Seattle natives Us on Roofs, the Cat From Hue, and the Mission Orange will take the stage at The Crocodile on Feb. 29 for an all ages show. The evening should end the month on a high note, promising a danceable combination of shoegaze and psych rock to get fans young and not-quite-as-young moving to some yet to be released tunes. Hey, it's not every year you get 366 days to party – why not spend the extra night taking in some local favorites?
On their upcoming 7” EP KILL KILL KILL, Vacant Fever offer up electro-psych tunes with as much thrust and raw energy as any dance floor- or house party-tested albums out there. Due for release on March 6, its throbbing bass and gritty, fuzz-heavy guitarplay offer the ideal backdrop for a symphony of breathy vocals and Bolan-esque sighs. Striking somewhere between Silversun Pickups and the Rapture’s dance punk, the duo of Daniel Michael Miller and Leon Spinx deal in simple but infectious melodies that sound at once firmly grounded in a postmodern reality, and like a transmission from another planet. Despite the buzzing modernity and detachment that some of the EP’s five tracks might suggest, their authors say “inside all of us, a fire still burns, and intimacy is incredibly alive” – reason enough to get to know Vacant Fever better.
Amid shaky reverberations, melancholy crooning and eerie whistles, Bill Campbell, or Thee Midnight Creep, delivers his signature gothically-inflected gospel on his latest release. I Lie Like a Dog at Your Feet is an album that can stand up to the works of the great shiver-inducing wordsmiths; Campbell’s brand of woozy folk is as macabre as any Edgar Allan Poe creation. Minimalist auto-harp accompaniment allows his stirring vocals, suggestive of a soul tormented, to take listeners hostage in a world of brocade, gnarled trees and perpetual dusk. The aptly named opener “Codeine” pairs heady instrumentation with woebegone lyrics that sound like they were uttered in a long empty hallway. The song, and the album, act as an auditory narcotic – hypnotic, calming and, ultimately, hard to let go. But don’t take our word for it – Thee Midnight Creep will be performing live on KEXP at 8 p.m. on February 18.
Chicago results HERE.
DC Area results HERE.
Nashville results HERE.
New England results HERE.
NYC results HERE.
Philly results HERE.
Portland results HERE.
SF Bay Area results HERE.
Here's summary of the progress of each one of our 11 regional Year End Polls for Emerging Artists. Due to high number of NYC submissions we organized that scene's results by genre.
BEST OF 2011 FOR EMERGING ARTISTS - LATEST NEWS: 01.23.2012 - AUSTIN READERS' + FANS' POLL LAUNCHED - HERE
01.27.2012 - Austin Submission Results Announced
01.23.2012 - LOS ANGELES READERS' + FANS' POLL LAUNCHED - HERE 01.24.2012 - NYC FINAL RESULTS ARE IN!!! - HERE 01.23.2012 - PORTLAND READERS' + FANS' POLL LAUNCHED - HERE
01.23.2012 - SF BAY AREA READERS' + FANS' POLL LAUNCHED - HERE 01.18.2012 - NASHVILLE READERS' + FANS' POLL LAUNCHED - HERE 01.17.2012 - PHILLY READERS' + FANS' POLL LAUNCHED - HERE 01.17.2012 - CHICAGO READERS' + FANS' POLL LAUNCHED - HERE 01.17.2012 - Portland OR Submission Results Announced
01.16.2012 - NEW ENGLAND READERS' + FANS' POLL LAUNCHED - HERE
01.12.2012 - DC AREA READERS' AND FANS' POLL LAUNCHED - VOTE HERE
*** See below for results full list and schedule ***
A big thank you to our sponsors for supporting our poll and providing prizes to the winners!
