'making it up' : the blow's first new record in 7 years

If you caught one of The Blow's back-to-back PICA performances at TBA:13 last month, you may have wandered out of the Winningstad Theatre feeling a little bewildered. In a word, the performance was odd—and not in the intriguing, thought-provoking way that the Time-Based Art Festival often strives for.

Although the excitement was palpable as Portlanders gathered on a Sunday night to catch The Blow's first performance in their former hometown in more than two and a half years, the extensive and sometimes awkward monologues—for which The Blow's Khaela Maricich is known—were too long and too out there. It was soon clear that there was no distinguishable storyline, and the cohesive thread that somehow manages to tie everything together in a Blow performance was lacking. In short, the performance was punctuated by long pauses rather than catchy electro-pop.

And, it was that electro-pop that the audience so craved, seeing as The Blow was set to release their first album in seven years on October 1st. Although these initial Portland performances left the audience feeling a bit unsatisfied, the truth is that The Blow is much loved in this town. So, an empty appetite also leaves Portlanders desirous for more, craving a decidedly different, and hopefully more musical, show at the Doug Fir Lounge on Sunday, October 20th.

Now, in The Blow's defense, Maricich did tell OMN prior to their PICA performance:

Performing at the Winningstad is the chance to do something unique because it’s like a lovely little nest of a theater. It’s sort of the opportunity to make an “unplugged” performance, since there is a sense of space and reflectiveness there, which is distinct from the amped up vibe of a sweaty music club. We are looking forward to revealing ourselves in the delicate environment there.

But post-PICA, Portland's expectant of the “sweaty music club” experience. That said, the handful of tracks The Blow did reveal at the Winningstad sounded spectacular—we, maybe selfishly, just wanted more.

And of those revealed, Maricich, alongside partner and collaborator Melissa Dyne, blasted a taste of their self-titled effort in the form of the record's first single, "Make It Up"—a love song that talks about breaking the rules, which seems to be a bit of a mantra for The Blow in general. Whether making lo-fi, electro-pop songs or presenting the band's narrative style of performance, does The Blow sometimes feel like they're making it all up as they go along?

"Yep," is the succinct response from Maricich.



Going "hand in hand into the blackness... making this album was an odyssey of experimentation," Maricich says. (The first part is also a lyric from the album closer "You're My Light.") In their official press release on the album, she continues:

We divided the tasks of making the album between us pretty much according the the differences in how we dream at night. Khaela dreams about people and conversations and juxtaposed feelings: She wrote the lyrics and melodies and many of the compositions. Melissa dreams of being a beam of light bouncing off a Ferrari: Anything that gave the songs dimension (arrangement, engineering, synth programming, sample perfecting, half of the composing) was done by her.

OMN already explored a bit of what it's like to go "into the blackness" before The Blow's PICA performance, and now Khaela Maricich continues the conversation about her collaboration with Dyne on The Blow's new record.

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a summer trip : go ‘in absentia’ with pegasus dream

It's about this time of year that Pegasus Dream likes to drop a gloriously intricate electronic and psychedelic bomb on Portlanders.

Releasing their debut album in August 2010, the duo of JT Lindsey and Andy Carlson is now solidly a trio with the addition of drummer and producer Jeff Bond. And the three are back with a fresh, five-track EP of jams so perfect for the summer nights that'll hopefully soon be upon us.

With Bond behind the controls at his studio Clangor Den, the polyphonic layers on In Absentia feel much fuller and richer than the previously home-produced Pegasus Dream efforts. But the distinctive Ratatat-meets-MGMT style of PegDre is still intact with indelible melodies that shift instantaneously after being imprinted upon your brain. And as the falsetto vocals mimic the high-pitched synths, all five songs are ripe with electronic flourishes that are enchanting enough to make you dance whether you're driving with the windows down on a sunny day or listening late into the evening on the porch.

Listen to the title track "In Absentia":

In preparation of the new EP's release via SoHiTek Records on July 10th, keyboard player and vocalist Carlson got together with friend and artist Lindell Serrin, who also designed the artwork for Pegasus Dream's debut album Painting Pantheons, to create a subtly interactive website and online experience for In Absentia.

