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Once again I go to a show that I hadn’t planned to but my friend was going and I went too. I hadn’t seen Chromatics play in well over two years. The last time I saw them was at the old Vera Project when they were a two-piece (just Adam and Nat). Now Chromatics are a three-piece with Adam and two other dudes I’ve never seen before. At first I thought the drummer was none other than Joe Piscopo but I was mistaken. Joe Piscopo does not play the drums; that’s crazy!

The set was good. It was made better by the non-stop dancing going on in the crowd. Chromatics played as part of Chop Suey’s “Club Pop” which seems to attract the most energetic hipsters in Seattle. The only people standing around with their arms crossed were, well, me and my buddy Mike. Because that’s what we do. Plus, you know, dancing around like an idiot doesn’t really lend itself to a good recording when you’re stealthing.

Chromatics – 2006-10-26 Chop Suey – Seattle, WA
Download: chromatics2006-10-26.at943.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: chromatics2006-10-26sample.mp3

This is the most epic Line Rider video I’ve ever seen. Amazing.

I went to this show because Rex Ray from Phobophobe sent me an e-mail and invited me to come tape. That’s the first time that’s ever happened. Made me feel good.

Openers were Cock And Swan. They’re a sort of electronic indie pop band in the vein of Mum or Boards of Canada. Very subdued and lo-fi and very good. They also did a really great cover of The Flaming Lips’ In The Morning Of The Magicians. The bass player nailed the bass line in that song and I enjoyed it a great deal.

Phobophobe sounds nothing like Cock And Swan. They’re rock that reminds me of Joy Wants Eternity in a lot of ways. Their brand of post-rock incorporates vocals from time to time, but it’s about 90 percent pure guitars and drums. Some really great progressions and breakdowns going on in this set so I suggest you check it out. Better yet, go see them in Edmonds at the Halcyon on the 11th. I’m pretty sure I’ll be there.

Cock And Swan – 2006-10-24 Crocodile Cafe – Seattle, WA
Download: cas2006-10-24.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: cas2006-10-24sample.mp3

Phobophobe – 2006-10-24 Crocodile Cafe – Seattle, WA
Download: phobophobe2006-10-24.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: phobophobe2006-10-24sample.mp3

I’ve been waiting to see The Tyde live for a long long time. Since I first heard Twice I’ve been looking forward to seeing them reproduce those pop gems at a concert. Turns out, they never tour because their lead singer is a kindergarten teacher and he can’t very well just take time off when there are finger paintings to be made. I can forgive him for that. They played all of my favorite songs and it was everything I hoped it could be.

The last time I saw The Black Angels was at the Capitol Hill Block Party in July. It was outside. It was hot. It was bright. It didn’t sound that great. This time it was in a proper venue with their actual sound engineer working the boards. Vocals were echoed and boomy. Guitars were loud and blaring. The house was rocked. All around a really great set with a good crowd. Everyone seemed pretty “into it”.

I got a soundboard feed because I was helping the guys at Live Eye TV with audio and video. I tried matrixing my AUD source to the SBD source and realized I’m really bad at it. I don’t think I know the proper way to matrix a recording because whatever I’m doing isn’t working. The idea I’m using is that the SBD track is the main audio and the AUD track is the auxiliary audio. So in order to keep them in sync, I split up the AUD track by song and shift it so that it lines up with the beginning of the song in the SBD track. This doesn’t seem to work all that well. There has to be a better way… anyone have any advice?

Let me know what you think of the matrix mixes. If you think they suck, I’ll post the separate AUD source. I think The Tyde one is ok but the Black Angels one was tricky because they use so much reverb.

Voyager One – 2006-10-23 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: vo2006-10-23.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: vo2006-10-23sample.mp3

The Tyde – 2006-10-23 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: tyde2006-10-23.akgc1000s.matrix.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: tyde2006-10-23sample.mp3

The Black Angels – 2006-10-23 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: ba2006-10-23.akgc1000s.matrix.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: ba2006-10-23sample.mp3

Cursive is the kind of band that you listen to on CD and you wonder how well the lead singer really sounds live. It’s so smooth and velvety yet throaty and deep. If you’ve ever seen them live, you know that Tim Kasher’s voice translates perfectly to a live setting. He sounds just like on the albums. I’d wager he sounds even better actually.

Opening for Cursive were Chin Up Chin Up and The Thermals. Both sets were pretty great, I thought. All-around a good show.

Some facts that may interest you:

Chin Up Chin Up – 2006-10-20 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: cucu2006-10-20.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: cucu2006-10-20sample.mp3

The Thermals – 2006-10-20 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: thermals2006-10-20.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: thermals2006-10-20sample.mp3

Cursive – 2006-10-20 Neumo’s – Seattle, WA
Download: cursive2006-10-20.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: cursive2006-10-20sample.mp3

Retreivr will fetch you a photo from Flickr when you draw a sketch of what you think it looks like. I just like to draw boobs and see what it nets me.

