Bumber --- Shoot!!!

So over the last few days I have been thinking about how Bumbershoot has changed over the years. Not that change is bad, but one of the changes they have introduced, well suck.

Today is a Friday, in the days after they started to charge for the event ,Friday's were still free. Not any more, today is just set up for the weekend, starting tomorrow it is $40 per day to get in. With the schedule the way it works out, I can see maybe one band on each day I want to see, none of which I want to pay $40 to see. When I was younger, the festival was free. I could check out art, music and performance that I might not otherwise view, all for free. Even in the years after they started to charge $5 to $10 to see multiple bands was still a good deal. The problem was during those years I was working for bands that played so I got to go for free then as well.

Fast forward to now, all the bands I might want to see are playing around the same time, and I could see any of them for less than $40 at a club without all of Seattle milling around when I'm trying to get in.

Well if you decide to go this weekend, go see Battles. They will be worth it.

Battles

So as usual I am hitting myself for ignoring the local music press about the show to see, it is months past and I pick up the CD and think, "I should've gone to that show". Last week as my wife and I left the Queen Anne Easy Street Records, I grabbed the latest release by Battles .

The opening high hat and side stick beat combined with looped guitar and whistling soon turns into a jazzy prog frenzy. The second song starts with a heavy tribal drum beat combined with warped carnival like vocal manipulation and guitar/ bass confusion. The third song is the closest to anything that resembles pop music, if played by a schizophrenic.

This album is amazing. If you are looking for a band that combines live sampling, solid drumbeats, synth weirdness, and total noise freak outs, Battles are for you. I won't go into the pedigree, but they have all spent time in some great bands. I now know what my music teachers were trying to introduce me to by playing Frank Zappa, Yes and ELP. This is where I want to see the future of music going ( with the use of sampling, looping, and electronic manipulation). At least the music I want to hear some of the time.