original Doolittle promo pic

It’s raining when I walk out the door this morning. I get into my car and put the faceplate on my radio and put in my copy of The Pixies album Doolittle.

The first song is “Debaser”:

The simple bass leads me to some kind of window in my mind. And as the guitars hit and Black Francis starts to scream his smart, primal poetry — the window opens. I am singing and screaming along. Getting out. Letting out all the frustrations dropped on me by life, my family, the rain.

The people at the bus stop stare at me. I smile. Turn up the volume. Lean back in my seat.

Kim Deal’s feminine, sparse backups are like an angel on my shoulder. Reminding me of grace in all this confusion.

The next song on Doolittle is “Tame”:

How does he do that? He’s whispering, he’s yelling, yet somehow it’s all melodic. The part where he breathes is echoed by Kim’s counter-harmony. What is happening?

The third song is “Wave of Mutilation”:

Why does this rock band top all others in modern rock to me? Is it the space they leave in between (instead of filling every song up with noise)? Is it that the melodies are so different for every song? The way the songs on this record are so memorable I find myself humming them all day?

Maybe this is why Seattle is such a music hub. We NEED the music. Its light, expression, energy…

In my car with The Pixies, I’m as happy as I’ve ever been. And I can’t believe next Friday at the Paramount I’ll see this band perform Doolittle in its entirety. My friend Tiffany and I will be there, singing along to every melody line, every word. Until then it’s just me and the Pixies.

Michele Myers spins on KEXP Saturday afternoons from 3-6. Every week she chooses a favorite artist to spotlight and plays 3 songs in a row (the legal limit) from the artist. She also produces KEXP Documentaries and this week will run a feature on Kraftwerk on her Saturday afternoon show at 4pm, in honor of the release of their new 8-CD box set.

I’m not sure what triggers other people’s memories, but mine are strongly linked to my olfactory glands. And songs. What with all the damp green of November in Seattle, it’s been easy to get stuck in a rut of listening to the albums that I attached to this time last year. It’s all well and good, sinking into this semi-induced, semi-unavoidable reverie but it’s really not helping my inclination towards seasonal depression. So I’ve started attaching new songs to the new moments of my new year in Seattle.

When this posts, it will be two days from my yearlong anniversary living in the emerald city. One year later and I’m just as unemployed as when I first moved here and I’m still living with a stranger, except now they sublet from me. Reflecting on this, I’ve allowed myself an indulgent amount of time to dust off the first albums I bought when I moved. However, I realized, being bombarded with the scents of leaf-plastered sidewalks makes it the perfect time to create some new memories in this city I now call home. Here are some upcoming releases that enhance the magnitude of sitting on a park bench in a dense fog or perfectly accompany puzzle time in front of the fireplace.

Capgun Coup - Maudlin
Out on the 3rd on Team Love, the whole album was recorded live in Omaha’s Hotel Frank to capture the feel of their performances. Sometimes droning or folky, sometimes youthfully aggressive, their album is an amalgam of widely ranging songs — the ideal playlist for too many days spent indoors. Cure/encourage your cabin fever with some whiskey and “Ari Are We” off Capgun Coup’s sophomore album.

Lissie - Why You Running
This is an album for those of us who haven’t found anyone to shack up with on the cold nights to come. A haunting heartbreak that is subtly powerful and empowering, the five songs on this EP feature Lissie Maurus’ vocals teetering between the blue soulfulness of her hometown by the mighty Mississippi and the playfulness of her brief stint living in L.A. Throughout the album breathy moans and sustained warbles stand against the bleak backgrounds of woeful slide guitar and echoing handclaps. I dedicate the cover of Hank Williams’ “Wedding Bells” to my sister.

Papercuts - “White Are the Waves” 7″ single
A new song by fuzz loving Jason Quever graces us November 10th. With reverb-ridden bass drum, you can almost hear Quevers dreamy voice lulling and charming the heavy percussion with its sweet melody. The B-side features a Neighbors (Vetiver’s Andy Cabic and producer Thom Monahan) remix of “A Dictators Lament” that isn’t what you may expect. Highlighting the symbol crashes and cleaning them up, the organ that dominates this song off You Can Have What You Want is subsumed by a dancey back beat. This is a release to play in your car when driving to the corner store for beer because it’s too cold to walk the two blocks.

