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Seattle Film + Music Blog

Seattle Shows Off What It’s Made of at SXSW

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SEATTLE TIMES 
Come March every year, Austin, Texas is ablaze with beats, lyrics, and melodies. The normally musically-oriented city raises the volume several notches for the annual SXSW music (and film/interactive) festival. For one week, the city is cloaked in the sounds of native and non-native musicians. This year, THEESatisfaction will take to the high-profile stages of the festival and flaunt some Seattle-made sounds. SXSW is not only a venue for emerging artists to showcase their music, it is also known to provide some much-deserved recognition for newbies. In recent years, Seattle-originating Fleet Foxes and Shabazz Palaces built quite a stir around themselves, leading to some international buzz and helping launch their careers to a new level.

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MUSICIANS SHARE THEIR TOP-TEN LISTS OF THE YEAR

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SUBPOP
Interested in what your favorite artist will be listening to and watching over holiday break? Top artists from the year share their top picks from the year. Among the artists who divulged their favorites are THEESatisfaction, Robin Pecknold of Fleet Foxes, and Ishmael Butler of Shabazz Palaces. While Ishamel takes a slightly random approach and touches on everything from his favorite day of the year to his favorite view, Robin and THEESatisfaction stick to music and movies. Robin’s top-ten playlist on Spotify includes Kurt Vile, Portishead, and The Walkmen. The ladies of THEESatisfaction’s movie archive is robust with flicks like Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, The Nutty Professor, and Mary Poppins.

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NPR POINTS TO SEVERAL SEATTLE BANDS FOR BEST OF 2011

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NPR
NPR music experts recently published their top five “Must-Hear” artists of 2011. Local Seattle band Pickwick made the list. NPR says that the band’s “insidious, slinky jams worm their way into your brain and plant their unshakeable melodies and groove.”  Other honorable mentions include popular local groups like Fleet Foxes and Shabazz Palaces, among the likes of international sensations such as Bon Iver, Wilco and Raphael Saadiq.

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NORTHWEST BANDS LAND AMONG BEST ALBUMS OF 2011

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Rolling Stone
We’ve written extensively about Fleet Foxes’ Helplessness Blues, but not without good reason. The NW band is making waves in the national music scene, garnering accolades left and right, even a GRAMMY nomination for best album. Rolling Stone Magazine seems to agree, listing the album at no. 4 in the top 50 best albums of 2011. Helplessness Blues was also listed at No. 12 in Uncut’s “Top 50” list as well.

Fleet Foxes aren’t the only NW band to be recognized this year. Portland’s The Decemberists came out with The King is Dead earlier this year, debuting at the top of the US album chart. Rolling Stone Magazine listed the album at #7 in their best albums of 2011. The hit single, Down by the Water from the aforementioned album, has also been nominated for a GRAMMY.

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FLEET FOXES RELEASE “THE SHRINE/AN ARGUMENT” VIDEO

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Clash Music
Fleet Foxes released their newest music video this morning (which has already garnered over 30 thousand views) for their song “The Shrine/An Argument,” Directed by frontman Robin Pecknold’s brother, Sean Pecknold. The eight-minute piece was included on the band’s album Helplessness Blues, released earlier this year. Watch the video, co-animated by Sean Pecknold and Britta Johnson, below.

(HD, headphones and full screen are recommended for the best viewing experience!)

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STEREOGUM FEATURES FREE FLEET FOXES MP3

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Stereogum
Seattle’s adored Fleet Foxes, natives of Seattle and prized for being scrupulously raw and tender in their lyrics and melodies, played a show at the Paramount Theater earlier this week.  One tech-savvy audience member caught a respectable recording with their iPhone. The MP3 highlights frontman Robin Pecknold as he shares a new solo acoustic tune named “August Night”.  Stereogum, a national MP3 and music news blog, has brought the recording online, and it is now available to download for free off of their homepage.

