Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Monday, October 11th

Hello Dear Readers,

Oh no. Not Again! I managed to miss yet more shows. I tend to have a hard time balancing my time between show going and showing visitors a good time. Alas, she leaves tonight and I will get back to my normal show going self. Here is what looks good tonight:

Valentine's is having a show with John Heart Jackie, What Hearts, and Mike Elias. John Heart Jackie are the folk duo of Jenny Wayne and Peter Murray. They have put out and ep and an album. Both of which sound fantastic. I have seen them play a few times and seen Jenny Wayne also play a few times as well. I have always been impressed. What Hearts is a band that really reminds me of early Dear Nora. Which I really love. Maybe it is just the soft double vocals. Either way it sounds like a band I will keep my eyes and ears on. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

The Secret Society is having a show with Mike Apinyakul. You probably have heard of the band he fronts Shoeshine Blue. I am not sure if Mike ever played solo before as Shoeshine Blue, but I certainly see the songs standing on their own quite well. I love the embellishments that a full line up is capable of, but I am also curious how they sound stripped down. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Tube is having a show called Bad Reputation with We're From Japan!, Macrocosm, and DJ Nate C. Bad Reputation is curated every Monday at The Tube. He is a man in the know and while usually he tends to deal with heavy music he is versed in other music too. I have not seen We're from Japan since they joined up with current drummer Vincent Covarrubisas. He used to drum in AristeiA way back and he is drumming with Brittain Ashford. I love We're from Japan! and their ability to build a song to almost impossible tension. Macrocosm list their genres as psychedelic Metal Jam Band. Actually this is fairly accurate. They only have one song on their myspace. It is a epic seven minute live recording with a ridiculous amount of riffage. The show is $3 and starts at 9:30 PM.

Beauty Bar is having the second in the month long residency of Archeology. Every Monday in October they will be playing at 9 PM. As I said last week, up until this residency I had never heard of live music in this pretty small venue. But from what I heard Archeology killed it last week and will probably continue to do so this week. If you are into really catchy melodies and simple yet effective pop arrangements this is the band for you. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Kenton Club is having a show with Lana Rebel. Lana Rebel makes country music. Classic sounding country music along the lines of a Hank Williams or something. I love it. I don't know of anyone else in town who is doing this kind of music this well. I think that every second Monday she plays this gig at Kenton Club. The show is FREE and starts at 8 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say, "Hi". I am the one all bearded up.

-Ben


John Heart Jackie are playing at Valentine's tonight.

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Sunday, October 10th

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night I again missed all shows. I hope you guys went out. There was plenty to see and hear. Let me know what I missed. Here are some shows that look pretty promising to me tonight:

Valentine's is having a show with Carcrashlander and Leonard Mynx. I have not seen Carcrashlander in a long while. They have a new EP, You Were Born In a Hospital, which according to an email is freshly printed and ready to be sold. I have heard it and it is good. Damn good. I have not seen Leonard Mynx play in white some time either. He is always changing his lineup and playing new songs. I don't know what to expect. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Rotture is having a show celebrating the release of Girls to The Front Book. There will be music performances by Feelin' Alright, Tara Jane O'Neil, Ghost Mom (Tunisia, OR), Janet Pants, and DJ Snowtiger. Girls to the Front documents the Riot Grrrl scene that occurred in the 1990's. I did not experience it but heard about it and saw many bands that were directly influenced by it. It looks like a very good and interesting read. Feelin' Alright is a newish band that has something to do with Katy Davidson (Dear Nora/Key Losers). I don't know what it sounds like, but she is in good bands exclusively. Tara Jane O'Neil is also a really great musician. She melds folk and blues and kinda avant/experimental music together often using trance inducing rhythmic percussion provided by her audiences. It is something to behold. Ghost Mom is some fun ass rock and roll music. Janet Pants is a mixture of a band and dance or "dans" troupe. Brian Mumford (Dragging an Ox Through Water) is a part of the band part of things. I have not experienced Janet Pants, but I am very curious. The show is $6 and starts at 8 PM.

Doug Fir is having a show with Pigeons, St. Frankie Lee, Mike Coykendall. This show is a CD release celebration for Pigeons new album. I you like passionate Americana then you should check them out. I really like them. I think they got opener Mike Coykendall to record their album. He has done a great job. I got to see Mike play for the first time last week. He is great. His voice and guitar is all that he needs to fill a room. Luckily for us though he often uses others to take the music to even higher levels. When I saw him last week he was with a lap steel player who knocked my socks off. I haven't seen St. Frankie Lee in sometime, but they have always but on lively shows and engage the crowd in a very effective manner. They are awesome. The show is $8 and starts at 9 PM.

Saratoga is having a show with Don Hellions, Greenbelt Collective (B.C.), and Almost Dark. I really like Don Hellions. I have not seen that they have been playing much since Reservations ( a band that includes members of Don Hellions and Mattress) started playing around town. I like that sound of the organ and sax together. Plus I really like the tunes they are so solid. I don't know anything about Greenbelt Collective. But most Canadian Collectives are pretty good. They seem to be high energy and happy with a lot of cool synth lines and lot of group vocals. The show is at 9 PM.

Mississippi Studios is having a show with Shadow Shadow Shade (LA), Billygoat, and Arch Cape. Shadow Shadow Shade make music that follows the trend of very impressive large indie bands that have many instruments and many voices. I gotta say, at this point I can't get enough of band like this. Billygoat are a group that do not have a lot of members but have a lot of instruments. They actually jest recently added a drummer to the fold officially making them a three piece and freeing them from some drum machines. The initial duo also hand make animation to coincide with their performances. They are quite beautiful. They also sell prints of the stills on the cheap. We have several in our house. Cheap art is awesome. Then there is Arch Cape the newish band lead by one Rachel Blumberg. She has put together a band that is just great. Her songs are at once really chill and catchy. She has Seth Mankoski (Oh Captain My Captain/Jen Moon)on bass, vocals, and percussion. She has Michael Kitson (Y La Bamba/Oh Captain My Captain) on vocals, drums, bells, and percussion. Rachel plays keyboards, marimba, and vocals and maybe some percussion. They are great. I saw them play once before and I was an instant fan. I still get their song, "Beach House" stuck in my head. A lot. The show is $8 and starts at 9 PM.

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

-Ben


TJO will be playing at Rotture tonight. Rachel Blumberg (drumming in this video) will be playing in Arch Cape at Mississippi Studios tonight.

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Saturday, October 9th

Hello Dear Readers,
I have company in town. I love music, but I think I might love spending time with her more. What I am saying is that I did not blog yesterday. Nor did I go to any shows. Despite there being an amazing one at Mississippi Studios. Typhoon played and I hope some of you went out to see it. They are amazing. Tonight there are some cool shows as well:

The Waterheater is having a show with Ross & The Hellpets and The Contestants. You probably recognize Ross Beach. He was always a part of PDX Pop Now. Plus he goes to a good number of shows. He also makes music with this band. He grew up with a lot of the Elephant 6 crowd. His band resides in the same "acousti-fuzz" realm of those folks. The Contestants are a classic pop rock band that I am not familiar with. One of the main reasons I am writing about this show is because I think it is cool that there is a new ALL AGES space for shows. You should check out The Waterheater. The ALL AGES show is FREE and starts at 8 PM.

Backspace is having the second night of Sound Judgement Festival. Tonight they have Arctic Flowers, Bellicose Minds, Spectres, Grey Anne, Wishyunu, and Midnight Callers. Arya Imig is a pretty cool dude and he knows how to throw a show. Though I don't know all of these bands, the ones I do know are great. Grey Anne is one of my favorite performers in Portland. She doesn't play out that often so when she does I always urge people to go. Her songs are well written well arranged and well worth checking out. I am also a fan of Wishyunu. They make pop music that is heavy on looped synth keyboards and drums. It is impressive to see them at work. The ALL AGES show is $5 and starts at 8 PM.

The Woods is having a show with Frog Eyes, Deer or The Doe, and Here Comes Dots. Frog Eyes is a a Canadian band that tend to share the same space my mind as Wolf Parade. It is probably because both make music that is fronted by frontmen that have a yelpy vocals and make rock music that makes me think both of times past while feeling very contemporary. Maybe is is also because both front men, or at least on of the front men of Wolf Parade (they have two) play in Swan Lake together. Portland's Deer of The Doe is actually a really good fit with Frog Eyes. They play guitar driven indie rock. And will hopefully have a new album out soon. In the meantime you can get an ep from them for free right here. Here Come Dots sound like a catchy indie pop band with epic and spacey guitars (correction only one guitar). It really puts them on the next level. The show is $10 and starts at 9 PM.

Doug Fir is having Led Zeppelin Night. There are about a million bands who contributed to The Portland Zep Tribute Record. Tonight Threads (members of Clampitt, Gaddis & Buck
Power of County, Mighty Ghosts, Rally Boy, andLookBook), Portland Cello Project, Loch Lomond, Laura Gibson, Jon Moen, Arch Cape, Miss Murgatroid, Lana Rebel, LKN, Carcrashlander, Chris Funk (of The Decemberists), Rob Jones (Jealous Butcher owner), Holly Morgan (Thee Headliners), Tim Ervin, Dan Jones, Ryan Sollee (The Builders and the Butchers), Pellet Gun, Jeff London, Luz Elena Mendoza (Y La Bamba, AgesAndAges, Jennifer Stefanich, Jenny Conlee (of The Decemberists), Little Sue, Adam Selzer (Norfolk & Western, and Nate Query (of The Decemberists) will all play Led Zeppelin Songs. Jealous Butcher is putting out the record. It has been six years in the making. This was on the Jealous Butcher's website, "We've been working on this compilation of our friends and musical colleagues covering songs by Led Zeppelin for around 6 years now and we're finally done with it. The comp, like the band being covered, is epic. There are 50 bands participating in the project, playing over 210 minutes of music. The songs span Zeppelin's career, veering from faithful revistings to dramatic left turn takes on the originals. We've put together 2 full CD's of material and, as there was so much amazing music, we added a digital download of a 3rd album free with each compilation. It all comes in a deluxe tip-on gatefold jacket, which is how all gatefold LP's used to be packaged. The cover are was done by Carson Ellis (Decemberists, Lemony Snickett), who is super awesome, and the inner gatefold art was done by John King (M. Ward), who is also super awesome. For this release we've partnered up with the fine folks at First Octave, to whom we will be donating a percentage of the profits from this comp. First Octave is an amazing group of folks who give grants to Portland Public Schools to help fund music programs. Something very dear to us here at Jealous Butcher. This all comes out on Oct 12th, though if you come to our very special release show on the 9th you'll be able to get it early, along with all sorts of other awesome things. ". This is a one time only show. I will be honest, I was not into Led Zeppelin growing up. It was not until I heard a different tribute album that had Stone Temple Pilots on it that I familiarized myself with their songs. Then I got to know them for what they are. Kinda awesome. Hopefully this tribute will bring another generation closer to the band. The show is $10 and starts at 9 PM

If you see me at any of these shows please say, "Hi". I will be the one with the beautiful woman from Sacramento by his side.

-Ben


Here Comes Dots will look very similar to this tonight.

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Cloudy October's Debut Video "Lowerface"

Hopefully my boy Genkai doesn't mind us jumping the gun here and debuting "Lowerface" ahead of schedule. It's planned for a wide release Saturday, but it's just too awesome to not want to share it in the meantime.

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Thursday, October 7th

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night I had some things to do around the house. Don't mean to sound so domestic but those things needed to get done. I am having a very special visitor in town and I wanted to give the appearance that I can actually do things like clean the sheets on my bed or vacuum my room or not have unneeded items covering the floor of my room. As it turns out, if I miss a show here and there, I can actually do these things. It even makes me feel better to have them done. That being said apparently I missed out on a hush hush Nick Jaina send off show at Roadside Attraction. They are leaving for tour today (I beleive this is Nick's third tour this year). In other Nick Jaina news he is trying to raise some cash to put out an album where a lot of women sing songs that he wrote. Check out the kickstarter page for more information on the all star cast of singing ladies. Ahhh! I got distracted. Here are the shows that look good today:

Tender Loving Empire is having a First Thursday event at their store front. They will have four visual artists displayed in the store and one of their music label's musical artist Y La Bamba (Hey, I'm in that band!) playing a set. The art is curated by the Portland Art Blog Hungery Eyeball. It features art work from Wesley Younie, Amy Ruppel Kinoko, Chelsea Fletcher, and Rebecca Artmisa. I am now art critigue, but I think it is "all good". Also in a somewhat related matter to this show, Y La Bamba released our first music video yesterday via Fader. I have included the video at the bottom of the page. We are going to be playing a relatively stripped down set. If you are a fan of vocal harmonies or of latin percussion or hushed lullabyes, Y La Bamba has you covered. It is ALL AGES and FREE. The music starts at 8 PM.

Rotture is having the Bike Commute Challange Awards Afterparty with music provided by Hurtbird and Brothers Young and DJ Lifepartner. I am pretty sure there is some overlap of band members between these two bands. I just double checked. There is at least one shared member. If you like bikes, you will fit in with this crowd. If you dig music you will fit in this crowd. If you like Beta Band you will most likely fit in this crowd (a comparable band to Brothers Young) The show is FREE and starts at 8 PM.

Aladdin Theater is having a show with Corin Tucker Band and The Golden Bears. Have your ever heard of Sleater-Kenny? This is almost that band. But not quite. Corin Tucker was part of that band. You probably would recognize her voice if you heard it. There is actually a sizable article on her at the Aladdin website. You can read it here. The ALL AGES show is $18 at 8:30 PM

If you see me at any of these shows (especially the Tender Loving Empire one) please say, "Hi". I would gladly engage in a conversation with you.

-Ben

Y La Bamba - Juniper from Tangible Worldwide on Vimeo.
Y La Bamba play Tender Loving Empire store tonight. I am there. Are you?

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Wednesday, October 6th

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night was a Meyercord band practice. Kinda. There was only two of us. But we got two songs worked out. Not too shabby. Anyways, I guess what I am getting at is that I did not go to a show last night. I hope you guys did though. Shows are good. Speaking of shows being good, here is what is going on tonight:

Someday Lounge is having a OLCV Fundraiser with Acoustic Minds, Go Fever, And And And, and Search Party. The Oregon League of Conservation Voters is "The independent political voice for Oregon’s environment". I think that they might do some good things. Plus I like And And And. There are six of them and a whole mess of gear on stage. They switch between two main songwriters both of which can write the crap out of a pop song. For reals. Go Fever seems to be related to that whole Dandy Warhols. If not it certainly sounds like they are. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Burgerville is hosting the first event of Sound Judgment Festival is curated by Arya Imig every year around his birthday. If you do not know him, you should. He is at the heart of the Portland music scene. He does not play in any bands, but he is a super fan. Sound Judgment is a radio show that he had on KPSU. He now does a podcast called These Are The Days for Local Cut. This is the fourth year of the festival. Starting things off are And And And, Ylang Ylang, the Reservations, and Your Rival. And And And plays two shows one night? crazy? Yes. The ALL AGES show is FREE and starts at 6 PM.

Backspace is continuing day one of Sound Judgment. They will have Tope, Benoit Piolard, Prescription Pills, Weak Steel, River Banks, Grandfather, and DJ Pulsing Organs. This to my knowledge is the first show at a venue that Arya has ever booked. It is still ALL AGES though. It's just Arya's style. He has pretty good taste in music and honestly is far more versed in Portland Music than I am. I only am familiar with two of the artists playing tonight. I missed Benoit Piolard when he played PDX Pop last year. I was bummed I like what I heard of him. He makes music that is sometimes ambient. Sometimes is pop oriented but like with a lot spacey textures. Check out his track "idyll". It's great. I am sure the other bands are good too. The ALL AGES show is $5 and starts at 8 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say, "Hi". I am the one Nike's.

-Ben


And And And is playing at Burgerville on Hawthorne and then Someday Lounge. Supposedly

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Tuesday, October 5th

Hello Dear Readers,

So the last two days in a row I have been scheduled to work at 6 am (that is the very early morning). It has meant that I have not wanted to go to shows. It also means that I have not been able to start blogging until I get home from work at like 3 PM. Suck. I hope you guys have been able to make it to shows. Anyways, here are some good shows going on tonight:
Holocene is having a show with The Clean (New Zealand), Quasi, Theo Angell with Hamish Kilgour (Of The Clean) & IIyas Ahmed, DJ Simmons and DJ Frank Sumatra. Basically it goes like this. I know about The Clean. I know that they are from New Zealand and are said to heavily influence indie rock. Here is the deal. I never listened to them. I know that I am supposed to have. This sometimes happens to me. I did not listen to the Pixies until I saw Fight Club and I was like, "who does that awesome song at the end of the movie? The Pixies? Oh. They are that band that I am supposed to love. I guess I do love them". I am guessing that the same thing might happen with this band. I am mostly writing about this show because of my love for Quasi. I realized that I have been listening to that band for almost ten years. I thought that they might have gone soft, but their latest album American Gong is so good. They have not gone soft at all. It is rock and roll. Sam Coomes can rock out on guitar at the same intensity that he can rock out on any keyed instrument (except maybe the accordion) and if you have seen him play piano, you know that he rocks the f out. Theo Angell makes kinda far out music. local man Ilyas Ahmed also kinda makes out there music. They are teaming up with that dude from The Clean to do something. I am not sure what, but I bet it will be cool. The show is $15 and starts at 8:30 PM.

