'Cause that's all I could think to say after seeing this. Amazing!
Hat tip to PopLife of I Fry Mine in Butter
Read More >>
Hat tip to PopLife of I Fry Mine in Butter
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Tuesday, May 25th
Hello Dear Readers,
I went to the 28 Days of May Mansion last night. Y La Bamba played. I was pretty fun. Then I left and dropped off people including my roommate. Then I got home and remembered that I do not have a key to my place because I lent it out to my other roommate. This meant driving all the way to the Tube and watching part of a band's set that I did not catch the name of. It was 'aight. But I just wanted to go home. Which I eventually did. I want to say this to you guys as well. I am going on a vacation. An actual vacation. Not a tour. Not a family thing. But rather something for me. Which is something that I realize I have not don in about eight or nine years. So I am stoked. While I am gone I always recommend Pc-PDX. But for tonight this I will list these shows. I have been super distracted today so I cannot think to write much about all of the bands, but I am 90% sure that all of these shows will be good:
The 28 Days of May is having Oh Captain My Captain is playing and being filmed this evening at 6 PM. Many people are skeptical about the intentions of this thing. I am just a fan of Oh Captain My Captain. It will be a good time.
East End is having a show with Jacuzzi boys (Miami, FL), Total Bros, Nucular Aminals, and Orca Team. More house show bands invading the local music venues. Awesome. Especially Orca Team and Total Bros. The show is at 8 PM.
Valentine's is having a show with Key Losers (Katy Davidson of Dear Nora, The Finches (SF/LA), and Nervous & The Kid. i am a fan of Katy Davidson. Dear Nora was one of the Portland acts or semi-Portland at the time that I really loved when I lived in Texas. I saw her play in Denton, TX Once. Last November I got to open up for Key Losers first show as part of the Y La Bamba crew. I have heard very nice things about The Finches. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
The Artistery is having a show with Stephen Steinbrink aka French Quarter (Arizona), Married in Berdichev (Denver), and Davis Hooker. I am feel like I have heard about French Quarter many times. He tours a lot. Like a lot a lot. Ask any house show touring band and I bet you they know this guy. Plus I have heard from a very trusted music fan that Davis Hooker is not to be missed. The ALL AGES show is $6 and starts at 8 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say, "Hi". It would do my heart good.
-Ben
Davis Hooker will do something like this tonight at The Artistery
Read More >>
I went to the 28 Days of May Mansion last night. Y La Bamba played. I was pretty fun. Then I left and dropped off people including my roommate. Then I got home and remembered that I do not have a key to my place because I lent it out to my other roommate. This meant driving all the way to the Tube and watching part of a band's set that I did not catch the name of. It was 'aight. But I just wanted to go home. Which I eventually did. I want to say this to you guys as well. I am going on a vacation. An actual vacation. Not a tour. Not a family thing. But rather something for me. Which is something that I realize I have not don in about eight or nine years. So I am stoked. While I am gone I always recommend Pc-PDX. But for tonight this I will list these shows. I have been super distracted today so I cannot think to write much about all of the bands, but I am 90% sure that all of these shows will be good:
The 28 Days of May is having Oh Captain My Captain is playing and being filmed this evening at 6 PM. Many people are skeptical about the intentions of this thing. I am just a fan of Oh Captain My Captain. It will be a good time.
East End is having a show with Jacuzzi boys (Miami, FL), Total Bros, Nucular Aminals, and Orca Team. More house show bands invading the local music venues. Awesome. Especially Orca Team and Total Bros. The show is at 8 PM.
Valentine's is having a show with Key Losers (Katy Davidson of Dear Nora, The Finches (SF/LA), and Nervous & The Kid. i am a fan of Katy Davidson. Dear Nora was one of the Portland acts or semi-Portland at the time that I really loved when I lived in Texas. I saw her play in Denton, TX Once. Last November I got to open up for Key Losers first show as part of the Y La Bamba crew. I have heard very nice things about The Finches. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
The Artistery is having a show with Stephen Steinbrink aka French Quarter (Arizona), Married in Berdichev (Denver), and Davis Hooker. I am feel like I have heard about French Quarter many times. He tours a lot. Like a lot a lot. Ask any house show touring band and I bet you they know this guy. Plus I have heard from a very trusted music fan that Davis Hooker is not to be missed. The ALL AGES show is $6 and starts at 8 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say, "Hi". It would do my heart good.
-Ben
Davis Hooker will do something like this tonight at The Artistery
Monday, May 24, 2010
Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Monday, May 24th
Hello Dear Readers,
Did I mention my laptop got stolen? It did and has made blogging almost impossible to do unless I am at work. I tried to blog on my roommate's laptop on Thursday and it just didn't work. No offense roommate, who I shall not mention by name (drummer of AristeiA), but your laptop does not work so hot. Or maybe our Internet didn't work so hot. Perhaps we do not live in a "hot spot". Had it worked I would have mentioned the AristeiA show that we played that night with the truly incredible Like a Villain (Holland from my other band Meyercord). I would have also mentioned that I was going out of town for the weekend and would not be blogging. You may have noticed on your own that I did not blog. But here I am back in Portland. Back at work. Back with a working computer, so here are some shows that look interesting to me tonight:
Wonder Ballroom is having a show with Broken Bells and The Morning Benders (SF/NYC). So The Shins have been going through some weird times lately. What with line up replacements and not doing anything and all. It kinda seems like Broken Bells maybe James Mercer's replacement band for The Shins. Which is fine by me. I heard a little bit of Broken Bells and it didn't really do much for me. So let Shins pretty well and Broken Bells try to catch up. Then again most Shins records were growers for me. Which is why I am still listing this show. The openers are a pop band. I like the way they sound. It kinda has a less weird Grizzly Bear feel to it. I found a FREE Covers album that they out. You can download it here. The ALL AGES show is a steep $30 to $34. And starts at 8 PM. The only way I am going to this is if one you guys pays for my ticket. Any takers?
Valentine's is having a show with Magic Johnson, Psychic Feline, and Best Supporting Actress. These band I believe are, but correct me if I'm wrong, house show bands. It seems like house show bands are moving out of the houses and into the music venues around town. I guess that is always happening, but it really seems like it is happening now more that ever. Did you see how big Explode into Colors got last year. They also just broke up. I hope that this is not the trend, we have some good bands that I have yet to see. Magic Johnson is one of them. From what I can tell, they are a punk band that sings in Spanish? High energy. Psychich Feline is a band that I cannot tell if they will be good or not from the one song they have posted. I used to write about Best Supporting actress all the time. I still have not seen them. As a refresher, they are a duo that play noisy rock music that is best listened to on a tape deck cranked at full volume. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi". I want to talk to you about music and stuff.
-Ben
Look Danger Mouse learned an instrument. You can see him in Broken Bells at Wonder Ballroom for lots of money
Read More >>
Did I mention my laptop got stolen? It did and has made blogging almost impossible to do unless I am at work. I tried to blog on my roommate's laptop on Thursday and it just didn't work. No offense roommate, who I shall not mention by name (drummer of AristeiA), but your laptop does not work so hot. Or maybe our Internet didn't work so hot. Perhaps we do not live in a "hot spot". Had it worked I would have mentioned the AristeiA show that we played that night with the truly incredible Like a Villain (Holland from my other band Meyercord). I would have also mentioned that I was going out of town for the weekend and would not be blogging. You may have noticed on your own that I did not blog. But here I am back in Portland. Back at work. Back with a working computer, so here are some shows that look interesting to me tonight:
Wonder Ballroom is having a show with Broken Bells and The Morning Benders (SF/NYC). So The Shins have been going through some weird times lately. What with line up replacements and not doing anything and all. It kinda seems like Broken Bells maybe James Mercer's replacement band for The Shins. Which is fine by me. I heard a little bit of Broken Bells and it didn't really do much for me. So let Shins pretty well and Broken Bells try to catch up. Then again most Shins records were growers for me. Which is why I am still listing this show. The openers are a pop band. I like the way they sound. It kinda has a less weird Grizzly Bear feel to it. I found a FREE Covers album that they out. You can download it here. The ALL AGES show is a steep $30 to $34. And starts at 8 PM. The only way I am going to this is if one you guys pays for my ticket. Any takers?
Valentine's is having a show with Magic Johnson, Psychic Feline, and Best Supporting Actress. These band I believe are, but correct me if I'm wrong, house show bands. It seems like house show bands are moving out of the houses and into the music venues around town. I guess that is always happening, but it really seems like it is happening now more that ever. Did you see how big Explode into Colors got last year. They also just broke up. I hope that this is not the trend, we have some good bands that I have yet to see. Magic Johnson is one of them. From what I can tell, they are a punk band that sings in Spanish? High energy. Psychich Feline is a band that I cannot tell if they will be good or not from the one song they have posted. I used to write about Best Supporting actress all the time. I still have not seen them. As a refresher, they are a duo that play noisy rock music that is best listened to on a tape deck cranked at full volume. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi". I want to talk to you about music and stuff.
-Ben
Look Danger Mouse learned an instrument. You can see him in Broken Bells at Wonder Ballroom for lots of money
Thursday, May 20, 2010
JESS interviews Matt Finney!!!
Can a person be both competent and incompetent, arrogant and humble? Within their lifetime, certainly. Within a career, definitely. Within a single work? How about in a single blog post? Well, watch me go, as I "swallow the dilemma" and attempt to be everything that I love and hate about both myself and my haters.
In this interview I catch up with Matt Finney of Finneyerkes, from Alabama. This delightfully understated band has brought the 'ambient' label into a whole new sense. Matt supplies intense spoken word poetry over Randy Yerkes' instrumentation- but take note. In my head I had their names mixed up, and because I am an idiot, I thought I was going to be talking to the person behind all the music. It was definitely for the best, as Matt is a great guy with a lot of interesting things to say. Plus it seems that Randy is the secretive one, and an interview with him might have read like me interrogating Golgo 13. On with the interview!!!
Word up yo.
No diggity, no doubt.
Okay, well think of this as more Tape Op than Pitchfork.
Hope I can be informative. Not too technical but I'm down. Love Tape Op though, had a subscription for about a year
Well just in approach. Don't worry, I'm not a gearhead myself, I'm always breaking shit.
I can't play anything… I dabble around with a xylophone sometimes. I played it on "Cobain" and I did the opening keys on "Honeymoon"...that's it for me.
Wait, is this right interview.... ;)
Haha… I played some acoustic on "Keely" but I'm the tragic poet or whatever. :p
Seriously? I feel like a retard. Who didn't research.
What's the dealio?
I don't give a fuck. The interview is on!
Haha. Nice.
So I don't know if you have picked up on this, but I am kind of the dick of the blog.
Nah man....you seem pretty cool. I'm an asshole most of the time as well....get the "you're a dick" thing a lot.
Well, I have a sort of 'critical persona' that is just a rarefied version of who I actually am.
Feel you on that as well.
I'm actually trying to be very transparent about what it means to be a critic. And what it means to be me.
As you should be. You have to be honest even if that honesty hurts. It's nice to see a critic that doesn't pull any punches.
Right. Unfortunately what the readers- well, the vocal comment leavers- don't get through their thick skulls is that at least for me, trying to do so isn't just painful for the target, but also for the critic. If he is even remotely introspective.
Yeah. It's hard. You don't want to be an asshole. Who does? You're just stating your opinion and what you think. It's only an opinion but unfortunately people put a lot into the words. If you like it, that's cool but it doesn't mean I have to like it...ya know.
Sigh. So what I am going to do- and specifically to this interview is expound upon the fact that I completely was distracted over the past few days and did not keep track of who was who in the Finneyerkes. I totally thought you were the music dude. I actually was like "He does all this music and has a book coming out and does a column? Fuck!"
Haha.
Envy has always been a sore point for me.
That's all me man....I write the lyrics, I have a book out, and I write a column/do reviews at Sonic Frontiers. Randy (the music guy) kinda shys away from interviews and stuff. He's the coolest guy I've ever met but he just likes to make music and that's it. He leaves this kinda stuff up to me. Haha… It isn't that bad, man. I won't be able to talk guitar with you but we're both in on the songwriting and we talk about how we want things to sound so maybe I can help or provide some insight....either way, I'm enjoying talking to you so far
Me too. So before I bleed out from terminal embarassment... Let me start with the obvious (to me at least) question. Why spoken word on top of ambient?
Because I can't sing. My voice is really horrible, singing wise. I only do it in private and that's rare. We also thought it would be cool to make this "soundtrack" music. I write these poems that are about me and people I know and Randy puts music to it. Makes the journey complete. A movie for head, I guess.
