Yellow Ostrich - photo by Beth Eisgrau-Heller
All right, it was one of those weekends, so this week’s edition of “Live Around Town...” will take the form of a media overload, comprised solely of pictures, videos, MP3s, album reviews by KEXP Music Director Don Yates, and absolutely nothing that required any kind of original thought from myself. Enjoy:
Monday, March 28
WYE OAK @ Sonic Boom Records (Capitol Hill)
KEXP Music Director Don Yates on the latest Wye Oak album Civilian:
This Baltimore duo’s 3rd album is their most sonically adventurous set, a beguiling blend of fuzzy, at times shoegazerish guitars, atmospheric electronic textures and Jenn Wasner’s smoky vocals. -2/25/11
They’ll be playing live in-studio on KEXP earlier in the day at noon on the Midday Show.
(6pm, FREE)
Tuesday, March 29
SOUTHEAST ENGINE with Shannon Stephens @ Sunset Tavern
Don Yates on Southeast Engine’s Canary:
This Athens, Ohio band’s 5th full-length is a remarkable concept album about an Appalachian family living during the midst of the Great Depression in the small Southeast Ohio mining town of Canaanville (which is now almost a ghost town). Echoes of Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy, The Band, Okkervil River and even Titus Andronicus can be heard in the band’s raw, soulful blend of fuzzy rock guitars, saloon piano, soaring horns, fiddle, banjo, organ and more on expansive songs about hard times ranging from rousing, epic folk-pop to rustic folk ballads. 3/11/2011
(9:30 pm, $7, 21+)
Wednesday, March 30
TALIB KWELI @ Showbox at the Market
(8 pm, $20, all ages)
MOUNT KIMBIE with Shigeto, Nordic Soul @ Baltic Room
HA HA TONKA with Hoots & Hellmouth, Kasey Anderson @ Tractor Tavern
Don Yates on Ha Ha Tonka’s Death Of A Decade:
This Springfield, MO band’s third album is an excellent set of soulful, roots-infused indie-rock, featuring a dynamic sound blending a variety of acoustic and electric instrumentation with the band’s stunning four-part harmonies. -3/15/2011
(9 pm, $10, 21+)
DAVILA 666 with The Apollos, Pony Time, Doctor & The Bird @ Fun House
photo by Dave Lichterman
(9:30 pm, $8, 21+)
MINIATURE TIGERS with Pepper Rabbit, Cataldo @ The Crocodile
(8 pm, $9, 21+)
Thursday, March 31
SAY HI with Yellow Ostrich, Blair @ The Crocodile
(8 pm, $12, 21+)
ROCKY VOTOLATO with Laura Gibson, Lizzie Huffman, Nazca Lines @ Neumos
(8 pm, $13, all ages - bar w/ ID)
KNUT BELL with Davidson Hart Kingsbery, American Girl (Tom Petty tribute) @ Tractor - 9 pm, $8/$10, 21+
THE STRANGE BOYS with Natural Child, The Night Beats, Watch It Sparkle @ Comet Tavern
YOU.MAY.DIE.IN.THE.DESERT with Post Harbor, Exohxo, Daniel G. Harmann and The Trouble Starts, Eighteen, Individual Eyes, Yarn Owl @ Sunset Tavern
(9 pm, $7, 21+)
USF with Milagres, Tumble Dry @ Rendezvous
photo by Britney Bush Bollay
(10 pm, $6, 21+)
Friday, April 01
THE FEMURS with The Velvet Richman Division, The Scarlets @ Rendezvous - (9 pm, $5, 21+)
BEATS ANTIQUE with Eskmo and The Tailor @ Showbox at the Market - 8 pm, $18-$20
METAL CHOCOLATES feat. Rik Rude & OC Notes, Truckasauras, Viper Creek Club, DJ Darwin, DJ 100Proof @ Neumos
photo by Caitlin Mirete
BASEMINT with The Fucking Eagles, Night Beats @ Fun House
(9 pm, $8, 21+)
SEE ME RIVER with Ghosts I’ve Met, Whiskey Tango @ High Dive
(9 pm, $10, 21+)
Saturday, April 2
HOTELS with Strong Like Woman, Ghost Town Riot @ High Dive
(9:30 pm, $7, 21+)
THE CUTE LEPERS with The Booze. Bitters, Greatest Hits @ Comet Tavern
KEXP AUDIOASIS SHOWCASE BENEFIT for NORTHWEST ADOPTION EXCHANGE feat. Whalebones, Thee Midnight Creep, Joseph Giant @ Sunset Tavern
Don Yates on Whalebones’ self-titled LP:
Since their promising 2007 EP, this Seattle band has slimmed down to a trio (complete with new rhythm section) while also becoming a more potent, hard-driving rock band steeped in the music of the late ‘60s-early ‘70s, particularly the likes of Neil Young & Crazy Horse and the Stones. Their long-awaited debut full-length is a masterful blend of trippy psych-rock, garage and folk-rock, featuring lots of distortion-fried guitar riffs, primal rock rhythms, earthy harmonies and Justin Deary’s assured lead vocals. 1/7/2011
(8:30 pm, $7 adv/$8 dos, 21+)
THE MOONDOGGIES @ The Treehouse Cafe (Bainbridge Island)
Sunday, April 03
ROSE’S PAWN SHOP with The Washover Fans, Sunday Evening Whiskey Club @ The Tractor Tavern
Rose's Pawn Shop at KEXP
8 pm, $7, 21+
CRAFT SPELLS with Soft Moon, Witch Gardens at Vera Project
DOM with Heavy Hawaii, Posse, So Pitted @ Fun House
DOM at CMJ 2010 - photo by Britney Bush Bollay
(9:30 pm, $7, 21+)