The last leg of The Artistery is quickly coming ’round, and it’s final week includes a starstruck lineup of Portland’s favourites (Point Juncture WA, Rob Walmart, Hive Dwellers, etc), and this Saturday brings a lineup of perfect proportions. Aan will be joining Campfire OK and Kelli Schaeffer (her Amigo/Amiga record release!) March 5th. Aan puts on a live show that you can’t miss, and with Kelli Schaeffer’s incendiary siren call, it’s pretty obvious as to where you should be this Saturday.
Aan is the evolving brainchild of Bud Wilson, stemming from his solo project Amor Ad Nauseum. I’ve had Aan’s latest EP, I Could Be Girl For You on my playlist for days and it just doesn’t quit. It’s the kind of record that doesn’t stay in one place, and you would never want it to. I Could Be Girl For You blares into your ears like mortar and slowly melts into a bluesy puddle within the confines of five tracks. The short boom of a record opens with "Wet and Dripping" speaking in warm, building harmonies that burst with flaming vocals halfway through the track. "Heart Is An Ocean" ropes that very same feeling, wrapped around catchy guitar hooks and effortlessly strained vocals. The middle track subdues the explosions earlier in the EP, mellowing into the lo-fi almost-ballad ("Toy"), before striding back into "For Mable", which reminds me of some forgotten 70’s love song. The record ends with "Sunday", which might be the best soundtrack to every Sunday morning. Chirping birds playing the part of metronome above a simple blues tune — you can’t really ask for more. –Mike Harper