David Bazan - “HAPPY XMAS (War is Over)” (Saturday, November 7 at Neumos)
I’m sure by now we’ve all heard David Bazan’s impressive new record or maybe you own one of the other five installments of his Christmas series. I feel like I don’t have to hype how good this year’s issue, with covers of John and Yoko’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” and Wayne Coyne’s “Say It Isn’t Greensleeves (A Change At Christmas),” will be. Pertinent to atheists who still like presents and God-lovers alike, this limited release of 1,000 copies in blue w/ white haze (200 copies), gold (400copies) and clear (400 copies) vinyl came out on November 3rd. Hurry to get your copy if you’re one of those people who counts down the days between Halloween and Christ’s birthday.

Tape Deck Mountain - Ghost
This, the San Franciscan’s debut LP, comes out on November 17th bringing with it a handful of songs at once sweet, dark, and shoegazey. From song to song they switch from the lo-fi sounds of a Mount Eerie album and the sweeping high production of one of their cited influences, The Smashing Pumpkins. As heavy and hazey as My Bloody Valentine, I recommend “80/20″ as a song that is every bit as dense as the air inside a bus whose windows are covered in condensation.

See you in your raincoat,
Chelsea Werner

*Three Imaginary Girls*

In high ipod rotation:
Nirvana
The Fresh and Onlys
Capgun Coup

Three Imaginary Girls is a Seattle-based website that showcases the great music of the Northwest and beyond to music lovers worldwide. We post a Seattle live show calendar to help you fill your day-planner with loads of great shows, as well as record reviews, live show reviews, and an imagi-blog to entertain you throughout the day.)

As major labels continue to exist behind the times, artists and labels with little capital and lesser reputations are producing some of the most innovative, interesting, and inspiring music. Whether it’s creating a new niche in digital technology or looking to once obsolete formats, Agitated Atmosphere hopes to shed a bit of light and share a bit of information on the up and coming sounds of artists such as On Fillmore

It reckons your eyes have met this particular entry because you caught a fleeting glimpse of the name Glenn Kotche and your Wilco radar began to pulsate with expectant glee. Indeed, the multitasking percussionist is one half of the duo known as On Fillmore, but more importantly for fans of Kotche’s pop-oriented work, Extended Vacation will provide an introduction to Kotche’s true avant callings as well as his On Fillmore compadre, Darin Gray.

Extended Vacation marks the duo’s first proper album in five years and their debut for Dead Oceans, but neither are new to the game of creating experimental music that twinkles with the power of all the stars in the night skies. Gray has been a fixture on bass for the likes of Jim O’Rourke, Akira Sakata, Chris Corsano, Loren Connors… this could take awhile. Kotche’s work outside of Wilco is well documented as well and his last solo album, Mobile, provides a sturdy primer for the melodies that are woven throughout Extended Vacation. Toss out your traditionalist ideas about drum and bass duos because neither instrument takes center stage for Kotche and Gray. Rather, Extended Vacation is a collection of whistles, chimes, found sounds, and field recordings that are gently propped by deep rhythmic strings and hushed snares and toms. The results find refuge in a niche all their own — never quite crossing the pop threshold built on uniform melodies and traditional instrumentation nor daring to strike the right jazz stylings that historians romanticize and modernists dare to quell with exuberant wails and moans. Extended Vacation is more akin to adventurous literature, delving into childish fantasies of creation by any means necessary. Granted, the equipment Gray and Kotche utilize may be more reliable and inviting than a cupboard of pots and pans but the results are just as exciting, though a bit sleepy when compared to the thunderous syncopation of youth. Rarely does Extended Vacation raise its voice above a comforting whisper — and like the spacey canvas from which it draws its inspiration, it gently rocks us to peaceful rest with lullaby after lullaby.

Justin Spicer is a freelance journalist who also runs the webzine, Electronic Voice Phenomenon. He writes the Monday News Mash-Up for the KEXP Blog. You may follow him on Twitter.

photo by Kyle Johnson

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Morning Show Host John Richards, is “Raindrops” by Grand Hallway from their self-release album Promenade.

