Pilcrow

Five minutes is not much time to write. I've been having long days this week, editing a fairly long document for work, after just doing a pass on it last week, and I've continued to have other work rolling in too. So this month, like last month, looks to turn out fairly decently, approximately the minimum 80 hours I should be billing for work each month just to be making ends meet. I'm concerned that the well of work is about to dry up again, though, and I've been busy enough that I haven't spent time on dowsing for water, as it were. Still, this respite gives me a bit of room to breathe again, so that I should be able to do some of that dowsing next week. I've basically written this post once already just two weeks ago, "work avoids work", but I've only got five minutes left to write tonight and that's about the only update I have to talk about at the moment. Just too tired from some long days and late nights of work.

A few brief notes on a completely different topic: music and live shows!

• I'm very sad that I can't be in Boston this weekend for Soozapalooza, featuring a reunion of one of my all-time favorite bands, Mistle Thrush.
• I'm very excited that Hotels have announced their next CD, On the Casino Floor, will be out February 23, with a CD release show at the Columbia City Theater on Saturday February 26.
• Beehive have also made some noise about having their next album out in February, and I'm still eagerly awaiting to hear more about that. I'm just hoping they don't schedule a CD release show conflicting with Hotels, or Gang of Four on February 16, or Man or Astroman? on February 24. Busy month for music!

I completely forgot, because I hadn't taken any notes about them or put them on the calendar, that I'd seen Beehive doing two shows back in August 2009. Both of them were unusual events, at least for me.

The first was on Friday August 7; I happened to see them post a note on Facebook announcing that they were playing something called the "Dead Baby Bike Rally", at a location mysteriously described as "behind Jules Mae Saloon" down in the Georgetown neighborhood. That puzzled me a lot, but I made my way down to Georgetown, found a spot to park, and wandered over in the direction of the saloon, eventually finding a crowd of other people headed to a vacant lot that was, indeed, behind the saloon. I quickly found the trailer stage and didn't have to hang out long before they came out and played their usual rocking set. They had a semi-captive audience as the long lines for the port-a-potties stretched past the stage, but some people did actually stop and pay attention on their own accord. After they were done, I went up to talk to them and said, "Okay, I know why I'm here—to see you guys. And I know why you're here—to play a show. But I have no idea why anyone else is here. What's going on?" That's when I learned that "Dead Baby Bikes" is some kind of underground bike club that sponsors an unofficial, dubiously legal bike rally once a year, and this event was the after party for the race. The after party involved some weird art displays and amusement games, at least one other band playing—it apparently was Tad Doyle's current project Brothers of the Sonic Cloth, whom I thought sounded like a tyrannosaurus head and torso grafted onto a brontosaurus body, smashing through the jungle—and bicycle jousting. It was a pretty crazy evening. I took a bunch of photos which you can see in this set on Flickr. 

Beehive told me that their next show would be at Hempfest on Sunday, August 16. Now, I think there are good reasons why marijuana should be legalized, and even more good reasons why hemp-based products should be even if marijuana remains a controlled substance, but it's not a cause I'm fervent about, and I really really hate the stench of pot smoke, more than regular tobacco, so Hempfest isn't an event I'd ever considered attending. However, I figured as Beehive were playing late on the last day, there was no reason not to drop by and give them some support. i was glad that I did, as it turned out they were put inside a large tent set up for speakers, with not a lot of visibility for passers-by, and so unfortunately they didn't have much of an audience. They still put on a good set, and I had fun hanging out with them afterward and providing roadie support. Another attendee kindly took a couple photos of us (with another Beehive friend, whose name I'm forgetting); make your own guesses as to why both photos were clearly shot with an unsteady hand…

I'm quite pleased to be starting my year off by posting on the KEXP Blog a concert review of one of my favorite local bands, Beehive, appearing with another old favorite, Library Science, a new favorite, CMYK, and a probable future favorite, Noddy. They all played at Neumos on Wednesday, January 6. I had a great time, got some decent photos, and you can read all about it and see the photos here on the KEXP Blog. 