They say a great cover is one that does something new with a song, without destroying its essence. Otherworldly shoegazers Golden Gardens did just that on their six-song EP, The Covers, released in December, despite a selection of songs that isn’t exactly intuitive. Golden Gardens’ greatest talent lies in their ability to create dreamscapes out of soundscapes, something that serves them well as they take on other artists’ works – after the first track, it’s easy to forget that these are songs you’ve heard before. The band interprets the songs of Creepshow, Morrissey, Red House Painters, Tears for Fears, Hole and Julee Cruse, with each piece receiving the same gauzy treatment typical of the band’s original material. Every listen creates a different sub-universe built on rippling guitar play and careful percussion. The dream-pop duo defy all skepticism and cover Hole successfully – on “Violet”, Audrey Bramble achieves the perfect tone, translating Courtney Love’s anguished howls through her own diaphanously pure vocals. Bramble and bandmate Gregg Neville released their first full-length album, Between the Siren and the Amulet, last August. With Neville’s recent relocation to Seattle, the band is looking forward to more shows in the city, starting with a March 4 appearance at The Crocodile.
At once progressive and rustic, Sandy Dickerson’s solo forays with the ukulele are far from what you would expect from such an apparently simple instrument. From the opening chords on his fifth solo recording, Songs from the Cold Coast, Dickerson shows that the perceived limitations of the instrument won’t prevent him from creating complexly layered folk tunes. He explores its possibilities, making each of its four strings work. Dickerson may be known around town as the bassist for a handful of other bands – the Panda Conspiracy, Big High, Missing Players and the Subdwellers – but with another album, High Seas, on the way in March, this project is hardly sitting on the backburner. Accompanied by drummer and percussionist Steven Barci, and Chris Poage on flute, accordion and clarinet, his commitment to his solo work shows in the thoughtful composition and varied products on each of his albums. Songs from the Cold Coast balances understated, unconventional sounds with accessible language, and its songs run the gamut from upbeat to somber. Sparse melodies on tracks like “This Room” provide a backdrop to Dickerson’s whispery vocals and quietly disconcerting lyrics, while the four-string twang on the comparatively lively “3 or 4” underscores the song's – and the album's – alternately assertive and confessional tone.
Avant-indie sextet Luminol experiment with contrasting sounds and scenes on their most recent release, Locked In The Woods, which first saw light back in August. Building off of 2009’s Organ Grinder EP, the band doesn’t shy away from the mysterious and the macabre on their latest offering. Unsettling wails, hisses and plucked strings set the tone on sophomore track “Right Hand Man”, and the fretwork of guitarists Andy Ayers and Chris Winter is as delicate and prickling as the chills it sends down your spine. The track is the stuff of Grimm’s darkest fairy tales, but is contrasted by the melodic violin, and Barbara Burgio’s plaintive vocals, on “Squeaking Soul”. The track is the lullaby leading up to the host of dreamlike, and sometimes haunting, tunes that follow – Luminol still definitely gravitate towards the creepy, with bass lines that border on menacing and lyrical delivery that recalls the films of Tim Burton. For listeners up for an evening of boundary-pushing, atmospheric compositions, the band will be playing material from Locked In The Woods at the Skylark Café and Club on Jan. 20. with the Little Black Bottles, and Seeing Blind.
Get yourself down to Belltown on Thursday the 26th for a night of music at the Jewelbox Theater (inside the Rendezvous) with some of Seattle’s great folk/alternative folk-rock/country. The bands' overlapping labels might be troublesome at times, but rest assured, this night's music, featuring banjos, lap steel and beautiful voices singing songs equally full of joy and pathos, will keep you distracted. NoRey's websiteexplains the confusing monikers best:
"Tiny Messengers" is the debut ensemble from local Seattle musician Kimo Muraki, formerly of Fences, Hallways, Lonesome Rhodes, and current member of electro-psych-rock band Surrealized, funk legends Marmalade, Super Sonic Soul Pimps, and sitting in with artists such as Michael Vermillion, Andrew Vait, and many others.
"Henry at War" is the music of singer/songwriter Danielle Henry with producing from Jonathan Warman. Danielle is a native of Seattle, WA where she resides and writes her country-meets-Seattle tunes. Her live band includes Jonathan Warman, Sean Lane, Steven Norman, and Kimo Muraki. Studio recordings also include Colin Richey.
