Stage
When I saw the announcement for the Mauricio Robalino and Betty Sapp Ragan exhibition at the Handforth Gallery I was initially blown away by the image of a Robalino collage included with the announcement, but I was slightly let down by the actual work. Although hotly colorful, playful and well
Music
SOLVENTS >>> Friday, Jan. 21 Minus the violin, Solvents would still be a band worth watching and listening to - earthy, melancholy, lively in the face of heartache. They draw from indie rock godfathers who innovated by veering closer to the heart of pop music, not running away from it (Big Star,
We Recommend
Indie pop-punk heroes the Thermals began in 2002, with Hutch Harris and Kathy Foster who, after several lineup changes, have remained the band's only constants. The Thermals built a following through their high-energy performances, both live and on record, and their emotionally charged and frankly political lyrics. Even when the
Music
When I spoke with Westin Glass, drummer for the Thermals, he was wandering somewhere in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In the background, I could hear some mysterious trilling bird - wild turkey? angry peacock? roadrunner? - and the effect was that Glass sounded a million miles away. The trilling began as
Ragnet
In every issue of this fine rag my hack team of wannabe journalists and I tackle some of the most laughable criminal acts that have recently happened in our area. Then - if we're doing our job - we write about those crimes in a way that makes you chuckle,
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We've seen plenty of one-man bands in our day. Great ones like Phillip Roebuck come to mind. And plenty of not-so-great ones also come to mind. But when it comes to wow factor mixed with groove, few have the skills that Aaron Daniel has. Building intricate jams with beatbox and
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Let's do a little rock 'n' roll math, shall we? If we were to take members of Bacchus and Kill Cupid and put them together in a band, what would likely be the result? Keep in mind that Bacchus and Kill Cupid are both utterly ridiculous for very different reasons:
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Gumar and His Magical Midi Band (spelled on their MySpace page with exclamation points in place of i's) are about as wacky as their name suggests. The instrumentation on songs like "Alien Groove Thang" is pretty exuberantly earnest (i.e. these musical pranksters are serious musicians, in the vein of, say,
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Minus the violin, Solvents would still be a band worth watching and listening to - earthy, melancholy, lively in the face of heartache. They draw from indie rock godfathers who innovated by veering closer to the heart of pop music, not running away from it (Big Star, the Replacements, etc.).
Travel
In an ideal world, there would be a car that had it all for the northwest lifestyle, like maybe cargo space for shopping or leisure activities like camping or skiing. As long as we're talking about camping and skiing, wouldn't it be nice for this fantasy car to have the
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You love sporting. And by "sporting" we mean things that require camouflage and/or bright orange overalls. Luckily, it's time for the 24th annual Washington Sportsmen's Show. There'll be plenty of rods, reels, retrievers and, well, rednecks. Highlights seem sure to include the always-popular survival seminars (helped get Volcano editor Matt
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Sunday is probably the perfect day for the annual Sounds of Brass Concert presented by Brass Unlimited. With musical selections including Borodin's "Polovestian Dances," Danny Elfman's "A Brass Thing," and Gliere's "French Horn Concerto," the show - conducted by TCC Music Dept. Chairman John Falskow - this Sounds of Brass
Outdoors
Recently, my oldest and dearest friend came home for a visit. She's a fancy city slicker now, hailing from New York City. Not Brooklyn or another borough. NYC proper. Naturally, I usually trek up to Seattle and go to some hip, new restaurant for our annual catch up. But this
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Crystal Aikin is just one of many Tacomans who've made their hometown proud by going on to TV and/or musical greatness. With a voice larger than any other you'll find, and a purpose and mission to match, Aikin's journey from hometown Tacoma kid to gospel music heavyweight has the feeling
Outdoors
A nice and easy two-hour drive away, the city of Ocean Shores is my idea of a great day trip - or weekend getaway - destination. A 6,000-acre peninsula located on the north side of Gray's Harbor on the Washington coast, the municipality a busy commercial center complete with family-friendly restaurants,
Music
Loudon Wainwright III is many things. To some in my generation, he's known as a minor comedic actor, having appeared in M*A*S*H and Judd Apatow productions like The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up and the short-lived college comedy Undeclared (as well as more dubious cinematic fare like 2009's G-Force - the
We Recommend
Brave New World Media Group and Black Ice Booking & Entertainment have teamed up to present The Road to South By 2011, a series of battle of the bands performances, mostly in Seattle, with the winners performing during SXSW in Austin this spring. Thursday night at 8 p.m., the competition
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Oh that Sean Alexander. If he's not planning Squeak and Squawk music festivals, or performing odd music under strange names (while dunking his head in a bucket of ice water), or generally being artistic, he's making these jaw-droppingly intricate drawings that we've never seen anything like. Alexander's Seasonal Affective at
Scene It
There is a moment in every young(-ish) man's life where he must rise up. Where he must take a stand. Where the shackles of reason and doubt should be tossed aside, not only for the good of a Weekly Volcano article, but for the good of the soul. Yes, dear readers,
