May 18, 2005 Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings @ Chop Suey
June 10, 2005 Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra @ Chop Suey
June 17, 2005 Built to Spill @ The Showbox
June 22, 2005 Mocean Worker @ Chop Suey

Excellent show. I showed up a little before ten. All info I had prior to the show indicated that Mocean Worker was going to be the second band and go on about ten (stranger, chop suey, and the mocean worker website prophesied that this would be the case.) Alas, the sign on the door clearly stated – Mocean Worker 11.30. I went down to open mic at the Hopvine and hung out with bellman and mark. Bellman did a sweet converge cover in the style of bill shatner. It really brought down the house.

I headed back to Chop Suey a little before 11.30. Dance Party USA is a good description of wha ensued. Adam Dunn and Napolean Solo made up the two components of Mocean Worker. Solo on the mic and Adam Dunn on the toys. Mocean Worker as a few albums out but, obviously, a good number of the songs are off of the most recent – “enter the mowo.” The sounds from Cab Calloway to a tribe called quest to crazy samba and finally the funk to bring it all together. A 60 minute set kept me entertained and asking for more.

June 24, 2005 Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet @ Nectar

Expectations were raised as always when skerik hits the stage. I pronounced my intentions to the few who occasionally heed my calls for the aural sensations when they come to town. But I mention the name skerik and the responses are as numerous as the styles of music he plays. All he’s going to do is honk and squeak the whole time. I just don’t get it sometimes. Why is this time going to be any different than the last time we saw him play. I sighed in resignation. If I don’t go see him, then who will.

However, skerik is playing this evening with his most current lead project, Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet. I knew, but couldn’t convince most people of the fact, that this band was a melodic tour de force. This band is setup to amplify his glorious saxophone skills. No wacky effects, mystical voices, or blaring walls of sound. This group brings together six of his closet friends from the area to put together a funky jazzy sound from days gone by and memories to come. This is one of many of my favorite combinations. The band includes includes five horn players (tenor, baritone, alto sax, trumpet, trombone), an organ, and a drummer.

Joe Doria (organ) and Jon Wicks (drums) lay a funky beat across the walls of Nectar, inviting the layered crowd to step closer to be enveloped by the experience. The horns slowly blow across the aural landscape. Increasing the message, removing all other distractions from the mind. Dave Carter (trumpet) punctuates the air with puffs of air into the bent piece of metal, calling out the others to join in the gathering storm. not quite finished

July 2, 2005 Widespread Panic @ The Gorge
July 8, 2005 Master Musicians of Bukkake, Green Milk from the Planet Orange, and Bill Horist @ the funhouse
July 15, 2005 Beck @ The Paramount
July 18, 2005 The Go! Team @ Neumo’s

July 22, 2005 kinski, Master Musicians of Bukkake, and charming snakes @ the crocodile cafe
July 25, 2005 ruins alone, Yoshida/Horist/Mowen Trio, Degenerate Art Ensemble, Bill Horist, and Girth @ Chop Suey
August 4, 2005 nikka costa @ Chop Suey
August 11, 2005 the dirty dozen brass band @ Nectar
September 2-5, 2005 Bumbershoot @ seattle center
September 16, 2005 Skerik’s Syncopated Taint Septet w/ Briggan Kraus @ lofi
September 19, 2005 Lyrics Born @ Neumo’s
September 23, 2005 Maurice Caldwell and his Thing @ Jewelbox Theatre
October 7, 2005 Karsh Kale @ Nectar
October 18, 2005 Daniel Lanois & Tortoise @ Neumo’s
November 3, 2005 Bill Horist, Kevin Sawka, Paul Kemmish (PK) @ lofi
November 10, 2005 Thaddeus Turner, Joe Doria, Mike Stone, and PK @ Seamonster Lounge
November 15, 2005 Girth @ the rebar
November 25, 2005 super furry animals
and caribou @ Neumo’s
December 10, 2005 Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings @Neumo’s
December 17, 2005 critters buggin’ @ the tractor tavern
December 20, 2005 breakestra @ crocodile cafe
December 30, 2005 young fresh fellows @ the tractor tavern
December 31, 2005 zazou @ elliot bay brewery

Neil Gaiman / American Gods
Charles Stross / Singularity Sky
Darby Conley The Get Fuzzy Experience

March 2005

Alastair Reynolds / diamond dogs, turquoise days
Steven Baxter Coalescent
Neil Gaiman / Stardust
Kenneth M. Pollack / The Persian Puzzle
Steven Baxter / Exultant

April 2005

ben bove / Asteroid Wars: The Precipice
Charles Stross / iron sunrise
Steven Baxter / Manifold: Time
ben bove / Asteroid Wars: The RockRats
ben bove / Asteroid Wars: The Silent War
Charles Stross / the family trade

May 2005

william gibson / pattern recognition
Steven Baxter / manifold: space
Richard K. Morgan / Altered Carbon
Richard K. Morgan / Broken Angels
David McCullough / Mornings on Horseback

June 2005

jim woodring / frank
Stephen Baxter / Manifold: Origin
Simon Singh / Big bang : the origin of the universe
Russell Shorto / The Island at the Center of the World

Charles Stross / the hidden family
Alastair Reynolds / Century Rain
Haruki Murakami / Sputnik Sweetheart
Dan Harrington / Harrington on hold ‘em : expert strategy Vol 1
Simon Singh / The Code Book: The Evolution of Secrecy from Mary, to Queen of Scots to Quantum Crytography

July 2005

Robert Reed / Marrow
Robert Reed / The Well of Stars
Haruki Murakami / dance, dance, dance

August 2005

jk rowling / Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince
Haruki Murakami / the elephant vanishes
Simon Singh / Fermat’s Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World’s Greatest Mathematical Problem
David McCullough / 1776

September 2005

Dan Simmons / Olympos
Haruki Murakami / Kafka on the Shore
Chris Moriarty / Spin State

October 2005

John C. Wright / The Last Guardian of Everness
Robert Morgan / Market Forces
Charles Stross / Accelerando

November 2005

Larry Niven / Ringworld’s Children
ken macloed / cosmonaut keep

December 2005

Robert Morgan / woken furies
chris genoa / foop!
Neil Gaiman / Neverwhere
ken macloed / dark light
John C. Wright / Mists of Everness

Haruki Murakami / The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle