Monthly Music

October 2007, #1: Ulrich Schnauss at the Crocodile Cafe

Monday evening I went to the Crocodile Cafe to see The High Violets open for Ulrich Schnauss. In between the two was local band The Turn-Ons. The High Violets were the draw for me, as I'd been looking forward to seeing them again since last December. I'd heard of The Turn-Ons but couldn't recall anything about them, while I knew I'd heard Ulrich Schnauss's music before but just knew that it was electronica of some kind.

The High Violets are a dreampop/shoegazer quartet on guitar and vocals, guitar, bass, and drums. This show had better sound than the last one I saw, and it made a real difference. The band was loud, but still tolerable without earplugs, which was nice. For a dreampop band, they did not use a lot of guitar shimmer/sonic wash, but this was good as the distinct parts could be heard: lead guitar, rhythm guitar, and bass were all clear, the better to appreciate the interplay of the parts. Lead singer Kaitlyn ni Donovan provided ringing ethereal vocals on top, and her voice is well-suited to the band's sound. As I noted last time, my one reservation is that although they are a solid dreampop band, which is fine in itself, I feel they need a little something more to truly stand out. I'm not sure what that is, but I hope to hear them develop it on their next album (which is currently in the works).

The Turn-Ons are another quartet of two guitars, bass and drums; lead singer/guitarist Travis switched roles with bassist/backing vocalist Erik for the last two songs. Like The High Violets, The Turn-Ons are a dreampop band, although they lean more to the indie rock side of things than shoegazer. In fact, I found the lead singer's voice to be more apt for Britpop or punk - it was a bit brash and flat, and he didn't seem to always be in tune or hitting the notes. In contrast, when the bassist took over the vocals, his singing was more of a typical shoegazer style, a quieter, crooning sound. Both sang together on the rocking last song ("PS I Love You"), with Travis matching Erik's style and both sounding good. Certainly the music was melodious and the band played well, with ringing guitars prominent. Besides the last song, I also particularly liked the one before, "Robert Altman", featuring quiet verses with sudden loud instrumental passages, in place of a chorus, in between. Overall I enjoyed their set, and although I'm not sure about the quality of Travis's vocals, I'd say this is a band to listen for.

Ulrich Schnauss is an electronic musician, one man and a tableful of electronics, including a Mac laptop, (musical) keyboard, and various boxes with knobs to fiddle with. He played a set grounded in ambient/trance electronica with forays into a heavier drum n' bass style, always with a danceable beat at the foundation. Despite the danceable beat, on the whole the audience seemed content to bliss out, standing attentively and maybe swaying a bit. Schnauss himself mostly sat calmly at the table, with occasional head-bobbing with the beat and some vigorous keyboard playing at least in the encore. To offset the lack of visual performance, the requisite arty experimental video played on a screen in the background. The music was continuous, with transitions to new songs apparent only when the volume hushed and the tempo changed. Indeed, for me only the occasional cheer as of recognition from the crowd suggested that his set wasn't improvised on the spot. However, that seemed appropriate enough - I felt the music was meant to be experienced as a series, and I shouldn't be able to point to a particular song and say "I like that one". At the encore, Schnauss did tell the audience he would play two songs, and it was easy to distinguish between the first driving, rocking song and the second spacious, dreamy song. I did really enjoy the performance, but I felt I wasn't left with something to grab onto, a particular bit to make me eager to get a CD. However, I will be listening more carefully for his music on KEXP in the future.

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Yesterday I finally looked through the various club calendars for October and November, and discovered that if I wanted to (and didn't have some conflicting events), I could go see at least two shows a week into mid-November. As it is, I'm likely to average a show a week. Film School are at the Crocodile on the 10th. Interpol are at the WaMu Theater on the 18th, although as I mentioned before this show's pricey enough ($27.50 + TicketMaster fees) that I'll pass. Beehive just announced that they'll be opening for Digitalism at Chop Suey on the 22nd, and you know how much I love Beehive. New Young Pony Club are at Nectar Lounge on the 27th, and I'm really excited to check them out; I bet this will sell out, so I think I'll order a ticket soon. I have a horrible dilemma for Halloween: do I go see Freezepop, also at Nectar, or do I go see Do Make Say Think at the Crocodile ? It's a tough call - I did just see Freezepop recently, that show will undoubtedly be packed, and I haven't seen Do Make Say Think since October 2004; but still, I do love Freezepop dearly and I'm hoping for a better set, plus it's a 21+ show so maybe it'll be a little less crazy. Finally, looking forward to November, Battles return on the 3rd to play at Neumos, while Annuals play the Crocodile (how are they going to fit on that stage?) on the 10th; those are both don't-miss shows.

