Sir Richard Bishop and His Freak of Araby Ensemble
July 1st 2009 @ the Crocodile Cafe, Seattle

On a balmy, early summer evening, legendary guitarist Sir Richard Bishop and his Freak of Araby Ensemble landed in Seattle to play one of the few remaining dates of his latest US tour.  Though Bishop is a hometown hero, you couldn’t really call him “local”;  Bishop is a lifelong wanderer. In the past two years, he’s dragged his battered acoustic all over Europe opening for Earth, completed a solo tour of Italy and performed with a dance troupe in France.  Earlier this year, he even produced his first film, “God Damn Religion“.  He still finds time to record and, recently released his sixth solo album Freak of Araby [Drag City].  When he drops the ‘Sir’ from his name, Bishop‘s day job involves dealing antique occult books and international travel; spending much of his time in India and Southeast Asia. Somehow, in the midst of all of this, he must take the time to write new songs, practice with his Ensemble or, for fuck’s sake, relax.  It’s the productive guys like him who make me feel bad for sitting around watching Netflix on my computer for three hours every Saturday morning.

Here’s a quick rundown about the life of Rick Bishop.  Up until 2007, he’d spent his entire adult life terrorizing the world as a member of enigmatic art-punkers Sun City Girls.  The Girls, made up of Rick, his brother Alan and their friend Charles Gocher, sprung from the Phoenix punk scene in the early Eighties.   They would open for hardcore acts like JFA and Black Flag, often to the disdain of the audience. SCG‘s bad rep preceeded them and their live shows were often confrontational affairs, with the band hassling the crowd with lengthy improvised noise excursions, wingnut ramblings and the odd Grateful Dead cover.  They eventually began releasing music on their Cloaven Cassette series, sending cryptic transmissions out to the die-hards who were already emerging from the scene. (more…)

Popularity: 2% [?]

I’m sure that I have made numerous references before about my affinity for the Coen Brothers‘ film work. When I was younger, I would tear through their catalog and grab anything that I could get my hands on. Sometimes, I would even get my hands on something and it would find its way into one of my over-sized pockets. I loved everything that the duo would put out.  Their strengths have always been their storylines and character development; the things that really make for a quality film and that mainstream Hollywood have made less and less of a priority. The CGI effects and explosions have become like visual/action porn. “Fuck the story, let’s remove any real substance and just give them something mind numbing to get off too!”

The only Coen film that never really moved me was Barton Fink, a film about writers block that made me feel like I had it, but I still appreciated their left-field approach with the project.  Guessing the popularity of an upcoming release from the brothers, was parallel to throwing a dart with your eyes closed.  Maybe it would hit.  Probably, it wouldn’t.  I saw Raising Arizona [1987] in the theater, but the next 3 films,  Miller’s Crossing, Barton Fink, and Hudsucker Proxy, I had to seek out and/or rent later.  Hudsucker did “all right” but, not until the release of Fargo in 1996, did the auteurs really have much of a fanbase.  They followed Fargo up with The Big Lebowski, which at the time wasn’t very successful, and then onto O’ Brother Where Art Thou, which was championed for it’s soundtrack and casting of George Clooney.  Most people never saw their next film, The Man Who Wasn’t There, but I actually own it.  They had stumbled into a weird alternating pattern, where they would create a film that was widely popular and then make one that fell abandoned to the wayside.  I believe that their latest film, A serious Man, will most likely fall into the category of the latter.   Personally, I welcome it. (more…)

Popularity: 2% [?]

