Built To Spill @ Capitol Hill Block Party (photo by Hilary Harris)

All jokes about Axl Rose’s awful cornrows aside, it’s wet. It’s cold. The desire to hole up, not unlike many of our small rodenty friends of the animal kingdom (except with books / TV, and hot toddies) is overwhelming, but fight it for one more week! You know where you can find warmth and heat, besides under your camouflage Snuggie? That’s right! A rock show! We here at Three Imaginary Girls have a few suggestions that may make you want to poke your heads out of your burrows one last time before Groundhog’s day! Scurry out in your scarves and rain gear and gather up bits of indie rock, classic rock, punk, rap, and soul before Old Man Winter sets in. Stuff your metaphoric cheeks with the likes of these tasty kernels:

11/13/09 - Darren Hanlon / Rose Melberg / The Special Places @ Fremont Abbey: Darren Hanlon comes from the land down under, where indie pop flows and amps thunder…Well, he may not offer you a Vegemite sandwich, but he will offer you clever lyrics, sweet vocals, and charm from the land of plenty. Rose Melburg (Tiger Trap, the Softies, solo work) and The Special Places join him to make a twee parfait that will make you feel warm and snuggly on a cold fall evening.

11/14/09 - Gin Betty/Spanish For 100/The Fuzz @ The Comet: If the rain is making you feel a bit low, Gin Betty might just reflect how you’re feeling right back at you. Whiskey drenched and soulful, the music of Gin Betty has a dreamy quality to it that will guarantee an audience of swayers with the same sleepy glaze of enjoyment smeared all over their faces.

11/15/09 - KISS @ Key Arena: Pledge your allegiance to the state of Rock and Roll with KISS! They are coming to Seattle Rock City! You gotta lose your minds to the classic sounds of the Star Child, the Catman, the Demon, and the Spaceman. The KISS Army wants you! Interesting KISS trivia: Gene Simmon’s real name is Chaim Witz and he was born in Israel. Admit it; your mind is blown too, isn’t it?

11/16/09 - Raphael Saadiq @ Showbox SoDo: Singer, songwriter, actor, video game developer, label owner, producer, is there nothing this smooth, handsome brother can’t do? Back to finish stoking the fire he started in many hearts at Bumbershoot, he will be filling the Showbox SoDo with his velvety voice and his old school R&B slow jams. Hopefully, everyone will be able to hear him over all the lovesick sighs…

11/17/09 - Girls @ Neumo’s: If Elvis Costello and the Cramps made a glittery lo-fi baby and gave it to the Jesus and Mary Chain to raise, Girls might be that baby. They’re a little bit country, a little bit rock and roll, and thankfully not at all like an Osmond.

11/18/09 - The Fiery Furnaces/Cryptacize/Dent May @ Chop Suey: The Fiery Furnaces are like that cool artsy kid that everyone knew and liked in high school. They talked to everyone, but didn’t belong to any one particular group. They were cool enough to not get trashcanned or beaten up for lunch money, but “too weird” to be prom queen or class president. The Fiery Furnaces are clever, blippy, fun, and a little all over the map. Makes you wonder- do they smoke clove cigarettes in oversized black cardigans behind the gym?

11/19/09 - Built To Spill/Disco Doom/Finn Riggins @ Showbox: Trying to encapsulate anything about this well-loved, highly respected band in this limited space seems an exercise in futility. Just imagine how cool you’ll sound to co-workers and friends when you say “I saw Built to Spill last night” instead of “Hey, that episode of the Office was really funny, huh?”

11/20/09 - “Girls Rock Benefit-Goodness/The Redwood Plan/Eighteen Individual Eyes/Alicia Dara @ High Dive: According to their mission statement, “Girls Rock! Seattle is a non-profit organization dedicated to building positive self-esteem in girls and encouraging creative expression through music.” Nuff said. Embrace your inner Ginger Spice and be all about Girl Power! I’ll tell you what I want, what I really really want is for this show to sell out and these young ladies to be able to continue to find their inner Joan Jett (what I imagine the polar opposite of zig-ah-zig-ah-ing is). Viva la chica!