September 2007, #3: Kinski at the Crocodile Cafe

Last Thursday night I went to the Crocodile Cafe to see Kinski playing their official CD release show for their new album, Down Below It's Chaos - although it was actually released a month ago and they played at Easy Street Records that week. Unfortunately I missed the first opening act, but I was in time to catch the second act, Wolves in the Throne Room.

Wolves in the Throne Room are a trio on guitar, bass and vocals, and drums. With a name like that, it should come as no surprise that they are a metal band, complete with hoarsely screamed vocals and vigorous headbanging. They played only three songs, though each was over 10 minutes long - the last one was easily a 20-minute epic with at least three false endings. The music involved a lot of thrashing about, both musically and physically. The first song was just an endless drone of thrash, but the latter two involved melodic bits that showed they could actually play a tune when they wanted to. I couldn't help being reminded of Animal from the Muppets - they might start with a nice melody, but then they'd be overcome by METAL and break into the thrashing and screaming, after a while calming down enough to do a little more melody before thrashing out again. I can't say whether they were good or bad, as I have no good idea how to judge what they do, but clearly this was not a band for me.

Kinski are the quartet of Chris Martin (guitar and vocals), Matthew Reid-Schwartz (guitar, keyboard and flute), Lucy Atkinson (bass), and Barrett Wilke (drums). They played a half-dozen songs from their new album, plus a couple from 2005's Alpine Static and one from 2003's Airs Above Your Station. Their largely instrumental music has been tending toward straight-up hard rock, but they still have an experimental, art-rock edge to their work. This was evident for example in the encore, when they came back on stage one at a time to gradually build the opening of the song, layering flute on top of bowed bass guitar, guitar loops next, then adding keyboard, and finally bringing in the drums. Likewise, to open their set, they each started playing apparently random riffs and noise until Martin's guitar cut into the beginning of "The Wives of Artie Shaw". The new songs have less of this sort of experimentation, and Kinski played fewer freeform transitions between songs than past shows. But even if lately Kinski is emphasizing the rock in art rock, they haven't forgotten or neglected their artistry either, and that artistry is present throughout the music. Their performance was great as always, and I had a good time.

September 2007, #2: TMBG at the Moore Theatre

Wednesday evening I went to the Moore Theatre to see They Might Be Giants. Neither the Moore's website nor any of the concert calendars I'd looked at listed an opening act for this show. However, promptly at show time, two members of local band Harvey Danger appeared on stage to do a short opening act.

Vocalist Sean Nelson and pianist/guitarist Jeff Lin of Harvey Danger played a half-hour set of their songs, including "Carlotta Valdez", "Little Round Mirrors", and "Pike St./Park Slope". Nelson's strong voice and Lin's spare accompaniment worked well with the theater's acoustics, creating very affecting renditions of the songs. I hadn't really listened to Harvey Danger's songs that closely before, and was surprised to recognize most of them. The stripped-down versions made it easy to appreciate the intelligence of the lyrics, and gave me a new appreciation for their songs. Although it was understandable that they would not play their biggest hit, the anthemic "Flagpole Sitta", it would've been interesting to hear it reinterpreted by the duo in this setting. I enjoyed the set and, realizing that their usual full-band sound will be different, am still interested in hearing more of their music.

They Might Be Giants - as if you didn't know - are the duo of John Flansburgh (guitar and vocals) and John Linnell (keyboard, accordian and vocals), with Dan Miller on guitar, Danny Weinkauf on bass, and Marty Beller on drums. They played a rocking set of songs that spanned their career from their first, self-titled, album to their most recent release, The Else. This was an interesting show for me because I haven't been keeping up with their releases and only know a couple of the songs they've released in the 2000s, so about a third of the set was new to me. Among the newer songs that I enjoyed were "Experimental Film" and "Damn Good Times" from The Spine, and "The Mesopotamians" from The Else. The show's first half also featured "Doctor Worm" (with confetti cannons), "She's an Angel", and "Twisting".

The first part of the show had a few odd bits, such as a "phone calls from the dead" segment in which Flansburgh, offstage, "called in" as "Richard Milhouse Sagan," brother of "famous Washingtonian" Carl Sagan (not actually from Washington), and sang a couple verses of "Swing on a Star" (by Bing Crosby, actually from Washington) with Linnell. The stage banter also felt a bit stilted at times, as though they weren't quite sure of themselves. However, the waves of love rolling in from the audience loosened them up, and they gave back as much love as they got. Early on they urged everyone to come stand in the aisles as close as possible, and asked with sincere concern whether the security was discouraging such behavior; fortunately the theater staff were very tolerant (indeed, they seemed remarkably good-spirited for this show). At one point TMBG instigated the crowd in the aisles to form conga lines out of the theater and back in, before going into "No One Knows My Plan".

Although the first half of the show did have some rocking songs, I felt the show really kicked into high gear in the first encore, when they brought out a horn section* on trombone, trumpet and saxophone. The horns really enhanced their sound and I was surprised they reserved them for only half the show. Standouts in the second half included "Particle Man", "She's Actual Size", and "Memo to Human Resources", which featured solos from each of the horns. For the true encore of the show, the three horn players came out front to do an extended introduction to "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)", and the song brought down the house. Overall, this was not the best TMBG show I've seen, but it was still a great time.

*Edit: since writing this review, I've learned that the horn section was The Velcro Horns West, including Jim Honeyman on tenor sax, Dan Levine on trombone, and Bill Dowling on trumpet.

September 2007 concert #1: Imperial Teen at the Crocodile Cafe

Friday night I went to the Crocodile Cafe to see Imperial Teen, with Bella and Derby opening. Imperial Teen are not a band I know very well - like Blonde Redhead who I saw back in April, they're a band whose songs make me say "wait, who does this again? oh yes, this is Imperial Teen." However, KEXP has been playing several catchy songs off their latest album, The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band, and I decided it was time to check them out live.

First up was Derby, a quartet with guitar/lead vocals, guitar/backup vocals/keyboard, bass, and drums. (Their website indicates the band is a trio, so apparently the bassist was a guest musician.) They played mid-to-uptempo rock falling in the general, somewhat nondescript category of post-punk "alternative pop/rock" style. The lead singer's voice sounded something like Pete Townshend to me, and the songs made me think of Nick Lowe or perhaps early Elvis Costello. (Despite these British references, the band is from Portland, OR.) The band had a good solid sound, but none of their songs really made my ears perk up. They're definitely worth checking out, but I'd like to hear them develop their sound a little more - I'm not sure how exactly, but they need something a bit grabbier.

Bella are a trio on keyboards/vocals (female), guitar/bass/vocals (male), and drums/guitar/vocals (female); drum samples filled in when the drummer switched to guitar for the last couple songs. The keyboardist sang lead on most songs, but the guitarist took lead for a song and when the drummer switched to guitar she also sang lead. All three members were capable vocalists and the songs featured some sweet harmonies. Bella played generally upbeat but sometimes wistful-sounding indie pop that had a certain mid-80s sensibility to it; I could imagine them appearing on the soundtrack to a John Hughes film. The band had some sound troubles during the show, and their performance occasionally felt a bit rough, though that could be excused as they'd just returned from NYC that morning. My impression overall was that they're still developing, but I really enjoyed their sound and I think they're very promising. I bought their latest CD, No One Will Know, which just came out this past week, and it has a very polished sound. I'll definitely be watching out for Bella in the future.

