In the photo above you can see Phil Elverum (Mount Eerie, Microphones, D+), Calvin Johnson (The Cave Dwellers, The Halo Benders, K Records), and Karl Blau (Karl Blau, D+). So yes, it is that time of year again. The sun is out (for once) in Western Washington and all the unique individuals in Anacortes come out of their hiding places (and their friends come up from Olympia) for the annual What The Heck Fest! I went last year (hence the above photo) and things went down like this: watched some bands in a park, ate a sandwich in town, watched more bands, slept some, took a walk to Whistle Lake with some friends, watched more bands, drank some beers.

Yes, it was awesome. You should go. So plan ahead: it all goes down July 15-17. This is my neck of the woods so come say hi!

For more information about the festival, visit the What The Heck website. Quite fittingly, a recent post includes the following video:

Now for a list of bands. Here’s who you can see:

Wyrd Visions
Ben & Bruno
Earth
Angelo Spencer et les Hauts Sommets
For The Birds
LAKE
Arrington de Dionyso’s Malaikat dan Singa
Takhoma
Laura Leif
Bitpart
Broken Water
Sam Lohmann
The Drink Up Honey
D+
Lovers Without Boarders
Mount Eerie
Ô Paon
Mecca Normal
Thrones
Brave Irene
The Zaps.

As far as we can tell, more bands will be added, but this is a great start.

This is the tenth iteration of the festival, and it’ll run you $65 for two days packed with music. And if you’ll by stopping by from out of town, they’ve provided a list of accommodations including camping at Washington Park and Deception Pass Park.

Karl Blau is a bit of a mad genius, like many of the folks creating music in Anacortes and it’s bigger brother Olympia. The music is grounded in genre influences like pop and folk, but it’s also a bit out there. It always has been. And you know, with artists as unique as Blau, I wouldn’t have it any other way. Golden Chariot is Blau’s latest offering and it comes in the form of a Dub Narcotic Disco Plate courtesy K Records, who will also release it as a 12″ EP.

“Golden Chariot” blends lo-fi folk with non-traditional folk instruments like saxophone and non-traditional folk sub-genre offerings like R&B. It makes for a sound that’s borderline nerdy, but has an indubitably cool factor to it, kinda like Bill Haverchuck. There’s an unquestionable nerd element present, but it’s also invariably awesome. Then “Dub Chariot” takes the original and hashes it into an unrecognizable experimental haze. So when it comes down to it, it’s pretty much what you’d expect from someone like Blau. And that, too, is just how I like it.

The Golden Chariot 12″ single MAX hits May 10.

Listen: “Golden Chariot” by Karl Blau

K Records [7" Single, 2011]

1. Golden Chariot
2. Dub Chariot

Directly across the street from The Empyrean’s new location stands a major franchised coffee shop that can very well remain nameless (although, not Starbucks). But, there doesn’t seem to be a gathering of Spokane’s youth decked out in their finest Value Village attire outside of their shop on this fine July night. Is the coffee better here? Or is that strange, mildly majestic indie rock that pours from their doors? I’m really guessing it’s the latter. Although the coffee is quite good as well.

The Oregon Donor was the surprise hit of the evening to say the least. Going second in a lineup of four is always a daunting task. You’re not quite kicking things into gear, and you’re still more than a stone’s throw away from the headlining act. But when it comes to this indie rock treasure, they could be playing outside under the massive collection of recyclable PBR cans around the corner, and they would still turn out a great performance. They proved that beyond a reasonable doubt here in Spokane with their own brand of rock n’ roll energy. While accompanying acts were solid, a content and conscious viewer would be able to tell that The Organ Donor’s short but sweet set stole the night, all before the sun even went down.

Christopher, The Oregon Donor’s own Robin Hood, has a personable stage presence that is tasteful and overall comprehensive. The band as a whole plays with the unity of college theatre production, but Kyle Holland (drums) is an obvious standout for his ability to use up every square inch of acoustic possibilities that a stage has to offer. His stick work was probably audible even for the oldest of couples strolling down Riverfront Park, several blocks away. Loud but tasteful. Exactly as rock was meant to be.

Though the finale act, And I Was Like What?, put on a compelling piece of indie rock stage art, those who came to the Empyrean on Wednesday night unbeknownst to who the hell this cleverly titled band from Anacortes even were, have a hell of a good idea who they are now.

As a special promotional treat, Burning Building Records is offering The Oregon Donor’s 2009 album, A Pageant’s End, as a free download until the end of July. The band will hit the studio soon to record their follow up record soon.

Download: “Morse Code” by The Oregon Donor

The Gift Machine is Dave Matthies, who has been writing, recording and performing under the moniker, to my knowledge, since at least 1999 when a track or so of his appeared on a now out of print EP adequately titled Stuff Vol. 1. As many projects with roots in Anacortes and Olympia go, this one hasn’t always been just about Matthies. It has featured the honorable Phil Elverum (Microphones, Mount Eerie) and Karl Blau, among numerous others. Matthies is also one of the founders of What The Heck, so his presence makes perfect sense given his more recent transplantation to San Diego.

