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I suppose it's fitting that the Mormon Trannys will be gracing Olympia with their presence on a Sunday. I also suppose there's no way for me to really know if they're actually scorned former members of the Church of Latter Day Saints, like they claim, but what is utterly apparent
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The Raven and the Writing Desk are about confounding expectations. A six-piece outfit from Denver, the Raven and the Writing Desk's music initially conjures up connections to bands like DeVotchKa (another literary allusion) and Beirut - these purveyors of gypsy-and-otherwise-worldly musical strains. It's notable that the heart of the Raven
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The similarities between Bloodbirds' album, Psychic Surgery, and the early Flaming Lips album, Telepathic Surgery, don't stop at the names. Like the work of the early Flaming Lips, Bloodbirds create psychedelic slash-and-burn screeds, with little dashes here and there of the kind of charming silliness in the lyrics that would
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The concept of the Broadway Center's Cathedral series is simplistic to the point of perfection: get some beautiful-sounding artists to perform in beautiful spaces designed to bounce around beautiful sounds. These are not raucous events, but rather contemplative experiences that take exploit churches' natural abilities to heighten and highlight negative
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On Happy Noose's self-titled debut, the charged punk instrumentation in concert with frontman Ryan Scott's deep, morose vocals went a long way toward connecting musical dots in the listeners' minds: clearly, Happy Noose are a band that takes its cues from early '80s UK New Wave, early
Music
On Happy Noose's self-titled debut, the charged punk instrumentation in concert with frontman Ryan Scott's Timothy Grisham's deep, morose vocals went a long way toward connecting musical dots in the listeners' minds: clearly, Happy Noose are a band that takes its cues from early '80s UK New Wave, early Goth
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The music of Baltic Cousins is defined by balls-out folk instrumentation, with Lockhart's voice shouting above the crazed din. It calls to mind easy comparisons like the Pogues, with its melding of traditional instrumentation and sloppy, emotionally resonant melodies and lyrics. There's nothing involving half-measures even close to the work
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In the year 2018, Cyndi Lauper astonished the world by staging a coup and becoming Earth's first Overlord. It started nonchalantly enough, with clandestine visits to Camp David and crossing the International Date Line multiple times in an evening. Nothing a globetrotting rock star wouldn't do, right? But Lauper had
Music
Over the four years that I've written about music as a sort-of professional, something that's dawned on me and that I've had to come to terms with is that I have a real sweet spot for music that sounds a certain way. This isn't the most desirable attribute, I'd imagine,
Music
In the year 2018, Cyndi Lauper astonished the world by staging a coup and becoming Earth's first Overlord. It started nonchalantly enough, with clandestine visits to Camp David and crossing the International Date Line multiple times in an evening. Nothing a globetrotting rock star wouldn't do, right? But Lauper had
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Harry and the Potters may well be the nerdiest band in existence: They Might Be Giants-esque power pop that only concerns itself with Harry Potter ephemera. That they've been around for over a decade and released roughly one album a year in that time is a testament not only to
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PECK the Town Crier is a honest-to-goodness mystery, to me. A genre-hopping artist from San Rafael, Calif., PECK tends toward faux-smooth hip hop, when he's not incorporating bits of boogie-woogie Americana or Beach Boys-esque sunny surf rock or '70s AM gold. I think it would be easy to write off
Music
If Arrington de Dionyso's Malaikat Dan Singa is a mouthful of a name, then his music does well to invade every other one of your senses. For years, de Dionyso has been making a name for himself as one of the premier practitioners of experimental music in the Northwest. Unlike
Arts
When I think about gambling, for some reason the image of bells ringing and sirens blaring as admirers gather to watch me collect my winnings never quite pops into my head. In my wildest fantasies, I still either end up destitute or out in the alley, getting kicked to death
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Upon first listen to Memory Boys, one gets the impression that they are practitioners of this sort of trendy, depressive songwriting, cloaked in darkness and murky with reverb. This is certainly the case, to an extent, but repeated exposure reveals a nifty knack for interesting twists and turns - unexpected
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What Tiny Tim was for Tin Pan Alley-era singers, Tommy Dean is for rambling folk of the '50s and '60s. Like Tiny Tim, Tommy Dean is a self-stylized revivalist, an encyclopedia of long-forgotten tunes. He's a jukebox - pop a quarter in him and he'll go. Armed with a six-string
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If Arrington de Dionyso's Malaikat Dan Singa is a mouthful of a name, then his music does well to invade every other one of your senses. For years, de Dionyso has been making a name for himself as one of the premier practitioners of experimental music in the Northwest. Unlike
Music
I wonder what pop music historians (read: nerds) would consider to be the first bedroom pop album. A case could be made for Paul McCartney's solo debut, McCartney. Recorded at his home in the wake of the Beatles' breakup, it touts many of what would become the defining characteristics of
Liquid
In Glengarry Glen Ross, Ricky Roma waxes philosophical about drinking alcohol in hot weather. It dehydrates you, people say. But Roma counters by pronouncing that he subscribes "to the law of contrary public opinion. If everyone thinks one way, then I say bet the other way." I couldn't agree more, though
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Kaetlin Kennedy's Lost Lockets project is a mixture of multimedia performance art and darkly alluring experimental folk music. You're never quite sure what you'll experience when you see Lost Lockets. Interpretive dance numbers, sound collages, off-putting costumes and themes, Kennedy solo or surrounded by a cast of characters. What can
