THE DELI

Not all that glitters in the bright eyes of youth is gold, and Alexandra Savior seemingly proved that to herself. The 21-year-old songstress has a velvety croon that melts into your ears like butter, but the soothing comfort listeners get from her vocals didn’t comfort the sadness in her own soul.

Right out of high school, Savior moved from the Portland suburb of Vancouver, Wa to Los Angeles to jump start her music career. Her trip was successful, quickly granting her a record deal with Columbia Records and a creative partnership with Alex Turner, the frontman for the Artic Monkeys, but while positivity was coming from all directions work wise, Savior felt there was a social disconnect between her and her new Los Angeles peers. She even told local paper Willamette Week how she thought many of them were "the devil or something" because of her youthful insecurities.

But she’s turned all of those woeful feelings into inspiration for her songs. Think Lana Del Rey meets Kate Bush, Savior’s tracks have themes of heartache and regret, living up fully to the designation of melancholy pop. Her debut album, Belladonna of Sadness is due out next month.

Portland is rich with many things, particularly wealthy people. Though the city is becoming incredibly gentrified and the few diverse cultures we used to have are being steadily pushed out, the music and creative community is trying its hardest to hold on to its roots. Musically speaking, the city isn’t in any way wealthy with rappers, but Danielseventwo has firmly kicked his foot through the door.

At just 21 years old, Danielseventwo (aka 72) has been coming up in the rise of Soundcloud rappers, sticking to rhyming about what he knows about while others tend to use their bars for flexing on faux memories. His tracks swing between slower paced jams and quickly delivered flows, offering great variance by keeping listeners intrigued. He’s dropped two EPs and a number of popping singles, including one of his newest trap heavy bangers "Priceless." Hopefully we’ll be seeing more from him soon.

 There’s a certain beauty that comes with creating something all on your own, especially when it comes to music. Marisa Anderson takes that beauty and runs with it, mastering various instruments including including guitar, lap steel and slide to produce a very veracious and particular compositions. 

Often improvised, Anderson’s emotive, mercurial sounds flow through different genre styles like Delta blues, gospel and old school Americana. She uses no effects or looping, making her productions even more personable, even granting collaborations with Mirah and Beth Ditto among others. 

She hasn’t played a show locally in a little while, but at least those enjoying SXSW will get to catch her live.

 South by Southwest is one of the biggest music festivals leading into the summer season. It’s historically been known to be one of the best tools for propelling up and coming artists into the next phase, or bringing back some loved artists for new eyes and ears. Portland’s representation at the festival may not be high in numbers but it is ecclectic in offerings.

One of the city’s fun acts playing the fest is Phone Call, our 5 year old local funky, r&b electronic duo that’s been making hips move while also making us laugh with some of their lyrics. Delightfully minimalistic in its execution, Phone Call’s sounds are the perfect display for the usual sensual themes found in their songs.

It’s all in good fun, and you can catch Phone Call post-SXSW at The Fixin To’ on March 24 with Coronation and Gold Casio. Dancing options are promised to be available.