Hopefully the sentiment of the title of this WKEntertainment show* will be addressed:
Don't Move Here is a series that focuses exclusively on the burgeoning underground music scene in Portland.
Using a combination of interviews and live footage we will expose the world to all the cool bands, record labels, and underground venues that make Portlands music scene so unique.
Featured guests include YACHT, Grouper, Explode Into Colors, Libretto, Rev. Shines, Mississippi Records, Marriage Records, and more. *is it a "tv" show or what -- NEW MEDIA TERMINOLOGY ESCAPES ME FRIED BRAIN
Holy Moly has it been crazy in my life lately. I have seemed to have filled my days to the brim with doing things away from the computer screen. There have been many really good shows lately. One such show was the Ramona Falls, Dirty Mittens, and Brothers Young show that occurred last Friday. I had the pleasure of seeing them twice previous to that show as Y La Bamba opened for them in Ashland and Seattle, but I liked it so much that I wanted to see them in our hometown. Plus I think that The Dirty Mittens are one of the most fun bands to see live. Their music is so fun and danceable. The Brothers Young (Ritchie Young's younger bros and company) were pretty good. The brothers, there are three of them, usually sing in unison to a very good effect. The music usually finds a good groove and sticks with it. The Dirty Mittens played with a different sax player than normal, Reed from the amazing band Blue Cranes. I guess there regular sax player, Morgan, is on tour with The Old Believers. I had a really good time. There was a guy handing out tin foil head wear in the front row so I got to sport a nice foil hat during much of the set. Plus there was a girl who made me promise to "rock out" with her during the last song. I hope I did an all right job. Then Ramona Falls. Paul Alcott, their drummer advised the audience before the set that there were two rules. 1. That we rock the fuck out. 2. There are no other rules. I also did my best in this situation. I find it hard to believe that the live band came together in close to a month. They were so tight. It did, as one could expect, have some very Menomena-esque moments, but over different sound than Brent's other band. I was very happy to have attended. Here is what I want to attend today.
Tuesday, September 1st
Mississippi Studios is having a show with Autopilot is for Lovers, Black Heart Moon, and Ritchie Young. This will be a great show. I mean to say that all of these bands are really good. Autopilot is for Lovers is set to release a CD this year on Bladen County which is great because I feel like they have grown a lot since they last recorded. I mean I know they have actually grown in band members. Then there is Black Heart Moon. They are so good. I have seen them since they were a two piece playing the open mic that I used to help out with at Zilla Sake. It showed a lot of potential. But Jeez have they come a long way fast. I have taken so much of an interest in their music that I have started singing with them and will be doing so tonight as it their CD release show tonight for their debut album, "Lovers and Markers" Plus I share a bass player with them. And of course you know Ritchie Young as being the leader of Loch Lomond. The show is $8 and stars at 8 PM.
Valentine's is having a show with Dragging an Ox Through Water, Janet Pants and The Double U. I love Dragging an Ox Through Water so much. Which defies logic since I have not been out to see him for a long time. I guess he tends to play shows on days when I am playing shows (see above). I have been meaning to get his last album forever. I think Janet Pants does some sort of dance thing. Not like dance music but more like modern choreography type stuff. I believe that Brian Mumford (Dragging) is part of that as well. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
Someday Lounge is having a show with Dallas County Potential, Keyboard, Inside Voices. I also love Inside Voices. I have not really heard of the other two artists that are playing, but the description that Someday put on their website intrigues me, "Keyboard is one kid with a keyboard who is more entertaining than most bands in town. Keyboard is into what he does, and it shows. Quirky, cool songs are delivered with such sincerity and yet you can't help feeling like you are on Mars as you watch. It's a little bit like a lot of things but nothing you've ever seen before. Once in awhile you meet a young artist who has that certain twinkle in his eye, the kind of person you know is destined for bigger things. Keyboard is that guy. Go see him play in an intimate Portland venue before he figures that out!". The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
If you go to Mississippi Studios tonight, then come say "Hi". I will be all like, "Oh, Hi".
