Sounds Illustrated: Anna Paul, Yarn Owl & Fenbi at the Know, Aug 20th

Hi, Crappy Indie Readers!

I've added some new crappy indie sketches to my sketchbook. The following sketches were drawn at The Know on Alberta on Friday, August 20th. I caught three lovely performances which were part of the first annual Portland Folk Festival. (Click on any image to embiggen.)

First was Anna Paul and the Bearded Lady, an adept and boucy dixieland quartet led by vocalist/trombonist, Anna Leander:





They were followed by the reverb drenched indie pop of Yarn Owl (Pullman, WA).







Then the Fenbi International Superstars belted out high-energy, multi-ethnic bar folk.

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PDX Pop Now! Sketchbook

Hi Folks!

I've had a lot of fun scoping out PDX Pop Now! this weekend. Here are sketches I drew of most of the bands I saw (click on images to embiggen):

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Another HOLY SHIT! Post

'Cause that's all I could think to say after seeing this. Amazing!



Hat tip to PopLife of I Fry Mine in Butter

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MS Paint Live Review: Cascade Community Radio Launch Party

Hey y'all!

Goldie, Karllos and I attended the Cascade Community Radio launch party last weekend at the Portland East Eagles Lodge, and because I wouldn't be doing my journalistic duty if I didn't report back to all you lovely readers about the event, here is an MS Paint review.

I had to leave a bit early to catch the transit home, so I missed seeing "Portland's Premier Robert Palmer Tribute" and the giant jazz jam that was advertised, but here's what I did see:

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The Happy Detective: New 7" From Portland's Favorite Font

Attention CIMTB readers: the chamber pop ensemble New Century Schoolbook, in which our own Amber Dawn Loranger holds the position of first flute, will be releasing their new 7" entitled The Happy Detective tonight at the Artistery. I have already had the privilege of hearing this new release with mine own ears, and its 3 molodic and slightly moody tracks will definitely appeal to fans of 60s-influenced indie pop.

The songs' blithe melodies and carefully charted arrangements draw obvious comparisons to Spector-produced tunes of yore, but often songwriter Jonny Askew eschew's straightforward 60s phrasing in favor of a more urgent, modern lyrical aesthetic. There's also an intriguingly complex dimension to these sunny-on-the-surface pieces.

The title track transplants a sense of frustration into a happy-go-lucky pop shell, repeatedly building from a peppy but gentle electric piano riff into an impassioned accusatory rant: "They can call you a savior/well I'll call you a crook!" while still leaving room for a soothing flute interlude.

The second track, "Icebergs," is a brief track featuring baroque intertwining of flute, guitar and keyboard beneath a tale comprised of equal parts romance and tongue-in-cheek doomsday imagery.

The abrupt staccato ending of "Icebergs" foreshadows the driving beat of "The Vetting Process," featured on the disc's B-side. This song grafts a prosaic verbosity onto a catchy tune, creating a musical middle ground between the Ronettes and a Gilbert & Sullivan patter song, and driving straight into a cathartic keyboard-heavy instrumental breakdown.

This release is a brief but impressive sample of infectious, skillfully arranged and thoughtful tunes, and should leave listeners anxious for a future full-length release.



New Century Schoolbook plays tonight with Wow and Flutter and Paper Brain at the Artistery.
4315 SE Division St.
8 PM
$6
All Ages

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Linkage: Commencement of Ladypalooza

Hey all! I'd like to share a link.

The consistently fantastic Tiger Beatdown has initiated a series of posts about women's experiences in the world of music called Ladypalooza. While even editor Sady Doyle admits it has a stupid title, it's a great platform for woman musicians to voice their experiences. And I also think the awesomeness of the blog's name cancels it the silly series title.


Tiger Beatdown: Awesome Blog Name (& much better than Tiger Beat)

Today, contributer Silvana started off the series with her post I Went To Your Concert and There Was Nothing Going On, or, A Meditation on Dude Music. A lot of her story rings true for me, and my own early experiences attempting to play in bands, and enter music-related discourse with male friends -especially the "I just don't like women's voices" part.

It's a great example of a thoughtful and justified rant, and I'm excited to follow this series and read more blog entries from different perspectives.

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MS Paint Live Review: On The Stairs' CD Release at The Woods

Visit On The Stairspace.

