Bummed because you didn’t make it to SXSW? Well, just because you missed out on the fun in Austin doesn’t mean you have to miss out on some of the music that was performed during the festival with free downloads from a few of the local artists who were at SXSW and a compilation of non-locals courtesy Spin magazine.

Sportn’ Life Records most animated rapper, Spaceman, released his Greetings Earthlings mixtape last week and you can get it for free by clicking here.

The mixtape features some production by Jake One and guest spots by Grynch, J Pincer, Fatal Lucciauno, Brainstorm of Dyme Def and more. To my knowledge this is the first collection of recorded Spaceman material and it is is a precursor to a full-length Spaceman record. Admittedly my knowledge of Spaceman is pretty limited so I could be wrong about Spaceman’s recorded output. However, word on the street is that Spence from The Saturday Knights is working on an official Spaceman full-length album. No, literally it is the word on the street because I heard it from Spence when I ran into him on the street.

Grynch, a.k.a. the pride of Ballard,  should be a familiar name to readers. Like most of Seattle’s music community, he became a temporary Austin resident last week when he performed multiple sets, including a spot at the Billboard showcase, last week. He dropped his Rapping About Rapping mixtape last Monday.

The title is a tongue-in-cheek nod to the biggest criticism he used to receive, which is that he only raps about rapping. It includes production by some of Seattle’s finest including MTK, P Smoov and Jake One. You can download it by clicking here. Oh, and on a proud and congratulatory note the album artwork is a photo shot by my buddy Alex Crick.

On the national scene tip, Spin magazine released a mix of bands that played SXSW. The album includes The xx, Surfer Blood, Freelance Whales, Japandroids and other of-the-moment indie bands. Download it here.

High Horse by Lisa Dank

Juliane Popelka has created a rarity among Seattle’s music scene: a bona fide pop star.

Sure there’s been the pitchy, bad-hair-day-pop of Sanjaya and the excellent electro-pop beatboxing of Blake Lewis, but those two mostly gained fame thanks to reality television. Popelka is doing it by herself and in the process she has become the architect of one of the scene’s most compelling characters.

Popelka’s pop star is a self-made beast that blends Lady GaGa visuals with “Justify My Love”-era Madonna lyrical content making for a shocking and entertaining audio and visual treat. Chances are you’ve never heard of Popelka, but if you’ve been paying attention to local music you’ve already figured out by now that her pop star alter ego is Lisa Dank.

On stage Lisa Dank is an uninhibited force to be reckoned with complete with a commanding stage presence. Her shows include elaborate stagewear, props (including a giant fake penis and an animal’s jawbone she uses as a percussive instrument), backup singers and dancers accompanying her songs about sex, drugs and partying. She jumps into the crowd, writes on the floor, grinds on audience members and demands your attention.

Yes a lot of what Lisa Dank is doing has been done before, but it’s not being done right now and it’s unlike most everything happening in Seattle. This has made Lisa Dank’s stage shows notorious spectacles that are well worth checking out. Her next performance will be at Ear Candy’s Birthday Bash 2010 at Nectar Lounge Sunday ($6, 8 p.m.) and it will be her last local show before she drops her 13-track debut album on April 20 which is tentatively titled Baker’s Dozen.

“I’ve been told a lot that seeing Lisa Dank live reminds people of theatre and that’s the direction I think I want to continue towards. I want to make each show a performance, not just me singing and dancing,” she said. “I have people that come to every show and I want to start making it more like an ongoing, evolving show, so every time someone goes to see Lisa Dank they will be getting a different experience.”

Popelka considers her music, along with the music of locals like Queerbait!, Sap’n and others, to be a part of Seattle’s “fourth wave.”

So what exactly is the fourth wave?

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Minus the Bear is gearing up to release its new album, Omni, on May 4. “My Time,” the lead single from the album, was released as a free download yesterday. You can listen to the track, which features heavy use of a Japanese Omnichord synthesizer, below and get your free download of the song by clicking here. Minus the Bear’s local tour stop supporting the album will be at this year’s Sasquatch! Music Festival, however, you can see the band prior to Memorial Day Weekend during an in-store performance at Sonic Boom Records on Record Store Day (April17). I’ll post more details (such as which Sonic Boom and the set time) as they are made available.

MINUS THE BEAR: “MY TIME”

No-Fi Soul Rebellion is the husband-wife dance-rock duo of Mark and Andrea Heimer. Currently based out of Bellingham, the pair are known for putting on fun, energetic live shows that typically include the band setting up their gear in the crowd with Mark running all over the place with a 50-foot microphone cord as he sings, screams and dances. More on the No-Fi Soul Rebellion live experience later this week, but needless to say No-Fi show isn’t a spectator sport, which is why Ear Candy likes Mark and Andrea so much and is thrilled to have No-Fi headline Ear Candy’s Birthday Bash 2010 Sunday at Nectar Lounge ($6, 8 p.m.). The above video is the failed attempt to film a video for “!” off the group’s 2008 album Terrible Muscles. Mark calls it the worst music video ever, but I’ve seen worse.

I wrote the below post about Sound Off! 2010 for Crosscut.

The kids are alright.

Those words of Pete Townshend rang true during the finals of Experience Music Project’s Sound Off! competition, which showcased some of the brightest rising stars in Northwest music Saturday night (March 6).

The final round of the four-week, underage battle of the bands featured four groups that showed remarkable talent, musicianship, and poise, all delivered with the passion and vigor of youth.

Sound Off! is more than your typical battle of the bands. The contest focuses on young musicians who are 21 and younger, and at stake is more than just getting to be the cool kids in the cafeteria. The winner of Sound Off! gets a slot at Bumbershoot 2010 (although I suppose that might earn you popularity points in the lunchroom, too).

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