Grand Hallway are an 8-piece orchestral pop outfit made up of members from such local KEXP favorites as The Maldives, Voyager One, Sleepy Eyes of Death among others. Regardless of the collective’s impressive resume, this particular project is earning well-deserved praise from fans and the music community alike. Grand Hallway got their start in 2006 and have two other releases and several West Coast and Japanese tours under their belt. Today’s song, “Raindrops,” is the opening track on the their second full-length album, Promenade, which recounts the dissolution of one relationship and the blossoming of another as narrated by singer/songwriter Tomo Nakayama (Asahi, Jen Wood Trio). This song’s soaring melodies and choral vocals will sweep you off your feet at first listen.

You can catch Grand Hallway tomorrow night at the University of Washington HUB w/ The Maldives and Colonies (it’s a benefit for the UW Fisheries Dept.) or on Nov 13th at The Sunset with Final Spins. After that, they head out for a short tour before playing part of the KEXP Yule Benefit on December 12th w/ The Thermals, Cave Singers, and the Builders and Butchers. Check out their MySpace page for more dates.

Here’s a video for “Seward Park” from their 2007 album Yes is the Answer:

review and photos by Carrie Rubens

It is a rare occasion that an opening band ever trumps the excitement for the headliner, but the situation came gravely close one Tuesday night at Neumo’s when Future of the Left played with …And You Will Know us by the Trail of Dead.

The evening kicked off with Seattle’s very own, Born Anchors. Gregory Scott’s guitar-playing has a quality similar to the post-hardcore stylings of fellow Seattle band, These Arms are Snakes. And given Jason Parker’s wailing/singing tones, their sound is even reminiscent of Queens of the Stone Age. Despite the thin crowd, they rocked it and seemed to put in their all. If nothing else, Justin Martinez, on drums, just kept smiling throughout the set.

The crowd quickly multiplied by the time Future of the Left took the stage. Some might remember Jack William Egglestone and Andrew Falkous from the mid-nineties Welsh group, Mclusky. After an unexplained breakup from the group, the two joined forces with bass player, Kelson Mathias of Jarcrew, and formed Future of the Left.

With Falkous’ Jello Biafra-esque vocals, and the bass-driven melody amidst a stage cluttered with instruments and equiment, Future of the Left is Cardiff showing Seattle how to rock. Songs like “Adeadbodyalwayssmellsgood” and “Arming Eritrea,” were so full of frenetic tension, paired with the band’s dry British humor, Egglestone, Mathias, and Falkous had he audience rolling with laughter and dripping with sweat. With a cheeky nod to English protocol, Falkous mentions that “it’s so nice to play in a proper fucking crowd… even if some of you are wearing hats indoors.”

Falkous and Mathias swap roles between vocals and keys often throughout the set, demonstrating their versatility and keeping the fans on their toes. During the final song, which they described as “prog rock with out the prog (basically a very long rock song),” Mathias jumps into the crowd with his bass while Falkous onstage, started playing his guitar with a drumstick - or rather, ramming it between the strings and sliding it around creating a screeching sound effect. The whole time Egglestone is rocking out on drums, and as Falkous described him, looking like an extra from 300.

There isn’t much time to recuperate after Future of the Left, and the adrenaline is still pumping when the lights go out, and Trail of Dead’s epically charged intro starts to play as the band files in and takes their place. All the doubts I had before melt away when the lights come back up, up and they drive into “Smile Again” — and I can’t wipe the smile off my face.

Conrad Keely plays so hard on “Smile Again,” he breaks a guitar string for the first time of the night. The audience was singing with the music, and Neumo’s became even more packed than before. Where Future had a handful of die hard fans and recent converts like myself, the collective energy of Trail of Dead fans was exhilarating.

Amidst the reverb and guttural chaos, it’s important to listen for Keely’s beautiful guitar riffs that are what tangles you in before being enveloped into the ride. “Bells of Creation” starts out harmless and slow, but it begins to feel like you’re on the verge of something, like reaching the top of a roller coaster.

At “Caterwaul,” Jason Reece joins in on vocals and leans into the crowd from the stage fans in the front row can practically sing into the mic with him, and at the same time get misted with sweat cast off from Keely’s headbaning. I really started to pity the fans toward the back of the room because there is no other way to see Trail of Dead play than front and center.

