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SHE HITS THE T-DOME ONE MORE TIME TONIGHT >>> In honor of Britney Spears' stop at the Tacoma Dome tonight ... I know a couple people whose taste in music I trust that claim the new Britney Spears record, Femme Fatale, is actually not that bad. I can't claim to have ever
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SEE THE BAND LIVE TOMORROW IN OLY >>> While ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead certainly cast a long shadow (their infamously long-winded name precedes them), Ringo Deathstarr, the Austin band that's opening for AYWKUBTTOD tomorrow at the Capital Theater, definitely has its own fuzz-soaked appeal. When
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SATURDAY AT NORTHERN IN OLYMPIA >>> Portland's Total Bros are one of the most gymnastic punk bands I've ever heard. Consider the springy, pepped-up lick that opens "Leif is Sorry" from their self-titled 7" (the title is an in-joke reference to Orca Team bassist Leif Anders), or the palpable tension of
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WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE >>> You'd be hard pressed to find a more wide-ranging roster of artists at any other Northwest music-related event than the one lined up for the 17th Annual Olympia Experimental Music Festival. This year, the fest welcomes over 20 artists, including the likes of Eurostache, Squim,
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PART OF THIS WEEKEND'S OLY EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC FEST >>> When I interviewed Olympia Experimental Music Festival booker Nathan Markiewicz and performer Sam Melancon (Megabats) for my piece on this year's OEMF, there was one artist on the festival's line-up both were particularly excited to see. As Squim, Portland's Chris Phillips has
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SMALL AND SINGULRARLY NORTHWESTERN >>> I've reported on no less than four comic book conventions, and attended something around twelve. I've never been to the granddaddy of them all-the media-blitzed San Diego Comicon-but I've logged some serious nerd hours searching back-issue bins at various trade shows, nervously chatted with Paul Pope
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DIVE IN >>> City Center is one of three Michigan bands currently touring the U.S. together. Sharing a van is not an issue, as Swimsuit and Secret Twins draw from the same pool of tight-knit talent. Dina Bankole plays guitar in both Secret Twins and Swimsuit, and her bandmates are likewise
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IRONY MULLET TIME >>> Snippets of dialogue from George Romero's seminal 1968 film Night of the Living Dead act as connective tissue on Grave Babies' 2009 debut full-length Deathface, but it's the penetrating post-apocalyptic goth-rock in between these clips that have garnered the Seattle band fans from here to Copenhagen (home
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SEEKING LOVE >>> Given the amount of mutual admiration between Olympia and the Bay Area's respective rock scenes, it's a little surprising that Christmas and Bare Wires - tourmates on a three-night Pacific Northwest jaunt that includes a stop at Northern on Friday - only just met last month. The Olympia
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THREE DAYS OF PACKED HOUSE SHOWS >>> Friday, April 15 "What do you get when you invite 40 bands and more than 800 people into your living room?" asked the sub-head of a Friday, April 15 article in Western Washington University's student newspaper, the Western Front. The answer-lost, I guess, on the story's
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ALL AGES ACTION >>> On Friday, April 1st, Olympia trio Gun Outfit celebrate the release of their new 12" EP High Places in Seattle. Ironically, title track "High Places" was recorded in a basement, and "High Places" is already the name of a LA duo who-like Gun Outfit-have released
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ON THE SCENE REPORT >>> Saturday at South by Southwest had the the longest lines of the entire week, the most people, and the strongest winds. It felt like the apex of all the week's hectic festivities — an overstuffed explosion of bodies and noise, drunkenly warring against the forces of
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My fourth day at the South by Southwest music conference was full of surprises, terrific music, and more artery-clogging cart food. I encountered a budding rap superstar and caught performances by four others. I managed to scope out three of my favorite Cascadian bands, and happened across a Columbian group
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NWCZ RADIO DJS SPEAK >>> For my article on newly-minted, locally-focused Internet radio station NWCZ Radio, I reached out to some of its on-air talent for insight on why they feel the station fills a much-needed niche, and how their brief time at the station is already expanding their musical palette. WEEKLY
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DAY THREE >>> My third day at SXSW began in disappointment: I arrived to Pitchfork's East Side Drive-In stage too late to see Seattle's finest hiphop outfit, Shabazz Palaces. They've got another gig today, so I'm hoping to make up for yesterday's loss (even though I've seen them no less than
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Being a SXSW virgin, I'm still getting the hang of how to best navigate the festival. Tuesday night, I basically hunkered down at one specific club. Last night, I felt the need to compensate by hitting somewhere between seven and eight clubs. It was a whirlwind evening, but an absolute
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NOW IN 3-D >>> For my inaugural night at Austin's SXSW music festival, I might have behaved somewhat lazily, hustling over to one venue and staying there for the duration of the evening's programming. To be fair, Emo's Jr. is one of Austin's most renowned clubs (also the only Austin venue
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EDIBLES PROJECT TINGED WITH HUMOR >>> Prolific Portland guitarist Dewey Mahood plays in the psych-rock group Eternal Tapestry, as well as a number of other acts, including solo projects Plankton Wat and Edibles. Being a fan of Edibles' split tape with Duck Dive for Stunned Records, I've wondered before about the
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CATCH THEM SATURDAY AT THE DEN >>> In my interview with offbeat Portland musicians Ghost to Falco (Eric Crespo) and Dragging an Ox Through Water (Brian Mumford) for this week's issue of the Volcano, I begin by asking how the two tour-mates and DIY label co-founders got to know each other.
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HEAVY, DARK ACTION (FOR A GOOD CAUSE) IN OLY >>> Who better to perform at this charity show - benefiting the Wolftown Wildlife Rehabilitation Project and embattled "Green Scare" pro-Earth advocates - than Wolves in the Throne Room, the lauded, frosty-sounding Olympia noisemakers who are philosophically green, but whose music is