After the musically busy months of August and September, October 2010 was a slower month for me, with just two concerts. In fact it turned out slower than planned, as due to the car crash, I didn't feel able to attend the Foals concert I'd been really excited about. Before that, however, I did go see Phantogram and Film School on consecutive nights.

First, on Thursday October 14, Phantogram played at Neumos, with Anomie Belle and Josiah Wolf opening. I arrived a bit late to find Anomie Belle was just about to play some new songs, and I listened for a few, but stepped out to get some pizza. Josiah Wolf is a multi-instrumentalist who sang and performed on guitar and drums, accompanied by another musician on bass, bells, and backing vocals. His music was slow moody country/folk-pop, a bit like Mazzy Star, though lyrically more like the Mountain Goats. It was pretty, though not really my style, and I have to say I was impressed that he could sing, play guitar, and drum (he had a kick-drum and a snare) all at the same time. Phantogram's dreampop electronica, however, was just what I needed, and they sounded great. They played "Mouthful of Diamonds" fairly early, and it occurred to me that it may be deceptively light and sweet, as they can go heavy and dark with their other songs, such as set closer "When I'm Small". Their final encore song (which unfortunately I didn't identify) had a driving synchopated beat that reminded me of The Smiths' "How Soon Is Now", and I realized that would've been an awesome cover for them to do. I'm looking forward to hearing what they do next. Neumos is rarely kind to my iPhone's camera, but I took some photos of Phantogram from the side of the stage that I thought looked interesting at least; you can see them all, along with some of Josiah Wolf, in my set on Flickr.

Second, on Friday October 15, Film School played at the Sunset Tavern, with Hotels opening and the Depreciation Guild in the middle. It was a bit of an off night for Hotels, with half the band suffering various maladies and the sound seeming rather crappy even for the Sunset. Despite all that, it was still great as always to hear them, I never tire of it. The Depreciation Guild played good solid shoegaze/dreampop. Their songs weren't quite as catchy as I expected, and I figured there must be something about the album versions, but they were definitely lovely songs. They finished with "Dream About You", the tune that kept catching my ear on KEXP and making me say "wait, who is this?" I'm sad to have just discovered that they broke up after that tour, but pleased that at least I got to see them a second time. Film School focused on songs from their latest release, Fission, and I found them to be fairly straightforward rock, maybe some hints of dreampop but not really shoegaze. They did mix in older ones and I definitely preferred the more shoegaze style; the new songs were nice but not compelling. Regardless, they're still a fine band, worth seeing live, and I should still pick up Fission and see how it sounds. 
My first show in February 2010 was on the 6th at Neumos, with the Album Leaf, Sea Wolf, and Anomie Belle. And honestly, I can't remember why I went to this show. I must've been hearing music by the Album Leaf on KEXP and decided to check them out, given what my very sparse notes say. I didn't jot anything down about Anomie Belle, whose style just doesn't work for me. Sea Wolf was an unremarkable but not bad Southern rock band—at least according to my notes—who turned out to be an "oh, those guys" band, as they finished with "that song". Having looked them up again on Myspace, I'm guessing "that song" was "You're a Wolf", which is actually rather good, and the rest of their songs on Myspace seem to be more folk rock than Southern rock, so I'm not sure what's up with my notes. Finally, the Album Leaf played cool prog/art rock on the mellow side, somewhere between the arty instrumentals of Do Make Say Think and the more pop-rock sound of Minus the Bear. 

My second show in February was a special event, the fifth annual "Dancing on the Valentine" benefit for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, held on Saturday the 13th at the Crocodile. These events feature a bunch of bands covering the songs of a particular artist or group, this year's being David Bowie. The line-up included Hotels, so naturally I went, but also had Lesli Wood of the Redwood Plan doing a set with Aaron Starkey, the bassist (edit: oops, not bassist) guitarist of Spanish for 100. The other bands at the show included Half Acre Day, Peter Parker, Legion Within, Exohxo, Motorik, and Sean Bates. I didn't take any notes at the show besides listing the line-up, so I don't have much to say besides it being a fun time, including a David Bowie look-alike contest. I did however take a lot of photos, which you can see in this set on Flickr.

My last February show was the next Saturday, the 20th, at the Sunset Tavern, and again featured Hotels, this time with Black Mercies opening and the Purrs headlining. Black Mercies sounded pretty good, playing pretty straightforward guitar pop-rock though with very '80s-sounding synth. Their last song, "Sparks in the Darkness", had a groovy bass line and different feel from the rest, which was a nice contrast; I liked it the most of their set. Hotels debuted a new song, "On the Casino Floor," which of course made me very excited, and in all honesty it did sound very good. Finally, I'd seen the Purrs a couple times before, and they've grown on me each time. But here's the thing about the Purrs: half the time they sound like a (stereo)typical bar band, and don't hold my interest, but then they rock out more with a harder/darker sound, sometimes almost shoegaze, and then I think they sound great. That said, I do really like "Miles Away", a bright pop song with a great catchy guitar line. They also played "Taste of Monday", one of the darker ones,  and "Stay Here with Me", which is practically Britpop. 

I'm including March in this post because I went to only two shows, and I've already written one of those reviews: on March 20th I went to see Alabaster at El Corazón, and after a few months' delay got that review done back in August. The other show I went to, on March 4th at the Crocodile, had CMYK headlining, with Hotels, the Fascination Movement, and Noddy. I'd seen all the bands but the Fascination Movement before, so I didn't take many notes. Noddy sounded really good; I recognized that I should've picked up their 2009 release A Seed (which I've just found out is available for free from Noddy's BandCamp page), and this show left me really looking forward to a new release in 2010—Remora, Remora, which came out later in July. Noddy introduced the last song by jokingly claiming "I wrote this song when I was on a lot of coke… sing along if you know it," and went into a cover of Stevie Nick's "Stand Back," jumping down to the floor to sing the lines "in the middle of my room." The Fascination Movement had a strong New Wave feel, evoking New Order and Depeche Mode, and a lead singer who sometimes sounded like Mark Hollis of Talk Talk. They had a good sound and I liked them. Finally, of course I ended up not taking any notes about Hotels or CMYK, as I was much too busy dancing to their great music. I did take some photos, although for no good reason didn't get any of CMYK; you can see what I have in this set on Flickr.
In January, I started making some effort again to take notes on concerts. Well, I at least made sure to jot down band names, but my notes are still pretty sketchy.

I did take good notes for two shows, because I reviewed them for the KEXP Blog. First, I started off the year right on January 6th with a great local lineup at Neumos featuring Beehive, Noddy, CMYK, and Library Science. I wrote briefly about that show here on my blog, and you can read the full review here on the KEXP Blog. Then, on January 20th, I went to the Triple Door to see Asobi Seksu with Anomie Belle opening; again, I have a brief post here on my blog, and the full review here on the KEXP Blog.

I also took decent notes on January 16th, when I was at the Vera Project to see YouTube-video ukelele sensation Julia Nunes. In fact, having just written out a long paragraph about the show, I believe I'll just post it as a separate review tomorrow, when I'm going to be busy and may not have time to write. For the impatient: Julia Nunes is very good, check her out.

I went to see Hotels twice in January. The first time was on January 9th at the Comet Tavern, playing a show with Romance and at least one other band that I might've missed but in any case didn't even get their name down. I don't have any notes from that show; I know I liked Romance the first time I saw them, so I'm sure it was a pretty good show. (Edit: Come to think of it, the other band was probably the Redwood Plan, as I know I saw them do part of a set on a bill including Hotels at the Comet Tavern, and I didn't stay for the whole set only because I got a ride home with a friend.)

Then on January 21st, I went to the High Dive to see Hotels again, this time in between Gabriel Mintz opening and Pillow Army headlining. Gabriel Mintz played with Trent Moorman on drums, and had a kind of southern art rock sound which I thought was pretty cool. I have no notes about Hotels, of course; probably too busy dancing. I'd also seen Pillow Army once before and liked them, but thought they needed some more development; now, having added a bass player and a second guitar/flute/backing vocalist, I felt they had clearly built on the promise they'd shown before and were becoming a band to watch. 

So, full Julia Nunes review to be posted tomorrow, and if I have time I'll do the February concert summary too, as I only have proper notes on one of the three shows I saw. I'll probably roll the March concert summary into that, too, as I have only one other show that month besides the Alabaster one that I already reviewed. Otherwise, February and March will probably be covered on Monday. It'd be nice to catch up on 2010 before the year ends, but I may be too busy this week and also I should be able to get some good standalone reviews, as I did get better about taking notes.
On Wednesday January 20, I went to the Triple Door to see Asobi Seksu on an unusual acoustic tour. I've been a fan of theirs since first hearing and seeing them back in 2006, and I was very curious to hear how they'd adapt their shoegaze/dreampop style to an all-acoustic style. The results were great, and I wrote about it for the KEXP Blog. Opening for Asobi Seksu was local artist Anomie Belle. You can read all about the show here on the KEXP Blog.

My friend John Peltonen, who came along to the show, took a bunch of photos at my request so that I'd have something better for the review than my usual iPhone photos, which generally aren't that good at the Triple Door. (I did take a few, and you can see my photos here on Flickr.) Unfortunately due to some confusion, KEXP sent their own photographer to the show as well, and his are the ones posted on the KEXP Blog. However, John got some great photos of his own, and you should go check them out here in John's Flickr photostream.

