The Friskiest One Yet: Basementcast #11

May 31, 2010 at 10:43 pm | Posted in Basementcast, Podcasts | 2 Comments


photo from Vintage Seattle

I tell ya.  Let the sun come out in Seattle this time of year and people go nuts.  The clouds cracked open this afternoon and people came out of the woodwork, stripping off clothes and soaking up the sunshine like they might never see it again.  And they might not, at least not until July.  While the rest of the northern hemisphere is springing into summer we in the PNW are left waiting.  Something just as unpredictable as the exact start date of summer around here, is when the next basementcast will appear.  Well, here is my attempt to taunt mother nature.  A new basementcast, and none to soon.  Filled with songs to conjure the next season along, a grill, a cooler, some flip-flops and even a sun hat.  I even threw in a sun lamp just in case.

download: basementcast #11 (~ 180 Mb)

Cool – Splinters from Kick
California Sun – The Rivieras from Let’s Have a Party
Sunshine/Pretty Girls – Unnatural Helpers from Cracked Love & Other Drugs

Summertime - Fun Boy Three from  The Best of Fun Boy Three
You Didn’t Love Me – Seinking Ships from Museum Quality Capture
Able To -  Eternal Summers from Eternal Summers 10″

Action Time Vision – Alternative TV from I.R.S. GREATEST HITS VOLS. 2 & 3
Reduction Strategies – Les Cox Sportifs from  Scheiss mit Reis
I Can Be a Jerk – Eddy Current Suppression Ring from Rush to Relax

Meet Me In The City – The Babies from Make a Mess 7″
I Wanna Be Degraded – Colleen Green from  ..Milo Goes to Compton Cassette
Dear John – Nice from Nice

Numbers – Timo Räisänen from The Anatomy Of Timo Räisänen
Butterfly Sun-Kissed – Holland from  I Blow Up

Jimmy Had A Polaroid – Math and Physics Club from I Shouldn’t Look As Good As I Do
Summershine – The Sea Urchins from Stardust

I Want To Be Around – No Kids from  Judy At The Grove
Lying Around – Magic Bullets from Magic Bullets
The Best Things In Life – The Silver Seas from Chateau Revenge

Funeral Song – Minks from Captured Tracks 7″
Sweet Girl – Ringo Deathstarr from Sparkler

Je Ne Suis Pas Trés Drogue – The Liminanas from Trouble In Mind 7″
C’est Bon – Adele from Swinging Mademoiselles Deux
Beige Turtleneck – Peter Thomas from Moonflowers & Mini-Skirts

Never Never Know – Cave Weddings from  Bachelor 7″
Mama Said – The Shirelles from Anthology: 1959-1964
Lily Never Married – The Mantles from upcoming Mexican Summer 12″

Bastard – Babybird from Ex-Maniac

No Kidding

May 27, 2010 at 10:07 pm | Posted in mp3, Music, Soft Rock | 1 Comment
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A couple weeks ago Bill over at Sound Bites did a ‘trend piece’ on the subject of the current wave of soft rock.  He could be onto something, because this new No Kids EP is right up that alley.   A few months ago Nick Krgovich unveiled Maintenant which was his excellent project in the vein of the Sixths and God Save the Girl. Now he’s back to his day job as leader of No Kids, one of his other bands.  No Kids’ 2008 debut album Come Into My House had its moments but the new EP just out this week on Tomlab is leaps and bounds ahead of that record.  Krgovich is quickly becoming a maestro, and this four song EP  exudes confidence in its soulful slightly geeky pop.  At times it reminds me of Night and Day/Body and Soul Joe Jackson, All Wheels Good Prefab Sprout, Walk Across the Rooftops Blue Nile, Lateness of the Hour Eric Mathews, and Diamond Life Sade. Sometimes it’s even a little reminiscent of Chicago. The horn arrangements on side one are undeniable, and even downright rump shaking on I Want To Be Around (at least in a white NW Canadian kind of way). Side two switches it up with The Jazz Singer a bit of Jackson-esque Cha Cha Loco, and then slows it down with In Dreamland which recalls  Blue Nile’s Downtown Lights.  It’s smooth stuff  that will sound great on your record player which is the only way you’ll be able to hear it (no CD release), unless of course you’ve got yourself one of those newfangled mp3 players.