Contrary to appearances, I did not stop attending shows at the end of last summer. I just fell far enough behind in my write-ups that I couldn't find the enthusiasm to do them when I had time. (It didn't help that it was a very hard year, nor that I was actually somewhat busy with work for a while during that period.) The last review I actually wrote was for the Bat for Lashes show that I saw in August, which I mentioned in my last concert review/KEXP Blog post, and it was supposed to run on the KEXP Blog. Unfortunately, the review kept getting pushed back due to coverage of other events—Bumbershoot, MusicFest Northwest, and some other stuff—so that by the time it could have been posted, a month or so had passed and it was now stale. However, I will post it here later this week, as I did really enjoy that show and want to share that with you. I also did take notes at most of the other concerts I went to in the past several months, and will do at least some kind of summary post, if not full separate reviews, very soon so that I can also get my 2009 Concerts List done.

Coming up this Wednesday, I'm going to see Asobi Seksu performing an acoustic set at the Triple Door, which should be fascinating, and I'm hoping to see St. Vincent at Neumos on Friday February 5. I'm looking forward to another year of great shows; it's already starting well.

Last Thursday I went to see Beehive at Neumos, with Furniture Girls opening and Emilia headlining. Neumos is a large club for these bands, none of which yet has a large following, so not only was the balcony closed but also half the main space was closed off by red velvet curtains. Although that gave the room a nice intimate feel, the sound system is designed to fill the space, so the sound quality wasn't the best for the show.

As they did the first time I saw them, Furniture Girls started their set with an instrumental jam, this time playing along with the beats being spun by the night's DJ Dezignated Pete. They brought the jam to a close, paused... and started jamming again, as their laptop failed to start playing the first song. Once they got it fixed, they played a few songs... and then the laptop died again. This time, the guitarist kicked off a blues jam and the lead singer improvised lyrics about how sad it was that the laptop had died. Frankly, I found that to be the most entertaining part of the set, a clever and humorous way to deal with technical difficulties. I'm not sure why they don't grab me more; perhaps in time as they develop, they'll hold my interest.

Beehive played a rocking set as always. However, the evening's sound issues affected their set the most. Their first couple songs sounded noisier and rougher than usual, and Alethea's high vocals were barely audible near the stage, seeming to come out of just one tiny speaker in the upper left. When I moved around the room, I found that the best balance was back by the room-dividing curtains. Still, these were minor issues, and overall it sounded okay. As at their Nectar show last month, they played around with the songs, adding extended instrumental intros and codas just for the fun of it. I was pleased that they did the slow "acoustic" introduction to "Outta Here One Day", I'd been wanting to hear that variation again. Also like their Nectar show, they finished with a repeat of "Better Than Lies", urging everyone forward to dance. I'm not keen on the practice of reprising songs in that manner, but presumably their intent is to grow the audience by pushing that song as the catchy single, and it is a good choice for that, so I can't fault them.

Last time I saw Emilia, I felt that her performance was too calculated, too intent on projecting a rockstar image. At this show, she seemed relaxed and natural again, focused on her music and letting her stage presence flow from that. Emilia's voice was strong, and her backing musicians were excellent. I enjoyed a couple of the upbeat songs, notably "Hypnotized", with its breakbeat-jazz fusion sound. However, most of her music, slow to mid-tempo soulful pop, still simply failed to appeal to me. Emilia's very talented and worth checking out for yourself, but she's not for me.

Edit to add photo links. I have four Furniture Girls photos starting here; five Beehive photos starting here; and six Emilia photos starting here.

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Next Sunday, March 2, I plan to be at Chop Suey to see Balkan Beat Box, on my sister Andrea's recommendation. I still haven't decided about the other shows in March - Jens Lekman at Neumos on the 25th, Jose Gonzalez at the Triple Door on the 29th and 30th, or X at the Showbox on the 30th (all ages) and 31st (21+) - they're all shows that I'd rather decide on as a spontaneous thing, but that I know I'll have to get tickets in advance if I actually want to attend. I guess I still have another week or two at least before the X shows sell out...

