Thrifty at Capitol Club: Cheap but Never Easy

KILLER DJ NIGHT
No matter what the world says, vinyl is still king. The thrill of the vinyl hunt has a prehistoric feel to it. I collect punk records, and when I find a good X-Ray Spex original pressing, I swear it must feel like finding and killing an antelope on the savanna or something. Ya know what I mean?

If you don't, DJ Problematic, a kick-ass Seattle female DJ, gets it. She and her friend, DJ Barbarella, are voracious vinyl collectors, and spend the weekends pouring over stacks of records. Their favorite places to hunt are the discounted vinyl stacks and thrift stores, where you can still find $1, $2, $3 records.

It only made sense, then, that when the economy tanked, Problematic would start Thrifty!, a night at Capitol Club devoted discount vinyl. Every Thursday, Problematic and her friends drag their vinyl ($3 or less) to the decks and play some of the best, and cheapest, music in Seattle.

The resulting night is magic. No genre is off limits, and the night is always entertaining. One set could include AM rock, disco, dance hits, and R&B. And you never know who might show up: DJ Edis, DJ Verse, The Reverend of Rock, DJ Barbarella, and others often stop by. The cover is free, the bartender makes excellent drinks (try the Hello Kitty), and DJ Problematic reinvents the music each week.

Thrifty! proves that money has nothing to do with taste.

Pixies Announce European Tour: October 2009

UPCOMING SHOW
Can you believe that it's the twentieth anniversary of the release of The Pixie's album, Doolittle? You got it sweetheart--Here Comes Your Man and This Monkey's Gone to Heaven will be 21 next year. Holy crap. That's old enough to get into a bar.

Here's the real news, I was checking out a UK show email list, and found something thrilling. The Pixies are touring and are playing four shows at the Brixton Academy in London in October, a reprise of their 2004 gig there. At each show the Pixies will be playing all of the songs from Doolittle.

The Pixies announced their Doolittle European tour, which starts in London and ends in Paris, a few days ago in an interview with Scott Thrill of Wired:

“We wanted to do something special for Doolittle’s 20th anniversary,” Pixies singer/guitarist Black Francis explained in a press release, “and we thought his was a good opportunity to play all of the songs from that album, something we don’t normally do at a regular gig.”

Might be worth a trip to the City of Lights, non?

The Pogues at the Showbox Sodo 10/10/09: To Pogue or Not to Pogue?

UPCOMING SHOW
The reunited celtic punk band The Pogues just announced a Seattle stop on their tour on October 10th. It's an all-orgininal lineup, and I absolutely love the band.

Two bits of bad news, though: 1) the tickets are $50 a piece and 2) the show is at the Showbox Sodo. I really hate that venue. The place is like a giant warehouse--tinny sound, too many people standing on one level, and expansive space with no thought to design. Seriously, it's like being at a rave circa 1990.

To Pogue or Not to Pogue? I can't decide, but here's some inspiration.

MEN at Chop Suey 7/14/09

NEW MUSIC & UPCOMING SHOW
I have a feeling that Seattle's best show in July is going to be MEN, the new electro/DJ project of LeTigre's JD Samson and Johanna Fateman. Based in Brooklyn, MEN retains the feminist ethos of Le Tigre, but their music is beat-centric ala Hot Chip. According to a Le Tigre blog post, JD and Jo were both working on side projects when the group organically formed :

"hello you guys, As you may or may not know, JD and JO started MEN in 2007 as a DJ, Remix, and Production duo. After a couple months of touring as DJs they decided to start writing original material. At the same time, JD was working on another project with Emily Roysdon (from LTTR), Michael O'Neill (from the Ballet) and Ginger Brooks Takahashi (from LTTR and the Ballet) called 'Hirsute'. All of the sudden some crazy tornado whipped everyone around in a circle and the two projects became ONE!"

MEN has been touring in Europe, and is wrapping up their US leg of the tour. I haven't found a place to buy their music yet (let me know if you find it), but I found some videos that can help you get a feel for them:
Off Our Backs Official Video
Be Like This Live in NYC
and my favorite dance track...
Credit Card Babies

Susan Hutchinson Rocks The Gay Pride Parade 6/28/09

EVENT REVIEW
Gay pride parade was great this year. I have a feeling, though, that the parade has grown up some how. Of 150ish floats, it felt like over half of them were made up of politicians, companies, or churches. It's good that they're there, but politics especially gets boring. Dykes on Bikes, the Rat City Roller Girls, and all of the random drag queens were way more fun.

The talk of the parade this year centered around Susan Hutchinson, the ultra-conservative, perfectly-coiffed former KIRO-tv newscaster who is running for County Executive. Susan, who recently claimed to be a moderate in the press, made a political statement by being notably absent from the parade. Moderate, my ass. Her opponent, the infinitely more qualified Dow Constantine, highlighted her attendance by displaying a few "Where's Susan?" posters.

Back to fun. Uncle Bob, a Pike Place Market friend and legend, celebrated his 85th birthday by attending the parade. He is an amazing man with a beautiful heart and lots of friends who love him. We helped him celebrate by decorating him with as many beads as we could coax out of the cute parade boys and girls. Happy Birthday Uncle Bob!

Electrofabulous: The Dirty Projectors at Chop Suey

NEW MUSIC & UPCOMING SHOW
Music from Brooklyn is taking over the airwaves. The Dirty Projectors, who had gigs with both David Byrne and Bjork in May, are invading Chop Suey on July 2. A band with a unique electro/rock/experimental sound, their music relies heavily on driving percussion and smart vocal melodies. There's sort of a Talking Heads-esque feel to them.

Their new cd, Bitte Orca, is destined to blow up. KEXP recently released band's song, Stillness is On the Move, as their song of the day. Pitchfork says Bitte Orca is their best album. Paste calls it an album destined to be one of the "most singularly engrossing albums to be released this year."

It will be worth checking out for sure.

I {Still} Live in a Car: UK Subs and Bloodclots Coming Soon

UPCOMING SHOW
The UK Subs are back at Studio Seven August 20th after
canceling a show earlier this year. An early UK punk band, their big hit, Stranglehold, hit the charts in 1979. I Live In A Car is also a classic. I haven't seen them live yet, but am looking forward to it.

The Bloodclots, a local punk band who opened for recent Germs's show at Neumos, are also playing the show. A kick-ass combination of LA Harcore and Oi, they have a big hardcore following in Seattle. They put on a great show, and they have amazing hair.