Music from The Big Pink was the 1968 album from The Band. Robbie Furze and Milo Cordell know this, as their band's website is musicfromthebigpink.com. Yet, The Big Pink, circa 2010 bears little resemblence to The Band of 1968, and sounds more like what might happen if My Bloody Valentine reveled in the mid-90s Blur/Oasis/Pulp Britpop scene, rather than precede it.

The Big Pink are a London-based, shoegaze duo who are playing (I believe) their first show in Seattle Friday night at Neumos. Their debut album is modestly called A Brief History of Love and it was released on 4AD last September. That's what Wikipedia will tell you about The Big Pink but what you really need to know is that the LA Times called what they (and tourmates A Place to Bury Strangers) do "kicking the bejesus out of your reverb unit."

{The Big Pink plays Neumos Friday, March 12 with A Place to Bury Strangers, io echo and Grave Babies; $15 adv, 21+.}

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at Neumos

The sold out Stranger / Three Imaginary Girls SXSW Sendoff Show at Neumo's on Friday was amazing. Here are some photos featuring our local loves: Fences, Mash Hall, Hey Marseilles and Visqueen.

See more after the jump!

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{Little Boots plays at Neumos on Saturday, March 6 with Class Actress and Dragonette.}

When I saw Little Boots perform last fall, it was the final stop on her brief US tour, at the Independent, a 500-person capacity club in San Francisco. The show, like every stop on that tour, was sold out, even more impressive that it would be almost six months before her excellent debut album Hands would land in US record stores. It was a very exciting set by a gifted performer that could very well become a big pop star in the United States and certainly worth the price of airfare and lodging.

Little Boots is Victoria Hekseth, a twenty-five year old pop ingénue from Blackpool, UK and has quickly become one of my favorite pop stars today, enough so that I would fly to San Francisco to see her perform a week and a half before another trip to the Bay Area for Kylie Minogue’s first ever US show and that I took the name for my pop music blog from one of her songs. Her songs are irresistably catchy and well-constructed and easy to get lodged in your brain for hours at a time.

Her music is straight-forward electro dance pop, with much emphasis on memorable hooks and choruses, or to borrow a line from my favorite Lady Gaga song, "glamourphonic, electronic, disco, baby". Hands was released in June of 2009 in the UK, where it charted as a top five album. It was released in the US just this Tuesday (March 2). The album is full of great, well-produced, -written and -polished pop songs, with the best songs (or at least my favorite) being the singles "New in Town" and "Stuck on Repeat."

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at Neumos

With a mixture of haunting melody and intense syncopated rhythms, Feral Children played a captivating set at Neumos for their CD release show, last Wednesday. Their new album, Brand New Blood, is already known for soaring tracks that carry listeners headfirst into dreamy soundscapes.

 

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As I was picking out my favorite shots from this past year, it quickly became apparent that I couldn't just leave it at ten.  I've posted my top picks below (in no particular order), but you can check out the rest here.

Huge thanks to the TIG crew, especially Chris and Keenan, for giving me the opportunity to share these amazing moments with all you lovely people! And thanks to all my fellow photographers, both in Seattle and elsewhere, for giving me inspiration every day. Hope you all have a safe, prosperous, and Happy New Year! Here's to an even bigger and better 2010!

2009-09-05: Hotels @ Bumbershoot - EMP | SFM's Sky Church

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at Neumos

If you are a super nerdy Thermals fan, you probably already know that the trio is heading back into the studio with Chris Walla. And you also probably had tickets for KEXP's Yule Ball, last night, where the lucky few who actually made it into the packed, sold out venue were treated to a sampling of their new stuff. Sweet! But if you absolutelylovethethermals and missed it, don't fret little Johnny! Just come down to The Vera Project tonight, where they will be playing the hits, again, with two other Portland luminaries, Dirty Mittens and Explode Into Colors. yessssss.

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at Neumos

I'm still sportin' a warm glow from Saturday night's Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros show at Neumos (and with the twenty-two degree freeze out we are currently experiencing - it's a welcomed sensation!). Led by Alex Ebert and backed by a ten piece band, the set included everything that has come to define Edward Sharpe's live shows: warm loving lyrics, intense singalongs, lengthy breakdowns, over the top theatrics and a sense that you should probably quit your job, grab your favorite friends, buy a bus and travel the world (oh wait, that's what they did!)

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It's only a few hours away, but I'm getting excited for Simian Mobile Disco's show at Neumos tonight. This'll be the third time I've seen the duo of James Ford and Jas Shaw and they've always put on an exciting, multimedia live show that showcases their intricate dance beats (usually working within the 4/4 beat but never making it feel like a constraint). The show will be a sweaty mess and crowded with people searching for every available inch on the floor to dance but I couldn't think of a better way to spend a Monday night.

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I’ve been a fan of Brooklyn experimental rockers Dirty Projectors for years now, before they caught hold in the indie music community with their most recent (and definitely most accessible) album, Bitte Orca. I first saw them at a tiny club in Texas, and I think they scared the bejeesus out of everyone with their weirdness, but I was absolutely enthralled.

Bitte Orca took their strange angular approach to lo-fi and mixed it up with SUPER catchy melodic hooks and a disjointed dance-feel, which really propelled them into the indie spotlight. Dirty Projectors' brand of wiry rock punctuated with puzzling shifts in song structure is complete addictive, gorgeous and promises to pack a good punch.

This is a don't-miss show at Neumos, this Wednesday, November 4th. Little Wings opens.

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Well, this really sucks.

I just read on Neumos Twitter feed that tonight's Art Brut show is canceled due to illness. Refunds are available at point of purchase.

Fortunately, there are a lot of other things to do tonight (like The Rumble at the Crocodile, which is free, or Beardo, if you're willing to brave the Mickey Avalon audience).

Apologies and well-wishes.