The weekend kicked off early with a spectacular, layered performance by Feist at the Moore Theater this past Thursday night. Taking the stage after a perfect warm up set of equal parts smartypants literary comedy and ivory-tickling brilliance by Chilly Gonzales, Leslie Feist and her accomplices proved worthy of every last penny of her ticket price. The show combined elements of well-worn comfort food-esque "classic" Feist songs, an almost... dare we say, modern new-age vibeyness, which alternately clashed and blended with an homage to one element of the guts of full-frontal big-room performance: a sometimes kaleidoscopic, sometimes trippy-traily lipstick camera-run backdrop of the band behind the band a la Jefferson Airplane. While it was a lot to unpack at times, for the most part the pieces of the show fused together beautifuly, mostly due to the backbone of Feist's unashamed full-lunged vocals -- which would have been worth all those pennies without a solitary stitch of the performance-fanfare that accompanied her.
Is it just us, or is this just what Feist songs feel like sometimes? A little cold, a little desolate, a lot beautiful, a touch of sun -- Feist can be all of these things depending on the track, but the common thread in all of her output is simple: talent. From Metals to those gorgeous bedroom recordings -- please tell us you've heard that deconstructed version of "Intuition"?? -- to catchy numbers like "1234" and "Mushaboom," everything Feist does is brilliantly gorgeous. She's sunny and hopeful sometimes, desolate and yearning sometimes, and always right on the money.
So, we're particularly excited to be gearing up for her upcoming show at the Moore next Thursday {November 17th}. And we've even got a pair of tickets to give away to a lucky winner! The competition for this one is sure to be fierce, so make sure you take the time to tell us why we should choose little ol' you over everyone else. Ready?
Autumn is upon us, and once again, we've found ourselves happily submerged in a sea of grey mornings at the local cafe with headphones on, poring through new releases and marking our calendars for upcoming shows. And in case you're in one of those spots where you had to put New Release Tuesday on the back burner for a bit, we'd love to help you catch up! Part one of two, this post features stuff we heart to the maxx that also has a live show coming up in November -- and PS, we've got tickets to give away for almost everything featured here! Read on:
Who: tUnE-yArDs, aka Merrill Garbus
What: new(ish) album from earlier this year, upcoming show, all-around awesomeness Sounds Like: super-melodic, experimental freak-out tribal chanting over sweet beats + some very catchy sing-a-long-y vibes More info at:http://tune-yards.com/ Playing: The Neptune on Sunday, November 20th
Short version? One of the stand-out small-stage acts at Sasquatch! 2010, plays huge venues now, not to be missed. Long version: tUnE-yArDs -- which is comprised mostly of a lady-genius named Merrill Garbus, along with some loops and accompanying musicians depending on where and when you catch her -- is not like any other band out there today. It's part crazy catchy beats, part tribal warpaint, part musical catch-and-release, and all amazing. 2009's Bird-Brains kicked our asses, and 2011's w h o k i l l took things to a whole 'nother level. Buy both albums and make sure you're front and center for her Neptune appearance later this month.
Who: We Were Promised Jetpacks
What: new album, upcoming show, mosh potential Sounds Like: straight-up indie rock, big guitars, angst, Scottishness More info at:http://wewerepromisedjetpacks.com Playing: Neumos on Tuesday, November 15th
Latest comment by: Ryan: "I have heard many songs sung by Anastacia. Heavy Rotation is one of the albums sung by her. I have tried to download it, but unable to do this. Just wants to know the site from where we can download this. Also can anyone tell me other songs by her? It will really ...
'm not sure if it's good or bad luck to start talking about the holiday season before Halloween, but this morning's announcement that Stephen Colbert and team will be releasing a holiday special (and DVD) actually made me kinda excited for the season of tinsel and fruitcake.
Latest comment by: Imaginary Kiku: "I think Stephen Colbert has reached the level of fame where he can live out ALL of his ridiculous childhood dreams. Good for him c:"
Of course, this year's nominees were picked by a guy from Snow Patrol, a guy from the Killers, a guy from CMJ and a guy from KCRW ... and I suppose it reflects that diverse group (note the sarcasm).
Latest comment by: Erik Gonzalez: "And to make the Shortlist even less interesting they already announced the winner!.
And the winner is:
Feist - The Reminder
Yawn."
Every December I go through over 80 albums and try to codify them some way. Though it may take until after Christmas before my final top list (and mix cd) is ready, my favorite albums of the year are always fairly obvious to me by now. These are the ones that meant the most to me.
Top NW Albums
1) Grand Archives - s/t 2) Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga 3) Menomena - Friend & Foe 4) Tullycraft - Every Scene Needs A Center 5) Shake Some Action - s/t 6) Blitzen Trapper - Wild Mountain Nation 7) The Cave Singers - Invitation Songs 8) Welcome - Sirs 9) Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank 10) Awesome - Beehive Sessions 11) Carolyn Mark - Nothing Is Free 12) Grand Hallway - Yes Is The Answer 13) The New Pornographers - Challengers 14) Ghost Stories - Quixoticism 15) The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
Overall Top 10 Albums of 2007
1) Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga 2) Arcade Fire - Neon Bible 3) Emma Pollock - Watch The Fireworks 4) Jens Lekman - Night Falls Over Kortedala 5) Feist - The Reminder 6) Menomena - Friend & Foe 7) Blonde Redhead - 23 8) Shellac - Excellent Italian Greyhound 9) Apostle Of Hustle - National Anthem Of Nowhere 10) Radiohead - In Rainbows
Latest comment by: Dylan: "and not only has Britt Daniel moved into our Northwest realm, the new bassist also lives in Seattle. I saw him on Broadway once. I geeked out."
With Feist topping most Best of charts this year (as well as helping convince us what to buy this holiday season), it makes sense that KNRK (that's 94.7FM on the Portland, OR dial) would hurry up and post the Feist session when she visited Mississippi Studios back in November.
Latest comment by: imaginary embracey: "I have to agree, Toby and ChrisB. I doubt Panda Bear, PB&J, and Stars (to name 3) would make many average Americans' top-25 lists. Or that the average American has heard of them, even.
The Wal-Mart best-of-the-year list, however...
(kidding, there ...
Yesterday afternoon Feist played a four song session at Mississippi Studios in Portland for around 60 people who had contributed to KNRK's "My Perfect Playlist" in October.
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