-Ben
Imagine this with an actual drummer and me singing and you have a closer picture as to what they will sound like tonight.
I know, I know, this title is looking very familiar - but Secrets in the Salt ended up in communication with more than one of us, and when Jess and I became aware that we were both working on reviews for the same album, we decided, with the help of course of the lovely miss Goldie, that the best solution was to provide both reviews and let you, the audience, decide who to believe. ;)
When I received Secrets in the Salt’s EP, the first thing I noticed is that they have a flair for presentation. The cover art is very simple, diagonal rainbow stripes with “Secrets in the Salt” in all-capital 1980’s style lettering in the yellow section. The CD is printed with a swan made out of two mirrored S’s. I looked at this CD, and I wanted to listen to it. The first track is called simply “Intro”. Made to sound like an old wax cylinder recording, distant saxophone over staticy sounds. The first proper song, “Hello Sam” definitely didn’t disappoint. Starting with an organ melody and moving to percussive organ chords, it’s a pop song so perfectly formed that just thinking about it starts the words and melody rolling through my head. The instrumentation is simple – mostly just simple organ and a cymbal with guitar and full drums coming in towards the end of the song. The words go from normal to morbid and strange- opening with “Hello Sam, how is the painting” and continuing to “With your bones ground – to the finest powder ever spread around…” all the while continuing the same catchy tune.
Track 3, “Stale Geometry” continues in a similar musical style, this time with repeatedly strummed offbeat guitar chords carrying the main theme, and mobile bass and tambourine holding down the beat. Of course, the organ comes back for a break later on. This song has more of a mysterious or menacing feel. The vocals are deeper and more strained feeling, with some melodic “ooh’s” and “la’s”. The lyrics make very little sense, but that adds to the fun of the song. Track 4, “Cavity” is the weakest song on the album. It contains some of the most attractive lyrics – “sweet smell of christening”, “being born to myself with a lighter geometry”. The instrumentation is only acoustic guitar and organ, no percussion, with some melodic mallet instrument coming in towards the end, which is one of my favourite parts of the song. However, the seemingly nonsensical lyrics, probably meaningful only to the writer, which are charming in the prior track come off as a bit pretentious and tiresome when set in a more introspective, quiet context, removed from the bass and drums that keep “Stale Geometry” from being... stale, which unfortunately, Cavity kind of is. The lyrics are thoughtful, the melodies beautiful, but the whole package just comes off wrong.
Track 5, “Sparrow” returns to the format of the rest of the album, with a catchy beat and driving guitars, with the addition of an occasional country-like twanging guitar melody, and finishes off with some pretty vocal harmonies.
The final track, “Sleeves”, is more subdued than most of the EP, but still has a beat and some Beatles-type vocal harmonies holding it together. The middle of the song has a break involving some well-done whistling. The end of the song devolves delightfully into barely-audible bass noodling and whirring electronic noises. All in all, Krill Through Baleen is decent, though definitely not amazing, with the exception, of course, of “Hello Sam”. However, these guys definitely have the know-how and creativity to write an enjoyable, successful, better than average pop song, and my communications with Neil, one of the band’s guitarists, as well as a peek at Secrets in the Salt’s myspace, show that this EP is an early effort not representative of where the band wants to, and probably will, end up. This combined with their excellent graphic design and pleasant but aggressive enough to be effective self-promotion suggests that this may not be the last we hear about Secrets in The Salt. I for one am looking forward to their future endeavors, and hoping to catch them live eventually. Their next show, according to the Internet, is September 5th at Duff's Garage.
I have been back in town for three days and have seen soooo much good music that I haven;t even had time to blog it. Let me make a short list of some of the highlights: A Weather, Point Juncture WA, AAN, Black Heart Moon, Grey Anne, Morning Telportation,The Dandy Warhols, Matt of the Sarcastic Dharma Society, plus I got to play my music twice. So much fun. Anyways, here is what is happening today.
