CD Review: Please Stand By – Brent Amaker and the Rodeo

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Do you like country music? I don’t really care if you do or not, chances are assuredly high that you will like this country music. If you enjoy well bundled songs you’re going to enjoy Brent Amaker and the Rodeo’s third LP, Please Stand By. Does it essentially differ from the prior Rodeo CDs, Brent Amaker and the Rodeo and Howdy Do? Maybe not a lot. Does it need to? Not at all. The Rodeo has a winning formula here in their dark humor mixed with deep love and respect for the country genre.

I don’t even want to sound like I am dismissing the song’s lyrics in anyway by just calling them darkly humorous. There’s actually a lot of pain and twists in them. Take “Man in Charge” and “Break My Broken Heart”. “Man in Charge,” with its I’m your worst fear/I’m your best friend/I’m a freight train coming/Coming round the bend brings in the mysteriously evil elements of other Rodeo songs, “I Guess You Wanna Die,” “You Ain’t Savin’ Me” and “This is the Gun”. The lyrics in “Break My Broken Heart,” You ain’t gonna break my broken heart/Unless you put it back together first/You’ll have to pick up all the pieces/And some of them might have turned to dust, might sound light along with the fast-paced music, but it’s very touching. I also like when Amaker sings, Break My Heart, Tiny Dancer and then there’s a guitar solo. Other songs that really capture a country western pathos are “Garden of Love,” perhaps the most romantic of all Rodeo songs, (You’re a fine looking woman/I’m a desperate man . . . love is like a flower), and “Doomed” (Love is the only legacy you leave behind/And we’re all doomed) – with yeehaws in the background.

“Talk Talk Talk Talk Talk,” is a song of theirs I have heard a few times live and I am really glad they put it on the CD. It’s funny in a lighthearted, kind of frightening machismo way (You should hold your tongue my dear/ You talk a lot but I can’t hear/anything but lies from you). The outro ends with one of my favorite lines, Thanks for coming folks/Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out. Amaker’s voice, with its low growl, is one of my favorites and the instrumentation on Please Stand By is clear and warm. It’s Brent Amaker and the Rodeo’s best entire CD to date. Take your hat off to the masters.

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Brent Amaker and the Rodeo – Please Stand By (Spark and Shine Records)
Please Stand By is out October 19th.

Photos: M.I.A. and Rye Rye @ Showbox Market

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On Sunday night, international sensation M.I.A. brought her highly anticipated live show to the Showbox at the Market, performing an upbeat yet rather short set before a sold out crowd.  The show was a visual feast for the eyes, with a large projector and flashing lights on stage, and M.I.A. and her dancing troupe adorned in fashionable costumes.  M.I.A. herself was a ball of energy, making full use of the stage by dancing and attempting to crowd surf by leaning out onto the crowd.  The set ended with a 4-song encore, concluding with “Paper Planes,” during which M.I.A. pulled audience members up on stage to dance with her.  Full set lists for both M.I.A. and opening act Rye Rye are below, in addition to photos from the evening.  More photos can be found on Suzi Pratt’s Flickr.

M.I.A. set list: Message // IllyGirl // World Town // Bucky Done Gune // Galang // Boyz // Bamboo Banga // XR2 // Lovalot // Story to Be Told // Born Free // ENCORE: Space // Tequilla // Stepping Up // Paper Planes

Rye Rye set list:  Bang This Bitch Out // Get Up // Wassup Wassup // Hardcore Girls // Rock Off Shake Off // Witch Doctor // Sunshine // Bang // Exotic on the Speaker // Shake It to the Ground // Party in the USA

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Show Review & Photos: The So So Glos @ the Crocodile

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The So So Glos are just yummy. The New York band opened for the Futureheads in Seattle on September 14th, and as with co-openers Young the Giant, I am eagerly waiting for them to return here and have a headlining slot. It’s pretty much obvious that would like this band, what with their classic arrangement of two guitars, one bass and a drum – but it’s the always great to see singer who plays bass aspect that cinches it. They’re fast-paced, entertaining, and singer Alex Levine brings some really natural ease to his banter. The band’s set list was totally tight, and included “Broken Mirror Baby,” “Lindy Hop” and my favorite, “Throw Your Hands Up”. Their new EP, Low Back Chain Shift is out now.

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The So So Glos – all photos by Dagmar

Gallery of the So So Glos @ the Crocodile

Show Review & Photos: The Futureheads @ the Crocodile

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The Futureheads are a demonically exciting band. They sound like no other band and they are one of my top bands to see live. I hate that I ever missed a show of theirs here – the fact that these misses could not be avoided, and that one was replaced by seeing them in Vancouver does little to mitigate my disappointment. There are very few bands who came out in the last decade who have released four solid CDs, and the Futureheads must top this list. The Chaos, the band’s latest CD, is ragged and fast punk. Not post punk, not any of these newfangled labels, but deliberate punk mixed with harmonies. I had a hard time whittling down the photos I took because I love this band so much. I do wish I could have gotten more than one or two usable shots of drummer Dave Hyde, though I can say this – he is a collected terror on those drums. I hadn’t seen the band since their last visit here, which was four years ago, and they’ve grown stronger as a band and live performers. They are all such fabulous musicians and different from each other. Bassist Jaff is still cool and plays some of the finest bass I have ever heard, singer/guitarist Barry Hyde is a menace, and Ross Millard plain swarms the room. A few of my favorites of the night: “The Connector” (Barry Hyde said it was their fastest song ever – followed closely by “The Return of the Berserker”?), “Area,” “Sun Goes Down,” “Jupiter, “The Beginning of the Twist,” “Decent Days and Nights,” and what is Millard at his finest: the ruling “Carnival Kids”.

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the Futureheads – all photos by Dagmar

Gallery of the Futureheads @ Neumos

Photos: Guided by Voices & Times New Viking @ Showbox SoDo

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Guided by Voices are taking their classic lineup tour all over the United States. Actually the tour is called “Hallway Of Shatter-Proof Glass Tour” and on Saturday it hit Seattle’s Showbox SoDo with openers Times New Viking. Photographer Kam Martin brought back some of her lovely shots of both bands:

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