Archive
Sunny Day Real Estate have also caught the reunion flu
File this under: awesome.

So, I saw Sunny Day Real Estate in 2000 on their The Rising Tide tour. It is probably one of the 10 or 20 best concerts ever for me, and I say that in that they aren’t one of my favorite 10 or 20 bands in my wheelhouse. Anyway, I dig their albums a plenty, but that tour was just fantasticly great. Even the opener, Euphone, was great (my first foray into post-rock).
Well, in the recent rash of get togethers that I care about (Faith No More and Galactic Cowboys being two notables), SDRE are getting back together with the original four members: Jeremy Enigk, Dan Hoerner, and recently Foo Fighters’ William Goldsmith & Nate Mendel. Call it a SDRE-union, if you will. Diary and LP2 will also be re-issued on Sub Pop. Read the full story over at Pitchfork and BrooklynVegan. Here are the tourdates:
09-17 Vancouver, British Columbia – Commodore Ballroom
09-18 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom (MusicFest NW)
09-20 Murray, UT – Murray Theater
09-21 Denver, CO – Ogden Theater
09-23 Minneapolis, MN – First Avenue
09-24 Chicago, IL – Metro
09-25 Detroit, MI – St. Andrew’s Hall
09-27 New York, NY – Terminal Five
09-28 Boston, MA – House of Blues
09-30 Washington, D.C. – 930 Club
10-01 Philadelphia, PA – Trocadero
10-03 Atlanta, GA – CW Center Stage
10-05 Dallas, TX – Granada Theater
10-06 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live – Ballroom
10-07 Austin, TX – La Zona Rosa
10-09 Tempe, AZ – Marquee
10-10 Anaheim, CA – House of Blues
10-11 Los Angeles, CA – Henry Fonda Theater
10-13 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore
10-15 Spokane, WA – Knitting Factory
10-16 Seattle, WA – Paramount Theater
I plan on hitting the Portland show. That week is busy for me now… I’ve got Porcupine Tree on Wednesday, Wynton Marsalis on Thursday, and now Sunny Day Real Estate on Friday.
But it’s gonna rule! And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
REVIEW: Hiromi’s Sonicbloom @ Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley (Seattle, WA – 6/16/09)
FYI… PHOTOS of the SHOW at the BOTTOM

Well, I’d never been to Dimitriou’s Jazz Alley. It’s an amazing little room (maybe 200 seats) with dinner served if you show up early. Plus, in downtown Seattle, it offers free parking. Yeah, you read that correctly – free parking. :) Anyway, I showed up shortly after 6pm after fighting with traffic heading through Tacoma and into Seattle. I got seated right up front, which was also the benefit of showing up early for the dinner & show deal. Fantastic food, and wonderful staff! The venue earns an A+!! I hope they bring in some more choice acts… it was worth the trip.

Hiromi Uehara and Sonicbloom took the stage around 7:40. The band was Hiromi on piano (a Steinway & Sons, if I recall correctly) & keyboards (3 different keyboards/syths), Tony Grey on 6-string electric bass, Dave Fiuczynski on double-neck guitar (12 string on top, 7 string on bottom), and Mauricio Zottarelli on drums. Both Tony & Dave played on Hiromi’s two Sonicbloom records. Actually, Tony played with Hiromi on her last four records (not just the recent Sonicbloom moniker).
As a band, they were pretty tight. I liked Tony a lot on bass. He had a nice groove, and his “mouthing” of the solos was fun, too. Maurice was also great, but he was shielded from me for most of the night from an older “bigger hair” couple; so I didn’t catch many glimpses of him. Dave was good, too… but sometime he got too “noodley” versus what the band was doing. His solos weren’t great in my opinion, but when he was playing lead, his playing worked well. Maybe guitar in a jazz quartet wasn’t my thing this time around.
As far as setlist, no luck. Hiromi only announced one song from the stage: “Time Travel” from Time Control (the 2007 Sonicbloom record). I’m pretty sure that they didn’t play “XYZ” (or the variation “XYG”). That was a bummer, but not too much of a bummer – as the show was amazing all around.
They played a few standards, one that the name is on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t for the life of me remember it. I can hear it still in my head (doo doo doo, doop doop doodle doop). Damn, there are too many songs in my head and barely any names. Hiromi also played a solo classical piece that was very familiar, but again, I’m drawing a blank. Regardless of song names, Hiromi’s handwork is amazing. I swear, I don’t know how she can pull off playing two different melodies at the same time with different hands. Anyway, the whole group was an amazing bunch of musicians. Most of the show was pretty jammy, but had elements of straight ahead jazz, and again some classical.
They’re playing again at the Jazz Alley as I type this… if anyone went tonight (June 17th), let me know how it went.
For the uninitiated to Hiromi, check out the video electronic press kit for Beyond Standard featuring “XYG“:
Or check out the video for “Time Difference“…
The Appropriate Linkage:
~Dan – np: Anakronic Electro-Orchestra – The Yiddish Part -EP-

