Updates, reviews, ecetera

Welcome to the new URL! Scrimshaw Music News is now here. I'll still probably only post something new every six months, but you get the idea. On that note...

It's been a busy summer! I fell in love, helped some good friends get hitched, moved apartments, took my share of road trips, worked at the restaurant and freelanced a bunch.

Just before it folded its print publication, I began writing for Paste. It was a thrill to see my byline on the website, and I'm sad I won't see it in print. But I did squeeze these few reviews in before the indie tastemaker threw in the towel:

J. Tillman: Singing Ax

Latetitia Sadier: The Trip

Dead Confederate: Sugar

I'm still waiting to see if my interview with Ishmael Butler (formerly of Digable Planets, currently of Seattle's Shabazz Palaces) makes it up on the site's "Best of What's Next" section, where it was slated to run. From what I read on the web, on September 1, all the folks I was working with at Paste were given two hours to clean their desks, and I haven't heard from anyone since. I know Prefix is interested, so hopefully the short Q&A will see the light of day soon.

Paste also ran a small feature called "Ten September Albums Worth Checking Out" which contained an excerpt from my Laetitia Sadier review. It's here:

Ten September Albums Worth Checking Out

I've been doing some work with City Arts as well. I reviewed a mellow jazz show at Jazz Alley back in June (Music Review: A Long Night with Dave Peck Trio) and wrote a few band biographies promoting the upcoming City Arts Music Festival, which will feature more than 60 bands playing Seattle venues October 20 - 23. I'll post those bios when they go up, but for now, here's what you need to know about the festival: City Arts Fest Homepage.

And to top things off, I've been working on updating Seattle Weekly's club and bar database. The pieces are short, informational snippets about various venues around the city, but it's been keeping me busy and I've been having fun doing it. I'm almost up to 20 entries - too exhaustive to list here - but if you ever get to reading about a random venue on Seattleweekly.com, chances are I might have authored it (and taken the accompanying photos).

I think that catches y'all up. Until next time, people!

Old and news...

The first piece I ever wrote for the now defunct Seattle Sound Magazine (City Arts is its newest incarnation) was a small feature on a hip-hop legend here in Seattle, Samuel Stephens. He passed away unexpectedly back in 2007, to the shock of his family and the hip-hop community. I thought it was just a print feature, but stumbled across it online the other day. The longtime supporter and producer of local music was also part owner of the Ezell's Fried Chicken franchise. The story is here: Seattle Hip-hop Pioneer Passes.

On a related City Arts note, I have a small review in the latest (April) issue. At an original word count of 150, it's whittled down to a mere 75, and the result is sloppy and out of context. Rats. Such is writing (and hasty editors) sometimes. The review as I intended it to look is here for you now.

Speak
Self-titled
(Origin Records)

Seattle free jazz quintet Speak hasn't been around a while – the group just formed in 2008 – but that hasn't kept them from attracting attention. They're the newest signers to local jazz label Origins and have lined up gigs from clubs in New York to jazz festivals in Europe. Their six track debut of original compositions is a 45 minute progressive jazz art piece. Cuong Vu – whose smooth, improvisational trumpet work has appeared alongside Pat Methany, David Bowie and Cibo Matto – brings a seasoned finesse to the recording, offset by technical skills brought forth by four younger members. Album highlights include: “Polypockets,” a syncopated frenzy of manic sax, precision percussion and heavy handed keys; “Pure Hatred,” a jarring shudder of schismatic, flowing jazz; and “Litany Split,” featuring Vu's feather light trumpet. It's studied, moody music. Speak has arrived with something to say.

SXSW, Bill Murray & Me

South by Southwest was a whirlwind. Here's me stretching with Bill "Ghost-bustin' Ass" Murray as a group of us waited for our delayed flights out of Austin. We ran into him stretching his legs over a trash/recycling receptacle and pretty much tagged teamed the poor guy for some photos. He looked dead hungover, but was gracious in the moment and chatted with us about the festival and where we were headed from Austin. As it happens, he made quite a few rounds at SXSW this year. Here's a video of the famous actor tending bar at the Shangri-La: Bartendin' Bill Murray.

That's Lizeth Santos in the second photo. She's the wife of Rafter Roberts, and one-woman cocktail drum kit playing extraordinaire, Smile Now Cry Later. She gave me her EP, and Rafter gave me a few records, including his new one. I ended up reviewing it (quite favorably!) for San Diego CityBeat. Great indie dance pop. Here's the review: Rafter: Animal Feelings.