So you guys decided to be a unit before the music was official.
Yeah. We joked around about it on AIM and whatnot. Randy didn't start reading anything I wrote until he moved away and he told me that he really liked the lyrics a lot. He told me to record some of them and he would put them on his first solo record Glada. those songs from that album ended up on our first album Gather and Sing. We put together a bunch of stuff and came up with FY (because we couldn't think of a better name hah).
Well, it's better than a 'The Xs' or 'Incredibly Long Band Name For One Dude Who Bleeps And Yodels Interminably.'
Exactly! We wanted something that we wouldn't think was stupid in 5 years, ya know. Like Dance Gavin Dance.
God, that would have been stupid in like 5 minutes.
Seriously. And what the fuck does it have to do with anything?
"Who's Gavin? "
That's what I'm saying! At least Jimmy Eat World has a Jimmy
And any attempt at humor based around Gavin would be fatally pretentious.
Yeah. It's a douchebag name. I dunno. I tend to stay away from bands that have names like that. I can usually tell from a band name if I'm gonna like it or not
The human brain is funny like that.
True that.
You have to be convinced otherwise. Makes you wonder what deep-seated evolutionary selection pressure is behind shitty band-name avoidance?
It's like people aren't even trying anymore.
And it shows in the music. So, enough kvetching. A lot of music is made under a certain rubric, whether the creators know it or not- you know, no synths dammit! or 'autotune on all vocals', that sort of thing. Do you kids have a guiding way of doing things? You know, all analog, all 'in the box'?
We've always ruled out autotune. Haha. But not really. After we make a record we like to sit down and talk about what we've done. How the music sounded, the lyrics, the vocals, the themes and then we like to talk about where we're gonna go from there. what we can expand on.
I'm not ruling out a remix where I autotune your poetry a la "Glorious Dawn."
Haha....I'd love to hear that! Our main thing is trying to push ourselves as musicians. That's the only real rule we have: to change things up, to do something different. We both get bored easily so with every album you're gonna hear something different.
I love the fact that you categorize yourself as a musician. A lot of people would like to see beatmakers, djs, rappers, musique concrete artistes, lyrical poets, etc. as not being part of the musical family.
It's all included. I hate calling myself a poet because it's just so lame. It's so whiney. I feel kinda cool calling myself a musician.
Eh, I don't know. Two words: James Douglas Morrison.
Man....I hate Jim Morrison.
But seriously though, fuck you.
Haha. He's lame, dude.
In what way?
In that sleazy "I'm gonna write vague lyrics and try to sleep with a lot of women because I'm so brooding" kinda way. I might take that back....it's what I'm doing, for the most part.
Hey, I take issue with your assessment. It's more like "Write vague lyrics and SUCCEED at boning at hell of a lot of women because I'm so brooding"
Haha. Just not my thing. Never been a fan.
I like Robert Bly too, so what the fuck do I know. What are some poetic influences you DO have?
I don't read a whole lot of poetry. My two favorite authors are Raymond Carver and Cormac McCarthy. I take a lot from those two. The brevity, getting to the bone as quick as you can.
Raymond Carver is why I didn't go to college. Okay, sort of.
That's awesome, man.
I took one term, I majored in 'Fire science.' But I really wanted to be some sort of, I don't know, fireman poet. Anyhoo, I badgered my way into an advance writing course with this douche professor who was OBSESSED with Carver. At the end of the course he told me I wasn't a very good writer and basically shouldn't keep at it.
What a dick. Glad you kept at it. You seem like you know your way around a pen.
My response was "Wait, who's the community college writing teacher in this exchange?"
NICE!
Or something like that.
I took a creative writing class in high school. That was it.
Fuck yeah!
I loved it. Sitting in front of a computer wikipedia-ing stuff while working on the assignment… the good old days.
Oh jeez, you just dated me. How old are you?
I'm 21
BARF.
Haha.
Anyway.
At that pathetic age?
32.
Haha. I meant me at that pathetic age. Nothing wrong with the thirties. At least you've had to learn something over the years.
Let's see, where the hell was I... Oh, I was going to come back to influences, music this time. My first thought when I listened to you guys was Basinski. Familiar?
I've heard of him. I've listened to one song and I enjoyed it. He's just one of those artists that I always forgot to check out thoroughly. Heard a lot of great things though.
“The Disintegration Loops” have this amazing otherwordly… wabi sabi ??!!!??! And that is what reminded me of him.
That's the album I've heard a billion great things about. I'll definitely have to download it.
It's worth it. Oh so worth it Are you privy to Randy's reverb secrets? How he buries the sound?
It's going on the list. He's a fuzz man… loves his fuzz pedal. It really came into the picture a lot more on our new album.
I definitely heard that on the bass. And it seemed like there was a lot of volume pedal swells, really expressive stuff.
Thanks!
I suppose the point of my question, even if I can't steal the actual secret, is to highlight the fact that all the sounds live in this different world. Which since you mentioned you went for a soundtrack thing before, I assume is an intentional direction. I think for an ambient band to not bore, to include real instruments and poetry that doesn't stumble over itself or the music, and to pull at the senses differently than other music, that's a major coup.
Thanks. We definitely don't want to bore anyone. I like long songs but the reason why we cut them down so short to 3-5 minute time ranges is to keep everyone's attention. We don't want to put you to sleep before the album is finished but we don't want to be overly abrasive either and just blare it all at you.
Barry Adamson is one of my favorite artists, and early in his career he had a very similar approach, making 'soundtracks to imaginary films.'
Never heard of him before. Sounds like it would be interesting
He was in Magazine, and was Nick Cave's bass player for a while. I think it's an effective framing device. Is there an overarching mythology or any leitmotif (non musical, ha) that runs through the work?
There's a lot of space in our songs. Randy has always given the listener a lot of room to float around in and that carries over into almost all of our songs. There's a really lonely feel to it as well. Something about the guitar riffs he plays puts me in a very lonely place.
Which is perfect. And there is nothing wrong with that. That's why people go to Joy Division concerts. To be lonely together.
Haha, you ass.
Okay, I gotta wrap this up because I could bullshit with you all day.
Shoot, brother!
The "Elsie" video. That's something I have wanted to do with my music for a while but haven't managed to. But great job. What went into that?
Our buddy Nick Wine (one of the owners of our label T$S) did all of that. He came up with the idea and just went for it. Didn't even ask. He said he felt something in the song and he wanted to bring it to life for everyone. I was blown away the first time I saw it. I don't know a whole lot of details about it but I know he used construction paper for the background and characters....he took his time and made it perfect and it shows when you watch it. It's a very druglike video. It pulls you in and keeps you there, which isn't an easy task considering the song is 7 minutes.
Wow. Yeah, it's fucking amazing.
Thanks a lot brother. We're both extremely proud of it. Wine's a great guy. He's helped us out a lot from putting out our albums to mixing them and whatnot.
My daughter Amelia is 18 months old, she saw me watching and joined in. She was fascinated and was pointing at the little astronomer ghost and shit. She's an ambient musician too.
Haha, send her demo to T$S. Glad she enjoyed it. You know you're onto something when you can hold a kid's attention.
So, to cap this thing off, what do you have coming up next?
Matt: Our 4th album, “Approaching”. We're hoping to wrap it up by next month. 3 songs are left and it will be out for free download like the rest.
Awesome. Well my man- this has been great.
Take it easy dude!
Read More >>
In this interview I catch up with Matt Finney of Finneyerkes, from Alabama. This delightfully understated band has brought the 'ambient' label into a whole new sense. Matt supplies intense spoken word poetry over Randy Yerkes' instrumentation- but take note. In my head I had their names mixed up, and because I am an idiot, I thought I was going to be talking to the person behind all the music. It was definitely for the best, as Matt is a great guy with a lot of interesting things to say. Plus it seems that Randy is the secretive one, and an interview with him might have read like me interrogating Golgo 13. On with the interview!!!
Word up yo.
No diggity, no doubt.
Okay, well think of this as more Tape Op than Pitchfork.
Hope I can be informative. Not too technical but I'm down. Love Tape Op though, had a subscription for about a year
Well just in approach. Don't worry, I'm not a gearhead myself, I'm always breaking shit.
I can't play anything… I dabble around with a xylophone sometimes. I played it on "Cobain" and I did the opening keys on "Honeymoon"...that's it for me.
Wait, is this right interview.... ;)
Haha… I played some acoustic on "Keely" but I'm the tragic poet or whatever. :p
Seriously? I feel like a retard. Who didn't research.
What's the dealio?
I don't give a fuck. The interview is on!
Haha. Nice.
So I don't know if you have picked up on this, but I am kind of the dick of the blog.
Nah man....you seem pretty cool. I'm an asshole most of the time as well....get the "you're a dick" thing a lot.
Well, I have a sort of 'critical persona' that is just a rarefied version of who I actually am.
Feel you on that as well.
I'm actually trying to be very transparent about what it means to be a critic. And what it means to be me.
As you should be. You have to be honest even if that honesty hurts. It's nice to see a critic that doesn't pull any punches.
Right. Unfortunately what the readers- well, the vocal comment leavers- don't get through their thick skulls is that at least for me, trying to do so isn't just painful for the target, but also for the critic. If he is even remotely introspective.
Yeah. It's hard. You don't want to be an asshole. Who does? You're just stating your opinion and what you think. It's only an opinion but unfortunately people put a lot into the words. If you like it, that's cool but it doesn't mean I have to like it...ya know.
Sigh. So what I am going to do- and specifically to this interview is expound upon the fact that I completely was distracted over the past few days and did not keep track of who was who in the Finneyerkes. I totally thought you were the music dude. I actually was like "He does all this music and has a book coming out and does a column? Fuck!"
Haha.
Envy has always been a sore point for me.
That's all me man....I write the lyrics, I have a book out, and I write a column/do reviews at Sonic Frontiers. Randy (the music guy) kinda shys away from interviews and stuff. He's the coolest guy I've ever met but he just likes to make music and that's it. He leaves this kinda stuff up to me. Haha… It isn't that bad, man. I won't be able to talk guitar with you but we're both in on the songwriting and we talk about how we want things to sound so maybe I can help or provide some insight....either way, I'm enjoying talking to you so far
Me too. So before I bleed out from terminal embarassment... Let me start with the obvious (to me at least) question. Why spoken word on top of ambient?
Because I can't sing. My voice is really horrible, singing wise. I only do it in private and that's rare. We also thought it would be cool to make this "soundtrack" music. I write these poems that are about me and people I know and Randy puts music to it. Makes the journey complete. A movie for head, I guess.
So you guys decided to be a unit before the music was official.
Yeah. We joked around about it on AIM and whatnot. Randy didn't start reading anything I wrote until he moved away and he told me that he really liked the lyrics a lot. He told me to record some of them and he would put them on his first solo record Glada. those songs from that album ended up on our first album Gather and Sing. We put together a bunch of stuff and came up with FY (because we couldn't think of a better name hah).
Well, it's better than a 'The Xs' or 'Incredibly Long Band Name For One Dude Who Bleeps And Yodels Interminably.'
Exactly! We wanted something that we wouldn't think was stupid in 5 years, ya know. Like Dance Gavin Dance.
God, that would have been stupid in like 5 minutes.
Seriously. And what the fuck does it have to do with anything?
"Who's Gavin? "
That's what I'm saying! At least Jimmy Eat World has a Jimmy
And any attempt at humor based around Gavin would be fatally pretentious.
Yeah. It's a douchebag name. I dunno. I tend to stay away from bands that have names like that. I can usually tell from a band name if I'm gonna like it or not
The human brain is funny like that.
True that.
You have to be convinced otherwise. Makes you wonder what deep-seated evolutionary selection pressure is behind shitty band-name avoidance?
It's like people aren't even trying anymore.
And it shows in the music. So, enough kvetching. A lot of music is made under a certain rubric, whether the creators know it or not- you know, no synths dammit! or 'autotune on all vocals', that sort of thing. Do you kids have a guiding way of doing things? You know, all analog, all 'in the box'?
We've always ruled out autotune. Haha. But not really. After we make a record we like to sit down and talk about what we've done. How the music sounded, the lyrics, the vocals, the themes and then we like to talk about where we're gonna go from there. what we can expand on.
I'm not ruling out a remix where I autotune your poetry a la "Glorious Dawn."
Haha....I'd love to hear that! Our main thing is trying to push ourselves as musicians. That's the only real rule we have: to change things up, to do something different. We both get bored easily so with every album you're gonna hear something different.
