The Stranger's Dave Segal wraps up Seattle's musical bests of 2009 and gives a nod to new lounge programming:
(N.B. from the Triple Door 1/15/2010: Kwassa Kwassa has now become AFROCENTRIC happening every Thursday and now will feature full live sets from the best regional performers of music from Africa and beyond + top local selectas of Highlife, JuJu, Afrobeat, Soukous, Dub etc... Near Dark ended its run at the end of the year and its successor the SPEAKEASY SERIES launches Tues, Feb 2nd with film from the 20s-50s with live music accompaniment and the best classic coktails. In addition, Feb will also see the rebirth of the infamous SOUL HOLE, formally at the Viceroy and curated by DJ Self-Administered Beatdown. Soul Hole will happen every first Wed of each month...Here's to a New Year full of excellent music, good friends and superb drinks!)
New Breeds in the Musicquarium (12/22/09)
A welcome development in 2009 was the Triple Door's opening up of its DJ policy in the Musicquarium, thanks to Leif Engberg and Scott Giampino. Adding house (Duende), techno (Off the Deep End), midtempo-electronica (125), dance-punk (Near Dark), and world-music (Kwassa Kwassa) selectors to the weekly and monthly schedule has spiced up this ritzy space and brought in some folks who ordinarily might not venture downtown for these underground sounds. DS