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NPR MUSIC WILL WEBCAST FLEET FOXES CONCERT TONIGHT

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NPR Music
If you missed Fleet Foxes’ two sold-out shows at Seattle’s Moore Theater last week, tonight could be your golden opportunity! NPR Music will live webcast the band’s performance from Stubb’s Barbecue in Austin Texas. The concert will be available in both audio and video formats. Fleet Foxes recently embarked on a North American and European tour in support of the band’s lush new album titled Helplessness Blues. It’s the group’s sophomore effort and was released May 3 on local label Sub Pop. Remember to tune in at 6:30 PM Pacific time via the above link to listen to Fleet Foxes perform live in Austin.

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FLEET FOXES’ ROBIN PECKNOLD ON THE COVER OF SPIN MAGAZINE

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Sub Pop Records
Seattle music aficionados may do a double-take in the magazine aisle this month when they catch Fleet Foxes’ Robin Pecknold on the cover of SPIN Magazine’s May 2011 issue. The well-respected music rag heralds the band’s newest album, Helplessness Blues, as the most beautiful album of 2011. The record is receiving early positive praise ahead of its May 3 release date from many news outlets, including British newspaper The Guardian and prominent music blog Stereogum. Those interested can also listen to Helplessness Blues in its entirety over at NPR Music as part of NPR Music’s First Listen series.

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RECORD STORE DAY IS THIS SATURDAY!

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The Stranger
This Saturday, April 16, is Record Store Day, the favorite holiday of all album collecting, bargain relishing and vinyl bin digging music lovers. It is the day to celebrates the endless joys of shopping at your local record store such as: scoring your favorite band’s new album the day it hits the shelf, getting an amazing recommendation from the friendly guy/gal at the counter or finding the used record of your dreams at an unthinkable price. Record stores open their doors early and keep them open late so you can enjoy discount prices and other perks highlighted on very special day. This Record Store Day will feature special limited releases from Seattle bands– Damien Jurado, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Fleet Foxes and Death Cab For Cutie to name a few . Don’t forget to take a break from bargain buying to catch a live performance or album signing: The Head and the Heart will light up Easy Street Records in Queen Anne; Sonic Boom Records, Ballard will get some THATH action as well; Grieves & Budo will be signing albums and autographs at the West Seattle Easy Street; Massy Ferguson, Zoe Muth, and The Tea Cozies will be rocking out at the Queen Anne Silver Platters; and Moondoggies and Telekinesis will play in-store sessions at Sonic Boom Records on Capitol Hill. For more info on store discounts, performance and signing times and more Record Store Day lore, click on the link above. To celebrate the holiday we bring you new live footage from the Fleet Foxes’ performance at Columbia City Theater last night.

[vodpod id=Video.6193403&w=425&h=350&fv=%26rel%3D0%26border%3D0%26]

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DEATH CAB AND FLEET FOXES BOTH GRACE SPIN’S LIST OF “SPRING ALBUMS THAT MATTER MOST”

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Spin
So the saga of record-release anticipation continues: Already amongst some of 2011’s most buzzed- about new albums, the upcoming offerings from local rockers Death Cab for Cutie (DCFC) and Fleet Foxes have now made SPIN‘s list of the “Spring Albums That Matter Most.” Of Death Cab’s Codes and Keys, which drops May 31, SPIN raves: “The literate and lasting small-time heroes can be said to have led the charge for the scale that indie-rock has achieved in recent years [….]but more important than that is a body of work that has built on itself and expanded its reach. [DCFC’s] Ben Gibbard has intriguingly name-checked Brian Eno’s meditative, all-over-the-place 1975 classic Another Green World.” The title track from the Fleet Foxes’ sophomore effort, Helplessness Blues (out May 3) receives similar high praise: “[….As] with many other so-called “freak folk” bands, there’s nothing very freaky about [Fleet Foxes]. Instead, it’s all guileless folk songs best sung in the sun, with a golden gleam to them that owes in part to sweet vocal harmonizing. [‘Helplessness Blues’] follows suit, sounding like a mash of southern California in the ’70s and Simon & Garfunkel in their prime. Longtime indie studio ace Phil Ek recorded and co-produced with members of the band, who seem like they’ll probably be around for a good while to come.” Read SPIN’s whole feature via the link above.

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