March 27, 2010
By Anand Balasubrahmanyan at 11:34 am
High Places and Bear in Heaven take the Crocodile stage this Sunday for an epic night of fried electronica. High Places have refined the delay-pedal nursery-rhyme experiments of their early days into comparatively rocking dance tracks. The band has a let’s-all-get-spiritual-together vibe that translates beautifully live. They let their charm wash over a room, giving [...] read more →
March 24, 2010
By Anand Balasubrahmanyan at 2:57 pm
Fans of Phillip Glass-y film scores should head over to the Tripledoor tonight for Hauschka, a Dusseldorf based master of the prepared piano. Hauschka approaches the piano like John Cage, placing screws, pieces of rubber and other objects between the piano’s strings adding offbeat percussive jangles to his mini-suites. This might sound academic but really [...] read more →
March 22, 2010
By Anand Balasubrahmanyan at 10:50 am
Chilean electro producer Matias Aguayo had carved out a niche for himself as a sleek minimalist, an artist with a knack for profoundly spare dance floor jams. But then came last year’s Ay Ay Ay, a left field love letter to the human voice. Matias transformed clips of chatter and whimsical a capella into a [...] read more →
March 20, 2010
By Anand Balasubrahmanyan at 12:47 pm
Nurses, a PDX indie band I adore, just found a transcendent gimmick. They’re using Chat Roulette to make videos. Chat Roulette is a new social media program that lets a user set up a webcam and be connected instantly to another random user. If a user doesn’t like what they see or gets bored by [...] read more →
March 17, 2010
By Anand Balasubrahmanyan at 11:56 am
Here is a fun thing: MTV’s Musical March Madness, a fictional, 64-slot bracket of American bands that dares to imagine an epic Nickelback vs. The Hold Steady match up. It’s got a pretty good sense of humor: An all-Florida rivalry between Creed and Against Me! and a strangely tragic pairing of Lil’ Wayne and Alice [...] read more →
March 16, 2010
By Anand Balasubrahmanyan at 6:26 pm
Balkan Beat Box have never really fit the “gypsy punk” label. Sure they mix old world horns with western pop but when they bring their multi-national genre party to the Showbox this Wednesday, you’ll see more “D.A.N.C.E” than “CBGB.” read more →
March 12, 2010
By Anand Balasubrahmanyan at 3:56 pm
If you are a fan of folk harmonies be sure to catch Thousands CD release tonight at the Heathly Times Fun Club on Capitol Hill. (Secret location, but try them here: Healthytimesfunclub@gmail.com.) It should be the sort of show where everyone is sitting cross legged on the ground and blissing out. For a taste, there’s [...] read more →
March 10, 2010
By Anand Balasubrahmanyan at 1:37 pm
Perfume Genius performing at the Vera Project last night The Vera Project can be sort of cavernous. Case in point, last night Kirkland singer songwriter Perfume Genius played to a number that might have packed a coffee shop. But at Vera, the audience seemed spaced for maximum intimacy, like it was just you and the [...] read more →
March 9, 2010
By Anand Balasubrahmanyan at 10:10 am
In college, I dated a girl who drew autobiographical comics. They were funny, but as a character in her life they became a bizarre hazard; at a time where I was trying to cement my identity, my self-perception was constantly and publicly contradicted by a cartoon version of myself. read more →
March 5, 2010
By Anand Balasubrahmanyan at 1:21 pm
Cool news! Hollow Earth Radio's Magma festival kicks off tonight at the Vera with the dream line up of Mirah and Thao (of Thao and the Get Down Stay Downs.) Thao, in particular, is the best. She writes the truest songs about messy break ups, using effortless imagery and Rolling Stones licks to captivate audiences. read more →
March 4, 2010
By Anand Balasubrahmanyan at 12:12 pm
In an industrial SODO practice space, CMYK front man Ted Chen sets up a third strobe light. The strobes are all that light the room as the excitable band pogos along to their own steady club beat. They head bang and twirl, shading their technicolor robo-funk with sweat. I am one of two audience members, [...] read more →
March 2, 2010
By Anand Balasubrahmanyan at 11:42 am
Anacortes four piece, The Lonely Forest, have come a long way since winning the 2006 SoundOff! battle of the bands. They played a packed Sky Church at last year’s Bumbershoot, and now they’re the first band signed to Chris Walla’s (of Deathcab for Cutie) new Atlantic Records imprint. Their show tonight at Neumos feels like [...] read more →
