The Books @ Neumo’s

Ended up going to the Books, obviously, and since it was a pretty late night for us,we didn’t even try to sprint over to the Yacht show. In fact, we didn’t even stay for the Books full set before calling it a night.

There was nothing wrong with the show. The Books put on a incredible show regardless of venue,  and this year’s presentation was different than last year’s show at U-Dub. But there were minor elements that made it difficult to enjoy. The sound was poorly mixed, at least near the fron of the house, where anything even remotely in the bass range caused floorboards and eardrums to shake violently, and even rattled a power cord loose during opener Todd Reynolds set. Retreating to the back was a much better experience, though the usual issues with a full house in Neumo’s still applied. At least this crowd had a lower hipster quotient than your typical Neumo’s crowd.

But speaking of Todd Reynolds… now that was an amazing performance. He’s a solo performer who plays violin, accompanied by a laptop running some Max/MSP looping software, both for pre-recorded accompaniment and for layering his violin parts in real-time. I think he only played 4 or 5 pieces, but they were all epic and dynamic, using the full range of possibilities in his instrument, rising and falling in long, dramatic arcs. A couple of his pieces were played to video accompaniment, including the final piece, which was synched to split-screen footage from a train crossing the Brooklyn Bridge that was slowly sped-up and layered, becoming more frantic and abstract as it played.

I really wish the 2 set show had started before 10, but I’m glad I got a chance to catch two amazing performances, even if there were a few obstacles to full enjoyment.

Jarvis Cocker tomorrow night. That should be fun too. More later, of course.

Dilemma!

I have a decision to make before the end of next week (and the sooner the better, honestly). Next Friday, the 26th, the Books and Yacht are playing here in Seattle on the same night. The Books will be at Neumo’s, and Yacht will be playing at the Club Pop monthly at Chop Suey, a few blocks away. Sadly, I don’t think I’ll be able to dash back and forth and catch both acts, so I need to figure out which tickets to buy.

I’ve seen the Books before, at U-Dub last year, and they were fucking amazing. Hands down one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. Which means I’m leaning strongly in that direction. But I’ve never seen Yacht before, and the Club Pop atmosphere seems perfectly suited to his quirky brand of electro-pop, the way the U-Dub auditorium was perfect for the scholarly and playful music of the Books. Plus, I’ve been really, really digging Paper Television, the new album from The Blow, that he was a part of.

If I wasn’t sure that one or both of these shows would sell out, I’d just wait to see what mood I was in that night and choose accordingly.  But now I have to figure all this out in advance. Woe is me! Whichever I end up doing, you can expect a write-up and probably some pictures…

More later…

Atlas Applauded

When I started seeing show listings for Atlas Clothing, the little vintage/boutique/thrift clothing shop off Broadway, I sort of wondered what was up. Did they just shove the clothing racks aside, and do it like a record store? I missed a couple of opportunities to check it out when This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb and The Micrphones came through, but I finally had the full Atlas experience last night, with The Americas and I Love You Avalanche.

The venue isn’t actually in Atlas’ retail space, as I learned when I approached the door. It’s actually around the back, in the loading bay accessible from the alley. The interior is done up in total DIY style, with a bare wooden stage decorated by a robot sculpture an christmas lights, a mixing booth for loew-powered 2-speaker PA system in the loft, and a curtain made of sewn together cartoon character bedsheets hiding the actual storage space. All in all, it’s a very charming space that seems out of place in such an urban setting. It would almost be more at home in someone’s garage in the suburbs.

I came in as Leaves Sleaves were finishing their set (with a cover of “Against All Odds,” no less). Featuring 2 guitars, 2 trumptes, cello, keyboards, and drums, they were quite the sight to behold. The original material I heard was actually quite good, though the horn players weren’t quite in tune and the vocals were pretty low in the mix. I Love You Avalanche, featuring the Leaves Sleaves cellist on guitar and vocals, along with a pair of multi-instrumentalists and some pre-recorded drum machine, was dangerously sweet. They’re the kind of band who could rot your teeth and kill diabetics in the space of an hour. Despite a handful of technical glitches, their stripped down indie folk won over pretty much the entire room. I couldn’t help but think of P:ano during their set, actually.

But oh, The Americas. I can’t believe how good this duo is, let alone how loud. They’ve gotten a lot better since last time I saw them a year or two ago, and that’s saying a lot. Their fierce, frenetic math rock has all the right ingredients of mid-90s emo (before that word was reduced to signifying mopey guitar pop, white belts and bad hair), combined with the exploratory  aspirations of noise-, math-, and post- rock. They play dense, epic music that sounds improvised, but is actually pretty tightly structured in closer examination. I find it hard to believe that they haven’t been snapped up by some label somewhere. Not that I think they’d bechart-topping megastars or anything, but they’d fit pretty comfortably in a niche label’s roster.

I guess it was definitely worth staying up late and only getting 5 hours of sleep in order to attend. I don’t feel any worse for the wear today, at least.

Summeresque

Is it at all possible for there to have been better weather in Seattle in April than we had last night? I think not.It was definitely happy-hour-on-a-patio weather. Sadly the War Room was closed, and service at Bill’s Off Broadway was surly to say the least (we can’t sit outside because you don’t want to walk outside to take our order? Even though there are already four tables seated there? You’re kidding me…). Luckily, King’s Hardware in Ballard came to the rescue, and while we couldn’t fight our way to a seat on the patio, we got a nice corner table near the door, complete with breeze.

And there’s certainly no lack of things to do for the rest of the weekend. Sakura Con is happening as I type this, so we’ll be going out to people watch at some point this evening I’m sure. We missed Lightning Bolt at Vera last night, after hearing discouraging rumours about a line forming at 7:00 for the 150-capacity venue, but finding out that the Americas are playing at Atlas Clothing on Sunday almost makes up for it. I’ll see an insane rock duo at some point this weekend!

Oh, and I just bought my plane ticket to San Francisco for APE later this month. Should be a good palette cleanser after the tights-and-capes fest that was Emerald City Comicon. APE is the only reason I’ve been back to California for two years in a row, and this year Bryan Lee O’Malley and Hope Larson will be in attendance, making it especially enticing.

I think that’s about it for now. Time for a trip to the library, perhaps. More later…

Links for 2007-04-02

• Hack Attack: A beginner’s guide to Quicksilver – Lifehacker

  (tags: apple apps article Blog guide how-to howto osx plugin quicksilver tips tool tutorials Mac)

• Wallet made from a computer keyboard

  I’ve been needing a new wallet anyways, now I just have to dig up an old keyboard at Value Village soon.

  (tags: article design diy fashion geek project tutorial keyboard wallet howto)

• Nintendo DS Accessories NDS

  Accessories for the Nintendo DS, including several elements needed to get homebrea apps running on the DS.

  (tags: nintendo ds homebrew mod)

This has been my experiment with the del.icio.us “daily blog posting” feature, which automatically posts a list of pages I’ve bookmarked and tagged each day. I love the idea, but it’s still very rough around the edges, and lacks a lot of control (most notably in the formatting department). I’m not going to continue doing it, but I’m definitely keeping my eye on the service to see if it matures.