Mark your calendars, Ben Gibbard fans: on Tuesday, October 16th, Barsuk records will be releasing Former Lives, the very first full-length solo LP to be put out by the Bremerton, WA native. For as long as Gibbard has been involved in the music scene, fans have come to understand that he is not afraid to leap into new, unexplored spaces with other musicians -- this has led to an astounding catalog of music that is rich and diverse in it's influences and sounds.

Fomer Lives has been explained by Gibbard as a collection of tunes that have not necessarily been the scraps leftover from his previous ventures, but rather songs of equal quality that merely did not fit into the flow and scheme of previously released albums. As he points out in a recent interview with Stereogum: "In the past whenever I've put out any solo recordings it's just been of a function of the time in which I was in. I'm a songwriter and that's my job, and with every record that we've made there would always be a couple of tunes that just didn't seem to fit in with the band."

Fans expecting a finely polished Death Cab for Cutie album might be a little surprised, but anyone with a keen interest in getting a closer, more intimate look into the creative mind of Ben Gibbard should be delighted -- as this is shaping up to be an eclectic gathering of songs that have been years in the making. As Gibbard also stated, "I kind of like that the record is something of a mixed bag. The songs themselves are not all of a particular mode and they're not all about one subject, and they're not from one definitive era of my life."

Read the whole Stereogum interview here, and keep up with announcements at Ben's official site here.

{Photo of Ben Gibbard and Nick Harmer by Victoria VanBruinisse.}

Monday has come and gone, and we're still having sweet, only slightly-sticky memories of this year's annual Capitol Hill Block Party. This year's was definitely the least hot or humid, making it pleasurable for those of us who aren't too into the sun (no offense to the lovers of the big yellow lava-lump in the sky). Saturday heated up as the musical apex of the fest rose, with Brooklyn's The Psychic Paramount awesome possum-saucing new fans on the Main Stage (and then again at a semi-secret show at unofficial CHBP venue The Comet on Sunday, with a whole bunch of fellow psyche freaks a-jambling).

Special little shows erupting here and there through the fenced-in Broadway neighborhood that surrounds The Stranger offices was a topic of much chatter as we walked between Neumos, the Vera Stage, et. al., to catch the already delightful scheduled line up Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Duff McKagan of Guns N'Roses immortality played a little bass for Walking Papers, a new thang he had swinging in the always-chuffed-and-stuffed bunker of the Cha Cha. There were a lot of other hidden thrills, but this is possibly my favorite Capitol Hill Block Party ever simply because there was so much sweetness going on officially, you couldn't not hear a great band just a few feet away from wherever you stood / swayed / jitterbugged / passed out in a tipple pool. I saw maybe one or two bands that didn't light my fire, but they were up-and-comers and may burn brightly later on when I catch 'em another time.

Now let's get to what was seen and supremely dug, by the EMP's photographer and Tea Cozies' Brady Harvey and myself, since Friday afternoon, July 20:

Father John Misty (Friday, 4 p.m., Main) craftily created a record worthy of an L.A. Wolf King earlier this year, but it was no warmed-over homage to SoCal succubi and champagne made by long-haired millionaires filling up your daddy's and mama's orange crated elpee collections. Josh Tillman perfected a musically appealing (and at times satirically astonishing) journey to the end of the weird scenes in one man's gold-dust mind. There was no reason to think this one-time drummer for the Fleet Foxes wouldn't blow everyone away by loosely, confidently, and joyfully singing the songs from this new persona's one platter oeuvre, but his personableness and professional surpassed expectations. I have never experienced such a warm, welcoming, wowing start to a festival. We were all into the music and J. was into us, his lanky frame curling its upper limbs into the air, pointing at the gods, tearing at the moon's face paint, calling out to friends like Joel Cuplin and Eric Fisher (of Constant Lovers), his band aces all the way. Hey, I could have left the festival then and been pleased as deadly nightshade. But the trip was just starting to ball.

Deadkill (Friday, 4:15 p.m., Neumos) somehow juggles being ferally fearsome with sometimes being really funny (lyrically), reminding me slightly of the late 90s rosetta stone of performance art punk, Raft of Dead Monkeys. But the humor is more reserved, and that is probably the only thing one can describe as reserved about the band, as they make sounds that smell like a Detroit muscle car factory spitting out speed flames. Lead singer Bryan Krieger has tattoos as if he's ready for some mixed Martial arts and a body to match it, and his boys don't slag watching his back in total panther-rock attack. Ecstatic. Great rawk, no holding back. OK, I'll stop "pa-rapping" now.

