SeattleCasbah.Com

TheHostelWitness.Com Holiday Podcast

So for Christmas this year, I thought it'd be fun to make a mix CD consisting of song choices from my friends scattered throughout the globe. After weeks gathering about 14 songs, packaging and shipping, customs forms, etc...I'm happy to report that most of them have reached their destinations. For everyone else, a bit belated, here you go.

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Track list below:
1. Baby Its Cold Outside - Dean Martin - Luis, Costa Rica
2. Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) - Beyonce - Tara, New York
3. Right Here - Brandy - Phatreeya, Thailand
4. Forever - Chris Brown - Xander, Philippines
5. Living On The Outside of Your Skin - Cloud Cult - Jacob
6. Poke - Frightened Rabbit - Amy, England
7. Re: Stacks - Bon Iver - Arija, New York
8. My Street - Kurt Nilsen - Peraporn, Thailand
9. Home - Michael Buble - Kroo Chuan, Thailand
10. Hoppipolla - Sigur Ros - Cynthia, Boston
11. Cheater's Armoury - Hanne Hukkelberg - Jessica, Washington D.C.
12. The Story I Heard - Blind Pilot - Jacob
13. Sex On Fire - Kings of Leon - Pattra, Iceland
14. Last Day of Magic - The Kills - Sally, Australia
15. Split the Atom - Skamp - Andrew, Chicago

Free Show Saturday Night!

Head Like a Kite and Truckasaurus play a free show tomorrow night at Neumo's in Capital Hill. I'm going. My friend Sara and Mollie are going. I think you should go too and we can all sit around and eat fried fish before the show, then laugh about the transient nature of life.

www.myspace.com/headlikeakite

www.myspace.com/truckasaurus

http://www.neumos.com/112208.html

I did mention the show is free, right? Support the arts, live music, and bands that bring costumes.

KEXP's Top 903 Albums of All Time

Sure, its a pretty biased list and as much as I love Pela, there's just no way their debut album is #112 after just a year of being released (and in ahead of Springsteen, Michael Jackson, and Jimi?!), but in terms of who to check out, this list is pretty much...complete. (by the way guys, no pressure...)

So its pretty simple. My music list is being tossed into the garbage and from now on I'm just going to refer to this list as the holy grail for new music suggestions...'cause if you hadn't heard it before, its new to you.

Here's the top 40:

			1 Radiohead OK Computer 2 Clash London Calling 3 Arcade Fire Funeral 4 Nirvana Nevermind 5 Pixies Doolittle 6 Neutral Milk Hotel In The Aeroplane Over The Sea 7 Beatles White Album 8 U2 The Joshua Tree 9 Radiohead The Bends 10 Pixies Surfer Rosa 11 Radiohead Kid A 12 Beatles Abbey Road 13 Jeff Buckley Grace 14 Beatles Revolver 15 Sufjan Stevens Illinois 16 The Smiths The Queen is Dead 17 Pearl Jam Ten 18 David Bowie The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust 19 Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band 20 Radiohead In Rainbows 21 The Cure Disintegration 22 Elliott Smith Either/Or 23 Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon 24 Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots 25 Beastie Boys Pauls Boutique 26 Bob Dylan Blood on the Tracks 27 Pavement Slanted and Enchanted 28 Rolling Stones Exile on Main St. 29 My Bloody Valentine Loveless 30 Postal Service Give Up 31 Modest Mouse The Moon And Antarctica 32 Built To Spill Perfect From Now On 33 Death Cab For Cutie Transatlanticism 34 Weezer Weezer 35 Beach Boys Pet Sounds 36 Flaming Lips The Soft Bulletin 37 Bob Dylan Blonde on Blonde 38 Replacements Let it Be 39 Velvet Undergound & Nico Velvet Underground & Nico 40 Belle & Sebastian If Youre Feeling Sinister

Last Night's Show: Stars @ the Showbox Market

Its always a different experience going to a show, never hearing the band headlining beforehand. I'm not talking about small shows with a new band, but going in blind to a show with a band that has been around for years while attracting a hugely loyal following in the process. People all have their favorite bands that cause them to nearly wet themselves with excitement when they find out they are passing through town. I had heard the same fervent buzz about the Frames and the Jayhawks when I finally went to their shows for the first time and was never disappointed, getting some great music out of the deal. The same could be said about my first time with the Stars. 