In my youth, Seattle was a pretty great place for community events.  Bumbershoot use to have great musical acts and only cost about $7, although I would sneak in every year anyway.  This year, Bumbershoot is $50 a day and has terrible headliners like Katy Perry, The Black Eyed Peas, and Sheryl Crowe.  The only thing that I even care about missing is Os Mutantes.  Why should it cost more now than it did in a year like 2001, when the lineup included WEEN, Built To Spill, Mos Def, David Cross, Daniel Johnston, Critters Buggin, Dj Logic, Sex Mob, Cat Power, King Sunny Ade, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Taj Mahal, and Sam Bush?  The answer is because corporate elements have slipped in and raped everything out here.  Even the free events like the Rhythm Festival and Folk Life have had their community gatherings tweaked by the man.  Perhaps the one thing that I miss the most out here has been Pain in The Grass, a free weekly, summer concert series that used to be held at Seattle Center‘s Mural Amphitheatre.  Fortunately for us, two local radio stations are doing their part to bring it back.  One of them is resurrecting tradition to do it right, while the other is grasping on to the Pain in the Grass name, in an attempt to use nostalgia to fuck you in the ass. (more…)

Popularity: 1% [?]

I used to be into some awkward shit during my Junior High and High School years.  Not much has changed.  I would unsuccessfully try  to pull off such things as Coen Bros. film festivals at my house, pre Fargo.  They didn’t go over too well; nobody else was down to sit through films like Blood Simple or Miller’s Crossing for too long.  When The Big Lebowski was released, I went with my friend Crackbaby to see it in the theater.  I really enjoyed it, but it took a while to fully grow on me.  Eventually, it reached the point where I absolutely loved it.  Based on my prior experiences with an extreme lack of interest from all around me, I never had any reason to believe that the rest of the world gave a shit about this film at all.  Overtime, it’s become strikingly obvious that the Coen‘s film, which garnered relatively low box office numbers, had slowly gained its own cult film status with a sizable fanbase.

In 2002, two men by the name of Scott and Will realized that they could exploit the popularity of the film and formed a convention-like festival.  Since it’s creation, the festival has grown and grown each year.  Publications like Maxim, Spin, and even the Wall Street Journal have praised Lebowski Fest, rating it as a must attend event.  By this year, it has already become a nationally touring force across the continental US, with a two-day stop in each of the towns that it hits.  The first day is lightly performance based and includes a viewing of the movie, while the second day involves bowling and a costume competition.  “Exploit” may not have been the best word for me to use, considering that the creators are legitimate fans.  Then again, it may just be the perfect terminology to employ; this festival is not cheap.  I was brought out  to Lebowski Fest this year by two things.  The first reason was the fact that I actually won a pair of passes to it, so it was free.  The second, and possibly more important reason, was that Har Mar Superstar was scheduled to perform. (more…)

Popularity: 2% [?]

Last Monday, I attended the Seattle stop of Lebowski Fest.  Just prior to the screening of the Coen Bros. classic, The Big Lebowski, there was a special video clip of Jeff Bridges apologizing for his inability to attend the function.  Among the reasons given for his absence was that he was busy with other responsibilities.  Not mentioned was the fact that he had better things to do than get creeped out in a warehouse full of geeks, who were dressed in impersonation of a character that he played over a decade ago.  During this brief clip, Bridges placed his old helmet on to his head from his role in TRON, signaling his reprisal of the role as Kevin Flynn in the upcoming TRON sequel.  Like I said, he’s got better things to do; things like hanging out at the San Diego Comic-Con with people dressed like a character that he played 27 years ago.

Comic-Con has grown to be more than just the biggest comic convention of all time.  It has also become a star-studded event, which presents previews of the latest upcoming Hollywood projects in production.  Tron Legacy is one film that was heavily featured at the event this weekend, complete with a cast panel, trailer viewing and concept art.  Take a look at the VFX test trailer now and see what you think for yourself: (more…)

Popularity: 3% [?]

So now that all of the ridiculous map bullshit is over and people can finally sleep without wondering if they have to cancel their plans or if they should have never canceled them in the first place, PHISH and their fans, who got sucked into the brilliantly deployed marketing scheme, are finally able to get down to business.   The band has created a website for their latest festival and have broken down the details that so many have been anxiously awaiting.  The boys have also released new information regarding an alternate release date and track list for for their upcoming album ” JOY“, as well as the cover art.  I’m tired of writing about this shit, so I’m gonna just let the press release do all of the talking for me. (more…)

Popularity: 2% [?]