{photo: John E. Hollingsworth}

Day 2 of the countdown to the big huge wonderful Imaginary Winter Holiday Spectacular at Chop Suey on December 23rd {an evening full of big huge wonderful fun including, but not limited to Christmas Belles, free mega-raffle ticket goodness, MC David Schmader!}.

The band that is going to kick off the evening is the Special Places, a Seattle duo who recently started to take Seattle by storm with opening slots at BOAT's album release show and Aussie Darren Hanlon's recent visit. You might know them as 2/5 of imaginary favs Tullycraft, so you can imagine we jumped at the opportunity to sit down with them for their first ever interview as the Special Places. Jenny and Corianton spilled some deets on how they started out and whether or not they are secret (or not so secret) lovers. Now we're doubly looking forward to seeing what they have in store for us at the Spectacular.

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We're counting down to the big huge wonderful Imaginary Winter Holiday Spectacular at Chop Suey on December 23rd {at which we'd be sincerely honored tol see your fine booty at}!

We are so delighted to have Seattle band Skeletons with Flesh on Them on the evening's bill with The Special Places, The Nightgowns, Wallpaper, and The Redwood Plan. On their 2009 album, All the other Animals, they've combined straightforward sweet pop guitar and songs vultures and lust that keep us on our toes and giddy.

I recently chatted with Scott of SwFoT about where that graphic band name came from and find out if they really are as nice as their songs suggest...

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In November, 2008, our dear Visqueen-er, Rachel Flotard joined her friend Justin on a trip to southern Laos to visit his family. While there, among other adventures, she visited local schools, taking all craft supplies, toothbrushes and the like she could stuff in her luggage. The visit had a huge impact on her and she chronicled the stunning details on her blog.

While at the local elementary school, she asked repeatedly what they would like more than anything for their school (besides a soccer ball), they hesitated, and said, “a floor”. During the rainy season, 340 pairs of these tiny, eager feet get wet while *inside* their classrooms.

To quote Rachel, "This outrages our inner Kevin Bacon."

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San Francisco band French Miami will be at the Sunset this Sunday (8/9/9) and bringing with them their post-apocolypse Modest Mouse song "God Damn Best" which has convinced me to don my best black blazer and chant "Whatcha going to do with all that, whatcha going to do with all that love" over and over.

For the first few bars I was skeptical.  Two listens of the MP3 later, I'm totally down with French Miami. Want more? Watch this video of "Science Fiction" to see a quick transition from Ian Curtis to Ian MacKaye to J. Robbins to wacked out synth.

On the Bumbershoot schedule this year, Australian-born, LA-based singer/songwriter Lenka is the closest thing to a pop star on the roster. When Lenka is at her best is when her songs are ridiculously catchy, upbeat and fun. When she played at the Triple Door at the beginning of the year, I wrote:

She’s lovely and her songs are cute and poppy – completely crush-worthy. She came on stage about 8:30 and opened with “Trouble is a Friend” – and playing with a full, four person backing band and in the warm confines of the Triple Door, the song sounded huge.

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If this show wasn’t sold out, it was very close and the crowd seemed to be very receptive to her pop songs and several people sang along with the choruses to “Trouble is a Friend”, “The Show” and “Don’t Let Me Fall”....

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Ideally summertime is all about getting sweaty and silly at free outdoor music shows. And guess who sticks to their ideals? Our provider of independent, new music, KEXP. Their summer concert series at the Mural Amphitheater in Seattle Center is running over the next few weeks to bring you a plethora of pitch-perfect bands for free. This Saturday, the 8th happens to be their annual BBQ from 2-9 pm and you know it’s going to rock your socks off.

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On their Jay-Z sampling single "The Game Needs Me", Dyme Def made one of my very favorite boasts in hip hop: "I'm the future, wondering where the past went; I'm ahead of my time so the future is past tense."

Modesty isn't Dyme Def's most visible trait but it doesn't seem unfair. The young trio from Renton have been one of the biggest acts in Northwest hip hop for the past few years and they may have the most potential. Each album and EP and mixtape they release (and they're quite prolific) seems to be an advancement over the its predecessor with the beats (from hot-shit producer Bean One) growing more intricate when they need to or more subtle when the songs call for it. The rhymes are more assured and confident.

The most recent release from Dyme Def is their Panic EP, whose release party at the Crocodile marked the club's first hip hop show since it's reopening (and they were pretty rare before that) and by all accounts, the night was quite the event: a sold out affair with appearances by some of the biggest and most talented artists in the flourishing hip hop community. Such a party outdoors, in the mid-afternoon would make for one of Bumbershoot's obvious "can't miss" sets.

Here's a video they just released that was shot mostly on Pine Street with iPhones. It's to their song "I'm Gone":

Dyme Def plays Bumbershoot on the Fisher Green Stage at 2:15pm on Sunday, September 6.

I've been sitting on The Nightgowns' Sing Something for at least a couple months now, and I don't know why it's taken me so long to sing this band's praises. They're basically a synthpop quartet, but not in the twee and cute way, and also not in the Hot Chip dance way. Instead, they've found just the right mix to let those clean guitar riffs and crazy synth riffs share the spotlight and create some really awesome -- and quirky -- pop tunes. It also doesn't hurt that the lead singer sounds British, even though these boys are from Tacoma.

Which brings us to the reason why I'm finally deciding to talk about The Nightgowns -- they'll be at the Sunset Tavern in Ballard next Friday night, and if you're an indie pop lover you'll want to be there too. Also on the bill are TIG favorites: BOAT and The Special Places.

My favorite tracks on Sing Something are easily "Buoy" and "Working For A Living," but I also like how the general tone of the album dies down for the final two songs, "Pppps" and "Gone With The Wind." The former is a song about how you always have more to say to that special guy or gal even after you've "telephoned and talked forever," and the only way to say it is with a P.S. and a P.P.S. (all the way up to a P.P.P.P.S., in this case).

Here's a live performance of "Working For A Living" from the band's CD release party earlier this year. Someone please check out the show next Friday so I can live vicariously through you!

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Sleepy Eyes of Death are a mostly instrumental rock band that puts on a very visual live show. They use lights and smoke to accentuate their sound, which blends atmospheric synths in the tradition of M83 with reverb-heavy guitar chords, while being a loud, intense rock band who turn the volume up to eleven. While putting more of an emphasis on the visual aspect of their live set, the ear-pounding intensity is the closest thing you're likely to get to recreating the My Bloody Valentine experience in a live setting.

I'm cautious to give too big of an endorsement to Sleepy Eyes of Death because I have a friend in the band, so I'm trying to stick to the facts and tread lightly. It should be taken for what it's worth but I really do enjoy watching the band's live show and think the Sky Church at EMP is an ideal location because they can accomodate the band's setup.

Here's the video to their single "Final Hearts Beat Black":

Sleepy Eyes of Death play in the EMP Sky Church at 6:30pm on Sunday, September 6.

{Sleepy Eyes of Death photo by Amelia Gyde from TIG's Flickr pool.}

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DJ Spooky That Subliminal Kid, aka Paul D. Miller in professional settings, may be the biggest thinker in music today. Last year, I went to a One Pot dinner where he was the guest and it was a joy listening to him talk about the music industry and his ideas of copyright law and intellectual property. After that dinner, we all went over to Nectar, where DJ Spooky had a funky DJ set, playing lots of classic funk and soul and mixing it with more contemporary hip hop. I wrote of that night:

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