Tag Archives: Seattle hip hop

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

December 20, 2013 Tony Kay

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.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Random Highlights from City Arts Fest 2012, Hip Hop Division (Photo Gallery)

October 25, 2012 Tony Kay

Local MC Thaddeus David at the Showbox SODO. (photo by Tony Kay)

Larry Hawkins works the crowd at the Showbox SODO. (photo by Tony Kay)

(photo by Tony Kay)

Monk Wordsmith of The Physics. (photo by Tony Kay)

Thig and Monk, sibling frontmen for The Physics. (photo by Tony Kay)

Hey, it's that guy on Dexter. No, it's Yasiin Bey. No, it's Mos Def. (photo by Tony Kay)

(photo by Tony Kay)

The Good Sin throws down at Neumo's. (photo by Tony Kay)

The Good Sin. (photo by Tony Kay)

Key Nyata: Barely old enough to vote, definitely old enough to rap. (photo by Tony Kay)

Key Nyata. (photo by Tony Kay)

Blown away by Kingdom Crumbs. (photo by Tony Kay)

Kingdom Crumbs' will be done. (photo by Tony Kay)

Kingdom Crumbs rocking Neumo's. (photo by Tony Kay)

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City Arts Fest 2012 bounded through this neck of the woods last week, and I was lucky enough to catch some of the Fest’s highlights last Thursday and Friday.

You can go here for a more exhaustive report (and several different photos) from my two days camped out at the Showbox SODO, Neumo’s, Barboza, and the Crocodile, respectively. Meantime, here’s your Cliffs Notes from the hip hop contingency to go with the enclosed pics:

Thursday night, I caught Mos Def, as well as some great local hip hop, at the SODO. Yeah, the venue’s still one of the most annoying music spaces in town, but glass half-full time: The show was pretty awesome. In addition to basking in the glow of a hip hop royalty headliner, local MCs Thaddeus David, Larry Hawkins, and The Physics offered Mos Def solid support.

Last Friday’s Neumo’s set also provided a hip hop extravaganza, this time all homegrown. The Good Sin served up socially-aware lyrics and a baritone voice that impressed me mightily, high-school-age MC Key Nyata laid down gothic hip hop that utterly subverted his tender years, and Kingdom Crumbs changed things up with a trippy and party-centric set that painted frescoes on frontal lobes (even without the benefit of the blunt being passed around and smoked openly).

Fresh Espresso‘s headlining set was reputedly awesome, but other musical acts called. More on that, later…

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Tonight’s Music Selections at City Arts Fest

October 18, 2012 Tony Kay

The 2012 edition of City Arts Fest made its official musical bow yesterday, with turns from David Byrne and St. Vincent, The Head and the Heart’s Jonathan Russell, and Ghostland Observatory, among others. If you didn’t get a chance to check out any of Wednesday’s music acts, fret not: There are still plenty of crucial sonics coming down the pike before the Fest winds down on Saturday. A detailed schedule, ticket info, and various sundry good things can be acquired over at the City Arts Fest website, but here are some of the musical highlights coming up tonight.

DJ Swervewon, Thaddeus David, Larry Hawkins (formerly SK), The Physics, Mos Def @ Showbox SODO. Show begins at 7:15pm.

Showbox SODO sits in South Seattle, pretty far away from the Fest’s Capitol Hill and downtown focal points, and it’s an imperfect performance space at best. That said, the lineup’s strong enough to warrant just hunkering down and shaking your ass for the night. Whether he calls himself Yasiin Bay, Dante Smith, or whatever, Mos Def’s more than earned hip hop royalty status after a couple of decades in the trenches (dude’s a really good film and TV actor, too). But the front end of the bill’s brimming with multiple flavors of local hip hop. Thaddeus David keeps it sparse and menacing, the artist formerly known as SK (Larry Hawkins) plies a more expansive, hook-laden sound, and The Physics back their rhymes with a lush sound that combines velour funk with bursts of silken soul-inflected backing vocals.

Tomten, Throw Me the Statue, Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground, Gold Leaves @ The Crocodile. Show begins at 8pm.

Yeah, Gold Leaves–the newest project from Arthur and Yu’s Grant Olsen–is pretty as all get out, what with its lush arrangements and Olsen’s plaintive, warm vocals at the center. But the three preceding acts make tonight’s Croc show a full-meal deal. Tomten‘s graceful, loping pop songs are so British-sounding you can taste the vinegar on the salt-and-vinegar crisps, and Throw Me the Statue sell their everything-and-the-kitchen-sink indie pop with phenomenal musicianship and drum-tight live performances. Kay Kay and his Weathered Underground, meantime, sound like earnest chamber pop, bum-rushed by a drunken cabaret band.

Nark, Glitterbang, House of Ladosha, SSION @ the Rendezvous. Show begins at 7:45pm.

