7 HOME MUSIC NEWS
A match made in heaven
11/21/2008 | Of all the storytelling rock 'n' roll frontmen out there, Craig Finn and Patterson Hood probably spend more time than anyone singing and talking about the bands they love.
Changing times close unfinished chapter
10/31/2008 | COLUMN | I wrote my first story for The Spokesman-Review when I was 15 years old. It was a Q&A with Sir Mix-a-Lot. That's when I learned that I could actually get paid to go to concerts and hang out with celebrities. So I stuck with the paper.
Classics with an edge
10/24/2008 | If you're one of those people who thinks classical music is dull, you probably just haven't heard the right classical music. Tonight, the Spokane Symphony leaves the formality of the Fox and heads across the street to the Knitting Factory for an evening of more obscure, experimental music.
One among the Giants
10/17/2008 | Jazz pianist Marcus Roberts recorded a CD in 1991 titled "Alone With Three Giants." Meanwhile, something interesting happened: Roberts himself became a giant.
Roberts is one of the most influential jazz pianists in the world, with seven Top Ten albums on the Billboard jazz charts, a Grammy nomination and collaborations with Wynton Marsalis and Seiji Ozawa.
Yet he remains a modest man, as jazz giants go.
An intriguing rock equation
10/10/2008 | The fact that the Mathematicians are playing with a bunch of math-rock bands adds up to a rather intriguing equation. In the New York-based Mathematicians you have a self-contained sweat fest, driven by nerdy electro-dance punk.
Evolving, exploding once again
10/10/2008 | ID: Godbear features former members of Impact Exploder and The High Holies. Style: Loud, aggressive rock with strong overtones of punkRoster: Guitarist, vocalist Aaron Bocook, aka Dicky Richardson; bassist, vocalist Buford Van Cleave Braime, and drummer Derek "Nitro" WatsonOrigin: "Buford was sleeping my couch for a few months and started noodling on bass for the first time since high school We had out first practice on leap day," Bocook said.
Heavy hitters join forces to open Casbah
10/10/2008 | COLUMN | This is the house that music built. The Casbah, a new night club opening next week downtown, was created almost entirely by the labor, love and vision of Spokane musicians. Located at 416 W. Sprague Ave a couple doors down from Mootsy's and upstairs from Chicken-n-More The Casbah is run by Skillet Jones frontman Dennis Henderson, who enlisted the help of local musicians to construct the club's stylin' interior.
Expect a bear-size crowd
10/3/2008 | When Minus the Bear came through on its release tour for "Planet of Ice," it was one of the most well-attended shows at The Service Station last year, right up their with Shiny Toy Guns and Rocky Votolato. Almost exactly one year later, the Seattle math-rock quintet is expected to once again pack the 500-plus venue, as Minus the Bear has only raised its stock this year by playing big-time festival gigs this summer such as Bonnaroo and Coachella.
From out of this world
10/3/2008 | ID: Meteorites Attack contains half of the now-defunct Mistress and the Misters. Style: Dance/metal/punk/experimentalRoster: Bassist Shane Taylor, drummer Mikey Dane and guitarist Chris Henderson. Songwriting: Each of us does our homework," Taylor said.
Catch them if you can
9/26/2008 | By now the word should be well spread around town about Portland's music-box folk quintet Musee Mecanique. The first time Musee Mecanique came to Caterina in February, all of five people were on hand to see the band shift from delicately playing the saw, lap-pat percussion and whistling to quietly erupting into a subtle seven-synth onslaught.
A sisterly musical collaboration
9/26/2008 | ID: Power und Beauty is the all-female accordion-driven quartet led by local star Karli Fairbanks. Style: "Besides our main characteristics being power and beauty, we are also a little bit choral, whimsical, playful, bavarian, waltzy and we consider the croaking of the vegetable steamer as the backbone of our rhythmic foundation."
What's the deal with Tambourine Guy?
9/26/2008 | COLUMN |
If you've been to a live rock show in Spokane even once in the last year, there's a fair chance you're familiar with the Tambourine Guy.
Everybody knows the Tambourine Guy; he's become a fixture in the local music scene.
He's the tall guy on the dance floor with long hair, often wearing a sleeveless button-up shirt with silver flames crawling down the chest.
