Tag Archives: Ear Candy

Aerosmith vs. ZZ Top, Wilco, Flaming Lips & reader interactivity on the latest podcast

Another posting from Ear Candy the Web site:

The fifth installment of the Candy Casts has been recorded and is ready for your listening pleasure.

This time around Ear Candy’s Brent and myself debate whether Aerosmith is actually a good band, talk about the new records from Wilco and the Flaming Lips, dish more details about Ear Candy’s (F)unofficial Bumbershoot Kickoff Party, discuss topics proposed by readers via Twitter and more.

Go ahead and click here to give it a listen and feel free to chime in on the comments section below, drop Ear Candy a note on Twitter or send an email our way to let us know what you think. While you’re at it, go ahead and propose some topics for us to talk about too. We’re all ears over here at Ear Candy HQ. Enjoy!

Vote and help book my Bumbershoot kickoff show

I’m putting together a show under the Ear Candy name to help kickoff this year’s Bumbershoot. You can help decide who plays the show by voting in the poll below. Here are the details from Ear Candy the Web site:

Ear Candy loves Bumbershoot.

How much does Ear Candy love Bumbershoot? Well, Ear Candy loves Bumbershoot so much that 1) it causes Ear Candy to refer to itself in third person and 2) and Ear Candy loves Bumbershoot so much that it is throwing an unofficial Bumbershoot kickoff party and Ear Candy wants your help with choosing a band to play the show.

While I’m not a liberty to divulge all of the details of the big soiree just yet, I will let you know that it is happening Sept. 4 at the High Dive and it will feature four of Seattle’s finest up-and-coming acts. Plus, it’s only going to cost you $10 so start saving your ducketts. Ear Candy has already booked three out of the four acts on the bill and my lips are sealed at the moment so I can’t reveal who those acts are (besides, I need something to write about in the coming months), but you, dear Ear Candy reader, can play a role in selecting the fourth act.

I’ve narrowed my list of potential fourth acts down to four bands I would like to play the show. All four of these bands have been written about on Ear Candy previously and I have been in touch with a couple of them to gauge their interest in playing the show. I enjoy each of these acts equally and I think each one would fit perfectly on the bill for Ear Candy’s unofficial Bumbershoot kickoff party so I want your help with choosing who to book. If you’d like to help me choose what band to book, vote in the poll below. I will contact the winning band and attempt to book them for the Bumbershoot party.

One point of clarification, just because a band wins the popular vote doesn’t mean they will play the show. It just means I will contact them and see if they are interested and available. I have no control over whether the band actually plays Ear Candy’s Bumbershoot kickoff show. Here are the four acts. The band names include links to their MySpace page so you can check out their music if you aren’t familiar with a particular group:

THE REDWOOD PLAN

The Redwood Plan

ALLIGATORS

Alligators

THE LONELY H

The Lonely H

H IS FOR HELLGATE

H is For Hellgate

Big fish, little fish swimming in the water … Enter to win PJ Harvey tickets

Over on Ear Candy the Web site I am giving away pairs of tickets to see PJ Harvey at the Moore Theatre June 16. You should enter. Here are the details:

Back in April Ear Candy held its first ticket giveaway, offering up pairs of tickets to see an intimate, solo acoustic set by New Pornographer Dan Bejar (aka Destroyer). Today Ear Candy is happy to announce its second ticket giveaway. This time you can enter to win a pair of tickets to see PJ Harvey & John Parish with guest Pop Parker at the Moore Theatre June 16.

To enter to win simply email travis@earcandybeat.com with PJ Harvey in the subject line and your name in the body field. Winners (yes, that’s plural) will be chosen Thursday afternoon and be notified Friday. If you don’t want to chance winning tickets you can always buy your own tickets, which range from $25 to $35, by clicking here.

Good luck!

Another podcast in the can

Last week Ear Candy made its maiden voyage into the world of podcasting with Candy Cast Episode 1. It was such a fun and positive experience that we decided to do it again and this time there’s nudity.

That’s right, in Candy Cast Episode 2 there is some nakedness going on. How exactly does nudity make its way into a podcast? Well, you’ll just have to listen to find out. Also in Candy Cast Episode 2 Brent and I discuss the upcoming Noise for the Needy shows, the local badasses Brent Amaker and Matt Cameron and even get around to touching on some local hip hop. We also talk about Bumbershoot and debunk the rumor that Peal Jam will be headlining this year’s festival (a rumor that was partly started by Ear Candy, sorry guys) and the first details of Ear Candy’s Bumbershoot Bash are dished out.

You can download Candy Candy Episode 2 by clicking here. In case you missed the inaugural edition of the Candy Cast you can click here to give it a download. One of these days I will figure out how to upload a podcast to iTunes and you will be able to get them there too.

My first foray into podcasting

I’m happy to announce that I’ve entered the world of podcasting.

Podcasting is one of those things that I’ve been meaning to do for a while but never actually got around to doing until Monday afternoon. That’s when Ear Candy’s Brent Stecker and myself sat down and shared our thoughts on this year’s Sasquatch!, chimed in on The Squatchies and also shot the breeze a bit about Pearl Jam, The Moondoggies and the new Lonely H record.

You can download Candy Cast Episode 1 here. Drop a comment or two and let us know what you think.

