Head Like a Kite, a local electronica / alt rock band, wanted to record one of their favorite tracks in front of a live studio audience, so they invited friends and members of the media to pretend to be a bunch of rowdy concertgoers. They fed us Rainiers and pretzels, gave us hats and boas to wear and told us to stand by the stage and cheer.

“This is the most awesome space for a drum player ever,” announced Trent Moorman (one half of the band). At the London Bridge live room (where Pearl Jam and Soundgarden once recorded) no walls are parallel to each other, and suede-like cushions absorb the echos created by the hardwood floors and brick walls. The owner calls it “an even and musical ambient decay.”

“It’s so weird to drive up to Shoreline, and to feel like you’re in the middle of suburbia, and then walk into this space,” one woman said with wide eyes. There was a wall filled with platinum CDs from all the bands that had played at London Bridge (including ‘Three Doors Down’), another wall filled with found art objects and head shots, a pool table, an Atari game system, a few leather couches, and a cozy, well-appointed bathroom.

In the live room, there were drum mics and guitar mics and audience mics and back-of-the-auditorium mics. “It’s going to pick up on that,” Dave Einmo, the guitarist, joked as I chomped down on some mini Crunch bars near a side mic. “Sorry,” I mumbled.

“Do you think my hat will absorb too much sound?” a man in a cartoonishly large hat asked.

Trent and Dave walked on stage and the crowd cheered. As the two of them stepped on pedals and danced their fingertips all over their keyboards, the crowd used different tactics to create ambient noise. Some drank beer, others ate the catered food, and one woman danced with her eyes closed (perhaps trying to generate the sound of wind).

After Head Like a Kite was done performing, the crowd packed into the control room to listen. Trent and Dave didn’t plan on altering the tracks, since they wanted the piece to feel improvisational and unrehearsed (beer-guzzling  included). The crowd nodded their heads as the 12 channel recording streamed in through half a dozen different speakers. “It’s such an incredibly rich sound,” the man next to me whispered, staring at the neat rows of metallic buttons and nobs on the 1970′s-era recording equipment.

“You just can’t get this kind of sound from digital,” Trent said, shaking his head and beaming like some kind of recording studio groupie. Then he announced the band would play the song again, and the audience shuffled back into the studio to re-create, once again, the kinds of sounds a listener expects on a “live recorded” album.

The Woodland Park Zoo has released some video of their top two contenders for the cutest new additions.

The frogmouth, at about 20 days old, is in an awkward molting stage. It has been named Nangkita, an aboriginal word meaning “place of little frogs.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcqA5Dlo-iI[/youtube]

The snow leopard cubs are still hidden in a backstage area of the zoo, bonding with their mom and making funny chirping noises.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSUfuB2MyEY[/youtube]

7:00 PM – Gregory A. Wilson: The Third Sign
UW Bookstore, U District
Sword & sorcery. That’s all I know.
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Party!: Raven Chronicles
Jack Straw Productions, Cabaret
Anniversary party and celebration of the new issue, Architecture in Literature.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Ann Holmes Redding, Jamal Rahman & Kathleen Schmitt Elias: Out of Darkness Into Light: Spiritual Guidance in the Quran with Reflections from Christian and Jewish Sources
Elliott Bay Book Co.
“Ann Holmes Redding is a Muslim and Christian who had served as priest at St. Mark’s Cathedral and a professor of Christian homiletics, before losing her ordination earlier this year. Jamal Rahman is a Muslim Sufi minister at Interfaith Community Church. Kathleen Schmitt Elias is a former nun, now a Sufi Jew. Together, these three Seattle co-authors will discuss their book…” –EBBC
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Carlos Ruiz Zafon w/ Mary Ann Gwinn: The Angel’s Game
SPL Central Library, Microsoft Auditorium
“Fans of Zafón’s Shadow of the Wind and new readers alike will be delighted with this gothic semi-prequel. In 1920s Barcelona, David Martin is born into poverty, but, aided by patron and friend Pedro Vidal, he rises to become a crime reporter and then a beloved pulp novelist … Zafón’s novel is detailed and vivid, and David’s narration is charming and funny but suspect. Villain or victim, he is the hero of and guide to this dark labyrinth that, by masterful design, remains thrilling and bewildering.” – Publishers Weekly
[LINK]

this photo by shawn [flickr] is among the many awesome shots of the moore inside out found in our group pool [#].