In December, I planned to attend a Beehive show but missed out due to being ill. Fortunately, Beehive have been busily scheduling shows, so last Wednesday night I was able to catch them at Nectar Lounge for my first show this month. Also on the bill was Furniture Girls and SXY; however, SXY cancelled and their place was taken by a musician named Aaron Daniels.

I arrived late at Nectar and walked in about halfway through Aaron Daniels' second-to-last song. Daniels was onstage with a couple microphones and no instruments; he used one microphone to sample himself beatboxing for backing vocals, and sang into the other. He reminded me of Reggie Watts, singing in a mixed style of soul and hiphop. Although I heard only a song and a half, he sounded pretty good and I wish I'd been on time for his whole set.

Furniture Girls performed as a quintet: the original "Furniture Girls" duo on lead vocals and backing vocals/samples, and a backing band of guitar, bass, and drums. Their music mixed funk and rock styles to produce a groovy, dance-oriented pop sound. The lead singer's strong voice was not matched by her backing vocalist, and sometimes the latter's part was hard to make out. This problem was brought into relief when they invited a friend called Mia up onstage to sing an additional part; Mia's own strong voice made a striking counterpoint to the lead singer, and the song sounded much more impressive for it. Overall the band sounded pretty good and were enjoyable, but didn't leave me eager to hear more.

( Furniture Girls photo )

Beehive, the duo of Alethea Eichhorn (laptops, keyboards, and vocals) and David Miller (electric and slide guitars, and vocals), brought a little sunshine to the cold grey winter night with their infectious mix of rock and breakbeat electronica. Large yellow paper flowers bedecked the stage, setting the scene for Beehive's bouncy beats and rocking riffs. They played a slightly longer than usual set, getting in a full hour of music, and that allowed them to play around with extended improvised sections on a few songs. The audience hung back through most of the set, but by the end they were more than willing to oblige when David demanded that everyone move up front and dance. Beehive seemed slightly unprepared for the extra time, as they chose to repeat "Better Than Lies" for their finale, but it was clear they wanted a song to make people dance and it worked. Their set was solid overall and the crowd enjoyed it. As always, I recommend catching Beehive whenever you can; their love of music and delight in performing make every show worthwhile.

( Beehive photo )

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Beehive are playing two more shows this month: Friday the 25th at Studio Seven as part of the Supernova "Out of the Garage" band competition series, and Thursday the 31st at The Comet Tavern. I'm not sure if I'll make it to the former show, but I know I've already got other plans for the latter one: also on Thursday the 31st, Black Mountain and Yeasayer will be rocking Neumos, along with MGMT. Looking ahead to February, the upcoming show I'm most excited about is the CD release party for Mono In VCF at The Triple Door on Saturday the 9th. Also in February, Editors are headlining The Showbox on Monday the 4th, while DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist, with Kid Koala, are at The Showbox on Sunday the 10th. I don't know about these shows: I'd rather see Editors at a smaller venue (and wish I hadn't missed them last time they were in town and played Chop Suey); and although I expect the DJ Shadow show will be amazing, it's also expensive for me ($30 + fees) and it'll be completely packed (I'm a bit surprised it's not already sold out). I guess I'll see how I feel about it next week.

Monday night I went to Chop Suey to see Beehive opening for Digitalism, with The Long Ranger in the middle. Beehive of course have been a favorite band of mine since I first saw them last year, while Digitalism have been getting KEXP airplay recently and I knew by name at least one song of theirs ("Digitalism in Cairo"). The Long Ranger, however, were completely unknown to me.

