Oregon Music News

After an 18 year break, Portland’s the Dharma Bums returned for an incredible night of rock’n'roll at a packed Crystal Ballroom last Saturday. The reunion was part of the celebration of Music Millennium’s 40th anniversary and coincided with the band’s release of Dumb, a collection of 4-track recordings from 1987.

As tight and polished as they sounded, it’s hard to believe the Dharma Bums ever stopped playing.

They tore into a career-spanning set with an early single, the hard-hitting “Haywire,” and never let up.  Joined by Derby and longtime friends  the Young Fresh Fellows, fans new and old were treated to a night of energetic, melodic rock.

The Dharma Bums were surprisingly heavy for a group of guys now in their 40s.  But these mature musicians, playing songs they wrote in their teens and 20s, have as much heart and style as they did two decades ago.  Hearing John Moen’s drumming, Eric Lovre’s guitar, and Jim Talstra’s bass, you were struck by just how good these musicians are.  They could tear it up with the best of them.

More than anything, though, they played with the pure joy of people returning to something they loved.

Jeremy Wilson (vocals, guitar) looked ecstatic, jumping around the stage like a much younger man, and at one point, kissing Lovre on the head between songs.  You couldn’t wipe the smile from Wilson’s face.  Who knew that a guy that’s been playing around neighborhood open mics was secretly a rock star in a past era.

The long set was bookended by their strongest material.  Hits like “Pumpkin Head,” “Light in You,” and “Walking Stick” were played with so much energy and passion that the crowd couldn’t help but grin along.

Where the Dharma Bums really stood out, though, was their encore.

After a set which so accurately captured their past, they were finally free to just play.  You could see both what they’ve done and what they’re still so capable of. They swapped instruments, with Lovre playing guitar, Talstra on drums, and Moen (also a member of The Decemberists) picked up the accordion.  They were also joined on stage by friend Scott McCaughey, whose band the Young Fresh Fellows put up an earlier set of solid, poppy, post-punk.

The show was as much a celebration for the fans as it was a reunion for the band.

Wilson joked, “How’s everyone been doing the last 18 years?”  He thanked his family, friends and fans who made the trek up from Salem, the band’s original stomping grounds. A woman from Molalla, and an old fan, reminisced about the “innocence and the love” the Dharma Bums brought to the Portland indie scene when they first started playing.

If you missed the show, it sounds like you may have a chance to see them again soon.  Lovre revealed that, “It won’t be another 18 years before we play for you again.”  There are plans for more shows, probably before the end of the year.

At the Crystal Ballroom, though, all that mattered was the music.  As much as this show was about a band reconnecting with its past and with its fan base of aging hipsters, the music itself was alive again Saturday night.  Hopefully the younger ones took notice.

Chamber pop sensation Loch Lomond will be visiting the Doug Fir Lounge on Thursday night, and with the way the quintet has been shattering venues for the last two years, it should be another rousing live show guaranteed to instill their magical music into anyone in the vicinity… and stay there well past the show.

Vocalist Ritchie Young is the driving force behind the band with his high-pitched, poppy falsetto echoing above a proper orchestra. Loch Lomond takes you to a place, and then one-ups that place, continuing to build upon the sound with a vast array of instruments throughout each song. Instruments include: guitar, percussion (Young); clarinet, bass, ukulele (Scott Magee); keys (Dave Depper); vibraphone, banjo, and various other sounds (Jason Leonard).

Lomond’s latest release, the five-track EP Night Bats, is a sign of the band evolving. As Young put it talking to OMN in November, it is a cross between their old recordings and a full-length album they hope to release sometime this year.

Over a year ago, Loch Lomond opened for The Decemberists for a month. Young said it was an eye-opener to play in front of that many people. But Loch Lomond already has people opening their eyes and ears to the wonderful world of chamber pop, and before long, grand crowds will be a regular occurrence for the Portland band.

Listen to “Wax and Wire” on their MySpace page and you will have a good idea of the breadth and beauty of Loch Lomond’s music.

December’s Christmas weekend You Who show, while not sold out, was well attended.  This busy holiday weekend got a big lift from headline band, Blue Giant’s performance, sweet and soulful like a baked yam casserole.

Blue Giant is a band melded of members of other great bands, Viva Voce, Swords, Golden Bears and The Decemberists.  From the get go, it’s clear that the members of Blue Giant really enjoy jamming together.  Put a band like Blue Giant together with an auditorium full of children and you have a genuine love fest, pure hearts and pure music.  While this may sound quite sappy, I can assure you the music was anything but sugary sweet.

December’s installment of You Who began with the fun and festive Eastern sounds provided by DJ Anjali.  While some kids danced around with their friends, parents and the twin giant You Who owl mascots, other kids swarmed to the activity center.  This month’s craft involved creating different kinds of maracas, which the children got to put to use for the Portland Maraca Project, an audience song-a-long.