When they play “It was there (that I saw you)” it is most definitely the climax to the show and Reece and Aaron Ford are launched into full forced double-drumming, and are perfectly in-sync. And even when it seems like they go haywire, the drums are still together tightening up at the end with ease, thus proving the chaos was premeditated.

At the denouement of their performance they just keep playing without any breaks, and the transistions between songs is fluid and full of so many more layers of instrumentation, the sound is progressive but with an intensity and anger that makes it a far cry from psychedelic.

Trail of Dead isn’t as rambunctious as they used to be, when they used to take shots of whiskey and wreck the stage (and each other) using their instruments and whatever else they could get their hands on. Tonight Keely mentions they are on their 7th month of touring and it’s exhausting — but the professionals they are, they muscle through it. Among all the past experimentation and different sounds they’ve incorporated into their compositions, Trail of Dead have had some highs and lows. They played a show that was representative of their past successes, and certainly picked the best for this tour.

Several things happen during a Trail of Dead show: Keely and bassist Jay Phillips utilize the panel of guitars mounted on the back wall, swapping out for nearly every song, drumsticks, spit, and sweat go flying, and double drumming ensues. However what is most exciting about this band’s live show is that that the progression of showmanship remains, especially when you don’t think it could possibly get any better.

Born Anchors:

Future of the Left:

…And You Will Know us by the Trail of Dead:

Usually it’s not hard for me to find music somewhere online by the bands covered here in Review Revue, no matter how obscure. If I’ve never heard them before, it helps give me some context, and if I have, it’s a good refresher. A.C. Temple, however, is proving tricky. Aside from the odd (very odd) YouTube video, there’s really not much out there to listen to, at least from the era of Songs of Praise, their first album. Suffice it to say they were a band for six years, put out four albums, and went through drummers, guitarists and bassists like Kleenex. From the KCMU side, this is an interesting one in that most of the reviews are negative/dismissive, yet the album seems to have made it at least up to Medium rotation. Somebody was digging it (K.F.?), I’m just not sure who.

When you enter the room, it’s filled with people of all ages strumming away on guitars. In the middle of the group is a raised wooden box, used as a sort of stage, filled with dancers. They’re drumming with their feet while they dance. The energy of the room is intoxicating. And you’re immediately drawn in.

Fandango is a musical event that has no audience, only participants. Young and old who have never played this music (called son jarocho) are being taught by the more experienced musicians and dancers.

You pick up a guitar (a jarana — pronounced “ha-rah-nah”) and stand in the back. A man in front of you turns around, and shows you a note to play. With his nod of encouragement, you give it a try. And this simple note, played over and over on the beat become part of the rise and swell of the music.

In Veracruz, Mexico, where this art form originated, people would come from all over the countryside for a Fandango. To celebrate a birthday, an engagement, or just because.

KEXP Documentaries asked Fandango musician Ramon Gutierrez Hernandez from the band Son de Madera why he plays this traditional music. He said,

“This music is the umbilical cord that ties generations of my family together. My grandmother is a hundred years old and she’s about to die. That’s just the reality of things. And this is my connection to her. This is her voice continuing forward through me. And my children will then take this, and will love this music the way that I love them.”

This year, the University of Washington School of Music celebrates this community art form by having one of Fandango’s most famous bands, Son de Madera, in residence here in Seattle for workshops and classes. Despite its humble beginnings in the countryside, Fandango is an advanced way for a community to come together. And you can join in right here the Emerald city all through the next year. For more information, please visit the Seattle Fandango Project.

KEXP Documentaries are produced by Michele Myers. You can hear all our archived KEXP Documentaries, including: American Sabor, The Heart of Soul, Stories of Bob Dylan and Music Revolutionaries in the on-demand section of kexp.org.

• As mentioned Monday on this here KEXP blog, The Pixies will be playing on Conan tomorrow. What wasn’t known is that they’ll be breaking out the classic “Here Comes Your Man,” which is kind of exciting to this guy, at the very least.

• Rachel Yamagata will be hitting the road in support of The Swell Season, who recently performed an incredible set of music for a select group of KEXP donors. Ms. Yamagata doesn’t have the 11/22 Seattle date listed, though.

• Chart news: Michael Jackson is back at #1 this week with This Is It. A little more surprising is that, last week, The Flaming Lips cracked the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 album charts for the first time with their new record, Embryonic. They were the top new entry at #8 if you don’t count the new Twilight movie soundtrack, which got #2.

