Three Imaginary Girls - Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings

The 2011 Sasquatch bill is un-frack-withable

imaginary liz — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 16:28:28 +0000

{Sasquatch photo by asclepius6 from the Imaginary Flickr Photo Pool}

Do you hear that?

It is the sound of folks feverishly tweeting and posting about the amazing #Sasquatch line-up just announced. After weeks (who are we kidding, months!) of mathematically calculating probabilities based on tour schedules and record release dates, we finally have a firm answer of who's going to be at the Gorge this Memorial Day weekend, as well as explanations as to why certain folks don't have a Seattle tour date in the next few months.

Not to sound like everyone else every other year, but this year's line-up has left me speechless. The Sasquatch folks have brought together the best of the best of the best (except Allo Darlin, which I'm guessing will be begged to participate next year) to celebrate their 10th Anniversary. I mean Wilco, Bright Eyes, Matt & Kim, The Radio Dept., The Thermals, Stornoway, and The Young Evils!?!?!? You're killing me!!!

Are you headed that way? Who are you most excited about (mine bolded below)? Anyone else you think is going to be added to the bill before we pack up our roadtrip munchies and head Quincy, WA way?

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings at the Showbox at the Market

ChrisB — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 06:33:59 +0000

31 Jan 2009

sharonjonesdapkings.jpg

When I last wrote about Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings a little over a year ago, I was afraid that I might have been a little excessive with the hyperbole. I pretty much wrote that their December 2007 show at Neumo’s was the closest thing an atheist could get to a religious experience. Actually, that’s almost exactly what I wrote; I said, “the sold-out show at Neumo’s… was as close to a religious experience this non-believer could experience.” I knew that I left Neumo’s feeling like I had seen one of the finest shows of my life but would that experience hold up after giving some more time?

The idea that we could still get blown away (even after reviewing over 60 shows between Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings shows), is why we continue. Was I equally blown away last Saturday when the person I said was the natural heir to James Brown’s legacy came back to Seattle and played the Showbox at the Market? In a word, no – but the night was pretty spectacular anyway – and the hyperbole I spent was justified.

Sharon Jones is the fifty-two year old singer, who has a voice bigger than any room she’s in. She is a commanding presence who demands – and gets – the attention of everyone in the club. There is a scene in the Jack Black vehicle School of Rock where he counsels a young girl in his rock band who is conscious of her weight by saying that everyone wants to party with Aretha Franklin – Sharon Jones didn’t need that lesson – she already knows.

After a set from the acceptable Ivan Milev Band, a violin and accordion duo that killed time, the Dap-Kings came on to the stage about 10:25. At that point, everyone in the Showbox knew they were watching professionals. The Dap-Kings jammed for about 15 minutes before bringing out Sharon Jones. The Dap-Kings are an eight-piece soul/funk band that is both the tightest band you can watch and they still sound incredibly loose. They sound like a big part of the set is improvised yet also like they’ve perfected the act over several years.

A little over a week before the show I turned thirty and I found watching Jones exhausting. She has boundless energy and for nearly every song she brought people on stage to dance with her. A few were disobedient and/or bad dancers, so she banished them back to the crowd. She was a populist, though. The people she brought on stage varied in their size, age and gender.

For about two hours, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings delighted the crowd full of NPR listeners. While I found Jones and the musicians that back her fantastic, the crowd made for a difficult evening. While the show was all-ages, I would guess the median age of the crowd was over 40. It meant that the bars were full and we all had to wait in line for the bartenders to mix martinis. Say what you want about indie rock/hipster crowds, but those crowds don’t order drinks that require a shaker, or use flash photography.

Still, though, Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings put on a fantastic show. They closed their proper set with “100 Days, 100 Nights” and finished the night with “Answer Me”, both are from their 2007 album, 100 Days, 100 Nights.

For that 2007 show I wrote about last time, I had to leave my closest friend’s birthday party early to make it to Neumo’s for the show. I felt guilty until I knew how remarkable the show would be. This time, my friend made sure that he was there.

Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings are the best soul/funk band making music today. Jones is a dynamic person and the Dap-Kings are best funk band or the funkiest great band today. Watching this remarkable band with this remarkable singer is one of the pleasures that make life worth living. If it’s hyperbole, I’m sorry – but it’s also true.

I knew that I left Neumo’s feeling like I had seen one of the finest shows of my life but would that experience hold up after giving some more time?

