Tag Archives: Digital Wildlife

Picking the Top 13 Among 2013’s Best Local Music

Pickwick’s Can’t Talk Medicine brought much happiness in 2013. (Photo: Tony Kay)

So before the clock strikes twelve and this lovely little website turns into a pumpkin for a (hopefully) brief winter’s nap, it seemed necessary to cobble together a list of the best Northwest music releases to cross my ears in 2013.

Narrowing down my picks proved tougher than I thought it’d be. Although I hadn’t heard quite as many different Northwest records this year as I had in years previous, the quality of what I heard in 2013 was uniformly–almost maddeningly–consistent. As always, the final arbiter for me was pure subjective enjoyment: the baker’s dozen below were the full-length local releases that occupied my stereo and earbuds, and generated my most relentless earworms, all year. Enclosed, please find my favorite Northwest releases of 2013, in descending order.

13) Bat Country, Love’s The Only Engine of Survival: Given the tragic loss of Bat Country bassist Joe Albanese in last year’s Cafe Racer shootings, it’s a minor miracle that this singular goth/cabaret/Americana band was able to complete its long-gestating first album at all. Even divorced from its bittersweet origins, it’s one hell of a farewell–a work of crushed black-velvet beauty that stares into the darkness without flinching, even as it raises a loving glass in salute to one of its own.

12) Brent Amaker and the Rodeo, Year of the Dragon: The Rodeo’s bad-assed, wryly funny take on black-hatted country has always floated my boat in a major way, and they’ve never been funnier–or more bad-assed–than they are on Year of the Dragon.

11) Mikey and Matty, Harbor Island: Seattle’s overlooked status as a wellspring of great pure pop diminished some with the breakup of Curtains for You earlier this year, the upside being this great collection of low-key and lovely songs by Curtains members Mike and Matthew Gervais.

10) XVIII Eyes, I’ll Keep You: They’ve shortened their moniker from Eighteen Individual Eyes to the more-portable XVIII Eyes, but this Seattle quartet remain masters of gothic math rock, anchored magnificently by Irene Barber’s alluring voice and a menacing instrumental backbone that kicks tweeness to the curb.

9) La Luz, It’s Alive: La Luz ain’t reinventing the wheel with It’s Alive’s collection of girl-group-gone-bad rock songs, but the concise sting of Shana Cleveland’s guitars (and La Luz’s brilliance at making even the prettiest pop songs swagger) spin that old wheel something sweet. And if a more unassailably cool video than the band’s “Big Big Blood” clip surfaced in 2013, I haven’t seen it.

8) Sweet Madness, Made in Spokane, 1978-1981: A slew of great reissues greeted fans of local music in 2013, what with deluxe editions of Nirvana’s back catalog and the overdue digital bow of Soundgarden’s still-potent Screaming Life and FOPP EPs. But the best Northwest reissue of 2013 came from a band that many didn’t even know existed. Spokane’s Sweet Madness purveyed a brand of sharp, hyperdriven new wave pop that sounds distinctively of its time, yet impossibly fresh and exhilarating today. “Concrete River” remains the most resonant ballad I heard all year–a haunting, smalltown evocation of young love whose wounded romance runs on par with David Bowie’s “Heroes.”  Huge bonus points for Light in the Attic’s lavish and loving vinyl edition.

7) The Physics, Digital Wildlife: There were splashier local hip-hop releases this year, but the South Seattle crew of Thig, Monk, and Justo combine their party ethos with imaginative electronic touches (and–go figure–a lot of real singing) to sublime effect here.

6) Sean Nelson, Make Good Choices: It’s been far too long since the erstwhile Harvey Danger frontman’s put his songwriting hat on, and this jewel of a pop album was worth the wait.

