Welcome back to Pop Loser. This is my third and final appearance here filling in for Audrey Vann, and it’s been an absolute pleasure. This week we talk about the Crocodile’s plans for the defunct Madame Lou’s and Here-After spaces; Baba Obscura, an expansive new music festival happening in Pioneer Square this November; ex-Hole bassist Melissa Auf der Maur’s great archival solo album; Funkadelic/Maggot Brain listening parties happening at various Seattle and Olympia record stores; and more.
This Week in Music:
Not sure if y’all heard, but 80-year-old country-music superstar/actor/philanthropist Dolly Parton passed away last week, and The Stranger‘s Julianne Bell reported how Seattle fans showed their love by buying up vinyl recordings and renting her movies in brick-and-mortar shops around town. We really cleaned out the Dolly stock at various record stores and emptied the shelves at Scarecrow Video, and that sort of devotion warms this physical-media-loving dude’s heart. Rest in power, queen, and check out my favorite Parton song at the end of this column.
The Crocodile’s new ownership has announced plans to reopen its dormant basement space! Music and comedy fans have been speculating for months about the fate of the spaces that held the shuttered Madame Lou’s and the Here-After. On Monday, the storied venue announced that both rooms will be converted into Bottlerocket Social Hall, which is slated to open in March. The 400-capacity venue (which will also host 200-cap seated comedy bills) will be based on the multifaceted concept of Bottlerocket’s Pittsburgh namesake, which was founded by the Croc’s new managing director, Chris Copen. The plan is to book the sort of alt-comedy headliners who performed at the Here-After and the touring and local musicians who played Madame Lou’s. Additional programming will mirror that of the original Bottlerocket, according to the Crocodile’s press release: “Elvis Bingo, Bario Kart, Bad Movie Bingo, and more.”
Bottlerocket will feature, the release continues, “tiered viewing areas, an expanded bar, best in class All-Ages access, and the same intimate, old school feel” that marks the Pittsburgh venue. The venue’s design will draw on both Pittsburgh’s original Bottlerocket and the Crocodile building’s history as the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific. Like its Pittsburgh counterpart, the Seattle Bottlerocket will institute a Membership Club that provides guest drink discounts and three free shows monthly.
More good news: The new Crocodile operatives have contacted many of the organizers who had long-running events at Madame Lou’s and the Here-After, and they hope to restart those nights. Lastly, a new full-service bar will be added to the basement—one that can be patronized without buying a ticket to a show. The Crocodile will continue to function as is while these subterranean renovations take place.
Baba Obscura is stepping into the void left by Freakout Fest. The new music festival, taking place November 5-8, will be hosted in Baba Yaga, Showbox, Central Saloon, and AXIS. A joint effort between Pioneer Square club Baba Yaga and Desert Daze Music Festival founder Phil Pirrone, Baba Obscura also draws on the curatorial and organizational prowess of Seattle nonprofits Freakout, Sonic Guild, and Paper Plane Music. Similar to Freakout Fest, Baba Obscura will showcase an eclectic array of local, national, and international artists, with over 50 performances scheduled across six stages. Among the acts are the Gories, Mdou Moctar (solo), Rose City Band, Black Mountain (duo), JJUUJJUU, the Black Angels (celebrating the 20th anniversary of Passover), Margaritas Podridas, Zookraught, and Dark Chisme. The press release states that Baba Obscura aspires to be a neighborhood-wide experience, à la South by Southwest and the short-lived Upstream Music Fest. In addition to the live-music showcases after dark, planned daytime activities include art exhibits, DJ sets, pop-up performances and “immersive installations that highlight Pioneer Square’s historic architecture.” You can purchase tickets here.
