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Tonight! Tonight In Music: PDX Pop Now Day Two, Three Leg Torso, Pure Country Gold

Posted by Ethan Jayne on Sat, Jul 31, 2010 at 2:29 PM

PDX POP NOW!: HOCKEY, JOGGERS, WAMPIRE, GUANTANAMO BAYWATCH & MORE (Rotture, 315 SE 3rd) See yesterday's post.

3 LEG TORSO (Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta) The music of 3 Leg Torso is designed to be confounding—is it jazz? Is it klezmer? Is it classical? Is it pop? (The answer to each of those questions is a resoundingly chipper Yes!) With instrumentation led by accordion and gypsy violin, and augmented by vibraphone and double bass, it often sounds like the off-kilter soundtrack to a particularly energetic and surreal cartoon. It's also a little difficult to harness onto record—their latest release, Animals and Cannibals, that goes from a woozily yearning lament to a choppy klezmer to a seasick middle ground, often within the same song. Live, however, the music stakes out its own territory, and tonight's CD release show at the handsome, spacious, new Alberta Rose Theatre should provide ample room for 3 Leg Torso's particular brand of morbid whimsy, far beyond the confining limitations of your stereo speakers. NL

PDX PUNK ROCK COLLECTIVE, PURE COUNTRY GOLD, THE HICKMANS, THE FOOD, BAD AT BEST (Centaur Guitar, 2833 NE Sandy) Ain't no party like a Centaur Guitar party cause a Centaur Guitar party don't stop... 'til 7 pm, that is. One of the most bitchin' guitar stores in town is now in their fourth year of throwing free parking lot parties (nearly) every Sunday that showcase local musicians. It's like getting samples at Costco, but so much more hip. Today's show includes the PDX Punk Rock Collective, a group of punk enthusiasts who cover classic punk tunes and encourage anyone who might be so inclined to join their ranks. If you've got a guitar and an idea for a wicked cover, this may be your gig. MARANDA BISH

Also, yesterday I wrongly thought Reporter was playing. They play Sunday. My bad.

As always, you can find our complete live music listings here.

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Photography True... True...

Posted by Andrew R Tonry on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 6:54 PM

Via Conan's Twitter

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Tonight in Music: PDX Pop Now Day 1, Phosphorescent, What Hearts

Posted by Ethan Jayne on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 2:13 PM

PDX POP NOW!: AU, DOVEKINS, TU FAWNING, KUSIKIA, YLANG YLANG, REPORTER, & MORE (Rotture, 315 SE 3rd) POP—It's the most wonderful time of year: time for PDX Pop Now!, the all-ages, all-local, all-free, all-weekend-long music festival, taking place inside and outside Rotture on two stages. Don't miss one second of the 48 great local bands, from all styles of music imaginable. NL

PHOSPHORESCENT, J. TILLMAN, GROUPLOVE (Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Phosphorescent has had bad luck with tour vans. As I'm talking on the phone to Matthew Houck, frontman and leader for the Brooklyn band, he's waiting in a restaurant for a flat tire to be fixed. "It's no big deal," he says. And going by their track record, it isn't: In March 2008, Phosphorescent's van broke down completely in San Francisco, necessitating a scramble to find a replacement rental van. Houck was forced to leave his bandmates behind and jump on a plane to make the show here in Portland. It wasn't meant to be a solo show; it just turned out that way. What's worse, at the airport he reached in his pocket and realized he'd taken the only keys to the rental van.

...Continue reading the rest of Ned Lannamann's article on Phosphorescent here.

CELILO, WHAT HEARTS, THE LORD'S OWN CHOIR (LaurelThirst Public House, 2958 NE Glisan) On Songs for Marjorie, the new EP from What Hearts, the local trio is not shy about their appreciation for the olden days of country music. Thankfully they pay their dues without strained twang or lyrical content forced beneath the Mason-Dixon line. Instead, What Hearts—which began as a songwriting project for Julie Vitells—stacks the harmonies high while keeping the pace at a tempered shuffle throughout this six-song offering. It's not all front-porch folk strumming either; songs like the haunting "Last Year" and "Don't Leave Me Danny" have a slight Chelsea Girl feel to them. Regardless of where their influences take root, What Hearts have just established a mighty foundation to build upon. EAC

As always, you can find our complete live music listings here.

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Mercury Music Hour Download Episode 3 of the Mercury Music Hour

Posted by Ned Lannamann on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 2:00 PM

Did ya miss it? The Mercury Music Hour broadcasts every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at noon on 910 AM, on HD radio at 94.7 Too, and streaming online at 947.fm. Episode 3 hit the airwaves this week, and it's a special, all-PDX Pop Now! show. Every band this week is also playing the three-day fest that begins this evening, so if you didn't get a chance to check it out on the radio this week, we've got you covered. Lots of local music for you!

