Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Sunday, August 22nd

Hello Dear Readers,

Yesterday I ended up working a 12 hour day. After my super long day yesterday it kinda just did me in. I did not see any shows. I hope you guys did though. Anyway, today is the last day of the Portland Folk Fest and quite honestly it is by far the best day (in my opinion). On the website they have descriptions of every single act playing the festival and they are all written by people who can actually write about music articulately. See.

The Woods is having a show with Michael Hurley, Tara Jane O'Neil, Raymond Byron & The White Freighter (formerly Castanets, Rebecca Gates, and Amy Annelle. part of the Portland Folk Fest. This is the only part of the festival that I have seen has food built into the ticket price. Yes, this is a BBQ setting. It is sponsored by Kill Rock Stars & hosted by Stooping Bear, and will have produce from Groundwork Organics and other local organic growers. But what is really cool here is the music. Michael Hurley is an older guy that has been doing folk for a long time. I know him from singing on the last Alela Diane record. TJO is awesome she kinda blurs lines between folk and more experimental forms of music. Rebecca Gates was in that band The Spinanes. I saw her open up for Stereolab when I lived in Texas. Pretty good stuff. I am not familiar with Amy Annelle, but people have written positive things about her. The show is $10 and starts at 2:30 PM.

Bar Bar (the new part of Mississippi Studios) is having a show with Marty Marquis and Chris Robley. Marty Marquis, aside from having a pretty cool alliterate name, is probably best known for being in Blitzen Trapper. He is also a pretty good songwriter and his voice is really cool in that kind of gravely way. Chris Robely is usually backed by his band The Fear of Heights. It think today he might scale it back a bit. Or not. I don't know for sure. The show is FREE and starts at 3 PM.

Doug Fir is having a show with Sallie Ford & The Sounds Outside and Adam Shearer (of Weinland). This is part of Portland Folk Fest. I think that Doug Fir has been doing regular porch shows under the name Pickin' on Sundays for awhile now. I think that this just happens to be the folk fest one. I don't think that Sallie Ford and her band are particularly folk. They are good though. The upright bass makes it look folky. Adam Shearer on the other hand sounds pretty folk at times. I think it was Jeff Tweedy of Wilco who said that a lot of rocks songs were just folk if you took away most of the instruments. The show is FREE and starts at 3 PM.

Lola's Room is having a show with The Builders & The Butchers and Pancake Breakfast. Both of these bands "kill it" live. They both have an energy that is hard to fake. I believe that The Builders & The Butchers are making the rounds on the McMenamin's tour circuit. Which means that there will be several opportunities to see them play for FREE. The show is FREE and starts at 7 PM.

Doug Fir is having a later show (not on the porch) show with Loch Lomond, Myshkin's Ruby Warblers, and Mbilly. Loch Lomond is a band that I used to think of as kind of chamber pop. In recent times they have been changing into more of a traditional rock band. Though with the very distinct voice of Richey Young and his tendency to write lyrics that sound insane, I doubt they will ever be a traditional rock band. I have never heard of Myshkin or the Ruby Warlblers that are in Myshkin's possession. I have heard and seen Mbilly, he is kinda folky kinda country. I like his myspace headline, "appealing stage presence and glib onstage patter". Quite the boaster. The show is $10 and starts at 9 PM.

Holocene is having a show with Thao, Mirah, Laura Gibson, and Amy Annelle. This is part of the Portland Folk Fest. Man this show looks good. I was lucky enough to see the last time Mirah and Thao collaborated in Portland. It was pretty awesome. Both of them brought band members and learned each other's music. It was really cool. And really good. They are doing something similar tonight, except they are trying to make it minimal. Or "mostly acoustic". Given how big these two usually sound (especially Mirah), I am curious as to how minimal it will actually be. Then there is the lovely Laura Gibson. She has a gentleness the just seems to warm listeners over. She sometimes has cool arrangements but often doesn't need them. Her songs are pretty folky. I very good fit for the festival. And then there is Amy Annelle just in case you did not make it out to the BBQ at The Woods earlier. The show is $14 and starts at 9 PM.

