Ella Street Social Club tested its luck with a residency not too long ago, and it looks like it went well, because it is hosting its second residency Tuesday, May 11, featuring the lo-fi pop sounds of And And And, accompanied by the tribal face-painted, psych-folkers Gratitillium.

And And And’s repertoire encompasses the lo-fi sweetness of The Kinks combined with the bouncy indie pop Pavement made oh so popular. Founded upon basement 4-track recordings, the now sextet has damn near perfected the static-saturated, crunchy vocal, DIY recording template of 1960’s lo-fi, while still producing large instrument arrangements and vocal choruses in the same vein as the Arcade Fire.

With music featuring primal chanting and fluid instrumentation, Gratitillium’s sound is just as organic as the band’s appearance on stage. Large projections of Planet Earth accompany the quartet’s live performances, and rumor has it, the band is working on incorporating costumed dancers to perform interpretive dance and skits during their shows to awaken the spirit animals in all of us.

Gratitillium – Barn Owl Hearts:

The show starts at 9 pm and is FREE!

-Katrina Nattress

Hosannas (formerly Church) will being celebrating the drop of their new album Now and Then – released on Hush Records – this Sunday, May 9th at Mississippi Studios a full two days before its official release. 

The band will be sure to please listeners with their off-the-cuff pop musical musings as they pounce forward with their second release. The principle songwriters of the outfit – who also happen to be brothers Brandon and Richard Laws – are cited as growing up listening to the Beach Boys and Kraftwerk. These influences seem to hold true, though do not restrain their songwriting talent.

You can download the track "Happiness" from their new LP here. The track spins a happy keyboard hook around a race track of energized percussion, as the vocals anchor the experience with a core value of pop sensibility.

The show is a meager $6 and starts at 9 p.m. Opening is the mind-bogglingly cool Tu Fawning, and Deli Portland band of the month nominee Ah Holly Fam’ly! What a deal!

– Joel Sommer

You’re already supporting local music right? So why not support all other types of creative endeavors all under one roof? Tender Loving Empire, the Whole Foods of media and art, is having their Grand Opening Party tonight from 6 – 10pm.

TLE is a media and arts collective, record label, comics imprint, consignment store with tons of homemade goods (cards, jewelry, pillows), gallery, custom screenprinter, concert/event production house, and a dangerous place to go if you are on a shopping hiatus.

Under their label are popular local bands Typhoon, Hosannas, and Boy Eats Drum Machine, the lattter of which will be playing at the party at 8:30 p.m. You can also check out earlier in the night an art show curated by Hungry Eyeball.

TLE is fully supportive of Do It Yourself activities, so why don’t you Do Yourself a favor and head out to their party tonight at 412 SW 10th Ave. (1-1/2 blocks south of Powell’s Books, across from the Ace Hotel Cleaners)?

It will be a great chance to hear some good music, see some cool art, support the local arts, and check out awesome handmade items in their store. But be warned, I hear it’s hard to leave without buying something.

– Deanna Uutela

The Parlour, Southeast Portland’s All-Ages Mustachioed Venue, only burst forth in late October, but the venue needs your help to stay open or it may be forced to close its doors before the end of May.

Here’s a Facebook note from the hosts:

The Parlour crew has been hanging on as tightly as we could since the very beginning, but recent unfortunate developments with the property have made it impossible for us to continue as what we are. It weighs very heavily in our minds to have to notify our patrons and acts of this drastic change, but we will be unable to keep our doors open after a short while, most likely the end of May, if not sooner. We just might be able to save this, though!

This Thursday, come down to The Parlour to try to save southeast Portland’s all ages venue! Felecia & The Dinosaur, Your Canvas and Soap Collectors will be playing deliciously awesome sets for you splendid little ears in hopes that we might stick around! All the proceeds from the door will be going to The Parlour to help us batten our doors and keep this thing afloat!

7pm, donations at the door, all ages!

– Chris Young

Though married musicians Fred and Toody Cole are now in their 60s, the rock ‘n’ roll duo show no signs of retirement. The indie rock veterans performed for 20 years with their band Dead Moon, but since that band’s demise in 2006, you’ll have to see them grace the stage of Rotture tonight with Pierced Arrows. This is most definitely not a bad thing.

