Random thoughts and stuff

(for anyone looking for a focused blog post: please, do yourself a favor and turn away now. this is just me typing whatever occurs to me and then posting it so I can say I am keeping the blog at least somewhat "up to date"...)

NWxNW is full steam ahead, all systems GO. Tickets are printed and ready to be sold, posters are being disseminated...things are happening... We really hope to see EVERYONE there!

After being sold out of Cock and Swan merch, we now have it back in-stock! Both albums (Noon Hum and Marshmallow Sunset), more of the cute baby-blue tee-shirt, and a killer new brown and yellow shirt. I am trying to resist the urge to get one of those for myself, but I can't hold it back forever, people! Get in here and buy one! Of course you will also have the chance to peep them live, playing at NWxNW. And no one will judge if you wear the shirt of the band that you go to see. At least, I won't. To your face. ; P

New titles on the horizon for the next month or so will (hopefully) include, but are not limited to: Grizzly Bear--Veckitamest (Special re-edition with Bonus Tracks); Thao with The Get Down Stay Down--Know Better Learn Faster; The Raincoats--vinyl re-issue; Nirvana--Bleach (20-Year Platinum Re-issue); Justin Radford--Off the Spring (it's a rock-opera! What else do you need to know?!); Headlights--Wildlife; Asobi Seksu--Re-wolf... Plus plenty of others...

Extinction Studios (AKA: our awesomely modified, (almost) state-of-the-art recording space) has completed its first project, replacing the soundtrack to a short film by a Seattle-area writer/director! We have liftoff...! To get more details or set up a time to record, contact Bob @ giantrobotguy@gmail.com!

Shows I will miss this month include Pinback, The xx, The Black Heart Procession, et. al.--not to mention what by all accounts was a mind-blowing set last week by BLK JKS. All lamentable, indeed, but my full-time job gets in the way of my going out to shows. Get out and enjoy live music people... Don't be like me.

It was a really good Halloween this year. We had a lot of cute kids dressed as grotesque monsters during the daytime, and a great time across the street at DC's Bar & Grill at night. Where else would you get to see rock legend Slash mixing it up with street pimps, zombies, and a cow in a bikini (I am still not sure what that dude was supposed to be...)? That's right. Nowhere.

And I guess all this means that the holiday season is about to really kick into overdrive. If I forget to say it later, and I very well may: Happy (upcoming) Holidays to everyone out there in the blogosphere...

ps: Come in and buy records/CDs!! (How's that for subliminal marketing?)

"ROOOOAAAAARRRRR!!!"
--TRx

Rocking your face off with more updates and current events!

The line-up is set, the venue is booked... Get ready for NorthWest by NorthWest (NWxNW)!!! Tickets soon to be available for Renton's first-ever indie-rock showcase at Renton Civic Theater (featuring cutting-edge performance pieces by Renton's own Spotlight Dance Company!)! Call or email for more details...full info to be posted soon. Tix also available at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/, search "northwest x northwest"...

New in the store this week:

BLK JKS / "After Robots" - A heck of an album, available on CD and vinyl. BLK JKS ("black jacks") have a new take on rock n roll, one that includes world rhythms and dub-/dancehall-inspired vocal stylings and approaches something similar to TV on the Radio but then veers left and becomes something completely different. This release is by turns foot-stomping, booty-shaking, fist-pumping, and heartstring-pulling. Good, good stuff...

The Black Heart Procession "6" - CD/Vinyl. Black Heart returns with "6". A return-to-form in many ways for the collective, but in some ways a departure from all that has come before. Lots of Leonard Cohen-esque imagery and lyricism, coupled with the always gorgeous instrumentation that fans of this group have come to expect. Both first editions on vinyl and CD are gorgeously put-together. Don't miss out on this work of art!

The Twilight Sad "Forget the Night Ahead" - CD. These Scots have an ear for the dark and disturbing side of banality, and an uncanny knack for making it sound anthemic and compelling. Drawing from a wealth of influences from across the pond, from Morrisey to Mogwai, each song feels like a self-contained parable with all of them adding up to an epic listen.

Mum - "Sing Along to Songs You Don't Know" - CD. The latest from Iceland's Mum is the first without one of the founding members, but it finds the band finding a new solidarity in partnering in a new record label (Euphono, for which this is the first release). The result is a slightly different breed of Mum, but one that is a logical progression from the textured, chilled-out vibe of the best of their previous work.

Find also new releases (and "new-to-us" releases) from Sufjan Stevens, Volcano Choir, We Were Promised Jetpacks, Okkervil River, Health, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, and much much more!

"ROOOAAAARRRR!!!"

We'll see you soon...

TRx

914 S 3rd St / Renton, WA (DTR)

425.988.4118