Rontoms is having a show with Celilo, Lee Corey Oswald, Winterhaven, Future Historians, Ezza Rose, and Leonard Mynx. This is also part of the Portland Folk Fest. There are so many people playing this thing. With the exceptions of Future Historians I know them all personally. This is some good times. As you might expect from a folk festival, there will be some folkiness going one. But it there is a spectrum of the genre, so not all of these bands will sound similar. It takes the FREE Sunday show the next level. The show is FREE, of course, and starts at 7:30 PM.

Ella Street Social Club is having a show with Harlowe & The Great North Woods, Brittain Ashford, and Pat Hull (Connecticut, Brooklyn, Chico). I don't know the music of Harlowe & The Great North. I see that they are friends with Pat Hull, another person whose music I am unfamiliar with. I see also that Harlowe & Co. are friends with Brittain Ashford. I am friends with her. She has songs that, if my memory is correct, are filled to the brim with longing and heart ache. I guess that when you spend your time switching sides of the cost, that the other side always looks better and you develop chronic longings. Perfect for a musician. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.

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

-Ben


Laura Gibson will be playing Holocene tonight as part of Portland Folk Fest. Nice.

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Saturday, August 21st: part 2

Hello Dear Readers,

Last night I did double duty as a member of Tragos Amargos aka Y La Bamba then as a member of AristeiA. The Tragos show was at The Alberta Rose Theatre. It was my first time to go there. I liked it. It is essentially a baby Aladdin Theatre. The stage was pretty big and the audience was very respectful and for the most part, a little but older. Which is to say that it was seated and the sound was good. I have not seen many shows that I have been interested in, but I want to go there again. Then over at Dunes we played to a pretty full crowd. It was loud and fast and I had a really good time. Anyway, here are the shows that look good tonight:

Mississippi Studios is having a show with Damien Jurado, Dan Bern, Dolorean, and Duover. The show is part of the Portland Folk Festival. I have not seen Damien Jurado play in almost ten years. It is crazy. I got really into him my freshman year in college. He put out two great albums and then I felt his output started getting kinda spotty. I eventually stopped listening. So for all I know, he has gotten better. He probably has. Dan Bern writes kinda funny folk songs. Or at least I think he does. I remember when I first moved here, my first job was working for something called America Coming together or ACT. We had a strong anti-Bush agenda. We listened to the Dan Bern song "Bush Must Be Defeated" about a million times. Dolorean is a good Americana band. They are not the most exciting band live, but they are good. Duover is one of the best named duos I can think of. It is Nathan Jr. (he has played in many bands and you have probably seen him around) and Rebecca Rassmussen. It is acoustic folk with boy/girl harmonies at it's best. The show is $14 and starts at 8:30 PM.

Backspace is having a show with DoublePlusGood, Wishyunu, and Pocket Knife. I have been writing about DoublePlusGood for a while. I have not seen them in a long time. I met Eric from the band the other day at a BBQ. He was a really cool dude. Anyway his band is playing tonight and they should, if they don't (I really have no idea), rule the Portland electro-pop scene. The stuff is good and will undoubtedly get stuck in your head in no time. I saw Wishyunu for the first time recently. They are great. The duo ranges from kinda dreamy electro pop numbers to almost jammy looped kraut rock-esque numbers. You should see them live. I keep seeing the name Pocket Knife. I just listened to it. They too make the electro-pop. The ALL AGES show is $5 and starts at 8 PM.

Failing House is having a house show with Archers, Matthew And The Minervals, Mannequinhead and Duck Little Brother Duck. I wrote about Archers very recently and I liked the fresh sounded indie rock that seemed well versed in what I am now calling classic indie rock (Pavement etc...). I want to see them. I couldn't find anything on Matthew An The Minervals. Mannequinhead seems pretty interesting as most genre blenders are. But what initially caught my eye was Duck. I have not seen them in such a long time. I bet that they are even better than I remember them being which was awesome. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi". Or whatever. I am just saying be cool.

-Ben


Wishyunu play Backspace tonight.