mp3: No Kids – I Want To Be Around


Order up your No Kids slab o’ vinyl from Tomlab

A Frames: Transgenic But Not Transmogrified

May 24, 2010 at 10:19 pm | Posted in Funhouse, Gigs, mp3, Music, Seattle, Video | Leave a comment
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X and A Frames at the Funhouse, Seattle | 21 May 2010

The A Frames came out of their self-imposed hiatus, hibernation, AFCGT detour, or whatever you want to call it, and have regrouped sort of.  Singer and guitarist Erin Sullivan, and bassist Min Yee are back but original drummer Lars Finberg is missing (actually he’s kind of busy with the Intelligence).  Tommy Northcut replaced Finberg when he left the band to concentrate on the Intelligence after Black Forest, the third A Frames album.  Northcut has been the drummer since, fits the A Frames genotype and is so good that you don’t really miss Finberg.  On record, A Frames can come across heavy, dense, doom laden, and a bit sterile at times. Live, the blood pulses through the veins in Sullivan’s forehead as he grits the words through his teeth.  He’s an imposing figure on stage, with his robot gray Rickenbacker and bleak subject matter, but the Funhouse was filled with too many friends this night for anyone to walk away thinking that the A Frames are all gloom and doom.

The band bantered back and forth with the audience, throwing out dedications, graciously accepting drinks and generally appearing to have a blast.  The barren and bleak gave way to a more human and organic sound.  Sullivan’s vocals were warmer sounding and Yee’s bass at times sounded like a Mack truck while at others as nimble as deer. Songs like Hostage Crisis, Nuclear, and Test Tube Baby showed their punk roots, slow burners like Abstract and Surveillance showed more of a looser side to the band and Calculate was just downright poppy.  At times you could hear dub like sounds or surf guitar riffs that the band were careful to obscure in the darkness of their laboratory.  I never had the opportunity to see A Frames in their heyday, I blame it on circumstance and ignorance, but after Friday’s gig at the Funhouse, my regrets of missing them the first time around were allayed by the tight white-hot set  the played.  The place was packed, and Seattle, or at least this subset of Seattle was glad to have them back.

Old (and I do mean old) Australian punks X were the headliners this night, but their set seemed uninspired.  Admittedly I was never really a fan, but they didn’t do much to change my mind.  They looked and sounded their age.  The bassist played with his skull shirt wide open displaying his sixty-year old flab while guzzling beer from girls in the audience.  Antics like that probably go over great on the Vans tours where 20 year old bands play to 20 year old punters, but this kind of display wasn’t going to win over a sober jaded old guy like myself.

mp3: A Frames – Surveillance (from the first A Frames album)


mp3: A Frames – Search and Rescue (from A Frames album #2)


mp3: A Frames – Experiment (from Black Forest)

The loosely followed set list:

A couple videos I shot:

The triple album 333 will be out soon on S-S Records, or go to one of these west coast tour dates to procure your copy:

05.20  Olympia @ Northern w/ Gun Out
05.21  Seattle @ the Funhouse w/ Walls
05.22  Portland @ Slabtown w/ the Estranged, Arctic Flowers
05.23  Davis @ KDVS’s Operation: Restore Maximum Freedom IX Fest
05.24  San Francisco @ the Hemlock w/ Hank IV
05.25  Los Angeles @ the Five Star Bar w/ the Lamps
05.28* Austin @ Chaos in Tejas Fest w/ the Ponys, Woven Bones, etc.
05.29  Denton @ Rubber Gloves w/ Video
05.30  Las Cruces @ the Trainyard w/ Far Corners, Real Blood
05.31  Phoenix @ the Rhythm Room w/ Earthmen & Strangers, Pigeon Religion
06.01  San Diego @ the Soda Bar w/ Christmas Island
06.02   Long Beach @ Alex’s Bar w/ Audacity
06.03* Los Angeles @ the Smell w/ Wounded Lion, Dunes
06.04  San Francisco @ the Bottom of the Hill w/ the Mantles
06.05  Oakland @ the Stork Club

