This is the second part of the first installment of Portrait of an Artist.  D. Crane will interview musicians and artists who blow his mind.  Read along and see him sharpen his interview skills to that of a slightly sharp pencil.  Fred Schneider was the inspiration for the song “(do the) Magic Centipede,” off of BOAT’s  Setting the Paces LP.  His new band is called the Superions.  They make the most ridiculous surreal/silly dance music around. Read part 1 here.

 

Fred,  here is my attempt to ask you some clever/wacky/personal questions.  The level of cleverness/wackiness/personal-ness seems more minute now that I know that you appeared on Howard Stern, last week!  But here I go anyway!

 

Assuming you go to Totally Nude Island, what piece of clothing would you miss the most?

 

My wallet!  To buy all the fabulous things at the gift shop!

 

Are you vegetarian?  How long?

 

Since ’72.  A friend talked me into it after I dropped out of college.  I never liked fish anyway!

 

Where should I eat when I visit Athens for the Popfest?

 

In Athens there is a great vegetarian restaurant called the Grit, and a lot of other places that are really vegetarian friendly.

 

What happened with the ham in the video?

 

We bought the ham and were gonna donate it, but it fell on the floor during the video.

 

Do you like the song "Monster Mash"?  It’s maybe my favorite song of all time.

 

Yes!  I love everything Halloween.  I love old school Halloween.

 

What is Sprechstimme?

 

Talk singing.  When I started I am just singing as I go along.  If you listen closely there is hesitancy.  It is not for dramatic effect.  I’m trying to think of what to say next.

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at Jigsaw Records

This Saturday Jigsaw Records opened it's indie-pop doors to the public. The shop, located on the second floor of Resolution Audio in Ballard is a wee place full of indie-pop rarities that make my heart beat triple-time. No matter what your favorite indie-pop format, I am fairly certain you can find whatever is on your ebay seach list here (or owner guy Chris could connect with the record label to find a copy). There are scads of new and used cds (even 3-inch cds), delectable vinyl selections, cassette tapes (yep!), and even badges and zines to round out your packed indie canvas bag.

For the meek among us, the store might seem a bit intimidating to find. It is set in the far northeast corner of the antique-mall style second floor of the fancy audio shop. Once you make it through the downstairs shop to the carpeted stairs in the far back, pass the heavy metal / death metal record store, head straight back to Jigsaw where Chris will most likely greet you with open arms full of sweet jangly pop.

The best and most dangerous part? All of that rare and out of print stuff isn't priced as such. As our coolest Finest Kiss friend put it, the stuff is set at "90's prices."

Saturday night's show spotlighted the Seattle talent that fits right into Jigsaw's mission statement of featuring "indiepop, power pop, indie rock, lo-fi pop, twee, and pretty much any other kind of fun pop music that we fancy" with performances by Math & Physics Club and D. Crane of BOAT. It was MAPC's first appearance in two years and a very rare solo set by D. Crane of BOAT.

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Or:  How I Got to Interview Fred Schneider for 25 Minutes---SPONTANEOUS—BASIL LOVER—HERO OF THE SILLY AND ABSURD

 

This is the first part of the first installment of Portrait of an Artist. D. Crane will interview musicians and artists who blow his mind.  Read along and see him sharpen his interview skills to that of a slightly sharp pencil. Fred Schneider was the inspiration for the song “(do the) Magic Centipede,” off of BOAT’s Setting the Paces LP. His new band is called the Superions, and they have a brand new self-titled EP/LP on Athens, GA's Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records. They make the most ridiculous surreal/silly dance music around. Stay tuned for the second part later this week.

 

How did you get in touch with Mike from Happy Happy Birthday to Me Records (HHBTM)?

 

I am a record nut and he runs a record store, so naturally we hit it off. I heard that he runs a label with two of my favorite acts, Cars Can Be Blue and the Lolligags. I knew he was an honest guy and a hard worker, so  I suggested to the Superions, “Hey, let’s put this out on a small label.” Originally, it was going to be a single, but there were some remixes that I thought turned out great, and I couldn’t be happier.

 

How long ago did the Superions start?

 

We started about 5 years ago as the Del Morons.  The first song we did was a song called “Totally Nude Island.”  Dan and Noah came up with the music and I just went in the bathroom and came up with the words off the top of my head.  We thought it was fun.  People said they liked it and told us to put it on Itunes, and that they’d buy it. Most of the HHBTM recordings were recorded soon after.

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You know how some records are just impossible to find in stores, due to small distribution and tiny awesome labels? Well, Chris Mac does too. And that's why he decided to open Jigsaw Records (5459 Leary Ave NW, 2nd floor, right above Resolution Audio). "We deal directly with bands and labels around the world (many of which have little or no distribution) to help them get more exposure", says Mac, also the creator of the wonderful indie pop haven Indiepages.

