Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Ben Meyercord's Live Muisc Picks for Wednesday, September 15th

Hello Dear Readers,

I went and saw the Blue Cranes play at Music Millennium yesterday evening. It was awesome. They played really well and through in some covers that I have not heard them do before. I love it when they do covers. I feel like they have similar taste in music as myself. They covered a David Bazan songs and a Blonde Redhead song. They were both awesome, but getting to do a cool head bobbing beat from the Blonde Redhead tune was made it my favorite cover song so far. Except of course their rendition of a Wayne Horvitz' Love Love Love which is on their new album Observatories. I picked up said album yesterday from the Music Millennium folks. Man, it sounds good. Anyways, here are some shows that are happening tonight:

Roadside Attraction is having a show with Ah Holly Fam'ly, Ohioan, and Weaver. Roadside has music pretty much every Wednesday. Least I think they do. I normally do not hear about the shows until the day after they occur. Today I actually know of the show the day of, and it is a good one. Ah Holly Fam'ly is a great project. I am not sure who is currently in the band but I know that lead person Jeremy Faulkner has a knack for getting very talented musicians to play with him. The last I saw them Shannon Rose Steele (The Ocean Floor/Typhoon) with him. Everything she is involved in is golden. Ohioan is a band that I have covered for a while. I have only seen him once and it was a solo show at a house. It was good. The band is a revolving cast of members who play the songs of Ryan Warner. The band can be huge or as related to you earlier it can be a solo affair. The music is a very strange, yet natural progression of what I think Country music should be. I should also mention that the Ohioan house burned down early last month so it is incredible they can play at all considering they lost most of their musical gear. Weaver is project that takes the last name of the songwriter and uses it as a band name (I do that too). He is part of the Infinite Front artist collective that is also home to Ohioan. It has been said of Andrew Joseph Weaver that makes "progressive folk ballads". Intriguing. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Washington High School is having a Lovers and Tender Forever show as part of the TBA Festival. Lovers put out a great electro pop album called I Am The West. I really like it when songwriters who cut their teeth on writing honest music take a stab at making dance music. It is usually great. Remember that that The Blow used to be a whole lot less dancey. Anyway Lovers are about to put out a new album. I believed it to be in the same electro-pop style as was I am West. They may even have copies at the show. Tender Forever also has followed a similar path. She is originally from France and writes very personal (often cute) songs using the aid of projected images to help her portray her stories. She too has discovered the joy in beat based music. Last time I saw her she busted out with a killer cover of a Justin Timerlake song. I haver never been to a Time Based Art event. I bet they are cool. I happened to be by Washington High School last night and it looked pretty cool from the outside. It may be even cooler inside. The show is $10 and starts at 10:30 PM.

Ella Street is having a show with Benoit Pioulard,The Soft Hills (Seattle), and Cristina Cano. Benoit Pioulard is someone that I had not heard of before last summer when he played PDX Pop Now 2009. I didn't actually get to see him but he got on my radar. His music is not easily categorized. Sometimes his songs are folky. A lot of times they have experimental textural aspects. Sometimes the music drones. Sometimes it sounds pretty accessible. I have not heard his music sound bad. The Soft Hills play kinda sleepy psychedelic country music. It is spaced out a bit but sounds good. I am not familiar with Ms Cano. She plays folk of the indie variety. Her voice is stronger than a lot of people who sing in very delicate voices. Don't get me wrong, I like delicate voices just fine, but it is nice to know that I won't have to strain to hear her voice. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi". I am sure it will not be awkward (I've gotten better).

-Ben


Ohioan play Roadside Attraction tonight. It's FREE you fool!

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