Beat Happening box set part of K's busy 2002 agenda

ROSS RAIHALA

Originally published Friday, January 25, 2002

Well, it's now late January and there's still no Beat Happening box set out there.

It turns out the latest -- and final, says K Records -- release date for the long-delayed set is May 7.

Beat Happening, of course, was the band that put K Records head Calvin Johnson on the map. The trio released a series of albums for Seattle's Sub Pop and K and also recorded dozens of songs that appeared only on singles, compilations, mini- albums and the like.

The seven-disc "Crashing Through" compiles all of it and with its promised deluxe packaging, it looks like it will be one of the most ambitious projects released by an independent label.

First scheduled early last year, the release of "Crashing Through" has been pushed back numerous times, mainly because of the enormity of the project.

Meanwhile, K Records has a slate of interesting new music in the pipeline.

The All Girl Summer Fun Band's super cute and super fun self-titled debut album is now out. The Portland-based band, which features Jen Sbragia of the Softies, will perform in Olympia on Feb. 8, with Dub Narcotic Sound System and Operation Makeout.

Mirah's excellent new single "Cold Cold Water" also is out, and the accompanying album will follow March 19.

And the latest news from the Microphones is that Phil Elvrum is currently working on the follow-up to last year's much- acclaimed "The Glow, Pt. 2."

Elvrum also is readying two new retrospective CD collections.

The first will feature selections from his pre-Olympia days in Anacortes, back when he self-released his music on cassette. That disc will be released on Knw-Yr-Own later this year.

K will put out a compilation of more recent non-LP Microphones material titled "Island Songs" in August.

Spin this

Several sort of Oly-related bands pop up in the February issue of Spin.

Nirvana ranks at No. 5 and Pearl Jam lands at No. 26 in the magazine's designed-to-create-controversy cover story about "The 50 Greatest Bands of All Time."

Over on the reviews pages, Kill Rock Stars' Tight Bro's from Way Back When and former K Records chanteuse Sarah Dougher get glowing notices, while Slumber Party (an all-female Detroit foursome signed to Kill Rock Stars) earn a more middling and entirely confusing review.

Finally, the issue features a somewhat overheated piece on Dashboard Confessional, the Vagrant Records band set to play Olympia's Capitol Theater on March 17.

The writer explains the band's appeal as such: "emotional binge-and-purge and reliance on universal youth themes (such as) infidelity, long-distance romance (and) 'Dawson's Creek.' "

Hell's Belles guitarist meets Satan

Finally, some news from -- of all places -- the Limp Bizkit camp.

The rap/metal band has been touring the country in search of a new guitarist to replace Wes Borland. Seattle was among the 22 cities on the agenda, and auditions took place there earlier this month.

One of the city's finalists turned out to be Amy Stolzenbach of Hell's Belles, the all-female AC/DC tribute band who last played Olympia in December.

Stolzenbach talked to MTV about her reasoning behind trying out for the band: "As a musician you always want to challenge yourself and make yourself do something you haven't done before. So it was kind of like the next step for me to play with a band that's of that level."

The next step up from a regionally popular cover band is to join Limp Bizkit? Hmmm.

Later in the interview, Stolzenbach claimed to be a big fan of the Limp Bizkit rhythm section.

"If they were to choose me, I would join them in a heartbeat," she said. "The demographic that they're playing to is mostly male, so it would be a cool challenge to be a female guitarist in that environment. And Fred Durst did say at one point that he thought it would be really cool to find a female guitar player. That's why I even auditioned in the first place."

Once Limp Bizkit wraps up the auditions process with a stop in Los Angeles on Feb. 11, they plan to call together the best of the best for a final round of auditions, an event that may or may not include Stolzenbach.

Those uninterested in Limp Bizkit's music will surely be happy to know that during a Jan. 13 audition in Clackamas, Ore., one gleefully overzealous fan smacked balding, loudmouth Limp Bizkit leader Fred Durst on the side of his head with a food he is clearly well-acquainted with -- a cream pie.

Ross Raihala covers music for The Olympian. Send news and Top 10 lists to OlyRoss@aol.com.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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