Crystal Stilts (Friday, 5:15 p.m., Neumos) was good, and made me appreciate them more by seeing them live. No, I am not a fan, but a casual admirer at least. (Put down your shoegaze; don't hit me with their I'm-so-high heels.) There is something about the Stilts' sound that is mesmerizing, but also an aspect that seems like it could be beefed up somehow. Live, it's a wonderful flow -- it moves me more seeing them grind their organs, lurched over stacked keyboards and singing like they're peeved poets at the bottom of an ennui well. Old man flashback: they kind of remind me of Polyrock from back in the very early 80s, being both fuzzily dissonant but also new wave streamlined, and not too concerned with direct listenership connection. 

Doomtree (Friday, 5:15 p.m., Main), on the other hand, which I walked out to from CS, roared and bounced and spun soul music and gave crazy good advice about living and exploded like a firecracker party on a hot asphalt island. You could not help but be pulled in by their thick-groove, big-hearted, Minneapolis funk and flow. Nothing ambivalent about this hip-hop, it's rooted in a head scene but it's sheer body rocking beauty. Dessa's deeply adored for a reason, and I found more than one to feel the whole way about Doomtree this day. How'd I arrive at this jam so late? People were loving this, really loving it.

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With August right around the corner, the time of year has come once again to reserve every Friday for a lovely lounge with your friends on the lawns of Seattle Center, where KEXP will be presenting another fantastic year of their Concerts At The Mural series. There's a night for everyone, with bands ranging from roots to indie pop to hip hop and back again -- in some cases, all in one night! Take a look at the schedule below, and mark your calendar accordingly:

Friday, 8/3 // Hosted by DJ El Toro
Shovels & Rope
Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside
Legendary Oaks
Fly Moon Royalty

Friday, 8/10 // Hosted by Quilty 3000
Brad
The Young Evils
Posse

Friday, 8/17 // Hosted by Troy Nelson
Love Battery
Absolute Monarchs
Wayfinders

Friday, 8/24 // Hosted by Larry Mizell Jr.
Fresh Espresso
Reptar
BOAT

Don't forget, these concerts are always free and always all ages -- and for those of you looking to imbibe, there's a reasonably-priced 21+ beer garden with a great view on the back half of the Mural lawn.

We'll see you there! All shows start promptly at 5:30.

{Photo of The Head and the Heart at KEXP's 2010 Concerts At The Mural series by Victoria VanBruinisse.}

Is it mid-July already? Holy shit. That means that the Capitol Hill Block Party is here, and there are a couple of things that will be crucial to keep in mind as you head out this weekend to inundate yourself with sun, buddy hangs, and set after set of live music.

One, if the weather stays in our favor {right now Saturday and Sunday are looking like 74 and clear!} you'll need plenty of sunscreen -- for full coverage of your fair PNW skin, folks, it's best to put it on before you leave the house. (Wait, who let my mom in here? Ahem.) Two, if you're knocking back tons of a few drinks over the course of the day, don't forget to hydrate properly. Water = your BFF. Three, for some reason, the ATMs that are loaded up in the "festival grounds" seem to all run out of money at the same time -- so make sure you pick up cash before you head in. And four, try as you might, you can't catch every band on every stage, and that's why you should take our picks with you to make sure you don't miss the best of the fest:

Must-see #1: Lemolo {8:30pm, Vera Stage // Saturday, also at 3:30pm on the Barboza Stage for KEXP}

We can't get enough of Lemolo, and we've waxed on and on about their live shows, their video, and most recently their full-length album, The Kaleidoscope. With two back-to-back sold out shows for the album's release a few weeks ago, most of Seattle has caught the buzz about what makes this duo great -- but if you haven't yet, make sure to get yourself in front of the Vera Stage for their 8:30pm set on Saturday for a slice of their one-of-a-kind shreddy indie dreamscape bliss. Lemolo will also be playing on the Barboza stage at 3:30pm as part of KEXP's Block Party setup, similar to the secret lounge at Bumbershoot. Two shots to catch them = no excuses!

