Helladope @ Nectar Lounge | 3/12 | 8:30 pm | 21+ | $8 DOS (Includes a copy of Helladope’s self-titled debut album.)
Here’s a not-so-bold prediction for Seattle hip-hop: The first half of 2010 will belong to Tay Sean and Jerm, the Beacon Hill duo that comprise Helladope, the spaced-out hip-hop/funk crew that had even the shyest of wallflowers acting the fool with their 2009 track, “Just So You Know”.
At first listen, Helladope’s sound is reminiscent of a slightly-friendlier version of Southern California’s G-funk era, an altered take on the early 90’s sounds of Warren G, DJ Quik, and Tha Dogg Pound, minus the relentless aggression and gangsta themes prevalent with those SoCal trendsetters.
Producer Tay Sean is the man primarily responsible for Helladope’s vibe. He takes his addictive beats and dips them into a mixture of slinky synths, computerized basslines, and futurist keyboard flourishes. And when the concoction is done Jerm-inating (so to speak), the results are pleasureful, danceable, chunks of funk candy that you want to stick in your ear and leave there forever. Tay is also a capable emcee and Jerm is a worthy partner in rhyme who also brings a Nate Dogg-esque R&B croon to some of the tracks. Together, they can really do it all.
Helladope (which is part of the larger Cloud Nice collective) gave Seattle a few small tasters in 2009, including the brief Strickly 4 My DJz EP, which set heads to nodding and pondering about what was to come. On Friday, March 12 at Nectar Lounge, Helladope will release their self-titled debut album upon the already-suspecting Town masses. With a little help from their friends Mash Hall, Candidt, State Of The Artist, and Dev from Above, this show should be an indicator of greater things to come from Helladope, a group whose sound feels like it just might be bigger than our humble three-digit area code.
To enter to win your tickets to this show, click here or e-mail contests@seattleshowgal.com with the words “Dope is getting Hella” in the subject line. Be sure to include your name for the guest listing. IMPORTANT: Someone from the SSG staff will be sending out the advantage code word to our brand new e-mail list day of show to get into Helladope. If you want the advantage, CLICK HERE TO GET ON “THE LIST”!
If originality is what most artists are shooting for, then Leslie and the LY’s are definitely on target. From her lyrical content to her wardrobe, she is setting a new standard. Musically speaking, her arrangements are pretty bare-bones, 80’s type stuff reminiscent of local acts like Team Gina, but she definitely sets herself apart with her content. As you can see Leslie is a big, beautiful, and glamorous woman, and she is not afraid to point it out in her music. In fact, I think that is the entire point. She has songs about her luscious lady parts, her extensive sweater collection, and her fabulous gold pants. The basic underlying message is that she is a force to be reckoned with, and if you have a problem with zombies, well she has a song for that too.
She will be hitting Chop Suey this Thursday, and bringing with her all of the comical dance music you would expect from the Midwest and more. Make sure you get down there early, she has quite a cult following here in Seattle and the show is likely to be packed. It’s gonna be a good time.
To enter to win your tickets to this show, click here or e-mail contests@seattleshowgal.com with the words “Leslie’s lady parts” in the subject line. Be sure to include your name for the guest listing. IMPORTANT: Someone from the SSG staff will be sending out the advantage code word to our brand new e-mail list day of show to get into Leslie and the LY’s. If you want the advantage, CLICK HERE TO GET ON “THE LIST”!
We have more cool stuff from Efterklang! Katy McCourt-Basham wrote a lovely preview about why everyone needs to scurry off to The Triple Door tomorrow night to see the awe-inspiring group, and you can see that here. We just got an invitation to share this video with our readers from the band, and since SSG loves Efterklang, here are the notes about the project and the video. Get excited to see them tomorrow night! We haven’t had Efteklang with us in over a year!
Last year March 2009 Efterklang toured the US road testing songs for our Magic Chairs album. Our good friend and Danish music journalist Ralf Christensen followed us around the last week of the tour and managed to capture us performing our song The Soft Beating in a about a 100 different ways. You can see his wonderful edit of all these performances in this new video.
As Im sure you know already we are in fact also touring the US right now. Concerts can be found here: www.efterklang.net/home/concerts
Eclectic Lawrence, KS-based rockers The Appleseed Cast, are coming to Chop Suey tonight. This isn’t any ol’ regular Appleseed Cast show, but a show in which they will play the entirety of the Low Level Owl albums back to back.
The Low Level Owl series is a pair of albums released by the band in 2001, when they were pushing to fulfill their five-album contract with Deep Elm Records. The albums were released two months apart, and marked a departure from their earlier emo-driven work. The albums also contained the first hints of the ambient and post-rock influence that would show up more in tracks on subsequent releases.
Opening for The Appleseed Cast is label-mate Dreamend, a post-rock/shoegazer band from Chicago. The band is the musical project of Ryan Graveface, owner of Graveface Records and guitarist/bassist for Pennsylvania psychadelic band Black Moth Super Rainbow. Dreamend is more up front about their post-rockness, creating music slightly reminiscent of Explosions in the Sky, but more lo fi and with vocals.