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Saturday, August 21: part 1

Hello Dear Readers,

I just wanted to say that The Alberta Street Fair is going on right now. ALL AGES and FREE! Here is the music schedule:

NE 30th + ALBERTA

12:20pm Danny Caudle
2:20pm This Fair City
3:20pm The Light Band with Abdul Hall, Neo, Jeannie Moore, Richard Greer, and Friends!
6:20pm Intirhyme
7:20pm Vequinox

NE 21st + ALBERTA

11:40am The Alphabeticians
1:40pm Bryan Minus and the Disconnect
2:40pm Meta Sound
3:40pm Gypsy Caravan
4:40pm The Dam Vans
5:40pm Slim Bacon
6:40pm Marca Luna
7:40pm Helical
NE 11th + ALBERTA

1pm Pink Snowflakes
2pm Beautiful Lies
3pm Boy and Bean
4pm BOOM!
5pm Yo Momma on the Back Porch
6pm And And And
7pm Jared Mees and the Grown Children
8pm The Shaky Hands

I will be honest. I am not familiar with the majority of these bands, but that is kinda the fun of it. Plus the 11th and Alberta stage is pretty kick ass 6 pm on. And while I could not find out any info on Yo Momma on the Back Porch, they might be good too!

I will post later today with some other picks. See you then,

-Ben


The Shaky Hands play Alberta and 11th at 8 PM. But a whole lot less acoustic

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Friday, August 20th

Hello Dear Readers,

I really want a lot of things. I want a computer to call my own. I want a bike to call my own. These are the two things that I suppose I want the most right now. Otherwise it makes it impossible to blog constantly. Boo. Anyway there are many shows that look good tonight (two of which I am playing). Also to give everyone fair warning the Portland Folk Festival is going on this weekend. In fact, it started last night. There will be a lot of acoustic guitars being played in the next few days. Here are the shows that interest me:

The Alberta Rose Theatre is having their part of the Portland Folk Festival with Celso Machado, Vagabond Opera, Natya Leela, and Tragos Amargos. This is usually not my sort of show, but as some of you may know Tragos Amargos sound and look and awful lot like this band(that I play bass and sing in). You might even say that it is "the same band". If you like folk music that has worldly flourishes, this is probably the show for you. The show is $16 and starts at 8 PM sharp.

Dunes is having a show with AristeiA, Cinder Cone (LA), and The I's. I play bass in AristeiA. I think that we are pretty darned good. If you like rock music, or if you like post-rock, perhaps if you just enjoy well put together music at loud volumes, then I highly recommend that you check this show out. Our friends in Palo Verde vouch for Cinder Cone. They like Palo Verde are a two piece rock band that push the limits of what a two piece of Drums and Guitar can do. There are no tricks of sampling or looping or anything like that. Just cool twists and turns and interesting song writing. The show is $2-$5 and starts at 9 PM.

The Woods is having a show with John Heart Jackie. This is the CD release for the band's new album "We are Gold Mounds". I do not see another band on the bill. Peculiar. I also do not see the show on The Woods' website. Very peculiar. What may be the most peculiar thing is why they are not playing the Portland Folk Festival. You would think they would be a shoe in for that kind of festival. Well regardless, you should check out this band. You should check out Jennie Wayne's solo stuff too, as long as you are checking stuff out. The show is $5 and starts at 9 PM.

Backspace is having a show with The Rainy States, And And And, Social Studies (SF), and DJ Scott Oseth. I write about this show because I know that there are some of you who are fans of the the almost overwhelmingly diverse genre that is indie pop. The Rainy States have kinda been m.i.a. for a bit. I hear that they were making an album. I have not heard it, but I bet they will play songs from it tonight. And And And are pretty good in my opinion. There are some who disagree with me. But I am sticking to my gut feeling about these guys. The have written an impressive amount of good material in a short amount of time. I know not of "Social Studies". The ALL AGES show is $5 and starts at 8 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows you should say "Hi". That would be awfully sweet of you.

-Ben


And And And will be playing at Backspace tonight.

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Band Review : Bordeauxxx

England seems to be a haven for great pop right now, and Bordeauxxx are an excellent example of this.

Their songs are catchy and clever, interspersing sparse bass, drums and vocals with sparkling, thick instrumental chorsues and layered vocal harmonies. They're skilled musicians, and it shows; they also know how to balance complication and simplicity to make a really great pop song. I have two complaints about the band - they haven't put out a full album (though their recent EP, Mother's Ruin, is available for free download, or you can buy the CD for 2 pounds) and they claim they don't have enough money to come to the States and hang out with me.