Live At KEXP Volume Four

Chris Estey — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 07:05:08 +0000

8.5

http://www.kexp.org

kexpVol4-08dec.jpg

For a perfect sampler of the contemporary non-mainstream rock radio aesthetic, and rare versions of what's out there to boot, this is an essential holiday purchase (and only available for purchase through 12/31/2008).

This fourth volume of the Live At KEXP series is possibly my favorite in the series, because not only is it filled with inspired in-studio recordings from many of the best artists the beloved radio-Internet station has in rotation, but it flows with a particular rhythm and cadence that is both what makes these bands great on their own and why their strongest songs stack so well together.

Yes, Fleet Foxes and Vampire Weekend are here (be rather silly if they weren't, but the VW song is going to force me to buy the album now, after a long time of being on the sidelines in its hype-backlash war), and The Hold Steady is as well (with one of my favorite tracks of theirs already), but so is Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings and Elbow's current single. Like with KEXP's broadcasting itself, it's a combination of the most progressive and appealing current indie music styles mixed with timeless and/or mature cult band presences.

One could fantasize about the Live At KEXP series having more tracks from some of the brilliant, more marginal DJ voices (shouldn't the Roadhouse and Sonarchy have limited run releases themselves, on 180 gram vinyl? Greg Vandy interview Books On Tape?). But this compilation is in no way pedestrian or redundant, as it turned me on to several performers/groups I don't always catch when listening to my favorite DJ shifts (Angelique Kidjo, Pela).

There's lots here, and if I'm still craving more, it's probably because someone is doing something right in the first place.

Very tight and exciting mix of some of the best on KEXP.

Two more non-Block Party shows not to miss

ChrisB — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:11:46 +0000

Two of my favorite live acts I've seen recently are coming through town this weekend: DJ Shadow and Cut Chemist and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.

Another Best of '07 list: Chop Suey booker Pete Greenberg's favorite albums

ChrisB — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 16:46:06 +0000

I'm a huge nerd when it comes to pouring over annual, best of lists (I'm still biting my nails in anticipation of the Idolator critic's poll that should be out soon), and I'm always intrigued by what the favorites of people who work in the business of music but aren't (necessarily) critics or reviewers. So, I asked Chop Suey's brand new booker Pete Greenberg to submit his list of favorite albums with the promise of posting them here - to which he happily complied.

Here's what made his list:

1. Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)

2. Future of The Left – Curses (Too Pure)

3. Handsome Furs – Plague Park (Sub Pop)

4. Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings – 100 Days, 100 Nights (Daptone Records)

5. The Arcade Fire – Neon Bible (Merge)

6. Big Business – Here Come The Waterworks (Hydra Head Records)

7. Beach House – Beach House (Carpark Records)

8. Blonde Redhead – 23 (4AD)

9. Band of Horses – Cease to Begin (Sub Pop)

10. Siberian – With Me (Sonic Boom Recordings)

11. Matthew Dear – Asa Breed (Ghostly International)

12. Lavender Diamond – Imagine Our Love (Matador Records)

13. Peter Bjorn & John – Writer’s Block (Almost Gold)

A transcendent night with Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings

ChrisB — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 05:39:32 +0000

8 Dec 2007

l_fe9a57c5d2968bfd27b81387034df721.jpg

One of the things that I’m thankful for in my rock and/or roll life is that I had the pleasure of seeing James Brown live before he died. Sure, he was over 70 at the time (it was probably the last show he played in Seattle) but unlike his peers that I’d also seen live (Chuck Berry and Little Richard specifically), Brown could still bring it. He couldn’t hit all of the high notes or do the splits like he could do years ago, but he was nothing short of electric and his show was certainly one of the memories that I will never forget. While the Brown show I saw was magical, I have no doubt that the ones he put on in the 1960s and 70s were transcedental.

This live show review, of course, is not about James Brown. He’s been dead for almost a year -- but is surely fronting the greatest band in rock and roll heaven as I type this (and I say that as an unrepentant athiest). No, Saturday night I was one of the very lucky people in Neumo’s who was there to witness (“watch” or “see” or “catch” are far too weak of verbs to be using) the phenomenal, and likewise transcendental, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings.

