On Thursday May 7, I went to Chop Suey to see Hotels, with Erik Blood and Silver Teeth. Oddly enough, I had just met Blood the week before through mutual friends at the My Bloody Valentine show, but had no idea who he was until a few days after the fact. Unfortunately the show began earlier than I expected, and I missed Silver Teeth. Chop Suey often seems to start weekday shows on the early side, with the first band playing at 8:30, and while that's a good practice for getting in a crowd who might not normally get to shows, it does tend to throw off the regular concert-goers. Still, I have more than one friend who'd appreciate seeing more clubs set earlier start times for shows.

Erik Blood is a member of Seattle band the Turn-ons, and created his "solo" album for music that didn't fit with that band. However, not only did all the members of the Turn-ons contribute to the album, most if not all of them also joined on stage along with three other musicians for the backing band, creating a seven-piece lineup. Musically, Blood started from a basic mid-'90s alternative rock sound, with influences from shoegaze and pop. His song "To Leave America," which I recognized from KEXP airplay, was a good example of this style. However, he soon showed his skill with a variety of styles and a knack for catchy tunes. Saying he was going to try something different, he played a slow R&B crooner that, most of the way through the song, unexpectedly broke into a lovely shoegazery guitar wash (reminiscent of Kitchens of Distinction, I thought). It was a neat juxtaposition of styles, as was a later song that clearly drew upon '60s pop music. I really enjoyed the whole set, and although I wasn't able to pick up the CD The Way We Live that night, I hope to do so soon.

Hotels are becoming a challenge for me: there are only so many ways to say "I love this band!", after all. Their music is dynamic and complex but fits together with precision; it sounds full, but not overly busy. Often it feels very joyful even when the lyrics are wistful or bitter, and as I've remarked before, it urges the listener to get up and move. Indeed, before playing "Hydra," lead singer Blake declared, "You ought to dance more!", and while no real outright dancing ensued (this was a Seattle hipster audience, after all), there was definitely movement in the audience. Their moodier pieces, such as "The Heart That Hears Like A Bat," have a grand sweep to them not unlike the cinematic cabaret sound of Mono in VCF; it's perhaps not surprising then that their next album, currently in the works, is to have a spy-movie "James Bond in space" theme to it. Much to my delight, they gave us a taste of that next album by debuting a new song, "The Bat Watusi," which was perhaps a bit harder-edged and sounded great. Expect to keep reading more happy reviews of Hotels from me; better yet, go check them out yourself.

On Saturday May 2, I went to Neumos to see Mono in VCF and the Fading Collection. They were opening for Spectrum, a project of Pete "Sonic Boom" Kember, formerly with Spaceman 3. Only the front half of the main room was open for the show, which seemed odd for a Saturday night, and led to some sound problems at least for Spectrum; as Kember noted, the room was twice as big during sound check.

The Fading Collection mentioned that they are (still) working on a new record, planning to release a five-song EP in a few months and a full-length album next year. They played a few of the new songs at this show, which sounded solid, though for some reason I'm a little concerned the new music will end up being too like their previous work. One possible direction they could pursue, given their extensive use of sampled rhythm tracks in addition to the drummer, would be adding a turntablist to the live lineup—or another live percussionist. I do like their use of two singers rather than just doubling the lead vocals through samples, and I think that's a real strength of the band. Unfortunately, technical difficulties with a new keyboard led to their set being cut short, but I did enjoy what they played and felt that as a live act they're finally connecting with me.

Mono in VCF had the full seven-piece lineup for this show, which I think is always best for conveying the full sweep of their cinematic style. There was a bit of a rough edge to their sound, some of which is to be expected at any live performance, but it demonstrated again that they are better suited for a well-designed concert hall or theater rather than rock clubs. However, they still sounded gorgeous as always. They played a few songs I didn't recognize, including two that they specifically identified as new tracks. One of the new ones, "Wind", debuted for the first time at this show, and it sounded appropriately breezy and pretty. Of the other two I didn't recognize, one was called "Lost to the Galaxy" and had a country/western feel to it—if their music usually feels like '60s Euro cinema, this was a spaghetti Western tune. I enjoyed the whole set and look forward to a new release from them, which according to their site is planned for later this year.

Spectrum was billed "with live band," as though it's usually Kember appearing on his own, so I expected a heavy electronic element to the show. While Kember did use a synth and set up some looping parts, he mainly played guitar and sang; his backing band rounded out the music with guitar, bass, and drums. Although Spectrum opened with a keyboard-heavy upbeat instrumental called "Mary", a tribute to Mary Hansen of Stereolab, most of the music was slow moody guitar-driven rock. In fact, I found the music too slow and moody: the songs had almost no variation, each having a similar constant beat, key, and deadpan, slightly off-key vocals. For a band called Spectrum, the show was very monochromatic, apparently exploring an aesthetic of extreme ennui. After four mostly-plodding songs, I was bored enough that I seriously considered walking out, which is very rare for me. Finally however, they picked up the beat a little for two more songs, even using a melodic line that accelerated to the end of the first one, and added some intensity and noise. At this point I was tempted to dub their style "shoegoth", and though the slight sharpening of focus had improved things, I didn't bother to stay to see whether they did an encore.

I still have a review to write for Hotels and Eric Blood at Chop Suey last week; I'm hoping to get that done either tonight or tomorrow. Later tonight I'm actually going to see Hotels yet again, at the Comet Tavern, but haven't decided if I'll write a review for this one. The big news is that this weekend I should be at the Sasquatch Music Festival, posting updates to Facebook for KEXP and later writing some reviews. If you see me there, say hello!

