I was a skeptic of ABC's hugely popular television show "Lost" at first - but all it took was a few episodes to get me hooked, and boy howdy am I. Apart from gorgeous sets and perfectly cast characters, what really makes Lost compelling is the storyline...non-linear and full of mystery (what the hell IS the smoke monster anyway?), it constantly leaves you on the edge of your seat and makes you wait in high anticipation for the next episode - so it's no surprise that when I sent a tweet saying the writers were going to be at Bumbershoot this year the RTs were plentiful and geeks around Seattle rejoiced.

A panel and Q&A at this year's festival will feature Executive Producers & Writers Carlton Cuse, Eddy Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, hosted by Jeff Jensen, Senior Writer for Entertainment Weekly.

I'm pretty sure they're not going to answer any direct questions about where next season is going, but maybe you can find out if the rumor about Charlie coming back is true (or in my case, get Sawyer's phone number). Heads up, people - this thing is gonna be packed.

{The Executive Producers & Writers of "Lost" will be at Bumbershoot on Monday, September 7 from 3:30-4:45pm at the Leo K Theater}

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Over the past few years, Hotels have emerged as one of the most enjoyable bands in Seattle. They have a synth-heavy sound recalling artists such as New Order, Joy Division and OMD; their excellent second album, Where Hearts Go Broke, would not sound out of place if it were released by Factory Records circa 1981.

I’ve known a few members of Hotels casually for a couple of years and it is a pleasure to watch their live show and recorded music improve and grow more confident while finding their own sound and take on their inspirations. They’ve played several important shows this year, including the Capitol Hill Block Party and playing at the Crocodile just a few nights after its big reopening. They’ll also be playing Bumbershoot this year on Saturday, September 5 (at 2:00pm in the EMP Sky Church).

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De La Soul's single "Me, Myself and I" was a hit in 1989 and all over MTV at the time. That was a time when I was just discovering music videos (I was ten years old then) and didn't know what to make of it. It didn't sound like what I knew to be rap at the time (which was basically Public Enemy and Run DMC). It was a lot funkier and while unusual to my ten year old self, the hook was undeniable.

Twenty years later, the album that came from, Three Feet High and Rising, remains one of my favorite hip hop albums. I didn't know it at the time but it was very progressive with beats and sampling, as well as with rhyming. It was also the first album I heard that had sketches in between songs. The follow-up, De La Soul is Dead was also a great hip hop album, with some of my favorite De La Soul songs like "Ring Ring Ring (Ha Ha Hey)" and "Kicked Out of the House". It was a significant departure from Three Feet High... as it didn't seem as playful and was certainly a departure from their "hip hop hippies" tag that was bestowed on them for their debut (the same insult would soon be thrown at Wu-Tang Clan's RZA several years later).

What's truly impressive about De La Soul is not just how innovative they were twenty years ago but that they continue to be relevant today. This is one of the sets I'm most excited for at Bumbershoot this year.

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It was reported that blogger Christian Lander, behind the popular blog "Stuff White People Like" had gotten a $300,000 advance for his book based on his blog... and then found himself on the New York Times Bestseller List.

By "white people", Lander doesn't mean those crazy dingbats screaming about President Obama's birth certificate or people who will fill up the parking lot of a shopping mall to hear Sarah Palin speak, but he means affluent, educated white liberals. As Lander told the LA Times, "Too many white people don't like to be reminded that they're white. They like to think that white people are those evil corporate right-wingers or the uneducated masses who vote the wrong way. But 'enlightened whites' are white people too and have just as much of a group mentality as they think the red staters have."

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No false advertising here. The Portland Cello Project is just what it says it is.

PCP is a collective of (mostly) classically-trained cello players who perform (mostly) covers of contemporary pop songs. I wish they contained a little less irony but they do have some interesting arrangements with those songs.

PCP has collaborated with such artists as The Builders and the Butchers, Thao (of the Get Down Stay Down), Mirah and The Dandy Warhols. They released an album called The Thao and Justin Power Sessions on Kill Rock Stars earlier this summer, with each Thao and Justin Power (a PDX musician) collaborating on four songs. For Bumbershoot, PCP will be joined by Portland musician Adam Shearer, who is the singer of a band called Weinland. When the collective covered George Michael song earlier this month in Portland, people in the audience were offering their womb immediately after. Take that for what it's worth.

