Last night was history in the making as Red Bull MP Embassy brought three of the best live drum machine performers on the planet together for a one-of-a-kind showcase. Renowned drum controller music producers Araabmuzik, Jeremy Ellis and Party Supplies hit the Emerald City on the heels of a performance the night before in Portland. Through several “rounds,” the three kept the crowd at the Crocodile in awe with their display of beat creation and sheer rhythmic dexterity.
So, I live in Los Angeles, and I moved here in part because of the geek community, which seems more unified here than it does in my native New York City. I figured I’d moved to the Geekiest Place on Earth!
Aaaaand then I visited Seattle, where geekery isn’t just a hobby, it’s a lifestyle! Here are the Top 5 Reasons Why Seattle is Geektopia!
This past weekend, Seattle was host to the International Festival of Electronic Music, Performance, Visual Art and New Media; known to the slightly less eloquent as the Decibel Festival and #dBFest to your Twitter feed. A nine-year institution, Decibel always books a wide range of talent, pundits and educators for its highly immersive, four-day festival, and who better to snag a headlining spot than synth provocateurs Ladytron. The Liverpool quartet’s fifth and latest full-length, Gravity The Seducer, is yet another milestone in a career that’s spanned 12 years, and reinforces their position as a band that’s always put artistic integrity, design and musicianship far above any other endeavor.
We asked keyboardist and songwriter Reuben Wu, also an accomplished photographer and graphic designer, to document their weekend at Decibel with a few choice images. What inspires him behind the lens?
“Anything that I find interesting, really,” he says. “I took a trip to Borneo on a week off DJing and my host said to me, ‘You are a most unusual tourist.’ A lot of the time it is not just the subject which is interesting, but the context it is in, so you have to communicate that.”
You can keep up with Reuben’s work on his Flickr stream and his website. In the meantime, check out his Decibel Festival photos after the jump.
Some crazy conversation topics came up when chatting with dredg before their Sunset Strip Music Festival gig. We may have started off talking about the new album, humorously titled “Chuckles and Mr.Squeezy,” but when you get ChinaShop and a band in the same room together, the conversation always takes a twist. Band members Gavin Hayes and Mark Engles told tales of being strip searched at the Canadian border. We discussed how for some reason many guys in North America think it’s a good idea to propose to or marry their women on the stage at a dredg show. The band made us aware of the obscure talents of The Sunset Strip’s most attention-seeking ladies and explained how they don’t recommend picking a band name really quickly before a high school talent show because a decade and a half later you might still be stuck with it.
Hosted by rapper Bun B with special performances by judges Too $hort, Casual and Crooked I, Red Bull EmSee is an invitation-only battle series designed to find the best freestyle rappers in the country and give them a national platform to show their skills and earn acclaim. This year’s nine-city tour continues on to its second stop in Seattle on July 28 at The Crocodile with The Trill OG: Bun B playing master of ceremonies. West Coast rap legends Too $hort, Casual (Hieroglyphics) and Crooked I (Slaughterhouse) will be doing double duty as judges and performers while DJ B-Mello of KUBE spins labels on the turntables throughout the night. The winner of the Seattle qualifier will advance to the finals in Atlanta this fall where he’ll vie for the national championship and an opportunity to record with a headlining producer of his choice.
“Oh no, not another Avett Brothers wannabe, Mumford look alike,” you might say on first listen to Seattle based The Head and the Heart. They share a lot of similarities with the aforementioned bands i.e. “rootsy” Americana drenched, harmony infused songs, acoustic instrumentation, hand percussion, etc… (not always a bad think, by the way i happen to love those to bands and the simplicity, authenticity and emotion conveyed in the songs simple treatment). And like it or not, The Head and the Heart is one of this generation’s emerging Alt-Americana mainstays.
Since it opened up in 2000, Los Angeles’ Hotel Café has been a hotbed of singer/songwriter activity, routinely turning out quality shows for audiences of no more than 200 people. With a super intimate floor plan, great lighting and sound, and $9 glasses of Knob Creek, it’s one of my favorite venues in the city, and like Largo or Spaceland (R.I.P.), one of the few spots that curates consistently amazing lineups. Last Friday night the Making Friends Tour rolled in, featuring a trio of West Coast talent in Jenny O (LA), Holcombe Waller (SF) and Barcelona (Seattle). Since I got there early enough to cop one of the few candlelit tables—complete with waitress service—you know the Knob Creek was flowing.
Ace Hotel is definitely the place to stay if you ever find yourself in Portland, Seattle, Palm Springs or New York City. Their offbeat, nouveau-bohemian interior design has been attracting artists, designers, geeks with style & international jet setters — you know, people just like you — since 1999. The New York City location has morphed into something beyond just a place to rest your head.
The best fashion lines are able to make you feel something deep in your bones. If you can go from feeling like a worthless bum to channeling Jimi Hendrix’s sex appeal by simply donning a garment, you’ve discovered something special. Seattle-based, niche t-shirt line, Actual Pain is one those special aura-transforming brands. Its creator TJ Cowgill also happens to be the lead singer and vocalist of the black metal band, Book of Black Earth.