October 4, 2014

It's not too late to head out to the Macefield Music Festival in Ballard and discover or get reacquainted with a wide variety of local music. If last night is any indication, the rest of the festival is not to be missed. We were sorry to have to skip Tom Price Desert Classic -- 6:00 p.m. was too early for us to get all the way to Ballard after work. But we were there in time to enjoy the surf sounds of Boss Martians, proto-punk rock from the Sonics (an intergenerational love fest), one beautiful a capella duet by Inly, and a great set of raw, rocking, heartbreaker blues (and jokes about sad songs) from Star Anna. And, hey! The Sunset is in the middle of converting from a bar with a stage into a music venue with a bar. Best wishes for a happy end to the project.

And there's a whole week of other, non-festival shows after this! Here are some names to consider:

Being as an Ocean
I'm taken with the philosophical/literary affect here. Every being is vast and complex, loud and wild. (And as it turns out, they set wordy, poetic lyrics to loud, thrashing music. It all fits!)

Circus Sized Peanuts
I like this for the goofy nostalgia hit. A Google search brings up the band's Facebook page first, followed by images of the orange, giant-peanut-shaped marshmallow candy, which was the first thing I thought of when I saw the name. I'm nostalgic mostly for the shape and texture; the taste, not so much.
 
Deadly Poets
I knew I distrusted poetry for some reason . . .

Uncle Acid and the Deadbeats
Classic X and the Y structure, with a psychedelic twist and a neat double meaning in the band's name.

Under the Puddle
I like that I get to begin and end with bodies of water, as different as they can be. This implies greater depth than a puddle usually contains. What other worlds exist just below the surface? (I've just finished Neil Gaiman's The Ocean at the End of the Lane, which must be informing my sense of things).

February 9, 2013

What a privilege to live in a region that produced both The Sonics and Mudhoney, and continues to incubate a lively and creative music scene that really doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks. Let them come to us.

This week's picks ended up having a food-and-martian theme. I don't plan these things, folks; just lucky, I guess.

Boss Martians
Men Martians and Machines
I love it when my R&R and SF interests come together. I don't suppose I'll ever get over my Mars kick.
 
Fruit and Vegetable
Sour Scream and Salsa
These two really should have been on the same bill. Not just food and allusions to food, but the classic Noun and Noun band name structure. Yet they are also opposites: while both chose foods that are commonly spoken of together, one pairs staples of a balanced diet; the other, yelling condiments . . . into which the healthful foods could be dipped! I also like that Fruit and Vegetable are singular, as if this is a duo of (interchangeable) Veggie Tales characters. Sour Scream and Salsa provides abundant sibilance, and I gotta say, mariachi metal is an intriguing new genre.
 
Hellbelly
Too much sour scream and salsa? I love that something as simple as changing the vowel sometimes works magic.