Over the last several years, Danish band Efterklang has been blending post-rock, folk, and pop in new and refreshing ways. Their first studio release, Tripper (2004), had prevalent female vocals and a static-ey Postal Service-esque feel to the instrumentation, which often toed the post-rock line. Efterklang’s 2007 release Parades leaned instrumentally toward the orchestral side of thingswithout completely abandoning their electronic roots. The tightly arranged music was seamlessly blended with downplayed and raw-sounding vocals, making for a beautiful, if not slightly jarring, combination.
Efterklang brings something new to the table yet again with their latest album, Magic Chairs (released Feb. 22nd on 4AD Records). Here the vocals take center stage, accompanied by more real live instruments than electronic ones. The album has a much stronger indie-folk-pop feel that the others, giving it more general appeal and palatability to potential listeners. Efterklang’s set looks very promising. This band of Scandinavian multi-instrumentalists is often ten strong on tour, and it should be fun to see how all of these songs come together live at The Triple Door, Seattle’s classiest venue.
Below is a video of Efterklang performing “Cutting Ice to Snow” (from Parades) with the Danish National Chamber Orchestra in 2008.
Summertime is warming right up, and not because of the obvious upcoming festivals and concerts. As the temperature rises in Seattle so do weekday shows. Today is no exception. There is a ton going on tonight in music of every genre, but here are a few of the hottest shows going down and get ready to call in sick tomorrow, unless of coarse your laid off, if which then you’ve got no excuse.
With dissonant female vocals, driving reverb-hall-filled guitars and long soaring instrumentals A Sunny Day in Glasgow pegs ambient-indie to a tee. The style adopted by guitarist Ben Daniels carries a Bjiork/Black Angels sound that reflects a transcendental nature and purity of spirit. Promoting the release of Nighttime Rainbows, which just dropped March 2nd, the group is scheduled to play a whopping eleven shows at SXSW this year.
Opening the night is local artist Perfume Genius whose fragile, airy approach to vocals and songwriting have earned him buzz in NW music. Mike Hadreas has adopted an uncanny approach that reveres post-crooner ambiance layered with song writing depth and balanced with piano and his tender voice to enable the song. This show should be really good, very laid back. Here’s a sample of Perfume Genius.
(Right click, “Save Link As” to download) Perfume Genius – Write To Your Brother
People Eating People, You Say Party! We Say Die! @ Chop Suey | 8pm | $10dos | 21+
This is one of the best lineups in the city tonight–especially for $10. Local stars People Eating People (Nouela Johnston of Mon Frere) are like watching a house burning down, you just can’t stop staring. That’s because they deliver a talent that would be like Amy Winehouse singing for The Dresden Dolls–unrivaled yet undiscovered. SSG has had a heart-on for Nouela (here), and for good reason. It’s only a matter of time before somebody sees this girl and carries her off to be more than just a Seattle star. In the meantime, go see People Eating People while the tickets are still $10!
Closing out the night is Canadian pop-punk You Say Party! We Say Die! and they deliver a 1-2 knockout for tonight’s show. Backing up the February U.S. release of their third album XXXX, they are packed full of energy, huge snyth-beats and ass-shaking songs. It’s actually believable You Say Party! We Say Die! is trying to kill you with their party music. The Chop Suey always has enough low end to drive you out of your Tuesday night shell, and along with People Eating People, you’ll be lucky to make it out alive.
SSG is going to have a giveaway for this show later today. STAY TUNED!!!
