Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Tuesday, May 10th

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night I stayed in South Bend, Indiana. We in Y La Bamba are on our way across the country to play a tour with Neko Case. I am beyond stoked. Also, we picked up a mobile hotspot for the van, so looks like I can maybe blog from the road. I men today is the first day it appears to be working. Thanks to Eric for meeting up with us last night we now have three drivers. Anyways, here are the Portland shows that look good to me tonight:

Mississippi Studios is having a show with Crystal Stilts (Brooklyn, NY), Case Studies (Seattle), and Archers. I will admit it that it is hard to wite the blog in the van. Many places have spotty Internet signals. There is also the instruction of other people in the van. Crystal Stilts are a band that I know I have heard of of at least seen their name around the Internet. I just listened to them. On the first listen they had the same reverie vibe as other NY bands like the Walkmen. It is a good sound. Seattle's Case Studies lists 13 members on it's Facebook. It also describes the band as a "revolving door singalong/playalong art project". I can see that if there are in fact 13 members, that most of them are a choir. The music seems to revolve around a deep voiced man and an acoustic guitar. I really like it. The reason I was drawn to the show however was Archers and their hyperactive rock and roll. Admittedly it is kinda crazy to be hit with all of their energy at once, but you should see them anyway. The show is $10 and starts at 9 PM.
Valentine's is having a show with Pelican Ossman, Pool of Winds, and Love Menu. Pelican Ossman is a band that I think mostly does some acoustic songs and then to throw me completely have also recorded a noisy keyboard freak out. I am not sure what to expect. Pool of Winds has something to do Sex Life. I am not sure if it will deviate from the sexy electro of that band or not. Pool of Winds sounds less sexy, or does it? Love Menu is one Emily Katz. The last I checked in with her musically she performed most of her songs on the folkiest of instruments, the autoharp. I have not seen her play in a long time. She has been busy with her many artistic outlets. I ran into her the other night and she told me that she has written many new songs and would be playing mostly a new bunch of songs. I bet it is good. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Tonic Lounge is having a show with Besties, Charts and Shapes. I normally never have to write about The Tonic Lounge. But it looks like there is a new booker there that actually has some good bands playing there now. Besties is a band that I have not seen that is fronted by the guy from Orca Team (another band I have been meaning to see). Much like his other band, this one has amazing pop sensibilities and cool melodies. But where as Orca team lifts lightly from surf, Besties lifts very lightly from a different kind of beach. A Caribbean beach. Their myspace lists The Little Mermaid and The Smiths as influences. Charts are a good pop band that I have yet to see. I have listened to a couple of their unmastereed demos and some of their live tracks and I think they contain a lot of potential. It is nice to know that pop music will never die. I am pretty sure that Shapes is side project of one the guys from BOOM!. You can get some live demos that feature a double drum set, guitar and omnichord right here. The show is $3 and starts at 9:30 PM.

Bunk Bar is having a show with The Golden Hours. The Golden Hours is a band that I have been meaning to check out for a while but have not yet. I have been writing about them based on the three songs they have on their myspace. It promises a great girl/boy indie pop band. A really good one. They also have and entirely sold out back catalogue to attest to how good they are as well. The show is FREE and starts at 10 PM.

Al's Den is having a show with Nate Lacy (Mimicking Birds). Nate Lacy has been booked to play every day this week at the happy hour time of 7 PM. I am pretty sure that it is a marketing ploy to get you to check out the newly opened Al's Den. I can guarantee you that if I were in Portland I would fall for this ploy. Because ultimately everyone wins. You get to see Mimicking Bird in a super stripped down setting for FREE. Cool. They get you into their new place. Cool. Honestly it is hard to imagine the songs of Mimicking Birds in a none intimate way. Over the last year I have grown quite fond of the Issac Brock produced self titled album. It reminds me a of his side project Ugly Cassanova. The show is FREE and starts at 7 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say, "hi".

Ben


Besties play at Tonic Lounge tonight!