5) Hobosexual, Hobosexual II: My favorite straight-up rock record of 2013 found Ben Harwood’s mighty guitar and Jeff Silva’s lethal whomp of a backbeat serving an over-the-top concept album. Think OK Computer after two shaggy-maned vikings take bong hits and kick the shit out of it with Van Halen II‘s boots, and you’re only scratching the surface of its cartoon brilliance. Oh, and it rocks like holy Hell.

4) Cumulus, I Never Meant it to Be Like This: The flush and exhilaration of youth is something that can’t be borrowed, bought, or faked. The winsome but refreshingly toothy pop songs on this scrappy Seattle band’s debut provide living, breathing, wonderful proof. Try not to be enchanted by the best single from a Seattle band all year, “Do You Remember.” I dare you.

3) Ravenna Woods, The Jackals: One of Seattle’s finest live acts crafts a long-player that captures their alchemistic combination of ferocious precision and surging acoustic grandeur with total fidelity.

2) Radiation City, Animals in the Median: Portland band Radiation City has obviously been beamed in from an alternate universe. The Andrews Sisters front a new wave band there, with Brian Wilson producing a stable of their lush electronic pop songs by cherry-picking from movie soundtracks, techno, swirly shoegazer music, and Motown soul. That’s the closest theory I can muster to explain this intoxicating album.

1) Pickwick, Can’t Talk Medicine: You can hear the seams all over Can’t Talk Medicine–songs rife with false starts, melodic fragments that trail off to nowhere, familiar Pickwick faves ever-so-slightly mutated. The end result is one of those beautifully messy records, where quirks intertwine with songcraft in thrilling and unpredictable fashion. In non-geek terms, that means it’s as ragged as it is gloriously right. My biggest local record crush of the year, hands down.

 

Your Live Music Bets for the Weekend of December 20 through the 22nd

Jessica Dobson of Deep Sea Diver. (Photo: Tony Kay)

If you live in downtown Seattle and were hoping for Snowpocalypse 2013 this morning, my condolences as you kick the wimpy, simpering layer of faintly snow-dusted slush off your footwear this morning.

The upside: Getting around shouldn’t be too difficult (depending on where you live, natch), and you’ll be happy to know that an exceptionally-stacked three days of live music awaits. Seriously. You can’t throw a snowball without it landing on a venue hosting a terrific line-up this weekend.

Tonight (Friday, December 20):

Deep Sea Diver, Bryan John Appleby @ Neumos. 21+. $12 Advance/$14 Day of Show. Show at 8 p.m.

Jessica Dobson plays one hell of a guitar–just ask Beck, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, or The Shins (all of whom have benefitted from her versatile axework as a touring session player). But for my money, Dobson shines brightest playing and singing with drummer/husband Peter Mansen in their band, Deep Sea Diver. DSD’s great 2012 debut History Speaks is all over the map in the best way: Stomping 60’s guitar pop and stuttering post-punk rub shoulders with piano balladry, sometimes in the space of a single song. It’s all unified wonderfully by the interplay between Dobson’s mournful wail of a voice, her pinging/chiming guitars, and Mansen’s inventive and melodic rhythms. Expect a few holiday tunes like the loverly original, “It’s Christmas Time (and I’m Still Alive),” too.

My Goodness, XVIII Eyes, Duke Evers Band @ The Crocodile. 21+. $15 at the door. Show at 8 p.m.

It’s been too long since two-headed Seattle rock monster My Goodness has put out new material, a void they’re rumored to be filling next year. In the meantime, the band’s pulverizing live show tonight (with bassist Mike Klay making it a trio) should more than scratch your primal rock itch. And if you don’t get there early enough to hear goth-math-rock quartet XVIII Eyes (formerly Eighteen Individual Eyes) weave their dark and narcotic magic, it’s resolutely your loss.

Xmas Maximus,  Cathy Sorbo, The Candy Cane Dancers @ Darrell’s Tavern. 21+. $8 at the door. Show at 9 p.m.

