review and photos by Katy McCourt-Basham

The Vera Project was unusually quiet for a Saturday night when Papercuts and Port O’Brien were slated to play. I walked in just before the show started, and, departing from the usual clamor of the Vera just before a show is going to begin, most were on the fringe of the showroom talking quietly amongst themselves.

First to come onstage was an unannounced “opening act” of sorts. He got onstage, introduced himself as “Golden Graham”, and told the crowd “I’m not Port O’Brien, I’m just here to play a couple of songs.” Graham played only two songs: The first was a cover of Big Star’s “Thirteen” (famously covered by Elliott Smith), as well as one of his own songs. Graham, who is a little rough looking (in a beardy lumberjack kind of way), had a surprisingly sweet voice. I only wish we could have heard more.

Graham, who it turns out is a member of Port O’Brien, was then joined by the rest of the band. They began the set with “Don’t Take My Advice”, one of their more acoustically driven songs. The set started out on the quieter side, but it didn’t take long for the energy to pick up. The crowd began to leave the edges of the room, moving toward the stage. Toes were definitely tapping. It’s hard to find good words besides (“really good”), to describe how they sound, but their instrumentation was balanced beautifully — banjo was used in many of their songs, and they did a great job of seamlessly fitting it into their music without allowing it to completely dictate their overall sound. The music varied from simpler folk songs to complex instrumental pieces, but every minute of it was enjoyable. To finish out the set, the band invited people to take pots, pans, and spoons out of the box they had on the floor to help add a little percussion to their last song. A few enthusiastic fans and friends were brought onstage to play, and it didn’t take long for everyone to join in the clamor. It was the most fun concert audience-participation I’ve ever been a part of.

Having never seen Papercuts (but having really dug their last album), I was pretty excited to see them play. Though they played well, there was a significant drop in energy from Port O’Brien’s set. They played older and newer songs, but the new ones, which felt kind of energetic on the album, ended up feeling very passive live. I stayed through maybe eight songs, and it started to pick up a little bit, but by a certain point, all of the songs started to run together. Though I ended up leaving early, I would be curious to see Papercuts play again on the chance that this was just an off night for them.

review by Katy McCourt-Basham
photos by Jessica Carina

I arrived to the very packed Vera Project just before the Iron & Wine set began. Sam Beam came onstage to roaring applause and then, all at once, complete silence the moment he picked up his guitar. I, sadly, missed the opening band (Bellingham locals Yogaman Burning Band), but everyone (including Beam) had nice things to say about them. The first thing he said to the audience was “If you don’t like that, you have to ask yourself, ‘Do I know how to have a good time?’”

Beam explained that they were doing something a little unusual with this tour. Fans were asked to submit requests via the internet for songs to be played at that show. Beam began the set with a short song, “Stolen Houses (Die)”, which he recorded for the Dark Was The Night compilation. Beam played alone, giving the show a more intimate feel. Though he had no one else accompanying him, the show was not lacking in any respect. His presence and sense of humor were great, and though he made his fair share of mistakes on his older songs, he was not at all flustered. His mistakes made him all the more endearing.

Because he was playing requests, there was a very interesting mix of older and more recent songs. He played big favorites like “Sodom South Georgia” and “Woman King,” and older tracks like “Muddy Hymnal” and “The Trapeze Swinger” (my personal favorite of the set). He also covered New Order’s “Love Vigilantes.” Everything was absolutely beautiful. There was a sort of electric silence among the audience members of this show. Everyone was dead silent while Beam played, and there was pretty equally distributed shock every time he cursed (speaking or in one of his songs).

Because he was playing requests, I was surprised at the absence of some of Beam’s more popular songs like “Naked As We Came,” “Jezebel” and his famous cover of The Postal Service’s “Such Great Heights.” Obviously, this didn’t put a damper on his performance (Sam Beam could sing me “The Hokey Pokey” for an hour and I’d be happy). If you ever get a chance to see Iron & Wine live, please do. You will not be disappointed.