I love the fact that you categorize yourself as a musician. A lot of people would like to see beatmakers, djs, rappers, musique concrete artistes, lyrical poets, etc. as not being part of the musical family.
It's all included. I hate calling myself a poet because it's just so lame. It's so whiney. I feel kinda cool calling myself a musician.
Eh, I don't know. Two words: James Douglas Morrison.
Man....I hate Jim Morrison.
But seriously though, fuck you.
Haha. He's lame, dude.
In what way?
In that sleazy "I'm gonna write vague lyrics and try to sleep with a lot of women because I'm so brooding" kinda way. I might take that back....it's what I'm doing, for the most part.
Hey, I take issue with your assessment. It's more like "Write vague lyrics and SUCCEED at boning at hell of a lot of women because I'm so brooding"
Haha. Just not my thing. Never been a fan.
I like Robert Bly too, so what the fuck do I know. What are some poetic influences you DO have?
I don't read a whole lot of poetry. My two favorite authors are Raymond Carver and Cormac McCarthy. I take a lot from those two. The brevity, getting to the bone as quick as you can.
Raymond Carver is why I didn't go to college. Okay, sort of.
That's awesome, man.
I took one term, I majored in 'Fire science.' But I really wanted to be some sort of, I don't know, fireman poet. Anyhoo, I badgered my way into an advance writing course with this douche professor who was OBSESSED with Carver. At the end of the course he told me I wasn't a very good writer and basically shouldn't keep at it.
What a dick. Glad you kept at it. You seem like you know your way around a pen.
My response was "Wait, who's the community college writing teacher in this exchange?"
NICE!
Or something like that.
I took a creative writing class in high school. That was it.
Fuck yeah!
I loved it. Sitting in front of a computer wikipedia-ing stuff while working on the assignment… the good old days.
Oh jeez, you just dated me. How old are you?
I'm 21
BARF.
Haha.
Anyway.
At that pathetic age?
32.
Haha. I meant me at that pathetic age. Nothing wrong with the thirties. At least you've had to learn something over the years.
Let's see, where the hell was I... Oh, I was going to come back to influences, music this time. My first thought when I listened to you guys was Basinski. Familiar?
I've heard of him. I've listened to one song and I enjoyed it. He's just one of those artists that I always forgot to check out thoroughly. Heard a lot of great things though.
“The Disintegration Loops” have this amazing otherwordly… wabi sabi ??!!!??! And that is what reminded me of him.
That's the album I've heard a billion great things about. I'll definitely have to download it.
It's worth it. Oh so worth it Are you privy to Randy's reverb secrets? How he buries the sound?
It's going on the list. He's a fuzz man… loves his fuzz pedal. It really came into the picture a lot more on our new album.
I definitely heard that on the bass. And it seemed like there was a lot of volume pedal swells, really expressive stuff.
Thanks!
I suppose the point of my question, even if I can't steal the actual secret, is to highlight the fact that all the sounds live in this different world. Which since you mentioned you went for a soundtrack thing before, I assume is an intentional direction. I think for an ambient band to not bore, to include real instruments and poetry that doesn't stumble over itself or the music, and to pull at the senses differently than other music, that's a major coup.
Thanks. We definitely don't want to bore anyone. I like long songs but the reason why we cut them down so short to 3-5 minute time ranges is to keep everyone's attention. We don't want to put you to sleep before the album is finished but we don't want to be overly abrasive either and just blare it all at you.
Barry Adamson is one of my favorite artists, and early in his career he had a very similar approach, making 'soundtracks to imaginary films.'
Never heard of him before. Sounds like it would be interesting
He was in Magazine, and was Nick Cave's bass player for a while. I think it's an effective framing device. Is there an overarching mythology or any leitmotif (non musical, ha) that runs through the work?
There's a lot of space in our songs. Randy has always given the listener a lot of room to float around in and that carries over into almost all of our songs. There's a really lonely feel to it as well. Something about the guitar riffs he plays puts me in a very lonely place.
Which is perfect. And there is nothing wrong with that. That's why people go to Joy Division concerts. To be lonely together.
Haha, you ass.
Okay, I gotta wrap this up because I could bullshit with you all day.
Shoot, brother!
The "Elsie" video. That's something I have wanted to do with my music for a while but haven't managed to. But great job. What went into that?
Our buddy Nick Wine (one of the owners of our label T$S) did all of that. He came up with the idea and just went for it. Didn't even ask. He said he felt something in the song and he wanted to bring it to life for everyone. I was blown away the first time I saw it. I don't know a whole lot of details about it but I know he used construction paper for the background and characters....he took his time and made it perfect and it shows when you watch it. It's a very druglike video. It pulls you in and keeps you there, which isn't an easy task considering the song is 7 minutes.
Wow. Yeah, it's fucking amazing.
Thanks a lot brother. We're both extremely proud of it. Wine's a great guy. He's helped us out a lot from putting out our albums to mixing them and whatnot.
My daughter Amelia is 18 months old, she saw me watching and joined in. She was fascinated and was pointing at the little astronomer ghost and shit. She's an ambient musician too.
Haha, send her demo to T$S. Glad she enjoyed it. You know you're onto something when you can hold a kid's attention.
So, to cap this thing off, what do you have coming up next?
Matt: Our 4th album, “Approaching”. We're hoping to wrap it up by next month. 3 songs are left and it will be out for free download like the rest.
Awesome. Well my man- this has been great.
Take it easy dude!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Wednesday, May 19th
Hello Dear Readers,
How you guys doing? I am feeling fine, thanks. Last night I played at Poises an introduced saw to the Meyercord mix. I think it went pretty well. I also wanted to thank Audrye for coming out to the show. She totally said "Hi" to me. She also went freshman Literature with me. In Denton, TX. Where I started doing Meyercord as a musical project. Nuts. Also I was super busy at work. So I thought it would be fun to show what it would be like if I didn't write much about these bands. Basically today I ran out of time. So today we are like all the boring lists of shows. Except we still have links. Anyway here are some shows that look good to me tonight:
Holocene is having a show with Nice Nice, ASSS, Romancing, and Golden Retreiver. DJ New Moon and DJ Tropical Depression ( Claudia of Explode Into Colors) will also be playing some tunes. The show is FREE and starts at 8:30 PM.
Doug Fir is having a show with Soft Tags, Massive Moth, and Rollerball. The show is $7 and starts at 9 PM.
Goodfoot is having a show with Night Mechanic, Air War, Almost Dark, and Gregory Miles Harris. The show is at 9 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say "hi". I will most likely put your name in print (maybe even IN ALL CAPS).
-Ben
Air War will play Goodfoot tonight. I have no idea what they look like.
Read More >>
How you guys doing? I am feeling fine, thanks. Last night I played at Poises an introduced saw to the Meyercord mix. I think it went pretty well. I also wanted to thank Audrye for coming out to the show. She totally said "Hi" to me. She also went freshman Literature with me. In Denton, TX. Where I started doing Meyercord as a musical project. Nuts. Also I was super busy at work. So I thought it would be fun to show what it would be like if I didn't write much about these bands. Basically today I ran out of time. So today we are like all the boring lists of shows. Except we still have links. Anyway here are some shows that look good to me tonight:
Holocene is having a show with Nice Nice, ASSS, Romancing, and Golden Retreiver. DJ New Moon and DJ Tropical Depression ( Claudia of Explode Into Colors) will also be playing some tunes. The show is FREE and starts at 8:30 PM.
Doug Fir is having a show with Soft Tags, Massive Moth, and Rollerball. The show is $7 and starts at 9 PM.
Goodfoot is having a show with Night Mechanic, Air War, Almost Dark, and Gregory Miles Harris. The show is at 9 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say "hi". I will most likely put your name in print (maybe even IN ALL CAPS).
-Ben
Air War will play Goodfoot tonight. I have no idea what they look like.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Tuesday, May 18th
Hello Dear Readers,
Last night I did not see a show. I had a Meyercord practice that got out at like 11 pm. I knew that I missed most of all the shows so I just headed home. Not to mention I currently do not have any ID to let me get into clubs anyway. Tonight there are some things going on around this fair city of ours. Check them out:
Poises Cafe is having a show with Meyercord. Yes, yes this is my band. Yes we appear to be the only one on the bill, but I still think it will be good show. If you are not familiar with the music, this is your chance to get familiar with it. The music may be played on an acoustic guitar, but I am pretty sure this it is not boring folk music (please let me know if I am wrong). Over the past year Perry Pfister, Holland Andrews and myself have been working on these songs and I feel are sounding pretty good. There is stand up bass that is sometimes bowed. There is clarinet. There are male/female harmonies. There is glockenspiel. And tonight we will be playing with our new friend Adam playing musical saw on a few numbers. I realize that the stand up bass and musical saw combo might conjure up some not so cool music, but I swear it sounds cool. In addition to a new member, we will be debuting a new song (something we don't do too often). I feel 2010 to be a good year for us. The ALL AGES show is FREE and starts at 8 PM.
Burgerville (SE 12th and Hawthorne) is having a show with Mattress, Leather Tom And The Dirty Dudes, and Prescription Pills. Mattress is Rex. Rex is a Crooner. I thought Leather tom was over and that is was called Kleen Kut now? Who knew? Lively will be made before your eyes. Prescription Pills makes dirty dance music. Hey this could be any show and I would want to go. It's a freaking Burgerville. The ALL AGES show is FREE and starts at 5 PM.
Ella Street is having a show with Issmi Nytyly, Cole Moldy, and Timmy The Terror & The Wintercoats. Issmi Nytyly apparently features members of Housefire and members from the locales of Beirut and Lebanon. "Front girl Natalie Abulhosn has come a long way from her native home in Lebanon to sit in a similar looking room in Portland, Oregon to share her genetically mutated style of music making with locals, within the Art community and beyond." Basically I read this description and was sold. Plus I have written about Cole Moldy before. I am down with what he creates. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
Ash Street is having a show with Cat Stalks Bird, Hotel St. George (San Diego), and Apes of Wrath (San Diego). Cat Stalks Bird has a dude that plays guitar, drums and sings at the same time. And it sounds good. Crazy. The two piece's said that their goal is to make as much noise with out looping as possible. It is cool stuff. The show is FREE and starts at 9:15 PM.
Laughing Horse Books is having a show with Carrion Spring, Duck Little Brother Duck, Antilles (Ohio),and Mountain Asleep (Louisville, KY). I am generally opposed to any show that has four or more bands (unless it's a festival). I could not in good conscious not list a Duck Little Brother Duck show. They are amazing. They combine the best elements of math and pop music. In a technically impressive and over all pleasurable experience. The ALL AGES show is by donation? and starts at 8 PM.
If you see me at Poises please say "Hi". I will easily spotted as the dude sing the songs.
-Ben
Read More >>
Last night I did not see a show. I had a Meyercord practice that got out at like 11 pm. I knew that I missed most of all the shows so I just headed home. Not to mention I currently do not have any ID to let me get into clubs anyway. Tonight there are some things going on around this fair city of ours. Check them out:
Poises Cafe is having a show with Meyercord. Yes, yes this is my band. Yes we appear to be the only one on the bill, but I still think it will be good show. If you are not familiar with the music, this is your chance to get familiar with it. The music may be played on an acoustic guitar, but I am pretty sure this it is not boring folk music (please let me know if I am wrong). Over the past year Perry Pfister, Holland Andrews and myself have been working on these songs and I feel are sounding pretty good. There is stand up bass that is sometimes bowed. There is clarinet. There are male/female harmonies. There is glockenspiel. And tonight we will be playing with our new friend Adam playing musical saw on a few numbers. I realize that the stand up bass and musical saw combo might conjure up some not so cool music, but I swear it sounds cool. In addition to a new member, we will be debuting a new song (something we don't do too often). I feel 2010 to be a good year for us. The ALL AGES show is FREE and starts at 8 PM.
Burgerville (SE 12th and Hawthorne) is having a show with Mattress, Leather Tom And The Dirty Dudes, and Prescription Pills. Mattress is Rex. Rex is a Crooner. I thought Leather tom was over and that is was called Kleen Kut now? Who knew? Lively will be made before your eyes. Prescription Pills makes dirty dance music. Hey this could be any show and I would want to go. It's a freaking Burgerville. The ALL AGES show is FREE and starts at 5 PM.
