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Yet again it takes me two weeks to put up a show. I used to be so good about doing it the next day.

This show was the final night of The Vera Project’s re-opening celebration. Let’s do a quick rundown of the show.

Ghost To Falco opened the show and I liked them. The third song they played had such a sweet looped guitar line in it so that song is highly recommended.

Tiny Vipers followed and she was just as good as the last time I saw her. She’s kind of like Joanna Newsom but instead of a harp she plays a guitar. Such a good voice.

The Holy Ghost Revival played third. Imagine if Axl Rose grew up on the Hog Farm. That’s what the lead singer embodies. This band really got the crowd going.

Headliner was Phil Elverum performing as Mt. Eerie. I’d never seen him perform before and I’d only listened to some of The Microphones’ material, so I didn’t really know what to expect. What he delivered was about an hour of endearing acoustic ballads about everything and anything. His performance style reminded me of Kimya Dawson a great deal. Highly recommended.

All in all, a good show. And it was free too. So… win-win-win. We all win.

Ghost To Falco – 2007-02-25 The Vera Project – Seattle, WA
Download: gtf2007-02-25.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: gtf2007-02-25sample.mp3

Tiny Vipers – 2007-02-25 The Vera Project – Seattle, WA
Download: tv2007-02-25.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: tv2007-02-25sample.mp3

The Holy Ghost Revival – 2007-02-25 The Vera Project – Seattle, WA
Download: hgr2007-02-25.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: hgr2007-02-25sample.mp3

Mt. Eerie – 2007-02-25 The Vera Project – Seattle, WA
Download: mteerie2007-02-25.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: mteerie2007-02-25sample.mp3

Watching any performance that These Arms Are Snakes puts on is like dropping a ball of yarn off of the Empire State Building and holding onto to the end of the string. All you can do is watch it unravel and fly around.

Not to say that their shows are an ungodly mess. Quite the opposite. Their performance is an ungodly ball of awesome. It’s just that the frontman, Steve Snere, takes it upon himself to slowly lose it at every show. He doesn’t go into G.G. Allin territory or anything, but he certainly doesn’t “keep it together”. There is seductive dancing on top of the house stacks. There is “oh shut the fuck up” shouted at the crowd. There is undulating of hips on members of the crowd. All of these things and more can be had at a Snakes show.

They played a lot of stuff from the new album and since the new album is kickassawesome, this show was kickassawesome. Akimbo also trotted out some new songs with some face-melting shredding going on. All in all: a fun show to help commemorate the re-opening of The Vera.

Akimbo – 2007-02-24 The Vera Project – Seattle, WA
Download: akimbo2007-02-24.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: akimbo2007-02-24sample.mp3

These Arms Are Snakes – 2007-02-24 The Vera Project – Seattle, WA
Download: taas2007-02-24.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: taas2007-02-24sample.mp3

I know I taped this almost a month ago and I’m just now getting it uploaded. I sort of forgot that I recorded this and it sat on my hard drive until this weekend. Sorry.

Not much to say about this show. Three droner/stoner rock bands playing for what seemed like forever. I was a little drunk at the show so it was a good time to just stand there with a huge bottle of Red Stripe in my hand (I seriously didn’t know they made them that huge) and bob my head. And bob my head I did. Not much else you can do at a show like this. And there is nothing wrong with that.

Grey – 2007-02-03 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: grey2007-02-03.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: grey2007-02-03sample.mp3

Grails – 2007-02-03 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: grails2007-02-03.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: grails2007-02-03sample.mp3

Om – 2007-02-03 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: om2007-02-03.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: om2007-02-03sample.mp3

Last week I was at a Stephen Malkmus show (not taping) and about halfway through the show, a gentleman behind me made the following proclamation:

“These are the most boring people I’ve ever seen. Just look at them! They’re like fucking zombies!”