Other highlights included The Cardboard Songsters, performing a mariners song, complemented by life-size cut outs of sea life and vessels, another great video by Cartoons Exprez and a lively and inspiring performance from The Lifesavas’ Vursatyl, all masterfully hosted by Vagabond Opera’s Eric Stern.

If you’ve yet to catch an installment of You Who, I highly recommend this affordable and exceptional family event!

To quote a wise man: “Guidance Counselor sounds like an elk being thrown from an exploding helicopter.”

That was Keil Corcoran who gets into glammy, pulsating electro-business with Guidance Counselor on occasion.  It’s all drums and gadgets and shirtlessness with these boys.  Last time they played the good ole Miss. Studios, they blew a fuse opening for Neon Indian.

To quote me: “Velella Velella sounds like a booty-blasting, repetitive slam-jam of electronic funk… or some kinda Beck.”

And I’m not sure what Arch Cape sounds like, but it is Rachel Blumberg who gets around with Norfolk & Western, M. Ward, The Decemberists, She & Him, and a host of female drummers.  So you’re just gonna have to show up early and find out.

Beware: Your shirt will turn into dust at the stroke of midnight.

—
Friday, January 15, 2010
Guidance Counselor
Velella Velella
Arch Cape
Mississippi Studios
$8 (advance tickets here)
9 PM
21+

In 2004, ex-Fugazi drummer Brendan Canty and filmmaking partner Christoph Green hit on a singularly brilliant idea: find a house that was about to be burnt to the ground or otherwise destroyed, invite a bunch of bands and musicians to perform inside of it, film the live performances and the house’s subsequent destruction. The results have been collected as the Burn To Shine series of DVDs.

So far, only four volumes have seen commercial release, though there is two in the can waiting for the economy to perk back up so they can be finished and distributed. This year’s Reel Music is presenting the two NW chapters of this series, starting tonight with the edition filmed in Portland (well…technically Tualatin).

The bands for this session were selected by Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk, and, at the time in 2005, represented a fairly substantial cross section of the best indie music that our town had to offer. It’s a fantastic snapshot into this period of time, when Portland was just gaining a great deal of momentum in the press and blogs of the world. It captures Sleater-Kinney, Wet Confetti, and The Planet The before they broke up, fantastic performances by not-yet-superstars like The Decemberists, The Gossip and The Shins, as well as a sweet pop tune written by a pre-teen band called The Ready.

I’m sure we could argue for days about the bands that were left out of this project (surely the best litmus test as to the bands that are really causing a stir in Portland is the annual PDX Pop Now Festival), but the groups it does include are ones that we can all be proud to call our hometown sons and daughters.

Burn To Shine: Portland will be preceded by a screening of the Sufjan Stevens art/music film The BQE: The Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. For more information on that film, click here.

Casey Neill and the Norway Rats. Photo by Inger Klekacz, stemmamedia.com

Walking into Mississippi Studios without knowing a thing about the featured artists, one would have a hard time guessing the genre by the crowd. Hipsters in skinny jeans and thick-rimmed glasses; the free-spirited bohemians, their long hair wrapped in colorful scarves. Girls wearing skirts and boots, lace tights and heels, a flower pinned in their hair; guys with braided beards in black t-shirts, waiting for the opportunity to rock out.

All three bands that performed Saturday have a wide range of song styles, and a vast following. Young and old, hard-rockers and indie followers intermixed on the Mississippi Studios floor anxiously awaiting what the night had in store.

Opening the show, Blue Horns lead singer Brian Park sat alone on stage with his guitar, his melodies drifting across the room, quietly serenading those remaining in the bar on the other side of a closed garage door. Reminiscent of a bohemian-hipster Justin Long, with a toned-down-fumanchu-style moustache and a slouchy knit beanie, Park soulfully sang a few acoustic ballads before motioning to his fellow band mates blending in among the crowd to join him on stage.

Blue Horns

Immediately after the remaining members arrived on stage Park announced to the crowd that guitarist Colin Howard had a “bum wing” that night, an injury to his left hand; a sort of disclaimer that the members would be taking on different roles than usual. Howard started the set playing tambourine before, in a wonderfully literal act of musical chairs, he proceeded to play “one-handed keyboard,” as Andrew Stern took over on bass guitar.

While the rotation was unintentional, the band’s execution was flawless suggesting that it was all part of the show, choreographed specifically for our entertainment. Although after the show Park described that their tone is usually closer to “glam rock,” his voice flutters with steady, uninterrupted rhythm throughout the varying style of songs: slow ballads, folky-acoustic-rock, pop infused island-reggae.

Park has been writing songs for several years, the band coming together in 2007 with an unquenchable passion to “send each song running head over heels at the listener.” Their distinct and unquestionably likable sound is bound for success: being featured on local indie stations and touring cross-country in the future. Catch them for yourself when the Blue Horns play on January 30th at the Doug Fir Lounge with Morning Teleportation and AAN.

