Dave Segal on Truckasauras' "serious" alter-ego, Foscil:

All this booze talk may lead you to believe that Foscil's new album, Residential (due out in December as a triple 7-inch as well as digitally via Byron Kalet's Journal of Popular Noise zine), is a boisterous party record or a tear-soaked Pogues-athon. Not so. Much of the 12-track all-instrumental release evokes the bravura melancholy of Miles Davis and Gil Evans's Sketches of Spain, Tortoise's more languorous post-rock reveries (marimba figures prominently), and Ennio Morricone's sorrowful yet dulcet spaghetti-western scores. Other diversions occur in "Latona," which features a triumphant, Don Cherry—esque trumpet fanfare, and "Roy the Barber," whose mesmerizing, ascending chord progression sounds like a gorgeous paraphrase of a 17th-century classical-music piece, but which Adam composed with crucial accompaniment from Moore. The all-analog studio setup, along with editing and effects techniques influenced by Miles's studio wiz Teo Macero and Lee "Scratch" Perry, lends Residential that trademark warmth that even today's finest computers can't replicate.

Read and comment on the whole story HERE.

They told Fences to go to rehab; he said yes, yes, yes.

If Fences' Chris Mansfield doesn't have a record deal by the time you recycle this newspaper—or refresh this page or whatever—then something is seriously wrong with the music business (I know, news flash). The 26-year-old singer-songwriter has pretty much everything going for him: classical training, crucial industry connections, and most importantly, a finished first album just begging for the right label to release it. He has just enough going against him, as well: a slightly troubled but more or less taken-care-of past, wall-to-wall tattoos, a brooding demeanor—he could be the kind of damaged, bad-for-you heartthrob that the Northwest hasn't convincingly produced since Elliott Smith (or at the very least Art Alexakis).

[...] "When I first moved here, I just felt so creative," he says. "I was banging songs out. I have probably 50 to 100 songs that no one's heard yet. I'll play some of them live, but I probably have a couple more records already lined up and ready to go. I just still feel so fucking full of music right now."

But it was also a period of depressive drinking, which Mansfield talks about with an evasiveness that suggests he either wants to forget those benders or else really has trouble remembering them. "I guess I was doing whatever you could think of, just normal drunk bullshit, the shit that we all do when we're wasted," he says. "I haven't fallen off a stage or punched Eddie Vedder in the face or done anything wild like that."

Read and comment on the whole thing HERE.

• Renee Krulich/Flickr
• These are just some of the delicious things that come out of Quill Teal-Sullivan's oven at Oddfellows.

The expert panel includes Tamara Murphy of Brasa/Elliott Bay Cafe fame, Makini Howell of all-vegan Plum Bistro, insanely gifted baker Quill Teal-Sullivan of Oddfellows, and international alcohol savant Jamie Boudreau.

Already, Mr. Boudreau has helped Lukeiscool spice up his apple cider. Lukeiscool wrote:

My past recipe has been to heat a pot full of cheap apple cider, through in a muslin bag with cinnamon sticks and anise and towards the end stir in a fifth of spiced rum. It has always been a hit before, but I cater to a crowd of low-expectations. I was hoping to deliver something a bit classier this year if possible. Any suggestions?

Jamie's advice?

Remember that you are only as strong as your weakest link, so if you up the quality of cider, and buy a good spiced rum like Sailor Jerry or Kraken, you're already on the way to a fantastic party. As for spices, I'd consider adding some clove to your mixture, and after you've taken out you bouquet garni and added your rum, add some ginger syrup and lemon slices. Ginger and apple has always been a good pair, and the lemon slices will help balance the sugar offered by the syrup.

Delicious!

Ask your questions now, or settle for another year of flavorless stuffing and lumpy gravy.

Questionland Experts: We’ve got your ass covered.™

We also overlooked Meghan McCain's tits.

Can't cook a turkey? Ashamed of your lumpy mashed potatoes? The Stranger’s QUESTIONLAND is here for you!

This Wednesday through Friday—November 18 through 20—local culinary experts will answer your questions about everything from cocktails to turkey (or tofurkey!) to dessert. We've got Tamara Murphy of Brasa/Elliott Bay Cafe fame, Makini Howell of all-vegan Plum Bistro, insanely gifted baker Quill Teal-Sullivan of Oddfellows, and international alcohol savant Jamie Boudreau.