Here's the video for their song "Heartstrings".

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music Picks for Monday, August 16th

Hello Dear Readers,

Did you guys go to that bomb line up at Rontoms last night? I Didn't! I ended up working until 11:30 PM last night and then being too pooped to head out last night. I probably would have missed them anyway. The first bus I could get to wasn't until after midnight. I really hope you guys went though, it looked like such an awesome lineup. Hey guys, I was thinking; the way things are headed for me, I might not might not be able to afford a new computer for many months. Maybe even next year, assuming my things continue to get stolen from me at the rate they have been this year (my old land lords straight up robbing me of $400 did not help either). So I guess what I am getting at is this: if I did a kickstart thing to get a new computer do you think you guys would help out, or is this a stupid idea. Let me know in the comments section. Anyway, here are a couple shows that look good to me tonight:

Valentine's is having a show with Love Always, The Golden Hours, and Slang Chickens (LA). Love Always is Kathy Foster from The Thermals kicking it solo. I saw this once and she played several songs to backing tracks which makes sense. She is better know for playing bass and drums. Her guitar abilities are there though, check it out. It is like Kathy and Hutch. Except now Hutch and more electric guitar. The Golden Hours are a band that I want to see. I really like the music they have on their myspace page. Classic indie pop. Sometime led by male vocals, sometimes by female vocals. Very good. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM>

The Know is having a show with Songs for Moms (Oakland/SF), Street Eaters (East Bay), Best Supporting Actress, and Sex Hair. The show is FREE? and starts at 8 PM. I played a show with Songs for moms almost two years ago at that house venue called fuuuuuck what was it called. The Coop! It was kinda of a big deal for me. It was super hot and I played as Meyercord and in Y La Bamba. Super fun for me. Anyway, Songs for Moms were pretty fun. They have a load of influences which clearly shine through their songs. But they are a pop band overall. But in a punk way. They are from Oakland, so pop punk makes sense (not the shitty OC kinda pop punk, but the Lookout! kinda pop punk). Street Eaters are a boy girl two piece of drum and guitar. They are of the indie pop variety. Nothing like a good indie pop band from The Bay. This show is a classic two bands on tour, two bands from home show. Best Supporting Actress is a band that I remember wanting to see really badly a while back. I forgot what they sound like. Let me remind myself. Ah yes, they sound like noisy kinda crazy indie pop. Sexhair seem some where between rock and house punk. The show is probably free with donations accepted. The show starts at 8 PM.

If you see me at either of these shows please say "Hi". Also we can discuss kickstarter,

-Ben


Best Supporting Actress are playing at the Know tonight. Just Sayin'

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music picks for Sunday August 15th

Hello Dear Readers,

I totally jacked my roommate's laptop and going to get you my picks today. I will be honest, I wrote the majority of this and yesterday's posts on Friday. I did end up playing that Chimp Fest thing as a part of Sean Flinn & The Royal We. It was fun. Here are the shows that look good today:

Rontoms is having a show with Ramona Falls, Monarques, Dirty Mittens, and Palmz. Ramona Falls is the band that Brent Knopf of Menomena created for all the songs he was writing between his other bands records. It is a bit different because you don't have the other guys filters on these songs. That being said Intuit their debut album last year was one of my favorites of 2009. I think the songs are very well crafted and arranged. My goodness are they arranged. You should totally see this show. Do you long for the days of sock hops and going to make out point and other things of yesteryear? Me either, yet as I listen to the music of Monarques I am oddly nostalgic for that which I have no right to be nostalgic for as a child of the 80's. It is a good feeling though. If you missed them yesterday at Chimp Fest, this is your second chance to see them. Dirty Mittens are a brilliant pop band that have a soul edge that many pop band cannot pull off. They also have a double sax thing going for them that helps with the soul feel as well. Palmz is a band that I have written about a couple time now, they also have a throw back pop sound to them. I love it. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Doug Fir is having a show with The Alialujah Choir, Mbilly, and John Vecchiarelli as part of the Pickin' on Sunday series. The Alialujah Choir is the project of Adam Selzer, Adam Shearer, and Alia Farah. You probably know Adam Selzer from fronting the band Norfolk and Western. You Probably know Adam Shearer from fronting the band Weinland. You probably don't know Alia Farah, but probably have some recording of her as she is all over the records of Portland. The project mostly consists of two acoustic guitars, piano, and three part harmonies. Mbilly is a guy who like many songwriters is torn between pop rock proper songs and more solo acoustic numbers. I bet that this will be more of the later. The show is FREE and starts at 3 PM.