Formed in 2001 out of Montreal, the band infuses a huge mix of sounds - closing my eyes for a second, I could swear I heard a bit of Tim Booth of James in the voice of Torquill Campbell. Amy Millan joined the band later, sharing singing duties with Stars while still recording for Broken Social Scene. Within seconds of the two joining in song, I was hooked and wondered how the hell it took me so long before giving Stars a good long listen. 

The thing about going to see a "new" band is the newness of the songs gives you a good chance to sit back and absorb the music, the lyrics, and most importantly, the fans. I've never regret going to hear a new band, as the fun comes in seeing their loyal fans jumping up and down in excitement in hearing a favorite song, laughing with their friends while yelling out a lyric, or just swaying to the music as if hypnotized. I tell you, I can't think of anything more attractive then seeing a girl with her eyes closed, hips swaying with a smile on her lips, singing along to the music. I fell in love fifty times last night. 

The Stars were touring in support of their new, self released CD "Sad Robots", with opener Think About Life (also from Montreal, where "the girls are so beautiful, the boys start bands just to try and get laid"). If you can't get a friend to burn you a couple copies (thanks Mollie!), try picking up Star's LP, "Set Yourself On Fire". 

The KEXP Week

Its been pretty busy for me, moving into my first roommate situation ever since the failed experiment up in Lynnwood back in 2000. Its a good situation I find myself in - sharing a big house with two other friends, a rather large room to myself, and its not too far from Seattle. I'm happy - though the week itself has been hectic, primarily due to an Ikea dresser with over 200 pieces to drill, hammer, and curse at.

I am back to the world of furniture owners, though this time around I am trying to keep a handle on things limiting myself to a bed (its very nice to have my own after a year of smelly hostel beds), said dresser, and a small bookshelf.

The highlight of the week was spending the weekend answering phones for KEXP's phone drive. It was my first time in the station and I was blown away by people calling in pledging their hard earned cash in this troubled time. My very first call was a pledge for $2,500! It was fun and definitely something I'd do again - one of my goals upon returning was to be active in the volunteer community, so I hope I get other opportunities like it.

Speaking of goals, while I was out on the road one of the things I realized I had failed to take advantage of in Seattle was going to see all the great acts coming through town. Getting back here, I really wanted to make sure that I forced myself to go and see some bands out live on a regular basis. Below is a picture taken from friend Sara's phone - its Seattle band Head Like a Kite, a drummer and a guitarist who act more like DJ's at a rave than they do a live band. They were opening a benefit show for KEXP and even came complete with five furries dancing on stage. So much fun. Following them was Portland's Blue Giant, a new band made up of some members from Viva Voce. Check them out!

"all these expectations/i'm so afraid i've got nothing to prove/its not a new sensation"

I think the greatest compliment I ever got on my musical taste was meant as a dig. It went something like "Jacob only likes bands no one has ever heard of before". Its a point of pride for me; I don't consider myself a music snob by any means (most of those would just look down at my taste as pedestrian), but I love love love turning friends on to new music or going to a show knowing that a band is going to break it open in a year or two and sharing that experience with some friends that had never heard of them.

My friends know this and I'll get emails asking for recommendations - enough so that retyping the same list over and over became a pain. So I made a list that I would forward on and am now sharing here. I do this with only one request - that if it helps, you share your music with me as well.

Without further adieu:
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Here are some bands that I think are a little easier to get into. I figure just naming bands can be a little overwhelming, so here are some songs to check out - if you like, you can always check out the band further - enjoy!