Ella Street is having a show with Issmi Nytyly, Cole Moldy, and Timmy The Terror & The Wintercoats. Issmi Nytyly apparently features members of Housefire and members from the locales of Beirut and Lebanon. "Front girl Natalie Abulhosn has come a long way from her native home in Lebanon to sit in a similar looking room in Portland, Oregon to share her genetically mutated style of music making with locals, within the Art community and beyond." Basically I read this description and was sold. Plus I have written about Cole Moldy before. I am down with what he creates. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
Ash Street is having a show with Cat Stalks Bird, Hotel St. George (San Diego), and Apes of Wrath (San Diego). Cat Stalks Bird has a dude that plays guitar, drums and sings at the same time. And it sounds good. Crazy. The two piece's said that their goal is to make as much noise with out looping as possible. It is cool stuff. The show is FREE and starts at 9:15 PM.
Laughing Horse Books is having a show with Carrion Spring, Duck Little Brother Duck, Antilles (Ohio),and Mountain Asleep (Louisville, KY). I am generally opposed to any show that has four or more bands (unless it's a festival). I could not in good conscious not list a Duck Little Brother Duck show. They are amazing. They combine the best elements of math and pop music. In a technically impressive and over all pleasurable experience. The ALL AGES show is by donation? and starts at 8 PM.
If you see me at Poises please say "Hi". I will easily spotted as the dude sing the songs.
-Ben
Feels Like Home Ep #1 - Leather Tom and The Dirty Dudes from Into The Woods on Vimeo.
This will happen at Burgerville this evening for FREE
Monday, May 17, 2010
DRAGGING AN OX THROUGH WATER refuses the bait...
In my pretentious little black notebook, the note about the opening act from that show reads "SHIT NIGHTMARE." I have to say in all honesty I don't really like this band. However, that being said, a lot of people in the P-town do. Including some of our very own Crappy Indie Music bloggers whose taste I respect.
So what then? Why spend time writing about something you don't go for? Well, I will give Dragging An Ox Through Water this- he is out there on the stage by himself doing something. He is doing it hard, and he is giving it his all. Sincerity counts a lot in my book. This is not some exercise in fashion and irony... at least as far as I can tell from the man himself.
DAOTW would like his listeners to know that a new 7" EP will be coming soon from Stankhouse Records, and details on the release party will be coming soon, but to tide you over until then, here is a track that will be up until the witching hour Wednesday night...
I tried to get Mr. Dragging (or should it be Mr. Ox? Or Mr. Water?) to do an interview with me. As a point of fact, I said some very nasty and honest things to him, and any of you who have read what I have to say before know that I can get downright rude when I want to address the hypokeimenon. Alas, he has declined the prospect of an 'adversarial' interview, so we won't see something like that for now. We can always hope for the future.
Good night!
Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Monday, May 17th
Hello Dear Readers,
I have kinda had a rough few days. To sum it up I no longer have a laptop computer of an intact drivers side window in my van. That means that yesterday I did not make a post. I have tried to blog from my phone but it is really frustrating. I don't even now who played yesterday. I heard that maybe Alan Singley played at Valentine's? Also, my wallet was stolen, so it looks like I am limited to FREE and ALL AGES shows. Luckily Portland has many kick ass FREE shows. Here is what looks good to me tonight (they also all happen to be free):
Lola's Room is having a show with Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside and Sean Flinn. All right, we got us a good show here. I think that Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside is great. They have played a lot and are a really tight band. I think that Sallie's voice is pretty incredible. When I first saw her she seemed so awkward and then I saw her cover a Billie Holiday song and I was floored. How the hell did that voice come from that girl? Anyway, I predicted big things for her years ago and bam! She won Best New Band. Sean Flinn is a guy who not only plays in several outfits around town (like Y La Bamba and Nick Jaina) but also can write a song like nobodies business. he recently put out the Patient Heart as a digital EP an will be releasing his full length "Write Me a Novel" later this year. Oh and I sometimes play with with Sean and his band, The Royal We. He truly has a cast of rotating players. As of me writing this I am not playing the show. But who knows? The show is FREE and starts at 7 PM.
Valentine's is having a show with Paschal Coeur, On The Stairs, and Mount Saint Elias. Paschal Coer is a pop band. They may have elements of a few other genres sprinkled on top, but underneath they will a pop band. Danielle Paschal Fish, the band leader, has a voice that vaguely remind me of Dirty Mitten's lead singer Chelsea but with less freak outs. Whatever. You should check the lap steel heavy song "Assuming you don't mind reading my lyric". On the Stairs is Americana outlet for Nate Clark. Though I sang on it, I don not have an actual copy of On The Stairs album. And I swear I am not being biased, but I think my favorite song is "When The Dust Comes Down" (I am singing some long oh's on this song). His voice is pretty cool. Low, but not too low. Rough, but not too rough. He recorded at Miracle Lake as did Mt. Saint Elias. I have written about Mt. Saint Elias before when it was called Jacob White. Jacob White was led by umm...Jacob White. He has a very good voice and his songs are pretty great. I am a fan for sure. I suggest you check him out. He will be recording a full length this summer so he will not be playing a whole lot of shows. The event is FREE at 9 PM.
Ripple Beach (on Swan Island) is having a show with Sailing, Million Brazilians, and Ancestral Diet. This is the show description that grabbed my attention, "SPECIAL BEACH SHOW!!! ON SWAN ISLAND TAKE GOING STREET DOWN BEHIND THE MCDONALD'S LOOK FOR THE 'BLUE VAN' ". They had me at behind the McDonalds. This show sounds super fun and slightly mysterious. Is this an acoustic show? If not how will they power stuff? Is Swan Island really an island? Will there be Swans? I have not seen any of these bands, but boy does this look like a good time. The ALL AGES show is FREE and starts at 7:30 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say,"Hi". That would make my night.
-Ben
Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside will play for FREE at Lola's Room tonight.
Read More >>
I have kinda had a rough few days. To sum it up I no longer have a laptop computer of an intact drivers side window in my van. That means that yesterday I did not make a post. I have tried to blog from my phone but it is really frustrating. I don't even now who played yesterday. I heard that maybe Alan Singley played at Valentine's? Also, my wallet was stolen, so it looks like I am limited to FREE and ALL AGES shows. Luckily Portland has many kick ass FREE shows. Here is what looks good to me tonight (they also all happen to be free):
Lola's Room is having a show with Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside and Sean Flinn. All right, we got us a good show here. I think that Sallie Ford & the Sound Outside is great. They have played a lot and are a really tight band. I think that Sallie's voice is pretty incredible. When I first saw her she seemed so awkward and then I saw her cover a Billie Holiday song and I was floored. How the hell did that voice come from that girl? Anyway, I predicted big things for her years ago and bam! She won Best New Band. Sean Flinn is a guy who not only plays in several outfits around town (like Y La Bamba and Nick Jaina) but also can write a song like nobodies business. he recently put out the Patient Heart as a digital EP an will be releasing his full length "Write Me a Novel" later this year. Oh and I sometimes play with with Sean and his band, The Royal We. He truly has a cast of rotating players. As of me writing this I am not playing the show. But who knows? The show is FREE and starts at 7 PM.
Valentine's is having a show with Paschal Coeur, On The Stairs, and Mount Saint Elias. Paschal Coer is a pop band. They may have elements of a few other genres sprinkled on top, but underneath they will a pop band. Danielle Paschal Fish, the band leader, has a voice that vaguely remind me of Dirty Mitten's lead singer Chelsea but with less freak outs. Whatever. You should check the lap steel heavy song "Assuming you don't mind reading my lyric". On the Stairs is Americana outlet for Nate Clark. Though I sang on it, I don not have an actual copy of On The Stairs album. And I swear I am not being biased, but I think my favorite song is "When The Dust Comes Down" (I am singing some long oh's on this song). His voice is pretty cool. Low, but not too low. Rough, but not too rough. He recorded at Miracle Lake as did Mt. Saint Elias. I have written about Mt. Saint Elias before when it was called Jacob White. Jacob White was led by umm...Jacob White. He has a very good voice and his songs are pretty great. I am a fan for sure. I suggest you check him out. He will be recording a full length this summer so he will not be playing a whole lot of shows. The event is FREE at 9 PM.
Ripple Beach (on Swan Island) is having a show with Sailing, Million Brazilians, and Ancestral Diet. This is the show description that grabbed my attention, "SPECIAL BEACH SHOW!!! ON SWAN ISLAND TAKE GOING STREET DOWN BEHIND THE MCDONALD'S LOOK FOR THE 'BLUE VAN' ". They had me at behind the McDonalds. This show sounds super fun and slightly mysterious. Is this an acoustic show? If not how will they power stuff? Is Swan Island really an island? Will there be Swans? I have not seen any of these bands, but boy does this look like a good time. The ALL AGES show is FREE and starts at 7:30 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say,"Hi". That would make my night.
-Ben
Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside will play for FREE at Lola's Room tonight.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Eyjafjallajökull
Iceland, Eyjafjallajökull - May 1st and 2nd, 2010 from Sean Stiegemeier on Vimeo.
For those who don't know, the Canon 5D MkII does amazing things with light. Observe this beauty and report back. The music in this is a track called Kolniður from Jonsi. So pretty..... I need to go to Iceland.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Hello Dear Readers,
Last night I played in AristeiA for our neighbors to the North, Seattle. We played with some really kick ass bands like X-ray Press, Panther Attack, and The Fruiting Bodies. We had played with X-ray Press one other time before. I was impressed with them then, it was like three years ago, and I was even more impressed with them last night. But I was kinda bummed to learn that last night was their last show ever. The Fruiting Bodies however will be playing very soon:
Ducketts is having a show with AristeiA, Palo Verde, and The Fruiting Bodies. AristeiA is the loudish instrumental band that I play in. We have just finished writing (but have not started recording) a new album. We are going to be playing songs from it tonight. It will be super fun because this is totally in our hood. Plus I have been meaning to see the improv heavy rock music that I have been hearing about from Palo Verde. Goldie has told me that it is awesome. Goldie doesn't lie. Last night we played with Seattle's The Fruiting Bodies. They are possible The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
Mississippi Studios is having a show with Ramona Falls, World's Greatest Ghosts, and Johanna Kunin. This is one of those KZME presented events. I still don't really know what it means when they present something. I have played a show that was KMZE presented. I don't understand. What I do understand is that Ramona Falls is awesome. Intuit was one of my favorite local records that came out last year. You should totally check out this show before these guys go on tour with The National and blow up. Johanna Kunin used to live in Seattle. She recently moved to Portland and has already joined the music scene by way of Loch Lomond. A very nice addition to our music scene. World's Greatest Ghosts are one of my favorite bands to see live. Their songs are so fun and so catchy that I think I have to list them as mandatory listening for all of you guys. I have written about her before. The show is $12 and starts at 8 PM.
KPSU is presenting a show at The Parlour with Blood Beach, Kusika, and And And And. Welcome to a new wave of Portland indie rock. It is fresh and very exciting. I have not seen Blood Beach, But I have seen both Kusika and And And And. Kusick blew me away with their EXTEMELY dynamic set. I love it. They sometimes cover this Nina Samone song that is not to be missed. And And And is gonna be a Portland Staple. I can feel it. Check them out now. The ALL AGES show is $5 and starts at 7 PM.
Kelly House is having a show with Living Proof, Alan Singley, Fogatron, and Your Rival. Living Proof features a local MC, Tope, that got a lot of love recently in the Best New Band polls. I had previously not heard of him but people who have pretty good taste in music all seem to agree his is good. I am mostly writing about this show because of Alan Singley. He writes perfect pop songs like it weren't no thing, Since it is not billed as with his band , Pants Machine, it maybe a rare solo set. The ALL AGES show is at 8 PM.
Mississippi Pizza is having a show with CIMTB contributor Dr. Something and Spirit Dupicator. Join the cassette revival. Or join the songs about robots and other silly things club. At least join the fun that a Dr. Something show must assuredly be. This is what the good Dr. had to say about the show, "I want to let you know about a super special event taking place this coming Saturday at Mississippi Pizza. The dynamic Spirit Duplicator and I will be performing songs and telling a story about suburban mass transit as we both release cassette singles!
Mine is entitled Beaverton TC, and all of you on this list are entitled to a FREE copy (while supplies last), as is anyone else who signs up for the email list. The recording is also available for streaming and free or "name-your-own-price" download here: http://drsomething.bandcamp.com/album/beaverton-tc-maxi-single, in case you don't have a cassette player.
Spirit Duplicator, sticking with the suburban theme, will be releasing a cassette single called Tualatin Summer, which is sure to be deliciously wacky.