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Swallows: Between the Sea and Sky Release

Hi folks,

As fate would have it, I'll be playing a bit part in a really cool show tonight, but let me tell you about the MAIN EVENT.

Powerhouse duo Swallows are having a CD Release show at Langano Lounge for their latest disc Between the Sea and Sky.

Their new work demonstrate a mastery of controlled intensity, with compositions meditating on a modality and building in force and intricacy into bold poetic landscapes.

The 8 track album, recorded by the late Kip Crawford, feels like a beautifully understated synthesis of the group's proggy, riot grrrl and queercore infuences. There's plenty of rock intensity, but it's balanced by poignant negative space. Em Brownlowe's vocals come across clear amid the intricate drum and guitar filigree, communicating heady lyrical concepts with skillful brevity .


The show will begin promptly at 9 PM with a Spanish class conceived ensemble Los Postmodernos, which also features Brownlowe. Also playing will be prog/minimalist group Form & Fracture (I'll be subbing on clarinet with them -fun!), and DJ Gaycondo will be providing some fine sounds to dance to. Langano Lounge is located
at 1435 SE Hawthorne.

"When They Come to Us" performed live at the Egyptian Club, 2-11-10. This song is featured on the new album Between the Sea and the Sky

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Question of the Week: Have You Voted Yet?

So this isn't music related, and is more of a public service announcement than an open-ended question, but wevs.

Oregon ballots are due Tues. January 26th (TOMORROW) by 8 PM!

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Question of the Week: The Perils/Benefits of Social Media

Hey all, I've been considering getting a Twitter account, but I'm afraid it'll just be one more annoying thing to update all the time (one of the many reasons I deleted my facebook account a while ago).

For those of you that use it, what are the pros and cons? Do you find it's good for promoting your music? Other things?

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Question of the Week: The New Melodica

D'oh, I missed another week of questioning last week. Sorry folks.

But this week, I have something to ask!



What do you think will be the hot new wacky instrument in Portland indie music?

I think it's about time for the harpsichord to make a comeback. I'm not looking forward to it, though. I wish it could be the tubular bells instead.

Or maybe I should pre-order tickets for the big Portland Shamisen Project concert.

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PDX Pop Now! Accepting Submissions

Hey Portland bands/musicians! If you're interested in submitting a track for the next PDX Pop Now! compilation, you can do it right now at this web locale: http://pdxpopnow.com/submit

Music submissions can be made online, but you'll have to send in a hard copy of the submission form with signature to PDX Pop Now! Attn: Comp Coordinator PO Box 14828 Portland, OR 97293.

All songs must be uploaded by February 28, 2010. Signed release forms must be received by March 15, 2010.

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The Return of the Creative Music Guild

If you haven't heard of the Creative Music Guild before (I hadn't until today, although they've been active since 1991!), they're a local Portland non-profit that organizes events and concerts promoting experimental and jazz-influenced improvisational music. Through concerts, workshops and promotional efforts, they provide support and visibility for musicians pursuing bold and challenging music that exists outside the commercial sphere and listening opportunities for experimental and improvisational music fans. It sounds like a really cool organization, and it's entirely volunteer-run and member financed. And the exciting news is that they are returning from a brief hiatus and presenting a new series of concerts!

The first of these takes place this Sunday, January 10th at The Wail and will feature improvisational saxophonist and experimental composer Bhob Rainey. According to Oregon Music News, Rainey will perform both solo and with an ensemble talented local performers including John Savage, Pete Swanson (of Yellow Swans), Jef Brown (Evolutionary Jass Band), Ilyas Ahmed, Joel Pickard, J Morales (Abusive Delay), JP Jenkins, Mary Sue Tobin, John Niekrasz (Why I Must Be Careful), and Matt Carlson (Parenthetical Girls). The event starts at 8PM, is $7 general and $5 for Guild members and students.

The Creative Music Guild has also announced performances by the following:

Early February: Fred Lonberg-Holm and Torsten Mueller

February 19th: Chris Corsano, Wally Shoup, C. Spencer Yeh, and Bill Horist

April 2nd: Wayne Horvitz, Briggan Krauss, and Le Quan Ninh

Bhob Rainey and a host of Portland musicians will be experimentalizing for you this Sunday!

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Question of the Week: Best of 2009

Sorry about not posting last week. I guess I could make the excuse that I was taking a holiday vacation, but I'm not sure, as I didn't actually travel or anything. Oh well.