The crowd thickened as Sassparilla set up to play the second set with fans fighting to get a front-row view of the amazing bayou-inspired heavy rock band. The 6-person group casually prepared their harmonica, banjo, washtub bass, and washboard, as if they are instruments we see played everyday.

From the second they began there was a not a dull moment or a still body in the house.

Ross MacDonald wailed on the harmonica, performing several solos during the songs, without showing any appearance of fatigue, impressing us all and receiving cheers of ecstatic appreciation. Fondly referred to by band members as Pappy, and, at one point during the show announced as the “Dagger,” MacDonald is one of the original founders of the Sassparilla Jug Band, along with lead singer, banjo, and box guitar player, Gus Richmond.

One wouldn’t believe she had only begun playing washboard 5 months ago (when she joined the band) when front-woman Naima Muntal expertly beat the washboard she wore around her neck and torso without missing a beat. Using her whole body as she thrashed with the rhythm.  Halfway through the set, her red ringlets began to loosely cascade around her face unable to stay pinned back any longer. Radiating happiness, when Naima wasn’t singing she was smiling, laughing, making faces at the cameraman, and dancing with brand new member, Maura, who performed with the band for the first time that night.

This unconstrained, fun-loving energy oozing from within each member of the band was contagious, the audience catching and embracing the disease. As the fast paced rhythm seeped into their bones, the fans in the crowd were soon unable to restrain themselves from uncontrollably breaking into full-body dance.

Between songs, Richmond dazzled us with his charismatic personality, wooing us with random trivia bits accumulated from the combination of lots of time in an RV and an iPhone. Encouraging audience participation, he asked, “Do you know what a group of penguins are called?” Soon the “did you know?” game of informative facts became an in-between-songs tradition the audience came to expect. When he didn’t immediately offer up a new fact, a fan begged for more, calling out, “more animal trivia!” Unable to come up with a tidbit to share on the spot Colin, the bass player, chimed in with his own piece of trivia.

“Did you know this is my dad?” he said pointing to MacDonald standing behind him, who confirmed it with a kiss on the cheek, winning all our hearts.

Even though they have only been playing for a relatively short period of time, the Sassparilla Jug Band has a very strong following, as evidenced by their ability to draw a crowd. At the beginning of the very dynamic “Do you understand me?!“ a group of women who had secured a place on the floor directly in front of the stage, turned to each other in excitement, one declaring: “This is the best song ever!”  During the song, audience members were encouraged to shout out, “WHAT???” along with the other band members in response to Richmond’s incomprehensible ramblings. In keeping with his love of involving the audience, he grabbed a megaphone mid-song and wandered into the audience. ”Do you understand me?” he sang in his gravely heavy metal voice. “Yeeeeeeaaaah,” we all cooed back at him.

In between sets, I met Walt–a fan who fears he may be becoming a Casey Neill groupie. After Richmond described what an honor it was to be featured right before Casey Neill and the Norway Rats, and Walt raved that I was “in for quite a treat,” I realized that even though Sassparilla threatened the steal the show with their non-stop, feel-good rhythm, the fans would never be able to replace Neill so easily.

Walt told me what an “extraordinary songwriter” Neill is, and filled me in on all the details of the band while they set up: Jennie Conlee from The Decemberists is the accordion and keyboard player, and the female singer and guitar player is Little Sue, who also has her own band. We all swayed and enjoyed the variety of the band’s music, from slow and contemplative to fast, punk rock songs. Neill’s style has hints of The Decemberists’ sailor sound with a pirate-esque gruffness in some songs, alongside story-telling lyrics similar to Bob Dylan with a soothing sound, evocative at times of Elliott Smith. Yet his music is unique, making it hard to pinpoint exactly where they fall on the genre axis.

Playing their last show until they release their new album in April, the audience begged to be satisfied with an encore song; as an added bonus, Sassparilla’s Richmond joined them on stage. They rewarded us with two more songs, and we left with smiles.

Here’s an end of year list that gives.  Stereogum shares their 50 Most Downloaded MP3’s of 2009 including Radiohead, Phoenix, Florence And The Machine, The Thermals, St. Vincent, Animal Collective, The Decemberists, and so many more staples and newcomers of 2009.

Although it was introduced into the greater vernacular in the late ’90s, the past decade saw the word “indie” become the go-to watchword amid the mass of music chatter served up on the blogs, webzines and print media of the world.

Dozens of indie bands from around the world became household names, some even cracking the Billboard Top 10. It wasn’t necessarily a shock wave considering the fractured state of the music industry and the ease with which people have access to music. Rather, it was simply an aesthetic shift towards something that felt somehow more authentic and more accessible and engaging.

