The Presidents of the United Sates of America Rock The Showbox Market, 2/17 and 2/18, By Holly Homan

This Friday and Saturday nights Seattle will witness the return of local icons, The Presidents of the United States of America (Presidents for short). The Presidents, fronted by the charismatic Chris Ballew came onto the national scene back in 1995 with catchy, poppy tunes like Kitty, Peaches and Lump (the latter of which was parodied …

Ducky – Like Rain – Overdose MP3

Ducky – Like Rain from Bicephaly Pictures on Vimeo. From Ducky’s press materials: “Ducky, aka Morgan Neiman, has a producer’s instinct and a powerful voice. She has been making music since she was 13 years old, and has played alongside the likes of Japanther, Ninjasonik, Roxy Cottontail, Trouble Andrew and Action Bronson. Her latest release, …

The Spring Standards – Here We Go

From the Spring Standards’ press materials: “In yellow//gold, The Spring Standards deliver 2 EPs that can be described as a set of fraternal twins, metamorphic stages, or acts in a drama. yellow is a nostalgic meandering through the trio’s shared childhoods—they started playing folk music together as teenagers in the rural landscapes of the Pennsylvania/Delaware …

A Little-Known, Spare, Very Beautiful, and Extraordinarily Unlikely Example of the Artist Whitney Houston Might Easily Have Become, If Not For Clive Davis’ Greedy Intervention In Her Career, By Tom Kipp

I wrote a rather lengthy comment tonight for a friend’s largely critical thread re: the departed Whitney Houston, but, just as I was about to post it, it FUCKIN’ DISAPPEARED and I was far too pissed to attempt to re-create it from scratch. Anyhow, one aspect I’d included was the fact that there is a little-known, spare, very beautiful, and …

The Toasters, Poorsport, Juice, Poke Da Squid and Life Afterlife Wow An Enthusiastic Crowd at Seattle’s El Corazon, By Holly Homan

Last night, February 4th, 2012, I once again headed to Seattle’s El Corazon where ska legends The Toasters were headlining a show. When I arrived, the opening band, Life Afterlife, was just starting. Life Afterlife is a five-piece from the Tacoma area who play a mix from pure punk pop to some harder core punk …

Portland’s Awful History of Human Trafficking Revealed in Network of Underground Tunnels Downtown

This is just awful. I don’t want to live here anymore. KGW’s lovely Abbey Gibb files an informative news feature on just how Portland’s awful history of human trafficking is revealed in a network of underground tunnels downtown: http://www.kgw.com/entertainment/Sha-138610174.html Thanks to Ben Easher for this 1999 article from Anodyne Magazine Online which includes such tidbits …