Posts from March 2018

If’n ye didn’t know, NPR has what they call their “Tiny Desk Concert” series, wherein they invite musicians to come in and perform at a very confined space in their office. Open Mike Eagle did one back in December!

Well, apparently they’re having some sort of contest to get in on that tiny desk action, as evidenced by this official-looking piece of graphic design:

My good friends The Gentlemen of Leisure (aka GOL) have entered the contest with their excellent song “Blessed and Highly Favored,” which you can listen to in its entirety!

https://soundcloud.com/leisuregents/blessed-and-highly-favored

They also maked a video of them performing it live:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZZg5VnR0BM

Wouldn’t that be exceptionally exceptional if GOL got to GO on NPR? The answer is yes.

Julia Massey (of Warren Dunes and The Five Finger Discount fame) was recently interviewed on the “Locals Only” show on 107.7 the End! They played two Warren Dunes songs and one FFD song. You can listen to the whole thang rightchea!

GOOD JOB LISTENING TO THAT YOU SHOULD FEEEEL SO PROOOOOUD!

Oregon’s department of tourism called “Travel Oregon” came out with a promotional video a couple of weeks ago. It’s animated, and hoo-boy, do the people who made this love themselves some of Hayao Miyazaki’s (Princess Mononoke, Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro) body of work. It’s pretty spectacular; take a look!

Here are some more stills from the video:

Here I am talking about an advertisement, and Oregon didn’t even pay me to do it! Way to go, gang. That’s how you do viral content. Anyway, I wanna watch it again. SO CAN YOU!

This Saturday, March 24th, Mosey on over to Georgetown (SOSODO (South of South of Downtown) and catch a foot-stompin’ good show with our good friends, the brothers Cortese of Electric NoNo, as they put on what the kids these days call “a show” (I’m 40 years old, I have no idea what the kids these days call things).

Here’s an official Electric NoNo video. Partake and enjoy!

Also at the show will be Stereo Creeps (I’ve heard of them, but I’ve never heard them) and Suitcase (neither).

Details:
Stereo Creeps, Suitcase, & Electric Nono (Bandsintown Event)
@ Slim’s Last Chance Chili Shack & Watering Hole (website)
5606 1st Ave S, Seattle, WA 98108 (map)
Saturday, March 24th 9:00 PM
$??, 21+

Slim’s Last Chance, by the way, was featured on an episode of Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives (presumably in the “Dives” category). Also, Colin Farrell really liked it there:

SO CAN YOU!

Hey, folks, if’n you just so happen to be in Austin, TX for the South by Southwest festival this year, you should head over to The Local Pub & Patio TONIGHT (Friday 3/16) to enjoy some of the best music that Seattle bands have to offer in the “Seattle X Southwest” showcase. Just look at this lineup!

Especially exciting is the inclusion of close personal friends Electric NoNo, going onstage at 5:45 PM! Here’s a quick reminder of how awexome they are (though if you read this website you prolly already know):

Details:
Seattle X Southwest (Faced Book Event)
Friday, March 16th 4:45 PM
@ The Local Pub & Patio
2610 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78705-4009 (map)
Free Admission, All-Ages until 7:00

Let’s all feel this Austin/Seattle synergy love!

Warren Dunes, the supergroup that exists when you mash together the two best Seattle bands in existence right now: Julia Massey & the Five Finger Discount and Electric NoNo (though drummer Dom Cortese already played for both groups, so it’s really not that much of a stretch), has released an official single!

You want to listen to it? No, no, no, that shouldn’t be a question. You WANT to listen to it:

There’s also a very nice interview over at Artist Home, so you should read that. It includes the very exciting tidbit that a full Warren Dunes EP album is coming this October!

Did y’all know that Nintendo (specifically Naoto Kubo and Nobuyoshi Suzuki) wrote two complete songs with vocals for Super Mario Odyssey? The first one you might have heard, the jazzy “Jump Up, Super Star.” But there’s also this less-well-known song that appears during the climactic final stage of the game (and ending cutscene). This is the English version, with English lyrics by Rob Tunstall and Rob Heiret and vocals by pianist/singer/actress Kate Higgins:

It just so happens that this is in one of my all-time favorite musical genres, the female-vocaled power-pop/rock that emerged from the mid 90s with bands like Letters to Cleo, Veruca Salt, The Breeders, and Dressy Bessy. My four-year-old daughter absolutely loves this song, too.

P.S. If you’re fans of Naruto, you might recognize Kate Higgins as the voice of Sakura in the official English dub!