A hip-hop extravaganza
9/19/2008 | For hip-hop fans, this is one of those shows where you have to pinch yourself. The entire eight-man Living Legends crew, including Murs (fresh off of Rock the Bells), is coming to The Knitting Factory for only $10.
Giving hip-hop a feminist edge
9/19/2008 | ID: Mirrored Katz is an affiliate of Spokane's Bad Penmanship rhympire. Style: Feminist-edged conscious hip-hopRoster: Emcee activists Noel Lanter aka Knowell and Jaeda Glasgow. Watch what you say: Jaeda is the mother of 2-year-old Ayva and 2-month-old Max.
Still punk after all these years
9/12/2008 | Members of the seminal punk-ska band Operation Ivy became Rancid in '91. Given the shelf life of bands that get caught up in pop trends, you'd think that by 2008 they'd be downright putrid.
Out from the underground
9/12/2008 | ID: Gun of the Sun is highlighted by Freetime Synthetic and Doug Tobey, both of the locally legendary disco-punk-rap outfit Upper Class RacketStyle: Underground hip-hopRoster: Emcees Jason Corcoran, aka Freetime Synthetic; K.
'Tis almost release season
9/12/2008 | The music business is hurting, but you wouldn't know it from the avalanche of activity between now and Christmas. Despite the boffo business done this summer by Coldplay and Lil Wayne, the industry's conventional wisdom still holds that the run-up to the holiday season is the best time for major-label singers and rappers to sell CDs (or digital albums).
Franti, Spearhead visit Spokane
9/5/2008 | On his latest release, "All Rebel Rockers," Michael Franti is still stoking his fiery protest, this time from the flames of Kingston, Jamaica. To record the album which is released Tuesday Franti called in help from legendary dancehall artists and producers Sly & Robbie (Peter Tosh, Jimmy Cliff, Bob Dylan, Alicia Keys, No Doubt).
Spin cycle: Put 'em all together
9/5/2008 | ID: Invidia consists of former members of Branches Apart, Scarletta, Soulkore and The Mediocre, among others. Style: MetalcoreRoster: Lead vocalist Mikhael Phelps, guitarist Brian Rowbotham, guitarist Jamin Lowe, bassist Andy Bartholomew, drummer Ryan StocksOrigin: "Brian, Jamin, Andy and I met at SFCC in music theory.
Familiar ring to it
9/5/2008 | The golden era of hip-hop's history is encapsulated in the year's hottest international rap festival Rock the Bells which makes only 10 stops in the U.S., the last of which is this weekend at The Gorge.
This year's event features nearly 20 acts on two stages, including Nas and the reunions of A Tribe Called Quest and The Pharcyde.
Not to be overlooked
8/29/2008 | By now you're likely fully dialed in for Lucinda Williams to headline Sunday's Clock Tower Stage at Pig Out in the Park. But one act you may be less familiar with that is not to be overlooked is Carrie Rodriguez.
Funky musical arrangement
8/29/2008 | ID: Rough Congress features Jamie Maker and Aaron Saye, of the notorious Makers. Style: Vintage soul, R&B and funk for crate-digging retrophilesRoster: Keyboardist Chris White, guitarist Maker, bassist Jake Barr, drummer Saye, and lead vocalist Brandon O'Neill, of Spokane's noteworthy O'Neill clan.
Webley's got a squeeze box
8/22/2008 | Jason Webley is a beautiful monster. Anyone who has seen him live already knows this. His live show is virtually unmatched in the area, as the far as a dude and an accordion go (he's also pretty big in parts of Europe, especially Russia).
World view with community spirit
8/22/2008 | ID: Oren B. and the Seekers is an affiliate of the Real Side Sound System deejay and arts collective. Style: African and roots culture inluenced world musicRoster: Guitarist and vocalist Oren B.
7 stage at Pig Out mixes Salsa, world flavors
8/22/2008 | Here are the ingredients: 7 distinct blends two parts roots, a little indie, three parts acoustic, and a bunch of Salsa. Once again our friends at Pig Out in the Park have given 7 the green to highlight some of the tastiest talent Spokane has to offer, and we've got a diverse buffet in the Clock Tower Meadow on Thursday for Spokane's annual festival of food and music.