Beehive played a rocking set that included a cover of the Beatles' "Helter Skelter" as well as several songs from their new album Pretty Little Thieves and a couple from their first album Cycle A. They had some sound problems for the first couple songs, with some unintended feedback and excessive echo, the latter perhaps just a result of the sadly sparse audience - but more on that in a bit. However, the problems mostly cleared up for the rest of their set. One thing I enjoy about Beehive is their willingness to play around with the songs in concert and try different things, rather than attempt to recreate the recorded version every time. For example, in set closer "Better Than Lies", they cut the music back for the final chorus to just a simple beat, letting their vocal harmonies shine. With their fat beats and funky slide guitar, Beehive should be getting a lot of attention.

( a couple Beehive photos )

Which leads me into the audience problem. Granted that Beehive was the opening act on a Monday night, it's not surprising the audience was small at that point, but the people who had arrived were all sitting off the sides of the main floor rather than stepping forward to be closer to the band. Although this was disappointing, it didn't yet strike me as unusual for Seattle audience behavior. By the time The Long Ranger took the stage, a decent crowd had gathered - all at the bar or in the back seating areas, but notably not on the floor. Not until The Long Ranger's last song did some people start gathering on the floor, and it seemed they were split between a few people actually interested in the band and the rest who didn't want to stand with the now good-sized crowd on the sides and in back. Let's be clear here: the music of both bands was worth a good listen, and it was not a case of being seriously mismatched with the headlining band. Apparently, though, the crowd that arrived early was just too hip to be seen paying any attention to the opening acts, and the people that did eventually fill the floor for Digitalism's set were the dance crowd who don't come out before 10:30. I think it's a shame. Seattle has a lot of fine local musicians, of whom Beehive and The Long Ranger are just two examples, and they deserve visible support from the people who do go out to shows, not the cold aloofness of hipsters.

Besides, it makes me feel self-conscious to be the only one standing out on the floor.

The Long Ranger are an electro-pop trio, including a male lead singer (and programmer, according to their MySpace page), a female backup singer and synth player, and a guitarist. They played mid-to-up-tempo dance pop that seemed to mostly be romantic love songs. Most of the music (besides the guitar) was apparently pre-programmed on the laptop, as the synth player did not spend a lot of time tweaking her two machines, but this left both singers free to dance along as well. The lead singer even jumped down to the main floor for some breakdancing during one song - which seemed to elicit some more attention from the otherwise stand-offish audience. As I mentioned, by their last song some people had started gathering on the main floor and were even visibly grooving along with the music, but there was still plenty of room for all three band members to jump down and rock out on the floor. I enjoyed their performance, and although their music was light and fluffy in comparison to Beehive and Digitalism, I thought it made a nice counterpoint.

( and a couple Long Ranger photos )

Digitalism are the duo of Jens Moelle and Ismail Tufekci. They used two tables of synths and electronic gear, as well as a drum pad and cymbal set, to create one big electronic dance sound. All the love that was lacking for the first two bands was showered down upon Digitalism, as the packed floor pogoed and fist-pumped, and even the hipsters on the sides could be seen bobbing their heads. And to be fair, Digitalism delivered a nearly-continuous hour-long set of hot dance music, neatly divided into three parts by a couple very short breaks. The first part featured live vocals and live drums, while the second part used only sampled or pre-recorded vocals as both of them focused on playing the synths. The final part was a mix, starting with the crowd-rousing MC-style spoken vocals of "Homezone", and included current singles "Idealistic" and "Digitalism in Cairo" (with its nifty use of the chorus from The Cure's "Fire in Cairo"). Despite starting late and being awash in audience love, they did not come back for an encore, which was a bit disappointing. I would expect a bit more out of them next time - and I would expect them to play a bigger club, instead of being bumped from Neumos by a private function.

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Still to come: New Young Pony Club at Nectar Lounge this Saturday, the 27th; Freezepop, also at Nectar, on Halloween; Battles return on November 3rd at Neumos; and Annuals will somehow crowd onstage at the Crocodile Cafe on November 10th. AND, I just found out today that Tara Jane ONeil is playing this Sunday, the 28th, at The Vera Project. My life has become full of music.

