracks in addition to the drummer, would be adding a turntablist to the live lineup—or another live percussionist. I do like their use of two singers rather than just doubling the lead vocals through samples, and I think that's a real strength of the band. Unfortunately, technical difficulties with a new keyboard led to their set being cut short, but I did enjoy what they played and felt that as a live act they're finally connecting with me.

Mono in VCF had the full seven-piece lineup for this show, which I think is always best for conveying the full sweep of their cinematic style. There was a bit of a rough edge to their sound, some of which is to be expected at any live performance, but it demonstrated again that they are better suited for a well-designed concert hall or theater rather than rock clubs. However, they still sounded gorgeous as always. They played a few songs I didn't recognize, including two that they specifically identified as new tracks. One of the new ones, "Wind", debuted for the first time at this show, and it sounded appropriately breezy and pretty. Of the other two I didn't recognize, one was called "Lost to the Galaxy" and had a country/western feel to it—if their music usually feels like '60s Euro cinema, this was a spaghetti Western tune. I enjoyed the whole set and look forward to a new release from them, which according to their site is planned for later this year.

Spectrum was billed "with live band," as though it's usually Kember appearing on his own, so I expected a heavy electronic element to the show. While Kember did use a synth and set up some looping parts, he mainly played guitar and sang; his backing band rounded out the music with guitar, bass, and drums. Although Spectrum opened with a keyboard-heavy upbeat instrumental called "Mary", a tribute to Mary Hansen of Stereolab, most of the music was slow moody guitar-driven rock. In fact, I found the music too slow and moody: the songs had almost no variation, each having a similar constant beat, key, and deadpan, slightly off-key vocals. For a band called Spectrum, the show was very monochromatic, apparently exploring an aesthetic of extreme ennui. After four mostly-plodding songs, I was bored enough that I seriously considered walking out, which is very rare for me. Finally however, they picked up the beat a little for two more songs, even using a melodic line that accelerated to the end of the first one, and added some intensity and noise. At this point I was tempted to dub their style "shoegoth", and though the slight sharpening of focus had improved things, I didn't bother to stay to see whether they did an encore.


I still have a review to write for Hotels and Eric Blood at Chop Suey last week; I'm hoping to get that done either tonight or tomorrow. Later tonight I'm actually going to see Hotels yet again, at the Comet Tavern, but haven't decided if I'll write a review for this one. The big news is that this weekend I should be at the Sasquatch Music Festival, posting updates to Facebook for KEXP and later writing some reviews. If you see me there, say hello!

On Friday, April 24, I went to the Sunset Tavern to see Franz Nicolay, the keyboardist for the Hold Steady (and, full disclosure, a good friend of my sister Andrea), on tour for his solo release Major General. Opening the show were Mostly Dimes and Moneybrother.

Moneybrother is technically a solo project of Anders Wendin, playing acoustic guitar and singing; he was joined by another musician on electric bass, drums, and backing vocals. The bassist had both a snare and a bass drum set up as kick drums, which I thought was an interesting solution to providing the rhythm section. They played a set of very catchy pop with a nice spare sound, having kind of an early Elvis Costello or Billy Bragg vibe. The two harmonized well when singing and occasionally had some funny interplay when trading off lines. Moneybrother had some very cool songs and I want to hear more; I'm surprised KEXP isn't already on top of this.

Mostly Dimes are a folk-rock quintet including guitar and lead vocals, mandolin and vocals, guitar, bass and clarinet, and drums. They had what I thought of as an Appalachian sound, and unsurprisingly it turned out the members were from the general area of the mid-Atlantic states and Virginia. Going by the lead singer's comments beforehand, the songs tended to be about social issues. I particularly liked their first song, which had an extended instrumental section and sounded more prog-rock, but I felt the rest were a bit bland despite the occasional color added by the clarinet (and trumpet played by the lead singer on one song). Overall, I felt they were strong players but their musical style just wasn't my thing.

When Franz Nicolay took the stage, he announced that he was a professional entertainer, which meant we were a professional audience, and he was here to professionally entertain us, which he proceeded to do for the next hour. Singing and alternately playing accordian, guitar, and banjo, he performed a cabaret-style act featuring funny introductions to whimsical and sometimes wistful songs. The songs were anecdotal, covering such experiences as working in a punk/sideshow circus, opening for the Dead Kennedys who were touring without the original lead singer, or simply answering that challenging question facing many a professional musician, "buy or rent?". Nicolay had an engaging manner and a strong singing voice, and it was great to hear a musician who understands dynamics. He finished his set with a couple sad songs on the banjo, giving the lie to Steve Martin's claim. I really enjoyed Nicolay's performance, and look forward to hearing more from him.

I have a few photos of each band, starting here in Flickr.


I've been remiss about posting upcoming shows, partly due to being so late with posting these reviews. However, I want to be sure you all know that Hotels are playing tomorrow night, Thursday May 7, at Chop Suey, and I will of course be there. I should also be going to see John Vanderslice doing an in-store performance at Easy Street Records in Queen Anne on Friday, May 22. Beyond that, I don't have anything lined up yet for June, so we'll see what comes up.