Bitch Magazine Benefit

Friday, January 9
Bitch Magazine Benefit
KIMYA DAWSON
MIRAH
ANOMIE BELLE
8 p.m. doors, 9 p.m. show | $18 advance, $22 day of show | All ages


In this special benefit show, a trio of Northwest indie notables -- anti-folk icon (and Juno soundtracker) Kimya Dawson, eclectic performer Mirah and Seattle electronica artiste Anomie Belle -- pitch in to help out feminist publishing institution Bitch Magazine.

Visit bitchmagazine.org for more information.

KIMYA DAWSON
Singer/songwriter Kimya Dawson is best known as part of the former anti-folk outfit the Moldy Peaches and for the inclusion of several of her songs on the bestselling soundtrack to the hit film Juno.

Dawson and fellow Moldy Peach Adam Green met in 1995 at a record store in Mt. Kisco, NY, where she worked. For the next four years, Dawson moved back and forth between New York and Washington, but she and Green had become friends and began writing songs together. In 1999, Green followed Dawson to Washington, where they formed the Moldy Peaches. After a year, Green returned to New York, with Dawson following later. Eventually, the Moldy Peaches -- Dawson, Green, drummer Strictly Beats, bassist Steve Mertens, and guitarists Jack Dishel and Toby Goodshank -- began playing the anti-folk circuit.

In 2001, they released their self-titled debut to critical acclaim. All the songs were co-written and sung by Dawson and Green. The band toured in the States as well as Europe. Dawson contributed backing vocals to Ben Kweller's 2002 debut solo album, Sha, Sha. Later that same year, the Moldy Peaches began a hiatus of indefinite length when both Dawson and Green released solo albums. I'm Sorry That Sometimes I'm Mean, Dawson's album, was well received by critics and she embarked on a tour of Europe and the United States.

In 2004, Dawson released two more albums of material culled from her bedroom sessions: Knock-Knock Who? and My Cute Fiend Sweet Princess. Later that year, Hidden Vagenda arrived on K Records. Dawson resurfaced in 2006 with the Kimya Dawson/Matty Pop Chart EP and Remember That I Love You full-length. In 2008, her career took a surprising turn when the Juno soundtrack became an unlikely #1 Billboard hit. Later in the year, K Records released her first children's album, Alphabutt.

Visit kimyadawson.com or myspace.com/kimyadawson for more information.

MIRAH
Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn has been at the heart of the vibrant Northwest independent music scene ever since her debut album You Think It's Like This But Really It's Like This. A collection of her own 4-track recordings alongside collaborations with Phil Elverum of The Microphones/Mt. Eerie, the album became an instant classic. A follow-up to her first release, the stunning Advisory Committee (2001) cemented Mirah's place in the alternative music canon. These albums were an exploration of the territories beyond lo-fi, aiming to transcend mere technical limitations and to push the boundaries of ‘indie-rock' towards a more meaningful communicative goal. Phil Elverum's sound experiments collided with Mirah's striking lyrical poise and unabashed emotional honesty and the resulting mix proved quite evocative.

2003 saw the release of Songs from the Black Mountain Music Project, the result of a self-imposed artists-in-seclusion collaboration with Brooklyn-based artist and musician Ginger Brooks Takahashi. Mirah began working with Lori Goldston and Kyle Hanson of Seattle's Black Cat Orchestra in 2003 and the release of a collection of cover songs followed. The album To All We Stretch the Open Arm was conceived as an anti-war statement and included renditions of Leonard Cohen's Story of Isaac and Kurt Weill's What Keeps Mankind Alive.

Mirah's third solo album C'mon Miracle (2004) combined the ever-present youthful splendor of her earlier works with a more mature stylistic component which led many critics to hail it as her best work to date. A sonic expedition, Joyride: Remixes was released in 2006 and features dance remixes of tracks from Mirah's three solo efforts by the likes of The Blow, Guy Sigsworth, and Anna Oxygen.

Visit myspace.com/cmonmirah for more information.

ANOMIE BELLE
Anomie Belle is the project of composer, producer, audio programmer, vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, Toby Campbell. Originally a classical violinist and songwriter, she released multiple solo records before creating her own beats and making her way into electronic, experimental, trip-hop music. A Portland, Oregon native, Campbell has performed at top venues across the US, and has worked as a musician and producer in Madrid, Glasgow, Amsterdam, New York, Buenos Aires, and London. In 2006, she moved to Seattle to focus exclusively on Anomie Belle.

Anomie Belle's material grapples with social issues ranging from American political apathy to suburban alienation, passive media spectatorship, social injustice, and consumerism. Befitting the name, in this music, alienation and social unrest mingle with charm and beauty.

"She makes dark social issues eerily lovely." - KEXP

"An intriguing mix – a political and social consciousness set to a down tempo trip-hop, heavily layered with strings and vocal textures." - The Seattle Times

Visit anomiebelle.com or myspace.com/anomiebelle for more information.