I would argue that no state in America represented this aesthetic better than Oregon, and no city did it better than the metropolitan hub of Portland. We have seen a great number of bands – far more than the group listed here – that have made a permanent mark on the international music scene. And we’ve seen many others from outside our borders pick up stakes and move to Portland to take part in this wellspring of activity and excitement.

This list represents the best general consensus I could come up with of the best indie music to come out of Oregon since 2000. It was gathered by taking nominations and suggestions (via Twitter and Facebook, naturally) from musicians, colleagues and other music writers, and then winnowing it down to the list that’s before you. Also, to keep things fair for all parties involved, and to emphasize the communal feel of the music scene in Oregon, these are listed in alphabetical order by artist, rather than ranking them by a number system.

I wouldn’t dare say that this was a definitive list. There are plenty of genres represented here that I and my nominating committee consider to be “indie music” but many more genres are left out. As well, there will likely be some that would argue on behalf of other bands or other albums by the bands listed here.

But I’m quite sure that you won’t argue the point that the past 10 years have been great for the Oregon music scene and community at large, and that from the looks of things, it’s only going to get better from here.

AU - Verbs (Aagoo)

The title of Au’s second album is as much about the music on it, as it is about the effect that the band wants it to have on the listener. They want you to act on behalf of the album: to sing, dance, sway, bounce, curl up, sleep, or cry along with it. For the band, this meant tuning everything towards maximum momentum, recording all the basic tracks in a whirlwind three-day session that involved a chorus of voices ebulliently singing, “Animals we are!” and Steve Reich-like swathes of piano and percussion. It’s music that moves you as you move with it.

Blitzen Trapper – Furr (Sub Pop)

If you were to map out the principal musical ideas of the last decade, one that would come up again and again is the attempt by many a young band to weld together the warm expanse of folk and country with the cold insularity of modern electronica. Some succeeded admirably enough, but none did it better than this sextet. Throughout their fourth full-length, Eric Earley, Marty Marquis, and co. allow glossy blasts and bleats of synths and rhythm machines to shine out through their dusty odes to animalistic love (the rambling title track), outlaws (“Black River Killer”) and heartbreak (“Not Your Lover”).

The Blow – Paper Television (K)

The fifth full-length by this duo is the sound of a group finally hitting their stride. After almost a decade of well-meaning, but ultimately raggedy sounding efforts, Khaela Maricich and Jona Bechtolt either got completely comfortable with modern technology or simply began to feel fully settled working with each other, but they were able to crank out 10 brilliant songs of shimmering lovelorn pop. Giddy numbers like “Parentheses” and “Eat Your Heart Up” are artful, yet accessible blends of new wave gloss and hip-hop grit. Though the two have parted ways (amicably, as Bechtolt is now expending all his energy with his own group YACHT) and The Blow has turned into something of a one-woman cabaret act, The Blow can rest comfortably on the legacy of this perfect collaborative effort.

Copy – Mobius Beard (Audio Dregs)

All you need to be able to parse out Marius Libman’s solo electronica can be found under the influences he lists on his MySpace page. On his debut album, you can pick out the low end skitter of producers like Dr. Dre and Timbaland, the charming analog pretension of Human League and Yaz, and the joyous repetition of an NES game soundtrack. When it was released two years ago, it felt like the music of the future finally found a home in Portland, Oregon. These days, it feels like the future of music is being driven under the influence of albums like this one.

Danava – UnonoU (Kemado)

Hard, heavy rock tends to get short shrift in our fair city, especially these days when folk-driven earnestness is all the rage. But if there were ever a band to help tip the scales back to piledriving riffs and early Sabbath-style vocalizing, it would be Danava. Led by the sci-fi visions cooked up by front man Dusty Sparkles, this progressive trio hit their creative apex with this, their second album, which retrofitted acid rock drenched guitar playing with a truncheon-like rhythm section. It’s a record that leave you dizzy, giddy and utterly convinced that the title of the album totally makes sense, man.

The Dandy Warhols – 13 Tales From Urban Bohemia (Capitol)

The tastemakers of the city dismissed the band for their unrepentant aims for stardom, but in doing so they have missed out on album after album of pure glam and psychedelic bliss. The long-running quartet got the new millennium off to a fantastic start with this richly produced and ultra catchy collection of pop anthems. They borrow liberally from the playbooks of influences like T. Rex and Bowie but adds their own modern twists with rumbling electronic touches and Courtney Taylor-Taylor’s turned on, tuned in lyrics. This band is well overdue for a retro-style resurrection and re-appraisal. Let it start right here.

The Decemberists – Castaways & Cutouts (Hush)

In a decade that saw this band’s musical output grow in both conceptual and sonic strength, my rough polling of Portland music fans turned up a rather interesting wrinkle: when it comes down to it, people prefer The Decemberists’ humble beginnings. It’s hard to fault the choice, though, as their first full-length kicked the door open for Colin Meloy’s particular brand of hyper literate folk pop, sending a generation of fans into the richly hewn world of ghostly children, crooked French-Canadians, and lovelorn Spanish puppeteers.