Last night I went to El Corazón to see Halou, with Mexican Institute of Sound, Beehive, and Miss Solar System. The show had a couple scheduling peculiarities. Both Beehive and Miss Solar System were brought in as substitutes for Zoe Keating (formerly of Rasputina); fitting in two artists in place of one meant they each had a shorter than normal set, no more than half an hour. The other peculiarity was that the headliners, Halou, were bumped up a slot, leaving Mexican Institute of Sound to close out the evening.

Miss Solar System are an electronic trio, but appeared as a duo as their vocalist was ill. Although one member is described on their website as a multi-instrumentalist, no traditional instruments were in evidence; the sound was made solely with synthesizers, samplers, mixers, and other electronic gear. As might be expected, they played a groovy mix of drum 'n bass, breakbeat, house and downtempo. They had a good sound that warmed me up from the bitter chill outside and had me tapping my toes, but it was missing something to make them really stand out from the other good electronic artists I've seen in the past. I suspect that missing something was their vocalist, and I look forward to seeing the full band in the future and learning whether I'm right.

Beehive continue to be one of my favorite Seattle bands. The duo are Butterfly Beats on keyboards and laptop, and David Miller on guitar and slide guitar, with both sharing vocals. They played a high-energy blend of breakbeat and rock that practically demands dancing, though to my surprise no one did; perhaps the audience was still chilled from the cold, or it just isn't the kind of club where that happens. Just like when I saw them last March, they were in high spirits and clearly delighted to be on stage. They debuted the title track to their upcoming album, Pretty Little Thieves, which sounded good despite some technical problems at the start. I had hoped there might be another one or two new songs, but I'll just have to be patient until this coming March, which is when they said they expect to have their CD release party.

Halou are a trio, featuring Rebecca Coseboom on vocals, Ryan Coseboom on guitar, keyboard and synth, and Count on acoustic/electronic drums and occasional guitar. They had an additional musician on acoustic bass viol and bass guitar. Although they are generally considered to be an electronic band, I found their sound to be much closer to ethereal rock, made for listening and absorbing rather than feeling and dancing. Still, the sound shifted easily between the ethereal and the electronic, with acoustic bass on some of the crunchier songs and electronic drums on some of the more ethereal ones. Rebecca used three different microphones throughout the set to get different vocal effects, something I haven't seen before and rather liked. Strange video loops played on a screen behind the band during some of the tracks, adding to the moodiness of the music; in contrast, Rebecca frequently had a huge grin on her expressive face, betraying how much she was enjoying the set. I too had a big grin on my face, as I've been meaning to see Halou for a few years now (and I'm sure I've missed a couple shows here in Seattle already), and now that I'd finally made it, they lived up to my expectations. I picked up their latest full-length, Wholeness & Separation, which came out last year, along with two EPs, Albatross and Separation. Those will be on my iPod for a while, no doubt.

Mexican Institute of Sound is officially the one-man project of Camilo Lara (DJ Pata Pata), but he appeared with an additional musician for the show - presumably Oliver Castro, who is also listed as a band member on their MySpace page. Like opening act Miss Solar System, MIS had a couple banks of electronic gear and no traditional instruments, not even keyboard. However, their sound drew upon a mix of lounge, dub, cha-cha, and other Latin American dance music. Mix is the key word here, as the two artists created an ever-changing stream of music with lots of samples and electronic effects. Lara threw repeated wordless vocals - "hey!" and "ah!" and "ok!" - on top of the music, often sampling himself and mixing it right back in. As the final band of the evening, they suffered with the usual sparse audience, but they showed no lack of energy or enthusiam. MIS would be a good band to see at a club packed with people who came out to dance, and I'd like to see that happen sometime. But the music was also good just for listening, and I may have to pick up their CD, Méjico Máxico, as I currently have nothing like it.