Darrell’s in Shoreline has been quietly booking great live shows in the north end for quite a few years, and tonight they bust out what should be the weekend’s most fun live Christmas show. The merry rock and roll elves in Xmas Maximus include local musicians like Gavin Guss, Barbara Trentalange, and members of Jessamine and SUNN O))), all bashing out playful versions of holiday classics (love their spastic punk version of “Sleigh Ride”). Plus you get salty-tongued Seattle comic Cathy Sorbo, and burlesque from The Candy Cane Dancers, all for less than it usually costs to park downtown for two hours on a weekday.

X, The Blasters, The Bad Things @ El Corazon. 21+. $25 Advance, $30 Day of Show. Doors at 7 p.m, show at 8 p.m.

See Saturday, dude.

Saturday, December 21:

11th Annual Benefit for MUSICARES with Eldridge Gravy and the Court Supreme, Aaron Daniel, The Chasers, Jeff Fielder, Robb Benson, and Kim Virant @ The Tractor Tavern. 21+. $10 Advance. Show at 9pm. 

Firstly, there’s no way you can fault the cause. It’s a fundraiser for MUSICARES, an organization that aids struggling musicians who can’t afford medical and dental insurance on their own. Secondly, this tribute show’s dedicated to an entire classic rock album–Pink Floyd’s The Wall–and the evening will showcase some ace local acts that don’t sound very much like Floyd in the first place. Hearing velour soul steamrollers Eldridge Gravy and the Court Supreme, West Seattle stoner-metal demons The Chasers, and a tassel of other great Northwest artists reinterpret Roger Waters’ paean to rock decadence should be pretty amazing.

The Physics, Tangerine, DJ Nick Beeba, guests @ The Crocodile. All Ages. $10 Advance. Show at 9 p.m.

South Seattle hip-hop crew The Physics can always be counted on to deliver a serious party live, and the release of their new full-length, Digital Wildlife, provides a great excuse for ‘em to do so. The record retains Thig’s and Monk’s easy wordplay, with just enough new wrinkles to keep things interesting: There’s as much singing there is rapping, and some pinches of electronic music even work their way into the band’s signature style. Right now, the Prince-in-a-robot’s-body groove of new track “Fix Me” is floating my boat in a major way, but it’s the organic nature of their shows (usually accompanied by a soulful and muscular live band) that make them one of this town’s best hip-hop collectives onstage.

X, The Blasters, Girl Trouble @ El Corazon. 21+. $25 Advance, $30 Day of Show. Doors at 7 p.m, show at 8 p.m.

X caught epic shit in the 1970’s and early ’80’s from some of their peers in the fertile LA punk scene for actually writing, you know, real songs (show-offs!) and employing Doors keyboardist Ray Manzarek (a f@#king hippie!) to produce their early albums. Fortunately for the world, though, X were (and are) amazing on their own terms, influencing a couple of generations of punks, indie rockers, and roots-rock/Americana musicians in a major way. John Doe‘s and Exene Cervenka‘s vocals remain ragged yet gloriously right, and the band’s full original line-up can still kick up a shitstorm when they need to. Roots-rock legends The Blasters co-headline, and (repeat after me), get there early: Two great Northwest bands–goth-cabaret rapscallions The Bad Things and durable Tacoma garage-rock vets Girl Trouble–open up Friday and Saturday, respectively.

Sunday, December 22:

Evan Dando, Chris Brokaw, McDougall @ The Sunset Tavern. 21+. $15 advance. Doors at 8 p.m.

Evan Dando, mercurial singer-songwriter and frontman for beloved ’90s alt-rock band The Lemonheads, has always been a slacker troubadour at heart, capturing little moments of silliness, romance, and melancholy in a way that definitely presages today’s breed of singer/songwriters. He’s also a funny and engaging solo performer prone to sneaking in choice covers alongside his originals. Preceding Dando is another veteran of the Clinton-era underground rock scene, Codeine/Come guitarist/singer Chris Brokaw, and Americana musician McDougall.