Seattle Show Gal has two tickets to give away for this awesome show. To enter to win, click here or send an email to contests@seattleshowgal.com with the subject line “Two Tickets to Low Level Owl City, Plz” and your name in the body of the email.
Below is a video for The Appleseed Cast’s “Steps and Numbers” from Low Level Owl Volume I.
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.
Vancouver B.C. is making a name for itself as a home to some really good electronically-influenced pop bands, and You Say Party! We Say Die! is no exception. With their strong combination of bouncy guitars,and throwback 80’s synth riffs, you will definitely pick up on the new wave pouring out of their collective soul. If you still have a soft spot in yours for the 80’s you will definitely want to check these guys out. It’s hard to say exactly what they sound like, because it changes significantly from track to track. There are moments of the Bengals and Joan Jett, a brief Björk moment mixed in there for kicks—but overall, it’s definitely a Blondie Moment. While it is hard to say exactly what they are going for, their music is catchy and easy to listen to.
You Say Party! We Say Die! are on tour, and stopping off here in Seattle before hitting SXSW, then embarking on a European tour that will end in late Spring. They are playing Tonight at Chop Suey with Seattle Show Gal favs People Eating People, and guests yet to be announced. It will be a night of great music, and if you are so inclined, bad 80’s dancing. Be sure to brush up your Carlton and get your behind to this show.
Seattle Show Gal has two tickets to give away for this awesome show. If you’re interested in winning these tickets, click here or email contests@seattleshowgal.com with the subject line “You say Party! I Say Free Tixxxxx!!!” with your name in the body of the email. A winner will be picked this afternoon.
Seattle’s own Georgetown Orbits are a band that knows how to get the entire audience sweating. Vocalist Darryl Grandison spends a good bit of the show moving around, inspiring movement onstage and beyond. Though the Orbits are known for putting a few instrumentals into their set, Grandison’s distinct vocals are always welcome and add character to an already solid performance from a band whose musical chops know no bounds.
Last year the Georgetown Orbits opened for and nearly upstaged the mighty Aggrolites before a sold-out audience at the Croc. Tonight, they’ll rock the crowd while opening for the peace-loving reggae legend Pato Banton & the Now Generation show in what will surely be another memorable show.
For your chance to win tickets, CLICK HERE, or send an email to contests@seattleshowgal.com with the subject: “In the mood for SKA!” Be sure to include the name that should appear on the list at the venue. Winner will be drawn at 3pm! Good luck!
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
Shrinebuilder isnot more than the sum of their parts. Not when one takes into consideration the fact that Shrinebuilder shares members with Om, St. Vitus, The Melvins, and one of the greatest bands of all time, Neurosis. That said, Shrinebuilder is a killer band in and of itself. They’ll fit perfectly into the legacy left behind by the aforementioned bands. Part of what makes Shrinebuilder fun to listen is what is actually a failing of previous supergroups: accents of each member standing out as an embodiment their previous band. In the case of Shrinebuilder, hearing a part of a song that sounds like Neurosis sewn into Om by those Melvins drums is a rare treat.
Seeing Shrinebuilder live will be a rare treat too, because every member of this band has their own active band to return to–it’s like an inverted reunion tour. The doom supergroup is going to rock Neumos in unforgettable ways on Tuesday night.
If you’ve never heard of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, then you’ve at least heard their influence on American pop music. The South African folk band was one of the main inspirations of Paul Simon when he recorded the groundbreaking album Graceland. Ladysmith Black Mambazo performs a type of traditional folk music, called isicathamiya (is-cot-a-me-ya), that started in the mines of South Africa. It’s a type of music that was suppressed in old South Africa but has been embraced by new South Africa. Nelson Mandela thinks so highly of them, that he had them play at his inauguration and had them accompany him to Norway when he received his Nobel Peace Prize. Ladysmith Black Mambazo are a national treasure and cultural emissary of their homeland, and we should feel privileged to have them perform in our great city. See them tonight at Benaroya Hall.
Matthew Good has been performing music for over 18 years. He was the lead singer of The Matthew Good band, one of Canada’s most successful alt-rock bands of the 90’s, before starting a solo career in 2003. His music is slightly folk, slightly rock, and entirely political. His most recent album, Vancouver, is his reflections and opinions on his hometown. When he’s not writing music, he’s a political activist writing his views on his blog. Tonight is the first show on his US tour. Automatic Loveletter will be opening.
Need to get some anger tonight? Maybe you something to make you forget that it’s only Monday? Check out the prog-metal goodness of Lethe at the Funhouse tonight. Not only will you be able to hear their epic rock songs, but you can also get hammered for cheap because it’s also $1 PBR night. They’re playing with Into The Storm, Audiwasska Travelers, and Labyrinth and The Desert. Preview Lethe on Myspace.
For more show ideas, please visit our partners at ReignCity.com
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")