Imperial Teen are the quartet of Will Schwartz (guitar, keyboards, vocals), Roddy Bottum (guitar, vocals, keyboards), Jone Stebbins (bass, vocals), and Lynn Truell (drums, vocals, guitar). Although Schwartz is the primary vocalist, some songs featured Bottum on lead, a couple featured Truell, and they all sang harmony on pretty much every song. Like Bella, they played upbeat indie pop, though more of the 90s style (when the band formed) than the 80s - the two bands that came to my mind were Ivy and Papas Fritas, although those are not the best comparisons. They played a fairly even mix of new and old songs, and to my surprise I recognized more of the old ones than I expected. Early on they played "Ivanka" from their previous album On, which is the song by them I know best and features the band trading off lead vocals. Truell switched from drums to bass for a couple songs, including "Yoo Hoo" from their second album, and current single "Shim Sham", on which she sings lead vocals. Bottum took over drums for those songs and Stebbins went to guitar. The audience had a great time at the show, roaring with approval whenever an older song was played and cheering appreciatively for the new songs as well. I enjoyed their set too, but not as much as the fans who knew the material, and I was left with the feeling that having just one of their albums - or perhaps a greatest hits compilation, if they had one - would satisfy me. I did pick up The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band, and I'll see how much it grows on me; perhaps I'll find myself interested in more from them after all.

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Coming up: They Might Be Giants at The Moore Theatre this Wednesday, and Kinski's CD release party at the Crocodile Cafe this Thursday. Next month, the High Violets are opening for Ulrich Schnauss at the Crocodile on Monday the 1st, Do Make Say Think are headlining the Crocodile on the 31st, Interpol are at the WaMu Theater in the middle of the month on the 18th (although at $27.50 + TicketMaster fees, I'll probably pass), and I haven't even looked at the calendar listings to see what else is happening in October. Exciting stuff!

August 2007: Kinski at Easy Street, Freezepop at Chop Suey

Thursday I went to two different shows: first, an in-store appearance by Kinski at Easy Street Records; and then Freezepop, with Dandi Wind, headlining the monthly "Club Pop!" dance night at Chop Suey.

It's been over a year since I last saw Kinski, and I've been really looking forward to seeing them again. They were at Easy Street to promote the release this past Tuesday of their latest album, Down Below It's Chaos, and they played six songs from it. A couple of the songs featured vocals, a rare element in Kinski's work so far; however, they were all but inaudible, and it was hard to tell how much that was intentional and how much it was due to the store's sound system, or me being too close to the stage. Certainly the instruments were all quite loud, though still distinguishable and not just sheer noise. For this set, they had clear breaks between each song, unlike past shows in which they would break into freeform noise-making for a bit. All of the new songs sounded good and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better. I'm also looking forward to the official CD release party next month on the 27th at The Crocodile Cafe.

"Club Pop!" is a monthly event at Chop Suey for the 18+ crowd that features dance music by regular DJs Colby B and Paco, as well as a couple live bands. Chop Suey was packed for this event - so much that shortly into Freezepop's set, both police and firefighters were checking out the scene, and apparently after that people who stepped outside the club were no longer allowed back in. That was too bad for the people who'd stepped out, but frankly made the rest of the show more enjoyable for me, not having the constant stream of people shoving past in both directions.

This month's event had DJ Glitterpants as a special guest, but as all the DJs worked from the soundbooth, I had no way of telling which DJ was spinning at any particular time. The music was generally good and they played some interesting remixes of both current and old hits, but a few times I was jarred by songs that had obviously been sped up a lot to match the beat.

Dandi Wind are an electronic duo on synthesizers and vocals. Their style was classic post-punk/new wave, with the vocalist tending to shout her lines as much as sing them. Although I do enjoy that style, I didn't find their set engaging, not hearing much to distinguish the songs from each other. However, they brought a smile to my face with their set closer, a cover of Men Without Hats' "Safety Dance".

Freezepop are the synth-pop trio of Liz Enthusiasm (vocals), The Other Sean T. Drinkwater (synths, vocoder and vocals) and the Duke of Pannekoeken (programming (the famous QY70 sequencer), vocoder and vocals). The Duke unfortunately could not be present, and Alex Chen of Sean's other band Lifestyle filled in for him. They played a varied set of old and new songs, ranging from "Science Genius Girl" off their earliest EP and "Plastic Stars" from their first album, to "Brain Power" and "Pop Music Is Not A Crime" from their upcoming third album Future Future Future Perfect. The set felt a little short to me, but then as I recall last time they were here they started earlier and got to play a very long show. In any case, considering they came out from Boston and thus were onstage at the equivalent of 3 AM, they had plenty of energy and love for the audience and it was a good set. After the show, Liz said that they'll be doing a tour once the new album comes out in September, so hopefully they'll be back later this year.

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Next month's showing a lot of promise, and I haven't even looked over the full calendar listings yet. Editors are playing at Chop Suey on the 18th. Imperial Teen are at the Crocodile Cafe on the 21st; I don't know them very well but I like what I've been hearing of their new album on KEXP and want to check them out live. They Might Be Giants are at The Moore Theatre on the 26th, and as I mentioned above, Kinski's CD release is at the Crocodile on the 27th. Usually it seems that when I list a bunch of possible shows, I end up not going to any of them, but this time I just might make it to all of these.

July 2007 bonus: Airiel at High Dive

Monday night I went to High Dive to see Airiel, a band I'd been hearing on KEXP 90.3 FM and was curious about. Also on the bill were The Jake Shaw Trio headlining, and White Helicopters opening, two bands I knew nothing about. As it happened, the show was part of NadaMucho.com's "New Music Monday" series, so it was appropriate all the bands were new to me.

White Helicopter are a quintet, with a female singer, two guitars, bass, and drums. I arrived late and missed some of their set, but I heard enough to form a good opinion of them. Their style was modern rock, but they had some interesting touches. In one song they made a weird shift into a country-pop style for the chorus, which clashed a bit with the moodiness of the rest of the song although the transition between styles was smooth. In another song, "King of the Robots," the lead guitarist delivered spoken-word vocals, while for the final song he traded his guitar for a bouzouki (which the singer identified for the audience, saying "don't call it a mandolin, he hates that"). The lead singer had a good voice and the group played well together; I'd like to see them again.

Airiel are a quartet, the standard two guitars, bass, and drums, with one guitarist handling main vocals and the bassist being the primary backup vocalist. They are firmly in the shoegazer/dreampop genre and played a solid set full of swirling guitars, crooning vocals, and feedback. To complete the mood, trippy computer-generated video was projected over the band onto a screen behind them, giving them a space-rock feel. The first half of their set was continuous, with indistinct transitions between songs, while in the second half they had clear breaks between each song. They didn't seem to have anything new to bring to the genre, no distinct sound to make them stand out from other such bands, which left me feeling a bit flat. But still, they're very good at what they do and I enjoy a good shoegaze band, so I expect to pick up their album The Battle of Sealand.

The Jake Shaw Trio features its namesake on electric organ and vocals, Dave Gagnon on bass, and Grant Schroff on drums. They were quite a surprise after the shoegazer drone of Airiel, as they played groovy soul, jazz, and funk. Unlike Airiel's sonic wash and distortion, the Jake Shaw Trio was all about hearing the interplay of the distinct parts, and virtuoso solo turns for each instrument. All three musicians were clearly highly talented and gave great performances throughout their set. The whole club felt transformed into a hip lounge; as with FCS North at the show earlier this month, I could easily imagine spending an evening at a club with this trio performing a few sets. For the first part of their encore, they accepted the request of some random guy to get up on stage and sing with them, and he turned out to be quite good and deserving of the hearty applause. I really enjoyed their whole set, and I'd like to get some friends who don't usually go out to shows to come see them.

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Next month Sky Cries Mary are playing Neumos on the 11th, I might try to catch them this time. And Freezepop are definitely in town and supposedly playing Chop Suey on the 23rd, although Chop Suey still isn't listing a show that night - maybe they're still trying to line up other bands. They're also playing Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade in Portland on the 25th, and if I have to, I'll drive down there to see them. In fact, I just might do it anyhow.

July 2007 concert: Battles at the Crocodile Cafe

Thursday night I went to the Crocodile Cafe to see Battles, along with FCS North and Teeth and Hair. All of these bands were new to me, although I've been enjoying Battles' current single "Atlas" on KEXP, and I recognized FCS by name though I couldn't recall whether I'd heard anything by them before. I'd been hearing a lot about this show - a friend in Boston even made a point of emailing me to highly recommend I attend - and sure enough the room was tightly packed well before Battles came on.