Alela Diane – To Be Still (Rough Trade)

Over the course of one album, this former Nevada City resident managed to capture the spirit of wandering Nashville-style country, folk music from Ireland and modern indie all through the ache of her crackling fire of a singing voice. Anchored by acoustic guitar and tasteful orchestration that never overplays, Diane’s songs befit any season – the dusky warmth of late summer, the chill of winter, and the giddy expectation of spring.

Eat Skull – Sick To Death (Siltbreeze)

The last few years has seen an upswing in bands that proudly fly an analog flag, recording their work on any dusty beat to hell tape deck that will have them. The group that represented Oregon best in this beautiful racket was this roughshod quartet of noisemakers. Their debut full-length gives away the group’s pedigree: a steady diet of vintage Flying Nun 7″s, early Pavement singles and a lot of garage rock compilations. It’s nearly punk, nearly pop, and all Eat Skull.

Evolutionary Jass Band – What’s Lost (Mississippi Records)

The captain of the good ship Oregon Music News likens the upswing of young, hyper aware and brilliant jazz players in the city (Andrew Oliver, Ben Darwish, etc.) as “indie jazz”. For this writer, the moniker should be applied first to this freewheeling group. They play shows well below the radar of the regular jazz market, perform a glorious mix of Afrobeat, Sun Ra style space excursions and smoky cabaret weepers, and released their finest work in a very limited edition on a staunchly DIY label (vinyl only naturally).

Exploding Hearts – Guitar Romantic (Dirtnap)

2003 was a tough year for Portland music with the suicide of Elliott Smith and the tragic death of 3/4 of the members of this snarling power pop/punk outfit in a van accident. Just as their star was on the ascendant, too, as heard on their one and only LP. The 10 skinny tie and leather jacket-ed tracks echo the best of groups like The Undertones and Sweet, but with their own homegrown energy fueled cheap beer and strong coffee. And as Adam Cox’s lovelorn lyrics proved, the album’s title wasn’t just a catchy turn of phrase. It’s a shame they didn’t get more of a chance to burn even brighter.

Gossip – Standing In The Way Of Control (Kill Rock Stars)

They had already made a name for themselves as a blues-garage-punk dynamo hybrid to be reckoned with. But with the release of their third studio album and the introduction of drummer Hannah Billie to the proceedings, the band turned toward a raw disco-new wave-soul sound that coaxed some of the most diva-like sounds from vocalist Beth Ditto. It is an album that made the trio superstars in the UK and an indie success here in the States, urged on by the engaging and hard to ignore lead single “Standing In The Way of Control” and their always-electrifying stage shows. The gear switch for Gossip did them and their listeners a world of sexy, sweaty good.

Grouper – Dragging A Dead Deer Up A Hill (Type)

The ghostly sound of Liz Harris’s lost in the ether vocals combined with heavily processed guitar sounds and ambient noise provided one the most haunting and dreamlike listening experiences of the past decade. It’s an album that is just as fulfilling when hiding in the background of your daily activities or turned up loud on headphones as you pay attention to every last nuance and reverb-ed vocal. All signs point to Harris moving above and beyond what is heard on this record, as we really should expect from an artist as forward thinking as she is. But we will likely hold on most tightly to this intoxicating document.

Jackie O Motherfucker – The Magick Fire Music (Ecstatic Peace!)

We’ve been inured to experimental music to the point that we expect a song like “Extension” to, at any minute, take a turn into the world of frightening, squalling noise. But Tom Greenwood’s long running music concern knows better than that. Over the course of nearly 16 minutes, he and the band revel in small turns of guitar phrasing, washed out cymbals, pinging synth runs and the rumble of drums. It’s one of the most heavenly exercises in pure restraint ever committed to tape and caps off one of the most exciting avant psych releases of the past decade.

The Joggers – Solid Guild (Startime International)

There were dozens of bands working the same spiraling guitars with unusual tunings and on the verge of tumbling over the hillside rhythm section sound by the time The Joggers released their debut album. But something about their arch approach to what we might now call “classic indie rock” stood head and shoulders above the fray. It could have been the keen use of four-part harmonies. Or it could simply be the fact that, on first lesson, you were never quite sure where the band would go next (do you know any other group that pulled off an non ironic a cappella breakdown in the pre-Glee universe?). No matter what it was, we followed them every step of the way.

Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks – Pig Lib (Matador)

For the past decade, the former Pavement front man has called Portland his home, and quickly made a firm name for himself by pulling together a new band featuring some of the best musicians from his adopted hometown (Jonna Bolme, John Moen and Mike Clark). His second post-Pavement effort carries over that band’s meandering, shaggy dog aesthetic, but with the influence of ’60s psychedelia creeping more evidently in the mix. It has the confident and comfortable sound of someone who has finally settled down. We should still be proud that he has chosen our fair city to do his settling in.

