Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Tuesday, April 26th

Hello Dear Readers,

The last several days I have played in Y La Bamba on tour with Dark Dark Dark and Why Are You Building Such A Big Ship?. We played in Santa Rosa yesterday and I am currently in Sacramento. We are playing Nevada City tonight. I have no idea what shows are happening in Portland save what is listed on this here "Internet". Anyways, here are the Portland shows that look good to me tonight:

Ella Street is having a show with Hill House, Amos Val, and Port St. Willow. I do not know what to make of Hill House. It seems to mix a lot of elements, but as most music the thing that tends to define it are the vocals. In Hill House's case, it seems to be from emo to screaming bits. Though I would not call them Screamo by any means. Amos Val is an ambient leaning rock band. I really like it. The easy comparison would be Explosions in the Sky. Where as most bands that get this comparison really suck (even the the new EITS is not really good), I would like to thankfully say that Amos Val does not. It is well worn territory, instrumental music made with delayed guitars and marching drums, but I still think it is good. I see that they are playing some shows with Port St. Willow. Port St. Willow is the reason I am writing about this show. It is the one man project of Nick Principe. It ranges from him banging a drum to monumentally delayed and reverb soak guitars with his gentle vocals. It is very pretty and moving music. It caught me immediately. The show is FREE/donations and starts at 9 PM.

Holocene is having a show with Royal Bangs (Knoxville, TN), Superhumanoids (LA), and Team Evil. Royal Bangs is a high energy rock band that was "discovered" by Black Keys drummer Patick Carney. Since his initial findings he has released two of Royal Bangs albums including Flux Outside on his imprint Audio Eagle. They are playing with Superhumanoids a band that is indie rock with a lot of synths and drum machines or samplers. It has a very contemporary feel despite the 80's touching points. The reason I am listing the show though, is Team Evil. It is lead by Point Juncture's Skyler Norwood. It is lite and kinda jazzy in it's guitar noodling. It is also very likable. The show is $10 and starts at 8:30 PM.

Valentine's is having a show with Hornet Leg, XDS, and Formica Man. Hornet Leg has made a name for itself for it's live shows and putting out records on the Pacific NW "punk" label K Records. XDS is the progressive art rock madness of Jesse Hall, and Ben Tyler. The songs were written with Jesse's partner Shoko Hoirawa. But she recently had a baby and is not in show playing mode just yet. The music is kinda crazy but really fun and impressive. Especially when seen performed live. Formica Man is a new band that has members of Karen and Total Noise. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

You won't see me at any of these shows, but you should say hi to someone.

Ben


Team Evil plays at Holocene tonight.

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