Tuesday, August 25th
Holocene is holding a Benefit for Kris Jensen featuring the music of: YACHT, Au, Copy and May Ling "Following the tragic death of Kris Jensen, mother of Rachael Jensen from the Parenthetical Girls, the generous Portland music community set up an all-star benefit for her memorial fund". So this is an amazing show regardless. But the fact that some actual good beyond just having a great time is very appealing to me. I really do like all of these bands a lot (except for May Ling, because I have not heard too much of her stuff). There is a sliding scale cover of $5-15. Or if you cannot make it but still want to help out you can do so here The show starts at 8:30 PM. The show starts at 8:30 PM.
Valentine's is having a show with Pikara, Dash! and Xh. All of these are great bands. I thought that Dash! was exceptional during his PDX Pop Now! performance this year. Also it this is the CD release show for Pikara. I have a copy of the album and it really does have some downwright beautiful moments. This is what the press release said, "Pikara is the first solo effort from Swedish multi-instrumentalist Sara Dyberg (Susurrus Station, Zouaves, Dead Cinema). The nine tracks that comprise the self-titled album are explorations of short moments in time drawing influences from Scandanavian folk music, Bergman films and Greek rembetika. The album evokes images so vivid it could easily be mistaken for the score of a movie yet unfilmed." I am pretty sure Xh is good. I have never seen them, but I know I have listed them before. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
Doug Fir is having a show with The Hugs, Low Red Land (San Francisco), Appomattox, and Yeah Great Fine. I think that The Hugs make perfect garage pop. I am sometimes inclinded to like such a genre. I also remembering hearing and liking Low Red Land on a compilation of Bay Area artists a while back. And Yeah Great Fine really are, for lack of a better word, great. The show is $6 amd starts at 9 PM.
Dunes is having a show with Chewing Pics (Brooklyn, NY), My First Earthquake and Soft Tags. I just spent a week in Yellowstone with a broken ipod. The only CD I had with me was the new EP by Soft Tags based loosely around the diaries of Nikola Tesla. It was a pleasent if short listen that I repeated many times. The show supposedly starts at 8 PM and costs $3.
So say "Hi" if you see me and have a voice. Otherwise you are just plain mean. -Ben
"You can't just put velvet in the shit and think they're nice headphones!"
This is the first installment of my new column of mini music reviews, intended to be briefer and breezier, with a slightly smaller chance of critical douchiness than normal.
"Put some treble in it... put some treble in it... that's my word!!!"
When I was a wee lad eating cream of rice on a Sunday morning, reading Kipling, my mother's go-to album was "The Hissing of Summer Lawns." I've since used that one as well as a Sunday morning pancake music, and when I first ran through Pikara's self-titled album, I had high hopes that it would belong in the same sort of classic emotional bracket. On repeated listens, that hasn't been the case. Pikara frontwoman Sara Dryberg is, while immensely talented, perhaps too aware of her own confidence, and to create an album like this one, of beauty that is almost haunting is a pretty sure sign that any promised mystery will not be that deep. Nevertheless, PIKARA is cinematic and intense, and I would recommend the listener experiment with it to see exactly where it resonates with them. CD release party August 25th at Valentine's.
I don't just write blogs for my health. One of the great things that I get to do is have abuse heaped upon me by mouth-breathing numbskulls who are defending some crap band of the week in lieu of maintaining their own dignity. Another great thing is that I get a chance to get intimate with cool bands, people from labels, talk to them about how they do their thing, and tell them how I do my thing. It's not a fan thing, necessarily, as technically I'm in the biz, and have been, but hell... it makes me feel good. Makes the old self feel young.
And sometimes, the latter comes from the former. One of the members of SITS contacted me after my vicious 'review' of Cage The Elephant, which he agreed with. We started shooting the shit about recording techniques, etc., and one thing led to another. He offered to send me a demo. Hey, why not? The song of theirs I had listened to on myspace was pretty cool.