HIROMI’s SONICBLOOM PHOTOS
all pictures (cc) 2009 Daniel Temmesfeld,
you may use freely under a creative commons attribution
(click for larger)
tons of news
Nine Stories!
In this episode: The new Masada Quintet with special guest Joe Lovano, the Jenny Owen Youngs‘ video that I somehow missed, Nellie McKay‘s Election musical, Fanfarlo for $1, the deaths of JazzTimes & Jeff Hanson, the resurrection of Futurama, a new Wussy video, and Asthmatic Kitty’s most excellent Library Catalog Music Series…
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The new Masada Quintet with special guest Joe Lovano just came out for June on Tzadik Records. It’s the original Masada Quartet (John Zorn on alto sax, Dave Douglas on trumpet, Greg Cohen on bass & Joey Baron on drums) plus pianist Uri Caine… plus special guest tenor sax Joe Lovano. Holy cow!!! It’s the first official studio release from the Masada Quartet since 1999’s י [Yod] (or 2005 if you count the unreleased/rarities compilation Sanhedrin). This album is bound to be at the top of my “best of” list for 2009.
This video from Jenny Owen Youngs came out in September 2007. How did I miss it? It’s a brilliant singer-songwriter cover of rapper Nelly‘s “Hot in Herre” (so take off all your clothes). I bought the iTunes single… great stuff:
Nellie McKay is writing a musical based on the book/movie Election. Read more about it over on Brooklyn Vegan blog.
Fanfarlo just put on their debut album, Reservoir, for $1. Fanfarlo is a London-based band founded by Swedish musician Simon Balthazar. Nice textured indie pop… think Sigur Rós meets Sufjan Stevens. The album, in full, is available for only $1.00 until July 4th, 2009 at http://www.fanfarlo.com/.
The economy took another print-media victim. This time it’s the death (or “temporary suspension”) of JazzTimes magazine. The 38 year old magazine couldn’t maintain readership in the new era of online content. It’s a sad day, as it was a great magazine. I hope it’s able to come back later in some form or another under new ownership, as mentioned in the Howard Mandel article.
Whispy singer-songwriter Jeff Hanson died last Saturday (6/5) after an accidental fall on his cement-floored apartment in St. Paul, MN. Jeff was known for his feminine vocal style and songwriting/sound similar to late indie rocker Elliott Smith (who also died young). He had three great albums out on Kill Rock Stars. I hate to sound selfish, but I’m bummed I missed him when he recently came through Portland. We lost another one, far too young…
In “Oh Sweet, Futurama’s On” News, the resurrection of Futurama is eminent. Much like Family Guy, the popularity soared even after being originally canceled. Futurama had some straight-to-DVD movies recently, and it will return with new 26 episodes on Comedy Central in the winter 2010.
A favorite band of mine from Cincinnati, Wussy, has a new “acoustic from an RV” video of “Maglite.” They recently put out their 3rd full length album, and it lives up to the quality and momentum in their prior two albums (plus 1 EP). Check out the video and then check out the album at Shake It Records:
Asthmatic Kitty’s most excellent Library Catalog Music Series just came out. The naming of the series sounds… boring. However, it’s really great instrumental music. There are three issues thus far: 900X: Music for Lubbock 1980, Law of the Least Effort: Music for Measurements, and Casey Foubert/James McAlister: Music for Drums. My favorite is the 900X one. Really, really good electronic, post-rockiness. If you liked a more “sane” version of Sufjan Steven’s Enjoy Your Rabbit, I bet you’d like the LCMS. Check it out at Asthmatic Kitty Records.
Silverchair 2009