• So, I don’t want to keep writing about Weezer, but they keep doing bizarre newsworthy things. This time, they’ve collaborated with singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles (?), rapper Chamillionaire (??), and Kenny G (???). See the results here.

• And speaking of weird collaborations while taking any opportunity to talk about the Pixies again: apparently Weird Al Yankovic will join the Pixies on stage to sing “I Bleed” for a benefit show on December 8 at LA’s Echoplex. Actually, for two nights, December 8 & 9, Black Francis will host a benefit for Winston’s Village, where he’ll perform solo, with members of the Pixies, Flea, and his wife Violet Clark (with whom he performs as Grand Duchy). A bunch of other artists, including Love and Rockets, will also take the stage.

• Apparently the entire Beatles catalog will be released on a special apple-shaped 16gb USB drive later this year--12/8 to be exact--which could have nothing to do with the holiday season. Along with the 14 studio albums, the drive will feature 13 “mini-documentaries.”

• Kings of Leon could use a whole load of somebodys to buy from their new clothing line. If you’re interested in being such, check it out at the store’s website/blog.

• Just when you thought this post couldn’t get any more commercial, check out the following, well, commercial, featuring Fall Out Boy’s Pete Wentz, Weezer’s Rivers Cuomo, Blink-182’s Travis Barker, and Kanye West’s Taylor Swift. Ugh:

photo by Dave Lichterman

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s featured selection, chosen by Morning Show host John Richards, is “How You Like Me Now?” by The Heavy from their 2009 album The House That Dirt Built on Counter Records.

It’s about time good ‘ole fashion jungle blues danced into musical vogue and onto the airwaves. We can thank big, bad UK band The Heavy and their enticing psychedelic, freak beat voodoo charm. With their 2009 sophomore release, The House That Dirt Built, you can bet the four chaps from Noid, England, are here to stay. So watch your back — these sinister funk masters will find a home in the deep, dark pit of your soul before you know it.

After growing up trading reggae, hip hop and soul records, vocalist Kelvin Swaby and guitarist Dan Taylor decided to take their tuneful infatuation one step further and jam. What started as purely messing around on a guitar and slicing up soul beats on a sampler soon turned into a regular open mic night extravaganza. After booking some gigs and dumping disappointing drummers after bassists, Spencer Page (bass), Chris Ellul (drums) and Hannah Collins (vocals/keyboards - left the band in 2008) completed what we now know as The Heavy.

Aside from jailbait ballad “Sixteen,” the brassed out “How You Like Me Now?” is the shining star on the brilliant bare bones record. With scorched guitar, classic funk horn and James Brown-like vocals, Swaby says the song is a raw look at how people mask their vices in relationships. Once discovered, all most of us can say is “How you like me now?”

For more about The Heavy or to get your groove on, check out their MySpace page or website. If you missed them when they were in town last week, you’ll have to wait a while for them to return to the Northwest. For now, sit back (or get up) and enjoy a tasty live version of today’s Song of the Day recorded live in in the KEXP studio on October 30:

by Kevin Cole

To paraphrase the band Pavement, bands are reuniting each and every day… (Hey, even the band I just paraphrased!) But one of the reunions I’ve been most excited about is seeing New Jersey legends The Feelies back together.

Taking their name from Aldous Huxley’s novel Brave New World, The Feelies did indeed enter the new world of the post-punk New York music scene, standing out with their frenetic, jangly sound, and getting named “The Best Underground Band in New York” by the Village Voice back in 1978.

Sadly, they fell apart in the early 90’s, but fans rejoiced when The Feelies took the stage again after seventeen years on Fourth of July 2008, and the fireworks haven’t stopped as they’ve continued to play shows around the New York area since then, including an appearance at last month’s All Tomorrow’s Parties festival where they performed their 1980 debut album Crazy Rhythms in its entirety.

And this week on the Afternoon Show, I’ll be giving away copies of that album, along with their second album, The Good Earth! Both releases were re-issued by the label Bar/None Records last month, after being out-of-print for over a decade. Winners will also receive a re-pressing of their debut 7″ single “Fa-Ce-La,” originally released in 1979.

Tune in weekdays from 2-6 PM.