The ’80s garage/country-rock style that Dead Moon was known and respected for is not missing from Pierced Arrows’ potent lineup of tunes, but you will hear more of a punk influence thanks in part to the tenacious drumming of Kelly Halliburton. This band has more fire, stage presence and energy than a band half their age, and it’s easy to see why they have been owning Portland stages for over two decades.

Check out these living legends at Rotture tonight along with Hungry Ghost, and Lana Rebel & the Broken Promises. And don’t forget to help welcome Don’t’s new CD into the world, as they parlay their old school punk/blues/country conglomerate under the watchful lead guitar of Dan Lowinger, and the Hynde-esque vocals of Jenny Don’t. 

Show kicks off at 9 p.m with a cover charge of a measly $8.

– Deanna Uutela

Brent “Fathead” DeBoer, the drummer and backup vocalist for The Dandy Warhols, has had a pretty impressive career. The Dandys have toured with such greats as The Rolling Stones and Tom Petty, and are soon releasing an album of their greatest hits. DeBoer recently stepped out on his own to record a solo album, The Farmer, a melodic collection of acoustic songs, a portion of the proceeds from which are being donated to charity.

DeBoer was kind enough to sit down and have a chat with The Deli Portland regarding David Bowie, the hillbilly folk scene, and tonight’s show at the newest hit venue in Portland, The Woods.

What inspired you for this album The Farmer?

Well, Brian Coates (of The Great Northwest) for sure, and anyone on the committee, dead or alive, that I could imagine listening to it. At the time, I was living in the rock dorm and Brian Coates lived downstairs. He writes melodic, acoustic, trippy, sad songs, and I was tying to do a bunch of songs like his in that way. Then eight years later, when he was recording Zia MaCabe’s (Dandy Warhols’ keyboardist) album, he was recording her. She’d get done at 10:00 p.m, they’d work until then and then I came in, broke out all the old cassettes, and Brian and I would work until six in the morning. But yeah, I’d say the biggest influence would be Brian Coates.

A portion of the proceeds from The Farmer are going to the MS Foundation. Why is that a cause that’s important to you?

My dad has MS, and when I’d recorded this with Coatsie, I didn’t know what I was going to do with it. We put it on and it sounded pretty cool, and we wanted to do something with it that would be different. Most albums, especially something like this, they just come and go and they wouldn’t really matter that much. But I wanted to think of a way for a different audience to hear it, and I started thinking of charity things, and MS was an obvious one, considering my Dad, and the fact that I’d done the MS walk a few times, so we called up the people at the Oregon chapter at the MS Society, so we’re contributing some of the proceeds to fight MS.

What are the highlights of your career so far?

There’s a handful. There’s been a few massive concerts, big shows around the world, but I think the main thing would be just having musical peers show appreciation by coming to your concerts, or mentioning in the press how much they like a certain song or album. Having David Bowie and his band come to see us play a few times made us feel really good. Generally when you start a band, you’re not thinking about fame or money or chicks, you’re just trying to be accepted by your peers in the music world. Even if it’s just some fantasy figure you imagine, that’s what you’re really thinking of. So to have Joe Strummer walk up to me at a festival and ask when we were going on, and tell me he loved the music, or having Bowie come to the show, it makes it easier to sleep at night. It makes it easier to ignore it when you hear some snotty reviewer rag on you – you rest assured that they’re wrong. I care more about Joe Strummer’s opinion than some guy writing for some rag out of Denver who gives us a shitty review.

What’s next for you?

We have the Dandy Warhols greatest hits collection coming out, which we’re calling The Capitol Years, considering the fact that we never really had a collection, or more than one semi-hit. It’s just a collection of songs that had videos, or were sent to radio stations by Capitol Records. There are two bonus tracks, and those are just about done. I’m also recording an album of songs of mine and my friends Bob Harrow and Gamma, who are both from Australia. We’re calling it Immigrant Union. We’re recording it with Greg Williams who produced the album Thirteen Tales for the Dandys. The ultimate dream for Immigrant Union is to tour country music fairs, going overseas, playing the Grand Ole Opry, the Austin City Limits Festival…just that other world of country world of hillbilly folk. It’s a world I don’t know, but I’d really like to. That’s the band that’ll play with me on April 30th, at The Woods. It’s $15, but it’s worth it because the money goes to a good cause.