On Friday, April 24, I went to the Sunset Tavern to see Franz Nicolay, the keyboardist for the Hold Steady (and, full disclosure, a good friend of my sister Andrea), on tour for his solo release Major General. Opening the show were Mostly Dimes and Moneybrother. 

Moneybrother is technically a solo project of Anders Wendin, playing acoustic guitar and singing; he was joined by another musician on electric bass, drums, and backing vocals. The bassist had both a snare and a bass drum set up as kick drums, which I thought was an interesting solution to providing the rhythm section. They played a set of very catchy pop with a nice spare sound, having kind of an early Elvis Costello or Billy Bragg vibe. The two harmonized well when singing and occasionally had some funny interplay when trading off lines. Moneybrother had some very cool songs and I want to hear more; I'm surprised KEXP isn't already on top of this.

Mostly Dimes are a folk-rock quintet including guitar and lead vocals, mandolin and vocals, guitar, bass and clarinet, and drums. They had what I thought of as an Appalachian sound, and unsurprisingly it turned out the members were from the general area of the mid-Atlantic states and Virginia. Going by the lead singer's comments beforehand, the songs tended to be about social issues. I particularly liked their first song, which had an extended instrumental section and sounded more prog-rock, but I felt the rest were a bit bland despite the occasional color added by the clarinet (and trumpet played by the lead singer on one song). Overall, I felt they were strong players but their musical style just wasn't my thing. 

When Franz Nicolay took the stage, he announced that he was a professional entertainer, which meant we were a professional audience, and he was here to professionally entertain us, which he proceeded to do for the next hour. Singing and alternately playing accordian, guitar, and banjo, he performed a cabaret-style act featuring funny introductions to whimsical and sometimes wistful songs. The songs were anecdotal, covering such experiences as working in a punk/sideshow circus, opening for the Dead Kennedys who were touring without the original lead singer, or simply answering that challenging question facing many a professional musician, "buy or rent?". Nicolay had an engaging manner and a strong singing voice, and it was great to hear a musician who understands dynamics. He finished his set with a couple sad songs on the banjo, giving the lie to Steve Martin's claim. I really enjoyed Nicolay's performance, and look forward to hearing more from him. 

I have a few photos of each band, starting here in Flickr. 

I've been remiss about posting upcoming shows, partly due to being so late with posting these reviews. However, I want to be sure you all know that Hotels are playing tomorrow night, Thursday May 7, at Chop Suey, and I will of course be there. I should also be going to see John Vanderslice doing an in-store performance at Easy Street Records in Queen Anne on Friday, May 22. Beyond that, I don't have anything lined up yet for June, so we'll see what comes up.

Three weeks ago, on Friday April 10, I went with a crew of KEXP staff and interns to the Crocodile to see Partman Parthorse, which includes KEXP DJ Rachel on bass. They were opening for Head Like A Kite, with Wild Orchard Children taking the middle slot in the bill. Despite the heavy KEXP presence, this was not an official KEXP event so I can forego the disclaimer about all views expressed here being solely my own... though that's still the case. 

Partman Parthorse are a noisy post-punk art rock quartet, heavy on the punk side of post-punk. Like their namesake the centaur, the band is a somewhat awkward combination of two parts. The musical part was very good, with a lot of interesting things going on, and I believe they'd do well as just an instrumental art-rock band. However, the vocal part mostly involved very punk-style tuneless shouting, which is not my thing at all. At least one song featured more rap-style vocals, which I think worked better, but overall I'd prefer the vocalist turned down the shouting and put a little more singing into his style. Still, again like their namesake, the combination does work in its context, and they can't be faulted for not appealing to my particular taste. I did like the band overall, and perhaps the vocals will grow on me over time. 

Although I may not have cared much for the vocal stylings of Partman Parthorse, they were far preferable to Wild Orchid Children. This psychedelic jam band can be easily summed up as sounding like Zack de la Rocha (of Rage Against the Machine) fronting the band Santana. The lead singer sang a little bit in one song, providing more of a Hendrix feel, but otherwise just shouted unintelligibly in a most grating fashion. I thought the music was fine and band was enjoyable enough when the vocalist wasn't shouting—he also played conga—but the longer their set went on the less I liked them, entirely due to the vocalist. It's rare that I will come out against a band, but while I'd recommend you check out Partman Parthorse for yourself, I cannot recommend Wild Orchid Children. 

Fortunately, headliners Head Like A Kite were worth the wait. The duo of Dave Einmo (guitar, synths, sampler, and vocals) and Trent Moorman (drums, keys, sampler, and vocals) played a funky set of electropop to a very excited full crowd. They created a crazy party atmosphere for the show, starting with a fog machine and background video of Barbie-type dolls having sex, and later having dancers in weird bright-colored costumes—I was told the suits were of "Nordy", the old Nordstrom mascot—on stage and in the crowd. Graig Markel jumped in on backing vocals a few times during the set, which seemed appropriate as the band's sound was similar to his current project, The Animals at Night. Later in the set, they were also joined by a pair of female singers and a guitarist or two for a few songs, including "Daydream Vacation". I also recognized "We Were So Entangled" and "A Dime and a Cigarette", and was hoping for "Noisy at the Circus" but unfortunately they didn't play it. Oddly, I found the music was not as engaging as I had expected, but the show was still entertaining and enjoyable, and I'm glad I stayed to see them. 

I have a small set of photos mostly featuring Head Like A Kite, starting here in Flickr.

Friday, 4/17 join John Richards, Cheryl Waters and Kevin Cole for a live broadcast from Caffé Vita all day long. Featuring performances by Mates of State, Black Kids, Moondoggies, and more. Stick around that night for discounts at local business, KEXP DJs at Capitol Hill Clubs, and showcases at the The Comet, Wildrose, and Everyday Music. For more information visit the Hood to Hood 2009 page on KEXP.org.