The Cool Kids are new prophets of Hip-Hop, dropping beats, samples, and rhymes like N.E.R.D. ate DJ Shadow and puked up the Beastie Boys.Combining old and new school sounds, The Cool Kids recreat one of the sickest styles in hip-hop with seemingly no effort. Listed as Rolling Stones top artists to watch out for in 2008 this show is going to go OFF. Guarantee The Showbox will bring in extra subs just to accommodate the shear apple-bottom-dropping bass that will crush the house into a finely ground powderto snort with a $1000 bill. Backing them up is So-Cal hip-hop brothers Pac Div, and If you got 20 bones this is the show to see tonight, no doubt about it. Here’s a taste of The Cool Kids teamed up with electro group Hey Champ. (Right click, “Save Link As” to download) The Cool Kids / Hey Champ – “We Are Champions”
For more concert ideas, visit our soul sistas at ReignCity.com
It’s going to be a rainy, cold evening. How about some good old-fashion fun? Grudge Night, Jack Stratton’s game show event, is still at the Crocodile, styled as a music-based Family Feud with two bands; winner takes door money. You know the drill. Tonight it’s Punk vs. Pop. As always, The Cute Lepers are bringing the loud old-school energy that’s become their signature. Here were a few words that Nick Larzalere had to say on the cute Lepers when he reviewed them last year:
The Cute Lepers are a power-pop punk band, with strong influences from The Clash, and other 70s punk… The Cute Lepers have a few catchy songs, but one that stands out is their single “Terminal Boredom.” It had a bit of classic punk that everyone was dancing to. “Prove It” was also memorable; it’s a bit slower then “Terminal Boredom” with a more modern feel to it…Duffy and Priscilla had a special dance for almost every song; watching them move and Steve E. Nix play was not a bad experience… The Cute Lepers is a show that you should see if you love punk and cute girls with tambourines. They have catchy songs, and the girls provide the energy.
Or we have the sunny, indie sounds of the boys from The Quiet Ones, the Tennessee expats that have perfected layering melodies. Nikki Benson had a few thoughts about why checking this happy-makers is a good idea:
Check out this cool music video below. It looks like The Quiet Ones made their way over to The Holy Mountain/Black Lodge to make a video that embodies the party rock/retro goodness that they are. Seriously, who wouldn’t want to be party of that party? Not only do they get down with the vox, shred the guitar, groove with the bass, and get all psychedelic with the faders, but the bring out the glitter, confetti, and animal masks too. If they bring all that to The Crocodile tonight, it’s going to be c-r-a-z-y!!!
Regardless of whoever turns out to be the winner, I think it’s the perfectantidote for a chilly February night.
Don’t forget that the Cumulus Festival starts tonight. Get more information about that avant garde goodness here.
And as always, for more concert ideas, visit our friends over at ReignCity.com
Band Members:
Will, Dana, Drew, Choppa, Alex, Mangy, Jaizi
With seven people crammed on the tiny stage of the Healthy Times Fun Club, Pill Wonder seems to have two personalities. One is a slower; almost jam style, giving opportunity for every member to showcase his or her talents, allowing the audience to slowly sway to the music and stare at the band. The other personality is a kind of dance rock, almost like The Go! Team, but only very loosely, with everyone dancing and jumping around, but only really using four or five members of the band. Both styles are distinct with very little overlap, and some of the transitions between songs were a little difficult, as the audience was still hyped from “Wishing Whale” when the band started the starkly contrasted song, “What We Know”.
That evening, local band, Pill Wonder were celebrating the release of their new 12”, and the entire bill was a great fit. There was Tyson Ballew(from Montana), who played a very funny acoustic set as the people started to enter, and if you ever see him, be sure to request “Sewer Cat.” He may forget half the words to it, but it will still be a highlight of your night. Young Prisms (of San Francisco) and Sandy City (of Westport, WA) also did a great job of opening the night.
Pill Wonder has some great songs, and starting with the previously mentioned “Wishing Whale” the band accomplished a major feat for Seattle, they actually got some people to dance. It may have only been two people to start, but throughout the set more and more people joined in. It is always worth noting when people dance at a show in Seattle, and Pill Wonder eventually managed to get the entire audience dancing. “What We Know” is much slower paced, and backed by sounds from the rainforest, and is driven more by the smooth sounds of the keyboard than the pounding guitars and dual drummers of the other songs.
The biggest problem that night was a very minor one. The order of the last two songs was a bit off. The second-to-last was their biggest hit of the night, it had everyone on the floor dancing, with huge smiles and then yelling for an encore. The band seemed a bit at a loss for what to do for the finale. We were all hoping for another song to jump around to, but instead the set ended with their long jam song. The song gave all seven members a chance to showcases their talents, but leaving some people unsatisfied.
Pill Wonder has been touring the West Coast and have a few more shows in the Seattle area before going to California and then SXSW. With only a few of their songs available for listening on their MySpace page, you’ll have to see Pill Wonder live to get the full experience.
Synth-pop, Indie-pop, Fuzzy-melodic-charming pop, whatever you want to call it, Cold Cave’s “Life Magazine” , is a great introduction to Love Comes First. The combination of Caralee MeElroy’s angelic twerked vocals and the pulsing melodic synth beats, by Wesely Eisold and Dominick Fernow, makes it impossible not to bob your head or tap your appendage of choice. If you enjoy this song also check out the title track “Love Comes Close” and “The Trees Grew Emotions and Died”. Is that you Joy Division?
Originally self released by Cold Cave in August 09 , Matador Records swooped in, signed Cold Cave and subsequently re-issued the album Nov. 3rd. Cold Cave will be in Seattle at Vera Project on Monday 11/30.
FINALLY!! To say this is one of the most anticipated shows in the last few months would be putting it lightly. Since releasing their debut self-titled album in the UK in August of this year, The xx have been proclaimed as one of the best new acts and albums of the year. How four 20 year-olds can convey such sophisticated yet simple, sultry-sexy but still understated music is somewhat inconceivable and entirely refreshing.
Case in point, the I-tunes bonus track album includes a cover of Aaliyah’s “Hot Like Fire”. Yes the title and lyrics of the song are obviously….well, hot. However what makes the song, and all of The xx songs so coy is that instead of emphasizing overt sexual lyrics, the sensuality is expressed through the gentle layering of guitar, keyboard and synth married with the trading vocals from Romy and Oliver.
As of November 11th, The xx is now a 3 person group; keyboardist Baria Qureshi has left the band citing exhaustion. It will be interesting to see what kind of dynamics exist during a live performance within the band. Specifically, how will the moods and emotions that define the album translate on the stage? Check out the clip below of The xx playing Crystalised for KEXP at CMJ in October.
The xx are opening for the Friendly Fires as part of the NYLON magazine Winter Music Tour
You can also catch them at the Ballard Sonic Boom for an in-store performance at 3 pm FOR FREE and ALL AGES!
Band Members:
Josh M. Carter – Vocals,Guitar
Sarah D. Barthel – Vocals Keyboard
With so many music genres and bands dipping their fingertips into electronic and synth sounds, it can be difficult to tell apart the GREAT from the “Great-but-only on cd Great.” Phantogram, comprised of Sarah and Josh from Saratoga Springs, fall into in the first category. Actually they fall more into the FANTASTIC category after the gush worthy show they put on at Vera earlier this month. If you don’t like gushing, you probably won’t want to read the rest of this review.
Having listened to Phantogram’s self-titled EP for a few weeks before the show, my expectations were pretty neutral. Many electro-synth fusion-esque groups sound great on record but fail to meet expectations during live shows and ultimately leave the audience let down–much like a disappointing sexual experience. Phantogram definitely dispelled any precognitions that the show was going to be a watered down, poor sound quality, muffled version of their album.
For an all ages show on a Friday night, it was surprising at how tuned in the mostly younger crowd stayed with Phantogram through almost the entire set. As Phantogram took the stage, it seemed they were going to get the “oh it’s only the opener” stand off from the crowd. Once the first note hit, the floor filled with bodies and everyone stood to attention to watch. Besides the synth and electronic element of the set, both Sarah and Josh’s vocals were strong and audible. Sarah manned the beat making while assuring the crowd that it was okay to dance. Moving about the stage, playing guitar Josh resembled a mellow Dan Auerbach, but maybe it was just the beard. Honestly the only bad thing about this show as the number or ridiculously tall teenage boys that travelled in packs. Trying to see over their 6’2’’ and taller heads was frustrating!
A great bonus to Phantogram’s show was hearing songs off their full album Eyelid Movies which is currently only released overseas. The good news is that shortly after the show at Vera, it was announced that Phantogram signed with Seattle’s very own Barsuk Records. Eyelid Movies will be released here in the states early 2010. Phantogram is currently in Europe. Hopefully we’ll see them next year promoting their album release. Check out a clip from the show as well as an interview with Phantogram
Seattle Show Gal is in hot pursuit of undiscovered talent! How many great bands are out there that are slipping through the cracks? Seattle is saturated with so much music, it would be nearly impossible to sift through it all to find the good stuff. The Seattle Show Gal staff is not so proud to think that we can bring you all of it, but we are actively pursuing all different types of acts to give you a pulse on what is going on--right here in Seattle! (See more in "About")
