Ásgeir Trausti smiles easily, because his album currently sits at the top of the Icelandic charts. (Photo: MvB)
Ásgeir Trausti played with his good friend and fellow elf Júlíus Aðals. (Photo: MvB)
Sudden Weather Change are from Iceland, but their look is very Seattle, circa 1993. (Photo: MvB)
Not pictured: Sudden Weather Change's shirtless drummer. (Photo: MvB)
Surprise! The Redwood Plan's Lesli Wood cranks up the rock. (Photo: MvB)
Especially in black and white, The Redwood Plan's Lesli Wood is badass. (Photo: MvB)
The Redwood Plan: (l-r) Lesli Wood, Betty ST, Sidney Stolfus. Gotta love a band that plays a show when one member is getting married the next day! (Photo: MvB)
The Redwood Plan's Lesli Wood don't take no guff. (Photo: MvB)
Apparat Organ Quartet puts on a sharp and quirky electro show. (Photo: MvB)
Ryan Boudinot (far left) as Apparat Organ Quartet reads his lyrics for their collaborative musical effort. (Photo: MvB)
Ladies go crazy for a sharp-dressed Apparat Organ Quartet man. (Photo: MvB)
Friday night Neumos was comfortably crowded and a little humid from the rain as Iceland Naturally and KEXP hosted the third annual Reykjavik Calling–a showcase of musical collaboration between our cloudy and gray sister cities to close out this year’s Taste of Iceland in Seattle.
For the lasttwo years, Seattle bands were paired with Reykjavik groups to create beautiful music together, but this time around there was a twist. Along with the food portion of this year’s Taste of Iceland program–MOAR of THAT pls–this year bands collaborated with writers from the sister city on lyrics for cross-cultural songs that had their debut at the show.
So Apparat Organ Quartet paired with Seattle author Ryan Boudinot, while local rockers The Redwood Plan worked with Iceland writer Sjón. To get the process going, The Redwood Plan sent a couple songs to the Reykjavik-born poet and novelist to give him a taste of their sound; in response, a week later, he sent a poem. And from there, the new song “My Pocket Island” was born.
Ásgeir Trausti kicked off the show with acoustic guitars and simple, lovely harmonies, and the music got louder throughout the night from there, as Sudden Weather Change brought the ’90s back, and The Redwood Plan turned up the volume further. But the biggest surprise of the night was Apparat Organ Quartet. With four keyboardists and a drummer, sharp suits and some robot vocals, their songs are catchy and electro-dancey, with nods to both Kraftwerk and Daft Punk. The crowd couldn’t help but get into it. There’s a reason why they were counted on to close the night out right.
It’s getting colder and wetter out there: All the better for you to catch some live music this weekend.
Tonight (Friday, October 12):
Reykjavik Calling with Apparat Organ Quartet, Sudden Weather Change, Asgeir Trausti, and the Redwood Plan @ Neumo’s. Free Admission. Doors at 8pm.
This is the third year that Seattle’s hosted a musical summit with its sister city of Reykjavik, Iceland. As we’ve reported once or twice in the past, the shows are customarily wonderful. And like the preceding two, this one should be a kick and three-quarters. The Icelandic contingent includes the wonderful mechanoid pop of Apparat Organ Quartet, an epic blast of jagged guitar rock from Sudden Weather Change, and suave dance pop courtesy of Asgeir Trausti. Super-special bonus: cross-continental songwriting collaborations will pair Apparat Organ Quartet with local writer Ryan Boudinot, and Seattle new wave marvels The Redwood Plan with Icelandic author Sjon. Oh, and it’s totally free, too, so arrive early.
Corin Tucker Band, Houndstooth, Dude York @ The Crocodile. $15 at the door. Show at 8pm.
One of the trilling, thrilling voices that fueled Sleater-Kinney, Tucker’s work with her self-named ensemble augments S-K’s angular post-punk guitar attack with warmer melodies and Tucker’s more romantic melodic sense. The openers represent the yin and yang of the headliners: Local boys Dude York cover the art-punk end, while Portland’s Houndstooth generate dreamy pop with a twist of shoegazer atmosphere.
Rodriguez, Donnie and Joe Emerson, Michael Chapman. $15 advance, SOLD OUT. Doors at 8:00pm.
If you haven’t seen the fabulous rock doc Searching for Sugar Man yet, the very existence of this show provides one spoiler right out of the gate: The doc’s subject–enigmatic singer/songwriter Rodriguez–did not shoot or immolate himself onstage. He’s headlining this Tenth Anniversary Tribute to Light in the Attic Records, the crate-digging label that lovingly reissued his lost-classic records, Cold Fact and Coming from Reality. Also on the bill are grown-up pop-wunderkinds Donnie and Joe Emerson and veteran British folk-guitar wizard Michael Chapman. It should be an amazing night, but if you’re not one of the lucky humans who already holds a ticket to the sold-out gig, Searching for Sugar Man‘s still playing at the Varsity…
Lushy, Summer Aviation @ The Skylark Cafe. $5 at the door. Show at 8pm.
West Seattle’s best live-music venue (from a programming standpoint, for sure) serves up some serious, chic swankness in the form of Lushy. The long-running lounge-pop act has been proffering their incalculably cool tropicalia for years now, and they always sound smooth as silk live.
Saturday, October 13:
Bananarama @ The Hard Rock Cafe. $15 advance. Show at 9pm.
Just a week after the Psychedelic Furs’ Showbox gig, another fondly-remembered band from the Reagan Years hits the stage at the Hard Rock. It’s anyone’s guess as to how many original members of the chirpy new-wave girl group will be onstage tomorrow night, but you’re damn sure to hear “Cruel Summer,” and 100% of the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society’s fight against breast cancer.
Drew Grow and the Pastor’s Wives, Fort Union, Ole Tinder @ The Comet Tavern. $10 day of show. Show at 9pm.
Yeah, Bob Dylan’s playing on this night, but for my money, you’ll get a live singer-songwriter show much closer to the heart at the Comet with Portland’s evangelically-powerful Drew Grow. If there’s a human being who hurtles himself more into live performance than Grow, we’ve yet to locate them. Middle-slotters Fort Union have more than proven their awesomeness as a live act already (and have delivered a sparkling new long-player to boot), so repeat after me: Get there early.
Sunday, October 14:
JEFF the Brotherhood, Diarrhea Planet, Moldy Castle @ The Crocodile. $15 advance. Show at 8pm.
JEFF the Brotherhood have been kicking around for about twelve years now, bashing out a style of rock that somehow combines Camaro-worthy arena riffs with indie-rock raggedness, all without any post-modern irony. Good as their recordings are, though, they pretty much rule live. Plus the opener’s named Diarrhea Planet, for God’s sake.
Woods, Night Beats @ Barboza. $10 advance. Show at 8pm.
I won’t prattle on yet again about the abject awesomeness of Texas expats Night Beats too much, except to say that their unhinged live performances scorch synapses faster than a mug of electric Kool-Aid. Headliners Woods hail from Brooklyn, and their sound normally leans towards a mellower, folk-infused variety of psychedelia–a mild contact high to Night Beats’ acid-induced freak-out.