with X (Australia) except where noted*

Alex Kemp Not Giving Up

May 20, 2010 at 10:36 am | Posted in mp3, Music | 2 Comments
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I had nearly forgotten about Alex Kemp. It’s been quite a few years since his days in Rhode Island’s fantastic Small Factory (Someone needs to reissue their painfully out of print singles compilation Industrial Evolution).  After Small Factory broke up Kemp started the Godrays with Small Factory drummer Phoebe Summersquash. That lasted for one album after which Kemp formed the Assassins.  To be honest I was never much of a Godrays fan and I didn’t know about the Assassins until looking at Kemp’s biography, but those Small Factory records are some 90′s indiepop classics.

Kemp has recently started his first solo endeavor and the first fruits fell from the tree earlier this month.  It’s a four song EP called Rat D’Hotel which promises to be the first in a series of EP’s that are each limited to 250 copies.  Musically, it’s pretty far removed from Small Factory.  Kemp still possess his gentle voice, but he’s singing over danceable, lounge inspired grooves. It kind of reminds me of Erlend Øye’s Whitest Boy Alive.  No bad thing in my book.  Mr. Kemp it is good to have you back.

mp3: Alex Kemp – On Your Side


Head on over to Alex’s site to order your copy of Rat D’Hotel, while you’re there you can light some things on fire with the orange lighter.

Babies, I Missed You

May 16, 2010 at 10:34 pm | Posted in mp3, Music, Seattle | 2 Comments
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The Babies played last night at the Black Lodge in Seattle to little fanfare, or at least not mine. I wish I could have gone, but alas the rest of my life got in the way. The Babies are Cassie Ramone of the Vivian Girls and Kevin Morby of  Woods. The band have released two surprisingly great singles to date. One on Make a Mess and the other on Vivian Girls’ label Wild World. The band are on a West coast swing as we speak and I’m guessing that they won’t be back any time soon. So if you get the chance go see them. I wish I could have last night.

May 15 – Black Lodge – Seattle, WA
May 16 – Pheonix House – Olympia, WA
May 18 – The Hub – Sacremento, CA
May 19 – House Show W/ The Mantles, Young Prisms – Oakland, CA
May 20 – Li Po Cocktail Lounge – San Francisco, CA
May 21 – Harold’s Place – San Pedro, CA
May 22 – Echo Curio (Early Show 6-8PM) – Los Angeles, CA
May 22 – The Dig Warehouse – Los Angeles, CA
May 23 – Day Time Barbeque – Los Angeles, CA

mp3: Babies -  Meet Me In The City (Order a physical copy of this song from Make a Mess)


mp3: Babies – All Things Come To Pass (Order your own personal copy at Wild World)

Spending Warm Summer Days Outdoors

May 16, 2010 at 9:53 pm | Posted in mp3, Music, Seattle | Leave a comment
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Something had been missing from the Seattle scene for the last few years, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.  I realized right after hearing the warm chiming guitar that begins their new single Jimmy Had a Polaroid that it was Math and Physics Club.  Bucking the no/lo trend and keeping with a softer and smoother side of things they keep your attention with attention to detail like those chiming guitars I mentioned and a supple melody supplied by Charles Bert.  The song evokes a nostalgic euphoria of some beautiful adolescent summer afternoon spent in company of best friends and pretty girls.  Math and Physics Club are so good at songs that make you happy and sad at once, and this one does exactly that.

The band have been on a hiatus since their 2007 EP Baby I’m Yours, and have pared their ranks, losing their violin player Saundrah Humphrey to Denmark, and Drummer Kevin Emerson to his own busy schedule, but they haven’t lost their sublime pop hooks.  Jimmy Had a Polaroid is the first single from their upcoming second album entitled I Shouldn’t Look As Good As I Do out next month.  Their label Matinée has decided to commemorate the return of the sole American band on the their roster with a glorious 7″ single with an exclusive B-side The Sound Of Snow.

mp3: Math and Physics Club – Jimmy Had a Polaroid


You can order up copies of the 7″ and the album from Matinée.