So, want to know how to spice up your stuffing? Or make the best goddamn mixed drink your guests have ever had?

Start asking the experts now!

Questionland Experts: We’ve got your ass covered.™

This week in the music section, the Stranger profiles young duo USF (formerly Universal Studios Florida) and ponders the prospects of Seattle's rising "chillwave" scene:

Seattle hasn't really been at the vanguard of a musical moment since grunge—the very geographic and cultural isolation that allowed that scene to gestate in peace has more often than not kept the city a year or two late to trends taking hold in denser, more connected places (cf. our late arrivals to electroclash, freak folk, disco punk, etc., etc.). But as the internet has alarmingly accelerated the hype cycle, it's also decentralized the way trends spread—or even removed geography from the equation entirely. If grunge were to happen today, it wouldn't need a bunch of bands living in the same city to reach critical mass; it would only require enough acts linked up online. (Or, to defer once again to Hipster Runoff: "Chillwave was a genre created by the internet, 4 the internet?")

Chillwave may prove to have the life cycle of a mayfly, but at least this time Seattle is buzzing along right on time, thanks to a nascent local scene that includes acts like U.S.F. (formerly Universal Studios Florida), Big Spider's Back, and Secret Colors. But let's back up a minute—hypnagogi-huh? Just what exactly are we blogging about here?

Read and comment on the whole thing here.

USF play the Stranger Genius Awards Party tonight at the Moore Theatre, along with Throw Me the Statue, They Live!, and the Emerald City Soul Club. 9pm, $5, 21+. More info here.

Solo was a wonderful to place to visit—they reserved a comfy big couch in the corner for us and treated us very well, if I do say so myself. (Tasty Shirley Temples too.) And double thanks to them for extending the happy hour so we could enjoy cheap drinks until 8 pm! Yay Solo!

I hope you had as much fun as I did.

Now, December's Slog Happy will be the second anniversary for Slog Happy! Should we do another gift exchange? That was fun. Maybe karaoke? BOTH?! Can we handle both? And where would be a fun place to have it? Discuss!

Solo is located at 200 Roy St, a few blocks north of the Seattle Center. Their happy hour starts at 5 pm and usually goes until 7 pm, but tonight they're extending it one extra hour just for us! They'll be serving $2 Rainiers, $3 wells, $4 housemade Sangria, and $5 specialty cocktails until 8 pm. They also recently unveiled a tasty looking new winter menu, so come hungry.

Slog Happy starts at 6 pm—I'll be there with books, candy, name tags, and free VIP Genius Awards passes.

There are two major problems with complaining about how readings are boring affairs, as host Todd Zuniga did last night at the opening of the second Seattle Literary Death Match at the Re-Bar. The first is that it's not true: I've been to five or six great readings in the last month alone, readings that were just as entertaining as the same amount of time spent at, say a good movie or a fun rock show. The second is that if you're going to talk about how boring and lame readings are, you have to be sure to put on an event that isn't lame and boring.

The full apology, which includes a response from LDM organizers, the truth about why monkeys on TV wear diapers, and information about how to get your $10 back from me if you attended this event, is after the jump.

*Free books!
*$2 Rainiers!
*Nametags that you could use to write someone else's name on instead of your own!
*Catfish sliders!
*$3 wells!
*A live music photography show featuring photos by Laura Musselman.
*A happy hour that goes until 8 pm!
*Mini vegetable pot pies!
*$4 housemade sangria!
*A drawing for VIP Genius Awards tickets!
*Candy!

Wait, will there be candy? Sure, I'll bring some candy!

Solo is located at 200 Roy Street. Slog Happy starts at 6 pm, and I can't wait to see you.

Solo's kind staff will also be extending their happy hour just for us. It'll go until 8 pm, offering up $2 Rainiers and $5 specialty cocktails (and some other stuff too).

As if that's not reason enough to be there, we'll also be bringing a bunch of free books (as usual) as well as some VIP passes to this Friday's Genius Awards.

Slog Happy starts at 6 pm. See you Thursday!