Make sure to check it out if you can, as this will be my last show for a while. I'll be taking time off from performing for a while as I undergo treatment for some jaw complications. However, the Pipin' Hot Love Engines and I plan on returning to the stage as soon as I am able, and we have a live album and hopefully also a studio EP coming out in the near future, which I'll keep y'all posted on. ". Sounds good, no? The show is FREE and starts at 6 PM.
If you see me at Ducketts please say, "hi". It is the right thing to do.
-Ben
This is the European version of Ramona Falls all stripped down like. They will be much different tonight. A whole lot more dudes.
Read More >>
Last night I played in AristeiA for our neighbors to the North, Seattle. We played with some really kick ass bands like X-ray Press, Panther Attack, and The Fruiting Bodies. We had played with X-ray Press one other time before. I was impressed with them then, it was like three years ago, and I was even more impressed with them last night. But I was kinda bummed to learn that last night was their last show ever. The Fruiting Bodies however will be playing very soon:
Ducketts is having a show with AristeiA, Palo Verde, and The Fruiting Bodies. AristeiA is the loudish instrumental band that I play in. We have just finished writing (but have not started recording) a new album. We are going to be playing songs from it tonight. It will be super fun because this is totally in our hood. Plus I have been meaning to see the improv heavy rock music that I have been hearing about from Palo Verde. Goldie has told me that it is awesome. Goldie doesn't lie. Last night we played with Seattle's The Fruiting Bodies. They are possible The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
Mississippi Studios is having a show with Ramona Falls, World's Greatest Ghosts, and Johanna Kunin. This is one of those KZME presented events. I still don't really know what it means when they present something. I have played a show that was KMZE presented. I don't understand. What I do understand is that Ramona Falls is awesome. Intuit was one of my favorite local records that came out last year. You should totally check out this show before these guys go on tour with The National and blow up. Johanna Kunin used to live in Seattle. She recently moved to Portland and has already joined the music scene by way of Loch Lomond. A very nice addition to our music scene. World's Greatest Ghosts are one of my favorite bands to see live. Their songs are so fun and so catchy that I think I have to list them as mandatory listening for all of you guys. I have written about her before. The show is $12 and starts at 8 PM.
KPSU is presenting a show at The Parlour with Blood Beach, Kusika, and And And And. Welcome to a new wave of Portland indie rock. It is fresh and very exciting. I have not seen Blood Beach, But I have seen both Kusika and And And And. Kusick blew me away with their EXTEMELY dynamic set. I love it. They sometimes cover this Nina Samone song that is not to be missed. And And And is gonna be a Portland Staple. I can feel it. Check them out now. The ALL AGES show is $5 and starts at 7 PM.
Kelly House is having a show with Living Proof, Alan Singley, Fogatron, and Your Rival. Living Proof features a local MC, Tope, that got a lot of love recently in the Best New Band polls. I had previously not heard of him but people who have pretty good taste in music all seem to agree his is good. I am mostly writing about this show because of Alan Singley. He writes perfect pop songs like it weren't no thing, Since it is not billed as with his band , Pants Machine, it maybe a rare solo set. The ALL AGES show is at 8 PM.
Mississippi Pizza is having a show with CIMTB contributor Dr. Something and Spirit Dupicator. Join the cassette revival. Or join the songs about robots and other silly things club. At least join the fun that a Dr. Something show must assuredly be. This is what the good Dr. had to say about the show, "I want to let you know about a super special event taking place this coming Saturday at Mississippi Pizza. The dynamic Spirit Duplicator and I will be performing songs and telling a story about suburban mass transit as we both release cassette singles!
Mine is entitled Beaverton TC, and all of you on this list are entitled to a FREE copy (while supplies last), as is anyone else who signs up for the email list. The recording is also available for streaming and free or "name-your-own-price" download here: http://drsomething.bandcamp.com/album/beaverton-tc-maxi-single, in case you don't have a cassette player.
Spirit Duplicator, sticking with the suburban theme, will be releasing a cassette single called Tualatin Summer, which is sure to be deliciously wacky.
Make sure to check it out if you can, as this will be my last show for a while. I'll be taking time off from performing for a while as I undergo treatment for some jaw complications. However, the Pipin' Hot Love Engines and I plan on returning to the stage as soon as I am able, and we have a live album and hopefully also a studio EP coming out in the near future, which I'll keep y'all posted on. ". Sounds good, no? The show is FREE and starts at 6 PM.
If you see me at Ducketts please say, "hi". It is the right thing to do.
-Ben
This is the European version of Ramona Falls all stripped down like. They will be much different tonight. A whole lot more dudes.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Friday, May 14th
Hello Dear Readers,
Last night I played at The Jupiter Hotel in Y La Bamba. It was for a fundraiser for Bridge Fest. Basically some people are going to cover the Hawthorne Bridge with grass and have brunch on it. It sounds crazy. Tonight I am playing a show in Seattle with AristeiA so I will miss all of these shows. Damn. You should check them out:
The Woods is having a Portland Fruit Tree Project benefit show with White Rainbow, White Fang, and Rob Walmart. All of these artists are part of the Marriage Records family. White Rainbow is a looping man that uses whatever he has a t hand. Usually a guitar and keyboard and a whole mess of pedals. White Fang are a high energy fun punkish band. Rob Walmart is weird. They usually perform from the back of a milk truck and make use of very messed up and cool sounding beats and stream of consciousness lyrical delivery. The Portland Fruit Tree Project sounds pretty cool. See; "Portland Fruit Tree Project is a grass-roots non-profit organization that provides a community-based solution to a critical and growing need in Portland and beyond: Access to healthy food. By empowering neighbors to share in the harvest and care of urban fruit trees, we are preventing waste, building community knowledge and resources, and creating sustainable, cost-free ways to obtain healthy, locally-grown food. Because money does not grow on trees… but fruit does!" The show is $10 and starts at 9 PM.
The Mantle is having a show with Purrbot, Tender Bear, and Padriac Finbar Haggerty Hammond. The Mantle is the home of Purrbot. I played there once and was charmed. Purrbot himself has a very cool voice and uses it to sing his songs over piano or banjo. They are not particularly happy songs, but do seem to be very personal. I played a show once with Eric aka Tender Bear. He is a dude and an acoustic guitar and a lot of lyrics. It sounds pretty good. Padriac Finbar Haggerty-Hammond used to be a guy and a guitar but lately sounds a whole lot more like a band. He has been playing with Mat from The Sarcastic Dharma Society who backs him vocally, on drums and a Rhodes piano. The sound is full, the songs are great. They often have the ability to go, " ha ha ha ha... oh. That's so sad". I love them. The ALL AGES show is by donation and starts at 8 PM.
Mudai Lounge is having a show with Orca Team, Prescription Pills, and Pyschic Feline. Those of you who read the blog everyday may remember that this is the show that I was so excited about the at I managed to post it four days to soon. This is what I said, "So let me start this by saying that Mudai is not very big. I played there a while back. It is essentially just some people with good tastes in music who are using the space available. Which is awesome. Orca Team is a band that I have been meaning to see for quite some time. I believe that are somewhat related to a neo surf rock thing. But what draws my attention to them is that they straight up know how to write great pop melodies. I know I have said this before, but check out their song "And She Knows". It is so good. Prescription Pills are are a self proclaimed electro punk band. I just want call their music dirty electro. Pyschic Feline is a band who has one song available online. It sounds like early punk rock. I could be wrong though." I promise you that the show is FREE at 9 PM.
Jimmy Mak's is having a show with Lawrence Williams Project and Blue Cranes. The show is ALL AGES until 10 PM which is fine because Blue Cranes are scheduled to finish by 09:15 (according to an email I received). Jazz. I don't claim to know a whole lot about it, but I love Blue Cranes. And they defiantly could be called jazz. The compositions are beautiful and every member of the five member strong group can play their instruments as if they were extensions of their bodies. They often play with dynamics, mostly to very cool results. The show is $10 and starts at 8 PM sharp.
Doug Fir Lounge is having a show with That 1 Guy and Boy Eats Drum Machine. Okay, I will be honest here. I think that "That 1 Guy" is a horrible horrible name. His deal is that he made up an instrument he calls the magic pipe. He swears that he doesn't smoke pot, but his song Buttmachine was featured on Weeds. Hmmm... Anyway, I am writing about this show because BEDM is pretty rad. He is also a "one man band" But he mostly uses his turntable sampler, and sax. He sings songs that just sound good. Check his stuff out. The show is $14 and starts at 9 PM.
You will not see me at any of these shows tonight but if you feel like it, you should tell someone "hi". It truly is a good thing to do.
-Ben
Padriac Finbar Haggerty is talking to me at the begining of the video. But tonight he might talk to you. Check him out at The Mantle.
Read More >>
Last night I played at The Jupiter Hotel in Y La Bamba. It was for a fundraiser for Bridge Fest. Basically some people are going to cover the Hawthorne Bridge with grass and have brunch on it. It sounds crazy. Tonight I am playing a show in Seattle with AristeiA so I will miss all of these shows. Damn. You should check them out:
The Woods is having a Portland Fruit Tree Project benefit show with White Rainbow, White Fang, and Rob Walmart. All of these artists are part of the Marriage Records family. White Rainbow is a looping man that uses whatever he has a t hand. Usually a guitar and keyboard and a whole mess of pedals. White Fang are a high energy fun punkish band. Rob Walmart is weird. They usually perform from the back of a milk truck and make use of very messed up and cool sounding beats and stream of consciousness lyrical delivery. The Portland Fruit Tree Project sounds pretty cool. See; "Portland Fruit Tree Project is a grass-roots non-profit organization that provides a community-based solution to a critical and growing need in Portland and beyond: Access to healthy food. By empowering neighbors to share in the harvest and care of urban fruit trees, we are preventing waste, building community knowledge and resources, and creating sustainable, cost-free ways to obtain healthy, locally-grown food. Because money does not grow on trees… but fruit does!" The show is $10 and starts at 9 PM.
The Mantle is having a show with Purrbot, Tender Bear, and Padriac Finbar Haggerty Hammond. The Mantle is the home of Purrbot. I played there once and was charmed. Purrbot himself has a very cool voice and uses it to sing his songs over piano or banjo. They are not particularly happy songs, but do seem to be very personal. I played a show once with Eric aka Tender Bear. He is a dude and an acoustic guitar and a lot of lyrics. It sounds pretty good. Padriac Finbar Haggerty-Hammond used to be a guy and a guitar but lately sounds a whole lot more like a band. He has been playing with Mat from The Sarcastic Dharma Society who backs him vocally, on drums and a Rhodes piano. The sound is full, the songs are great. They often have the ability to go, " ha ha ha ha... oh. That's so sad". I love them. The ALL AGES show is by donation and starts at 8 PM.
Mudai Lounge is having a show with Orca Team, Prescription Pills, and Pyschic Feline. Those of you who read the blog everyday may remember that this is the show that I was so excited about the at I managed to post it four days to soon. This is what I said, "So let me start this by saying that Mudai is not very big. I played there a while back. It is essentially just some people with good tastes in music who are using the space available. Which is awesome. Orca Team is a band that I have been meaning to see for quite some time. I believe that are somewhat related to a neo surf rock thing. But what draws my attention to them is that they straight up know how to write great pop melodies. I know I have said this before, but check out their song "And She Knows". It is so good. Prescription Pills are are a self proclaimed electro punk band. I just want call their music dirty electro. Pyschic Feline is a band who has one song available online. It sounds like early punk rock. I could be wrong though." I promise you that the show is FREE at 9 PM.
Jimmy Mak's is having a show with Lawrence Williams Project and Blue Cranes. The show is ALL AGES until 10 PM which is fine because Blue Cranes are scheduled to finish by 09:15 (according to an email I received). Jazz. I don't claim to know a whole lot about it, but I love Blue Cranes. And they defiantly could be called jazz. The compositions are beautiful and every member of the five member strong group can play their instruments as if they were extensions of their bodies. They often play with dynamics, mostly to very cool results. The show is $10 and starts at 8 PM sharp.
Doug Fir Lounge is having a show with That 1 Guy and Boy Eats Drum Machine. Okay, I will be honest here. I think that "That 1 Guy" is a horrible horrible name. His deal is that he made up an instrument he calls the magic pipe. He swears that he doesn't smoke pot, but his song Buttmachine was featured on Weeds. Hmmm... Anyway, I am writing about this show because BEDM is pretty rad. He is also a "one man band" But he mostly uses his turntable sampler, and sax. He sings songs that just sound good. Check his stuff out. The show is $14 and starts at 9 PM.
You will not see me at any of these shows tonight but if you feel like it, you should tell someone "hi". It truly is a good thing to do.
