Ben Meyercord's Lvie Music Picks for Thursday, January 14th

Hello Dear Readers,

After a nine hour Sean Flinn/Y La Bamba/Tragos Amargos practice, I could not bring myself to got out at all. Even though, there were a some shows that looked good. Instead, I fell asleep. Tonight there are some more shows that look good:

Thursday, January 14th

Berbati's is having a show with Bombs Into You, Noir City, and Strange Holiday. Bombs into You is a electro rock band that is uses the electro parts to varying degrees. Sometimes they sound like an electro pop band, other times they use some synths that accent a seemingly normal if not better than average indie rock song. I enjoy both. You can download some of their eps for free on their website. Noir City is band that has a lot of influences and displays them all from rock to R&B to Trip Hop. But thing that makes the music a little cohesive is the Diva Vocals of Alexcia Tsu. But the band I am most excited about is Strange Holiday. They are really really good. They sound somewhat like a female led Beach Boys if they were in their prime today. There are many many layers of vocals on the recordings. Live the band has a really good rhythm section. I remember the bassist had so many good bass lines that were vaguely reminiscent of old R&B or "oldies" music. On some songs there is a definite throw back feel. And Alison (Tristeza) employs the auto harp. Her voice is very beautiful and reminds me of the lady from Beach House. They will be big. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.

Holocene is having the second installment of Fin De Cinema. This is an event were a weird ass movie is picked and several awesome Portland bands are curated to score sections of the movie. Last time there were some good music bit from Why I Must be Careful and AAN. This time they are showing Valerie and Her Week of Wonders with Nurses, Gulls, and The Slaves. I am curious as to what Nurses will do, as they don't strike me as a movie scoring band. Though they do have that song called Technicolor. Gulls and The Slaves I think would be perfect. As they both make very atmospheric music. This not a dancing a round kind of show, but more of a sit and watch and let the music wash over you in an all encompassing audio visual experience. The show is FREE and starts at 8:30 PM.

Mississippi Studios is having a show with Kay Lay & His Weathered Underground (Seattle), Blunt Mechanic, and Pony Village. Kay Lay and Co. are a band that I have not heard of but have been getting a lot of attention that I missed. They make pop music that is pretty wide in scope which makes sense considering that there are 11 people in the band (If I trust their press photo). The songs are good and featuring pretty cool and expansive arrangements Apparently all the members are in several bands and they use each others members liberally. I suggest you check out the song "Worlds entire". I think it sounds pretty cool. Blunt Mechanic is the new band formed by Ben Barnett. Ben is most recognized as the creative force behind the Portland band Kind of Like Spitting (who I was bug fan of). In the last few years, Ben moved to Seattle and started teaching music at the School of Rock. He apparently likes the kids so much that he formed Blunt Mechanic utilizing some of his students. Pony Village is a Portland band that remind me of Northwest indie rock that I heard before I moved here. It is at once familiar and likable. I am looking forward to the album that they will be putting out this year. The show is $10 and starts at 9 PM.


Kennedy School is having a benefit for Skip vonKuske. The show features Portland Cello Project, Sneakin' Out, and The Stolen Sweets. "Our beloved cellist and friend Skip vonKuske is experiencing what we're optimistically calling a "rough patch." Following the death of his mom this fall, and the subsequent theft of his cello (which was later recovered....whew!), Skip sustained a severe back injury which has left him physically disabled and in horrible pain.

Like many self-employed musicians, Skip does not have health insurance. Nor does he have the option of resting, since the gigs he plays sustain him financially and pay his bills. Without down time, Skip has developed a concurrent case of sciatica."
That sounds pretty awful for Skip. But seeing PCP for cheap sounds good for you. I no idea who they might get to play with them, but they have a knack for roping on good talent. The show is by donation and starts at 7 PM.

Doug Fir is having a show with Soft Tags, Bodhi, and We Miss the Earth. Doug Fir is pretty cool. They are constantly putting together all local lineups that probably won't sell out or anything but are a good way to stimulate the local music scene. I know that the Soft Tags work really heard at what they do. Or at least I hope they do. They are put out alums and eps like crazy and they do it themselves and the music is consistently good (very impressive). Bodhi is a rock band that has a very nice mix of post-punk and new wave mixed with regular rock music. A horrible description for sure, but please do no let my inability to articulate stop you from checking them out. I have never heard of We Miss the Earth before. But they seem like really good new wave sounding band. Hard to sound good doing this genre (it often sounds too cheesy or bad). The show is $6 and starts at 9 PM.

Ella Street Social Club is having a show with Paschal Coeur, Secrets in the Salt, and Say Bella. Most times what I write on these posts are posted without much thought. I can look back at them and cringe (and often do). I wrote about Paschal Couer before and mention that they kinda went for a soul sound, which they clearly don't. But I did like them and still like what I heard. I think that Dirty Mittens isn't such a terrible touching point to describe their sound. Secrets in The Salt is a pop band playing pop songs. Say Bella is a bit of an oddity. She writes, plays and records her songs, mostly based on her piano and laptop set up. Her songs sound sometimes childish and simple, but her lyrics seem to pretty dark or at least highly cynical. On her new song she talks about an ex who comes to her place at 4 am with "whiskey on his breath and gonneria on his dick". Ouch. Seems good right? The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.

If you see me at these shows please say, "Hi". I current sport a beard and hoodie.

-Ben


Pony Village. Tonight at Mississippi Studios. Viva Indie rock!