Why not enjoy an evening with other ghoulish guests at an open house party this Saturday? Don your costume, make sure you have a little shimmy-room to sway, strut and spin and head out for a night of hard-grooving progressive funk provided by the boys in Otis Heat. These guys have a knack for writing quality and catchy tunes and are celebrating the release of their new four-song EP, titled Pre LP EP, which you can download free here! If you don’t want to commit to that download right away, check out their single "Everybody Loves Me the Same Way" below:

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Also preforming is Portland act Damn Dirty Apes, who craft danceable blues-folk with an occasional twist that reminds one of a slightly scary 1950s traveling carnival.

There will also be a costume contest, so make sure to get that Lady Gaga meat dress tailored with all the right “cuts” so they can separate the fat from the lean when it comes to the judging. Just so you all knew what was at steak here…

The address is 4752 NE Going St. Things get started around 8 p.m. FREE.

– Joel "The Punisher" Sommer.

Whatcha’ll think about the new Strength video for "Metal"? Definitely a memorable beat, definitely some pseudo-trippy acid-wash effects going on. IS IT WORTH A DAMN?

– Ryan J. Prado

With the fall season now fully in effect, Tu Fawning‘s new album Hearts on Hold couldn’t be a better companion to the reflective months ahead. The album constantly dances between dissonance and fine-tuned beauty, leaving the two weaving into a harmony uniquely its own.

"Just Too Much" kicks right off with strong drumming that has a certain tribal vibe to it that doesn’t allow a moment for a breath the entire time. There is a haunting charm to Corrina Repp’s vocals: sing-along melodies backed by organs, dancing pianos and trumpet, all combining into one cohesive sound that the band has crafted with intentionality. The album has a somber tone throughout its duration; Hearts… doesn’t leave the listener on a sad note, but rather one of exploration.

– Stirling Myles

It feels like we’ve been waiting forever for the official PDX album release party for Tu Fawning’s excellent Hearts On Hold. Well, the wait is over – almost. If you can keep your hearts on hold until this Friday, October 29, you can witness the beauty-meets-deconstruction of Corrina Repp and Company’s wailing wall of sound at Doug Fir! Also performing that night will be the excellent Aan, and Billygoat. Doors at 8 p.m., show at 9. $10.

The self-titled debut from Portland’s Wax Fingers is unlike most contemporary progressive rock records, especially in terms of endurance. Found far too often nowadays within that admittedly nebulous genre are songs that become weighted by a profound bout of prog-core calisthenics. Any semblance of listenability falls prey to how many time shifts occur within any given verse, and whether the song is art or experiment, or properly both, is lost in the shuffle. Wax Fingers excel at making you wish you were seeing their wizardly psychedelia live, but not minding that you’re listening to it in your headphones.

Exhibiting flirtations with Primus-like, hammer-on time signature fuckery, songs like "Sticky Bees" are as fun to listen to as they are to try and describe. The entire album plays like a Mothers of Invention acid trip compilation, pitting highly technical guitar tapping and effects-whipped wails, deft drumming and keys into a frenzy of melting perceptions Dali himself would most likely herald. No two songs sound the same. No one is safe from hyperbole.

Despite a lack of traditional melodic counter-phrasing, songs like "Fasten the Hook" fuss around a groovy, ambitious, percussive-based core just the same, with reverb-fluffy vocals swirling in and about the mischief. "20/20" opens up parlaying a tight rhythm, with a Stewart Copeland rim revue anchoring a sonic plane filled with spatial key tinkerings. Then, just as the squall bleeds out, in comes the circus, the cavalcade of effects, the brigade of bells and whistles that Wax Fingers employs at once remarkably and without shame.

Fittingly, there’s also a song called "Abacus," which blueprints a peppy reggae beat, replete with flittery fret work and punchy breaks. It’s when that song cracks through to the soft gummy inside (okay, not so soft) that you finally hear an honest-to-goodness verse, then chorus, then verse. At least I think. Counting becomes hard after a while. When it involves listening to Wax Fingers, however, it’s not a problem.

Check out "Skeleton Key" below, but do yourself a favor and listen to this entire album. Preferably at their CD release show, the details of which are also below…

Catch the band release their new album Friday, October 15 at The Knife Shop (Kelly’s Olympian) with No Kind of Rider, and Empty Space Orchestra. Show starts at 9 p.m. $7 cover. The band will also be opening for Clinic on November 17 at Doug Fir.

– Ryan J. Prado

To accompany probably the best Portland release of 2010, Lupon, Y La Bamba has also released one of the best and creepiest videos The Deli Portland’s seen in a long time. Check out the clip for "Juniper" below, and make sure to wait ’til the end, will ya?