-Ben
Padriac Finbar Haggerty is talking to me at the begining of the video. But tonight he might talk to you. Check him out at The Mantle.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Wednesday, May 12th
Hello Dear Readers,
Last night I wanted to go out. I truly did. But it seems that I have some lingering winter time laziness still lingering within me. Which sucks. I am trying to combat it. Actually it might be that I am doing a whole lot all of the time. Either way I am trying to get better. Here are some shows that I am going to try to get out to:
Berbati's is having a show with Blake Mackey and Ah Holly Fam'ly. Blake Mackey is not the most known name in town. But He scored a residency at Berbati's which is great because, honestly...he's pretty good. One look at his guitar covered in stickers and I was like, "great. Another anti-folk guy. This is going to suck." But he can actually play quite well. I mean it sounds like he might have some classical guitar chops or something. Or at least he is a far better guitar player than most folk acts have. I think I heard of him because he played with Ah Holly Fam'ly before. Ah Holly Famly also plays guitar better than your average folk band which is what sets these two apart. Though it seems to me that Jeremy Faulkner style is a little crazier but he is not very obvious about the craziness that he plays. It is usually hidden beneath his very soft vocals. This will be a good show. The show is FREE in the restaurant side of Berbati's and starts at 9 PM.
The Goodfoot is haivng a show iwth Autopilot is for Lovers, When The Broken Bow, Mike Midlo (of Pancake Breakfast), and Grey Anne. Wow this is a nice line up bands. Where to start? How about with Autopilot. As most of the readers of this blog already know, I think pretty highly of the Autopilot band. They take your traditional blues folk music and then make it darker and more expansive than what you might be used to. It is not that hard to be expansive when you have a band that is five members strong and often has a choir added in the mix. Plus Adrianne Hatkin's verbrato is truly unique and is perfectly fitted to the feel of the music. When The Broken Bow is the project headed by the piano player for many bands, Ali Ippolito. She also plays banjolele and accordion. Her music is a very complimentaly to Autopilot. I have not seen Mike Midlo play solo, but I know what he can do in a band setting. His voice and songs seem to be strong enough to stand on their own though. I imagine that if Brain Mumford of Dragging an Ox Through Water didn't add experimental freak outs in his songs, they might sound kind of like Mike's . I really love his voice. You should check him out. I have not seen Grey Anne in forever. I love everything about what she does. Which is perform well written songs that make use of her expert live looping skills. She harmonizes and uses her vocals as an instrument better than any band I know. Plus she always actually putting on a show. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.
Holocene is having a show with Copy, Dirty Mittens, White Fang, and DJ New Moon Poncho. Man, lately there have been a lot of shows with really good line ups. This is one of those shows. Copy is probably my favorite dance act in a town that has a lot of good dance acts. I guess it his way of layering melody upon melody to create something that is just...so cool sounding. It also has a bit of 8-bit game sounds. I think he uses old technology to create his new sounds. I love it. Dirty Mittens is not necessarily a dance band per se, but the last time I saw them (at WW's Eat Mobile show) I danced my ass off. They are a very feel good band that add a bit of soulfelness to trtaditional indie-pop. Plus they got not one, but two sax players. How cool is that? I think that they are still doing the card thing where you can get your card stamped and get free stuff once you see them like five times orsomething. White Fang are a pleasure to see and will pretty much have a good time whether or not you do playing their kinda arty kinda punky tunes. There is also mention of a super secret guests. It should be noted that I found this link also on the Holocene website. Are they the secret? I guess you have to go to find out. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.
Ella Street Social Club is having a show with Brittain Ashford, St. St. (Olympia/Tucson), and James Mcfarland. Umm... Britain said that this is her Birthday show. So if you like to party birthday style (no, that does not mean stripping down to your birthday suit) then you should head over to the social club. Her tunes are filled with heartbreak and longing. I think it is something that comes naturally when you spend you time living on opposite coasts like Brittain often does. Her instrument of choice is auto harp which creates a delicate bed for her very very pretty voice. St. St. is a folk duo that is also kinda delicate. Those who know me know that I m a sucker for boy girl soft music. James MacFarland sounds like a sad sad man with a raspy voice. I believe that he performs with a cellist which is a favorite of mine. So the music is not all that fun at this show, but it is good. And mostly likely the people will not actually be bummed out despite what their songs may suggest. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi".
-Ben
Blake Mackey will play songs that sound like this at Berbati's every Wednesday this month
Read More >>
Last night I wanted to go out. I truly did. But it seems that I have some lingering winter time laziness still lingering within me. Which sucks. I am trying to combat it. Actually it might be that I am doing a whole lot all of the time. Either way I am trying to get better. Here are some shows that I am going to try to get out to:
Berbati's is having a show with Blake Mackey and Ah Holly Fam'ly. Blake Mackey is not the most known name in town. But He scored a residency at Berbati's which is great because, honestly...he's pretty good. One look at his guitar covered in stickers and I was like, "great. Another anti-folk guy. This is going to suck." But he can actually play quite well. I mean it sounds like he might have some classical guitar chops or something. Or at least he is a far better guitar player than most folk acts have. I think I heard of him because he played with Ah Holly Fam'ly before. Ah Holly Famly also plays guitar better than your average folk band which is what sets these two apart. Though it seems to me that Jeremy Faulkner style is a little crazier but he is not very obvious about the craziness that he plays. It is usually hidden beneath his very soft vocals. This will be a good show. The show is FREE in the restaurant side of Berbati's and starts at 9 PM.
The Goodfoot is haivng a show iwth Autopilot is for Lovers, When The Broken Bow, Mike Midlo (of Pancake Breakfast), and Grey Anne. Wow this is a nice line up bands. Where to start? How about with Autopilot. As most of the readers of this blog already know, I think pretty highly of the Autopilot band. They take your traditional blues folk music and then make it darker and more expansive than what you might be used to. It is not that hard to be expansive when you have a band that is five members strong and often has a choir added in the mix. Plus Adrianne Hatkin's verbrato is truly unique and is perfectly fitted to the feel of the music. When The Broken Bow is the project headed by the piano player for many bands, Ali Ippolito. She also plays banjolele and accordion. Her music is a very complimentaly to Autopilot. I have not seen Mike Midlo play solo, but I know what he can do in a band setting. His voice and songs seem to be strong enough to stand on their own though. I imagine that if Brain Mumford of Dragging an Ox Through Water didn't add experimental freak outs in his songs, they might sound kind of like Mike's . I really love his voice. You should check him out. I have not seen Grey Anne in forever. I love everything about what she does. Which is perform well written songs that make use of her expert live looping skills. She harmonizes and uses her vocals as an instrument better than any band I know. Plus she always actually putting on a show. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.
Holocene is having a show with Copy, Dirty Mittens, White Fang, and DJ New Moon Poncho. Man, lately there have been a lot of shows with really good line ups. This is one of those shows. Copy is probably my favorite dance act in a town that has a lot of good dance acts. I guess it his way of layering melody upon melody to create something that is just...so cool sounding. It also has a bit of 8-bit game sounds. I think he uses old technology to create his new sounds. I love it. Dirty Mittens is not necessarily a dance band per se, but the last time I saw them (at WW's Eat Mobile show) I danced my ass off. They are a very feel good band that add a bit of soulfelness to trtaditional indie-pop. Plus they got not one, but two sax players. How cool is that? I think that they are still doing the card thing where you can get your card stamped and get free stuff once you see them like five times orsomething. White Fang are a pleasure to see and will pretty much have a good time whether or not you do playing their kinda arty kinda punky tunes. There is also mention of a super secret guests. It should be noted that I found this link also on the Holocene website. Are they the secret? I guess you have to go to find out. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.
Ella Street Social Club is having a show with Brittain Ashford, St. St. (Olympia/Tucson), and James Mcfarland. Umm... Britain said that this is her Birthday show. So if you like to party birthday style (no, that does not mean stripping down to your birthday suit) then you should head over to the social club. Her tunes are filled with heartbreak and longing. I think it is something that comes naturally when you spend you time living on opposite coasts like Brittain often does. Her instrument of choice is auto harp which creates a delicate bed for her very very pretty voice. St. St. is a folk duo that is also kinda delicate. Those who know me know that I m a sucker for boy girl soft music. James MacFarland sounds like a sad sad man with a raspy voice. I believe that he performs with a cellist which is a favorite of mine. So the music is not all that fun at this show, but it is good. And mostly likely the people will not actually be bummed out despite what their songs may suggest. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi".
-Ben
Blake Mackey will play songs that sound like this at Berbati's every Wednesday this month
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Tuesday, May 11th
Hello Dear Readers,
I am not perfect. Yesterday I was all pumped about an Orca Team show. So pumped that I thought it was that day. So pumped that I thought it was a 7 PM. It is actually on Friday...at 9 PM. I am going to miss it because I will be out of town. Boo. Anyways, I ended up not seeing a show last night and inadvertently got enough sleep. Whoops. I got coffee anyway and here I am typing away to hopefully sway you into checking the Portland music scene. Here are the shows happening tonight:
Mississippi Studios is having a show with Starfucker, Wampire, and XDS. Starfucker (ex-PYRAMIDDD (ex-Starfucker)) is back to their old name. Thank goodness. I think it is one of the better band names in town. Plus I was struggling what to do with my albums. Was I going to seperate my Starfucker from PYRAMIDDD? Now I don't have to. Thanks guys. Also thank you for writing unbelievably catchy pop songs. Their a will admit that their two albums would make better eps and even better singles. Yet the singles that they have are so good that I would gladly buy an album just to have those few songs. Wampire also falls in this category as well. They have some songs that are just catchy as hell. Their song "Orchards" was my summer jamz of last year. They have another one that I don't recall the name of which maybe on it's way to becoming one of my summer jamz for this year. XDS (ex-Experimental Dental School) have been trying to get people to switch their name to this shorter easier to remember name for a while, but I keep seeing posters with the full name on it. Get with the program peeps. XDS. simple. Their music however is less simple. It is actually some what crazy. The guy has like a million pedals and at least four outputs from his guitar to go to different banks of pedals and amps. He also sings. The drummer lady plays keyboard and sings and may do a melodica or something too. Regardless, they are an impressive duo and I suggest you check them out. The ALL AGES show is $10 and starts at 6:30 PM.
Mississippi Studios is having a show with Starfucker, Strength, XDS, and Copy. Hey old people! This your chance to see a band that all the kids are talking about. You guys can dance right? Cause this is totally a dance show. I just talked about Starfucker and XDS, so I don't need to go into them. Strength and Copy, however I will go into. They are both make highly danceable music. Strength is more of a "band" as they use "real" instruments to create their dance music. Which is awesome. I remember seeing them at the first PDX Pop festival way back when. It was when indie rock kids were first learning how to "get down" with dancing. I feel like they don't play that often so you should probably come out and experience this for yourself. Copy is one Marius Libman. He makes crunk 8-bit keytar dance music that is layered with copious amounts of melodies. I love it. The show is $12 and starts at 9:30 PM.
Ella Street Social Club is having a show with And And And and Gratitillium. I played a show with And And And a while back. I was unsure what to think about them because I was distracted by talking to some friends that I have not seen in a while. But the guys in that band were pretty nice and even gave me a cdr of their album. It unfortunately got lost in the abyss that is my bag that carries all of my miscellaneous junk. But then last week I put it on my computer and have been listening to it. I really like it. It is pretty fresh sounding. I don't really know what else to say right now, but mark my words. I think you will soon be hearing good things from this band. Soon. Gratitillium is a group that I have seen a few time but always seems to be changing their line up. What remains constant is band leader Nick Caceres and his somewhat off kilter tunes about animals. They are about animals right? Anyway his second album with this band is set to come out very soon. I want to see this band again so that I have a more informed opinion. Because what I recall the recorded stuff did not sound like the live stuff. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
Mission Theater is having a show with The Tallest Man on Earth (Sweden) and Nurses. I was recently told about the Tallest Man on Earth. It kinda boggles my mind when a guy with an acoustic guitar makes such an impact that he can tour the world. This guy is from Sweden, which is one of those countries that is not America. They however are on an American label, Dead Oceans. You know who else is on that label? Nurses. I love that band. I feel like they have been touring a lot lately and I have not been able to see them. If you have not heard Nurses, I suggest you climb out from under that rock and get with the program. They make really interesting melodies and not so obvious harmonies and have a really cool drummer. They also incorporate lots of neat looping and samples. They have some keyboards. I am sorry this is so disjointed. Anyways, I have heard rumours that they have added new songs to their set. I want to hear those new songs. The show is $14 and starts at 9 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi". People have started to, and I hope it never stops.
