Monday night, July 30, I had the pleasure of not only setting foot inside The Triple Door in downtown Seattle for the first time, but also seeing new-comer Sarah Jarosz. Sarah Jarosz is only twenty-one, but her songs and musical capabilities sound like they could have come from someone twice her age. She holds a …
Month: July 2012
I keep meaning to unsubscribe from Groupon for a whole slew of reasons, but occasionally the comedic value is far too high to risk missing out on gems such as these. Noteworthy descriptive quote: “Instrumental musicians can communicate a great deal without language, from the passion of romance to the misery of dropping a piano …
Q: Re: the characters on THE MOD SQUAD, were they “Mods” in the scooter-riding, amphetamine-scarfing, madly-dancing, hopeless fashion victim, Pete Townshend-ian sense of the word? A: Well, virtually no one in The States knew a thing about British Mod until after The Who released QUADROPHENIA (in 1973, coincidentally the same year THE MOD SQUAD went off the air). Or perhaps even until The Jam’s …
I’d ask you all to think of the women in Pussy Riot who stood up to Putin in a celebration of free speech in Russia. Three of them have been held incommunicado in prison for several months and are today in court. They’re a reminder that music can still have a strong political voice: – …
On Easter Sunday when I was 12 I woke up with the mumps. Had a really high fever and couldn’t move my head without severe pain. My Mom said “Since you can’t have candy, what can I get for you?”. My answer was quick. “At Sprouse Reitz, in the middle row of the “Rock Albums,” …
Overheard at a restaurant: “that’s the thing about rock ‘n roll… It makes you feel like the future is endless… And we all know that isn’t true.” Soon thereafter, The Beatles “Tomorrow Never Knows” comes on the restaurant sound system. Very surreal and telling moment for me. – Marco Collins is currently working at JetCitystream.
Otis Spann was an amiable, soft-spoken man who enjoyed a good drink, a good joke, and a good story. At the keyboard he was one of the giants of the blues. He will always be remembered as a driving force in the Muddy Waters band, the go-to session piano player for Chess Records, and a …
Here, two young pugs wrestle playfully on their owner’s stomach. For pugs this is common behavior. Pugs like to pile on each other and their owners who, we can only guess, are perceived by the pugs to be nothing more than large, clothed pugs themselves and therefore a suitable comrade upon which to pile and …
Sarah Jarosz may only be twenty-one years old, but she’s already on her way to stardom. She also holds more talent than almost any pop star of today combined. Jarosz plays an honest and pure form of country music that spills over into a more folky sound also. She not only writes all her songs, …
When I was a child, a friend and I found two baby field mice. We promptly named them “Pudding” and “Pie”… Their eyes were still closed, and they weren’t much bigger then a thumb nail. We tried to save them of course, but they died. I remember when they died, it …
I heard this for the first time today on NPR’s Talk of the Nation (yes they played a song on a talk show) and chortled as Neal Conan referred to Ben Gibbard as “Dave Gibbard” and said the rocker grew up listening to Dave Niehaus describe Ichiro. Au contraire, Ben was an adult and already …
Above is an interesting version of “Stairway to Heaven” which was sent my way by Mark Erickson. It’s amazing how a diligent Australian tribute band can make any song sound like a Doors song. Jim Morrison died July 3, 1971 and Led Zeppelin IV was released November 8, 1971. In strange mind related music news, …
In a recent Wall Street Journal, an opinion piece written by Arthur Herman, who is identified only as the author* of a book titled, Freedom’s Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II, focused on the (alleged) aging weaponry used by the military. Mr. Herman lauds the free market in contrast to “layers …
Continuing FOE‘s slight obsession with things deathly, occult and nightmarish, this track “Frankenstein” is the B side to new single “The Black Lodge.” I like B-sides, the way they give the chance to do something as a one-off with no pressure to make it fit a larger strategy. This is quite touching, and the lyrics, …
Partisans, pundits and properly behaved patriots are welcome at London’s Olympic Games which open on Friday, July 27. Political protestors, dissidents, publicists or satirists, however, need not present their tickets because organizers have banned strong political statements of all kinds, especially those emblazoned on t-shirts. Writing for the Independent, Tom Peck explains, “Many of those …
More people in Colorado and elsewhere are buying guns because A. They’re not nuts and B. They don’t want to get hurt by one. People debate the gun issue until they’re blue in the face, but between liberals (civil rights, funding) and conservatives (civil rights, funding) – no one wants to do anything about the …
I remember laughing my head off when this first came out in the late seventies. I was in high school and knew little to nothing about Patti Smith at that time. I don’t think I’ve ever watched any Patti Smith vids from that era so I can’t state how accurate Gilda Radner’s portrayal is of …
Sunday Night July 22, Seattle’s tiny Chop Suey club hosted New Jersey’s Bouncing Souls. Chop Suey sits on the southern end of Seattle’s diverse Capitol Hill neighborhood and this night right on the edge of the annual Capitol Hill Block Party. The aforementioned is a musical event where several streets are cordoned off and several …
I had no idea that “The Wave Speech” from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas had been given a name and taken on a life of it’s own amongst Thompson mavens and literary academics. I had wrongly assumed that I was the only one to find beauty in these six paragraphs and to excerpt them …
Why does every movie have to involve superpowers? And not geopolitical superpowers, individuals with superhuman powers. John Wayne didn’t need a superpower. He had his magnificent voice and demeanor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jKWJZsjm5U
After seeing Poorsport on Friday the 20th of July, I headed to West Seattle to The Skylark Club. Seattle’s legendary ska masters, Easy Big Fella had reunited for their twentieth anniversary and were doing a few west coast shows. I arrived just as openers, Seattle’s Natalie Wouldn’t were being introduced. I was familiar with Natalie …
You’ve probably seen more than a few movies in which bail bondsmen are portrayed as unscrupulous, duplicitous, or brutal in their dealings with wayward clients. These days, the actual bail bonds industry is a bit more buttoned-up, but bondsmen still face their share of financial and physical risks each day at work. If you are …
In tough times, the best solution for job seekers is to pick a field where there will always be work. This usually leads to less glamorous careers, but skilled blue collar workers can make as much money as those in the white collar world, and unlike many jobs in the modern age, it is nearly …
When you get on a plane, your goal really should be to stay on it until you reach your destination. There are a surprising number of things that could get you kicked off the plane or keep your flight grounded, however. To avoid ever experiencing that, refer to some basic ground (or is it, flight?) …
Friday afternoon July 20, I headed to the Seattle Center (home of Seattle’s iconic Space Needle) to witness Seattle’s Poorsport perform at The Bite of Seattle festival. The rain had finally stopped after dumping buckets all morning, but the clouds were still ever present and threatened to dump again at any moment. But this is …
I’m sending out a challenge out with this one. Sit totally still while listening to this! Ain’t happening. Foot is gonna be movin’ or you’ll be up outta your seat like me dancing wildly, as if no one is looking – hey, there IS no one watching me! Excellent, I’ll dance even more wildly! – …