Now, just to throw this in here, lest you out in Blogreadistan think we're complete idiots, Secrets In The Salt were talking up multiple bloggers from Crappy Indie Music and sending them review material. Now, while that might make me feel less special, you have to give the boys credit for hustle. Amber Dawn should be doing a more in-depth review of this album soon.
My main thought about Krill Through Baleen is that it was a world away from the demo song I'd heard on myspace, and overall a bit of a disappointment. It's well-produced, jangly, fun bouncy pop, but didn't strike me as a very mature work overall. This gives me high hope for their next disc, which sounds as if it's going for a grittier new wave feel with some '60s type vocal harmonies. I've heard elsewhere that this is a band to see live, so go check them out. They've got hustle!
Tobacco- FUCKED UP FRIENDS Yeah... so this one is not new, and has been out a while, but is new to me. My little bro- of the record label and friends with WIBG fame- gave it to me to listen to. Thanks, Draeger. You were spot on with this one.
Tobacco- who needs to pick a new nom de plume- is the singer from Black Moth Super Rainbow, who I happened to be familiar with because last.fm puked them up as a similar artist to my band. Tobacco's solo efforts' are strictly analog synth and tape loop affairs, and it shows. The thing about Fucked Up Friends that surprised me was HOW FUCKING BADASS IT WAS. This disc goes all over the place, and rips and tears and never once bores. To me it is the modern stoner/glitch equivalent of Vernon Reid's Mistaken Identity. While it may lack the visionary power of that album, it is certainly its equal in energy. My only qualms are the gratuitous flute parts, and Aesop Rock's appearance on one track, while competent, seemed forced and pandering. Otherwise, pow!
Well, that's it for the first installment of TURN MY HEADPHONES UP. I'll be back soon with more.
I stayed up waaaaaaay to late last night. I played on KBOO on a show that lasted from midnight to 3 am. I was nervous about getting sleepy so I downed a Red Bull Cola at about 11 pm. I think that may have been a mistake as I didn't end up going to sleep until about 7 am. Before I knew it I was 3 in the afternoon. Crazy. Anyways, this might be the reason for the sparse commentary on today's shows. Also I am leaving for a week tomorrow morning and will not have access to post. I know that there are a lot of good shows happening. I think Sallie Ford is having her tour kick off with Grey Anne tomorrow at Worksound. I also know that Duck, Little Brother Duck and Sarcastic Dharma Society have shows next week. You should totally look into those bands. I highly recommend PC-PDX.com for a solid show listing.
Saturday, August 15th
The Woods is having a show with A Weather, Shoeshine Blue and Polka Dot Dot Dot (Olympia). I love A Weather. That being said I have not seen them play in forever. They have finished a new album and I am sure that they will be playing a lot of those songs. I have seen Shoeshine Blue a couple of times and always been really impressed with what he does. I saw him last week with a stand up bass player and two female backup singers (one with a flute). It was really good. Plus I have heard nothing but amazing things about Polka Dot Dot Dot (supposedly a lot of three part harmonies and such). The show is $8 and starts at 9 PM.
Worksound is having a show with Cafeteria Dance Fever, Inside Voices, Pony Village and The Prids. All I know is that Inside Voices are bomb. I predict that will "blow up" by the end of the year. Jeff is hands down the most mesmerizing drummer in Portland. Plus I have been meaning to catch Pony Village for quite some time. The show is $6 and starts at 9 PM.
Doug Fir is having a show with Experimental Dental School, Wax Fingers, Swim Swam Swum and Mighty Tiger (Seattle). Experimental Dental School are awesome they are kinda like a Deerhoof of Portland. Except that it is a two piece. And the dude does most of the singing. And it is less cute. Well...they still kinda have the same feel. I also really like the nasally indie rock of Swim Swam Swum. And a note you can download Wax Fingers album via their myspace. The show is $7 and starts at 9 PM.
