Grouper is Portland musician Liz Harris. Starting from humble means and a self-release in 2005, Harris has continued to build steam toward lofty heights of creativity and popularity. She now has four full-length albums, as well as a collaboration project with NYC-based group, Xiu Xiu.
I appreciate that Grouper strays away from the stereotypical 10-minute length ambient-dream tracks, and instead bends toward the three-five minute standard that the majority of modern songs in the world tend to curtail themselves at. Even without utilizing lengthy tracks, the heart of Harris’ art wells from the pairing of haunting vocals gliding over the calm magic of her chord changes. What she does, she does well.
Grouper’s latest release, Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill, received superlative critical reviews, and ranked high on several 2008 blog "end of year" lists, including, Gorilla vs Bear’s 2nd best album pick of 2008. After giving the album a once-through-listen, I was impressed with how the mood and musical changes worked to keep the album interesting, while remaining very much the same with regard to style and rhythm tempo. You can stream the album on LaLa.
Harris is also involved, along with Honey Owens, with the vintage clothing shoppe Rad Summer located on Burnside (right in my hood, yo). Design firm Wieden and Kennedy have been releasing an awesome video series entitled, "Don’t Move Here," which features music artists from the already robust, yet always growing music scene in Portland. Check out both these musicians (and business women) in the third episode of "Don’t Move Here."
With keyboards, guitar and vocals, Grouper paints a string of songs that act as small landscapes for the listener to enjoy. Ambient dream-scapes and steady acoustic strumming steer the listener over an ocean of rolling swells and shrouding fog to arrive at something musically satisfying. Check it out, and then reach out and vote for the next Deli Band of the Month. Perhaps you will do so just a little more calmly than normal.
– Joel Sommer