Have you ever noticed the music playing inside urbanXchange clothing store in downtown Tacoma? It’s usually something trendy, avant garde and/or locally made, which is not unlike the clothes on the adjacent racks. The marriage between fashion, art and music at urbanXchange is a reflection of what has been occurring everywhere in Tacoma’s fringe art scene. Fashion, art and music are interlocking puzzle pieces that fit together forming a picture of downtown life in Tacoma.



While perusing jewelry at urbanXchange last Friday my ears beheld something I’ve never heard before. I locked eyes with store owner Julie Bennett and while tilting my head to one side and gesturing upward in no particular direction asked, “Is this what I think it is?” With a gleam of giddy anticipation and a smidge of pride she said, “Yes it is!” I said, “Gimmee! Gimmee!”  She handed over the CD I’ve been waiting for all summer. It is cloaked in a modest paper sleeve inscribed with the words, Tacoma Mix 2007 and a sketch of a green rhinoceros in a belted overcoat. Like a toy surprise, in addition to the CD, there was a one-of-a-kind original drawing by Ben Paris. Mine has a red hand reaching for a purple bunny with the caption, “The opposite of perfection beckons” kind of like a fortune cookie. Bennett says only some of the CDs have this in them. I was one of the lucky ones.



Bennett says that despite the many different bands, the CD has a unified sound. I’ve listened to it a few times now and I have to agree, but I have a hard time putting that sound into words. At times it feels like a lost tape from the ’60s with its Beatles, Doors and Rolling Stones influences, but it would be wrong to lump the whole thing into that description. This CD is totally now with bits of glitch, garage rock, acoustic ballads and dance music. There are 22 songs on the album, and each one is a gem that would sound perfectly at home on Seattle indie station KEXP — a nationwide barometer of all things hip when it comes to independent pop music. This is not a CD you listen to once and toss aside. This is a CD you rip to iPod and enjoy over and over. There isn’t space here to reveal the merits of each song, but a few track highlights for me were the following:

Track 4: Umber Sleeping’s song “Storytellers” has a cool theramin vibe (think high-pitched UFO sound from “Twilight Zone”) and a cool electronic, glitchy, sound that I love.



Track 5: Allan Boothe’s “Merry” is also an unusual song that sticks with me. He sings, “My merry goes around” in a near rasp that reminds me of Okay’s Marty Anderson (it also reminds me a bit of the first part of Adam Sandler’s song in the movie “The Wedding Singer” —  “Somebody Kill Me”).



Track 9: Betelmire’s “606 MPH,” has a fresh sound and is one of the few songs on this CD that has female vocals. The melody follows a sing-song up-and-down scale accompanied by accordion, tambourine and what sounds like a synthesizer keyboard.



Track 12: Don’t Tell Sophie’s “Ordinary Steps” is an impressive professional-sounding full-production song that screams ready for mainstream. This is an epic rock song ala Coldplay with super good vocals by Brandt Dettling, especially when he sweeps effortlessly into falsetto.



Track 14: At first I misunderstood the lyrics on track 14, Fashion’s keyboard-driven dance song, “Freshr By Tha Minute.” I thought he was saying “Every time the clock tocks we get more fish,” I soon realized it was actually “more fresh” but I thought it was more fun to sing “fish” so I kept doing it the wrong anyway.



Track 15: The intro to track 15, “Loose Leaf” by Haircuts, sounds almost exactly like a Postal Service song “The District Sleeps Alone Tonight” with bleeps that drip like water and keyboard-accordion sounding chords. The surprise was the sophisticated female vocals treated with an electronic waver effect like Madonna’s on her Music album. Nice!



Track 17: Friskey’s “She Killed her First Husband” is a campy adventure in minor key.



Track 18: This one is a departure to the ’20s. Luke Short’s “Sympathy Strings” makes my feet tap and would make a great swing dance number. His vocals remind me of Tommy Scott of the band Space (best known for the 1996 song “Female of the Species”).



Track 21: Paris Spleen’s “The Gesture” sounds like a less silly, more masculine B-52s.



Track 22: The appropriately named, “I’m going Home” by The Barnacles announced the end of this epic adventure.



I’m really looking forward to Tacoma Mix Vol. 2!



While supplies last, Tacoma Mix 2007 can be purchased at urbanXchange and at Buzzards CDs for $5.



[urbanXchange, 1934 Pacific Ave., downtown Tacoma, 253.572.2280]

[Buzzards CDs & Video, 1916 Jefferson Ave., Tacoma, 253.591.0183]



My name is Angie and I’m just a shot away. If you can’t rock me, somebody will.