I really wanted to turn around and tell him “Hey guy. Turns out no one gives a shit.” but I didn’t. I guess he kind of has a point. Concert goers –especially in Seattle– have a penchant for standing and lightly bobbing their heads. And, honestly, can you blame them? Do you really want everyone doing The Jerk and The Pony to a fucking Stephen Malkmus song? Truth is, most rock music is head-bob-worthy but not really shake-your-ass-worthy. That’s just how rock music is.

I’ve read the opinions of Girl Talk’s detractors online and one thing that rubs a lot of the contrarians the wrong way is that Greg mashes top 40 hip-hop with seemingly unfitting pop radio hits (such as The 5 Stairsteps’ “Ooh Child”) and listeners are expected to lap it all up with a healthy spoonful of irony. Other people claim that mashups are just plain boring and uninspired. Still others say that his latest album Night Ripper is nothing more than a DJ set and not really an album worth praising.

I will say this, though: No matter what beef you have with Greg Gillis’ musicianship and “hipster cross-over” appeal, you cannot deny that, at the very least, he is forcing all of those asshole hipsters that the Internet loves to bash to gyrate their hips, shake their asses, raise their arms, and move their feet. And that is something that is inarguably good. Something that only happens because the Internet Hype Machine got the hipsters on board with Girl Talk but didn’t tell them that at the shows they’d have to actually participate and visibly have a good time.

The show was amazing and epic. He comes out in a full sweatsuit and cheap sunglasses while his intro plays. Throughout the set he gets sweatier and sweatier until he’s just wearing pants. And he’s not just getting sweaty because the stage lights are hot; no, he’s breaking a sweat because he takes every opportunity to dance with the crowd that has formed on stage with him or crowd surf on the audience below him. During his finale Nirvana cover, he was hanging upside down from the rafters above the stage lip and shouting into the microphone while the audience held him up.

And there was dancing of all kinds. The same “zombies” you see at Sonic Youth shows staring at Thurston’s pedal boards were busting moves, cutting rugs, popping, locking, and getting their collective freak on.

Girl Talk – 2007-01-27 Chop Suey – Seattle, WA
Download FLAC: gtalk2007-01-27.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
Download MP3 gtalk2007-01-27.akgc1000s.mp3.zip
MP3 Sample: gtalk2007-01-27sample.mp3

Vellela Vellela – 2007-01-27 Chop Suey – Seattle, WA
Download: vv2007-01-27.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: vv2007-01-27sample.mp3

I haven’t taped a lot of shows in the past few weeks. Part of that is being busy with friends and part of it is being busy with work (and part of that is the fact that I now have three jobs and I’m working 65 hours a week).

In any case, now is not the time to fret. Taping is still fun and I love doing it. I’m going to go to the Girl Talk show at the end of the month and stealth tape that. I might also tape Justin King at the end of the month as well. Then I’m doing Do Make Say Think, Annuals, and #12 Looks Like You in February, Red Sparowes in March, and who knows what else after that.

So anyway, like I promised before: here are some shows I taped but never put on the site. If you’re a fan of These Arms Are Snakes then you will enjoy this post. There should be something for everyone in this post, though, really.

The Advantage – 2006-01-06 Paradox Theatre – Seattle, WA
Download: advantage2006-01-06.at943.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: advantage2006-01-06sample.mp3

These Arms Are Snakes – 2006-01-28 The Showbox – Seattle, WA
Download: taas2006-01-28.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: taas2006-01-28sample.mp3

Minus The Bear – 2006-01-28 The Showbox – Seattle, WA
Download: mtb2006-01-28.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: mtb2006-01-28sample.mp3

These Arms Are Snakes – 2006-02-22 Crocodile Cafe – Seattle, WA
Download: taas2006-02-22.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: taas2006-02-22sample.mp3

Animal Collective – 2006-03-02 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: ac2006-03-02.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: ac2006-03-02sample.mp3

Band Of Horses – 2006-03-04 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: boh2006-03-04.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: boh2006-03-04sample.mp3