Mile Post 5 is having Atole, Jeffrey Jerusalem, Church, Quiet Countries, Rollerball and Holiday Junction play as the music part of today's Manor of Art. I think this looks like the best music day of the event. But I say that because I really like Jeffrey Jerusalem (who plays later or earlier in Inside Voices) and Church are one of my favorite Portland Bands. The event is ALL AGES and FREE and starts at 3 PM.
Mississippi Studios is having a show with Or the Whale (San Francisco), Y la Bamba and mystery guest. Or The Whale is a seven piece group from the bay. They make country indie rock. Five of them sing, four of them are credited with lead vocals. This leads me to believe that there are multiple song writers. This will be a CD pre-release show. Y La Bamba is a band that I play bass and sing in. Though we only have three singers and five members, I think we do a pretty good job doing what we do (playing eclectic songs of personal spirituality, sickness and memories). The show is $8 and starts at 9 PM.
Alberta Street Pub is having a show with John Heart Jackie and Joel Smith (Spokane, WA). It seems there are two sides of the folk coin these days. On the one side you have the sleepy pretty side, ala John Heart Jackie. The other side is energetic and heavily arranged ala Joel Smith. Joel Smith was kind enough to send me his new album The Filibuster. It is a good record. Really it is, which is a pleasant surprise. His songs are all really well arranged he seems equally comfortable with a banjo, guitar (acoustic or otherwise). There are tasteful additions of organs and almost gospel vocals throughout the disc. He comes from the land of Spokane , which has given us the likes of relatively similar Karli Fairbanks and Kaylee Cole. I have read that he usually has a four piece band in tow. Also I should mention that this is the EP release show for John Heart Jackie. This should be a good show. I have not seen a cover listed anywhere but the show starts at 9 PM.
So if you see me at Mississippi Studios tonight. Say "Hi". Or you can just heckle me from afar.
I went to a rock show last night (The Ax, and Red Fang). I had a few realizations. A) I don't see heavier music nearly enough. B) The louder the music is the taller the crowd is. I have been going to a lot of wussy shows lately (because I love wussy music) and I have felt a normal height, actually sometime a bit tall. Last night I was hands down the shortest man there. Crazy. Any way, here are some shows for tonight.
Friday, August 14th
Worksound is having a show with Hornet Leg, Tunnels, AS/SS, Chrome Wings. These are all pretty exciting bands and if I am not mistaken there has been reference to a Children of the Revolution (a annual Portland music festival) tour, this show being it's kick off. I did a little more research and AS/SS and Chrome Wings are going on tour together. Chrome Wings makes very spacey sometimes ambient leaning pop music (kinda like recent Animal Collective stuff, but less poppy). It seems like a good mix with the spacey Post-punk music that AS/SS comes up with. The show is $ and starts ay 9 PM.
Mile Post 5 is hosting The Manor of Art which is an amazing thing happening for about a week starting today. "Over 100 artists have been invited to turn the yet-to-be-renovated rooms of The Studios building into three floors of installations and exhibits. This 10-day festival will include live music by local bands, theater and performance art, artist round tables, and daily guided tours of the 100+ exhibits." The bands playing today are The Prids, World's Greatest Ghosts, Magic Johnson and Boy Eats Drum Machine. World's Greatest Ghosts are one of the best live bands in Portland. They marry keyboard in guitar melodies to make some of the catchiest pop music you will ever hear. I saw BEDM last year at Mile Post and it was so fun. He mixes many things together through a series of live loops and his laptop, guitar sax and turntables. The Prids make shoegaze influenced music. The whole thing is FREE. and starts at 6 PM.
Berbati's is having a show with SubArachnoid Space, Thrones (Salem), Rabbits, Palo Verde and Fist Fite. This is a showcase of some of the better heavier music that Portland has to offer. Thrones set at PDX Pop! was one of the highlights for me. I remember being impressed when I saw SubArachnoid Space at last year's PDX Pop fest. Palo Verde is a loud improv duo that features LKN on drums. Fist Fite are awesome. The show is $7 and starts at 9 PM.