For the Fest, Matthies took the stage with a female percussionist, playing rough, rock-meets-pop tunes that would flirt with both the garage and bedroom pop sub-genres. As a duo, the band was comfortable filling a slightly minimal space, yet they didn’t refrain from packing their short set with plenty of harmony. One moment, they’d rock with a loud tune only to switch gears on the next song and focus on soft melodies and tranquil vocals. They do all of it with a hint of fuzz and the efficacy of romance.

During the show, a gathering happened nearby. Calvin Johnson was joined by Elverum and Blau. I took a candid shot, as their attire was too good to miss…

You’re nuts if you pass up a chance to see Microphones perform live. After all, they’re typically billed as Mount Eerie these days. Essentially, they’re the same band and the music they make is, for lack of a better term, eerily similar. For the final performance Department of Safety would ever have, Microphones were the obvious choice of performer to conclude it all.

Lo-fi as all hell, perfect for DoS’s garage-site venue, and playing what Phil Elverum dubbed as a set filled with (if my memory serves me well) “songs about death, ghosts and mourning.” I think he slipped in one about morning as well.

The set was primarily acoustic, never quite slipping into that epic electric noise guitar that made Wind’s Poem (Mount Eerie’s 2009 LP) a favorite from last year. Still, it couldn’t have been a better farewell to a long-time Anacortes landmark for the music fan.

P:ano‘s Nick Krgovich (No Kids) has been a busy man of late, what with his recent project Gigi with producer Colin Stewart (Black Mountain, Destroyer). Yet he managed to swing by Department of Safety for a brief performance as his older, much earlier moniker P:ano. Solo, Krgovich stood with a white Casio keyboard and mumbled melodically into microphone. It was minimal, quiet, yet beautiful all at once.

While many would find more praise with his recent work – the R&B-pop nature of No Kids or the 60s do-wop pop of Gigi – P:ano was a return to a simpler time, one less concerned with the pretension of modern indie. It made the performance honest, giving the event a very current presence. Minimal music can do that.

All photos by Andrew Fenstermaker.

Toward the end of his set, Karl Blau announced that there was a questionable stench stemming from his attire, which had been stashed in his shed for an unknown quantity of years. A local Anacortes favorite, Blau’s bizarre folk absolutely warrants the preceding freak – a term that common folk might attach to a musician performing while dressed as a fireman. Though, with LAKE as his backup, it sounded (and looked) almost too natural.

True to the evening, even with full instrumentation accompanying Blau, his music radiated a minimalism far below the swanky beats of his recent LP, Zebra. Gone were the horns, the disco beats, the woodwind instruments; but added were some excellent synth lines and choppy percussion. And also true to the evening, all were welcome to sing along.

I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking. Here’s “Dark Sedan” from Zebra (K Records) for some audible accompaniment.

All photos by Andrew Fenstermaker.

Karl Blau: Dark Sedan [mp3]

Here’s a video Ola Hungerford (Dandelion Gold, Cock & Swan) took of Blau’s performance:

Karl Blau with LAKE 01/30/10 from Ola (Dandelion Gold) on Vimeo.

This is it, the last call. The last show. And yet it’s a first for me; my first time visiting the Department Of Safety in Anacortes. The evening began with a brief drive along dark highways to the town known most, perhaps, for its ferry system connecting mainland Washington with the San Juan Islands. Eight years before, in 2002, the Department Of Safety opened with a show featuring performances from Karl Blau, P:Ano, and, among others, Microphones. This night would be quite similar, though also on the bill was LAKE and Arrington de Dionyso (of Old Time Relijun).

It was a sad ending. As Microphones’ Phil Elverum put it, Now where are we going to play shows in Anacortes!? But at the same time, there was plenty to be happy about. Department of Safety noted on their website that the project wasn’t meant to last forever. And it sure did have a good run. Besides, who could be sad about seeing Elverum perform as Microphones again? The bill, packed with a stunning array of artists, made everything all the more perfect.

As I stood waiting for the show to begin, I caught glimpse of Johnny Goss and Ola Hungerford of Dandelion Gold and Cock & Swan, who informed me of a new LP in production. But the evening was all about Department of Safety, and giving it a fond goodbye.

Over the next few days I’ll give each artist a good review; they all deserve it. But for now here are some of my favorite photos from the show. Pictured above: Microphones. Below, in order of appearance: P:Ano, Arrington de Dionyso, Karl Blau, and LAKE. All photos by Andrew Fenstermaker.

LAKE’s Live Review
Karl Blau’s Live Reveiw
Arrington de Dionyso’s Live Review

Upon learning of the new Bakers At Dawn album and covering the band’s new video, another discovery was made. That of Cory Landels, the director of said video and mastermind behind this video for Mount Eerie‘s “Between Two Mysteries”, one of my favorite tracks of 2009. Comparing the two, both have the same look and feel. But where “Mesmophone” was pleasant and, in a way, calm; “Between Two Mysteries” has an obvious eerie nature to it. Yet there’s something romantic about the video; as if it was one of James and Laura’s videos made before she was murdered in Twin Peaks. “Between Two Mysteries”, of course, is a song that echos with Lynch’s greatest work.

“Between Two Mysteries” is off Mount Eerie’s Wind’s Poem, out now on P.W. Elverum & Sun.

Between Two Mysteries. from Cory Landels on Vimeo.