Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Tuesday, April 6th

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night I did not go to the show. I did however, get my wallet back. I am back in business. Which is good becuase there are some good shows happening tonight:

The Woods is having a show with DoublePlusGood and Cars & Trains. Okay, these two acts are terrific. I know that I tend tow say things like this all the time. But I mean it. You should see the amount of shows that I am am constantly not covering. Not to mention the shows that have some good bands but also some bad bands mixed in the bill (I will admit those sometimes make my picks). But whatever. These two are the real deal. I would love to see this show. DoublePlusGood (that's Newspeak, yo) plays catchy synth driven pop music. They will apparently be dropping eps every month until their album comes out, so check the Portland record shops (y'know where are all the fliers and free stuff is) and you might find their second in this series of eps. They will probably have them tonight at the show as well. Cars & Trains has impressed me a lot over the years. I have only seen him once but I have have two albums by him that I just love. Think kinda glitchy indie folk with some cool sounding beats. I am especially into his latest release, "The Roots, The Leaves". The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.

Valentine's is having a show with Ilyas Ahmed, Benoit Pioulard, Tara Jane o"Neil, and Marisa Anderson. Certain artists always play together. Sometimes because they are a natural fit. Sometimes because they are friends. Most of the time it is a combination of the two. I feel like I have seen Ilyas Ahmed play with TJO a few times. I know that I have never seen or heard of Marissa Anderson playing a show that TJO was not playing. They all are in the realm of softly pushing the boundaries of where folk music can go. I have not seen Benoit Pioulard, but his layered sounds over songs sound like it would mix well with this company of musicians. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Holocene is having a show with Pepper Rabbit (LA), The Globes, and The Golden Hours. This show is part of The Rumble which is a series put on by Future Sounds, Pamplemoose, and Cravedog. Basically these are some hip and happening bands playing a hip and happening venue at the hip price of FREE. I am not familiar with Pepper Rabbit, but I have seen The Globes and they are awesome. I saw them play with Oh Captain My Captain at Mississippi a while back. I was blown away with how good these guys were are writing catchy songs while also displaying how good they were are playing their instruments(they are really good at it). Then there is the Golden Hours, which is a band that I have not seen. I heard a lot about them last year, but not much lately. I know that on their myspace they have a cover of "Baby It's You" that made me an instant fan. The show is FREE and starts at 8:30 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi". I would love it.

-Ben


Cars & Trains are gonna do it right tonight at The Woods