The Thoughts

Seattle Rock Orchestra plays Radiohead

Hello everyone! 

If you're a fan of The Thoughts, you may be a fan of Radiohead; if you're a fan of Radiohead, and are in the Seattle area this Saturday, February 19th, you definitely should not miss this show:

Seattle Rock Orchestra plays OK Computer and The Bends

 

As in, both albums, in their entirety, with a full orchestra, backing-band, choir, and a cast of amazing guest singers from Seattle, including Jon Auer of The Posies, Jim Antonio of The Purrs, Rachel Flotard from Visqueen, John Van Deusen of The Lonely Forest, and more! 

Katie and I have both been involved in the Seattle Rock Orchestra for the last year or so (including having them back The Thoughts last fall!), and this show is no exception; Katie is playing violin, and I'll be playing guitar in the backing band.  I also had the opportunity to arrange a couple of the songs from The Bends for the orchestra. 

It will be epic, and wonderful.  Also, if you haven't heard the news, Radiohead is releasing their newest album, King of Limbs, this Saturday as well.  You can download that, hear the future of Radiohead, and then come hear two of the most influential albums of our time in full orchestral glory.  We hope to see you there!

   - Ian

Little Show, Big Show

 

Hi friends.  We just wanted to let you know that we’ve got two shows coming up in the next 3 weeks; a little acoustic set at The Sunset, and a REALLY big show at The Moore theater, where we’ll be joined by the Seattle Rock Orchestra!  The Sunset show is on Wednesday, October 27th, and we will be opening the show nice and early at 9:00pm.  Come and hear the stripped down versions of our songs, and then join us on Saturday, November 13th, where you can experience The Thoughts backed by a full orchestra!  We are opening the evening with a set of our own music, and then the SRO will be playing The Beach Boys “Pet Sounds” in its entirety, along with some other great songs produced by Phil Spector, who pioneered the legendary “Wall of Sound” recording technique that was used in the recording of Pet Sounds.  There are a whole bunch of great local artists singing, including:

Jen Wood
Ivan & Alyosha
Lesli Wood of the Redwood Plan
James Lanman
Alessandra Rose
Mychal Cohen of Campfire Ok
Yuni in Taxco
Michele Khazak
Ian Williams of the Thoughts
Rachael Ferguson of NighTrain 

Tickets are available here.  Make sure and get the good seats early, the last SRO show at The Moore was nearly sold out!

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Open Letter to Pirates: This is the New Deal

To our dear, dear Pirate friends,

First, let me say thank you. You were the first on the scene and I admire your on-the-pulse reality. Also, I admire your tenacity (because, as the growing legions of nations freely downloading our record can attest to, you are real go-getters with inventive computer skills).

Besides the obvious bone which I could quite legally pick with you, I would much rather us have a private chat about the merit of your thieving. Let's begin with the most basic concept: it is one thing to love a record intensely, to be compelled to share it so others can also hug it closely. However, to steal indiscriminately is a much more irksome endeavor.

And those of you (you know who you are) who pull images from our website and post our words verbatim and add no personal commentary to the ideas, concepts, images, and sounds we have worked very hard on, I can only assume that love was not your motive. Or, you're the quiet types. Regardless, this nonsense trend will not stand and I am offering a brief moment of parlay. Here are the terms with which I will accept your continued activity:

1. If you are going to steal from us, you are first and foremost obliged to steal well. There are free downloads on our site of images and other items, so if you are unable to restrain yourself, at least use the pretty things we have provided for such purposes.

2. This also means saying interesting things about us and generally adding to our mystique. Everyone can always use a little more mystique and if you can make that happen I will agree to be slightly less perturbed by your mischievous nature.

3. Don't sabotage our good intentions with low grade versions of our tracks. It's embarrassing for the both of us.

4. Please don't purport yourself to be our label (I'm talking to you, Music Sailor) it makes our actual label very, very cranky.

So there you have it, four very simple rules for redemption. Or at least pardon. We're not unreasonable folks so please do your best to treat us reasonably.

Now that we've had this little chat I look forward to a new-found sense of camaraderie and feel an eagerness in reading your insightful comments about our work.

Best of luck to you and yours,

The Thoughts