I have come to really dislike putting together "Best Of" lists or year-ending spreadsheets of music that everyone has already heard. This time I'm gonna do it differently...Shrie -style! These are just a few albums/songs/artists that tickled my fancy and got some good stereo-play at our house. Some are indie critic darlings (and disliked by many), some are sure-fire ins and some won't be at the top ofanyone's lists this year. It's a mish-mash of sonic goodness, extrapolated on by your friendly local music writer (and sometimes critic).

In alphabetical, not ranking, order. The "Top Ten" theme is too restrictive for my wily mind to grasp.

more...

Every noise/drone/math rock show I've gone to has been a sausage fest. Nothing wrong with that -- dudes are fine -- it would just be nice to go to a loud, noisy show that didn't remind me of my 1980's computer science classes.  Because I know there will already be lots of guys at the Fuck Buttons show on Sunday at Chop Suey, this preview is written especially for the girls.

more...

One of the last times the Pitchfork-approved, London-based noise-experimentalists Fuck Buttons came through town, I thoroughly enjoyed their set (which was opening for Mogwai) and wrote:

For a little over 40 minutes, Fuck Buttons held the rapt attention of the audience, who seemed mesmerized by the two men up front; that could be, though that it was too loud to have much of a conversation. They used laptops, synths, a drum machine (and a drum pad) and a vocoder with their microphone. When Benjamin John Power or Andrew Hung would sing, their vocals were drowned out by the sounds around them; rather than pay attention to the lyrics Fuck Buttons force you to respond to the sounds they are creating.

Now they're coming back with a highly-regarded new album called Tarot Sport and playing at Chop Suey on Sunday night (November 15). If you want to go but aren't into the whole "paying to get in" sort of thing, send an e-mail to tig@threeimaginarygirls.com before 9am on Thursday (November 12) with "TarotSport" in the subject line and one lucky person and guest will be able to say to their friends "I'm going to see Fuck Buttons for free". The show is 21+, so you and your guest will need to have that taken care of before Sunday.

more...

at Showbox Sodo

Fuck Buttons got the attention of the room by being loud but they kept it throughout the 40 minute set by doing something interesting and different.

more...