It's the end of the year, and I'm obligated to pose a best of 2009 type question, so what was the best live show you saw this year?

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Question of the Week: X-mas Album

Hi folks!

Another week has passed; another question must be posed.

ChristmasChristmasChristmas... OMG it's almost XXXmas!!!!!!

So I ask of you, what Portland band would you most want to make a x-mas album? I think I'm gonna choose Here Comes a Big Black Cloud. I see baby Jesus emerging from the womb amid a clatter of feedback and other worldly theramin warbling. Santa dies and returns as an undead monster.



This album would have to be performed live in its entirety on Christmas eve, a Midnight mass. Mass chaos.

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MP3: David Shane Smith - "Tarmac"

A troubadour of old is transported into the overstimulation and isolation of the 21st century urban landscape. He is adept at learning to utilize modern technology to complement his lilting melodies. He is a shrewd observer of his current culture and surroundings. Inherent tension pervades his compositions, lushness and gauntness grate against each other as the medieval poet wraps his literary tendrils around the minimalist pulsations of the modern city.

This isn't David Shane Smith, but the fictional sci-fi/fantasy figure that creeps into my consciousness when listening to his songs. Simultaneously encompassing and defying conventions of folk, electronica and beat poetry, the music sounds fantastic and other worldly, but is most profound in its humanity.

"Tarmac" raises one's pulse, the beats are driving and frenetic, the vocals as insistent as they are mournful. Initially there's something incredibly chilling about it, inducing a sort of hypothermia of the soul, but soon the lines of the chorus repeat in warbling harmony and break into a cathartic burbling synth chord. There is something about the piece that causes the stomach to drop, that completely arrests the senses and emotions, something arresting and painfully honest.

David Shane Smith - Tarmac

David Shane Smith used to be a Portland musician and has subsequently ventured into the New York City and Los Angeles music scenes.

His latest release, Cloud Pleaser is available in hard copy and for immediate download on CD Baby.

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8 Days of Hannukah, Starting Now!

It's after sunset and thus Hannukah has officially begun. What better way to celebrate this miracle of light than by listening to a festive song written by Senator Orrin Hatch? Get ready for some Mormon chutzpah!

Eight Days of Hanukkah from Tablet Magazine on Vimeo.

Okay, there are probably much better ways to celebrate it.

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Arctic Day-Glo

It's December and many of you are probably eagerly awaiting a magical, sparkling gift from the upper regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Lucky for you, Caribou drummer Brad Weber and his alliterative side project Pick a Piper have delivered us a video for their song "Rooms," filmed in Iceland and Canada and wrapped in plenty of sumptuous arctic day-glo.

Perhaps 'Pick a Percussionist' would have been a more suitable moniker for this group, as its dense and eclectic percussion turns out to be the most pleasing feature of this particular song and video. The song itself is a sweet, droning affair that veers dangerously close to church camp sing-along material at times. However, things pick up as the initial percussion section of jingle bells and minimalist glockenspiel give way to an arsenal of intricately interwoven toms, hand drums and cymbals.

The accompanying visuals encompass a similar sweetness and wildness. A door opens to a room, or perhaps simply room, a physical and metaphysical space where soft dreamlike landscapes and bright, visceral action coexist and seamlessly interact. Green-screened deconstructionist psychedelia that would make Jimmy Joe Roche proud commingles with placid geology documentary landscapes and nothing could look more natural. The prominence of the former builds with the percussive crescendo of the music until everything recedes at the end into a pleasant lull of natural voices and scenery.

PICK A PIPER - Rooms (filmed in Iceland and Canada) from Brad Weber on Vimeo.

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Regretsy Ventures into Musical Territory

If you haven't seen the blog Regretsy yet, click on that link immediately! It's a blog that delivers crafty comedy using the trusted laugh-generating formula of making fun of crappy art.

Today I was delighted to see that blogger Helen Killer has ventured beyond crappy crafts and visual art and into the realm of, you guessed it, crappy indie music with today's post about obscure artist Varga's album River of Love. This album features both killer casio and a killer album cover!



I'm looking forward to seeing more of these kinds of postings.

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Question of the Week: Hey You!

This one is for the musicians/performers, which I'm sure encompasses much if not most of our readership. What would you say was your most successful moment as a performer?

I think mine was shortly after performing a solo acoustic set when I overheard a guy from the audience describing it as the scariest thing he'd ever seen.

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