Brent De Boer’s solo record The Farmer is raising money to fight MS, and is available now on CD Baby.

– Arielle Mullen

Spirituals is the pseudonym for musician, producer and graphic designer, Tyler Tadlock. After recently moving from Jackson, Mississippi, he began working on his first album, coming out soon on Waaga Records.

His electronic, sample-based tunes draw heavily from extensive sampling, recorded from free jazz projects back in Jackson. A new track by the name of "Wanderings" has just been released and can be heard below:

The track sounds glitchy without being too edgy or annoying. Sounds and samples break and build as the song slowly gains repetitive momentum. It’s pretty cool, refreshing and different than a lot of other stuff out there – check it.

The debut album is slated for release June 22nd.

– Joel Sommer

Pony Village’s self-titled debut EP shows just how much potential the quartet possesses. Completely self-released, and pressed onto 12” vinyl, the record captures the quaint, lo-fi, DIY vibe as well as the sparkle of larger things to come. “We give away free CD’s with [the record] at shows,” explains vocalist Ryan Barber, “but we recorded [Pony Village] with the intention of putting out a record, and I feel that CD’s are really only something that people put into their computer once and then forget about.”

Listening to Pony Village on vinyl brings me back to Northwest indie rock in the late nineties. The succinct drum taps and warbling slide guitar coupled with Barber’s pleasantly off key voice is reminiscent of Keep It Like a Secret-era Built to Spill, while echoed, unhurried soundscapes and Barber’s breathy, high-pitched vocal tone is nostalgic to Death Cab for Cutie’s Something About Airplanes.

Although the foursome has clear influences, its music is not a total pastiche. You can hear the genuineness in Barber’s voice as he sings, “Why did you bring me back again? I was at Pacific Pines, the sand on the beach at night, it looked almost white,” in “Depoe Bay,” a track paying homage to a quaint coastal town well known to us Oregonians, and encompassing the same dreariness that reminds us all of the Oregon coast.

Pony Village – Depoe Bay from Rodrigo Melgarejo on Vimeo.

The six-song EP ends on a strong note with “You Play, You Pay,” a beautifully eerie, sweeping piece played in minor chords saturated in reverb. The track begins with a droning guitar riff and drum beat that eases into Barber’s airy voice asking his listener to “Lay your ear to the ground, do you hear the sound? The one I can’t allow.” The chilling uneasiness of this track is fit for a record player on a gray Portland day.

If Pony Village’s LP, which is currently in the works, sounds anything like this debut, Barber will have no reason to worry about someone listening to it once than forgetting about it, whether it be on record or CD.

-Katrina Nattress

Every year, the guys and gals of PDX Pop Now! work their asses off to host a rad summer weekend music festival showcasing local under the radar acts. Since the organization is non-profit, it raises money for the big event via smaller benefits.

One such fundraiser happens tomorrow evening at The Cleaners in the Ace Hotel. Make It Pop! will be an all ages evening filled with music, complimentary food from Firehouse Restaurant, St. Cupcake, Bakery Bar, Fifty Licks and drinks from Captured by Porches Brewing, Klickitat Canyon Winery, and C & G Wines.

While you are filling your belly with delectable eats and drinks, enjoy the chilling, disjointed harmonies of Musee Mecanique, the campfire melodies of Ah Holly Fam’ly, the mellow folk of Alialujah Choir, and the always wonderful storytelling of The Decemberists’ Colin Meloy.

Oh yeah, and did I mention there will also be a silent auction with contributors including Kill Rock Stars, Tender Loving Empire, Blitzen Trapper, and Stumptown Coffee?