-Ben
Starfucker is playing twice at Mississippi Studios once for the ALL AGES folks and one for the old folks.
Read More >>
I am not perfect. Yesterday I was all pumped about an Orca Team show. So pumped that I thought it was that day. So pumped that I thought it was a 7 PM. It is actually on Friday...at 9 PM. I am going to miss it because I will be out of town. Boo. Anyways, I ended up not seeing a show last night and inadvertently got enough sleep. Whoops. I got coffee anyway and here I am typing away to hopefully sway you into checking the Portland music scene. Here are the shows happening tonight:
Mississippi Studios is having a show with Starfucker, Wampire, and XDS. Starfucker (ex-PYRAMIDDD (ex-Starfucker)) is back to their old name. Thank goodness. I think it is one of the better band names in town. Plus I was struggling what to do with my albums. Was I going to seperate my Starfucker from PYRAMIDDD? Now I don't have to. Thanks guys. Also thank you for writing unbelievably catchy pop songs. Their a will admit that their two albums would make better eps and even better singles. Yet the singles that they have are so good that I would gladly buy an album just to have those few songs. Wampire also falls in this category as well. They have some songs that are just catchy as hell. Their song "Orchards" was my summer jamz of last year. They have another one that I don't recall the name of which maybe on it's way to becoming one of my summer jamz for this year. XDS (ex-Experimental Dental School) have been trying to get people to switch their name to this shorter easier to remember name for a while, but I keep seeing posters with the full name on it. Get with the program peeps. XDS. simple. Their music however is less simple. It is actually some what crazy. The guy has like a million pedals and at least four outputs from his guitar to go to different banks of pedals and amps. He also sings. The drummer lady plays keyboard and sings and may do a melodica or something too. Regardless, they are an impressive duo and I suggest you check them out. The ALL AGES show is $10 and starts at 6:30 PM.
Mississippi Studios is having a show with Starfucker, Strength, XDS, and Copy. Hey old people! This your chance to see a band that all the kids are talking about. You guys can dance right? Cause this is totally a dance show. I just talked about Starfucker and XDS, so I don't need to go into them. Strength and Copy, however I will go into. They are both make highly danceable music. Strength is more of a "band" as they use "real" instruments to create their dance music. Which is awesome. I remember seeing them at the first PDX Pop festival way back when. It was when indie rock kids were first learning how to "get down" with dancing. I feel like they don't play that often so you should probably come out and experience this for yourself. Copy is one Marius Libman. He makes crunk 8-bit keytar dance music that is layered with copious amounts of melodies. I love it. The show is $12 and starts at 9:30 PM.
Ella Street Social Club is having a show with And And And and Gratitillium. I played a show with And And And a while back. I was unsure what to think about them because I was distracted by talking to some friends that I have not seen in a while. But the guys in that band were pretty nice and even gave me a cdr of their album. It unfortunately got lost in the abyss that is my bag that carries all of my miscellaneous junk. But then last week I put it on my computer and have been listening to it. I really like it. It is pretty fresh sounding. I don't really know what else to say right now, but mark my words. I think you will soon be hearing good things from this band. Soon. Gratitillium is a group that I have seen a few time but always seems to be changing their line up. What remains constant is band leader Nick Caceres and his somewhat off kilter tunes about animals. They are about animals right? Anyway his second album with this band is set to come out very soon. I want to see this band again so that I have a more informed opinion. Because what I recall the recorded stuff did not sound like the live stuff. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
Mission Theater is having a show with The Tallest Man on Earth (Sweden) and Nurses. I was recently told about the Tallest Man on Earth. It kinda boggles my mind when a guy with an acoustic guitar makes such an impact that he can tour the world. This guy is from Sweden, which is one of those countries that is not America. They however are on an American label, Dead Oceans. You know who else is on that label? Nurses. I love that band. I feel like they have been touring a lot lately and I have not been able to see them. If you have not heard Nurses, I suggest you climb out from under that rock and get with the program. They make really interesting melodies and not so obvious harmonies and have a really cool drummer. They also incorporate lots of neat looping and samples. They have some keyboards. I am sorry this is so disjointed. Anyways, I have heard rumours that they have added new songs to their set. I want to hear those new songs. The show is $14 and starts at 9 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi". People have started to, and I hope it never stops.
-Ben
Starfucker is playing twice at Mississippi Studios once for the ALL AGES folks and one for the old folks.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Monday, May 10th
Hello Dear Readers,
Last night I went to the Ah Holly Fam'ly, Tu Fawning, and Hosannas show at Mississippi Studios. It was the CD release show for Hosannas new collection of older material. Man I am glad that they had it there. It was the perfect size. Plus because of the height of the ceiling, they were able to arrange a forest looking structure on the stage made up of various plants. I was really impressed with the hecka tall ones. Ah Holly Fam'ly started the set off with a new four piece line up. It included two violins, a guy who switched between clarinet and sax, and the main dude on acoustic guitar and vocals. They set up on the floor and and had an amp for the acoustic guitar and a mic for the main dude's vocals but were otherwise acoustic. It sounded really good.I think that having less members allows listeners to focus on how awesome the songs even in a simplified form. I noticed even more than before how cool and intricate the guitar lines are. Both of the violin players added vocals. Then Tu Fawning took the stage. They have certainly tightened up over the last two years. I thougnt their set was pretty cool. The band is obviously based around the couple Joe Haege of 31 Knots and Corrina Repp. They bot took turns playing guitar and drumming. Then Hosannas played and totally killed it. Those guys practice 8 hours a day, I believe for five days a week. It certainly shows. They are constantly rearranging their songs,and are super tight. Even though they played songs from the record of compiled old songs. I only recognized a few. But I had a blast anyway. I also wanted to give a shout out to Chad, who I met last night. He said that he reads the blog. Tonight most of my band mates in AristeiA will go see Mono who is a great band to be sure, but these are the local shows that look good:
Doug Fir is having a show with Swim Swam Swum, The Shondes (Brooklyn), Hornet Leg and Cat Fancy. Who likes late 90's indie rock? I do! If you do as well you should totally check out Swim Swam Swum. They keep the tradition of guitar pop alive. Nasal vocals and uber catchy riffs abound. The Shondes are probably sick of getting compared to Sleater kenny. But I the front woman's voice does kinda recall Hornet Leg play that neo soul that many previous house show based NW punk bands end up playing. Cat Fancy is an all female lo-fi space trash band. Or at least that is the impression I get from their myspace page. Who am I to argue with that impression? I have never seen them. The show is $6 and starts at 9 PM.
Mudai Lounge is having a show with Orca Team, Prescription Pills, and Pyschic Feline. So let me start this by saying that Mudai is not very big. I played there a while back. It is essentially just some people with good tastes in music who are using the space available. Which is awesome. Orca Team is a band that I have been meaning to see for quite some time. I believe that are somewhat related to a neo surf rock thing. But what draws my attention to them is that they straight up know how to write great pop melodies. I know I have said this before, but check out their song "And She Knows". It is so good. Prescription Pills are are a self proclaimed electro punk band. I just want call their music dirty electro. Pyschic Feline is a band who has one song available online. It sounds like early punk rock. I could be wrong though. The show is FREE and starts at 7 PM.
Mississippi Pizza is Little Czar & The Psalmist, Aaron Roche (Nashville), and Problems?. First off check this out. Pretty cool that they made that, right? Little Czar & The Psalmist makes weirdo experimental music. I kinda like it. You can go to their blog and download music here. Aaron Roche is pretty slick guy and a piano music. Problems? is pretty weird pop music. That is um...oddly likable. The show is FREE? and starts at 9 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi".
-Ben
Read More >>
Last night I went to the Ah Holly Fam'ly, Tu Fawning, and Hosannas show at Mississippi Studios. It was the CD release show for Hosannas new collection of older material. Man I am glad that they had it there. It was the perfect size. Plus because of the height of the ceiling, they were able to arrange a forest looking structure on the stage made up of various plants. I was really impressed with the hecka tall ones. Ah Holly Fam'ly started the set off with a new four piece line up. It included two violins, a guy who switched between clarinet and sax, and the main dude on acoustic guitar and vocals. They set up on the floor and and had an amp for the acoustic guitar and a mic for the main dude's vocals but were otherwise acoustic. It sounded really good.I think that having less members allows listeners to focus on how awesome the songs even in a simplified form. I noticed even more than before how cool and intricate the guitar lines are. Both of the violin players added vocals. Then Tu Fawning took the stage. They have certainly tightened up over the last two years. I thougnt their set was pretty cool. The band is obviously based around the couple Joe Haege of 31 Knots and Corrina Repp. They bot took turns playing guitar and drumming. Then Hosannas played and totally killed it. Those guys practice 8 hours a day, I believe for five days a week. It certainly shows. They are constantly rearranging their songs,and are super tight. Even though they played songs from the record of compiled old songs. I only recognized a few. But I had a blast anyway. I also wanted to give a shout out to Chad, who I met last night. He said that he reads the blog. Tonight most of my band mates in AristeiA will go see Mono who is a great band to be sure, but these are the local shows that look good:
Doug Fir is having a show with Swim Swam Swum, The Shondes (Brooklyn), Hornet Leg and Cat Fancy. Who likes late 90's indie rock? I do! If you do as well you should totally check out Swim Swam Swum. They keep the tradition of guitar pop alive. Nasal vocals and uber catchy riffs abound. The Shondes are probably sick of getting compared to Sleater kenny. But I the front woman's voice does kinda recall Hornet Leg play that neo soul that many previous house show based NW punk bands end up playing. Cat Fancy is an all female lo-fi space trash band. Or at least that is the impression I get from their myspace page. Who am I to argue with that impression? I have never seen them. The show is $6 and starts at 9 PM.
Mudai Lounge is having a show with Orca Team, Prescription Pills, and Pyschic Feline. So let me start this by saying that Mudai is not very big. I played there a while back. It is essentially just some people with good tastes in music who are using the space available. Which is awesome. Orca Team is a band that I have been meaning to see for quite some time. I believe that are somewhat related to a neo surf rock thing. But what draws my attention to them is that they straight up know how to write great pop melodies. I know I have said this before, but check out their song "And She Knows". It is so good. Prescription Pills are are a self proclaimed electro punk band. I just want call their music dirty electro. Pyschic Feline is a band who has one song available online. It sounds like early punk rock. I could be wrong though. The show is FREE and starts at 7 PM.
Mississippi Pizza is Little Czar & The Psalmist, Aaron Roche (Nashville), and Problems?. First off check this out. Pretty cool that they made that, right? Little Czar & The Psalmist makes weirdo experimental music. I kinda like it. You can go to their blog and download music here. Aaron Roche is pretty slick guy and a piano music. Problems? is pretty weird pop music. That is um...oddly likable. The show is FREE? and starts at 9 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi".
-Ben
Problems? - The Janitor Of Mars from Chris Stamm on Vimeo.
Problems? is playing at Mississippi Pizza
TURN MY HEADPHONES UP!!! Volume 5
My headphones have been all out of whack. Sorry about that. There are some good things on the way, though, and hopefully you will like them too.
THE NEW EVILS- "Piece of Tomorrow"
As I may have mentioned before, there are many benefits to being a music critic, not least of which is inflicting your opinions on a captive audience. The more socially positive benefits include things like swag and guests lists and whatnot, and if you want to get really serious about the wonderful things that can happen to you when you join the ranks of the semi-professional douche, then look no further to my burgeoning acquaintance with Crappy Indie Music's new friend Mike Kirkland.
He got the interview treatment back in December, and the shadowy figure of my teenage fandom of course turns out to be a very cool and erudite dude all around. He sent the promo version of the new The New Evils disc not long before he sent the full release and I am glad to be able to review them here. I only hinted at the nature of the Evils before in my interview, and the easiest way to hint at what's going on here is to share the fact that my first impressions of this disc were also repeated by other listeners scattered far and wide. Cramps- Iggy- Lou Reed. I would go so far as to say that this is almost the Stooges reunion disc that we should have gotten. One of the reasons I say that is that Denny Morrison's truly sleazy and wonderful vocals, along with Mike's clear, dark production really anchor this disc. You can easily see these tracks ending up on scary indie movie soundtracks. The only spots that lag, and this is more of a general principle than any specific qualm, are when brother Steve Morrison and Aldine Strychine (ex-Poison Idea) take turns at the mic. Neither of them inspire the same killer-on-the-road frisson that Denny does, so those songs, while perfectly competent, just seem like bar rockers in comparison with the rest of the album. Which begs the question: why is there no trace of known good vocalist Mike Kirkland, who sticks to guitar and drums? Maybe it would have been too evil. Regardless, pick this album up, okay? I have insisted that they come here on tour, and seeing that drummer Leif Nyrberg lives here, I'm sure it will happen. We'll be there.