What’s been going on in Ear Candy-land, plus shows I plan on attending this weekend

Things have bee busy over in Ear Candy-land the last few weeks, which has made it tough for me to post over here on Spin The Black Circle. For starters, I have been working with some friends on a pretty awesome project. I can’t share the details quite yet, but the image above may give you a hint, or you can simply click here to get a sneak peek (trust me you want to click there, and be sure to bookmark the site and check back every few days for updates).

I have also finally created an Ear Candy Facebook page, so you can check me out on Facebook if you like. You can do that by clicking here.

As for my weekend plans, aside from checking out Watchmen on the IMAX I am going to be busy hitting up some excellent shows. First up is the record release show for Say Hi and Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band. These bands each released one of the best local albums of the year and their show at Neumos Friday is going to be killer. If my endorsement isn’t good enough to make you want to check things out Friday then how about this, Visqueen is opening.

Saturday I will be at the Sunset for the second-ever live show by The Redwood Plan. I say second because they played a secret show (which wasn’t so secret if you took Ear Candy’s advice a few weeks back) a couple of days ago. Their Saturday night set is going to be broadcast on the beacon of indie hipster coolness, KEXP. Also on the bill are Sleepy Eyes of Death and The Hands.

So now that you know where I will be this weekend, feel free to drop by and say hello if you’re out and about. Or, stay at home and read my Twitter feed where I will attempt to drop tweets to my tweeps (man that sounds strange) throughout the weekend.

The lineup is complete! Ear Candy’s Birthday Bash Deux: Bash Harder at the High Dive March 21

As you know, to celebrate three years of rocking, rolling and blogging under the Ear Candy name I am throwing a small little party. In fact, I broke a bit of the news about the lineup on this very blog a few weeks ago.

Well, since then I’ve completed the lineup and I think I put together a stupendous four-band bill unlike any before it which will create the most debaucherously fantastic night of musical enjoyment the High Dive has ever hosted.

Here’s the complete lineup:

Ear Candy’s Birthday Bash Deux: Bash Harder featuring:

Team Gina
We Wrote the Book on Connectors
Brent Amaker and the Rodeo
The F*cking Eagles

March 21, 2009
The High Dive
9 p.m. $10

So mark your calendars for March 21 my friends for it will surely be a stupendous night of some great live music. Expect to read more about this show, including interviews with the bands, an exclusive song, record reviews and more, in the coming weeks. But for now here are some videos to familiarize you with these four awesome local bands.

THE F*CKING EAGLES: HE WON’T LOVE YOU LIKE I”LL LEAVE YOU

TEAM GINA: ROCK THE LIKE

BRENT AMAKER AND THE RODEO: WHEN LOVE GETS TO A MAN

WE WROTE THE BOOK ON CONNECTORS: WE RAP SONG

Cool show alert!: Ear Candy’s Birthday Bash Deux: Bash Harder, March 21 @ The High Dive

Guess who is turning three in March?

That’s right, Ear Candy (a.k.a. my other blog), will mark three years in the blogosphere at its current home (it was a blogger blog for about a year before the P-I picked it up) in a couple of months. To celebrate I am throwing a birthday extravaganza concert unlike any other concert I have ever thrown.

Last year for the first Ear Candy Birthday Bash Ms Led, Sirens Sister and Speaker Speaker rocked my birthday at the High Dive. This year I’m delighted to report I have put together a show that might be a little too big for the High Dive to contain.

The lineup is still in the works, but I do have three bands confirmed and I want to spill the beans here on Spin the Black Circle before I release the complete details over on Ear Candy. So here’s the scoop:

Ear Candy’s Birthday Bash Deux: Bash Harder

Brent Amaker and the Rodeo

We Wrote the Book on Connectors

Team Gina

plus guests TBA

The High Dive

March 21, 2009

I know, what a cool show, right? And the best part is that the lineup isn’t complete yet. Expect to hear more about what is sure to be an awesome night filled with party rock, party rap and party country music when more details roll in, which should happen within the coming weeks.

Until then, mark your calendars for March 21 and prepare yourself for a night of musical debauchery at the High Dive. And watch the below videos to familiarize yourself with the wonderfulness that is Team Gina, Brent Amaker and WE (that’s shorthand for We Wrote the Book on Connectors).

TEAM GINA: ROCK THE LIKE

BRENT AMAKER AND THE RODEO: WHEN LOVE GETS TO A MAN

WE WROTE THE BOOK ON CONNECTORS: WE RAP SONG

Looking for something to do this week? Here’s a few suggested shows

You’ve probably noticed that I’ve been a little MIA over here on Spin the Black Circle recently, but don’t worry, I haven’t abandoned the lucrative field of music journalism. It’s actually quite the opposite.

You see, things got a little crazy over in Ear Candy land last month, which is why I’ve been posting so sporadically on this blog. In this specific case, crazy is a good thing because I landed a weekly music column in the print edition of the P-I which has been called, appropriately, Ear Candy. Actually, I am going to start working on this week’s column after I finish this post.

The column is a weekly rundown of suggested club shows. I typically focus on one or two bigger acts that are playing in the clubs on any given week, then the rest of the shows I recommend are listed with a little bit of background on each in a bulleted list format.

After each is printed I will try to include a link to the column on this blog, in case there are some Spin the Black Circle readers looking for some shows to attend throughout the week. So here is this week’s column. Suggested shows include: Tom Morello and Mike McCready with Stone Gossard tonight, Method Man and Redman Wednesday, Dragonforce tonight and more.