Magic Bullets Pushing the Right Buttons

May 12, 2010 at 9:01 pm | Posted in mp3, Music | Leave a comment
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San Francisco’s Magic Bullets get compared to the Smiths quite often.  Hell, I did it when I saw them early last year at the Comet, but the first fruits of their forthcoming second album sees them doffing their Smiths caps for the white boy soul influence of General Public, Haircut 100 and late period Orange Juice.  The A-side of the their new single is the playful and slightly funky Lying Around and features Phil Benson’s best Dave Wakeling imitation.  Last year’s Live For Romance EP was a leap forward from their debut and if this new song is any indication, album number two could see them bounding forward again.  In the meantime, Lying Around is like a button, and I can’t stop pushing it.

mp3: Magic Bullets – Lying Around


Order up a copy of the single from Mon Amie.  The full length is due in June.

Watching Videos and Swapping Panties

May 10, 2010 at 9:56 pm | Posted in Music, Video | Leave a comment
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I don’t normally post video’s, but this is worth watching. Wes Anderson is an obvious point of reference, but Anderson hasn’t made anything this funny since Bottle Rocket and Rushmore. It’s directed by Carlos Lopez of the Shackles with cameos by a bunch of the Seattle underground. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the Butts and their Panty Exchange Video.

[Via]

Same Guy Different Band

May 10, 2010 at 9:38 pm | Posted in 7 inch, mp3, Music, Vinyl | 1 Comment
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Toronto resident Ben Cook is a guy who is not satisfied with being in one band, nor in two nor three. Cook plays in Fucked Up, is a member of the Bitters but today we’re taking a look at two singles of two of his other bands. Young Governor have just released via Portland’s Dirtnap what could only be classified as future summer classic in Cindy’s Gonna Save Me. It pushes all of my buttons with an infectious chorus and guitar solo that will have you thinking that the Raspberries have a new single out. Cook says on his blog that he wrote it about his agent who he’s never met, but keeps the checks rolling in: I know a girl from the other side of town, she’s slipping money into all of my accounts. If we all could be so lucky.

mp3: Young Governor – Cindy’s Gonna Save Me (get the single from Dirtnap)


Maybe we are all so lucky, because another one of Cook’s creations Marvelous Darlings put out a single earlier this year on Plastic Idol that is nearly as good as the new Young Governors. Instead of going for the girl-group, sun drenched sound like the Governors do, Marvelous Darlings are more in the vein of Tim era Replacements. It’s a slightly different style, but no less effective. Cook seems to write in a number of styles and has band for each of them, good luck keeping up. I know I have a lot of catching up to do.

mp3: Marvelous Darlings – Teenage Target (get your copy from Plastic Idol)

In the Web of the Mind Spiders

May 5, 2010 at 8:56 am | Posted in 7 inch, Music, Vinyl | Leave a comment
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Mark Ryan of the Marked Men has a new incarnation, he is the Mind Spiders. A bit less intense but no less vital, this debut 7″ on Dirtnap is four songs from the north Texas man that will make you glad the guy is moonlighting. You can’t be shouts and phlegm all the time, sometimes you need to put a little pain and aching into your songs and that is what the Mind Spiders do.
These songs come perilously close to powerpop, a genre that seems to get no respect. In fact, if I didn’t know that this was on Dirtnap, I would have guessed Atlanta’s Douchemaster. Ryan’s vocals are distorted just a touch steering them close to the zeitgeist, but nothing too distracting. Of the four songs on this 7 inch there is not a bad one in the lot. I’m not sure if this is a one off thing, but based on the quality of this seven inches of vinyl he could easily go for twelve.

mp3: Mind Spiders – Worlds Destroyed


Order up your own personal copy of this record direct from Dirtnap

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