Around The Well, a 2-disc compilation of Iron & Wine b-sides and odds ‘n ends comes out on Sub Pop this Tuesday, May 19th .

photos and review by Katy McCourt-Basham

Chop Suey was pretty quiet when I arrived last Thursday night. I got there at 9p.m. and was surprised to hear that the first band, Silver Teeth, had already played. It was an early night for Chop Suey (the show was over before midnight). Erik Blood took the stage not long after I arrived, and Hotels would close out the night.

I’m not going to lie, I had never heard Erik Blood before this show. I didn’t quite know what to expect, and, luckily, was very pleasantly surprised. His set was fantastic. The seven people crammed on that tiny stage gave a very energetic and heartfelt performance. One of the earlier songs in the set was about gay marriage, stating “I will not support the war on me.” Blood then began to play some awesome toe-tappin’ dance songs. Erik Blood is a confident performer, and his band is exceptionally talented. They used beautiful vocal harmonies throughout their set, and did a lot of genre mixing. The overall sound is hard to describe, but I would say that it’s a poppy version of The Cure meets The Beach Boys meets 60’s era soul meets super awesome.

The crowd had gotten a little bigger by the time Hotels took the stage. They opened with “Flight of the Navigator”, the last song on their most recent album, Where Hearts Go Broke. Most of their songs were from this most recent album, but they played a couple of new songs as well, including “The Bat Watusi”, their closing number. Their encore song was “Atlantic”, a track from their 2005 album Thank You For Choosing…. Hotels played exceptionally well, stepping up even from their great set on KEXP earlier that day. I look forward to seeing them play again soon.

Hotels will be playing at The Comet on May 21st and at the Noise For The Needy benefit at The High Dive on June 13th. Erik Blood will be playing The Tractor on June 16th.

Last Thursday, a fairly large crowd braved heavy rains to see Olympia’s Mirah play at the Vera Project. I arrived just before Lovers’ set began (I was not aware that there was another opening act, apologies to Whitney Ballen, whose set was probably very good, if the rest of the night was any indication).

Hailing from Portland, Lovers is comprised of three girls playing mostly guitar, synth and drum machine (and sometimes real drums). The emphasis on drum and synth gave their sound a very distinct Mates of State feel, but they definitely add their own personal flair. The instrumentation was strong, and Carolyn Berk’s vocals commanding. I found myself spending most of the set marveling at percussionist Kerby Ferris, who managed to juggle gracefully several electronic instruments simultaneously throughout the entire performance. The set was toe-tappin’ fun, and though they were a little bit awkward onstage, Lovers were very funny, and seemed to be truly enjoying themselves. The crowd seemed to enjoy themselves as well, doing as much bobbing and swaying as constitutes ‘dancing’ at a show in Seattle.

Hearing Mirah’s band prepare for their set sounds a lot like the tuning-up of an orchestra pit before an opera — there’s a cello, a violin, clarinet, a keyboard, a few guitars, and something that looks an awful lot like a sitar (though, I discovered upon hearing it later, it was not). After a longish set-change period, Mirah came onstage to significant applause, and then, as she picked up her guitar — utter silence. The audience watched reverently as she began to pluck the first few notes of her first song, “Skin and Bones”, from her latest album (A)spera. Mirah invited the crowd to sit. The crowd was hesitant at first, but almost everyone (with the exception of a few resilient fans) sat down, giving the show a storytime feel that seemed to fit in with the whole mood of the show. Mirah played a good mix of old and new songs, including the tango-esque “Light The Match,” and a cover or two. The set was great. Mirah and Lovers were great little rays of light on a cold, rainy Seattle night.

photos by Jim Bennett

SXSW is one of the music industry’s biggest events. It’s a week of performances and networking for everyone, from bands struggling to get their big break, to big-name veteran acts like M. Ward.

