Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Wednesday September 1st

Hello Dear Readers,

Due to un-foreseen circumstances (I ended up agreeing to go to work early on my day off and decided to therefore sleep), I did not attend shows last night. I really wanted to though. Maybe I can convince myself to tonight. If I do it will probably be one of these shows:

Mississippi Studios is having a show with The Angry Orts, Blunt Mechanic, and Paper Upper Cuts. The Angry Orts play a fun version of Indie Rock. Sera Hernandez sometimes comes off like a female Hutch Harris. Or a softer Sleater Kinney. That band actually went out sounding pretty huge. Blunt Mechanic is the newish project of Ben Barnett who grew to fame as Kind of Like Spitting. This new band is more rock and band oriented than we have heard Mr. Barnett be in years. Paper Upper Cuts is totally rad. It is the "solo project" of David "Papi" Fimbres (man of a million bands). It is a sweet mixture of live electronics and fresh beats. He often will have people help out. At heart Papi is a collaborator. There might be some collaborators tonight. The show is $7 and starts at 9 PM.

Jade Lounge is having a show with Sam Cooper. I have not been to the Jade Lounge in a long time. It is nice to see that they are still at it. It is a very chill place and if you are in the neighborhood, why not stop in catch some local music. Tonight they have Sam Cooper. I have not seen him play in a very long time. Probably because he is usually pretty busy playing out with Horse Feathers. His songs are great though. And I love his awkward banter. Hopefully someday he will record another album. Last time I talked to him he said he had a lot of new songs. I guess it is just a matter of time. The show is FREE and 6 PM.

The Know is having a show with Design,Drift.Distance, Secret Codes, and The Friendly Skies. Post- Rock Show! Design.Drift.Distance play a mixture of heavy and slightly math infused post-punk. I think it awesome. Secret Codes sounds like the product of a band that has listened to a lot of Tortoise, Efterklang, and jazz. Which of course they have. It sounds really cool. They are the only rock band I currently can think of that has a flute player. Hell, I don't know of many folk bands that have one. Check them out for real. The Friendly Skies is a solid instrumental post-rock two piece. They often create looping that allows for the use of both keyboard and a baritone guitar. Plus the beats are great. Drummer Jason D. plays in both Secret Codes and The Friendly Skies. Double Duty! The show is FREE and starts at 8 PM.

Rotture is having a show with Duck Little Brother Duck, Zoo Girl, and Archers. I love Duck Little Bother Duck. Don't tell anyone, but I think they might be my favorite Brofam Collective Band. Which is saying a lot because there are a lot of good bands. I saw Zoo Girl play along time ago and it was great. I was talking to Jon Scheild of Duck the other night and he claimed that Zoo Girl was one of his favorite bands. So there you go, endorsed by a band that I endorse. Also I still have been meaning to see Archers. I bet they are good. Their recorded music is good. Rock music is good, they remind me of that fact. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.

Dekum Manor is having a show with Stag Bitten, Terraform, Total Bros., Fried Drugs, and Guantanamo Baywatch. Stag Bitten does not, as far as I can tell, have any sort of website or place to hear their music. Yet I feel like I have read positive things about them. I listened to a bit of Terraform. It sounded kinda cool. Zany punk music with some crazy sax in the mix. The songs did seem kinda similar to each other but, they are short. So I guess that is in the punk tradition. Total Bros. are a impressive band that makes really cool and interesting sounding high energy songs. They sound like they put a lot of effort in the song structures. Check them out. Fried Drugs are a rock band. They seem to incorporate the yelling of some punk music and some metal tones and riffs and start stop dynamics of post-whatever rock. Guantanamo Baywatch are the essential surf pop band of Portland. I still haven't seen them despite my knowing better. The ALL AGES show is by Donation(?) and it starts at 8:30 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi". I am in need of people to greet me.

-Ben


This is kinda what it is like to see the Total Bros. To get the total experience head out to Dekum
Manor tonight.

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