If you’re not going to be watching the Blazers kick some Suns ass, this is the place to be Thursday night. Make It Pop! begins at 6:30 pm. Tickets cost $35.

-Katrina Nattress

Stephanie Schneiderman is a Northwest staple, so I won’t go on and on about her past, but I do have to give some major kudos where it is deserved. Not only is she this amazing mix of Sade, Amy Lee and Stevie Knicks, but she also acts, raises large amounts of money for humanitarian issues, and moonlights in her successful side band Dirty Martini.

Schneiderman has released six solo albums and two collaborative albums, and has impressed the likes of well known electronic musician/producer/DJ Keith Schreiner and James Beaton of Storm and the Balls, both of whom collaborated with her on her last album Dangerous Fruit.

What I appreciate the most about her music, though, is her eclectic mix – one minute she sounds a little country, the next she throws down some Latin beats, and then she goes a little gangsta on us and sings with a T-Pain style voice box.

If you can only see one band this week, this month, or this year, I recommend it be her. Stephanie Schneiderman, Garrison Starr and Pat Kearns from Blue Skies For Black Hearts will be at Mississippi Studios this Saturday, May 1st, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $10.

– Deanna Uutela

Dirty Mittens will be giving away a handmade, limited run (100), three-song demo from the album they’re working on at Mississippi Studios on Friday.

"We’re super excited about this album," said guitarist Ben Moral. "It’s been in the works since last summer, and we’re still working on mixing it. Jim Brunberg of Mississippi Studios is generously contributing his time to the effort."

The band is also stoked (and you should be too) on these awesome V.I.P. cards they will be handing out at the show. The idea is basically like when you go to a coffee shop and get a bunch of macchiatos and then they give you one for free. Except instead of macchiatos, it’s shows. A buddy of theirs who runs the site ibrontosaurus.com designed and illustrated these really amazing punch cards, and if you come to five shows and get it punched, they’ll give you something free.

"We didn’t really want to limit this to one particular thing, you know, so we’re just saying ‘we’ll hook you up’ – which could mean a free show, shirt, CD, or even something crazy like coming to practice and swilling some brews with us, or having us take you out to dinner, or whatever," explained Moral. "We just want to say thanks to those folks who come out to our shows all the time."

This idea came about because of a confluence of events the band is calling Mittenstastrophe 2k10. This weekend, there will be three (3) chances to get a punch: Mississippi Studios Friday night, Aladdin Theater on Saturday during the day, then Saturday evening at the Willamette Week‘s Eat Mobile event. Is there a better way to spend this almost summer weekend?

Check out some of the demo tracks here.

 – Shuggypop

A new electronica act with a cleverly celestial nome de guerre and a handful of digital tracks, Spesus Christ comes home… well, the Oakland/Portland-based trio returns to Portland from their other Bay Area locale for a "homecoming" show this Saturday at "what used to be the Funky Church on Tamarack (just north of Division)," according to producer/mixer Cameron Spies.

Filling out the bill are the seriously jamming synth-pop duo Adventures! With Might, electro-ambient Soap Collectors (which also features Spesus Christ’s Lizzy Ellison), stomach-friendly folk from Leviticus Appleton, and mournful beatmasters Your Canvas.

Behind the moans and machines, Spesus Christ pulsates an unclassifiable twinkling and tapping of beats with stream of consciousness raps. Right Cameron?

"Our sound is a mixture of analog and electronic instrumentation. It includes elements of down-tempo hip-hop, rock music, indie, and smatterings of about everything else we like listening to. It’s sort of problematic to try to describe our music using genre titles like we’ve just done, so I suggest that you just listen to our stuff."

Take the man’s advice and download the simplistically titled yet multitudinously layered EP 1. Evolving so rapidly, their concert poster can’t even keep up with them – the $2 cover has been nixed, the show is donation-based.

And gushing with new material, Cameron says, "We are planning to release an EP every month for the next six."

But until the first is mixed (possibly by next week!), Soap Collectors also celebrate a tape release but remind you that "Soap Collectors are people who gather together varieties of soap and compulsively log and organize them into neat piles."

Save me Spesus.

– Chris Young