Recent Stories with tag rachel flotard

I didn't get to the Crocodile on Friday night until about ten, but since the show didn't wrap up until almost one a.m., there was still plenty to hear, culminating in the hybrid vigor of the John Roderick/Mugison pairing. The two husky, bearded men (see above) took to each like long-lost brothers, and their set felt more like two Norsemen rattling the rafters than guests sitting in on each others' songs. "I have had so many of you in my ear," said Mugison before the show, "I don't feel like I'm coming to do a gig, more like I'm coming for a reunion."

It was a sort of miracle of chance that the artists sparked so entertainingly, because the show (previewed here with YouTube clips), "Sister City Showcase: Reykjavik Calling," gave everyone involved just hours to meet, learn song parts, and perform.

It was presented by KEXP-FM (Kevin Cole, right, KEXP's senior director of programming, emcee'd) and supported by the City of Reykjavik, the Seattle City of Music Festival, Icelandair (now nonstop from Seattle to Iceland) and Iceland Naturally.

A plenipotentiary from Iceland's embassy in Seattle (also right, but I was too busy getting the picture to get the name) even appeared, to explain that from his first visit to Seattle on a wet, gusty, wintry day, he felt right at home. Having experienced Reykjavik in October, I can tell you the reverse is true.

In fact, if you didn't know the people involved, you might have been hard-pressed to tell the Icelanders from the Seattleites, as the following pictures will perhaps illustrate. I missed the first set of Nathan Wade and Pétur Ben, but there was still a line down the block of people braving the lashing rain to get into the show. Inside, the crowd was elbow-to-elbow, and I had to gradually salmon my way forward far enough to get a few shots.... (more)

KEXP's "Reykjavik Calling" showcase actually unites the talents of both Seattle and Icelandic musicians, but you scenesters are no doubt are familiar with Rachel Flotard and Rusty Willoughby, John Roderick, Jason Dodson, and Nathan Wade. (Really all we need is some more electronica and we have Iceland Airwaves South.)

But if you haven't been following the Icelandic Music Awards closely for the past few years, you may be wondering what's a Mugison? A Sin Fang Bous? A Lay Low? And who's this Pétur Ben character?

The beauty of this particular evening is that there's no barrier to simply showing up and finding out on your own--it's free. Doors open at 8 p.m., but depending upon how concerned you are with getting in, you may want to arrive early. (It's 21-and-over though, so don't show up earlier than your 21st birthday.)

Let's prep with a little tour down YouTube's Icelandic lane.... (more)

Oh my god, Bumbershoot is like the beer bong of music. After just three bands Saturday afternoon, I was feeling a little cocky, and pulled over to post a photo gallery. Little did I know that at the end of the day, I'd have have heard six more: Justin Townes Earle, The Decemberists, Pete Molinari, Neko Case, Balkan Beat Box, Solomon Burke, and Visqueen. And that's missing two of the day's highlights, HEALTH and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.

But that seems to be the way Bumbershoot goes--it takes a village. Neko Case thanked the Decemberists, Rachel Flotard, and one of Bob Dylan's techs for all pitching in to get her gear concert-ready. Then she tossed her head back and filled Memorial Stadium to overflowing with that voice of hers. Please enjoy this photographic evidence of a day in the life of a Bumbershooter.

Here's our preview of Sunday at Bumbershoot--and here's the Monday rundown--if you'd like to make your own memories.

The path of Rusty Willoughby's musical career has run parallel to the history of Northwest rock for the last 25 years. And often, that path's been a circuitous one.

In the mid-1980s he founded Pure Joy, a great (and criminally unsung) pop band whose British-informed atmospherics offered a sharp contrast to the Sabbath/Stooges/Sex Pistols trinity that seeped into the Seattle soil at the time. Then when Pure Joy folded, he bounced back as the principal singer/songwriter for Flop, one of the Northwest's greatest power-pop outfits.

Flop seemed poised to join Nirvana and Soundgarden at the vanguard of the Northwest music explosion of the '90s when Epic Records signed the band. The label allowed Flop's excellent sophomore platter Whenever You're Ready to die on the promotional vine, though, and Willoughby and bandmates were unceremoniously dropped.

Such a setback would have flat-out killed most mortals dead, but at his own easygoing pace Rusty Willoughby has continued to put out some of the Northwest's best rock music since Flop's 1995 dissolution. Throughout all of his ensemble and solo work, Willoughby's calling cards—a knack for melody easily the equal of any pop classicist, a smart and sometimes self-lacerating lyrical sense, and one of the most distinctive schoolboy tenor rock voices this side of Robin Zander—have remained constant, and his versatility as a songwriter continues to flower.... (more)

Walking into the new(ish)ly-reopened Crocodile Café for the first time was a bit of a shock for me. The dilapidated old dive of yore’s been shined up and turned into, ahem, a genuine high-class venue, with a more audience-friendly main hall (no more wooden beams obstructing the stage view), fancy rock-star photos and gig posters lining the walls, an upstairs level, and an adjoining swanky pizzeria/bar. It’s right purdy, though the old knuckle-dragger in me sorely misses the funky, punky, ramshackle vibe of the old Croc.

Thankfully, the club’s continued to book quality local acts, three of which took to the stage on October 3. Newcomers Throw Me the Statue shared a record release party (for their sophomore long-player Creaturesque) with one of this town’s most beloved power-pop ensembles, Visqueen. Power trio Little Cuts anchored the opening slot.

The latter warmed up the audience capably serving up the kind of meat-and-potatoes loudness that this region breeds so well—... (more)