First up was Teeth and Hair, a trio on guitar/vocals, guitar/keyboard, and drums. They played basic young-guy punk rock, complete with unintelligible vocals howled in falsetto, never something I care for much. However, they played with enthusiasm, skill, and even some showmanship. Several times the vocalist jumped down off the stage to play guitar in the audience, strutting around people and support pillars or getting down on his knees. So even though their music's not my style, I still found them pretty entertaining.

FCS (pronounced "focus") are also a trio on bass/vocals, drums, and guitar/turntable/samplers; they had a guest conga player as well. They played groovy electro-influenced funk that bordered on disco at times, though never with the heavy orchestration and pop hooks often associated with disco. The bassist led the group with complex bass lines and half-spoken half-crooned vocals, evoking a sexy dance club atmosphere, while the drummer drove the urge to dance, and the congas, guitar and samples added texture. I could easily imagine the group jamming away for a few hours in a club full of dancing people; at this show, however, the audience just bobbed up and down appreciatively. I really enjoyed their sound, and I'll be looking for more live shows from them.

Battles are the quartet of Tyondai Braxton (vocals, keyboard, guitar), Dave Konopka (guitar, bass), John Stanier (drums), and Ian Williams (guitar, keyboard). They make the sort of music that gets called "dance music for robots," but you don't need a computer for a brain to appreciate the complex rhythmic structures they build out of live sampled loops. As the band crafted melodies out of sampling and trading off brief riffs, the intricate interplay of their music reminded me of the experimental art rock of Robert Fripp and King Crimson. However, don't be misled by the overly serious sound of "experimental art rock," this was very fun stuff. The complexity rewarded the brain, but the rhythms rewarded the body as well, and robots would never enjoy this as much as the audience did. I had a great time, and bought their current CD, Mirrored, after the show. Catch Battles on this tour if you can, I expect them to be selling out bigger venues next time around.

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There are two other shows this month that I might catch. First on Monday the 16th, Airiel is playing at High Dive, along with the Jake Shaw Trio and White Helicopters. I've been hearing Airiel on KEXP recently, they sound like a cool shoegazer/dreampop band and I'm curious to check them out. Then on Thursday the 26th at Neumos, Three Imaginary Girls present "Yacht Rock", featuring a whole bunch of musicians covering soft-rock hits of the 70s, as a benefit for People for Puget Sound. That should be a lot of fun.

Next month, I'm super-excited that Boston synthpop band Freezepop are going to be in town. They're playing the Penny Arcade Expo on Friday August 24th, but they're also lining up a local show outside the Expo; according to their website, they're now scheduled to play Chop Suey on Thursday the 23rd, although the Chop Suey site doesn't yet have them on its calendar. Freezepop are a whole lot of awesome fun and I'll be sure to see them, even if I do have to brave PAX to do so.

June 2007 concert: TJO and Jana Hunter at Gallery 1412

Sunday night I went to see Tara Jane ONeil and Jana Hunter at Gallery 1412. TJO is an old favorite, and I've made sure to catch each of her visits to Seattle in the past three years. Jana Hunter however was unknown to me.

I'd never heard of Gallery 1412 before - their events don't appear in any of the music calendars as far as I know - and I was surprised to learn its location is 18th Avenue and Union Street, across from the T.T. Minor Elementary School. It proved to be an empty retail space being rented and run as a music venue by a small collective. When asked, the person managing the venue this evening said that they've been holding events in this location for a couple years. It's not a bad space, the sound was okay, but it's very bare-bones and could stand to be made a little more welcoming, perhaps with some art exhibits on the walls. They did have folding chairs for the audience, though, which was nice.