This little blurb in from the Llama Appreciation Society today (6/1/09)…
It is with great pleasure to confirm SILVERCHAIR have been back in the studio working on a bunch of new songs.
I expect this means… early 2010 for a new album? In any case… awesome news!!!
~Dan – np: Secret Chiefs 3 – Le Mani Destre Recise Degli Ultimi Uomini

no torrents or free downloads
O.S.I. – Blood CD
Kaki 2Pac
OK… wow… great mashup of guitar-phenom Kaki King & gunned down rapper Tupac Shakur:
http://soundcloud.com/hoodinternet/the-hood-internet-bone-chaos-in-the-ghetto-2pac-x-kaki-king
I’m more a Kaki King fan, but I dig 2Pac on this mashup, too.
Unrelated sidenote: Amoeba Music recently posted the July 2007 in-store performance from Earth (an interview and two songs: Omens and Portents I: The Driver -and- Engine of Ruin). http://www.amoeba.com/live-shows/videos/earth.html
Ellery, Peter Mulvey, My Brightest Diamond
A trio of new music news…

Cincinnati lush-pop/folk duo Ellery is hitting the studio soon with Malcolm Burn (http://www.malcolmburn.com). Malcolm is a Grammy-winning producer who has worked with the likes of Emmylou Harris, Bob Dylan, Kaki King, Rachel Yamagata, Sarah McLachlan, Gillian Welch, Ryan Adams, and more. This will be their follow-up to the fantastic debut, Lying Awake from 2007. They’ve got a special “help them make a record” thing going on at ellerystimulus.com. I’ve plunked down my cash… wish I got to see them as often as when I lived in Cincinnati, but regardless I’m glad they’re hitting the studio again.
For more info on Ellery…
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Milwaukee/Boston singer-songwriter Peter Mulvey is putting the finishing touches on his next album, Letters from a Flying Machine. Of the glut of singer-songwriters, Peter has a place in my heart (and ears). He’s entertaining, intriguing, great storyteller, and a great sense of humor. If you’ve never heard of him… do yourself a favor, and hear of him… http://myspace.com/petermulvey
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The third installment of My Brightest Diamond‘s A Thousand Shark Remixes is hitting iTunes on Tuesday, March 31st. It’s remixed by Roberto C. Lange. Remix EP #1 (by Alfred Brown) and #2 (by Son Lux) were pretty tasty. EP #4 (by DM Stith) should be out in a few months, and all four will be made available on a physical CD with likely some tasty packaging. Maybe vinyl, too… but that’s just me throwing a marble in the rumor mill.
Regina Spektor / Placebo / Elliott Smith / Sean Lennon+
A trio of news plus one batch of retro coolness…

Regina Spektor‘s got a new one coming out called Far (out in June on Sire Records). Read more over at Pitchfork (hey, I’m lazy and it’s busy season).
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(European date schemes are so… backwards)
Placebo‘s got a new one coming out in June as well… June 8th, that is. It’s called Battle for the Sun. Read more over at Placeboworld.
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Sean Lennon, Yuka Honda, Charlotte Kemp Muhl, and Yoko Ono have some tracks on the premiere release from Chimera Music (their record label). It’s got tracks from upcoming work by all of them… check it out at fina music downloads.
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Pitchfork has a 28+ minute 1998 documentary of Elliott Smith called Strange Parallels. I have this on DVD-R from a tape trader a while ago, but it’s available to watch for free up on Pitchfork. It’s quirky and fun – – a good look into Elliott right on the cusp of “super-stardom” (around/just after the Oscar nominee time).
~Dan – np: The Blood Brothers – Love Rhymes with Hideous Car Wreck