Later skaters — I’m gonna go wail on my axe out in front of a church, or maybe dive through a wedding cake.
Mary Kwatkosky-Lawlor (Imaginary Mimi)
*Three Imaginary Girls*

In high i-pod rotation
Flight of the Conchords
The Feelies
Low Anthem

(Three Imaginary Girls is a Seattle-based website that showcases the great music of the Northwest and beyond to music lovers worldwide. We post a Seattle live show calendar to help you fill your day-planner with loads of great shows, as well as record reviews, live show reviews, and an imagi-blog to entertain you throughout the day.)

Several KEXP photographers roamed of the grounds of the Bumbershoot 2009 Music and Arts Festival, capturing the energy of the live performances, the sometimes bizarre spectacle of the artists and fans, and the enthusiastic spirit that makes Bumbershoot one of the greatest festivals in the country. Here’s one perspective, through the eyes photographer Jim Bennett:

view photos here

photo by Dan Muller

During this past weekend, KEXP broadcast from the Bumbershoot 2009 Music Lounge, with exclusive and intimate live performances from 14 bands over three days, including The Cave Singers, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Common Market, Metric, and the legendary Brazilian psych rock band Os Mutantes, who performed for the very first time in Seattle. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll be featuring video from these sessions on the KEXP Blog.

First up is one of the highlights for many people at the Music Lounge and at Bumbershoot in general: Raphael Saadiq. The Grammy-nominated artist, formerly of Tony! Toni! Toné!, does old school soul like you wish it would always be today, recalling the icons of the 60’s and 70’s like Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, The Delfonics and many others. He and his 8-piece band arrived, all decked out in sharp black suits, all but female vocalist Erika Jerry in a stunning red dress — for a radio performance no less! Here are a few songs from their set:

photos by Dan Muller
intro by Christy Thacker

Starting at the age of 6, singer/songwriter Raphael Saadiq has been evolving and transforming the pop R&B scene around him. He’s like a musical sponge, absorbing a multitude of influences only to churn out his own distinct sound.

His newest album, The Way I See It, takes you back to the happy and rambunctious 60’s. The three-time Grammy Award Nominated and Best Album on iTunes (2008) record is full of soulful riffs and sweet vocals. Tracks like the saucy “Just One Kiss” and “Sure Hope You Meant It” are infectious, compelling you to get up and dance all night long.

Saadiq is not just a groovy vocalist; he’s a serious musician and entrepreneur. His roots go back to old school R&B multiplatimum group Tony! Toni! Toné!. When his talent could no longer be confined to just being in a band, Saadiq moved on to become an A-list producer and songwriter, producing and writing tracks for artists like John Legend, Joss Stone and Mary J Blige.

KEXP truly saved the best band for last (of the day — there’s more to come tomorrow) as we welcomed Saadiq and his funky band to the secret Music Lounge stage. The crowd went wild when the nine member jam band began their set with the sexy tune, “Let’s Take A Walk Outside.” Throughout the show, ecstatic fans (some apparently all the way from Tokyo) hooted and hollered as Saadiq’s smooth voice overtook the room. Fortified by three sizzling backup dancers, the vocals alone were enough to make me groove. With my eyes closed, it actually sounded more like a choir than four individuals, especially during “100 Yard Dash.”

Between the saxophone, trumpet, guitar, keyboard, bass, and drums, the performance was overall a melodic explosion. The audience couldn’t get enough, chanting and clapping the band back on stage for an encore where they left us with “Big Easy.” Damn, do I wish I lived in the swinging 60’s.

Raphael Saadiq is playing the Fisher Green Stage tonight at 9:30-10:45 p.m.

!!! at the Music Lounge
photo by Dan Muller

by Chris Estey

Maybe it’s how the bands bond intimately with who they know are big fans. (Last year, Two Gallants put on one of the best performances of the festival there.) Maybe it’s the excellent sound (hey, Kevin Suggs!) in the tucked-away special venue. Perhaps it’s the posh, comfortable seats in a cool setting indoors at a festival crammed with hacky-sack playing “dudes” outside, or nary a drum circle to be heard over the artist you’re trying to watch. But if there’s one thing that makes me really happy about the evolution of Bumbershoot over the years, it’s been KEXP hosting the Music Lounge. And this year the line-up is outstanding.

Though it’s pretty much already sold out, there will likely be tickets available for various shows at the KEXP booth on the festival grounds, so people attending should check in. And of course people at home can listen on the radio or Internet. KEXP will be having immediate coverage on the Blog all through the festival.