Tara Jane ONeil played a solo set, just her with her guitar and effects pedals, although she did enlist audience help on percussion (shakers and tambourines) for her last song. TJO explores an odd corner of music between folk and indie rock, but on the art/experimental/underground side, rather than the punk side as Ani DiFranco for example. Thus, her set was a fairly even mix of artsy instrumentals and folk/indie-rock songs with vocals. She joked at one point that she felt like she was just standing on her back porch and doodling on her guitar, and asked if the audience would mind if that's just what she did, though she saved that for the extended improvisational ending to her last song. As always, the set felt too short; I'd like to see her headline a show and play for an hour or more. But as long as she keeps coming back to Seattle to do shows, I'll be happy just to see her.

Jana Hunter is a guitarist, and appeared with an additional guitarist for most of her set, plus a drummer and TJO with added percussion for about half the set. She turned out to be similar to TJO, in that her songs varied between arty guitar instrumentals making use of live sampled loops, and folksy songs with vocals. However, Hunter sounded more "cowboy/western" folk to me, particularly in her singing style, and some of her material was just plain folk music, unlike TJO's usual blend. I found that I was less interested in the more overtly folk songs, as the style doesn't strongly appeal to me, but then the songs with the added players were closer to straight-up rock, so there was a balance. Although I was not won over as a new fan, I did enjoy her set overall.

May 2007: Beehive at High Dive

Last Saturday was the long-awaited CD release party for Beehive's new album, Pretty Little Thieves. The show, at High Dive, included Theory in Motion as the opening act and The Fading Collection as the closing act, and also Dezignated Pete as the between-set DJ. I don't usually review between-set DJs, but it's worth noting he spun an enjoyable set of music with some really interesting live mixing of well-known electronic music; he'd be worth going to hear as a featured artist in his own right.

Theory in Motion are an electronic duo, featuring turntable, synth drum, computer, keyboard, and more electronics. Both members also provided vocals, the main vocalist tending to rap while the other usually sang. Their continuous set varied in style from hard-edged techno to groovy dance music, with beats that begged for dancing but a complex sound that rewarded simply listening as well. As the opening act this night, they suffered the smallest audience with just a few people standing toward the front to listen, but on another night they could easily fill the floor with dancing bodies, I'm sure. I'll be keeping an eye out for them in the concert calendar.

Beehive are the duo of Alethea Eichhorn (aka Butterfly Beats) on laptop, keyboards, and vocals, and David Miller on electric and slide guitars, bass, and vocals. Together they make a heady mix of rock and breakbeat electronica. I'd been anticipating this show since their short set in January, and I was not disappointed. I discovered at this show just how strongly their music stays with me: it wasn't until I saw the track listing of their new album that I realized I didn't yet actually own some of the songs I recognized at the show as "old favorites," including "Small Face" and "Better Than Lies." Other songs in the set included "Outta Here One Day," previously released on last year's EP Operation Artichoke, and "Fear" and "Joseph and Mary" from their first release, Cycle A. As in previous shows, Beehive's delight in music shone through their performance, and their infectious enthusiasm got the crowd bopping along and inspired some amazing dancing. I'm almost sad to think that it'll be a while before they start introducing new songs again, but for now I'll take joy in the great music they're already playing.

The Fading Collection are Sarah McCulloch on vocals and guitar and Matt Frickelton on bass and programming, with Jeremy Hill on drums and samples and Tavia Wormstedt on backing vocals. I first saw them last year at the same show when I first saw Beehive - and incidentally the first show I attended at High Dive. At the time I described their goth/industrial-influenced electronic rock as "more for listening than dancing," and although I still would not describe their music as dance music, there was plenty of dancing going on at this show. Despite the late hour, most of the evening's small crowd stayed through the set and called for the band to continue even when they seemed ready to finish. In fact, the band seemed a little unprepared to play as long as they did, which made for a slightly awkward end to the evening rather than an exciting climax. I enjoyed their set even more than I did last time, and yet I still feel like they could set the place on fire, but don't quite. I hope to be there when they do.

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I listed several possible shows for June at the end of my previous review, including The Fading Collection opening for Sky Cries Mary at Neumos on the 15th. I still haven't decided whether to try catching that as well as Kinski's live accompaniement to the 1927 film Berlin: Symphony of a City at the Triple Door the same night, or just picking one show. I haven't seen Kinski in almost a year, and it'll be cool to hear what they do in a film score context, but I've never seen Sky Cries Mary and I'd like to. Meanwhile, I found out today that Tara Jane ONeil is playing Sunday June 17 at Gallery 1412, with Jana Hunter. TJO shows are obligatory, so whatever else I might see in June, I'll certainly be there.