Seinfeld + Curb / Reptet Tour / OTC Tour / Jurassic 5 spin-off

Entertainment Weekly reported recently that Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards will have appearances in multiple episodes of (co-Seinfeld creator) Larry David‘s Curb Your Enthusiasm this season. Yay!
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One of my favorite jazz bands from Seattle, Reptet (part of the Monktail Creative Music Concern) is hitting the road again this spring.
March 12th – Mississippi Pizza – Portland, OR
March 13th – The Stage Door – Mt. Shasta, CA
March 14th – Divided Sky – S. Lake Tahoe, CA
March 15th – The Zephyr Lounge – Reno, NV
March 16th – Don Quixote’s – Santa Cruz, CA
March 17th – Delta of Venus – Davis, CA
March 18th -Amnesia Bar – San Francisco, CA
March 19th – Cozmic Pizza, Eugene, OR
March 20th – Triple Door (Musiquarium) – Seattle, WA
I’m bummed, as when they’ll be here in Eugene, I’ll be up in their neck of the woods in Seattle. And when they’re back in Seattle the next day, I already got Spinal Tap tickets at the Paramount in Seattle. “Boo” for too many things on the same day. Anyway, they put on a great show. Check ’em out… it’s fun, frolicky, goof-off jazz wonderment.
http://www.reptet.com/
http://www.monktail.com/
http://www.myspace.com/reptet
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Jason Schimmel’s Orange Tulip Conspiracy put out one of my favorite CDs of 2008 and played one of my favorite concerts of 2008 is also hitting the road again.
May 1- The Comet Tavern Seattle,WA
May 2- The Tonic Lounge Portland, OR
May 3- The Urban Lounge Salt Lake City, UT
May 4- Hi Dive Denver, CO
May 5- Knickerbockers Lincoln, NE
May 6- TBA Chicago, IL
May 7- TBA Buffalo, MA
May 8- TBA Boston, MA
May 9- The Studio at Webster Hall New York City, NY
May 10- TBA Philadelphia, PA
May 11- TBA Washington, DC
May 12- The Village Tavern Mount Pleasant, SC
May 13- Backstage Lounge Gainesville, FL
May 14- The Earl Atlanta,GA
May 15- Bo Bo Gallery Asheville, NC
May 16- Dragon’s Den New Orleans, LA
May 17- Rubber Gloves Denton, TX
May 18- Emo’s Austin, TX
May 19- Zeppelins Underground El Paso, TX
May 20- The Hut Tucson, AZ
May 21- Brick by Brick San Diego, CA
May 22- Knitting Factory Los Angeles, CA
May 23- Hotel Utah San Francisco, CA
I hope to hit the Portland show…
http://www.myspace.com/orangetulipconspiracy
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One of my favorite, now-defunct rap groups Jurassic 5 has a new spin-off. Solo albums first by Cut Chemist, Chali 2Na, and DJ Nu-Mark… Akil the MC has one in the works, too… Now Marc7 and Zakir (aka Soup) have formed a new group called Portable Payback. Sounds pretty smooth – which fits in with 7even & Soup’s style in J5.
Check them out on the MySpaces: http://www.myspace.com/portablepayback
Nellie McKay – Daytrotter Session
Brooklyn-based piano-pop/jazz singer Nellie McKay came through the Daytrotter studios. Nine songs (much more than the usual 4 songs), in-studio for FREE…
http://www.daytrotter.com/dt/nellie-mckay-concert/20030524-3737802.html
1) Oversure 2) Pink Chandelier 3) Politan 4) Mother of Pearl 5) Tipperary 6) If I Had You 7) Do You Know 8 ) Inner Peace 9) Broadway Melody
If you like what you hear, check more out:
http://www.nelliemckay.org/
http://www.nelliemckay.com/
Past Daytrotter Sessions I’ve blogged about (and dug):
Jacob FREE Jazz Odyssey
Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey have released their new studio album, Winterwood, for FREE. Go here… http://www.jfjo.com/info.php?i=3160