Here's the Portland Cello Project playing with The Builders and the Butchers:

Portland Cello Project plays Bumbershoot on Monday, September 7 on the Northwest Court Stage at 6:45pm.

Anomie Belle is the project of multi-instrumentalist musician/composer Toby Campbell, whose music is often combining elements of classical, jazz, rock, pop and down tempo trip hop beats. It is often jarring and thought-provoking as she writes and sings about issues of social justice, political alienation and facing prejudices.

Campbell has managed to make a career out of being a musician by being able to do almost everything herself, including audio engineering but still enjoys getting the opportunity to play with other musicians when possible. Anomie Belle has played shows with such diverse artists as Tricky, The Album Leave, Azure Ray and will play in Portland next month with Kid Koala, before returning to Seattle to play Bumbershoot on Monday, September 7.

I met up with Campbell at a bar on Capitol Hill to talk about Anomie Belle, the state of the music business and the contrast between making music by yourself and collaborating with other artists.

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If you know nothing of the Brazilian psychedelia, bossa nova, and rock ‘n roll, that is Os Mutantes, it should be enough to know that in 1993 Kurt Cobain asked them to reunite for a leg of Nirvana’s South American tour, that Beck references the art movement they were increment to with “Tropicalia” on Mutations, that David Byrne put out a best of Os Mutantes album on Luaka Bop in 1999, and that Kevin Barnes cites them as a big influence in two different interviews. Let’s say you’re a skeptic and Of Montreal be damned, then here’s a mini history lesson:

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The Long Winters have gone through a multitude of band members from their conception in 2001 as John Roderick, the sole constant force behind the band, took to the studio with Sean Nelson of Harvey Danger and Chris Walla, multi-instrumentalist and producer for Death Cab for Cutie. Despite this, their identity has stayed strong across their three full length albums and their Ultimatum EP. Sort of like the way your favorite pair of jeans in high school, the ones with the thread bare knees and the white streaks where they knew your body’s bends, will never lose the shape of your teenage legs and the fade of wear, The Long Winters’ music is a snug fit inside of a musical composite. Layered with familiar and comforting keyboard, dreamy pop guitar riffs, and complex vocal harmonies and melodies, their songs are both homespun and insistent, allowing you to identify with their sound immediately but leaving ample room for discovery within each song.

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If you are looking to dance on Fischer Green during Bumbershoot, Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head will deliver the beat to get you moving your feet. Their electro thrash has been garnering them attention since their debut show at the opening of 826 Seattle in 2004. Last year they released their first full-length album, Glistening Pleasure, and they have recently wrapped up a tour with Lily Allen. They mix together MGMT dance hooks with Le Tigre tongue-in-check lyrics and melodies that make them widely appealing.

These kids are not messing around and you should return the favor by checking them out because they don’t fail to deliver a good time singing songs about facial hair to a bunch of kids with facial hair. Heck, even if their flair for combining sing-along harmonies with hand claps and Technicolor keyboards layered over each other till you go cross-eyed, doesn’t appeal to you, it will still be a spectacle worth watching. See them Saturday at 2:30 on Fischer Green during Bumbershoot or see below, if you don't believe me.

(Photo by Stefan Moore from myspace.com/natalieportmansshavedhead)

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Raphael Saadiq's last show in Seattle was a sold out affair at the Showbox, but he had mostly traveled under my radar. I was curious to learn more about him because people were asking me if I could get them into the show (I couldn't, not that I tried). After a few minutes of cursory research, it was easy to see why so many of my friends were smitten.

Saadiq is a soul singer who is not lacking in sex appeal. He first began his music career as the lead singer and bassist for the R&B trio Tony! Toni! Tone'! (whose work I was familiar with from my teenage years), when he was known as Raphael Wiggins. He began his solo career in 2002 and his debut album, Instant Vintage, was nominated for five Grammy awards. His most recent album, The Way I See It, was named Album of the Year by the staff at iTunes and was nominated for a Best R&B Album Grammy. It also has names showing up in the credits like Jay-Z, Stevie Wonder and Joss Stone.

My favorite song of his is "Let's Take a Walk", which would sound like it belongs on the radio in between The Temptations and The Four Tops, if the lyrics weren't so sexual. That's definitely the vibe that Saadiq is going for, as it's confirmed by the video below.

{Raphael Saadiq plays Bumbershoot on Sunday, September 6 at 9:30pm on the Fisher Green Stage.}

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