Catch the band live on November 6 at the Wonder Ballroom.

– Ryan J. Prado

Nothing like a MEGA-depressing/sort-of-uplifting brand new video from Portland Sub Poppers Blitzen Trapper to kick off your Saturday!

Featuring some surreal aging sequences, the clip for "The Tree" – from the band’s new LP Destroyer of the Void – follows the arc of a man’s life whose only constant in a world of ebbs and flows is in the stoicness of a sturdy tree. A bit hippie-dippy, but ultimately a gorgeous song and video, especially when you factor in Alela Diane’s accompaniment. Watch below, and check out Blitzen Trapper on tour in these cities…

Happy Saturday!

– Ryan J. Prado

The talented and respected Monarques will be opening for the ’60s-dressed, LA-based, all girl rock ‘n’ roll quartet, The Like tomorrow night at Rotture.

Monarques’ rock ’n’ jams, hip-twisting background vocals and sweet-tasting lead vocal arrangements should provide a near-perfect pairing for a Tuesday evening musical treat. Lead singer and guitarist Josh Spacek (formerly with Oh Captain My Captain) continues to gain public recognition for his group as they mature and gain media attention. The video clip of the song “I Can’t Be Saved” is a good example of how this small ensemble of seven instrumentalists and vocalists can turn the knob up on the passion in a song while still remaining rooted securely in a ’50s, Motown-influenced pop. See below:

Their only release to date, Monarques EP, can be streamed in its five-song entirety from their Myspace page.

The show will only set you back $6, with DJ Chazz Madrigal (of Ghost Town Soul Club and Trouble Loves Me) and Young Veins also on the bill. Doors at 9 p.m.  21 and over. 

– Joel Sommer 

Last night, I attempted to recreate my mother’s version of goulash. I tried to use the exact ingredients I remembered her dish having—it was a disaster. Today I’m cleaning up after that tragedy, and listening to Jealous Butcher’s new compilation entitled From the Land of Ice and Snow: The Songs of Led Zeppelin.

My mother’s goulash was corn, hamburger, spaghetti noodles, tomato paste and cheese—heavy and easy. While it was simple, but unique, it retained levels of complexity that varied with different tastings and with different pairings of food. Each time she cooked it, she added a different minced leftover from the fridge, and adjusted the seasoning accordingly. She had a base recipe that years ago I had stolen out of her haphazard recipe folder and hand copied. My experiment with her dish was only the base recipe, no flourish of contextual leftover from my fridge and no adjustment of seasoning—just the standard recipe.

While I’m listening to this compilation, it’s driving home my mistake. Each of these bands have taken rock ‘n’ roll’s gold standard and added their own flourish. Take, for instance, the third song in by The Portland Cello Project w/ Laura Gibson and John Moen (of the Decemberists). The opening passage of "Dazed and Confused" has, for me, always evoked an eerie feeling, like some ghost is watching me take a shower. The Portland Cello Project’s version intensifies that feeling. Their tonality alone makes the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, and that’s only 20 seconds in. I can’t even begin to address Laura Gibson’s take on Robert Plant’s immortal voice. I’m not sure I’ll be able to hear the original in the same light.

Every track on this immense comp (34 tracks over two discs) swings for the fences, and while I may not particularly like the style or genre each performance is rooted in, I have to stand in awe of the revisioning. The tracks that work best for me are the bands that seem to be farthest removed from Led Zeppelin’s blues-based origins. Like Tu Fawning; their contribution of "The Battle of Evermore" is a pretty straightforward cover, but their deft precision makes it sound like their song, one they’ve been playing for years.

I just asked my mom why her goulash was so good and mine was so bland. Her response was, “Because each time I made it, I made it my own. And after a while I got to know the recipe so well that I could make it with my eyes closed. I mean the origin is good, but what makes my goulash good is the love I put into it.”

Mom, you summed up this comp perfectly.

You can catch the CD release show on October 9 at Doug Fir. The album drops on October 12.

– Chappy

Tomorrow night’s easy-does-it bill at Backspace promises to be an introspective folk-rock fiasco – at least for one of its acts. For to say that Portland’s Firs of Prey (the solo project of Andrew Miller) is anything other than a sneakily powerful display would be putting too dull a point on things. Miller’s 2008 sophomore offering, Keep the Lions Asleep, won over my nascent Northwest heart with blues-pocked fingerpicking, sultry harmonies and old-timey barbershop dissertations. A sampling of Firs’ newer tracks (or older…details on the project are pretty scarce. Case in point: Keeping the Lions Asleep was delivered to me as an unmarked CD-R with no titles) reveal more attention to the not-so-subtle layering of Polyphonic Spree-on-LSD melodies and gorgeous, meandering acoustic guitar.