They’re also embarking on a tour which (of course) swings through Eugene when I’ll be out of town. So, three times through Eugene in 10 months… first time the same time as an in-town Ani DiFranco gig, second time when it was a ticketed show behind a ticketed festival (grumble), and third time when I’ll be 100 miles away for work. Sigh. At least they’ve proven that they’ve got love for Eugene… and I’m sure I’ll get to see them… eventually.
Anyway, here are their tour dates (as of 1/29/09):
01/29/09 :: George’s Majestic Lounge – Fayetteville, AR
01/30/09 :: Jardine’s – Kansas City, MO
01/31/09 :: Mojo’s – Columbia, MO
02/10/09 :: Winston’s – San Diego, CA
02/11/09 :: Largo – Los Angeles, CA
02/12/09 :: Yoshi’s – Oakland, CA
02/13/09 :: HopMonk Tavern – sebastopol, CA
02/14/09 :: New World Ballet Co. – Arcata, CA
02/18/09 :: Indigo – Eugene, OR
02/20/09 :: Eastside Club – Olympia, WA
02/21/09 :: Goodfoot Lounge – Portland, OR
02/22/09 :: Tractor Tavern – Seattle, WA
02/25/09 :: Hodi’s Half Note – Fort Collins, CO
02/27/09 :: The B-Side Lounge – Boulder, CO
02/28/09 :: Owsley’s Golden Road – Denver, CO
03/28/09 :: The Parish Room – Austin, TX
And I’m glad I’ll at least be spinning their new album for free in a bit.
New in 2009
What I’m looking forward to in 2009?
The 3rd O.S.I. record, the next dredg record, Mike Patton’s Mondo Cane, a new Fantômas, the debut of Crudo (Dan the Automator & Mike Patton), more John Zorn including Masada Book Two releases (one with Dave Douglas & Uri Caine), the new U2 record in March, Medeski Martin & Wood‘s Radiolarians 2 & 3, another Nellie McKay, Steven Wilson‘s cover version VI, Porcupine Tree in September, new Tegan & Sara (they’ve got 40 songs ready), Galactic Cowboys guitarist Wally Farkas‘ solo debut, The Zappa Family Trust’s Lumpy Money, solo albums by Jurassic 5 rappers Chali 2Na & Akil the MC, Eisley‘s 3rd record, new Megadeth, new Dream Theater, Derek Webb‘s “electronic-tinged” album, new Incubus, three OutKast-related releases, new Eminem, Yann Tiersen‘s Tabarly (a stateside release, please?), OSSO string quartet’s debut, Wussy‘s 3rd record and/or The Magic Words debut record, a new Ani DiFranco (based on Sir Isaac Newton’s Law of Ani DiFranco Will Release Something Every Nine Months), and a 5th Lagunitas Frank Zappa beer (might I suggest Cruisin’ with Ruben and the Jets Pale Ale, Uncle Meat Porter, or Hot Rats Stout?).
And some maybes (as far as “maybe they’ll come out” if we’re lucky)… Secret Chiefs 3‘s long awaited-always promised-never delivered Book of Souls, the Daniel Johns / Luke Steel project called Hathaway/Palmer, another Sufjan Stevens state album, Carissa’s Wierd singer Jenn Ghetto‘s 3rd S album, Saviour Machine‘s Legend III:II (8 years in the making?), Celldweller‘s sophomore album, another Peter Mulvey (he’s due), George Hrab‘s 6th album, Incubus guitarist Michael Einziger‘s end.>vacuum project, the debut from Ken Andrews‘ Los Angeles Digital Noise Academy project…
















































































01. The Escape Artist




