New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
The dream-pop duo of Fair & Kind will be performing the first ever on-line concert via ustream tonight starting at 8pm. The band is excited and a little nervous. They recommend checking their twitter feed for updates about the show. Fair & Kind released the latest full-length A Little Past Twilight back in 2008 and have been working on new music ever since. You can stream their album at their website to prep yourself for their on-line free show tonight. You can view the concert here.
Last week Empires launched a massive East Coast tour that will last will into June and will find them playing with bands like TV/TV, Lights Resolve, and Motion City Soundtrack. “Damn Things Over” is a pure rock anthem and will hopefully bring some new fans to their shows, and is one of the best tracks from their new ep Bang!.
Empires will be performing at Subt on June 6th with Lights Resolve and Harvard.
We continue our "Best of NYC Countdown", covering every day one of the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC list (a chart compiled by a jury comprised of local bloggers, music writers, promoters, record store personnel and DJs).
Consisting of former members of the Brooklyn group Flying, Glass Ghost released its debut album “Idol Omen” in October of 2009. Swishing, low bass beats contrast the high-pitched subtle vocals as songs go up and down from tribal and slightly dancey to slow and confessional. The deadpan vocals dance playfully with the melody of the keys and the beats jump in and out. Glass Ghosts watery demeanor, with hollow beats and swelling keys, displays a diverse range of influences expressed in a really unique way.
There is a new record store in town, the first in West Logan Square, and it will be celebrating its grand opening this weekend. Saki is owned by Patrick Monaghan of Carrot Top Distribution, Ltd. and Carrot Top Records. The store will carry vinyl, CDs, books, magazines, toys, and turntables, while welcoming bands for in-store performances on its modular stage. For the opening weekend they are bringing in a bunch of talented bands to perform including White Mystery, Poison Arrows, Love of Everything, Daniel Knox, Jim Becker, and a bunch of celebrity dj’s from labels like HoZac, Drag City, Kranky, and of course Carrot Top. In addition, there will be performance throughout the week from Hollows, Sadhu Sadhu, Astronomer, and Jon Landford. You can visit their events page for dates and times, but it kicks off this Saturday, May 29th at 12pm.
Located at 3716 W Fullerton Ave., Saki is clearly launching big and with the support of the music community and has a strong future ahead of it.
Drew & the Medicinal Pen sound like they belong on the soundtrack to a movie like “Juno.” Drew’s sound is of the stripped-down-sing-a-long kind, witty and honest. The recordings sound somewhat "casual", like it all took place in a musky, old basement, but it’s exactly this rawness that gives the songs both their charm and sincerity – reminiscent of Pinkerton-era Weezer. The opening track from the “dream, dream, fail, repeat” album, provides the first hint of an ongoing theme – catchy and charming melodies set beneath lyrics expressing real and often difficult emotions, unanswerable life questions, and a search for purpose…he accomplishes this expression not only through this juxtaposition of poppy-ness and depth, but also through surrealistic imagery. The accompaniments are sparse and primitive – some whistling, clapping, and keyboard effects – but they are often the most infectious and driving forces of the songs. It’s bare and it’s genuine — Drew & the Medicinal Pen accomplish more with those two adjectives than most others can with their popular opposites (e.g. over-production and bullshit, respectively). – PJD
The quest for the utter domination of the globe is as inadmirable as it is impossible. Britches can only be so big, and to outgrow them with the humpty-dumpty girth of your aspirations hearkens to the uppermost eschelons of both fuckery and an obvious ignorance to the exponential heaping of broken waist belts into our landfills thereafter.
But slow, steady lunging is way okay in our book, and we want more people to check out not only our blog site, but the litany of amazing Portland underground bands we write about from time to time. With this in mind – and with help from our other favorite local blog, The Days of Lore – the Deli Portland is presenting an evening of radical folk, psych-rock and fuzzy synth pop to The Woods on Wednesday, June 9th! Consider it our first small step. Giant leaps are for buttholes.
Radiant acid-rockers Wax Fingers will kick things off, followed by current Deli Portland artist of the month, mbilly. Rounding out the evening will be the plunky, synth-rock of newcomer Jen Moon. We’re beyond excited to have such a rad cross-section of bands for our first foray into Deli-sponsored events, and we’d be even more stoked to see you come out and rock with us.
With any luck, this will be a monthly showcase, so stay tuned for future updates! And don’t forget! Wednesday, June 9th! 21 and over, doors at 8, show at 9. $7.