The Mountain Goats play tonight at the Showbox at the Market . This week in the Stranger's music section, I dig into their new album, The Life of the World to Come:

The Mountain Goats' latest, The Life of the World to Come, appears at first to be more pious. Each of its 12 tracks is named after a Bible verse, and Darnielle has framed it as "12 hard lessons the Bible taught me"—for instance, "Genesis 3:23" ("So the Lord God banished him from the Garden of Eden...") is a song about him visiting his old place in Portland and about how you can't go home again. But Darnielle's spiritual path has been convoluted—he was raised Catholic (and remembers it fondly), became a strident atheist in high school, then returned to the church, and now attends Hare Krishna services as enthusiastically as he does Mass—and his current stance is ambiguous. In a recent Pitchfork interview, he said, "The story of my religiousness is a long thing... I mean, I go to church, but I don't have the faith of the people there." His previous album was called Heretic Pride; one of his early breakthrough songs, "The Best Ever Death Metal Band in Denton" ends with a rousing refrain of "hail Satan!" On the new record, his interest in the Bible comes across as more literary and theological than devotional. He recasts its archetypal narratives to modern troubles and even incorporates more poetic bits of scripture directly into his own lyrics.

Read and comment on the whole thing here.

• Image by Ann Texter

As of these here Seventh Annual Genius Awards, The Stranger has given one hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars to support our local geniuses.

See you Friday!

Do you spend your days dreaming of digging through court records to find out terrible things about secret Republican politicians? Or following the often mind-numbing actions of the city and county councils? Or perhaps fighting grizzly bears?

How about doing two of those three things for free? (You have to pay to see the bears.) If so, we have the opportunity of a lifetime. The Stranger is looking for a news intern.

Just think—the Slog posts you will post! The arcane information you will look up! The Morning News-es you will post on weekends still slightly drunk with a screaming headache at 8 a.m.! I have lived through all of those experiences, and emerged stronger.

Interested? Send an e-mail telling us why you should be the chosen one (with two or three clips or other writing samples, if you've got 'em) to newsintern@thestranger.com.

• This is Solo's bar—all this can be yours come Thursday.

Solo's usual happy hour runs from 5-7 pm every day, but because they LOVE Slog readers, they're extending it an extra hour! Just for you! So you can get cheap drinks until 8 pm. Happy hour specials include $2 Rainiers, $3 wells, $4 housemade Sangria, and $5 signature cocktails. (And check out their cocktail menu here.)

They've also just started a new winter food menu, with rabbit mole tacos, mini vegetable pot pies, and catfish banh mi sliders.

Delicious!

Slog Happy starts at 6 pm. See you there!

That's two chances to win!

There seems to be a pretty vast gulf between books people think are literature and books people actually read in large quantities. Would you identify this as cause for despair? Something that's always been true? A weird thing Americans do?

No, yes and no. I think that's always been the case everywhere around the world. There's nothing wrong with pulp. If literature can't manage to drag a reader away from trashy romance novels, that's certainly not the reader's fault. It's literature's fault.

The thing that has everyone riled up in the comments of the interview, though, is my answer to the question "Wolverine or Batman?" This is clearly the question of our time.

That’s over a million people: readers, commenters, trolls, lovers and haters, lovers who hate haters, fundies, foodies, and people who will cut you for using the word “foodies.” People who don’t give a shit and people who care way too much. People looking for a woman seeking a man, people looking for a movie about GI Joe dolls, people who have a question for a city council candidate about a sidewalk. People scouring the internet for the term “horse fucking” at three in the morning Omaha time. People who meant to go to thestronger.com.

We’ve hit one million absolute uniques in a month only once before, and that was this past June. And I was going to write a post like this back then, but something must have come up. It was June. People are busy in June. Well, this month we had even more traffic than June, so the hell with June. October is the new June.

Thanks, one million people, for intentionally (or unintentionally) visiting our collection of internet web pages. Without all of you, the world (and Seattle in particular) would seem like it’s weirdly empty. People who escaped thestranger.com rapture would walk the streets thinking, “Where the fuck is everyone?” It could happen. Remember when all those people who used Friendster just disappeared? Like that.

All you have to do is go to the "Profile Trinkets" section of your MyStrangerFace Settings page, and add your Questionland ID, and your QL questions, answers, and comments will be there for all to see. Easy! And oh so much fun.

You can find the episode here.