M. Ward (Matt Ward) is well known for his dreamy, old-fashioned folk music, but he is much more than a singer-songwriter; he’s also a big collaborator. Along with writing and recording his own music, M. Ward has collaborated with big acts like Bright Eyes, Jenny Lewis My Morning Jacket and Cat Power. Ward is also one half of She & Him, a project with actress Zooey Deschanel that achieved rapid success in 2008.

Ward began his career in Portland, OR, and started turning heads in 2001, with his release of End of Amnesia. He became better known on a national level when his 2006 release, Post-War, was featured in a Vanity Fair article speculating about what would happen after the Iraq war was over.

Ward’s latest album, Hold Time, was released to critical acclaim on February 17th on Merge Records. He has been touring with California’s Port O’Brien to promote the new album, and will be playing at Coachella in April.

photos by Jim Bennett

PJ Harvey and John Parish are a British duo who have worked together in bands like Parish’s Automatic Dlamini, and then produced highly praised individual work in the 80’s/90’s before joining forces again on PJ Harvey’s 1995 release To Bring You My Love. Harvey and Parish are back with a new album, A Woman A Man Walked By, to be released March 30th on Island Records.

PJ Harvey began her solo career in 1991, when she released her critically acclaimed single “Dress”, which was voted single of the week in Melody Maker, and quickly pushed Harvey into the international spotlight. Her next release Dry was an international success, gaining famous fans like Kurt Kobain, who put the LP in his top 20 albums of all time, and writeups in magazines like Rolling Stone, New Musical Express, and Vox.

Parish, best known for his work with Harvey, co-produced (with world-famous producer Flood) PJ Harvey’s 1995 platinum release To Bring You My Love, which topped the charts, and was voted album of the year in The Village Voice and The New York Times, among other big-name publications.

After this release, Harvey and Parish worked on individual projects before collaborating on Harvey’s 2007 release White Chalk, which clearly marked a change from Harvey’s punk style to softer piano ballads. Once again, Harvey and Parish have joined forces again to produce their 2009 release A Woman A Man Walked By. The lyrics are by Harvey, and the music is written by Parish, who plays most of the instruments on the album. The album is produced by Flood.

PJ Harvey and John Parrish will play a couple of US shows after SXSW, and will then be going on a European tour in April and May.

review by Katy McCourt-Basham
photos by Hilary Harris

Tuesday night at the Showbox at the Market was a pretty crowded one, with audience members young and old waiting to see the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach play with support from Hacienda.

The first band that hit the stage was Those Darlins of Murfreesboro, TN. The band is comprised of quite a collection of characters: one punk-ish girl (originally from Olympia), one sparkly hipster-esque girl, and one ‘girl next door’-type dressed completely in black…not to mention a drummer that looked straight out of the early 70’s, with mutton chops and a tight American flag muscle tee — needless to say, they made quite an impression. These eclectic characters came together to create a great, cohesive sound. Their sound was heavily based in some sort of combination of indie pop/Americana, with hints of punk, and a definite southern flair. Their set was fun, and they had a lot of personality, playing songs silly and serious, such as “Do You Lie Or Die,” a song about drunk driving, in which they chant “I got a DUI.”

Next on the roster was Hacienda. Hailing from Texas, these beardy fellows played a really enjoyable set of their own music before coming back on to support Dan Auerbach. Their sound varies from sort of bluesy country-rock, to an early Kinks-esque 60’s feel. The set was a lot of fun, and the musicians very engaging. They played some songs from their latest album, which was produced by Dan Auerbach (During Dan’s in-studio, Hacienda told KEXP that they call him their “Danager”), including the old-fashioned sounding “Hear Me Crying.” They finished the set with “Mama’s Cookin’,” a song that even the most stoic of Seattle’s notorious audience members dancing.