Mississippi Studios is having a show with Sean Hayes, Nick Jaina and Leonard Mynx. My friend Luz from Y La Bamba loves Sean Hayes' voice. Within a few days of meeting her she was trying to get me to see him play (he happened to be in town). He does an upbeat folk thing. Nick Jaina on the other hand is usually a downer. In such a good way though. Plus he has assembled one of the best bands in town. Leonard Mynx is a songwriting machine. If all goes according to plan he will have released four albums in two years by years end. Crazy. Because he has so many songs it doesn't come as a surprise that he dabbles in a lot of different "sounds". I have his seen him folk, pop, and rock. But usually it is various combinations of all these styles. The show is $12-14 and starts at 8 PM.
Backspace is having a benefit show for Portland Community Transitional School. They have The Hugs, Midnight Callers, Ghosties, and 1776 playing. "For our students, school is a refuge from the trauma and hardships of poverty and uncertainty—a place where they feel a sense of community and belonging. This is a place where they have room to learn, laugh with friends and build hope." —Cheryl M. Bickle, Principal and Teacher. Sounds like a good cause. The bands look pretty good too. Most them are thankfully pretty easy to categorize. The Hugs are garage pop. Midnight Callers and 1776 are power pop. Ghosties on the other hand is harder to categorize. It is good and the recordings sound like someone who makes lo-fi made at home indie rock music. It sounds good. All proceeds from you suggested $5 donations will go towards PCTS. The ALL AGES show starts at 8 PM.
Also, if you are home early from a show, or up late. KBOO 90.7 fm is having a show with Sarcastic Dharma Society, Padriac FinbarHagerty-Hammond, and Meyercord (me, what?!?) very late tonight. I think that Sarcastic Dharma Society's songs are so well written and so well arranged (He has a band now, which incidentally features Fin aka Padraic FinbarHagerty-Hammond) that he is for sure one of my favorite artists. Fin also plays very very well written songs I am unsure if he has a band or not (I have only seen him solo and it has been great). He has this one song called Xmas song that almost me cry every time (I don't cry). I will be debuting a new singer tonight named Holland. You can hear her music here. The show is called "The Outside World" and starts at midnight and lasts until 3 am. I guess it is technically tomorrow, but whatevs. You can listen at 09.7 fm or online here.
So if you see me tonight. At a show. Say, "Hi". If you see me and I am not at a show, that is dumb and you should say nothing.
-Ben
Ghosties are being very charitable tonight. You should too, go to Backspace.
Have you heard of or listened to online radio station Radio23?
Jeff Hylton Simmons contacted me about hooking up Clear so he he can broadcast live on Radio23 from PICA: TBA. That's how I heard of it. Now I am listening to it! I love it!
From Radio23.org:
Radio23 is a non-commercial, freeform radio station dedicated to providing an international artistic platform for innovative and creative home broadcasters. Our mission is educational. We teach anyone, anywhere how to make radio with a computer and a broadband internet connection. Join us.
Every two hours, a new live broadcaster takes the reigns from a distant land and offers a view of what’s happening in their creative community. Anyone with high-speed internet can experience underground music and culture from all parts of the globe, created by dozens of weekly live broadcasters.
FUNDRAISER FOR A LOCAL SHOW ON RADIO23 called "The Full Life All-Star Radio Hour"by Full Lifean art, recreation, and vocational program for adults with developmental disabilities :
There will be a fundraiser this Friday August 14th, 2009. This fine evening of musical performance will feature sillyROBchildish , Jack Bouba, and bazillionaire, all employees of the fabulous Full Life. The money raised will go toward keeping Full Life's talk-centric shows* on the air. The suggested donation is $5, though no one will be turned away. All ages are welcome.
Time: 7:00pm - 10:30pm Location: Full Life Coffee Shop Street: 3331 NE Sandy Blvd. City/Town: Portland, OR
Tuesday mornings from 10-12 and Wednesday afternoons from 2-4 (PST)
