Looking Up

.

Mount Eerie "Distorted Cymbals"
from a forthcoming 12" on K Records.

(photo: Thorp, WA, November 2011)

Push the Button

.
Playbutton is a self-contained, rechargeable device that holds music or other pre-recorded sounds inside a wearable button. There's a headphone jack at the bottom, and sound control buttons on the back. The recording is unalterable, which is an aspect of it I like, as it forces you to deliberately choose an album to listen to, not unlike putting on a record and playing the whole thing.

Wind's Poem by Mount Eerie is an album that lends itself particularly well to that kind of listening; I was lucky enough to receive a copy of the Playbutton version (above) from my friend Chad and I have to say that the sound quality and packaging – including copper foil, as on the original LP – are top notch. Two other Playbuttons are currently available, one from Bubbles and a 10-song compilation from Opening Ceremony (below) featuring Girls, Björk, How To Dress Well, Matthew Dear, Coconut Records and others. Proceeds from that one go to Musicians On Call, a non-profit that brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of hospital patients.

Playbuttons are forthcoming from The XX, Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Javelin, Mark Borthwick, and more. Visit Opening Ceremony to purchase for $25 each.

Image of the Day

.
Artwork by Stacey Rozich for Earth's new album, Angels of Darkness, Demons of Light 1, available now from Southern Lord on CD or 180g black or red vinyl. Earth plays its album release party tonight at the Tractor, with Pacific Standard favorite Mount Eerie and the Low Hums opening.

Family Slideshow Part 2

.
Some pics from our rainy second day of mini-vacation a few weekends ago on Whidbey Island – hiking up beautiful Mount Eerie, on to Anacortes for lunch, and later to near-empty Fort Ebey State Park.

Click here to see pics from day one.

Tonight & Tomorrow Night:

[ more info ]

Cold Lamping

Seems like a good day for a general assortment of recent photos as we get back into the swing of things. Did I mention that it snowed here? When I was a kid it used to snow a lot, because the Northwest was in the middle of one of its periodical extended cold snaps. That one ended in 1982 or something. I wonder if we're headed into another one because it is cold balls out there right now. Very pretty, and I like the cold, so I don't care. Favorite weather: sunny and cold. But enough blather, on to the photos.

One of many cool old buildings in Anacortes. We just stopped through quickly on our way back from Whidbey Island, but I'm looking forward to spending more time there – it seems like there's a lot of interesting stuff going on, visually and musically.

For example:
Mount Eerie w/ Julie Doiron & Fred Squire
Lost Wisdom mp3 [you buy now]

And I found this several years ago, kind of fresh:
Anacortes High School Marching Band (1973) Corazon mp3

The Lusty Lady, a Seattle landmark. This was taken right after Election Day, but the Electoral College actually casts its votes today.

Speaking of which – I like this photo from November 5th, when Emily and I went to the Five Spot for a pancake lunch. Call me simple but it's still one of my favorite restaurants in Seattle or anywhere.

The Grey Art Gallery has an interesting show up right now – this piece is by Laura C. Wright.

Wallingford

A good paste-up under the viaduct downtown.

My friend Jason wanted me to take this picture, don't blame me.

Up in the Hood

On Sunday we walked around Capitol Hill a little, and then had drinks at Redwood and watched the Seahawks wipe up the field with the sorry little '49ers. That was fun for a change.

Redwood is a relatively new bar that feels like it's been there since 1967. Apparently it's owned by (among others) Mat Brooke of Grand Archives and formerly of Band of Horses and Carissa's Wierd. (I realize that everyone in Seattle probably already knows this but I have to go at my own speed here.)

Carissa's Wierd Suedehead mp3

The bar has these old mining lanterns retro-fitted with new lightbulbs.

Taxidermy. Obligatory at this point, but I'm not really tired of it, I guess. It's kind of classic in bars – like you wouldn't get tired of paintings on walls.

The bathroom has all these old targets as wallpaper.

The bar is lined with shotgun shells. So yeah there's a vague undertone of violence…to animals, large and small…but somehow the place is very relaxing…for humans.

When the game ended, the bartender put on the new Mount Eerie album Lost Wisdom, featuring Julie Doiron and Fred Squire, which is so good, we stuck around just to listen. Get it on white vinyl with a gatefold and poster at PW Elverum 7 Sun, Ltd., or download it from emusic.

Redwood mixes a mean bloody maria – maybe the best I've had. It has long green beans in it, and they blend it really well. It makes a big difference.

I didn't order food but the menu looks solid too. I like Redwood – it will definitely be my third place, or at least one of them.

After that Emily and I walked over to Linda's Tavern, the old standby. It's across the street from my old office, and I used to go there sometimes.

After that was the Tiny Vipers show at Cairo on Summit Avenue, which was part of Expo 86.
It was weird to me that there weren't a ton of people there—I think if Tiny Vipers played Union Hall or somewhere in Brooklyn, it would probably sell out. Of course, selfishly, I would rather see a small show, and Tiny Vipers did not disappoint, even considering she only played four songs. I will look forward to seeing her play again.


Here she is playing "On This Side" for the Seattle Burn to Shine session.

Cairo seems like a cool place. It got written up in the T blog several months ago.

I got a zine and a Flexions record there, which I'll cover in greater detail later (rest assured).

And, finally, on the way home I walked by this little installation in a closed check cashing place on Broadway:

Reclaimed (Ace Cash Express), by Joanna Lepore, imagines that Seattle has been abandoned and "left to the mercy of nature." It's pretty cool.