Hacienda came back onstage to support Dan Auerbach for his set. Dan began with “Trouble Weighs a Ton,” the first track from his new album Keep It Hid. I had listened to Keep It Hid a fair amount before I saw Dan play, and the album definitely does not do his voice justice. On stage, his rich, soulful voice really shines; it has a lot of power that just isn’t conveyed in his recordings.

The songs he played really showed off his versatility as a singer as a musician, from the lighter, folky sound of “Trouble Weighs a Ton,” to the raw, powerful almost old-school R&B sound of “The Prowl,” to the Buddy Holly-inspired feel of “Street Walkin’,” there was never a dull moment (or a still foot) during the set. Hacienda and Auerbach make a great match (and it’s not just the beards). Dante, of Hacienda, harmonizes beautifully with Dan’s voice and bluesy sound. The set was on the longer side, but one of the most enjoyable I’ve seen in several months.

Dan played almost every song from his album, starting slow, and building up the set to a dancing frenzy. The audience, a more diverse and oddly polite group than I see at most Seattle shows (with audience members ranging from people that looked like they could, and would, kick my ass, to young kids, to hipsters, to people that looked like my dad), seemed to be having a great time, no doubt helped by Dan seeming to have a blast himself.

He finished his set with an encore that included “Goin’ Home,” a sweet little song about going home after doing everything one could ever want to do, and what seemed to be a cover of “You Really Got A Hold On Me” (though I didn’t quite catch on until the end). This concert was one of the best overall shows I’ve seen thus far this year. Definitely catch Dan Auerbach on tour if you get a chance.

Dan Auerbach and Hacienda will be playing a few shows at SXSW before heading to Australia and Europe in May.

view more photos

Various Artists - War Child presents Heroes
Various Artists - Dark Was The Night

February was the month of charity compilations. First, on Feb. 16th, came War Child Presents Heroes, a compilation to benefit War Child. Just one day later, Dark Was The Night was released to benefit the Red Hot Organization. Each has an awesome approach to making a charity album, and each turned out to be a great album for an equally great cause.

War Child is a UK-based charity that focuses on aiding children affected by war in Iraq, Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda. They help rebuild schools, rehabilitate child soldiers and lobby politicians to do more for war-affected children, to name a few of their many causes. The compilation released by War Child is a collection of covers of iconic songs from such legends as Paul McCartney, The Clash, David Bowie, Leonard Cohen, Joy Division, among many others.

The factor that sets War Child apart most from other collections of covers is the amount of participation the original artist has in the process (aside from the usual legal mumbo-jubmo). The original artists personally choose the musician or band that they want to cover their song. Some, like Mick Jones, even get involved in making the cover. Most of the choices are very fitting, such as The Kinks choosing The Kooks to cover “Victoria”, and Bob Dylan choosing Beck to cover “Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat”. Some are a little on the surprising side, like Paul McCartney’s choice of Duffy to cover “Live and Let Die”, and The Clash’s choice of Lily Allen to cover “Straight To Hell”.

Dark Was The Night, another very strong compilation, features 31 exclusive tracks to benefit the Red Hot Organization — an international charity dedicated to raising money and awareness for HIV/AIDS through popular culture. The album features new tracks from the likes of Sufjan Stevens, Bon Iver and Kevin Drew alongside interesting covers (Antony Hegarty’s androgynous vibrato adds a lovely twist to Bob Dylan’s “I Was Young When I Left Home”). There are great collaborations, such as that of Feist and Ben Gibbard to cover Vashti Bunyan’s “Train Song,” and Conor Oberst’s collaboration with Gillian Welch to rerecord Bright Eyes’ “Lua.”

If I had to choose a favorite song on Dark Was The Night, it would definitely have to be the new Sufjan Stevens track “You Are The Blood”. The first new anything we’ve heard from Stevens in a few years, this dreamy, ten-minute-long piece shows off Sufjan’s skill as a musician by moving away from the mild, folky instrumentation he’s known for, and tackling something completely new and experimental. The result is absolutely beautiful.