I ended up doing a house swap this year. My new friend Sara stayed at my place in Seattle, and I had her nice house in north Austin all to myself to write and re-write. Which is pretty much what I did for the good part of the day, and when I was through, I went into the city to see all the music and meet up with friends.

I had a single assignment due each day: one artist interview. I had my pick of hundreds of artists, but chose the following four, a diverse bunch. You can read them - and my SXSW wrap up - here:

Basia Bulat: Interview, SXSW
Imaad Wasif: Interview, SXSW
Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson: Interview, SXSW
Blue Scholars: Interview, SXSW
Overheard at SXSW: A Week's Worth of Random Quotes

Shortly after my interview with Imaad Wasif, the apple I gave him during our interview turned up in LA Weekly (along with a snarky comment about my tape recorder). You can read the blog post here: Imaad and The Apple.

Oh, my goodness. The random places and people and things that converge in Austin in March. It's just bananas. More for you soon!

Nouvelle Vague Q & A

Last minute I spoke with Olivier Libaux, the other half of the production duo that leads Nouvelle Vague. Nice French gent. Here's the Q & A that went up at Prefix earlier this week: Nouvelle Vague: Interview.

At the NV show that evening, I met Matthew Cooke, a writer for the Stranger on a special month long assignment with an excess of +1's. Later that week, I accompanied him to see Moon Duo, a two piece from San Fransisco who played the Rendezvous. Great show. Here's what he had to say about the gig: Moon Duo at the Rendezvous.

SXSW plans are shaping up. My travel plans, accommodations and press pass have all been firmed up, and I've narrowed down my list of interviewees. Stay tuned for the daily dispatch from Texas!

I'm attempting to leave you with a few photos of the Nouvelle Vague and Moon Duo shows, and another band I caught recently at the Sunset, Motorist. They're a super technical, progressive indie group I really enjoyed. But photo uploader is not working at the moment. As always, stay tuned...

A few reviews, and other news

As Daniel Johnston so famously said, Hi. How are you.

It's been a while, but better late than never to fire up the old blog for another round of music news.

First, I want to plug a couple records. Last year, Seattle band Lady Drama debuted with a full length and I wrote it up for Seattle Weekly. They went on to play Reverb, Seattle's local music festival, but things have been pretty quiet for them since. We'll see what 2010 holds for this melodic, lyrical group. Here's the review: Lady Drama: Aftermath.

San Diego's electronic indie group The Album Leaf releases their fifth album today, A Chorus of Storytellers, on Sub Pop. You can read my review of it here: The Album Leaf: A Chorus of Storytellers.

In other news, I'll be talking to Marc Collin of French cover band Nouvelle Vague later this week. They've been on an aggressive tour of Europe and North America promoting their album NV3, and play the King Kat club on Thursday. I'll post the Q&A as soon as it goes up at Prefix.

And, South by Southwest is just around the corner. I'm finalizing my travel plans as I write this, and brainstorming ideas for a daily Prefix dispatch. This year, I'm planning on a band interview a day - the only hiccup is figuring out who...

That's all for now. Have a good week, everyone!

Young Fresh Fellows - New Record and CD release show

After such an obvious lapse between posts, reality has smacked on the forehead: it looks like I'll probably have time to update ye olde blog only when I have music news related directly to my personal work. My hopes of maintaining a constantly-updated, award-winning music blog have now been relegated to the much more practical realm of: one giant press release of and about me!

I guess this is my way of saying: don't come to Scrimshaw looking for the latest breaking news in the music world. I set my sights too high and wanted to bring you a blog of quality and substance, but these days all I really have time to do is keep a small journal of my recent jobs. Life has a way of interrupting even the best laid blog drafts. And I wanted to tell it to you straight.

So, speaking of music news (*coughs*), I have a new piece in Seattle Weekly about the Young Fresh Fellows. This a Seattle based group that's been on the scene for over 25 years, a band that skirted the punk scene of the early '80s, rode out the grunge invasion and provided a good deal of context for tons of area bands. They have a new album out - their first in almost 10 years - and it was produced by Robyn Hitchcock. There's a good story here! Read all about it: Not So Young, Still Fresh.

Bill Callahan - New Album and Interview

I recently sat down with singer-songwriter Bill Callahan - via a friendly email - to talk about his new album, Sometimes I Wish We Were An Eagle. He's a very intriguing personality, introspective and prolific - for years he recorded under the moniker Smog - and is considered by many to be an unsung pioneer of the early 90's lo-fi sound.

This is his second release as Bill Callahan. It's a beautiful, cohesive record. Read more about it here: Bill Callahan: Interview.