These Arms Are Snakes – 2006-03-31 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: taas2006-03-31.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: taas2006-03-31sample.mp3

Yeah so Registerfly never let me know that my domain was about to expire and it lapsed. Then I paid the 9 dollar renewal fee and it still hadn’t been renewed. Then I tried for days to get someone to respond to a support ticket or a phone call (on hold for over an hour) or even an online support chat… nothing. Then I found out that I had to pay 13 dollars to re-activate the expired domain which leads me to believe that I didn’t really have to pay a renewal fee to begin with but I’m not even going to bother trying to get my 9 dollars back. I just won’t ever register a domain again with Registerfly because their support sector is a fucking joke.

Also, sorry there haven’t been any live recordings in a while… I haven’t gone to any shows and I’m working two jobs. I’m going to try to tape Do Make Say Think next month and Red Sparowes in March. In between I’ll try and catch some local acts and see what I can get recorded. Maybe I’ll put up some tapes I made before I had this site up and running. I have an Animal Collective recording and a Band of Horses recording and they’re both pretty good. I’ll try and get those up tonight.

I don’t normally do this kind of thing. See, I listen to a lot of bands. A lot of albums. A lot of songs. Sometimes I’m struck by a band and I think “Damn. That sure is a nice song.” Other times I’m simply floored by a band. You know, like the first time I listened to Explosions In The Sky.

Then I listen to a band and it goes beyond “floored”. It’s probably something that only happens once to everyone. When you listen to a band and your world is made better for it. Your life is better because of a body of music. That’s not something that does or should happen everyday.

I’m talking about this band El Ten Eleven. They’re everything that is perfect and good in this world encapsulated in two men playing a guitar and drums.

When I say “guitar” I don’t mean any old guitar either. He plays a double-neck Gibson that has a bass on one neck and a regular guitar on the other. At the same time. He’ll loop one riff into a DL4 then he’ll start a new one. Then he’ll lay some more bass on top. Then you’ll wonder why your mind is stuck inside of itself like a small child wearing a jacket that is much too large for him.

I want to take this opportunity to talk about one song on their self-titled album in particular. See, this song is called Fanshawe and it’s the most epic work on the entire thing. There is a part in the song. In this part the guitar starts making these tones that I call “the neeners”. It’s an army of neeners comprised of 1/8th notes and they fly all over the place. You might think that is a disorienting thing to endure. That’s why the bass guitar comes in to ground you. The bass line slides in ever so gently with a battalion of 1/4th notes and it lets you know that it’s ok to bob your head. Even though the neeners have established themselves as hegemon in the land of Fanshawe, you can still bob your head. Everything is going to be ok.

And they’re recording a new album. And that means they’ll be touring soon. And that means I’ll get to see them. And then nothing can go wrong.

Drove up to Bellingham to catch Ratatat because their show with The Faint in Seattle was sold out.

Both recordings turned out ok for a stealth job. Thanks to the douchebag who kept shouting “SEVENTEEN YEARS!” during and in between every song. Yeah, he’s the same guy you’ll hear clapping throughout the recording. He pretty much single-handedly ruined the tape.

Oh well.

Panther – 2006-12-01 WWU – Bellingham, WA
Download: panther2006-12-01.at943.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: panther2006-12-01sample.mp3

Ratatat – 2006-12-01 WWU – Bellingham, WA
Download: ratatat2006-12-01.at943.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: ratatat2006-12-01sample.mp3

I was in the mood to drone out to some noise. Some tones. Some frequencies. You know, something that requires me to glaze my eyes over and nod my head to a beat that isn’t there.

I stealthed because, you know, dude who runs sound at The Crocodile requires explicit permission from every band you want to tape and I didn’t have that. Oh well. They played for a solid hour and I’ll tell you what; I nearly bagged it and went home about three quarters of the way through. But, being the trouper that I am, I stuck it out. Like a man. Like a man’s man. Because that’s what I am.

