News, reviews, interviews. http://www.nadamucho.com 2012-02-08T22:15:00+01:00 text/html 2012-02-06T18:01:44+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/reviews/album_reviews/one_to_watch_greg_lehman_on_caitlin_roses_own_side_now.html Caitlin Rose Own Side Now Names Records (http://namesrecords.com/) There was this kinda quirky, shy girl in Math class that I always thought about asking out.  She didn't say much, but when she did she sounded smart and articulate, and her eyes would go from light and soft to intensely blue. Own Side Now recalls that lovely wallflower. I close my eyes and can picture her singing just like Caitlin Rose (http://thecaitlinrose.com/), who has this every expanding voice that can go from waifish and timid to decidedly direct and sexy.  My favorite song is Shanghai Cigarettes,” which would have fit well on any of Whiskeytown’s album. It's lyrically brilliant, musically perfect and has not stopped roaming inside my skull since I heard it. text/html 2012-02-04T15:16:54+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/live/peaks_of_the_week/peaks_of_the_week_february_6-12.html text/html 2012-01-30T23:49:23+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/reviews/movie_reviews/tinker_tailor_soldier_spy_the_ultimate_spy_tale.html Men in Suits Talking About Stuff A Review of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy Before I wax poetic about the clothes, the atmosphere and Gary Oldman's performance in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340800/), let me tell you upfront: I really liked this movie. Starring Oldman, Colin Firth, the guy who plays Sherlock (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00t4pgh) in the BBC show, and Bane, the movie is based on the novel by John Le Carre, which many consider the ultimate spy tale. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, the movie, is all about restraint. text/html 2012-01-25T23:42:19+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/live/music/fujiya__miyagi_neither_japanese_nor_a_duo.html Live Show Preview Fujiya Miyagi are neither Japanese nor a duo. Fujiya, Ampersand, and Miyagi are pseudonyms taken from the film The Karate Kid, a brand of record player, and, well, the ampersand. Their music is heavily influenced by Kraut rock, with heavy beats and the dispassionate, whispering voice of singer David Best. The British band takes the stage at Neumo’s Friday night on tour in support of their latest album, Ventrilloquizzing (reviews/album_reviews/new_guy_adam_drew_previews_forthcoming_fujiya__miyagi.html). text/html 2012-01-24T23:27:36+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/live/music/brokaw_seattle_rock_band_delivers_the_money_shot.html Pulling off an extended shot proves quite a feat. The payoff: it sticks on memory like a Red Fang (http://www.redfang.net/) riff.  And why not go for it? The masters do.  Who would dare walk out after witnessing Orsen Welles's perfect extended shot in A Touch of Evil? Who doesn't feel like their getting the V.I.P. treatment when Henry Hill takes his date KA-ren through the back door of the Copa and meets all the wise guys in Goodfellas? Even the overrated and pretentious Jean Luc Godard can trick an audience into sitting through his painful Weekend with a brilliant extended shot. text/html 2012-01-22T15:57:39+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/live/music/avicii_to_make_seattle_debut_january_25.html On Wednesday, January 25 electro-house DJ Avicii (http://www.avicii.com/) is making his Seattle debut at the Paramount Theater (http://stgpresents.org/).  Few DJ’s have reached their stardom as quickly as Avicii. In the last three years, the 22 year old Swede has climbed to the sixth rank on the coveted DJ Mag Top 100 DJ’s.  (http://www.djmag.com/top100) Tracks like Seek Bromance, ID, Fade into Darkness, and club favorite Levels have propelled Avicii to stardom. His BBC-Radio 1 Essential Mix dated December 10, 2011 is also incredible. text/html 2012-01-14T17:42:47+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/features/odds__ends/ben_allen_on_the_badass_nature_of_manowars_album_art.html The best 80's metal album covers came from the band Manowar (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manowar). They might even get my vote for best album cover ever.   Known for their epic tales of sorcery, sword fights, wizards and fantasy, these themes were reflected in the Auburn, New York band's music and album art. The most hardcore of all of their albums was Blow Your Speakers. Not only do the band members look like some type of Norse Gods, but they also seem to be protecting the bareyl clothed women at their feet from some weird, quickly approaching zombie creatures. The title Blow Your Speakers is also very appropriate as the band holds the record for the loudest concert this side of My Bloody Valentine. text/html 2012-01-06T23:32:18+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/live/music/love_jesus__screaming_head_to_el_corazon_tomorrow.html A Hope Not Forgotten (http://www.facebook.com/ahnfmusic) is a “Melodic Hardcore” band from Seattle. If you enjoy screaming, hardcore breakdowns or just awesome metal guitar riffs, then seeing these guys live is a must! You'll have the chance January 7 at 5 p.m. when they play an all ages hardcore faith-fest show at El Corazon (http://www.facebook.com/events/223157464427208/). The night opens with Tommorow May Fail (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tomorrow-May-Fail/208821109185875) followed by Prepare the Bride (http://www.facebook.com/PreparetheBride), Vices, Vessels (%20http://www.facebook.com/vesselsNW), Prestige (%20http://www.facebook.com/prestigeNW?sk=app_123966167614127) and of course a band that is sure to have success for years to come, AHNF. text/html 2012-01-02T18:10:53+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/features/listmania/2011_faves_110_songs_we_totally_loved.html 2011 was the year Spotify (http://www.spotify.com/) went big stateside, effectively taking the age-old process of making mixed tapes into the modern age.  