{photo credit: the lovely Laura Musselman, courtesy of our imaginary flickr pool}

Now that we're all done with Sasquatch, it's time to set our sights on the next raddest lineup to hit the west coast: it's Noise for the Needy, 2010 edition. There's close to seventy-five bands and djs playing a baker's dozen of venues next weekend, when NFTN takes over every corner of Seattle from June 9th (Thursday) through the 13th (Sunday). Among the notables in big font this year are John Vanderslice, Visqueen, Horse Feathers, Delta Spirit, the Maldives, The Album Leaf, Animals at Night, The Portland Cello Project, and The Redwood Plan -- along with enough supporting acts to make your head spin. Tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets, or you can just buy a la carte at each show / venue -- although there's some sweet all-access wristband deals being offered if you want to rock it like that.

more...

It may be April Fool's Day on Thursday, but the show at Chop Suey that night is no joke: With our severely bitten and mangled economy, real critters be hurting along with the rest of us "neuvo-hobos" on and off the dole. So two bands with awesome pedigrees and scary pet names, Animals At Night and Terri Tarantula, are throwing a benefit for the King County Animal Shelter. (Also on the bill is The Quit, and I really can't come up with any cheesy tie-in jokes about them opening.)

Seriously, services at the KCAS are supposed to transfer to "private contractors" on June 30th because we are out of government money to take care of all the ex-domestic beasts and wild things that scamper through and around Seattle. All proceeds will be going to the Shelter, which provides loving care till people can adopt the dogs and cats and kitties and puppies and etc. that will make your lives so much more joyful and meaningful (hint). New pets become available every day, and the Shelter makes it easy to take a new dear one home.

Whatever your views on privatization are, it's always good to support this cause, with so many unwanted animals roaming about and discovered by KCAS all the time. As for the show itself, Animals At Night is Graig Markel's soulful, simmering techno-soul project that packed The Comet to the brim a few weeks ago. Markel has played everything from gritty folk to roiling punk, and AAN's new release is available as both a download and a sweetly designed vinyl.

more...

I keep noticing that a lot of my favorite records coming out have the name Graig Markel associated with them -- production for and playing on Barton Carroll's melancholy new album Together You And I and the dark, dazzling debut of Terri Tarantula. Markel has his own milieu, comprised of cobwebby but vivid Americana or noir electronic pop, or often even blending the two. A great example of that would be the latest release with his own band, Animals At Night, which has a cool track, "We Are Lights On The Way Out," that was a KEXP Song Of the Day last week.

This Friday night at the Comet Animals At Night have prepared a deluxe live set with the band being joined by all sorts of special guests on stage, featuring material from the vinyl-and-download new album, Cut to Chase Chorus and Fade. Also on the bill are CMYK (ex-Long Ranger / ex Velella Velella), Mayors and Warriors (New York's John Bosch joined by Head Like a Kite's Trent Moorman), and NRDLNGR starting out the night.

"The official release was at the Crocodile on November 21st," Markel says. "It was a great show with Head Like a Kite and Foscil. It was nuts. But this one is going to trump it." Below are some more questions I asked him about the record, the show, and the carnival of excitement that apparently is Markel's daily creative life.

more...