Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Sunday, March 14th

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night I played in Sean Flinn & The Royal We at The Woods. It was kinda ridiculous, other the several months, Sean has built up two bands to play his songs. Last night he combined the bands together and even added a member with John from Nick Jaina and Run On Sentence making the band nine members strong. It was awesome . There was pedal steel and three backing vocals and flugel horn and clarinet and all sorts of flourishes. Then there was the band that we opened for Breathe Owl Breathe. I saw then last year at a house show and was really impressed with the way they interacted with the audience. I was not sure how it would translate to a bigger audience. It translated very well. They had the audience clapping and making howling sounds and even the wave at one point. They were super fun. Anyway, here is a list of show that peak my interest tonight:

Saturday, March 13th

Holocene is having a show with White Hinterland, Alexis Gideon, Cole Milner, Gordon Shumway, and DJ Baba Booie. This is the CD release show for White Hinterland. I just listened to a few tracks off of the new album and it is different. Not different bad, but different good. There is a whole lot more beat driven elements and a whole lot less rhodes. I am particularly fond of the song "Icarus" and its pulsing synth bass line and reverby beat and catchy vocal hook. They will be heading out on an international tour after this show, so if you are into this band seem them now or you won't be able to for a while. Alexis Gideon is a cool dude that makes very strange hip pop. His flow is mid tempo and vaguely recall a dirty south flow like Nelly but way more surreal. The sounds that hang out in his songs are weird. I tend to like it. Cole is a dude that crafts quirky electro-pop nuggets. I like them. The way he layers his vocals sometimes reminds me of a less weird dude from Dirty Projectors. The show is $8 and starts at 8:30 PM.

The Knife Shop is having a show with Hosannas, My Dads, and Datura Blues. Hosannas is a name that I think I am finally accepting as a band instead of a band that used to be called Church. I think they are great and display some of the finest use of dynamics in Portland. They are serious about playing and a very tight band built around the brothers Richard and Brandon who sing very well together, but the band is helped enormously by the cool synth layers that Christof lays down and the drums from Lane provides to push the band to the next level. I cannot get enough of them and apparently they are in the midst of recording their next album. I am stoked. My Dads is a instrumental band that plays post rock. I have played a show with them before and thought they showed a lot of promise. They a little too much chorus on their guitars for my tastes but still sounded pretty good. Datura Blues is a revolving band/collective that Lane from Hosannas used to be a part of. I am unsure if he will be joining them tonight. From what I can tell, they sound like a psychedelic jam band that gets a little spacier than most bands. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.

Valentine's is having a show with Iretsu, Brothers Young, and The Moon in Light. Irestu play pop music that is spiked with prog tendencies that keeps things very interesting. I am not very familiar with them. They have collaborated with people as diverse as dance-performance partners and such. Sounds interesting. The reason I am writing about the show is because I was very impressed when I saw then play a house show last weekend. They always kinda reminded of Beta Band. Mostly in they way they uses a lot of unison vocals and create cool grooves. Check out the song "Would You Land" that is on the FREE downloadable for example. The Moon in Light is the musical moniker for Timothy Emerson. He makes well executed indie folk with a little help from his friends. He has a very unique voice. I think you might enjoy it. Please check it out. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say, "Hi". I will say it back. Scout's honor.

-Ben


I not sure if the awesome dancer will make it out to The Knife Shop tonight, but Hosannas will.