Valentine's is having show with Orca Team, Karen, and Custody Battle (Flagstaff, AZ). Those of you who read this blog regularly know that I have a thing for Orca Team. Even though I have never seen them. I love their pop music. It is cut with some surf tendencies and it goes down so well. They are about to go on tour so, by the end of the month they will surely have won California over, so you should see them before they go. That way you can be like," Orca Team? Yeah I saw them they are pretty good" Instead of being like me and saying "I really love what I have heard of them but have not seen them live yet." Karen is a band that is influenced by some of the garage band revivalists that started packing the stadiums i.e. The Strokes and The Hives. They are poppy and catchy as cuss. They also claim to have a space guitar player instead a normal one. That's cool. Custody Battle is from Arizona. Myspace was acting all janky when I tried to check them out. I not a clue what they sound like. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.

Revival Drum Shop is having a Drum Fair all day from 10 am to 6 PM. There will be all kinds of cool vintage drum gear and performances by some of the best drummers in Portland. Bands/Drummers involved: STLS, Rachel Blumberg (M.Ward/Sean Flinn etc), Why I Must Be Careful, Neal Morgan (Joanna Newsom), Janet Weiss and Sara Lund (Unwound), Donny Ossborne (Buddy Rich Protege). There will also be DJ sets by Joe Plumber (Modest Mouse),and John Moen (Decemberists), and Joe Sherman. This sounds like a really cool event. I am not a drummer, but my drummer is. Actually Scott McPhearson (the current drummer of Meyercord) co runs Revival Drum Shop and had a huge part in putting this event together. Seems like a really cool time. The event is FREE and again starts at 10 AM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi". That would be nice,

Ben


Ramona Falls is playing at Rontoms for FREE (also at the very beginning of this video I am an extra in the background)

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Ben Meyercord's Live Music picks for Saturday August 14th

Hello Dear Readers,

I totally jacked my roommate's laptop and going to get you my picks today, again. Hooray for him not being home! Anyway Here are the shows that look good to me today :

Laughing Planet on Woodstock is having a something called Chimp Fest a benefit for IDA Africa's Sanaga-Young Chimpanzee Rescue Center. The show has a lot of stuff that looks fun. Plus there are musical performances by Jared Mees & the Grown Children, Monarques, Sean Flinn & The Royal We, Alan Singley & Pants Machine, Nervous & The Kid, and Trash Can Joe. These are some darn good bands. Jared Mees and company put on one of the most fun shows in town. Monarques are a great retro-pop band. Sean Flinn is a great pop band (that I sometimes sing back ups in). His songs are all very well crafted and arranged. Alan Singley & Pants Machine are are a great orchestrated pop ensemble led by another really fun performer, um...Alan Singley. I am not familiar with Nervous & The Kid and Trash Can Joe. The ALL AGES show is $5 per family or person and starts at about noon.

Doug Fir is having a show with The Angry Orts, The Ascetic Junkies, and Nucular Aminals. Every so often Doug Fir puts together a local bill for cheap. Tonight The Angry Orts are putting out a new CD Staires! They put on a lively show and all will generally agree that good times aare to be had at their shows. The Ascetic Junkies are a pop update of folk sounds. I have not seen them before. Nucular Aminals are pop band that I have not seen, but they have a couple songs that sound pretty good. The show is $5 and and starts 9 PM.

Backspace is having a show with Your Rival, Wizard Rifle, and We Play Quiet. Your Rival only has one track on myspace and it sounds like a song that would be at the beginning of a Wes Anderson film. Wizard Rifle sound like a rock band that has a thing for metal riffs. We Play Quiet is the Vancouver band that plays pop music with a slight punk edge. The ALL AGES show is $5 and starts at 8 PM.

If you see me at any of these shows please say "Hi". That would be nice,

Ben


Jared Mees & The Grown Children will be playing Chimp Fest this evening at The Woodstock Laughing Planet.

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