Mac's got the tiny store (14x14) stuffed to the gills with only the highest quality indie pop and rock records, cds, and tapes, and with his encyclopedic knowledge of indie pop is the type of guy who loves making suggestions, even to the point of putting descriptor stickers on every new release he carries (you know, so if you're looking for twee pop, you don't accidentally buy a pop punk album).

Not only is he supporting DIY music, but the shop itself follows a strict DIY aesthetic, with wonderful hand-built shelves, made with love, carrying your new favorite records.

The shop opens this Saturday, March 13th with the greatest possible opening party imaginable, featuring the first Math and Physics Club show in 2 years! Also appearing will be the fabulous D. Crane of BOAT. The show starts at 7 and is all ages and free! Come browse records and walk away with a new favorite band or five.

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{Robert Schneider from the Apples In Stereo from Athens Popfest 2008}

We here at TIG have been crushing out over Athens Popfest for years. I've been every year since 2006 and Liz went in 2005 and 2007. It's pretty much always the best week of the year, fusing together amazing indie pop, delicious food (seriously, Athens has the best!), and wonderful community. I look forward to the lineup announcement all year long, and the wonderful popfest folks have given us just a taste of what's to come, featuring some of my current favorite bands and lots of TIG favorites (and as always, some newbies I'm so excited to hear)!

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Here we are with Round Three of our interviews with all the main players (or at least their spokesmen) for this Saturday night's GRUDGE ROCK, which commences this at 10 PM, January 16 2010, at The Crocodile! For a little more background, check out Parts One and Two of this series. We've chatted with MC Jake Stratton and D. Crane of BOAT. Below is a Q&A with Dave Einmo of Head Like A Kite.

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This Saturday night, January 16, 2010, the Series Two, Episode One of live Family Feud style trivia and music blow-out GRUDGE ROCK commences! This time with indie rock romance Gorgeous Georges BOAT taking on the more Rowdy Roddy Piperish tech-soul rockers Head Like A Kite! Girls will scream! Boys will faint! The winner gets the Door Money and there are plenty of Consolation Prizes! And two sets by two great Seattle bands live on stage at the Crocodile. (Be there before 10 PM, because it goes on on time!)

I interviewed MC Jake Stratton in the first part of this three-chunk series covering The Event, and now comes a little chat with D. Crane of the pretty boys with the big batch of fans, the ever-loving BOAT.

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Grudge Rock, created by the brilliant ringleader Jake Stratton, leader of beloved first-ever sci-fi/hardcore band BloodHag), is styled as a 70s game show (Family Feud format) with bands playing and competing against each other. The winning band gets all the door money, but there are fabulous consolation prizes and more.

The show this Saturday, January 16 is GRUDGE ROCK SEASON TWO - EPISODE ONE, and it will be "party-inspired electronic rock music vs. indie pop" with fan favorites Head Like A Kite and BOAT.

This will be the first time the event is hosted at The Crocodile, as it has been running successfully at the Re-Bar and now needs bigger digs. The first WWF-styled boast was sent out by HLAK: "OPEN LETTER TO BOAT: You guys are toast. You can’t match the mental prowess of Head Like a Kite. We’ve got a panda bear that recites “The Merry Wives of Windsor” and Trent can spin seat cushions with one finger. Prepare yourselves for the consolation prize."

Just look at who is sponsoring the show: Pabst Blue Ribbon, Jameson Whiskey, Scarecrow Video, Fantagraphics Books, Pierced Hearts Tattoo & Piercing, Singles Going Steady, Trading Musician, Hardware Salon, Snoose Junction Part Dieu and Verellen Amplifiers. It's $10 (over 21, sorry), with 9 PM and the show starting exactly at 10 PM.

Here's our interview Mr. Stratton about the history of Grudge Rock, to be followed by interviews with both BOAT and Head Like A Kite.

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Yesterday I divulged my favorite albums of the year. Today I am ready to let go of my latest obsession: My album recap of how I spent my 00's.

The below listage rant is my own little time capsule to remind myself why 2000-2009 musically ruled. As with my other list posts, I'm certain I totally forgot to add something really important to my end-all-be-all-recap. It's up to you to remind me by posting your favs of the 00's below.

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For some reason as stressful as it is sometimes to do, I found myself compiling a bunch of year end and decade end lists over the holiday weekend. So many so, I decided to spread out all my lists throughout the week. Today we'll start with the meat of the list -- my favorite releases of 2009.

As long as I've been making lists, it's always been apparent that I'm partial to Pacific Northwest bands... and this year it's especially so. I'm sure I've forgotten something that I love beyond belief.. but here is the list as of *right now*. What are your favorite local and non-local releases of 2009?

 

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