War Child Presents Heroes and Dark Was The Night are both very strong compilations. War Child focuses heavily on combining old and new, and Dark Was The Night is work exclusively from artists on the more modern side. While it’s always fun to see a newer artist’s personal take on an older song, it’s also great to see new material from more current musicians (especially those that haven’t released anything in a while). Both albums are definitely worth purchasing, and each supports a great cause!

These compilations are available via iTunes and Amazon. The money goes toward supporting great causes, and you get some darn good music out of the deal!

The Redwood Plan - The Redwood Plan EP

The Redwood Plan, Seattle’s newest dance-pop band, has hit the mark perfectly with their recent self-released, self-titled EP. The Redwood Plan is comprised of veteran musicians, including Lesli Wood (Ms. Led) and Jamie Hellgate (H Is For Hellgate). Their experience shows — the songs are well composed, with great riffs and catchy hooks that will likely cause you to dance awkwardly in public… I may or may not be speaking from personal experience.

Each song on The Redwood Plan has its own appeal. “Push,” the opening track, is a short, dancey song that will make you shake your boot. Resistance is futile.

“Expiration” has catchy, hard rock-inspired guitars drizzled on top of the Redwood Plan’s synth-heavy music feels like a throwback to Heart… in the best way possible.

“Je Suis Romantique” is a bass-heavy track about being a romantic; daydreaming about possibilities with a potential lover. “I know this will never look like the vision in my head… I suggest that you leave now if you can’t take the heat”.

The final track, “Something To Prove,” is a little different from the rest. It’s definitely more rock-heavy than the others, and the lyrics a little more snarky. “You don’t have to play nice. You don’t have to sit by. You can do anything you want to (want to).”

The Redwood Plan may just be the beginning of a whole new wave of synth-y grrrl rock. At the very least, this album is catchy as hell. I can’t stop listening. I’m stoked to see what this band comes out with next.

Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP

Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon has been a force to be reckoned with this last year. Following the acclaimed release of For Emma, Forever Ago (Jagjaguwar), Bon Iver has become a household name, having had his music featured in a variety of tv shows, such as Grey’s Anatomy and Chuck.

His latest release, the Blood Bank EP (Released January 20th on Jagjaguwar), is no less remarkable. Blood Bank contains four songs, all of them easily on par with those of For Emma. The sound is a little fuller than that of For Emma, and he seems to branch out a little bit from the bare bones guitars.

The title track, is a lyrical masterpiece of a love song. The opening verses present a beautiful image that set up for a great story: “I met you at the blood bank/We were looking at the bags/Wondering if any of the colors/Matched any of the names on the tags”. The mournful “Beach Baby” is about having a lover leave you, pleading with her “Don’t you lock when you lock when you’re fleein’, I’d love not to hear keys”.

“Babys” is a song with a lot of piano and very sparse vocals (not beginning until about a minute and a half in). It’s about having kids, saying that “Summer comes to multiply”, and that “My woman and I know what we’re for”. The EP finishes with “Woods”, which has a sound that most wouldn’t expect from Bon Iver. This a capella song is slowly built up by adding a layer of digitalized vocals with each repetition of the verse. The result is definitely goosebump-worthy. Though reminiscent of Imogen Heap’s “Hide and Seek”, Vernon’s woodsy touch is still tangible.

This is a great EP, and will definitely be tough to dislodge from my top five of ’09 list.

The Banyans - The Banyans

Local boys The Banyans are not your typical Seattle pop band. With a 1968 Brazilian ukulele in tow, The Banyans self-released an intricate and brilliantly polished self-titled album.

The sound seems to be drawn from myriad influences. Frontman Andy Fitts grew up in Hawaii, and the album has a tangible island influence. The Banyans also has a woodsy sound that adds something very northwest to the overall feel of the album. As a whole, the sound can be described as Sea Change-era Beck on a very relaxing Pacific island vacation (This is especially prevalent in the opening track “Across the Bow” and the dreamy “Safely Back to You”).