"Lindell and I actually collaborated on this project over the span of a few months," Carlson says. "We wanted the art to reflect the more organic/analog sound of the EP. We spent a lot of time researching and sharing art direction that we liked that we felt would fit our style. We also wanted to make sure the art reflected the more sophisticated nature of the songs."

With Serrin crafting simple line vectors that resemble triangular teepees, winking eyes, and tribal-esque patterns, Carlson worked alongside manipulating pixels for print and web, generating vaguely otherworldly photographic illustrations.

"The typography and symbols are meant to represent the mythology we feel has always played somewhat of a role in our music," Carlson explains. "I programmed the website and took the photography, while Lindell did the type work the disc print layout. The website and the CD were designed side by side, neither was an afterthought. The website is like a CD in an all-digital form."

As PegDre looks to celebrate the release of In Absentia with a show at the Doug Fir on Friday, July 13th with Aan and Forest Park, they've planned a few treats for attendees. The band has partnered with a custom bracelet website, Wearshare, to create limited edition In Absentia bracelets. Each canvas bracelet will have a QR code that will link people to a free download of the new EP. Plus, the first 100 people through the Doug Fir's door will also receive a free CD copy of the record.

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introducing ramona falls' 'prophet' : now featuring 30 fewer musicians!

Synthesized from innumerable hours of Deeler sessions between four principal members, don't assume that the process for creating the second effort from ex-Menomena member Brent Knopf was any simpler because the physical number of people involved decreased.

"For the first Ramona Falls record [Intuit], I asked about 35 friends and family to spend about three hours each with me recording some ideas," Knopf says. "This time around, Ramona Falls actually is a four-piece and so I wanted to incorporate the band members as much as possible in the process."

Sonically, Brent Knopf's latest creation is as complicated as ever. Influenced by the dark, orchestral sounds of '80s, Prophet is informed by the music of Talk Talk and the songwriting of Depeche Mode's Martin Gore, plus a dash of Tears For Fears as well as the contemporary UK band Micachu and the Shapes.

In early 2011, Knopf walked away from his lauded and successful band of more than a decade to focus on this project. While he has definitely felt some insecurity since, Ramona Falls has allowed Knopf to feel "a little more okay exploring some more absurd sides of myself" as well as revive some songs "that didn't survive the Menomena process last time around."

That said, while Knopf's individual process may have a strong emphasis on collaboration, his approach to recording is undeniably involved.

Listen to Prophet's first single "Spore" (plus stream the whole album here):

Once again at the computer utilizing Deeler, a program of his own design, which was also used to compile Menomena records like Mines and Friend and Foe, Knopf and band mates Paul Alcott (drums), Matt Sheehy (guitar) and Dave Lowensohn (bass) recorded much of the album remotely, employing Dropbox to share music, constantly "adding ideas to the pile" from their respective locations.

Knopf describes Deeler as "a party in my mind, only it stores ideas on a computer," but more technically, it's a looping, compositional software that allows Knopf capture, organize, determine the best segments, and then piece together the pile of samples into a coherent, cohesive song.

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Read the rest and watch a video interview with Brent Knopf on OMN.

becoming battleme : the transformation of matt drenik

Matt Drenik came to Portland in the summer of 2010 for two reasons: a girl and an eye institute.

In 2009, Drenik was diagnosed with uvetis—an autoimmune disease that affects the eyes. It's the fourth leading cause of blindness and there is no known cause or cure.

"I think when something as sensitive as the eyes gets compromised, you start to really see the world differently," Drenik says. "A lot of the things that used to bother me don't really hit me the same way. I think every person has a different reaction to a life-changing experience. With me, I just felt that I wanted to say so much more than I had. And that time was now. I didn't have to wait anymore. And I was done thinking too hard about what other people thought... or even what was right. I just did."

This was the birth of Battleme, developed in the Portland basement of the aforementioned girl while she was at work.

When Drenik finally left Austin for good and moved to Portland in June 2011, his former band, Lions, was put on permanent hiatus. But before that, "In the summer of 2009, Lions was on a national tour and hooked up with our friends Red Fang to play Portland and Seattle together," Drenik recalls. "John [Sherman, Red Fang's drummer] took us out on our night off and we ended up landing at the Slow Bar. Our friend Maureen worked there. I got the intro to a girl sitting at the bar. She later became my wife. For real."