Menomena – Friend & Foe (Barsuk)

Perhaps the most modern of albums to be created in our modern era, the trio’s third album was constructed in fits and starts with the individual members writing and recording separately. These parts were then re-recorded or re-written by the other members of the group as they went along. That the finished product was an avant-pop masterpiece, filled with angular rhythms, surging choruses and plenty of random noise, instead of a mess of disjointed, confused sound is a testament to the collective mindset of the group. They are in this together and to create something brilliant, and on Friend & Foe, they did just that.

Mirah – C’mon Miracle (K)

It’s a testament to the abilities of Mirah’s songwriting that she can place a deeply political pop tune about the state of Israel (“Jerusalem”) close to a heartfelt, horn-drenched break up elegy (“We’re Both So Sorry”) and have these disparate ideas feel joined at the hip. The first of many artistic peaks by this now-former Oregonian brought with it the homegrown feel of the Olympia music scene she was bred in, but added to it her sharp ear for minimalist composition and production. Every song sounds full, but never overstuffed.

Modest Mouse – Good News For People Who Love Bad News (Epic)

The album that introduced Isaac Brock and his beautifully agonized, staccato pop/rock to suburb dwellers, Good News has the air of a defining statement. The kind of work that its creators put their spines, hearts and sweat deep into, figuring it’s their last best shot at something bigger than indie success. It certainly paid off thanks to “Float On”, the rousing single that, in 2004, seemed absolutely inescapable. The rest is Platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated history, and a story that Brock and co. have built upon in the years since its release.

Quasi – Hot Shit! (Touch & Go)

Sam Coomes and Janet Weiss had already made a lasting mark on the Portland music scene by this point. They had five albums under their belt – each one better than the one before – and were getting plenty of attention for their work outside of the group. But their sixth helped cut that mark a little deeper, bringing Coomes’ love of Delta blues (“Master & Dog”) and a touch of straining ’70s pop into their already well-established mix of dour lyrics and jaunty indie rock. Hot shit, indeed.

The Shins – Wincing The Night Away (Sub Pop)

Hearing a band mature and truly come into their own is a thrill for any music fan. And for fans of The Shins, the thrill came from this fantastic collection. Wincing captured some of James Mercer’s most engaging and indelible melodies and found the band stretching themselves comfortably past the lightly hued sound that got them name checked in a Hollywood film. All signs are pointing to a different look and feel for the band from here on out. Will they expand on the ideas formulated here? Undoubtedly. Will they improve upon what they did here? Hard to improve on perfection.

Sleater-Kinney – The Woods (Sub Pop)

On their final salvo together, this powerful trio locked in tight like never before, writing feedback dripping jams that demanded your attention and your appreciation. Carrie Brownstein submitted fully to her new found status as a guitar goddess, ripping through these proceedings like a buzz saw. She and Corin Tucker responded to our fracturing modern age with some of the most bitter, bilious lyrics of their long career (check out the call-to-arms that is “Entertain” and the vicious “Modern Girl”). There is light at the end of this tunnel, however, as heard in their closing one-two punch – a pair of noisy and hope-filled odes to both family and love.

Elliott Smith – Figure 8 (Dreamworks)

The only album that Smith saw released this decade is as heartbreaking and fragile and brilliant as the man who created it. His second to be bankrolled by a major label, Smith was able to fulfill his pop dreams, making a record that sounds removed from the era in which it was released. It has the lush heart of mid-’60s British pop and with occasional blasts of ’70s-style groove and rumble. The beauty of the music is countered by Smith’s arch lyrical visions that took a Bukowski-like mixture of cynicism and romance to dizzying heights.

Spoon – Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (Merge)

This tightly-controlled masterpiece will be likely be analyzed for years to come. Not only by those fledgling songwriters hoping to parse out just how Britt Daniel (another Portland transplant) constructs his loose, angular jams, but by engineers looking to match drummer Jim Eno’s jaw dropping production work. Each song plays out like an Escher illusion, with each note and noise locked into those surrounding it to create a beautiful seamless whole. It’s a master’s class in modern rock and pop that wraps up in a tidy 36 minutes. You can expect to hear more bands and more albums like it after they’ve had some time to absorb all the subtle details found within.

Starfucker – Starfucker (Badman Recording Co.)

The past decade saw an amazing number of bands arriving fully formed, creating full-length classics right out of the gate. Portland’s entry into that parade was Starfucker, a quartet that specialized in glossy, ’80s inspired, dance floor filling jams. It has the goofy wit to wend in some Alan Watts samples, but is also smart enough not to rest on any one groove or melodic idea for too long. It has the effortless spirit of a perfect summer’s day, the kind where you awarded all the time in the world to simply float downstream and enjoy yourself.