As our contributors' ballots came in I added their favorite song nominees to my first-ever Spotify playlist, appropriately titled NadaMucho.com's Best of 2011. Here's a list of the songs it includes. (Scroll down to subscribe to the list on Spotify.)  Abe Vigoda – “Throwing Shade” Adele – “Rollin' In The Deep” Adele – “Rumor Has It” Amy Winehouse – “Our Day Will Come” The Antlers – “Putting the Dog To Sleep” text/html 2012-01-01T22:30:08+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/features/listmania/2011_faves_25_recorded_musical_albums.html I have no shame in waiting until the first day of 2012 to finalize our 2011 year-end coverage. Doing so gave us a chance to wade through countless other opinions on the year’s best music, movies and television programs. In sharing as many links to 2011 year-end lists as we could find through our Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/nadamucho) and Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/nadamucho) pages, we were reminded about stuff we fell in love with earlier in the year and got a chance check out some things we missed. The holidays afforded us extra time off from work to catch up, and ultimately we were more informed when we weighed in with our final votes. What follows are the twenty-five favorite albums of about twenty contributors to NadaMucho.com. I’m eternally grateful to have so many cool people participating and apologize to each of them in advance if my comments on their selections seem... text/html 2011-12-30T00:54:39+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/features/listmania/2011_faves_top_5_west_seattle_bands.html West Seattle is my home town and I love it. Many people in Seattle proper are still clueless as to happenings west of the bridge, which is good. I'm in no hurry to have a bunch of upwardly mobile singles moving in and dumbing down the culture of the West.  For those of you currently living and playing in West Seattle, you already know that the West is the SHIT, right? So why not have our own best of 2011 list? Here are five examples of just how amazing the music community it is over here. text/html 2011-12-28T16:57:58+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/features/listmania/2011_faves_tacomas_top_ten_bands.html Seattle gets all the hype, but there are some great bands from the City of Suckerpunch. Here are my top ten Tacoma acts of 2011.  10. Basemint (http://www.facebook.com/pages/Basemint/143016709047876) Excellent, traditional surf rock in a big way. 9. Helms Alee (http://www.facebook.com/people/Helms-Alee/100001253983659) Will Tacoma bands never tire of coming up with great nautical reference band names? Love the new record. 8. Pioneers West (http://www.facebook.com/pioneers.west) These guys got passion and will travel. Watch for them.  text/html 2011-12-26T18:50:21+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/features/listmania/2011_faves_colin_johnsons_top_songs.html Colin Johnson (http://www.seattleweekly.com/2007-07-04/music/colin-johnson-finds-common-ground-for-hippies-and-hipsters/) is a Los Angeles-based musician and DJ who's currently performing under the moniker Righteous Trash (http://soundcloud.com/righteous-trash). During his time in Seattle he helped establish Chop Suey (http://www.chopsuey.com/) as a major venue for hip-hop and electronic acts and performed in the excellent band Mercir (http://www.hello.dj/mercir).  This year's December 7 Righteous Trash DJ set at Neumos (http://www.neumos.com/) was cut short due to a power outage, but Colin promises to be back in 2012.  25. Rainbow Arabia - Never Gonna Be Undone 24. Toro Y Moi - Still Sound 23. Jay-Z Kanye West - Otis 22. Zomby - Things Fall Apart text/html 2011-12-21T16:17:14+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/features/listmania/2011_faves_t_basas_top_11_albums.html My top 11 for 2011 is what you call a must read.   Why? Because it's not like 95 percent of the best of lists out there. If you've been following our Twitter feed (http://www.twitter.com/nadamucho) or Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/nadamucho) as we share every 2011 list we can find, you'll see that most of them are almost identical. That's because most of these so called music experts cut and paste from other hipster-approved sites like Pitchfork (http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/), Stereogum (http://www.stereogum.com/) or Brooklyn Vegan (http://www.brooklynvegan.com/). I have actually seen the bands on my list perform live and have listened to their albums/EP's more than once. I am giving you original, awesome music that might not be on your radar.  