Former bassist for blockbuster alt-rock groups Hole and Smashing Pumpkins Melissa Auf der Maur is releasing BASS WOMB ROOM: My ’90s 4-Track Demos x Field Recordings on cassette (and digitally) September 4 via Envision Records. In contrast to the mainstream rock moves of her previous albums—2004’s Auf der Maur and 2010’s Out of Our Minds—BASS WOMB ROOM exudes lo-fi ingenuity. And the results are way more interesting than expected. Amplified heartbeats loom large in the mix, chaotic guitar feedback blooms unexpectedly, wonky, heartfelt ballads trigger shivers, tape experiments flourish, and a radically reimagined version of Roxy Music’s “Love Is the Drug” would make Bryan Ferry proud. Auf der Maur calls these songs “the sound of my internal experimentation and a way of keeping the Montreal art girl alive inside.” The album also contains eight new “interludes” made for Auf der Maur’s solo exhibition, My ’90s Rock Photographs, which opens September 2 at the Art Gallery of Ontario. Look for a 240-page photo book of the same title, published September 8.
Indie record shops nationwide are hosting listening parties to hype Org Music’s remastered, all-analog reissue of Funkadelic’s 1970 classic, Maggot Brain. In our corner of the country, these events will take place at Sonic Boom, Royal Records, Spin Cycle, Easy Street, and Olympia’s Rainy Day, September 11-13. Contact the stores for more details. Back in the bad old days of 2020, I went long on Maggot Brain for Pitchfork.
Re: last week’s item about Sub Pop’s retail businesses, we have additional insider info from store manager Travis Ritter. The shop in KEXP’s Gathering Space has, in Ritter’s words, “an all-new expanded footprint and façade that completely transforms the space.” He continues: “We also sell used records (on consignment), curated heavy-rotation new LPs and currently have two exclusive, limited KEXP x Sub Pop collab [T-shirts].” The Waterfront outlet houses more ephemera and archival works on display for fans to experience.
Music Events Worth Your Hard-Earned Money This Week:
Osees ft. Brigid Dawson Sept 2-3, Neumos, 7pm, all ages 9/2; 21+ 9/3
Altın Gün, Alex Maas Sept 8, Showbox Sodo, 8pm, 21+
Zoh Amba Sept 9, Barboza, 7pm, 21+
Mount Eerie Sept 11, Neptune Theatre, 8pm, all ages
Public Image Ltd.: This Is Not the Last Tour Sept 15, Neptune Theatre, 8pm, all ages
Cola, Artificial Go Sept 19, Vera Project, 7pm, all ages
Igorrr, Violent Magic Orchestra, Secret Chiefs 3 Sept 28, Neptune Theatre, 7:30pm, all ages
Tricky Sept 30, Neumos, 7pm, all ages
The Songs That Keep Me Up at Night:
“Gettin’ Happy” by Dolly Parton
I’m not gonna front: I am a very casual Dolly Parton fan—mainly because I’m just not into country music. But her powerful yet supple voice is undeniable and she wrote damned memorable tunes that could make your heart flip and flutter. So, when I heard “Gettin’ Happy” on Light in the Attic’s fantastic Country Funk II: 1967-1974 comp in 2014, I got turned on to a dimension of Parton’s work I didn’t know existed (see the album title). “Gettin’ Happy”’s jittery opening drum break became a B-boy favorite and the song fulfills the title’s promise with the zeal of an Appalachian preacher sloshed on moonshine. Good golly, Dolly goes HAM on this wild party jam!
“Benim Yarim” by Altın Gün
Featuring Turkish, Indonesian, and Dutch musicians, Altın Gün deploy tunings and tonalities that sound extra-spicy to Anglo-Americans. With vocalist Erdinç Ecevit’s saz as lead instrument, Altın Gün devote most of their catalog to modernizing Turkish folk classics. On their latest LP, Garip, the band reimagine the songs of troubadour/bağlama player Neşet Ertaş (1938-2012). One highlight is “Benim Yarim,” which Altın Gün transform into a serpentine strain of dubby, electrified folk, enlivened greatly by Jasper Verhulst’s rubbery bass jabs. You can catch Altın Gün September 8 at Showbox Sodo.