Man. I’ve been going to a lot of shows lately. But, you know, I can’t just not go to them. That’s crazy talk for fools and gypsies. I am neither of those thing (no offense to gypsies) so I went to see The Elected and Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s last night at The Paradox. For the uninformed, The Elected is a side project of Rilo Kiley featuring Blake Sennett and Jason Boesel.

When I heard the band name “Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s” I immediately thought of synthy dreampop. I was expecting something straight out of the K Records catalog. You know; 606 drum tracks and a Nord Lead. Well, they had the Nord Lead but they also had: a Fender Rhoads, two guitarists, drums, trumpet, and auxiliary percussion. It was more like big-band alt-country than anything else. Powerfully earnest vocals backed by soft-spoken female harmonies; that sort of thing. Needless to say, it was good. It’s the kind of stuff I dig.

I’d never actually listened to The Elected before this show but I’m more inclined to do so now that I’ve seen them live. The ten minute version of “Biggest Star” impressed the hell out of me. The way Blake and Mike dueled with their guitars… it was like they were making out. The guitars I mean, not the guys. Also: some of the greatest on-stage banter I’ve heard in a while. I will quote:

I bet you can count the number of times someone puts ‘fucking’ in the middle of jelly beans on one hand each year. So, if nothing else, you saw that.

I’ll admit, the awe of being entertained by Joey ‘The Rat’ Epstein never really wore off. I really wanted to scream Live by the rat, die by the rat! at him but I thought that a) would piss him off and b) wouldn’t sound nearly as funny as it does in my head. I think I made a wise choice.

Margot… – 2006-10-17 The Paradox Theatre – Seattle, WA
Download: margot2006-10-17.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: margot2006-10-17sample.mp3

The Elected – 2006-10-17 The Paradox Theatre – Seattle, WA
Download: elected2006-10-17.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: elected2006-10-17sample.mp3

What a great night for instrumental rock. I mean, how often do you get to see three amazing instrumental bands all play in one night? Last night at The Nectar Lounge in Fremont, Caspian, You.May.Die.In.The.Desert and Joy Wants Eternity all played to a crowd of about 30 people and everyone who was there really wanted to be there. It wasn’t like there were people at the bar who didn’t really care about the music… everyone there really wanted to hear these bands play and they were ready to pay attention.

Actually, Caspian wasn’t officially on this bill. They had a lot of trouble booking a venue in Seattle and had even taken the date off of their myspace tourdates because there wasn’t anywhere for them to play. I’m very thankful that You.May.Die.In.The.Desert let them play the show because Caspian puts on a really really awesome show. The new songs are epic and amazing. I’m so excited for the album to drop in February.

The guys in Caspian were so nice too. I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to have a member of a band ask me “Can we put this recording on The Archive?” That he even knew about archive.org made me smile and that he wanted the recording to go on the site made me grin even more. How awesome is that?

You.May.Die.In.The.Desert impressed the hell out of me too. I think they are a perfect example of how different instrumental rock can sound when you really try to break out of the box. All three of these guys are amazingly good at their instruments and they use those skills to craft Don Caballero-esque songs that sound like you’re hearing them in that transitory state between waking and sleeping. I fully expect these guys to blow up the scene and get the recognition (and record contract) they deserve.

Caspian – 2006-10-15 Nectar Lounge – Seattle, WA
Download: caspian2006-10-15.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: caspian2006-10-15sample.mp3

You.May.Die.In.The.Desert – 2006-10-15 Nectar Lounge – Seattle, WA
Download: ymditd2006-10-15.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: ymditd2006-10-15sample.mp3

Joy Wants Eternity – 2006-10-15 Nectar Lounge – Seattle, WA
Download: jwe2006-10-15.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: jwe2006-10-15sample.mp3

Snarl is a framework that can be used by any application to display popups (ala Toaster, Miranda, etc.) Instead of every app making its own popups, Snarl provides a central platform.

Always bring your second recording device. Always.

If I had brought my JB3 to the show last night I could have easily gotten a soundboard feed and this was one show where that would have been very helpful. The Sunset Tavern is a bar and people will pay the seven dollar cover charge to go there and talk while all the bands play. Color me confused because I don’t understand this practice. Why these people refuse to go to a bar where there isn’t a cover charge escapes me completely.

That said, I love Math & Physics Club so goddamn much. This is the type of pop music that should be made forever and ever without pause. Charles’ vocals remind me heavily of Jason Korzen (Barcelona, Sprites) but with that soft sheen that you get from singers like Stuart Murdoch (Belle & Sebastian). It really is something quite soothing and beautiful. Too bad the drunk crowd was too loud for anyone to hear anything. The beginning of the set was very hard to hear but it got better near the middle when people either quieted down or left. I really wish I had brought my JB3. So angry.

Boat 2006-10-14 Sunset Tavern – Seattle, WA
Download: boat2006-10-14.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: boat2006-10-14sample.mp3

Math & Physics Club 2006-10-14 Sunset Tavern – Seattle, WA
Download: mapc2006-10-14.akgc1000s.flac16.zip
MP3 Sample: mapc2006-10-14sample.mp3