We appreciate your patronage, and let us know who you’d like to see at our next showcase by commenting below!
– Ryan J. Prado
Congratulations Space Capone for making it through to Bonnaroo. We’ll see you there!
June 11-13.
You guys deserve it. – Deli Editor
Last night, four bands and three DJs performed at The Open Lot, and all of them had the right to feel skeptical about the turn out. After all, what is The Open Lot? Where did it come from? How long has it been here? Furthermore, what is JR/SR? Who was behind the party? The whole thing seemed to out of nowhere and nothing.
But after last night I have to say that everyone was convinced that The Open Lot is an awesome venue. There’s plenty of space for a couple hundred partiers to dance and mingle, ample parking (though I suggest they cut the waist-high grass), and a staff that is cooperative and just as excited as the partiers themselves. And best of all, it’s right be the railroad tracks, so noise complaints are nothing to worry about.
So what went down? If you got there when the doors opened at 9, you were lucky enough to be greeted by lights, balloons, dance tunes provided by DJ DigiRob – who not only played from 9 – 10, but provided the jams between band – and most importantly, a short line at the cash bar. (Round of applause for the three bar tenders who cured everyone’s thirst last night).
At ten o’clock, Grass Mountain (shameless plug) played their first show. Donned in white tops, white bottoms and solid black shoes, the group powered through their garage-punk-country-psychedelic tunes at faster-than-rehearsed speeds. It was energetic, and the crowd was receptive and ready to jive.
By eleven o’clock, Fly Golden Eagle jumped on stage and gripped the crowd. The lead singer (also the rhythm guitar player for Majestico) has a great knack for laying a melody over simple rhythms, and the keyboardist compliments him well. At times they were grooving and repetitive (in a good way), and at other times they were loose and free. By this time, the crowd – probably as skeptical as the bands – was beginning to realize how much fun was in store for the rest of the night.
DJ DigiRob provided the crowd with some hits while Fly Golden Eagle tore down and Majestico (above photo) set up. Once complete, Majestico hit us with funky screams and sparkling keys. The lead singer let his hair down (literally) and at times sang along, in full falsetto, to his own solos – hilarious and bizarrely musical. It was a treat to hear the colorful solos and melodies bouncing off the walls and into the respective eardrums of the audience. During their set, the crowd peaked in capacity, and you could begin to sense that this party was for real.
The last band to go on was Secret Name. They announced that this would be their last show – their drummer will be moving to Michigan soon – which is sad because they’re a great band. Only three musicians are in the band, but they know how to fill up a room with sound. Their drummer is technically proficient, showing his skills on a minimal kit; the lead singer has a strong voice and a keen sense for rhythm and dynamics, and she’s also the bass player, often playing non-root notes, which compensates for the lack of instrumentation in the band. And the best part is that they have a keytarist. Everyone loves a keytarist. In jest I yelled to the band, just before they started playing, "Is that a guitar or a keyboard!?" To my left, a large bearded man leaned over and said in my ear, "it’s a keytar." The joke was lost on him.
By two in the morning, DJs Potamus and Justin Kase took over. They took turns cranking out the tunes, inviting people on stage behind them, and taking advantage of everyone’s inebriated nature and need for hard hitting beats. They played for a little over an hour and the crowd ate it up. The two really work well together, maybe we’ll see them working in tandem more often.
In closing, thanks to JR/SR for throwing a great party, and thanks to Open Lot for offering up their venue. Grass Mountain, Fly Golden Eagle, Majestico and Secret Name, as well as DJs Potamus and Justin Kase were all impressed by the turn out, and can’t wait to be a part of next months festivities at another Open Lot presents JR/SR bash. – Fletcher Watson
Since 2005, Philadelphia Slick have been giving Philly a fresh burst of jazz laden hip hop. It’s their 5th anniversary, and it also happens to coincide with the release of their latest EP Everything’s Game, which features impressive tracks like “Everything Must Go”, and guest appearances by Via Motive’s emcee Storyville and The Hustle’s Kuf Knotz. The band certainly has a lot to celebrate at The Blockley tonight so expect a torrent of horns, keyboards, and rhyme fueled hooks. They’ll be joined by the refreshing hip hop stylings of The Hustle who will be doing double duty today with a performance at Maysie’s Farmfest. The Blockley Pourhouse, 3801 Chestnut St., 10pm, $5, 21+ – Bill McThrill
