Daily, 11:00am-2:00am - The appeal of Lower Queen Anne is the idea of something for everyone. It doesn't matter if you're a barely legal frat brother or a 70-year-old karaoke nut, you're either going home with someone's digits, a beautiful stranger, or, at the very least, a good story. Karaoke enthusiasts flock every night...
Tue., September 7, 8:00pm - The latest Sun Kil Moon record, the lovely and gently rhythmic Admiral Fell Promises, is actually just Mark Kozelek singing with his nylon string guitar. But the distinctions between Sun Kil Moon, Red House Painters, and Kozelek’s solo recordings are inconsequential, since the starring f...
Wed., September 8, 8:00pm - For their sixth studio album, this month’s Lisbon, the characteristically cacophonous Walkmen made a conscious effort to scale things back a bit. “We tried for a very bare instrumentation on this,” the band’s frontman Hamilton Leithauser told me on a recent phone call. ...
Wed., September 8, 8:30pm - Japan’s long-running all-girl trio Shonen Knife is down to one original member: Singer-guitarist Naoko Yamano. Bassist Michie Nakatami quit in 1999, and Naoko’s sister and drummer/bassist Atsuko retired from music in 2008. So, no, they’re not exactly the same band that Kurt Cobain fel...
Thu., September 9, 7:30pm - Magic Kids’ debut album, Memphis, came out just a few weeks ago with not a hint of the country music the title suggests but instead every possible sunshiny salute to Beach Boys’ swoon pop. From the hyperactive sugarhigh of “Superball” to the diner dance of “Hey Boy,&#...
Thu., September 9, 8:00pm - According to Google, the tallest man in the world is the 8’5” Ukrainian veterinarian Leonid Stadnyk. He is not to be confused with The Tallest Man on Earth, who is the Swedish troubadour Kristian Matsson, actually less blessed in stature (he’s only 5’7”) and much more so in ...
Thu., September 9, 8:00pm - If there's anything plaguing contemporary art punk bands invoking the fuzzy garage-psych sound of the '60s, it's that they tend to sound the same. Blame it on the distortion and static if you want, but this formula is something that's been attempted so often over the past half-century or so that we'...
Fri., September 10, 9:00pm - After a ten-year run fronting Chapel Hill indie-luminaries Archers of Loaf, Eric Bachmann and the rest of the band stepped away from the limelight at the height of the band's popularity. Now, having spent just as much time creating music as Crooked Fingers, it would seem Eric Bachmann is pretty comf...
Sat., September 11, 9:00pm - The phrase “of the Brian Jonestown Massacre” is thrown about by so many Portland musicians you’d think it’s earned by dating a Magic Garden stripper, but multi-instrumentalist Collin Hegna actually plays bass for the band. Hegna’s also a producer at his own Revolver studios,...
Sat., September 11, 9:30pm - Hailing from the north, south and west of Seattle, the colorful trio of S.O.T.A. Boys might be young, but after sharing stages with the likes of Gym Class Heroes, Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa, they’ve proved they’re no slouches. And while hypeworthy debut full-length record Seattlecalifra...
Sun., September 12, 7:30pm - Modern English are best known for the 1982 single “I Melt With You,” which kids these days often mistakenly think is by The Cure or Taco Bell’s marketing department. It turns out they’ve made a few other songs in their 30-year career, including an entire album’s worth releas...
Sun., September 12, 8:00pm - In the liner notes for their 2002 record O.S.T., producer and emcee Thes One wrote that "somewhere along the way it seems most critics decided that just making hip-hop was not good enough.” But after 13 years and 7 records, this LA hip-hop duo is as dedicated to the idea of golden-era hi...
Sun., September 12, 9:00pm - New Jersey’s Titus Andronicus likes to show off their book smarts – they named their band after a Shakespeare play, and now their second record, this year’s The Monitor, is probably the first and only Civil War-themed rock album out this year. The songs are gloriously galvanizi...
Mon., September 13, 8:00pm - Marina and the Diamonds is not a band, but a Welsh-bred singer-songwriter (real name: Marina Diamandis). Admittedly, it’s easy to be cynical about the ever-increasing crop of alt-pop princesses in the industry. But Diamandis’ debut album The Family Jewels is crammed with cleverly-cr...
Every week Monday, Tuesday, 8:00pm-2:00am - 88 Keys is better known for its dueling piano action than for its Monday and Tuesday karaoke nights. And that’s why it’s ideal for musically challenged crooners to sing their hearts out. Unlike some karaoke joints, the crowd here is forgiving. Nobody takes themselves too seriously. Tone-de...
Every week Monday, 9:00pm - It’s a shame Dante’s in the U-District only offers karaoke on Monday nights, because they have the best stage for crooners in town. There are two levels that open up to the bottom floor where the mic is set up - singing your favorite tune on a packed night with people from all sides lookin...
Tue., September 14, 8:00pm - Though the vast majority of June release LP4 came out of the same recording sessions that spawned 2008's LP3, electronica duo Ratatat didn't put out the album until this year, opting instead to craft two songs for Kid Cudi. Even though most of LP4 is as old as LP3, the sp...
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone
Tue., September 14, 9:00pm - Earlier this summer, Owen Ashworth announced that he would be retiring his longtime stage project, Casiotone for the Painfully Alone. Since 1997, CFTPA has been producing witty, minimalist songs, hybrids of electronic beats, plinking keyboards, and wry, low-key vocals. For reasons only the gods of i...
Crescent Lounge Karaoke Nights
Daily, 12:00pm-2:00am - The Crescent is easily the most popular karaoke bar on Capitol Hill. Drag queens, dykes, and hipsters squeeze into the claustrophobic space like sardines on any given night, and by 12 a.m. there’s usually standing room only. The booze is dirt cheap ($3 wells, $4 pitchers), the bathrooms are fil...
Daily, 2:30pm-2:00am - Private karaoke rooms should always be dark and dirty—stained cushions and rickety tables make screaming off-key into a microphone seem perfectly natural. Which is why Venus Karaoke in the International District is the perfect setting for your next songfest. Sure, their equipment crashes every...
Daily, 9:00pm-2:00am - The Rickshaw Restaurant & Lounge serves greasy Chinese food and American fare, but nobody ever goes there to eat. The establishment is much better known for satisfying folks who’ve got an insatiable appetite for karaoke. It’s packed with singers until closing every night of the week...
Every week Thursday, Saturday, 9:30pm - Ladies, are you looking to be swept off your feet by a suave Latino man? Look no further than Century Ballroom. The venue’s Thursday and Saturday salsa nights typically draw more men than women, so it’s not uncommon to have guys fighting to be your dance partner. Those who want to jump rig...
Every week Friday, Saturday, 10:00pm-2:00am - Selena's Guadalajara is a small Mexican restaurant that’s easy to overlook as you're driving past on 45th Street. If you haven’t eaten there, you’re not really missing much. But if you like salsa dancing and you haven’t been there, you should remedy the situation immediately. On ...
Every week Saturday, 12:00pm-2:00am - I celebrated my 23rd birthday by getting plastered, flailing about to Billy Idol, and then dumping my boyfriend of two years via text message. I woke up the next morning hungover, single, and thoroughly ashamed of myself. But that unpleasant experience hasn’t deterred me from frequenting the ba...
Every week Sunday, 8:00pm - Every Sunday night at Hidmo Eritrean Cuisine, a rotating roster of artists perform music from a different part of the African continent. The first time I went, four drummers pounded out Taranga rhythms, a Senegalese drumming style executed on tall Sabar drums. The four drummers played sitting on the...