• Days after a glowing profile [seattleweekly], hyped hip hop hooligans Mad Rad are cleared of charges resulting from a Neumo’s scuffle in court, but no update on whether their banishment from an array of Capitol Hill clubs will be upheld. [lineout]
• Sonic Boom spreads to a second store in western Pike-Pine with plenty of space for in-stores and fashion shopping next door at Velouria. [seattlemet]
• The Ninth Circuit agrees with Mike the Magician regarding the over-strictness of Seattle Center’s performer permitting process. [slog]
• It’s the season of babies so adorable you momentarily forget that they’ll spend their entire lives in captivity; today the reptiles get their moment in the spotlight with the hatching of tiny turtles to make you coo. [zoo]
• The latest version of (Metblogs pal) Buster Benson’s seasonal-consumption iPhone app, Locavore is packed full of new and social features to let you tell people where you’re eating locally produced fresh foods. iPhone-deprived can still get in on the fun by using a complementary Facebook application. [enjoymentland]

So I was sitting in the Nitelite having a drink last night, started thinking about the lack of good “dive bars” in Seattle. I remember back in the day when Seattle had more than it’s share of these types of places.

The old Frontier Room was always a cool place but that’s long gone, it seems like alot of Seattle history is vanishing along with these establishments. Pioneer Square is a shell of it’s former self; I think The Central is about the only place down there that isn’t completely different or out of business. (Although the “new” Swannie’s in Occidental Park is pretty cool)….

Of course there’s the Five Point and The Mecca, doesn’t get much divier than that. Keep in mind that I mean “dive” in the best possible context. There’s just something fun and interesting about these places that you don’t find in your typical new “martini/cool lighting” bar….

I can only think of a handful more places around town, Baranof on Greenwood is definitely an old-school dive, The Rickshaw is classic too….

I know that change happens, sometimes for better and sometimes for worse, it just seems that alot of local flavor and character is disappearing….

Anyone know of any other “divey” spots around town or want to share some dive bar memories?

this week alone, MFNW, decibel, and Doe Bay have announced summer lineups. start planning!

• MusicFest NW just announced their lineup looking a whole lot like a NXNW-experience that makes a road trip to Portland look all the more appealing this September. Running from September 16th to the 19th in the city of roses, a $60 wristband will gain you no-cover admission to participating clubs, where the likes of Sunny Day Real Estate, Explosions in the Sky, Girl Talk, Bad Brains, the Get Up Kids, Monotonix, Mudhoney, Frightened Rabbit, Mount Eerie, the Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Grand Archives, Common Market, and about a hundred other bands will be playing (an extra $100 lets you skip the lines). [ticketswest]
• A week later and closer to home, the Decibel Festival also just gave some hints at their lineup. Taking place over four days in Seattle (September 24 to 29), the festival includes visual art, workshops, panel discussions and cutting-edge electronic music performances. So far, the international cast of performers is scheduled to include Alex Under, Alter Ego, Andrew Weatherall, Benga, Boxcutter, Bruno Pronsato, Caspa, Daedelus, Goldmund, KiloWatts, Lusine, Mad Professor, Martyn, Mary Anne Hobbs , Megasoid, Mikael Stavöstrand , Monolake,  Mountains,  Move D,  N-Type, Nosaj Thing ,  Pezzner, Reagenz, Spacetime Continuum,  Sub Swara, Tadeo, Tanner Ross,  Voodeux, The Wighnomy Brothers. Early bird passes are going for a cool $100, but only in limited quantities and if you order by July 24. [bpt]
• And for something sooner and a bit more placid, Doe Bay will be hosting an intimate festival of their own in the middle of August. Hop on a ferry and be among the entirely manageable crowd of 750 to hear The Long Winters, The Maldives, Hey Marseilles, Friday Mile, David Bazan, Weinland, The Moon Doggies, Slender Means, Drew Grow and the Pastors’ Wives, Spanish for 100, The Lonely Forest, Goldfinch, Tito Ramsey in the comfort of the Orcas Islands. Resort camping is also available. [bpt]

