Sharon Van Etten, a New York-based musician with two albums to her credit, performed at this year’s Bumbershoot. A song of Van Etten’s you are probably familiar with is the beautiful “Love More.” Enjoy photos taken by photographers Nicky Andrews and Kirk Stauffer:
Sharon Van Etten – photos by Nicky Andrews
Sharon Van Etten – photos by Kirk Stauffer
Gomez, an eminent and groovy band from Great Britain who continually defies classification, will be in Seattle tonight for a headlining show at the Showbox. I had the good fortune to see their two Seattle dates last year at the Crocodile, and both shows were supreme. The band has a new album out, Whatever’s On Your Mind, and it’s crucially excellent they’re touring behind it. Yesterday I talked with Gomez drummer and one of Gomez’s songwriters, Olly Peacock about the new music and what exactly what the band is up to.
What is your favorite thing about the new album?
Olly Peacock: A thing that we like the most about it is that, for the first time, took our time and looked at possibly our weakness and tried to correct them. We tried be as precise as we could be and have everything finished before recording.
Members of Gomez are living in all different areas now?
OP: I live in New York, Ian lives in Los Angeles and three of the guys still live in Brighton. I moved to New York (Brooklyn) about five years ago. I love it. It’s a great city – it’s always inspiring. There’s people carrying around guitars and you’re never far away from music.
Gomez
Your last album was made with a view to performing the songs live, did you try to do that again with Whatever’s On Your Mind?
OP: Because of the way the songs were created and we all used the same studio setups, it meant that [we‘d] see the songs on our computers exactly the same. We recorded a lot of the elements before going into the studio. The live element was less so probably on this record than any other record. At the same time because we put in so much effort to make the structure right, I think it made the songs feel like there was a synergy.
You and Ian Ball were part of Operation Aloha, a fourteen-member band. Do you think of doing this type of project again?
OP: It would be wonderful to do it again. [Getting] to any part of the world where we could all be there at the same time is a little difficult. It was a great project, sort of a happy accident.
Nikki Lane performed at the KEXP-sponsored 24th annual Shake The Shack Rockabilly Ball at the Tractor Tavern in Ballard. Featuring honky-tonk, swing, and rockabilly music, the sold out show was hosted by DJs Don Slack and Leon Berman. Friday’s show was part of the 3-day event that took place this past weekend. Accompanied by Carey Kotsionis on guitar and vocals, Nikki performed in support of her new album, Walk of Shame, which will be released this Tuesday.
Don’t hate Duran Duran because they’re beautiful – they will never be able to change that. Do love them for their music, which continues to create emotional and dramatic landscapes. Their latest works, 2011’s All You Need is Now and 2007’s Red Carpet Massacre display confident and probing sounds. The glamorous band, including two founding members, Nick Rhodes and John Taylor plus two later members, Simon Le Bon and Roger Taylor (okay, I am quibbling here) kicked off their North American tour on Friday night at Comcast Arena, and though they are a polished act, they showed genuine excitement in their performance. Also every single person in that arena was a fan, and that’s always a very electric feeling to be around.
They opened the show with All You Need is Now‘s “Before the Rain,” a beautiful piece with evocations of “The Chauffeur,” and the title track before moving into “Hungry Like the Wolf.” These were the songs I took pictures during, and then hurried to watch the rest of the show, which evidenced something I have always loved about Duran Duran – their synth/disco rhythms. They’ve never turned their backs on this or Duran Duran’s curvy lyrics [“Before the Rain”: all rise, you promises broken/call my lovers by their names]. Songs I especially enjoyed were “Before the Rain,” “A View to a Kill,” “Tiger Tiger,” “The Man Who Stole a Leopard,” “Girl Panic!,” “Come Undone” and “The Wild Boys” (which was mashed up with a cover of Frankie Goes to Hollywood’s Relax. A brilliant combination). Others I absolutely adored were “Ordinary World,” about which Le Bon said is about peace, in here (indicating his heart,) and the ever-stunning “Planet Earth.”
Several facts struck me during the evening. Rhodes continues to create a stealthy bedding of sound. You might take this for granted, but don’t. Le Bon is a fit, stirring singer and performer. Roger Taylor smoothly lays down a rhythm (“Tiger Tiger” being my highlight). And then, John Taylor, what to say about John Taylor? There were moments hearing him play, watching him play, that just defied musical gravity. I love good bass playing. I seek it out, and John Taylor’s ability and ingenious style mesmerizes me. To have been near all this is pure lusciousness.
Ah yes, the marvelous Geoffrey Gribbin meets the marvelous Rancid. Have a gander at photos from Rancid‘s White River Ampitheatre show, when they were part of the cool triple bill that was Rancid, Blink-182 and My Chemical Romance.
Rancid