I probably go to more live shows than any other writer on the TIG staff and I can say entirely free of hyperbole or hype that the sold-out show at Neumo’s last Saturday night was as close to a religious experience this non-believer could experience. It was easily the best show I was at this year and one of the best I’ve seen yet.

All that you really need to know about Jones and the Dap-Kings is such: she has been singing her whole life but worked as a correctional officer to pay the bills until getting the chance to sing for the Dap-Kings in 1996, when she was 40 years old. She was often rejected for being too fat or too old by people that obviously never listened to Aretha Franklin. The Dap-Kings are a remarkable soul/funk band in the tradition of Brown’s Famous Flames. Together, they released their first album in 2002 (Dap Dippin’ with Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings). This year, they released their third album, 100 Days 100 Nights {review}. Members of the Dap-Kings (including Jones, although she was never credited) were also brought in by it-producer of the moment Mark Ronson to play the music on Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black album.

I left 100 Days 100 Nights off my top ten list for 2007 (even though it was one of my favorite records of the year) because I never felt there was a moment where Jones’ voice and presence took over the album. Live, there were no such doubts. From the moment the 51-year old Jones took the stage, about 15 minutes after the Dap-Kings did (James Brown did the same thing when I saw him), she had complete control over everyone at Neumo’s. While she was a commanding presence, she’s also a populist. At least a half-dozen times during the set (which lasted for 100 glorious minutes) she brought people from the crowd to dance or sing along with her. Two of which (at separate times) were Paul Chandler, frontman of the instrumental but funky openers Megatron and his girlfriend. Chandler had just turned 21 and Jones sang the sultriest version of happy birthday to him. (Confidential to SJ: my birthday is coming up in about six weeks.)

There were numerous highlights for the evening. A cover of “This Land is Your Land” that included another verse that mentioned, amongst other places, a welfare office, and the title track off of 100 Days 100 Nights - which brought down the house.

Loss and rejection are themes that run through Jones’ music and career path but on this given Saturday night Neumo’s was packed with people who worship her. She did not disappoint. For whatever reason, the people who attended this show witnessed something remarkable. Something surreal. Maybe even something beyond them. I don’t believe in a higher being but I now understand the feeling of someone who has been touched by one.

I can say entirely free of hyperbole or hype that the sold-out show at Neumo’s last Saturday night was as close to a religious experience this non-believer could experience. It was easily the best show I was at this year and one of the best I’ve seen yet.

100 Days, 100 Nights

Bob Ham — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 20:45:08 +0000

http://www.amazon.com/Days-Nights-Sharon-Jones-Kings/dp/B000UO75AY/wwwthreeimagi-20

51L4CH07S6L._SS400_.jpg

Hearing the Dap-Kings add their furiously funky sound to albums like Mark Ronson’s Version and Amy Winehouse’s Back to Black is a fine thing, simply because it helps to raise the profile of one of the finest revivalist groups around. But what those projects were missing is a real soul voice, one that divests their sharp instrumental work from the present, leaving you wondering if you didn’t just stumble across an unearthed recording from 1966.

The combination of Sharon Jones’ brash, throaty pipes with the horn-heavy attack of the Daptones is one of the premiere musical collaborations of our times. Without the other, each act would be undoubtedly relegated to studio work, doomed to obscurity outside the eyes of those of us who scour the liner notes of our CDs. Together, their albums and their fiery live shows have gained them all legions of fans around the world.

With any luck, their new album 100 Days, 100 Nights will raise their profile even more. The short (10 songs at just over 30 minutes) and sweet disc moves along at an unhurried pace, settling into grooves that slide between the punchy swagger of the Stax/Volt studio band and the silkier, sexier sound of Motown’s house band, The Funk Brothers. Above it all, stands Jones, who doesn’t force her vocals on the backing tracks, but rather nuzzles in alongside them, leaving the star power histrionics for lesser singers.

Although the best place to hear these tracks is performed live, where Jones takes full command of the stage and has audiences eating out of her hands by the end of the first song, until she and the Dap-Kings make their way to the West Coast, we’ll have to settle for these glorious, soul-stirring recordings.

The new Sharon Jones album is not only a classic of '60s soul revivalism, but also one of the best albums of 2007.

New releases for the week, from Easy Street Records

Jflores — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 19:14:26 +0000

This week's new releases looks like some kinds of flashback or a Halloween trick, but alas it's true: Arrested Development, Backstreet Boys, Blues Traveler, and Britney are all back with new records.