Must-see #2: Father John Misty {4pm, Main Stage // Friday}

Another performer we'd be surprised to see missing from your non-negotiable list is Father John Misty, a brilliant incarnation of everything you didn't know you needed in your new favorite band. It's a part rock, part thrust, part hip-swinging croon that manages to embody a well-read version of a great high (but maintains enough edge to keep you guessing). As if being a killer percussionist, a tremendous vocalist, and an all-around genius aren't enough, Josh Tillman is insanely hilarious -- for those of you who didn't catch it the first time around the tubes, this interview is nothing short of brilliant:

Fuck you, Joe!

Must-see #3: Alicia Amiri {as herself at 5:45pm, Cha Cha Stage // Friday, as Nightmare Fortress at 2pm, Neumos Stage // Saturday}

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You've heard it here before, and we'll say it again (and undoubtedly, again sometime in the future): we sure do love The Young Evils, and if you're not already on their wagon, you are missing the f*ck out. Their brand of indie-pop went from a blast-of-sunshine sound on 2010's full-length Enchanted Chapel to deeper, darker waters -- with plenty of light still filtering through, mind you -- on Foreign Spells, the band's most recent EP.

You can listen to the albums yourself and see, of course, but we think you should get yourself over to Barboza, that rad new space underneath current-day Neumos, and check them out for yourself. The Young Evils will be celebrating the formal release of Foreign Spells there on Friday, July 13th {yep! That's this Friday!} and for a mere eight bucks, you can get your hooks into what they're cooking up live and in-person. The night opens with The Grizzled Mighty and tunes from none other than DJ Marco Collins, so it's a win-win-win all around.

PS, we've been hearing from a few Barboza frequenters that the shows tend to get started relatively soon after doors open, so make sure to shake a tailfeather and get over to Capitol Hill on time so you don't miss a beat.

{21+ / 7p doors / $8. Advance tickets available here. Photo courtesy of The Young Evils.}

Remember that killer time you had at this year's Dancing on the Valentine celebration at the Croc? Of course you do. It was wall-to-wall with killer performances from John Roderick, Katie Kate, Lesli Wood, Daniel G. Harmann and the Trouble Starts, Noddy, Hotels, NighTrain, Princess, Exhoxo and Fly Moon Royalty (just to name a few), raised close to $8,000.00 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and was basically the best thing to happen to your February!

Ringing any bells? We thought so. Well, on top of the actual show and all the do-goodness that it does every year, one of our favorite parts of the Dancing on the Valentine celebrations {besides Jenny George herself, of course!} has got to be Ben Haley's photobooth -- and this year, he's truly outdone himself. On top of generating a ton of incredible photos, he's stitched them all together for a fully titled, freeze-frame style video for "The Reflex" that very well may be our favorite thing ever to exist on the internet.

Go check it out and relive all the fun! And get excited for DOTV8 {in 2013} while you're at it!!

Seriously, people. How can you not love the Young Evils? On top of playing great shows and just generally being awesome, they've been building up some great press lately -- even moreso than usual -- like the recent recommendation in Paste magazine as an upcoming Seattle band to watch, for example. The band is making good on that bet with the release of their newest track, "Darker Blue Bayou," which is off of their forthcoming EP Foreign Spells -- and while we haven't gotten our hands on the whole EP yet, we're pretty damn sure that we're in for something good. Perhaps even a contender for our best-of lists for 2012.

Even way back in November, the new material was sounding brilliant -- and to prove it, here's a snippet we typed up after the show they played that blew us away at the Rendezvous, (coincidentally enough, with a nod to the newly released track):

While we're still in hearts for everything we know and love off of Enchanted Chapel, we've got to say -- this performance, and particularly the newer songs we heard in the set, made us giddy with joy to hear what's next so far as studio efforts go from the Young Evils camp. With a solid lineup finally in place, we're able to really hear the beginning stages of the evolution of this band, as they go from playing together to playing as a cohesive unit. Perhaps they've felt solid for a long time, as they well should -- but whatever's going on with this next crop of songs we're hearing is really starting to translate off the stage and out into the crowd for a tangible, can't-deny kind of shift. We're particularly swooning over -- if the set list was in order -- a ditty called "Darker Blue Bayou," a track that was so good that the people behind us in the crowd were trying to discern what mega-band wrote it and how great the Young Evils were for choosing to cover it.