Wolf Eyes – 2006-11-09 Crocodile Cafe – Seattle, WA
Download: we2006-11-09.at943.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: we2006-11-09sample.mp3

What’s beef?
Beef is when you need two gats to go to sleep.
Beef is when your moms ain’t safe up in the streets.
Beef is when I see you, guaranteed to be an ICU.

One more time, what’s beef?
Beef is when you make your enemies start your Jeep.
Beef is when you roll no less than thirty deep.
Beef is when I see you, guaranteed to be an ICU. Check it.

Ok so there wasn’t any actual beef going on last night, but I got a glimpse into some real hip-hop conflict last night at the Islands show.

Subtitle opened the show up and rapped to some pre-recorded beats on an iPod (not sure how hip-hop that is, but hey, dude’s gotta work with what he’s got). He probably did more talking than rapping because he was performing to about thirty people who weren’t that interested in anything at all. As he was talking, he got into how his new record was banned (re: recalled by the label). He went on to not so subtly mention that Madlib, who apparently gave him two beats to work with on the album, had some problem with him using the beats so the album had to go back on the shelf.

I’m not one to propagate beef nor am I one to hide the truth of the beef. Just know that I will be strapped and ready to throw down if, at any point, the beef is thrown down in front of me. Beef or no beef, I’m ready to beef it out. Ok, I just love using the term “beef” to refer to something other than meat. I’m a simpleton.

They see me rollin’. They hatin’.
Patrollin’ they tryin to catch me ridin dirty.
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty
My music so loud. I’m swangin’.
They hopin’ that they gon’ catch me ridin’ dirty.
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty
Tryin to catch me ridin dirty

So Blueprint was supposed to open the show but when the stage was ready to be rapped upon, he was nowhere to be found. That’s why Subtitle went on first. About halfway through Subtitle’s set, Blueprint rolls in carrying all of his DJ’s gear (but with no DJ).

After Subtitle finishes up, Blueprint starts to do his set by DJ’ing himself while he raps and he seems to be able to handle it just fine. A few minutes into his set, DJ Rare Groove runs on stage and starts doing his thing.

So the story behind all of this was that Blueprint and Rare Groove flew into Seattle that afternoon from Denmark and TSA found some “contraband” on Rare Groove and detained him and Blueprint. They let Blueprint go and he made it to the venue but they wouldn’t let Rare Groove go. I guess at some point they decided to let him out and he finally got to the venue.

I guess it could have all been a ruse but I’m pretty convinced this happened.

Life ain’t nothin but bitches and money,
Cause I’m tha type o’ nigga that’s built ta last.
If ya fuck wit me I’ll put a foot in ya ass.
See I don’t give a fuck ’cause I keep bailin.
Yo, what the fuck are they yellin?

Gangsta, Gangsta! That’s what they’re yellin.

Islands truly are gangstas. Gangstas of pop music, violins, bass clarinets, Nord leads, and everything perfect and good in music. They are gangstas in the truest sense of the word. You might even call them OG’s. You might, but you wouldn’t because that would be a lie. Real gangstas don’t lie (lest The Game make a documentary about your propensity for lying and everyone will know what a snitch and a liar you truly are. You don’t want that. Trust me.)

Check the new tunes. Not even the same new tunes they rocked last time. I’m talkin’ ’bout Bucky Little Wing, Quittez, We Swim, and The Arm. These songs make me so excited for the new record to drop. That’s what records to in the hip-hop world. They drop. I like to think that Islands are privy to that sort of slang, though, given their closeness to the hip-hop culture.

Subtitle – 2006-11-06 Crocodile Cafe – Seattle, WA
Download: subtitle2006-11-06.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: subtitle2006-11-06sample.mp3

Blueprint – 2006-11-06 Crocodile Cafe – Seattle, WA
Download: blueprint2006-11-06.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: blueprint2006-11-06sample.mp3

Islands – 2006-11-06 Crocodile Cafe – Seattle, WA
Download: islands2006-11-06.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: islands2006-11-06sample.mp3