LISTEN:

The Mercury Music Hour: Episode 3

OR: DOWNLOAD EPISODE HERE

Playlist after the jump!

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Upcoming / MP3 / Vinyl Portland Gets Its Own Version of the Peel Sessions

Posted by Ned Lannamann on Fri, Jul 30, 2010 at 12:13 PM

Blame PDX Pop, but there's a great local release this weekend that we didn't have room for in the paper. Hovercraft is releasing the first of their Old Standard Session series, a split 7-inch between Boom! and White Fang. The four tunes on Old Standard Sessions #1 were recorded in a single day by Justin Higgins at Old Standard Sound. From Hovercraft's Tim and Mark Janchar:

These are recordings we did in the spirit and in honor of John Peel. The idea for the Old Standard Sessions came while we were listening to the Hunches. Side B of the album Home Alone 5 are the recordings they did for the Peel Sessions in September 2004. It reminded us of when we were kids trying to track down the elusive recordings of our favorite bands who were fortunate enough to be taped for the Peel show. Sessions were normally four tracks mixed and recorded in a single day giving them a rough and ready demo-like feel somewhere between a live performance and a finished recording. John Peel would then play the recordings on his radio show that evening on the BBC. Peel died in 2004 shortly after the Hunches recording. We wanted to do something similar with Justin Higgins running the show. Higgins owns/runs/IS Old Standard Sound. His studio in Portland, Oregon has consistently been recording and mixing some of the most innovative and mind blowing music around. The idea for the sessions involves two bands coming into the studio together for one day of recording and mixing with Justin to produce a split seven inch record.

Of course, none of this would matter if the record wasn't great, which it is, perfectly split between Boom!'s cheerfully bruising party-punk, and White Fang's slower, druggier rawk. In fact, the only think I don't like about the record is the insert picture: It features a penis. But the dude's wearing clothes. But I can clearly see the penis. As a result, I spent much longer studying the picture of the potential penis than I normally would have liked. Which made me feel funny.

Never mind. The music's great, especially White Fang's "Rubbing Elmos" a dopey ode to drugs that gets a little more undeniable with each listen. Check out a couple tracks below.

LISTEN:

Boom! - "Double Killer"

LISTEN:

White Fang - "Rubbing Elmos"

Boom! and White Fang play the release show tomorrow w/Cafeteria Dance Fever; Sat July 31 at Backspace, 115 NW 5th, 9 pm, $5, all ages

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Upcoming / MP3 PDX Pop Now Primer: Witch Mountain, Ylang Ylang

Posted by Ethan Jayne on Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 5:24 PM

The 2010 PDX Pop Now! Festival kicks off tomorrow. Until then, take a moment to get a little better acquainted with two of the acts that will be performing.

As previously reported, the part of Subarachnoid Space will be played by Witch Mountain. Please make a note of it, take a rip, and enjoy.
LISTEN:

Witch Mountain - "A Power Greater"

Since he (supposedly) put his Panther persona to bed—I heard a little something about a solo set at Tube last month—Charlie Salas-Humara has been a busy man, joining forces with some fine PDX musicians to form new groups Astrology and Ylang Ylang—the latter of which will be performing at the festival.
LISTEN:

Ylang Ylang - "Endless Eclipse"

You have officially been primed. See you at the fest!

The PDX Pop Now! Festival takes place from July 30 — August 1 at Rotture (320 SE 2nd Ave, Free to all ages)

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Photography When They Were Young

Posted by Ezra Ace Caraeff on Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 3:31 PM

Looking good, Animal Collective

I can't vouch for how reliable these photos are—or if this is old news on the interwebs—but I sure am enjoying Indie Dudes Before They Were Famous. This livejournal page (it still exists!) chronicles photos of well-known indie rockers back when they were less famous dorks—just like us!

I could do without the baby pictures, but anytime you get to see Conor Oberst look like a virginal Young Republican, it's a good thing.

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Gossip (No, Not the Band) Shhhh! Silversun Pickups Playing a Secret Show Today

Posted by Ezra Ace Caraeff on Thu, Jul 29, 2010 at 12:09 PM

autumn de wilde

Before they headline a show at the Crystal Ballroom tonight (with two arguably superior opening acts: Henry Clay People and Against Me), the Silversun Pickups are playing a "secret" 94/7 sponsored show at the EcoTrust Building (721 NW 9th). Joining them will be local acts The Greater Midwest and Climber. The free, all-ages event starts at 5pm, I assume the Pickups will perform sometime after that.