It’s a minimalist triumph, and still one of the more engaging listens I’ve heard since coming to Portland two years ago. Firs of Prey will play along with the Rose City’s self-proclaimed "Rat Pack," the Love Loungers – whose 12-piece soul grooves are quickly causing the systematic smoothing of showgoers’ dancin’ soles. Also playing will be The Ocean Floor, and popsters Yeah Great Fine. Prepare for ebbs and flows, people.

Show starts at 9 p.m. and costs $5. Proceeds benefit KPSU Radio.

– Ryan J. Prado

First off, who doesn’t like choral saturated harmonies? "Hoping That You Will," the opening track on Hosannas‘ new release Together, starts off with mostly vocals cycling though a reverberated chant and an organ-synth backing the harmonies. That alone is an effective way to rope you in, but then the next layer drops you onto the sand of a futuristic spaghetti western, all tremolo picking and layers of fuzz with a western vibe. The result is refreshing.

The content on Together – the sophomore effort from the remaining members of the band following a summertime departure of half the group – is honest and the more I listen, the catchier it gets. There is a good balance of light and dark tones, and the album works as a thematic procession through this kind of surf-rock, synth-pop, western city of lights and rhythm vibe. It sounds like a stage full of people are making this music; the album has a big sound that is unique in its composition and provides a great balance of elements. I would be happiest riding my bike to this music, or maybe just walking around contemplating my imminent death – in a good way.

The album has good motion and I like the space-y vibe. When you can put digi-pop together with rock ‘n’ roll, you have something unique.

Together isn’t officially released until November 9, but Hosannas is treating Portlanders to a much earlier CD Release show on Sunday, October 3. 

Catch the album release at Mississippi Studios with Aan, and Dana Buoy (of Akron/Family).

 – Paul Valladon

Portland’s grimy sludge shredders Red Fang, whose 2009 self-titled debut is literally superglued into my subconscious, has announced that they’ve signed with metal monolith imprint Relapse Records. This makes them, along with Rabbits (post below), the latest scouted entities in our cozy metal metropolis. Is this the beginning of a major label-lead Hessian-rock headlock descending onto our sleepy stoner metal scene? If so, it’s well-deserved, even if Relapse is still relatively underground. Few, if any, local bands have put as much spirit and dedication into their outfits as this reporter’s seen in the local metal scene.

Plus, I don’t know if anyone’s really arguing that Red Fang is probably the best heavy band in Portland. Anyone lucky enough to have attended the Fourth of July outdoor show at East End can attest to the majesty of Red Fang’s "Prehistoric Dog." And what’s more, the band has just finished recording for their Relapse debut with producer Chris Funk of the Decemberists. The yet-untitled-album was mixed by Vance Powell (The Raconteurs) and will see an early 2011 international release date. The band had this to say about their recent signing:

“We are f’ing stoked to sign a deal with RELAPSE. We had a great time recording with Chris Funk, mixing was finished back in February / March and now we are ready for it to hit the streets. We’re still brainstorming a title for the unnamed beast.  …and holy shit, get ready for new videos!”

As for older videos, check this gem out for "Prehistoric Dog," set in the band’s kitchen in a Southeast location this reporter would be remiss if he didn’t confess to having spent many drunken nights within.

In addition to all this madness, Red Fang are about to embark on a three-week US tour next month alongside Valient Thorr. The band will join up with the tour starting October 7 in Seattle, WA. A free digital tour sampler is now available at this location along with a chance to win tickets.

– Ryan J. Prado

– Photo Courtesy of Relapse Records and Whitey McConnaughey

Portland’s hybrid metal/genre escaping band, Rabbits, has recently signed to Relapse Records, which should finally give them the exposure they deserve. Much like many heavier bands from the northwest, Rabbits create and noise that draws heavily from other genres but somehow manages to create a sonic palate all their own, like a middle frequency doom band morphing hardcore into psychedelic noise filtered through water and smoke.

Their upcoming inclusion in the Fall Into Darkness Festival at Berbati’s Oct. 7 – Oct. 10 should further cement their ascent into the pantheon of N.W. heavy. They are also playing East End on Halloween.

Here’s the lineup for the Fall Into Darkness Festival:

Thu 10/7 – Black Cobra, Witch Mountain, Stoneburner, Wizard Rifle

Fri 10/8 – Fauna, The Need, Rabbits, Embers

Sat 10/9 – Krallice, Deadsea, Fell Voices, Worm Ouroboros

Sun 10/10 – Earthless, Danava, Wildildlife, Via Vengeance

– Chappy