DR. LOOMIS- random Myspace shenanigans
Nostalgia time. My little brother- the one of first-concert-being-Clutch fame, not running-Brave-Recs fame, announced at Mother's Day dinner that he was going to his "first thrash concert." How could I not be intrigued? I didn't go so far as to say "Pics or it didn't happen," or "Get off my lawn," but I believe it was something along the lines of "According to who?" Well, according to local band of high schoolers Dr. Loomis. Now, I must admit to not having much knowledge of the Portland (or Vantucky) underground metal scene. But I do know that the definition of 'thrash' is pretty loose. When you turn a grip of high-schoolers loose on some old school metal, the result will be somewhere between grindcore and crust and who knows, especially when you have a girly-girl on pig squeal vocals. Not that there is anything wrong or even exceptional about having a girl on metal vocals or otherwise. Jo Bench refuses to even talk about it. I suppose it is the age thing that makes it cute more than anything, and their death metal stylings about the Lament Configuration and the Mad Arab's book are much cooler than my own 13-year-old doom grind and reggae songs about Cthulhu. Dr. Loomis is playing May 11th at the Hawthorne.
JOHN HORNAK- "A Needle, A Feather, And A Rope"
Man, is my memory slipping? I keep thinking that one of us has already reviewed this album. Yes, I know, I am an old fart who is not in touch with the times. Or my own synapses. Anyhoo, Hornak sent us his stuff in April despite my deja vu or jamais vu or whatever my poor beleaguered brain is undergoing, and it's time to share. John Hornak seems to have globetrotted both in real and imaginary worlds for some sweet and bitter lowkey dubstep adventures. To be perfectly honest this music challenging me- I don't know that I like the 'exotic' aspect of it, which might be have a little too much clever artifice, but the music itself is deep, complex, and spot on. Well worth taking a look- it's available on itunes download-wise, but there are plenty of streaming outlets too.
Read More >>
THE NEW EVILS- "Piece of Tomorrow"
As I may have mentioned before, there are many benefits to being a music critic, not least of which is inflicting your opinions on a captive audience. The more socially positive benefits include things like swag and guests lists and whatnot, and if you want to get really serious about the wonderful things that can happen to you when you join the ranks of the semi-professional douche, then look no further to my burgeoning acquaintance with Crappy Indie Music's new friend Mike Kirkland.
He got the interview treatment back in December, and the shadowy figure of my teenage fandom of course turns out to be a very cool and erudite dude all around. He sent the promo version of the new The New Evils disc not long before he sent the full release and I am glad to be able to review them here. I only hinted at the nature of the Evils before in my interview, and the easiest way to hint at what's going on here is to share the fact that my first impressions of this disc were also repeated by other listeners scattered far and wide. Cramps- Iggy- Lou Reed. I would go so far as to say that this is almost the Stooges reunion disc that we should have gotten. One of the reasons I say that is that Denny Morrison's truly sleazy and wonderful vocals, along with Mike's clear, dark production really anchor this disc. You can easily see these tracks ending up on scary indie movie soundtracks. The only spots that lag, and this is more of a general principle than any specific qualm, are when brother Steve Morrison and Aldine Strychine (ex-Poison Idea) take turns at the mic. Neither of them inspire the same killer-on-the-road frisson that Denny does, so those songs, while perfectly competent, just seem like bar rockers in comparison with the rest of the album. Which begs the question: why is there no trace of known good vocalist Mike Kirkland, who sticks to guitar and drums? Maybe it would have been too evil. Regardless, pick this album up, okay? I have insisted that they come here on tour, and seeing that drummer Leif Nyrberg lives here, I'm sure it will happen. We'll be there.
DR. LOOMIS- random Myspace shenanigans
Nostalgia time. My little brother- the one of first-concert-being-Clutch fame, not running-Brave-Recs fame, announced at Mother's Day dinner that he was going to his "first thrash concert." How could I not be intrigued? I didn't go so far as to say "Pics or it didn't happen," or "Get off my lawn," but I believe it was something along the lines of "According to who?" Well, according to local band of high schoolers Dr. Loomis. Now, I must admit to not having much knowledge of the Portland (or Vantucky) underground metal scene. But I do know that the definition of 'thrash' is pretty loose. When you turn a grip of high-schoolers loose on some old school metal, the result will be somewhere between grindcore and crust and who knows, especially when you have a girly-girl on pig squeal vocals. Not that there is anything wrong or even exceptional about having a girl on metal vocals or otherwise. Jo Bench refuses to even talk about it. I suppose it is the age thing that makes it cute more than anything, and their death metal stylings about the Lament Configuration and the Mad Arab's book are much cooler than my own 13-year-old doom grind and reggae songs about Cthulhu. Dr. Loomis is playing May 11th at the Hawthorne.
JOHN HORNAK- "A Needle, A Feather, And A Rope"
Man, is my memory slipping? I keep thinking that one of us has already reviewed this album. Yes, I know, I am an old fart who is not in touch with the times. Or my own synapses. Anyhoo, Hornak sent us his stuff in April despite my deja vu or jamais vu or whatever my poor beleaguered brain is undergoing, and it's time to share. John Hornak seems to have globetrotted both in real and imaginary worlds for some sweet and bitter lowkey dubstep adventures. To be perfectly honest this music challenging me- I don't know that I like the 'exotic' aspect of it, which might be have a little too much clever artifice, but the music itself is deep, complex, and spot on. Well worth taking a look- it's available on itunes download-wise, but there are plenty of streaming outlets too.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Sunday May 9th
Hello Dear Readers,
Happy Mothers Day. I mean if you are a mother. Or if you have a mother, to her (call her). Yesterday I played in both Y La Bamba and Sean Flinn & The Royal We as part of the Willamette Valley Music Festival. It was really cool because fellow Portland bands Wampire and Joggers also played. I really like both of those bands. Especially Joggers. I think they make some of the coolest , "whoa what just happened" music around. It was also cool to see some Portland folks out there as well. I got to meet a reader of the blog named Evan. I then proceeded to throw a ball of glow sticks that hit him directly on the back of his head. I am sorry Evan. Especially since you were so nice and said "hi" and everything. It was an accident. I was swing the glow sticks over my head never dreaming that they could launch. Anyway there are the shows that look good to me tonight:
Mississippi Studios is having a show with Hosannas, Tu Fawning, and Ah Holly Fam'ly. Holy Moly this is a good line up. The kind that it is difficult to imagine not going to. It is the album release show for Hosannas "new" record that compiles the two Church eps with some bonus songs. I already have both of those eps but have been unable to get the 3" CD on my computer because it is a laptop. Also I am interested in the bonus songs. And now that they are all on one CD that fits very nicely in my laptop, I will be able to jam out to classics such as "Happiness". Plus their are rumours of them being joined by members of Ah Holly Fam'ly and Typhoon. Nice. I have not seen Tu Fawning in a long time. I have heard very good things about their live show. Some one told me that he thought that they are ready to be a national band. But then again some one else told me he didn't like them. Since I have not seen them in so long, I am going to try to see this one so I can make up my own mind. Ah Holly Fam'ly has gone through some drastic changes and I have not seen what exactly it is like since the those changes. I am eager to see what it is like. I know that it used to be delicately arranged folk numbers. I will hopefully give you a report of what it is like now. The show is $6 and starts at 9 PM.
Ella Street Social Club is having a show with Height with Friends (Baltimore), The Woolen Men, and White Fang. Height with Friends is a hip hop band that sounds nothing like the Roots (probably the best known live hip hop band). They are kinda not your traditional hip hop thing. Most acts from Baltimore are so traditional. These folks made it on to Dan Deacon's label. The Woolen Men are a band that I only saw once but enjoyed. I have meaning to catch them again because apparently all three members write songs and rotate instruments. I only saw two of the members sing songs. They are a upbeat sort of indie rock band that is very comforting to have around the music scene. White Fang is also very upbeat, but I think that comforting is not the word to describe their high energy take on art punk. They are the best at what they do. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.
Valentine's is having a show with Team Evil, Sean Battles, and What Hearts. Team Evil is the project of Point Juncture, WA's Skyler Norwood. It reminds me of the sensitive and yet very technical guitar rock that came out of the Midwest during the late 90's. Which is totally up my alley. I love it. It features members of many bands from around town. Sean Battlers is a guy from here in town that has apparently led a few bands that I am not familiar with. When I heard his music I thought this, "this reminds me of a lo-fi Kings of Convenience sans the harmonies". I know that the harmonies are a very big part of that band's sound, but I think the guitar rhythms and vocal tone is reminiscent of that band. What Hearts is a very good indie folk all female band. I love the sound of the three part harmonies that dominate their songs. I want to see them. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi". It has happened to me twice this week. It is just as awesome as I thought it would be.
-Ben
This is Hosannas playing an updated versions of one of the songs that will be on the record they are releasing tonight.
Read More >>
Happy Mothers Day. I mean if you are a mother. Or if you have a mother, to her (call her). Yesterday I played in both Y La Bamba and Sean Flinn & The Royal We as part of the Willamette Valley Music Festival. It was really cool because fellow Portland bands Wampire and Joggers also played. I really like both of those bands. Especially Joggers. I think they make some of the coolest , "whoa what just happened" music around. It was also cool to see some Portland folks out there as well. I got to meet a reader of the blog named Evan. I then proceeded to throw a ball of glow sticks that hit him directly on the back of his head. I am sorry Evan. Especially since you were so nice and said "hi" and everything. It was an accident. I was swing the glow sticks over my head never dreaming that they could launch. Anyway there are the shows that look good to me tonight:
Mississippi Studios is having a show with Hosannas, Tu Fawning, and Ah Holly Fam'ly. Holy Moly this is a good line up. The kind that it is difficult to imagine not going to. It is the album release show for Hosannas "new" record that compiles the two Church eps with some bonus songs. I already have both of those eps but have been unable to get the 3" CD on my computer because it is a laptop. Also I am interested in the bonus songs. And now that they are all on one CD that fits very nicely in my laptop, I will be able to jam out to classics such as "Happiness". Plus their are rumours of them being joined by members of Ah Holly Fam'ly and Typhoon. Nice. I have not seen Tu Fawning in a long time. I have heard very good things about their live show. Some one told me that he thought that they are ready to be a national band. But then again some one else told me he didn't like them. Since I have not seen them in so long, I am going to try to see this one so I can make up my own mind. Ah Holly Fam'ly has gone through some drastic changes and I have not seen what exactly it is like since the those changes. I am eager to see what it is like. I know that it used to be delicately arranged folk numbers. I will hopefully give you a report of what it is like now. The show is $6 and starts at 9 PM.
Ella Street Social Club is having a show with Height with Friends (Baltimore), The Woolen Men, and White Fang. Height with Friends is a hip hop band that sounds nothing like the Roots (probably the best known live hip hop band). They are kinda not your traditional hip hop thing. Most acts from Baltimore are so traditional. These folks made it on to Dan Deacon's label. The Woolen Men are a band that I only saw once but enjoyed. I have meaning to catch them again because apparently all three members write songs and rotate instruments. I only saw two of the members sing songs. They are a upbeat sort of indie rock band that is very comforting to have around the music scene. White Fang is also very upbeat, but I think that comforting is not the word to describe their high energy take on art punk. They are the best at what they do. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.
Valentine's is having a show with Team Evil, Sean Battles, and What Hearts. Team Evil is the project of Point Juncture, WA's Skyler Norwood. It reminds me of the sensitive and yet very technical guitar rock that came out of the Midwest during the late 90's. Which is totally up my alley. I love it. It features members of many bands from around town. Sean Battlers is a guy from here in town that has apparently led a few bands that I am not familiar with. When I heard his music I thought this, "this reminds me of a lo-fi Kings of Convenience sans the harmonies". I know that the harmonies are a very big part of that band's sound, but I think the guitar rhythms and vocal tone is reminiscent of that band. What Hearts is a very good indie folk all female band. I love the sound of the three part harmonies that dominate their songs. I want to see them. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi". It has happened to me twice this week. It is just as awesome as I thought it would be.
-Ben
This is Hosannas playing an updated versions of one of the songs that will be on the record they are releasing tonight.
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