This Week in the Mercury
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
MP3 Stream Laura Gibson's Beasts Of Seasons!
Posted by Rob Simonsen on Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 3:14 PM
Though the album is not officially released for another week, NPR is currently streaming Laura Gibson's new album, Beasts of Season! If you know anything about Gibson (she loves puppies!) or her music (OMG so awesome!), chances are this new record is already one of your most anticipated of '09. If not, now is the perfect chance to become familiar with one of Portland's nicest and brightest.
Video Mayor Sam Adams Visits Mississippi Studios
Posted by Ezra Ace Caraeff on Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 2:44 PM
How did this slip past everyone's radar? As part of their excellent Razing Mississippi video series, the soon-to-be opened Mississippi Studios invited a few friends over, including some construction worker pals, the boys of Blind Pilot, oh, and Mayor Sam Adams.
This wacky clip—filmed in the brief window between inauguration, but before the controversy—features a jovial Adams engaging in some job site slapstick humor, before coming to the realization that his true calling lies within city hall. Aw, it's like an episode of The More You Know.
"Hands on Mayor"
"Attentive Lover"
Oh, there just has to be a really obvious joke here. I'll leave that to the WW or the RecallSamAdams.com trolls.
News Pickathon Announces 2009 Lineup
Posted by Ned Lannamann on Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 2:32 PM
Instituting a new End Hits policy*, wherein every post about the Sasquatch lineup is shortly followed by a post about the Pickathon lineup. (See also this and this.)
Confirming previously reported rumors, Blitzen Trapper (pictured above) and Dr. Dog are headlining the 2009 edition of Pickathon, which officially announced its preliminary lineup today. Other bands of note on the bill are Vetiver, the Sadies, Joe Pug, as well as Portlanders Alela Diane, Foghorn Stringband, and Hillstomp.
Pickathon runs July 31 to August 2. Check out the rest of the lineup here. Another 10 or so acts may be added to the bill in coming months, with organizers anticipating around 35 acts total. Pickathon 2008 was sincerely a tremendous time; expect this year to be no different.
*this will not really be a policy
Video Class Is In Session
Posted by Andrew R Tonry on Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 2:29 PM
"The Amen Break is the most important 6-second drum loop in the history of modern music:"
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Video "Who organized all my ex-girlfriends into a choir, and got them to sing?"
Posted by Ezra Ace Caraeff on Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 11:59 AM
While I thoroughly enjoy Flight Of The Conchords as a television show, I'm pretty indifferent to the band itself. I have no desire to purchase their album, or drop $45 to see them in Portland, but if they released more songs like the excellent "Carol Brown" (with a video courtesy of Michel Gondry) then I just might change my mind.
Loyal to the quirky Conchords theme, "Carol Brown" pays tribute to various former girlfriends in a convenient list format—my personal favorite is "Britney, Britney hit me" which is an excellent, most likely intentional, play on Britney Spear's "(Hit Me) ...Baby One More Time"—only to have an oracle of ex's voice their opinions as well. The whole thing is sort of similar to Paul Simon's "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover," or Jim Carroll's "People Who Died," but way less depressing. A few more songs like this and that $45 ticket isn't going to seem like such a bad idea...
Link: Idolator
Photography Starfucker, Strength, Explode into Colors, Dirty Mittens - Live at Wonder Ballroom, 02/14/09
Posted by Ezra Ace Caraeff on Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 10:35 AM
Baby's on Fire: MIA to Play the Oscars?
Posted by Andrew Stout on Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 10:05 AM
So, here's the conundrum: MIA's career is taking off at the precise moment her body is postnatal. Now the Oscars have come calling for the former Elastica hanger-on to perform her nominated song "O Saya" at this year's awards ceremony. Laurence Mark, the show's producer, has promised to accommodate her precarious physique, even offering to set up a bed on stage for the performance. MIA is game but has counter-proposed she perform via hologram instead (yes, it's 2009).
I seem to recall an anecdote buried in some now (likely) defunct magazine's feature about the Academy refusing Elliott Smith a stool for his performance of "Miss Misery." So, either MIA is a bigger star than Smith or postpartum is the depression with more industry clout. In either case, I'm definitely looking forward to this year's Oscars, which is rumored to feature a montage "Salute to Screen Sadness," presented in CGI by the cast of Wall-E.
News Sasquatch! Music Festival Announces Lineup (We Hope You Really Like Perry Ferrell)
Posted by Ezra Ace Caraeff on Tue, Feb 17, 2009 at 7:26 AM
Last week we teased the lineup to the annual Sasquatch! Music Festival (Memorial Day Weekend, May 23-25th, at the Gorge), and now here it is:
(Portland bands in bold)
Jane's Addiction (feat. all four original members), Kings of Leon, Nine Inch Nails, Ben Harper & Relentless7, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Erykah Badu, The Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, TV On The Radio, Animal Collective, Silversun Pickups, Bon Iver, Santigold, Of Montreal, Explosions In The Sky, Devotchka, Peter Bjorn & John, Gogol Bordello, M. Ward, The Avett Brothers, Doves, Calexico, Grizzly Bear, M83, Girl Talk, The Gaslight Anthem, The Walkmen, Chromeo (dj set), Deadmau5, Mugison, Sun Kil Moon, Airborne Toxic Event, Blitzen Trapper, Shearwater, BLK JKS, The Wrens, Tobacco, Monotonix, King Khan & The Shrines, St. Vincent, Passion Pit, John Vanderslice, Bishop Allen, Blind Pilot, AA Bondy, Black Moth Super Rainbow, The Knux, Ra Ra Riot, The Dodos, Beach House, Arthur & Yu, The Submarines, Owl City, Viva Voce, James Pants, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, The Builders & The Butchers, The Dutchess & The Duke, Natalie Portman's Shaved Head, Dent May & His Magnificent Ukelele, Fences, School of Seven Bells, Death Vessel, Horse Feathers, Hockey, Point Juncture, WA, The Pica Beats, Loch Lomond, Vince Mira & more to come. Comedy line up includes Zach Galifiankas, Demetri Martin, Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job, Todd Barry, Jon Benjamin, God's Pottery, People's Republic of Komedy & more.
Once you get past the headliners, the lineup improves drastically: Erykah Badu, Bon Iver, and the Gaslight Anthem? I want to go to there.
Tickets are on sale Saturday, February 28 at 10am.
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