Talkdemonic – Beat Romantic (Arena Rock Recording Co.)

Their debut, Mutiny Sunshine, saw this duo feeling out the idea of playing instrumental music that was driven by live and programmed beats, but also carried on its back a heft of melodics via viola, piano and other acoustic instruments. It felt good there, but feels positively great on this, their follow up release. Each song has a full, rounded quality with the wood and wire elements folding into click and drag elements with deceptive ease. Also states a hell of a case for Kevin O’Connor as Portland’s best male drummer (check out the track “Human Born” for the best evidence of this). In a city teeming with them, that is saying something.

The Thermals – The Body, The Blood, The Machine (Sub Pop)

The rest of the country can keep the empty rhetoric of Green Day’s so-called rock operas. When we want to take a punk-fueled journey into the heart of “real America”, we want The Thermals to be our guides. It’s the story of a boy and a girl fleeing a religion-crazed police state set to the sound of sinewy power chords, steamrolling drums and Hutch Harris’s window shaking vocals. A perfect encapsulation of the frustration and anger so many of us felt during the Bush administration, The Thermals gave us an outlet to dance and shout and shake and focus our energy on getting the bastards in our sights and taking them down.

M. Ward – Transistor Radio (Merge)

Some records are titled perfectly. Like this one. The warm, worn sound that Matt Ward created here would sound perfect spilling out of the monophonic speaker of a small handheld radio. And the songs on it are all about the escape granted to lovers of music when their favorite tunes are in the air. That means everything from sleepy, jazzy love poems to the Beach Boys and Bach instrumentals that bookend the collection.

White Rainbow – Prism Of Eternal Now (Kranky)

The doyen of the psychedelic and experimental music scenes in Portland, Adam Forkner has done time with such far-out outfits as Surface of Eceyon and Dirty Projectors. On his own, the various strains of influence that he has exhibited in his work with these groups (Krautrock, Japanese psychedelia, IDM) are all focused and sharpened. They came together most convincingly on this stretched out, acid trailing epic of drum loops, fractured guitar and deep, pure drone. It’s the kind of work that coaxes you into it gently but then holds you firm and strong until the last notes fade away. The visions and ecstasy you receive as a result is just added incentive to give yourself over to it.

Author and songwriter Willy Vlautin and the boys from Richmond Fontaine had to cancel their Cascade-area record release events in Portland and Seattle due to the dang flu.

All are healthy now and on December 11th Richmond Fontaine will celebrate the September ‘09 release of their latest LP We Used to Think the Freeway Sounded Like A River on Portland Indie label Arena Rock Recording.

Check out their new video for “You Can Move Back Here.”

Engineered by Larry Crane of Jackpot! Recording Studio (Elliott Smith, R.E.M., The Decemberists, The Shins…) this is the fourth Richmond Fontaine album produced by famous country and alternative country guy JD Foster (Calexico, Richard Buckner, Laura Cantrell).

Richmond Fontaine keeps pumping out great records and have been playing alternative country music since before there was a name for the genre.  This band tours a lot and their Dante’s show is an opportunity to see one of the Northwest’s seminal alternative country acts play Portland.

Richmond Fontaine with Michael Dean Damron and Dolorean.

9 pm, Fri. Dec. 11, Dante’s, 1 SW 3rd, 21+

Even adults without kids are getting down on Yo Gabba Gabba!, a children’s variety show created by Nickelodeon, and why shouldn’t they?

Furry monsters. Caped DJs.  A magic robot.  Boomboxes blasting edu-dance tracks.  And, of course, performers like The Ting Tings, Chromeo, and The Shins.

Although Yo Gabba Gabba! may not be in PDX anytime soon, we’ve got our own You Who, brainchild of The Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk and his girlfriend Seann McKeel, to keep the kiddies and adults happy.

The monthly series of children’s shows features a half an hour of variety entertainment followed by a concert from a local music group.  Not a kid’s group.

The November 29th show at McMenamins Kennedy School features Quasi, the Portland Ukulele Project, and Vursatyl from Lifesavas. 

Blue Giant, Blitzen Trapper, and Explode Into Colors will play future You Who shows.

Read the full review of Yo Gabba Gabba! Live! in NYC on Entertainment Weekly.

The ever on the spot Pitchfork is reporting that Portland’s favorite hyper-literate rock stars The Decemberists will be premiering an animated version of their most recent album, The Hazards Of Love, at a show in Los Angeles, and will be selling the film for download on iTunes starting December 1st.

Here is a trailer for the film:

Making the rounds on the blogs of the world of late is the news that Decemberists front man Colin Meloy and his wife Carson Ellis are working together on a bunch of books for children. One will be a limited edition, letterpressed beauty entitled The Unfortunate Demise of Whitley Rackham, another will be a book called A Message for Albert, which Ellis says is “set in 1920s Butte, Montana and features a talking cat.”  Sounds about right.