May 2007: Melissa Ferrick at Neumos

Last Friday I went to see Melissa Ferrick and Erin McKeown at Neumos. I hadn't planned on attending this show (which is why I'm calling it a bonus concert for May), but I found myself bored and dreading the prospect of sitting around at home wasting time on the Internet all evening, so I decided I had to get out. That said, attending this show wasn't a desperate take-my-chances action. I've known of Melissa Ferrick ever since my friend Jason saw her breakout performance as a last-minute opening act for Morrissey in 1991. Although I've never been her biggest fan, as Jason is, and haven't collected her albums, I do like her work and I've seen her a couple times in the past. So it was a pretty safe bet that I'd enjoy the show.

First though was Erin McKeown, an artist I'd heard of but didn't know. McKeown is a singer-songwriter of the folk-punk variety, and most of her set was just her and her guitar. She was also joined by Ferrick's keyboardist on one song, and Ferrick herself came out to play some drums on McKeown's last song. McKeown was a competent guitarist with a good voice and a charming, earnest manner, telling the audience stories about some of the songs... and I was indifferent to her throughout. Her style just isn't one I usually care much about, and neither her music nor her performance won me over. She's not bad, however, and I can certainly understand why she has fervent fans, quite a few of whom were in the audience.

Melissa Ferrick is also a folk-rock singer-songwriter, primarily a guitarist; she was on tour with Julie Wolf on keyboards and Daren Hahn on drums. She had a fourth musician on backing vocals and violin for a few songs, a woman she referred to (good-spiritedly) only as "Bitch" - presumably Ferrick's girlfriend, but unfortunately I don't know her proper name. As I said earlier, I've known about Ferrick for years and have seen her perform before, but I only own her first album and a couple songs from her second, so all of the music she performed was as new to me as McKeown's. However, I found Ferrick more engaging and her music more enjoyable despite its unfamiliarity. No doubt it helped that most of her set was more rock than folk; she did a solo set of four or five songs in the middle, but with her fierce guitar playing even some of those were on the rock side. One of those solo songs showcased her abilities to both sing and play guitar both very fast and very articulately, which was quite impressive. Ferrick pulled out the stops for her last few songs, bringing out McKeown for additional guitar and vocals, and even playing horn. My only complaint was with her encore, a comically-upbeat cover of "Ring of Fire" sung by McKeown with Ferrick on horn and backing vocals, Wolf on accordion, and "Bitch" on keyboards (and Hahn on drums still); and my complaint is simply that the damn song was stuck in my head for days afterward. In all, it was a very good show, and I was glad I went.

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As I mentioned in my last review, Beehive are having a CD-release show on May 26th at High Dive, with The Fading Collection and Theory In Motion also on the bill. I will certainly be there. After that, June is looking to have several good possibilities. Of course, The Police are on tour for the first time in 17 years, playing two nights here in Seattle; also of course, both shows were sold out long before I even learned they were on tour. Mary Timony and Welcome are playing at The Crocodile on June 3. Zoe Keating, formerly of Rasputina, is at the Rendezvous on June 4. Laura Veirs is at The Triple Door on June 8; I've liked what I've been hearing of her music on KEXP. Sky Cries Mary and The Fading Collection are at Neumos on June 15; also on the 15th, as part of the Seattle International Film Festival, Kinski are playing a live original score to the 1927 German film "Berlin: Symphony of a City", at The Triple Door. Hmm, they're doing two shows of that, one at 7 and one at 9:30; perhaps if I go to the 7 pm show I can still catch Sky Cries Mary at Neumos too... Feist is playing the Moore Theatre on June 24; she's also caught my attention on KEXP. Finally, bookending June with another punk/new wave flashback, The Tubes (?!) are playing The Triple Door on June 29. I had no idea they were still together, much less that they've continued to put out new albums as recently as 2005. The blurb on the Triple Door's site is making me seriously consider catching this show...