1. Singer-Songwriter: Aimee Mann's remake "One" - from the Magnolia soundtrack
2. Classic : The Smiths - "Please Please Please, Let Me Get What I Want" - from Hatful of Hallow
3. Modern British: Bloc Party - "This Modern Love" - from Silent Alarm
4. R&B Soul: Alice Smith - "Woodstock" - from For Lovers, For Dreamers, And Me
5. My Favorite East Coast band not named Pela: The Wrens - "Everyone Chooses Sides" - from The Meadowlands
6. The Best Sad Breakup Song Ever: The Jayhawks - "Blue" - from Tomorrow the Green Grass
7. The Best Angry Breakup Song Ever: The Mountain Goats - "No Children" - from Tallahassee
8. My Favorite NY band that has since broken up: Rainer Maria - "Lost, Dropped, and Canceled" - from Look Now Look Again
9. Newest discovery: Priscilla Ahn - "I Don't Think So" - from A Good Day
10. Favorite Live Band: The Frames - "Lay Me Down" - from Setlist
11. Favorite Seattle hip hop: Blue Scholars - "The Ave" - from Blue Scholars
12. 90's era indie pop: Luna - California (All the Way) - from Bewitched
13. Favorite album to listen to this last year: Cloud Cult - "Living on the Outside of Your Skin" - from Advice from a Happy Hippopatumus
14: Unique sounding: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" - from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah
15. New Zealand band: Cut Off Your Hands - "Expectations" - from Shaky Hands
16. Taken too soon: Jeff Buckley - "Last Goodbye" - from Grace
17. Taken too soon: Elliot Smith - "Angeles" - from Either/Or"
18. Favorite band of the last 2 years: Pela - "Lost to the Lonesome" - from Anytown Grafitti

Bands that I'm just now getting into, but don't know enough about:
wolf parade - "disco sheets" - discovered by Modest Mouse, from Quebec
kasabian - "Club Foot" -  British rock, one of their songs is used for a car commercial so you've probably heard it before.
ass ponys - "astronaut" - twang rock
The replacements -"Alex Chilton" - classic 80's alternative forefather

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by the way, here are a couple music sites to check out if you want to hear more:

Three Imaginary Girls
KEXP

KEXP BBQ - August 14

Sara, Paige, Mollie, and I hit the KEXP BBQ last Saturday. I just have to say, what the hell Seattle? This is August. August is Greek for "we promise you sun".

The downpour was, excuse the pun, anything but august.  Still - the lineup tried hard to keep us warm. We arrived in time to spy Common Market rip through his set, stopping one song in the middle of it as the rain gushed down all around us, noticing his line, "There's nothing better than a summer in the northwest" wasn't quite applying. Joseph Arthur sounded great and the headliner, The Dandy Warhols, made everyone bounce around in the grassy mud with joy.

Hard to believe, but despite being a financial supporter of KEXP, this was my first summer BBQ. I had a blast - thanks to everyone at the Worlds Greatest Radio Station for putting on such a great show, despite the weather.

KEXP BBQ Photoset

Sara, Paige, Mollie, and I hit the KEXP BBQ last Saturday. I just have to say, what the hell Seattle? This is August. August is Greek for "we promise you sun".

The downpour was, excuse the pun, anything but august.  Still - the lineup tried hard to keep us warm. We arrived in time to spy Common Market rip through his set, stopping one song in the middle of it as the rain gushed down all around us, noticing his line, "There's nothing better than a summer in the northwest" wasn't quite applying. Joseph Arthur sounded great and the headliner, The Dandy Warhols, made everyone bounce around in the grassy mud with joy.

Hard to believe, but despite being a financial supporter of KEXP, this was my first summer BBQ. I had a blast - thanks to everyone at the Worlds Greatest Radio Station for putting on such a great show, despite the weather.

KEXP BBQ Photoset

Pela in Seattle

Sure, you can drop $25 to see them play at the KEXP BBQ on Saturday, but why do that though when you can get in a free performance? Pela plays Easy Street Records!

Saturday, August 18th @ 2:30pm
20 Mercer Street

and the winner is...

Congrats to Kevin!

The answer? Not tough, I know. Paul F'ing Schell.

Anyway, thanks for playing and enjoy Pela!

Pela Ticket Giveaway!

courtesy of Pela and World's Fair Label Group, we (as in I) are proud to announce the first free ticket giveaway!

That's right - win the opportunity to save $16 on a pair of tickets to Monday's Pela/BrakesBrakesBrakes show at the Chop Suey, enough to buy yourself 2 drinks while tipping generously, 3 drinks while tipping standardly, or 4 drinks of the cheap stuff with no tipping at all (disclaimer: SeattleCasbah.com takes no responsibility for the negative karmic effects of this. you will probably lose an eye or a testicle).

All you have to do is email the correct answer to this query by noon PST Friday: Who was mayor of Seattle prior to Greg Nickels?

A random winner will be selected from the correct answers.