In the two years since Loch Lomond released their first proper band album, Paper The Walls, this lovely chamber folk outfit have made that slow steady climb up the hill toward international renown. Much of it has been on the strength of their sharp and often dramatic live performances that swing from small fragile moments that hinge on the interplay of a finger-picked acoustic guitar and singer/songwriter Ritchie Young’s falsetto to clattering, shuddering crescendos that resemble woozy sea shanties. The quintet have taken their live show around the U.S. with startling frequency, including last year’s month-long jaunt as openers for The Decemberists.

This spirit is captured most immediately on the band’s latest release, the five-song EP entitled Night Bats. It starts with the most indie pop recording Loch Lomond has done to date before falling into another dreamy sway. Along the way, they make time to add some muscle to an older song and cover a vintage ’60s-era Bee Gees classic, finishing it all off with a rousing and haunting closing track that will linger in your synapses well after it has stopped playing.

Oregon Music News caught up with Young after an afternoon recording session at OPB and before the band geared up for their CD release show at his new club The Woods.

Why did you decided to just release an EP at this time rather than a full-length album?

Well we have a full-length that we recorded this last year. It’s called Little Me Will Start A Storm and it’s going to come out in spring of 2010. We had this window of time to come into the studio and record and mix and master in 20 days. It was really great to do something where we didn’t micro analyze every part of it and second-guess everything. In the end, we decided to kind of remix a few of the songs with Tucker Martine. And it has been since August 2007 since we released anything on disc, so we did this EP. I like it a lot. I think our full-length is a little more experimental than anything we’ve put out before. The EP is the cross between the old Loch Lomond recordings and our new material.

The first two songs on Night Bats – “Ghost Of An Earthworm” and the title track – have a fable like quality to them. What was the inspiration behind these two?

When I was 14, I saw an episode of Ripley’s Believe It or Not and in it was an Indian peasant who in his backyard saw these giant glowing earthworms. About six months ago, I had this really vivid dream that I was one of those worms but that I had swallowed a skeleton and could walk around. “Night Bats” is essentially a love song about a person I was dating. She was very much a day person and I was very much a night person, so there was this real love/hate relationship in the way we looked at the world. It showed me that you can be not right for someone but still care about them very much. So, I put that in a fable setting, and wrote a not vague metaphor for that situation.

You also re-recorded an older song, “Spine”, for the record. What prompted you to revisit this one?

I recorded the original recording five years ago, with just me and another person. But the way we had been doing it live and it had life and energy and we’re going to start playing it again this year. It’s a fun song. And we were really tired of ending out set with that song, “Tic”. We had being doing it for so many years, that we felt we needed a crescendo at the end of the set. So we decided to retool that song and give it life again.

How about the Bee Gees cover on the album, “Holiday”?

That song was chosen for us by a friend of ours, John Brophy, who is just a huge fan of music; he runs Baby Ketten Karaoke. He was putting together a compilation and he said, “I really want you guys to do this song by The Bee Gees.” At first I said, “No, that’s not right for us” But listening to it, I realized that in a weird way that recording was an influence on the band that we’re not even aware of. It sounds so much like what I hope Loch Lomond sounds like to people.

It feels like, with this new material especially, you are really putting the focus on the vocals and pushing that forward in the songs. Was this on purpose or am I just imagining things?

Yeah, on this new record and the EP, the vocals driving force them. For about a year, we have been really focusing on the vocals for live performances. Before, a lot of the focus has been on the instrumentation of the band. I think that we want to keep that a huge part of what we’re doing but have the vocals be the most present thing. And it’s just really fun to sing with people that love singing. You know The Flash Choir? Watching them, you can tell everyone involved just loves singing. Watching them perform is such a huge rush. Even when I’m sick onstage with the flu and having a fever, or I have a toothache, when I’m singing it just kills all of that. Of course, when you’re done singing, it all comes back…

Loch Lomond went on tour with The Decemberists not too long ago. What was that experience like?

It was amazing. They were total professionals and really sweet to us. No rock star attitude at all. It was a fantastic experience. For me, I get really excited and overwhelmed that we play a show where there was 200 people there. Then we were playing to 2,000 to 4,000 people a night for almost a month. It was really an eye opener.

You also opened up a venue in Portland, The Woods. How did that get started?

At the end of The Decemberists tour, I was talking with my roommate Vivian Lyon about it. She’s a lawyer, but didn’t want to work for anyone and I was getting tired of looking for work after touring. It was a lot of planning and somehow it fell into line. I really didn’t think it was going to happen. We couldn’t get loans to start it up, but the economy fell to the point that it allowed some people with an idea to just run with it. It’s been like going to school for opening a business. I’ve learned a lot and I have so much more to learn, but it’s been fun.