• The air has been getting a lot of love lately, particularly at El Corazon. Last week brought a stage of people making sweet love to it; tonight people will turn it into their instrument. A panel of judges, including Kerry Zettel (from See Me River) will determine the local champion of air guitar, who will then be sent to our nation’s capitol to represent Seattle’s air licking goodness. 9pm, el Corazon. [usairguitar]
• Those looking for performance of actual music would do well to pack up and head to Ballard where Tom Brosseau will be appearing to celebrate this week’s release of Posthumous Success (sample: “You Don’t Know My Friends” [mp3]). This time, instead of bringing the his compelling songs to life solo-style, he’ll be touring as a three piece ensemble, which should make it sound all the richer. $10, 8pm [tractortavern]

The Science Of Om by nowheremangraphics

We have some truly amazing photo ops in this city, as demonstrated by Nowheremangraphics. You can see his entire series here.

6:30 AM – Richie Unterberger: White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day by Day
SPL Central Library, Microsoft Auditorium
“Richie Unterberger returns for an informative and fun lecture based on his new book…about the hugely influential rock band of the 1960s headed by Lou Reed.”
[LINK]

7:00 PM – Heather Barbieri: Lace Makers of Glenmara
UW Bookstore U District
Fashion designer has crisis, travels to Ireland, and finds self (amid lingerie). Because pretty panties make everything better.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Chandler Burr: You Or Someone Like You
Town Hall Seattle or possibly Elliott Bay Book Co.
This isn’t on Town Hall’s schedule, but it is on EBBC’s as at Town Hall, so I’m going with it. The author of three delightful nonfiction books- The Perfect Scent, The Emperor of Scent, and A Separate Creation- Chandler debuts his fiction skills with You or Someone Like You. I suggest calling Elliott Bay Book Company to confirm the location.
[LINK]

7:30 PM – David B. Williams: Stories in Stone
Town Hall Seattle, Great Hall
“When most of us pass through the Concourse A food court at Sea-Tac Airport, we’re likely to notice coffee cups, bagel crumbs, and frenzied fliers trying to retie their shoes outside the security checkpoint. Seattle freelance writer David B. Williams sees beyond all that: He sees Jurassic-era fossils in the concourse’s limestone walls. In fact, Williams says every stone structure has a geological story that goes back to Earth’s creation.” — Town Hall Seattle
[LINK]

7:30 PM – Novella Carpenter: Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer
Town Hall Seattle, Downstairs
Urban farming/homesteading seems to be quite the thing, right now. Several of my neighbors raise chickens, nearly everyone in the ‘hood grows vegetables, and a neighbor recently suggested we all go in together on a communal goat. Carpenter has been there and done that, so if you are considering turning your hand to gardening and/or animal husbandry, this event is for you. See you there!
[LINK]

photo by RachelandEric [flickr], among the many terrific solstic parade photos in our group pool [#].

• Sunny Day Real Estate bring the old gang back together for a reunion tour (ending in Seattle) and a reissue. [subpop]
• Were you aware that there was once a trolley line running along the west side of Lake Union? This serene photoset shows nature’s victory over it. [seattlest]
• Pictures from the other big, but less flickrized Saturday parade; Juneteenth. [CDnews]
• Missing SIFF? A bunch of this year’s titles are already rentable at Scarecrow. [media_babe]
• At the University of Washington’s new (first in the nation?) course about Twitter, students are bound to spend the entire lecture live-tweeting. [lostremote]
• Local designer to answer your men’s fashion questions in 140 characters or less. [twitter]
• When Girl Scouts grow up and stop selling cookies, they find themselves earning merit badges in chromed-out cocktailing at Twist. [queenanneview]
• Little did employees know, jobs at Thai Ginger came with a side of sham marriage. [citizenrain]