The subjects of the song vary, from the longing and regretful “Every Waking Minute”, a song about missing his lost love. The lyrics are sweet, and would make any girl (as corny as myself) swoon. There’s also piano-heavy “Chariot”, a kind of lyrically baffling song that seems to be from the point of view of a religious zealot trying to convert someone, ending with warning about the apocalypse. “At last we saw from above/The chariot coming down with blood/And Fire”

The Banyans is a very enjoyable album. Their sound is distinctive, but fits in very well with the overall Seattle pop scene. The album is available for free download.

The Banyans will be playing at Neumo’s on March 9th with Jubilee and The Republic.

Beirut/Realpeople - March of the Zapotec/Holland

Beirut’s Zach Condon never ceases to outdo himself. His new EP (out February 17th on his own label, Pompeii Records) demonstrates his versatility and talent as a musician. The EP is split into two parts: March of the Zapotec, which is credited to Beirut, and Holland, which is credited to one of Condon’s pre-Beirut projects, Realpeople.

For March of the Zapotec, Condon traveled to a remote part of Oaxaca, Mexico, with a translator to find a band to play on his new album. What he found was The Jiminez Band, a 19-man funeral band just outside of the tiny weaver village of Teotitlan del Valle. Though he made a point of playing with a Mexican band, and many of these songs, such as “La Llorona,” are based on Mexican themes and legends, March of the Zapotec doesn’t really seem to depart from older Beirut works. The Balkan influence still comes through loud and clear, though occasionally you’ll hear Mexican-influenced horns thrown in for good measure. The songs are beautiful, but the whole process seems a little superfluous.

Holland is something different altogether. Some of the songs are new, and others, like “My Night With the Prostitute from Marseille” and “Venice”, were previously released on compilations. The Realpeople songs are more digitally driven, sounding more like Condon’s work with Alaska In Winter than anything released by Beirut (though this does not mean the he abandons completely his trademark horns or accordion). I was a little skeptical at first, but this is definitely my favorite “half” of the EP. Condon arranged the music beautifully to fit his distinctive voice. My favorite is “My Wife, Lost In The Wild”. The melodies are simple, but the sound layering is masterful, and the harmonies complex and intriguing. Holland is an almost complete departure from most of Condon’s better-known music, but his personal touch is definitely there. The EP is unmistakably good, and unmistakably a Zach Condon original.

Sleepy Eyes Of Death - Dark Signals

Seattle shoegaze darlings Sleepy Eyes of Death have received a lot of attention over the last two years for their unusual blend of shoegaze and dance-driven electronica. In their 2007 release, Street Lights for a Ribcage, they seemed to find a comfortable balance between the two genres, but gave priority to blanketing their viewers with very dense shoegazey sound. In their latest release, Dark Signals (released January 20th), they take their sound to a whole new level.

Though they do not abandon their dense sound in Dark Signals, Sleepy Eyes of Death move things in the direction of the very electronic, making use of their arsenal of instruments, including half a dozen keyboards and a drum machine (not to mention live drums, guitars, etc.). These mostly-instrumental songs are all beautifully composed, and seem to air on a lighter side than Street Lights – some, like “Pierce the Air” are even borderline house music dancey.

Sleepy Eyes of Death’s mastery of dense shoegazey sound shines through beautifully in Dark Signals, especially in the second half of the EP, where heavy drums and heavy distortion get their fair share of the limelight in “Pulse from Breath” and “Crushed by Stars”.

This second release from Sleepy Eyes of Death is very impressive. Their command of their instruments and sound are masterful, and I really look forward to seeing what they release in the future.

Sleepy Eyes of Death will be playing at the KEXP Audioasis benefit on March 7th at Sunset Tavern with The Hands and The Beats, Man.