The sun finally broke last week for the fourth Friday in the Concerts at the Mural series, presented by KEXP and Seattle Center. Once again, a large crowd gathered at the Mural Amphitheater for another free show, this time featuring The Dodos and Army Navy. You can check out a few videos of the evening here and photos, courtesy of Brittney Bush Bollay, right here:

Army Navy:

The Dodos:

view more photos

Only one more concert remains in the KEXP and Seattle Center sponsored series Concerts at the Mural. These free shows have been a big hit, with bands like Blitzen Trapper, Japandroids, Dinosaur Jr., Throw Me the Statue, and Dyme Def, performing for fans of all ages.

This past Friday, two California bands flew up just for this event and just in time for the weather to break. LA’s Army Navy (with roots in the NW) inspired the sunlit crowd with their ebullient power pop, which San Francisco trio The Dodos followed with an equally energetic, boot-stomping set. Here are a few videos from the evening’s performances plus an exclusive live acoustic version of The Dodos performing “Acorn Factory” underneath Alexander Liberman’s “Olympic Iliad” sculpture:

This Friday, head over to the Seattle Center’s Mural Amphitheater for Fruit Bats, The Moondoggies, and Johnny and the Moon. The Beer Garden opens at 5PM and performances start at 6PM.

Things get started tonight at 5pm, with the Beer Garden opening its gates and KEXP DJ Troy Nelson on the 1’s and 2’s.  Army Navy’s set is scheduled for 6pm, followed by The Dodos sometime around 7pm.  Head down early for a prime spot on the lawn and take advantage of all this great free music!

Kyle Johnson

Need a little spice in your Friday evenings? Ticketmaster service fees got you down? Well, my friend, KEXP has got just the prescription for you.

Starting this weekend, KEXP is teaming up with the good people behind Seattle Center to present a weekly series of free, all-ages concerts on the lawn of the Mural Amphitheater. Come bask in the warm glow of Seattle summer and enjoy live performances from some of KEXP’s favorite artists, every Friday from 5-8pm, July 31st through August 21st.

The series opens this Friday with the country-fried power pop stylings of Portland’s Blitzen Trapper, followed by the lyrical indie-rock of local outfit Throw Me The Statue. Other upcoming artists include the 206’s own Dyme Def and Fresh Espresso -- two of the most forward-thinking groups in hip-hop today — along with down-home rockers The Moondoggies and percussive-folkies The Dodos.

As special inclusion to the series, the 7th Annual KEXP BBQ will also be taking place at the Mural stage and is now a free event. This year’s BBQ lineup includes breakout bands like Cymbals Eat Guitars and Japandroids, as well as a special headlining set from the legendary Dinosaur Jr.

For the full mural series and BBQ lineup, see below. You’ll also find some free tunes from some of the performing artists — check em out!

Friday 7/31, 5-8pm
Blitzen Trapper
Throw Me the Statue

Friday 8/7, 5-8pm
Dyme Def
Fresh Espresso

Saturday 8/8, 7th Annual KEXP BBQ! 2-9pm
Dinosaur Jr
Viva Voce
Cymbals Eat Guitars
Japandroids
Born Anchors
Champagne Champagne

Friday 8/14, 5-8pm
The Dodos
Army Navy

Friday 8/21, 5-8pm
Fruit Bats
The Moondoggies
Johnny and the Moon

Throw Me The Statue - Lolita

Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation (MP3)

Dinosaur Jr - I Want You To Know (MP3)

The Dodos - Fools

Fresh Espresso - Big or Small (MP3)

Chad Syme

• Lots of free new music in the news today! Sup Pop band Fruit Bats, who have finished their latest album (which they previewed on KEXP earlier this year), are offering the title track of the forthcoming album, The Ruminant Band:

• NYC dance post-punkers The Rapture have announced the departure of bassist and vocalist Mattie Safer. Although the announcement stated Safer’s departure was actually in early April, it also claimed the group has “been on a creative tear” and is ready to hit the studio with new material.

• Recent KEXP in-studio guests Foreign Born have just released a video for their single “Winter Games.” That’s some seriously fancy footwork.

• Blogger Kevin Cogill has been sentenced to two years probation for leaking tracks off of Guns N Roses’ 2008 album, Chinese Democracy. Wow, dude, was it really worth it, for THAT album?

• Fans are clamoring for The Dodos, who will be playing one of KEXP’s Mural Concert Series — on 8/14 in fact — to release, Time To Die, the followup to their critically acclaimed Visiter. The album, though, doesn’t come out until 9/15, but you can already preview the song “Fables” already, thanks to Frenchkiss.

• And if it’s more new music you want, head over to Stereogum to stream Thom Yorke performing a cover of Miracle Legion’s “All The Best,” which appears Ciao My Shining Star: The Songs of Mark Mulcahy, and is probably the best thing he’s recorded solo yet!

• With the ruckus Billy Corgan has been making lately, it’s only fair the true weirdo of The Smashing Pumpkins, bassist D’arcy Wretzky, finally breaks her silence. Calling into Chicago rock station Q101, she states her love for Silversun Pickups, her views on the rock’n’roll lifestyle, her new Michigan farm home, and some other stuff that’s pretty out there.

• The Strokes’ frontman Julian Casablancas has announced a solo album to be released this fall, entitled Phrazes for the Young. He’s also planning a solo tour this fall to support the album.

• Iconic producer Moby has announced a North American tour with a full band, with a Seattle date on October 19 at the Showbox.

^{photo by Hilary Harris}

Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent artists that our DJs think you should hear. Today’s featured selection begins our coverage of some of the bands playing the Capitol Hill Block Party as chosen by John in the Morning.  We bring you Fools by The Dodos from the band’s 2nd full-length Visiter on Frenchkiss Records.

Not too many people study West African Ewe drumming, but that’s precisely what Meric Long did before he embarked as a one-man acoustic act billed as Dodobird.  Soon, he got into country blues fingerpicking and wanted to create a band where drumming could be at the forefront to help bring out the syncopated rhythms he was doing on his acoustic guitar.  Through a roommate, he met drummer Logan Kroeber, who had also been experimenting with drumming, and the two began performing as The Dodo’s in 2006. Paired with incredibly sing-alongable lyrics, the band’s almost tribally rhythmic songs garnered quite a bit of attention with their first album Beware of the Maniacs and they toured extensively with Les Savy Fav, the Akron/Family and Peter and the Wolf before taking time to work on Visiter.  For this album, the band wanted to capture more of the intensity of their live sound on this album so they set about recording the basic drums and guitar simultaneously with very little post-production.  While working on the tracking, the din of a thunderstorm inspired an impromptu horn session with guest trumpeter Cory Gray, who can be heard on this song.  Also interesting to note, the album title and artwork for Visiter came from students in South Central LA after the band played for them. 

You can catch The Dodos at the Capitol Hill Block Party at 9pm on July 25th or listen to their performance live on KEXP’s streaming archives from the Pitchfork Music Festival (Look up Sunday July 21st 3pm or click here).  More dates can be found on their MySpace page or website.  For a preview of their performance at the CHBP, check out this live footage from the band’s most recent stop in Seattle, at Neumo’s, and this official video for “Fools”: