BAT COUNTRY!!!! Lonely island edition

Well, you expected to be "On A Boat", but more in the spirit of a dick in a box, I am indeed making a funny on you. Nope, not the darlings of comedy, I am instead speaking of that thrice-damned island from the hit TV series "LOST."

What does it have to do with music, you may ask? Well, we all know that actors and musicians tend to have a lot of overlap. In the case of the cast of Lost, there seems to be a nice concentration of musical talent behind the scenes. Let's take a look at what's there, shall we?

DOMINIC MONAGHAN.

Dom actually played a musician on the series, so this seemed like an obvious place to start. He gets a number of decent performances in, but perhaps the most touching is a backstory bit that we only get a little tease of...


ELIZABETH MITCHELL.

This one is quite the kick. 'Juliet' on the series has been popping up on the Raffi station on Pandora. And she's pretty damn good. The only problem I have is that I keep thinking of that scene in "Gia" where she makes sweet sweet sex to Angelina Jolie. Anyway, check out her collaboration here with Lisa Loeb:


JOSH HOLLOWAY:

Well, why not model and act and whatever else too. According to tales on set, there are fairly regular jam sessions, and Holloway is a capable guitar player. Unfortunately the one video I could find of him playing music clearly has some suspicious overdubbed vocals, but it was either that or the video to "Cryin'" where Alicia Silverstone delivers him a piping hot beatdown.


NAVEEN ANDREWS:

English actor Andrews plays ginormous badass Sayid, but it turns out he would have been just as happy to be a musician. There are of course videos of him rocking some Sex Pistols covers with Billy Morrison and that guy from Extra!, but I thought this little comp would be a nice contrast.


JORGE GARCIA:

Sorry, Hurley, but I'm not seeing anything that kicks you up past local karaoke.


TERRY O'QUINN:

The dour John Locke is reported to be quite the singer-songwriter, and I found a video that, while a bit dated, seems to prove that. I'm not sure if he looks more like James Taylor or Will Forte here.


MATTHEW FOX:

I have no evidence that this dude is a musician, but I found this and it's fucking funny. Just watch it.


LANCE REDDICK:

I had to save the best for last. Reddick plays enigmatic lurker Matthew Abaddon, and his deep scary voice graces several other shows as well. What greater surprise then, to find that he's a velvety-voiced jazz crooner. It's just so weird, and I'd wager he's probabaly the best of the bunch. His voice, especially on tracks like "Voices" recalls Ike Willis in his prime, but without the bombast. Alas, I don't have a video for you, but just go to Lance Reddick's site, listen to some tracks, and be amazed. But not to disappoint, here's a Beyonce music video starring Lance. Hmm...

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Sunday, March 14th

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night I played in Sean Flinn & The Royal We at The Woods. It was kinda ridiculous, other the several months, Sean has built up two bands to play his songs. Last night he combined the bands together and even added a member with John from Nick Jaina and Run On Sentence making the band nine members strong. It was awesome . There was pedal steel and three backing vocals and flugel horn and clarinet and all sorts of flourishes. Then there was the band that we opened for Breathe Owl Breathe. I saw then last year at a house show and was really impressed with the way they interacted with the audience. I was not sure how it would translate to a bigger audience. It translated very well. They had the audience clapping and making howling sounds and even the wave at one point. They were super fun. Anyway, here is a list of show that peak my interest tonight:

Saturday, March 13th

Holocene is having a show with White Hinterland, Alexis Gideon, Cole Milner, Gordon Shumway, and DJ Baba Booie. This is the CD release show for White Hinterland. I just listened to a few tracks off of the new album and it is different. Not different bad, but different good. There is a whole lot more beat driven elements and a whole lot less rhodes. I am particularly fond of the song "Icarus" and its pulsing synth bass line and reverby beat and catchy vocal hook. They will be heading out on an international tour after this show, so if you are into this band seem them now or you won't be able to for a while. Alexis Gideon is a cool dude that makes very strange hip pop. His flow is mid tempo and vaguely recall a dirty south flow like Nelly but way more surreal. The sounds that hang out in his songs are weird. I tend to like it. Cole is a dude that crafts quirky electro-pop nuggets. I like them. The way he layers his vocals sometimes reminds me of a less weird dude from Dirty Projectors. The show is $8 and starts at 8:30 PM.

The Knife Shop is having a show with Hosannas, My Dads, and Datura Blues. Hosannas is a name that I think I am finally accepting as a band instead of a band that used to be called Church. I think they are great and display some of the finest use of dynamics in Portland. They are serious about playing and a very tight band built around the brothers Richard and Brandon who sing very well together, but the band is helped enormously by the cool synth layers that Christof lays down and the drums from Lane provides to push the band to the next level. I cannot get enough of them and apparently they are in the midst of recording their next album. I am stoked. My Dads is a instrumental band that plays post rock. I have played a show with them before and thought they showed a lot of promise. They a little too much chorus on their guitars for my tastes but still sounded pretty good. Datura Blues is a revolving band/collective that Lane from Hosannas used to be a part of. I am unsure if he will be joining them tonight. From what I can tell, they sound like a psychedelic jam band that gets a little spacier than most bands. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.

Valentine's is having a show with Iretsu, Brothers Young, and The Moon in Light. Irestu play pop music that is spiked with prog tendencies that keeps things very interesting. I am not very familiar with them. They have collaborated with people as diverse as dance-performance partners and such. Sounds interesting. The reason I am writing about the show is because I was very impressed when I saw then play a house show last weekend. They always kinda reminded of Beta Band. Mostly in they way they uses a lot of unison vocals and create cool grooves. Check out the song "Would You Land" that is on the FREE downloadable for example. The Moon in Light is the musical moniker for Timothy Emerson. He makes well executed indie folk with a little help from his friends. He has a very unique voice. I think you might enjoy it. Please check it out. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say, "Hi". I will say it back. Scout's honor.

-Ben


I not sure if the awesome dancer will make it out to The Knife Shop tonight, but Hosannas will.

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Suburban Home Records

Growing up as I did in the East End of Henrico County, Virginia I have had a complex relationship with country music. For most of my life it represented everything I stood against. Racism, ignorance and the leering macho horseshit of my fellow residents. The twang of the slide guitar was a surefire sign that I was about to be fucked with by a bunch of hormone addled teenagers in a pickup truck that were drunk on Budweiser and vicious pack mentality. There was copper in my mouth every time I heard a Southern accent in a song.

    You see, my parents are The Gay. I don't know if you're familiar with America or not but there's a large chunk of our population that has a problem dealing with the fact that gay people exist. It's one of those things I've just never been able to understand. Something about some old book or something. More than that, I was kind of a weird kid with too much book smarts and no sense of how to blend in or when to shut my trap. I was a teenage gladiator stuck in a suburban arena with country music as the backdrop to my own grapple with puberty. So I was left with this association of country music as being a harbinger of terrible things to come. Mind you, what I considered country at the time was just Pop With A Twang and the same mindless drivel that vapid morons use to fill in the spaces between mouth breathing and pummeling anything different than them. Alright, I can admit to some remaining prejudices. The illusions of memory and the bitterness of adolescence take a very long time to work past. It helps to have some contrast.

    Flash forward 5 years to the Tower Records at Willow Lawn. Here now is a young clerk stocking Jazz CDs late at night, all alone in the room. The shuffling playlist has been going on for about an hour, he hardly notices the time or the music as it floats around him. His hands reach into the understock and it happens. The rolling waves of spectral, haunting, tear inducing beauty roll over him. It's powerful enough to knock over a few CDs and he leans on the bin to steady himself. He looks around, wondering where this sound has come from, what confluence of powers led to something so gorgeous? Staggering under the weight of a thousand emotions he makes his way to the CD player and reads the name; Emmylou Harris: Wrecking Ball.

    I had my contrast.

    I had never heard anything remotely like Emmylou. No one ever spoke of her to me, no mention whatsoever from fans of country music. Nothing. Was it some deep mystery, reserved for this moment of transcendent beauty? I still don't know how I managed to avoid her works for so long. It was the beginning of a new perspective on country music. From that album I came to know what I had been missing. The giants like Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline and Loretta Lynn all the way to newer artists like Sleepercar, Mary Gauthier, Jim White and Tift Merrit. It was nothing less than a revolution in tastes. I felt like an ass for missing out on so much incredible music. But hey, you can't grow if there's nothing left to learn.

    So we've grown closer now, country music and I (I've had some damn good nights with Johnny Walker and Johnny Cash ya'll). Recently though, things had been a bit stale. I'd gone through the 30's forward, gotten familiar with Lost Highway, fell in love with Calexico and worn through my Neko Case records. It was almost time to move on, not forever but I could tell things were getting a little stale. Then the indomitable Ian Graham dropped Suburban Home Records in my lap. I discovered the G-Spot of country music. Suddenly things were hot again. I was excited every time she got near my ears. Thoughts of moving on vanished.

    The name Tim Barry rings clearly in every ear in Richmond. Avail was a big part of putting RVA on a map that didn't just say: Civil War Battlegrounds Hereabouts. "Dixie", shitty weed and PBR tallboys at the river made up a good chunk of high school for a lot of RVA kids my age. This isn't about Avail though. This is about Tim. He writes in a way that is so raw and personal that it's sometimes uncomfortable to hear. "Church Of Level Track" will drop you to the floor, pick you back up, slap a beer in your hand and send you home. The first time I heard him play it live I welled up with tears. It's serious shit and it has a physical impact on the listener. Is it country? Does that even matter? There's some recursive post-post-hardcore-post-folk-post-punk-retro-blah blah tag out there for what he's up to but it really doesn't matter. I call it country. He pours his blood into his songs, doesn't worry about complex arrangements and uses fiddles, dobros and slide guitars so I call it country. Tim isn't trying to impress you and I find that leaves a very large impression.

    If this wasn't enough then Suburban Home has another massive dose of reality for you; Austin Lucas. Austin pulls his entire life out of the murky depths of memory and filters it through a poetic asceticism that leaves nothing superfluous at the edges. "Go West" is an amazing song and is a good example of this ability. He reminds me that well written music can be intelligent without succumbing to the dangers of needless verbosity and overly complex schemes. Look at the arrangements and later work of Leonard Cohen. There is nothing inaccessible about his poetry; it's not glossed over with too many classical references, not so tied into his inner mythology that it's not available to the reader. This is the same way I see Austin Lucas. I'm interested to see how he evolves as a songwriter. If my instincts are correct then this man has a long and extremely influential future ahead of him.

    There's this perpetual struggle between artifice and authenticity in culture. I invariably find myself on the side of authenticity. How the hell do you know if something is authentic? Well, does it seem right? Do you look at the guy and say, "Yeah, I think he's being honest."? That's the best criteria there is. Why choose authenticity? Because it is the harder path, but much more rewarding. I see these guys, I listen to their music and I can feel their soul coming through the speakers. That's the personal connection I love about music like this. It's not relegated to one form, to one person, to one style or era. It's out there in every kind of music and it brings me no end of joy to find it in a style I have so frequently maligned and misinterpreted throughout my years. I love to be proven wrong.

    If country music is going to survive the endless barrage of clone stamped Nashville pop stars, orchestrated over produced $10,000 boot wearing assholes, fucking retarded music and every other plight that can befall a genre; it is going to need more people like Austin, Tim and the folks at Suburban Home. The best part about it is that they don't have to do anything out of the ordinary. As long as they continue to write, record and play their music they help us all fight the endless tide of committee approved culture. This is the true strength of indie music; it isn't here to change the world, but it does anyway.

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Saturday, March 13th

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night I was going to check out the show at Laughing Horse Books, but then right as I got out of Meyercord practice I got a call to be part a Ramona Falls music video. Looks like Luzelena and I will make cameos in the video. As people standing in an art gallery. I am a rockstar! Anyway here are some shows that look good to me:

Saturday, March 13th

The Woods is having a show with Beathe Owl Breathe and Seaan Flinn & The Royal We. I saw Breathe Owl Breathe at my friend Perry's house last year and was impressed with how fun it was. They get the audience involved. Their songs evoke the kind of fun you normally only get from being a kid. I usually play bass and sing in Sean Flinn & The Royal We. Due to scheduling conflicts, I have been unable to so lately. but luckily I can still sing which is what I plan on doing tonight. It has always been a dream of mine to do back up singing. I am not even joking so this is awesome for me. Sean's song's are great. Many of them have really cool vocal arrangements and a classic pop sensibility that is undeniable. The show is $7 and starts at 9 PM.

Doug Fir is having a show with Efterklang (Denmark), Helios, and Dragging An Ox Through Water. Efterklang is an awesome band that really pushes it self musically. They make incredibly arranged almost chamber-esque music. They usually have two Portland members along in the form of Peter and Heather Broderick. Peter can't make it. But they still will no doubt be great. Helios is a guy who I heard about because he played some shows with Peter Broderick. He makes very pretty modern compositions. Not unlike what Peter does when he is not singing his folk tunes. Dragging an Ox Through Water is an amazing mix between folk and experimental noise bits. One of my favorites. The show is $12 and starts at 9 PM.

Mississippi Studios is having a show with The Prids, Brainstorm, and Wax Fingers. I keep wanting to see The Prids and keep missing them. They have been consistently making guitar centric indie rock music for years. They have won over many people but have managed to stay at the same level. Weird. Brainstorm is another band that I have been meaning to catch for some time they make an incredible mix of math rock and bizarre pop that is infectious. Wax Fingers is a band that I have written about before but have not seen yet. But the music I heard on myspace is so good. I suggest you check it out. Basically what I am saying is that this is a show that I would love to see to quench some of my curiosity. The show is $8 and starts at 9 PM.

Someday Lounge is having a show with Paschal Coeur, Ravishers, and Winterhaven. Paschal Coeur only has live tracks up on their myspace so if you are curious as to what they sound like you should check that out. If you want to know what I think, I would say that they are a pretty decent pop band. Ravishers surprised me, I had never heard of them but I really liked their songs. Very hooky. Winterhaven was a country folk band in the tradition of Graham Parsons (Winterhaven is the town Mr. Parsons was born). I am not sure what their line up will be tonight as I think there might have been a line up change. The show is $7 and starts at 9 PM.

If you come out to The Woods tonight please say, "Hi". I am the male back up singer.

-Ben


Brainstorm will tuba the crap out of Mississippi Studios

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Friday, March 12th

Hello Dear Readers,

Yesterday was really busy and kinda upsetting. I had most of my blog post finished the night before, but I slept late and ended up leaving the house and being away from a wireless network until 11 last night, thus there was no post. Frustrating. I helped a friend move last night (I seem to be doing this a lot lately) which was cool, but perhaps not as cool as seeing a show. Anyway, who went to the Blue Horns, World's Greatest Ghost, and Typhoon show last night? Was it as awesome as I imagined it? Here are the shows that look good to me tonight:

Friday, March 12th

Jimmy Mak's is having a show with Blue Cranes and Sam Howard Band. Blue Cranes are an amazing Jazz band. But they do more than just straight up jazz. In fact they are admitted fans of Indie Rock. They have even covered the likes of Elliott Smith and Sufjan Stevens. I think they make incredibly beautiful music. I have not heard Sam Howard or his band, but I believe that they are Jazz as well. Tonight is a CD release show for them. The show is $10 and starts at 8 PM.
Laughing Horse Books is having a show with Duck. Little Brother, Duck!, Kidcrash, Ochre, and Zoogirl. This is a benefit show in order to buy a PA for this emerging ALL AGES space. I have not been to it yet, but I have listed some very good shows happening here. Tonight is no exception. Duck. Little Brother, Duck! is an amazing math pop group. I cannot get over how awesome their music is, they are soon to be done with or have finished a recording that I have not heard yet. I cannot wait. Kidcrash is a band that I have not seen but have heard very good things about. Then there is Zoogirl who I saw once and was very impressed. It reminded me of something off of Saddle Creek circa 2000 which probably sounds like something off of Discord records circa 1998. The ALL AGES show is $5 and starts at 8 PM.

Mississippi Studios is having a show with Laura Veirs, The Old Believers, and Cataldo (Seattle). Laura Veirs lastest offering July Flame is hella good. Especially the title track. It has been stuck in my head since I first heard it in December. This line is a really cool thing too. Basically it is Laura's bandmates primary bands opening up the show. When your band mates are The Old Believers and Cataldo, this a very effectice way of filling up a bill. Both bands are great. The Old Belivers last release was one of my favorites from 2008. I cannot get enough of it. I have not seen Cataldo, but this line up has played before and I checked it out then. Good. This is the tour kick off show for these groups. They are about to tour the country in this incarnation. Awesome. Take that America. A little taste of Portland should go a long way. The show is $15 and starts at 9 PM.

Bamboo Grove Salon is having "Dance Class" with Reporter, Copy, Push n Play, and Maxx Bass. This is a warehouse show. There is a restaurant in NW with the same name sans the Salon part. Do not go there. At least not for music, I have no idea how the food is. But I am losing focus, what I mean to say is if you want to lose focus in perhaps a dance groove, you should check out this show. Reporter are an a really fun band to dance to. I think this is there first show they will play since announcing that they signed to Holocene Music. Come help them celebrate. Plus Copy always brings it, and he tends to spread it around. He is my favorite keytarist in Portland. Hands down. The show is $5 and starts at 8 PM.

East End is having a show with Micah John, Michael Maker, Josh Spacek, and Donny Maker. I believe that both Michael and Donny are from the glamourous garage pop band, The Makers. It will be interesting to see how they fair outside their main project. I especially want to see Monarques front man Josh Spacek. He is rumored to be playing solo and acoustic. Maybe all of the acts will play solo acoustic. Crazy. The show is at 9 PM (I have seen no information regarding a cover charge).


If you see me at any of these shows please say, "Hi". I want to be your show buddy.

-Ben


Duck. Little Brother, Duck! will do a little more than practice tonight. They will play a full set at Laughing Horse Books.

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The Rock and Roll Metro Map

See full size

I found this fantastic map of rock music on reddit today and I thought you folks might appreciate it. Where do I buy tickets for this train?

I think the best part is how incredibly divisive this is to people. 

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Wednesday, March 10th

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night I did not make it out to any shows. A late night AristeiA practice made sure of that. Did anyone see any good shows last night? If not here's a few things you might check out tonight:

Wednesday, March 10th

KPSU is having The Mean Jeans is play on the radio. The Mean Jeans are a great punk pop band in the vein of The Ramones or any of the 90's Lookout Records roster. Except that they appear to be party loving stoner kids. Regardless, they write tunes that are really easy on the ears and will mostly having you singing along by the end of the song. They will be guest DJ's at 7 PM and then they play live on air at 8 PM.

Holocene is having a show with A Sunny Day in Glasgow (Philadelphia/Sydney), BEACHES (Melbourne), Orca Team, and DJ Vision Quest. A Sunny Day in Glasgow is a band whose name I had seen a lot around the Internet. I have not listened to them until today though. They are pretty good. The most associated genre tag attached to them is dream pop. I think that is dead on. It is very poppy but it is encased in layers of guitars and effects that make you feel like you are not fully conscious, but rather in a dream like haze. I have not heard of BEACHES before today. They do not sound like a current band. They sound like a shoegaze band from the late eighties put through a garage punk filter. or maybe the other way around. The reason I am writing about this show is Orca Team, a band I still foolishly have not seen. The show is $8 and starts at 8:30 PM

If you see me at this show (I won't be going to the KPSU show, it on the radio silly) say, "Hi".

-Ben


Orca Team is the first band in this video and will be playing Holocene. Mattress will not.

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Tuesday, March 9th

Hello Dear Readers,

Last Night I did not go to a show. For Shame! If you did please a comment about what show it was that you saw and how great and/or horrible it was. I on the other hand, got out of AristeiA practice at 9 and then helped a friend move until 11. I did not feel like seeing a show after that. But tonight might be different. Here are the shows that look good and or interesting to me (warning it was busy at work so I will be brief):

Tuesday, March 9th

The Woods is having a show with Drew Victor (Brooklyn), Passenger & Pilot, and Leonard Mynx. I like the recordings and usually the ever changing bands he arranges. Tonight he will be giving away digital downloads of a bunch of unreleased stuff. The show is $6 and starts at 9 PM.

Valentine's is having a show with Lovers, Broken Water (Olympia) and Dusty Springfeelins. I love Lovers and their new electro-pop direction. Dusty Springfeelins has something to do with Emily Barker who has a lot to do with this. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Doug Fir is having a show with Weinland, The Maldives (Seattle), and Or The Whale (San Francisco). Weinland some how turned into a rock band between records. I have played with and liked the rather large (member wise) band Or The Whale. Think epic country. The Maldives do country really well. I say them once and was blown away. The show is $10 and starts at 9 PM.

The Know is having a show with Nucular Aminals and Play/Start. I keep hearing that Nucular Aminals are great live. I also really want to see a show at Burgerville. The show is probably FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Burgerville (SE 12th and Hawthorne) is having a show with Karen, Total Noise, and Paul Schesinger. Karen's and Total Noise keep popping up in my picks. Find out why and either clink on their links or go to the show. Just in case you are wondering, I think Total Noise and Total Bros are unrelated. The ALL AGES show is FREE and starts at the unlikely hour of 5:45 PM.


Ella St Social Club is having Cat Stalks Bird, I Love Cats! (MI), and Don Hellions. i really like Don Hellions and their Organ/Sax Croon soaked tunes. The show is $2 and starts at 9 PM.

Work/Sound is having a show with Derek M. Johnson (Olympia), Andrew Senna (Seattle), Dash!, and Greg Skloff. Dash! does an excellent job building up layers upon beautiful layers of gorgeous pedal effected viola. Very impressive. The ALL AGES show is $5 and starts at 8 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows say, "Hi". I will buy you a glass of water.

-Ben


Dash! is Rad. See him at Work/Sound tonight.

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