To other writers putting together year-end lists: you're solid state, I'm tube. You're Ballard, I'm Georgetown. You're Obama, I'm the recently-deceased Kim Jong ill. 11. TBASA (http://www.facebook.com/TBASAMUSIC)... text/html 2011-12-19T18:02:36+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/live/music/seattle_showhopping_pterodactyl__the_sea_and_cake.html Pterodactyl Live at the Vera Project (http://www.theveraproject.org/) The Sea and Cake Live at the Crocodile (http://www.thecrocodile.com/) December 2, 2011 Friday, December 2 turned out to be a frosty night, which made it easy to linger in the cozy confines of my favorite watering hole while I pre-gamed for the evening ahead. It’s always a good idea to have a couple extra beverages before venturing over to the all-ages Vera Project. My timing was perfect. As I entered the building I was greeted with the opening chords of Pterodactyl’s “School Glue”, the first song on Spills Out and their opener for the evening. It’s a great song with a driving rhythm that grabs your attention with jangly chords and melodic vocals. Mixed in are a smattering of noise and nonsense for good measure. I understand Pterodactyl (http://www.pterodactyl.info/) isn’t that well known, but bands on the come typically... text/html 2011-12-02T10:57:12+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/live/music/the_sea_and_cake_vs._pterodactyl_a_friday_night_in_seattle.html The Crocodile Presents: THE SEA AND CAKE w/Lia Ices Elba / Tickets $8 (http://www.etix.com/ticket/online/performanceSearch.jsp?performance_id=1571868) On what is sure to be a dark, frigid evening in early December, Seattle will be awash with the sounds of flying dinosaurs and maritime dessert tonight. I love living in a city with such a rich local and touring music scene, but sometimes it can make my evenings challenging, logistically. The Sea and Cake (http://www.theseaandcake.com/), an Indie rock band fronted by the talented Sam Prekop, are playing the Crocodile (http://thecrocodile.com/index.html). I have always liked their music, but haven’t seen them live, so I’m really excited to check them out. On the other hand, I was asked to review the new Pterodactyl (http://www.pterodactyl.info/) album, Spills Out, a couple weeks ago. I liked their psychedelic folk pop so much I looked into their tour schedule, and it turns out they are in fact... text/html 2011-11-23T22:46:22+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/reviews/album_reviews/a_weird_phenomenon_the_return_of_the_spits.html The Spits —The Spits In the Red Records  (http://www.intheredrecords.com/) Fuck yeah! The new Spits record is finally out! After a long wait that included hearing a rumor about how The Spits themselves bootlegged CD-R copies on Ebay for way too much cash, the much anticipated fifth full length studio album is now officially available online via In the Red Records and in local shops like Sonic Boom. The Spits are a weird phenomenon, while praised the world over, their recordings have always been pretty fucking shitty and fail massively in comparison to their live show. Yes, I know they are weird and it’s the aesthetic they are going for and it’s their “we do what we want” punk ethos and live show that have probably garnered the band it’s large underground following in the first place, but there’s a large part of me that wishes they would just record a straight... text/html 2011-11-16T21:22:07+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/reviews/album_reviews/the_whole_love_ben_on_wilcos_latest.html Wilco — The Whole Love dbPM Records  Wilco’s eighth full length is an adventurous, ambitious recording, especially when compared to the relatively “safe” last two albums Sky Blue Sky and Wilco (The Album)” the band released.  Opener “Art of Almost” is the most experimental track the band has produced since 2004’s stellar A Ghost Is Born record. It's A lush and foreboding sound with strings and synths anchored by Jeff Tweedy’s voice.  Other highlights are the bouncy, upbeat “I Might” and the triumphant, sprawling album closer One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley's Boyfriend).” text/html 2011-11-12T20:45:42+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/reviews/album_reviews/the_new_tom_waits_like_drinking_at_your_favorite_bar.html Tom Waits — Bad As Me Anti Records (http://www.anti.com/home/) Listening to Tom Waits is like drinking at your favorite dive bar—oddly comforting in its familiar sleaziness, but likely holding with a few exhilarating surprises. His 20th studio album, Bad as Me, is an impressive showcase of the many styles that make him an undisputed living legend. It also has a few interesting twists and features equally impressive guest appearances by Flea, Keith Richards, and Les Claypool, among others. text/html 2011-11-06T21:08:43+01:00 http://www.nadamucho.com http://www.nadamucho.com/features/listmania/best_of_the_00s_jens_lekman__joanna_newsome.html Best of the 00s: Gabe Joins the 21st Century Part 21: Jens Lekman Joanna Newsome Nada Co-founders Matt and Gabe are listening to 197 of the music press's picks for best albums of the 00s for a series called Gabe Joins the 21st Century. Jens Lekman – Night Falls Over Kortedala    Paste #43 Gabe: If Abba was fronted by Stephen Merritt, the collaboration might produce something quite like Night Falls Over Kortedala. Lush, orchestral pop songs with witty lyrics that sometimes cross the line into excessive cutesiness. I'll never have this in heavy rotation, but I'll probably get happy every time my shuffle pops out gems like The Opposite of Hallelujah, Your Arms Around Me, or Friday Night at the Drive-In Bingo. Grade: LIKE Matt: For a guy whose first album employed primarily guitar, voice and simple percussion, Swede Jens Lekman pulls off...