The Bumbershoot Music Lounge returns for its fourth year with this incredible line-up, all of whom are playing the festival otherwise:

Saturday 9/5/2009

12:00PM - Hey Marseilles

This orchestrally-involved folk rock band premiered some very cool new stuff at this year’s Capitol Hill Block Party; I have the feeling they will be previewing material written since 2008’s To Travels & Trunks this weekend as well. Huge buzz about this Seattle band which recalls a less cantankerous Decemberists — probably be the next big thing.

1:15PM - Telekinesis

Death Cab’s Chris Walla produced singer/drummer Seattle-based Michael Lerner’s self-titled debut; Billboard praised its balance of “familiarity and individuality.”

2:30PM - Gang Gang Dance

Thriving live and crafting sonic collages since the early part of this decade, Gang Gang Dance are going to be a high point of the festival, and a more coherent and song-based witness of the wildly eclectic band might possibly transpire in the Music lounge. Feel free to go nuts anyways.

3:45PM - Os Mutantes

Responsible for inspiring all kinds of psyche-rock experimentation since the 60s, these godfathers and godmother of the progressive AND punk movements will also be a can’t-miss event for old fans and new strange music acolytes alike.

5:30PM - Elvis Perkins in Dearland

Brass! Clarinet! Sax! Trombone! Roots with harmonica! Their 2009 debut features poetry and Old, Weird America noise. Should be outlandishly fun.

Sunday 9/6/2009

12:00PM - Common Market

206 hip-hop duo CM blends spirituality, social observations, and class war confessions (RA Scion) with some of the best deejaying you’ll ever hear (Sabzi). These guys are really wonderful whether in a very intimate setting or commanding a big stage. One of the sweetest moments you’ll have at Bumbershoot if you catch them here.

1:15PM - Sera Cahoone

Used to be the drummer in Seattle folk-art-psyche band Carissa’s Wierd and is now crooning and plucking for Sub Pop to national acclaim with the more traditional debut Only As The Day Is Long.

2:30PM - Vivian Girls

Listening to the Vivian Girls is like surfing on a dangerous sea of the sweetest foam you’ll ever taste. This three woman band is as subversive in their hooks and lyrics as they are infectious in their grind-pop sound. I bet we’ll hear some stuff off the new album; really looking forward to “The End.”

3:45PM - Holy Fuck

!!!!!

5:30PM - Raphael Saadiq

Used to make ‘em swoon as frontman in Tony! Toni! Tone! and brings his new-trad soul strut to Bumbershoot this year solo style. His album The Way I See It received three Grammy nominations.

Monday 9/7/2009

12:00PM - Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears

This Austin band should please as they play out songs from their basement-gritty home cooked soul-rock Tell ‘Em What Your Name Is! released this year. More brass!

1:15PM - The Cave Singers

This special treat should be way packed out, as the group plays songs from their two albums, including Welcome to Joy, just released on Matador. They’re the quietest band you’ll ever hear roar with sunshine at a big festival, getting even the most stubborn wooters to shut up and bask in their sound.

2:30PM - Akron/Family

Led by legendary Swans founder M. Gira, this mesmerizing collective can go from raging psyche-overflow to more sedate ballads in the drop of a painkiller in an IV. One of the most trance-inducing new folk bands you’ll hear, but their veteran experience kind of helps them achieve that bliss.

3:45PM - Vieux Farka Toure

Malian singer-songwriter who is the heir to innovator Ali Farka Toure. A masterful blend of funk happiness with hip-hop one beat, which will carry the hypnotism of this afternoon’s line-up into the third world.

5:30PM - Metric

Bunch of very talented wavos craft a reportedly killer album out at Bear Creek, their 2009 debut Fantasies impressing all my mates at Three Imaginary Girls. I have to hear that thing — but Bumbershoot is great for new discoveries such as this!

KEXP is a proud sponsor of this year’s Fisher Green Stage located next to the KEXP booth, the Broad Street stage, and EMP|SFM’s Sky Church. More information on the festival, including the full lineup and schedule is at bumbershoot.org.

*Note* YOU MUST ALREADY HAVE A TICKET TO GET INTO BUMBERSHOOT to attend the KEXP sessions. These sessions are free, but you must sign up below for each session you would like to attend as space is limited. Attendance is on a first come, first served basis. Once you are confirmed to attend, you will receive a confirmation email with details including where to pick up your ticket to the session and other important info.