THIS WEEK IN MUSIC >>>
The Weekly Volcano never sleeps. It's true ... or very close to true. We average only a few hours of shut-eye a night, be it because we're compulsive insomniacs who stay up long hours smoking cigarettes and bumbling around on Twitter (Rev. Adam McKinney), or simply because there's just so much to do.
Included in all this doing? As always, another shining installment of the Weekly Volcano music section.
And this week it's the last Volcano music section of 2011!
We wouldn't lie. You better believe we managed to pump out another stellar Weekly Volcano music section - your every Thursday chance at the best in local music coverage.
Here's a look at the sonic goodness coming at you in print and online in this week's Volcano ...
FEATURE: 2011: The Year in Tacoma Music
In a city where residents can simultaneously be too quick to self-congratulate and wear their shortcomings and bitterness like a talisman, I must approach a year-end summary of Tacoma's music scene largely with optimism, but also a necessary pragmatism. In my opinion (three words one should strongly remember in the reading of this article), this was generally a pretty good year for Tacoma music. While there were setbacks like the seemingly permanent dissolution of the Peabody Waldorf, for instance, there was also the rising of newer venues like Dorky's Arcade and the Space. While the Nightgowns have gone on an indefinite hiatus, newer bands like Not From Brooklyn have begun to establish themselves in town, while the Night Beats have established themselves internationally. ... -- Rev. Adam McKinney
This is a band, led by songwriter Troy Nelson, that approaches the act of songwriting almost as a dare - how tight, bright and ebullient can you make each of these songs while still maintaining that certain gobsmacking efficacy that comes with taking in a great pop song. ... -- Rev. AM
HIP-HOP: Hip-Hop Occupies and Occupy Tacoma plus more
On another note, if you're the revolutionary type who likes to brave the elements, there will be hip-hop and other live music down at the Occupy Tacoma camp on New Year's Eve. The Occupiers in Tacoma are bearing in for the winter, and have no plans to leave. They've outlasted Occupiers in New York, Seattle and many other cities. This is the second Occupy Tacoma has hosted with Hip-Hop Occupies, which is a national group using hip-hop culture to infuse the Occupy movement with renewed energy. I'm throwing down there myself. It will be a fun, celebratory, yet cold night. ... -- Josh Rizeberg
WE RECOMMEND: James Hilborne & The Painkillers
The music of James Hilborne and the Painkillers would be odd in any number of places, but, in Tacoma, it's more or less an anomaly. Ostensibly, the Painkillers play Americana: streaks of country twang and blues rock run through the band's songs, but these elements are accompanied by errant spells of psychedelia and druggy macabre. ... -- Rev. AM
PLUS: Better Living Through Music - Czar, $krilla's New Year's Eve bash at Krickets and more