You don't have to take our word for it -- you can catch that heady new-music buzz for yourself, and do some good while you're doin' it: The Young Evils will be playing at the Crocodile this Friday {tomorrow!} with The Redwood Plan, and Land of Pines {holy lineup, Batman!} as part of the 2012 series of Noise for the Needy shows. These fundraiser shows have been going on around town since June 1st, and on top of the Young Evils show, there's still plenty left to catch. The NFTN gigs are going on through this Sunday, and you can catch up on what's left of the calendar the official site here.

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{This is part three of a three-part Sasquatch! 2012 photo recap. Be sure to check out part one here, and part two here!}

The last day of a festival often comes with a mixture of relief and nostalgia, concurrent: on one hand, you're tired, dirty, a little dehydrated, and longing for a real cup of coffee; on the other, you've had all your synapses blown clean with set after set of incredible music and you're not quite sure you want it to end. Your own bed sounds fantastic -- but so does staying on in a weird, seemingly neverending rock-and-roll summer-kickoff camp. Sasquatch!, as with all literal and metaphorical good things, did come to an end like it does every year, but not without a final day full of awesomeness that left us counting down the days to 2013's festival. We started off nice and easy, with the comforting, warm-bath vibe of Poor Moon on the Yeti Stage, followed by a kicked-up set from Portland's Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside.

Poor Moon:

Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside:

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{This is part two of a three-part Sasquatch! 2012 photo recap. Be sure to check out part one here, and part three here!}

Day three {Sunday} at this year's Sasquatch! Music Festival saw us a bit tired, a bit beat-up from the sun and the hills, and a bit gritty from the seeming "dust bowl" that was starting to kick up and cover everything with a fine dirty mist. But we forged on into the day with high spirits, knowing a slew of good bands were on tap -- and we got things started with an uppy, poppy-tight set from Hospitality and a smooth, sexy, beat-laden set from Fly Moon Royalty. While the two bands hit opposite ends of the sonic spectrum, they both shared the commonality of putting on great performances, each showcasing their respective sounds near-perfectly.

Hospitality:

Fly Moon Royalty:

Then, the rockin' boy-band part of the day got going, with alternating takes from Gardens & Villa, War On Drugs, and Deer Tick. Gardens & Villa were a nice transition from the upbeat Hospitality and played a bright, synth-y dream-sound set and the War On Drugs ramped it up a bit with a bigger, bulkier sound before Deer Tick took the stage and jammed it on out into the rock-o-sphere. It's worth noting that Deer Tick were on the Sasquatch! campus for the remainder of the weekend, and wound up filling the hole in the weekend left by Mogwai (who had visa issues coming into the US) with a covers-only set, bouncing whip-tight renditions of the Replacements and Nirvana out into a thrilled crowd as Monday night started to fade to black.

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{This is part one of a three-part Sasquatch! 2012 photo recap. Be sure to check out part two here, and part three here!}

It was an incredible long weekend at the Gorge again this year for the 2012 installment of the Sasquatch! Music Festival, which took place this past Friday {5/25} through Monday {5/28} out in the lovely, dusty, sunny town of George, Washington. After sitting through what felt like endless traffic -- three and a half hours from the highway exit to the parking lot! -- we finally found ourselves traipsing around the grounds, poring over the schedule to see what we could still catch a glimpse of before the night wrapped up. Our hopes were high for day one, but we wound up missing Yellow Ostrich and Allen Stone because of the backup -- however, we did manage to catch a litte bit of Santigold, all of Girl Talk's bright-light-infused, toilet-paper-gun-shooting, ass-kicking party set, and a good portion of Explosions In The Sky as they tore up the crowd with their wall-of-sound instrumentals before we packed it in for the night.

Here's a few photos from day one, starting with our multi-hour traffic front- and rear-view:

Girl Talk! Gigantic, awesome, and seriously -- TOILET PAPER GUNS:

Explosions in the Sky:

We started out day two {Saturday} with high hopes for some good times, and our girl Sasquatch! did not disappoint. From start to finish, the sets were full of funk, soul, beats, lady-power, and righteousness. There's nothing quite like having a big serving of Pickwick for breakfast, and we were front and center at the big stage when they took to it at noon, dropping a seamless set to a rowdy, happy crowd. It only felt right to stay on the soul boat for Charles Bradley immediately after that, soaking in all of his modern-legend-ness. We took it all to heart, especially and extra-very-so when Charles sang those lines about "you" right out to the crowd, implying that it wasn't a love interest, but the very people who stood there bearing witness to his set. "Without you, there is no me!" he called out, and meant every ounce of it.

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