Rotture is having a show with The Like (LA), Monarques, and DJ Chazz Madrigal. The Like makes music that is highly reminiscent of 60's pop. It somewhere between the girl groups of that decade and something you would see in an Austin Powers movie. Not necessarily in a bad way. They have an ascetic and they do not stray. Check out any picture of them, and you will swear that the band is not of our time. Portland's Monarques is less British Invasion, but still mines the 60's decade shamelessly. That being said they are one of the most fun shows to see in town. They songs with huge hooks that you will have you singing along with everyone else in no time. The show is $6 and starts at 9 PM.

Ella Street is having a show with The Shivas, Eliza Rickman, and Pony Village. The Shivas used to be the pride of Vancouver, WA. Recently I noticed that they are reaping Portland now. They like many bands before them borrow from music ascetics that have already happened. A lot of the time they play spaced out 60's rock. Eliza is from LA . She plays piano (toy piano) and is backed by a band with two violins, viola, a cello and bassist and drummer/percussionist. If I am not mistaken that she is backed by a string quartet and rhythm section. Pretty cool. Pony Village plays guitar driven Indie Rock that has really strong pop sensibilities. It is sweet on the ears. Lots to like. I have their self titled 12" ep. It is also awesome that they released it on vinyl. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say, "Hi". I am the one Nike's.

-Ben

Monarques - I Can't Be Saved from Smoke Signals on Vimeo

Catch Monarques at Rotture tonight.

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Monday, October 4th

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night I went to Mississippi Studios to see Aan and Hossanas. It was the CD release show for Hosasnnas' new album ironically titled Together (they kind lost 50% of the band recently). The album is great. A grower that will reward after many listens. I love it. They played a set of mostly new stuff though, because many of the songs are just not able to be played with two people. Which is not to take away from their performance. They are great not matter what. They started the set with an a capella song. That is ballsy. I would also like to mention how great Aan was. He played a new one two it was absolutely brilliant. There were so many parts that had me think to myself "that is so cool". Hopefully they put out something new soon because I would love to have a copy of that new song. I missed the opener which apparently was a mash up of The Dodo's and Akron/Family. Literally. Also Matt Sheehy (of Matt Sheehy and Ramona Falls) was in the band. Brandon of Hosannas said it was the best show he has seen since he has been in Portland. I missed out because of Y La Bamba practice. Anyways, here are some shows that might be promising:

Holocene is having a show with Golden Bears, Hungry Ghost, and Check, Please. Golden Bear is the duo of Julianna Bright (an Illustrator) and Seth Lorninczi (writer/cook). They were both in a load of bands in the Bay Area before moving up here. They have made one album and apparently working another. Judging by the songs they have on myspace they have two modes. One is kinda balls out rock. They other is ballady. There is no in-between. Seth is also the guitarist in Corin Tucker's new band. I think that Corin's album was recording in the Golden Bears studio. Hungry Ghost is a band that I found out about because Sara Lund (Unwound) on drums. I am unsure how I feel about the interesting take on blues rock. I could not find out any information about "Check, Please!". The price on this thing pretty appealing. The show is FREE and starts at 8:30 PM.

The Beauty Bar is having a show with Archeology. The relatively new edition of the Beauty Bar franchise here in Portland has up until now been strictly DJs. All the other Beauty Bars in the county regularly host live music, though. I have played the one in Austin and the one in San Diego. The one in Portland is a pretty small space. Archeology seemed to have landed a Monday night residency in October. I am curious as to how this will go. The four piece is has two main songwriters and a knack for writing catchy light indie-pop songs with tons of hooks. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Valentine's is having a show with Mop., Thuggage, Safeword, Paul Schlesinger, and Justin Leon Johnson. As far as I can tell Mop. is not a real band but is related to Comedy is OK a Portland based comedy video thing. Thuggage on the other hand is very real (and that is how they keep it). The hyphen hip-hop group is pretty funny but also pretty good. I played a show with them a long time ago and it was great. They are a spectacle. I could not find information about the other people listed on the bill, but I am sure that it is um…funny. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say, "Hi". I am the one Nike's.

-Ben

isaiah. mop. music. from Comedy is OK. on Vimeo.

Mop. is gonna do something at Valentine's tonight.

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