Coming up, next Friday February 5 there are three great bands in town: St. Vincent at Neumos, Editors at the Showbox, and Do Make Say Think at Chop Suey. It's a tough choice, and I think I'm going to St. Vincent, but I may end up at Do Make Say Think instead. Then on Saturday February 13, there's a special show at the Crocodile: "Dancing on the Valentine", a benefit for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, featuring several bands including my favorites Hotels doing covers of David Bowie songs. You can be sure if there's Hotels and dancing involved, I'll be there.
Again, I'm catching up on my concert reviews, so here's a quick summary of June.

I've already posted before about seeing The Juan MacLean and The Field on Monday June 8 at Nectar Lounge; that review was written for the KEXP Blog and can still be read there. However, let me give a couple excerpts:
Last Monday night when I went to Nectar Lounge to see The Juan MacLean and The Field, I didn’t know that I’d be at the hottest show in town. These two groups played sizzling sets of electronica to a packed and enthusiastic crowd. DJ Nordic Soul warmed up the club with a solid mix of dance music.
[...]
The Field’s music is very cool stuff, and I could easily listen for a few hours; it seems tailor-made for airplane flights, and I’ll have to pick up the aptly-named album From Here We Go Sublime before my next trip.
[...]
While The Field kept the club simmering for an hour, The Juan MacLean brought it up to a full boil with their high-energy synth rock. ... They built up to a stunning conclusion with “Happy House”, extended to over 20 minutes and climaxing several times, and then cooled things down in the encore with the mellow and dreamy “Tonight”.
Also, I was right next to the stage for The Juan Maclean's set, so I was able to get some pretty good photos, including John MacLean in action rocking the theremin. See the whole set here in Flickr.

I went to two other shows that week: KJ Sawka at Nectar Lounge on Friday June 12, and Hotels at the High Dive on Saturday June 13. I had already decided I wasn't going to blog about those shows, so I didn't take any notes. However, I can tell you that Sawka's show was to promote the release of his DrumBanger app for the iPhone (read more about it in this post on Line Out, The Stranger's music blog), and that while I still enjoy his music, I found that I'm getting a little tired of hearing the work from his two recent albums and would like to see him pursue a new direction. Oh I forgot that opening for Sawka was first DJ NoiseMaker, who I can't recall anything about, but then DJ Crime, billed as "Las Vegas's #1 VJ"—he mixed videos, using both music videos and other footage, which was fun to watch as well as hear.

As for the other show, Hotels played third in a set including Anomie Belle, Born Anchors, and (ostensible) headliners Furniture Girls. I reviewed Anomie Belle for the KEXP Blog when she opened for Tricky back in March, and I don't really have anything to add to that: she's got talent and potential, but despite her use of live violin loops, her music currently is kind of bland soulful trip-hop. I can't remember anything about Born Anchors, which suggests I didn't find them that interesting, but I know I didn't dislike them and really I'd have to hear them again to give any kind of review. Hotels were awesome of course and I danced like crazy through their set; I've really just about run out of things to say about them until they release some more new music, which is why I had decided I wouldn't blog about this show, but here I am. Finally, my opinion also hasn't changed much on Furniture Girls: they're fun, the band is really solid, but they just don't quite win me over somehow. However, they did have a strong-voiced guest backup singer for most of the set, which made a real difference as the original Furniture Girls synth-player/backing vocalist doesn't have a voice strong enough to match the lead singer (that original member hasn't been replaced, just moved back to focus more on the synths).

The other two shows were good overall, but I do have to say The Juan MacLean and The Field were a phenomenal bill, definitely one of the best shows of the year.
As I mentioned in my previous post, my third concert in March was seeing Tricky at the Showbox at the Market. I attended the show on behalf of KEXP, writing a review for the KEXP Blog. The review is now posted and you can read it here.

Speaking of KEXP, on April 17, a week from this Friday, they'll be spending the day broadcasting live from Caffé Vita at 1005 E Pike Street in Seattle to celebrate Capitol Hill's victory in the "Hood-to-Hood Challenge" from last year's pledge drive. Here's their blurb about the event:
Friday, 4/17 join John Richards, Cheryl Waters and Kevin Cole for a live broadcast from Caffé Vita all day long. Featuring performances by Mates of State, Black Kids, Moondoggies, and more. Stick around that night for discounts at local business, KEXP DJs at Capitol Hill Clubs, and showcases at the The Comet, Wildrose, and Everyday Music. For more information visit the Hood to Hood 2009 page on KEXP.org.
I will be at the event from 2-4 PM, manning the membership table. Come by and say hi!