Yesterday while getting my hair cut, I talked with my hairdresser about the shows I'd been to recently, and mentioned that I hadn't yet decided on a show for March and needed to look over the listings again. We also discussed how things were going with my new condo, which led into talking about Fremont, and she asked whether I'd been to the High Dive yet; I said I hadn't but was looking forward to checking it out some time soon as it looked cool.

When I got home, I decided I might as well check the concert listings right then, although I wasn't expecting to go out that night. I immediately changed my mind about going out when I discovered that The Fading Collection were playing at the High Dive, with Tekgnosis opening and Beehive headlining. I'd been meaning to check out The Fading Collection for a while now (even longer than those entries indicate, as I picked up their first album back in 2003), and I remembered that Beehive had played a show with Library Science but I'd left before they came on, so I was curious to check them out this time. So after a quick dinner, off I went. On my way over, Amy called; she and John P were in Belltown looking for something to do, and they agreed to join me at the show.

The show was an interesting balance: a straight-up techno set, followed by electronica-influenced rock, concluding with a blend of the two. Opening act Tekgnosis were a couple guys on laptops, with a keyboard and drum machine, playing a continuous stream of pure dance techno. My sister will tell you that all music is about changes in sound over time, but the stripped-down rhythmic loops of techno really bring that home - that is, if you can pay attention. That's not to say that Tekgnosis were boring, just that the music rewards dancing more than sitting in the back of the bar and listening, and we ended up talking through most of the set. Would I recommend going to hear them? Yes, particularly if there's a dance floor. Can I give a better description of their music to entice you? No.

The Fading Collection are also a duo, Sarah McCulloch on vocals and Matt Frickelton on bass and programming, but they're joined in concert (and in some tracks on their latest album, Supertron) by Jeremy Hill on drums and samples and Tavia Wormstedt on backing vocals. They're self-described as electronic artists and there's no doubt they use electronics to create and play their music, but their style is more goth/industrial-tinged rock than anything else; unlike Tekgnosis, this is much more for listening than dancing. They sound something like Evanescence, except where I found Evanescence to be derivative and dull, I think The Fading Collection is fresh and interesting. (In fairness parkbenchzine no doubt would say the reverse.) I do have to say that although I did enjoy their live set, I expected to be overwhelmed and I wasn't. I can't point to anything specific, I just thought their performace was adequate rather than amazing. Also, their set revealed that the High Dive may have some sound issues, as the vocals were indistinct while we were at the back of the room; they were fine when I moved up to the front, after the tired John and Amy decided to leave.

Finally, Beehive were yet another duo, Alethea Eichhorn (aka Butterfly Beats) on laptop, keyboard and vocals, and David Miller on guitar, steel guitar, bass and vocals. Their website declares, "Rock & Roll meets Breakbeat and Electronica," which aptly describes their sound. The guitar and vocals bring the rock, while the laptop beats and keyboard riffs bring the breakbeat; together this makes for great groovy dance music. Beehive were clearly having a great time playing - Alethea often looked like she was about to burst out laughing for sheer pleasure - and the audience went right along with them. (Actually, all the acts were having a good time that night, but I noticed it most with Beehive.) They made me unhappy that the weather is still wintry and cold, because I had my heavy long coat to hold and so couldn't really dance as much as I wanted to. This show was a CD release party for their new EP, Operation Artichoke, which I bought along with their full-length Cycle A (and The Fading Collection's latest as well); I expect these CDs will be taking up long-term residence on my iPod.

I'll just add that DJ Greg Jaspian of KEXP was the house DJ for the evening, and played some cool music; I'd like to catch him another time, maybe one of the nights he's at the Triple Door's Musicquarium lounge. Also, I'm looking forward to going to the High Dive more often, both for shows and just to hang out, it's a pretty cool place.

Today was also my fourth anniversary arriving in Seattle, but I'll have to write about that tomorrow, as it's now quite late and I have to get to bed.