Wanna dance, but don’t wanna do so in the barn-like Showbox SODO? Get thee the hell to the Rendezvous tonight. Headliners SSION enjoy reams of notoriety for their warped and over-the-top live shows (lead singer Cody Critchloe’s cartoon charisma alone is worth the price of admission) and the band’s newest material takes a left turn from herky-jerky new wave to hooky electro-disco. That change in sound will nicely compliment Brooklyn beat-meister House of Ladosha and Seattle danceketeers Glitterbang, plus busy Seattle DJ Nark spins for early arrivals.

Slang!, Lemolo @ The Triple Door. Show begins at 8pm.

You probably don’t need to hear another round of hosannahs for local duo Lemolo‘s swirly and devastatingly lovely pop, but there’s a reason for all the hoop-dee-doo: their songs completely captivate, and their live shows have never been anything less than transcendental. Opening outfit Slang! consists of Portland singer/songwriter Drew Grow and Wild Flag/Quasi member Janet Weiss. Grow and Weiss are talented as hell, so it’ll be nice to hear the former lending his famously-passionate delivery to other peoples’ material (Slang! is a cover band, apparently) while the latter delivers contrasting harmonies and (fingers crossed) gets behind the drum kit.

Arts & Entertainment, Dance, Music

Folklife Festival Recommendations for 2012

May 25, 2012 Tony Kay

The Northwest Folklife Festival takes over the Seattle Center beginning today. It’s not the only music festival in the Northwest this Memorial Day Weekend (there’s some little thing going on at The Gorge about now, too). But it’s a Northwest tradition, admission’s free, and it’s always no end of fun.

Folklife’s never had much hipster cache (too inclusive, too family-friendly), but a contingent of local acts from Seattle’s indie rock, indie-folk, and soul scenes will be there alongside the traditional ethnic and folk musicians and dancers. Kudos to Folklife’s programmers for introducing Folklife’s broad demographic to some great original Northwest sounds.

Definitely take a gander at Folklife’s full calendar: There’s just too much great stuff going down. But here’s an incomplete list of some of the Folklife performers that we at the SunBreak are especially excited about:

Today (Friday, May 25)

Love Bomb Go Go (3:15, Indie Roots Stage at Broad Street), Orkestar Slivovica (6:30, Fountain Lawn Stage): Multi-culti marching bands with arch theatrical touches are becoming a genre unto themselves, and these ensembles do it right. Love Bomb is a very new Portland ensemble, while Orkestar invade from north of the border (Vancouver) to ply a more traditional brand of Balkan dance music.

Rambling Man: The Life, Times, and Music of Woody Guthrie (8pm, Intiman Choral Courtyard): Folk ensemble The Wanderers have been playing for longer than most of us have been alive, and they’re celebrating the life and tunes of America’s greatest folk troubadour by covering a slew of his songs during this set. Show some respect, kids–and get ready to sing along.

Bollywood Seattle Performers (9:35, International Dance Stage at Exhibition Hall): If you find nothing in the world more hypnotic than the spectacle of Bollywood dancers whirling in time to the mesmerizing rhythmic purr of traditional Indian music, stay late tonight for Bollywood Seattle’s presentation.

Saturday, May 26

Shelby Earl (1:30, Indie Roots Stage at Broad Street): Earl’s dusky and full voice–and her strong, rootsy songs–have been enlivening the local roots scene for a couple of years now, and those pipes never disappoint, live.

Dirty Scientifix (5:25, Vera Project Gallery): It’s always great to hear some hip-hop at Folklife, and this crew’s combo of dub, positive vibes, and Digital-Underground-esque old school beats and rhymes will get the Vera bumping.

Fort Union, Kris Orlowski, Smokey Brights, Big Sur (Indie Roots Stage, 7:00): This great cross-section of indie-folk artists covers the gamut, replete with tinges of the angularly-modern (Fort Union) to raspily-alluring (Orlowski) to heart-on-sleeve balladeering (Smokey Brights) to timelessly-resonant Gram Parsons-esque songwriting (Big Sur).

The Bad Things (9:20, Vera Project): Best drunken cabaret band in Seattle. Period.

Wheedle’s Groove (9:55, Mural Amphitheatre): Self-promotion alert: The SunBreak is proud to sponsor the stage for this sure-to-be-cooking set from the collective of legendary Seattle funk and soul musicians known as Wheedle’s Groove. Truth be told, though, we’d be shouting its praises even if our name wasn’t on it. If you ain’t dancing, you must be dead.

Sunday, May 27

Artist Home Showcase featuring Curtains for You, Koko and the Sweetmeats, Cumulus, and Dude York (3pm, Indie Roots Stage): Artist Home’s showcase slingshots between Curtains for You’s stunning power pop, the spare and enchantingly low-key femme-fronted Cumulus, and Dude York’s precise slam of a math-rock/garage brew. It’s also reputedly Koko and the Sweetmeats‘ final gig, so get their great echoey blend of rockabilly and mournful folk while you can.

Curious Georges in a conversation with Seattle