This nascent love and the potential loss of his sight were driving influences as Drenik recorded the sounds—every weird, genre-twisting experiment—that poured from his mind last summer. Surfacing with a handful of tracks, 11 songs would ultimately become Battleme's self-titled debut, which is due out on Tuesday, April 24th via Thomas Turner's (Ghostland Observatory) label, Trashy Moped Recordings.

"With Battleme, it's just me," Drenik says. "I play all the instruments. So, I'm my own filter. And since my tastes bounce from one thing to the next, my filter tends to be a bit ADD. This can be super-liberating and terribly frustrating, depending on who you talk to. I always thought it was pure."

The transfigurative nature of the album swings from danceable rockers to sparse and intimate songs. Some tracks—including the first single "Touch," which you can download here—have already drawn comparisons to LCD Soundsystem and The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne. But the palate is varied from the, intentional or not, Ghostland-esque synth lines to jangling tambourines to twangy slide guitar. Drenik thinks of it with same mindset you'd use when creating a mixtape, that each song should simply and spontaneously fit together, "always flow[ing] from one mood to the next."

"I'm not exactly sure where the sounds come from," he says. "Maybe it's the mood I'm in when I'm writing it. I think I was just tired of trying to figure out what I was supposed to sound like."

With his disease currently in remission, Drenik says he's "been stable since 2011" but "it's still always in the back of your [my] mind." As he preps to celebrate the release of Battleme at the Doug Fir on Friday, April 27th with My Goodness and Secret Music, Drenik is ready to share his newest and purest body of work with audiences. (The Portland show is preceded by a Seattle gig on the 26th at High Dive and followed by a set at the Oregon Garden Brew Fest in Silverton on the 28th.)

After you were diagnosed with uvetis in 2009, you had to change your lifestyle.

I had to clean up. I had to change my diet. I had to give up a lot of the touring lifestyle of sleeping in Walmart parking lots and eating shitty fast food. I had to give up too much booze and everything else that wears people down.

How did your diagnosis influence your songwriting?

Everything was just so immediate at that point. I wanted to write all these songs. And record different parts. I wanted to make a piece of art. Lots of pieces. And I think that all came across in the early demos. It wasn't a conscious choice to record a bunch of folk songs. I was living in a small place in Austin and couldn't be very loud.

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garage punk break ups + monsters : a q/a with the pack a.d.

"Louder and faster."

That was the mindset of The Pack A.D.'s Maya Miller and Becky Black as they entered to the studio to record their fourth album, Unpersons, which was released on September 13th, 2011.

The gritty BC duo of Miller on drums and Black on guitar and vocals has always stunned with their potent, feral energy and a raw sense of their own "sloppiness"—a punk ethos their looking to embrace moving forward.

"You don't have to be perfect, which we're not," Miller laughs.

The last time The Pack A.D. played Portland, it was a little-attended affair in the corner of Rontoms on a Sunday night. Before that gig, I described them as:

A female Black Keys pulsing with crude, bluesy energy and endlessly crashing cymbals, drummer Maya Miller puts Meg White to shame while singer/guitarist Becky Black drawls and hauls with the best male garage rockers.

And while I'm sure they're sick of The Black Keys comparison, they've got a leg up on the Akron duo--not to mention it's still a wise positioning tool as the Carney/Auerbach team is the hottest rock duo since The White Stripes broke up. It took The Black Keys seven albums to ditch their blues, but The Pack A.D. has made their first foray outside of their roots in three albums less.

It's funny. Neither of these bands really cared for the blues in the first place--it was just an easy starting point. The Keys cite the influence of Wu-Tang and hip-hop (as they demonstrated with Blakroc) while Miller admits she's been listening to dubstep lately. Plus, her and Black have oft plotted "a secret side project": "We've been talking for a while about doing an alternate band that would be an electronic band purely," Miller confides.

Don't worry, that won't happened under The Pack A.D. moniker because as the blues get pushed aside in favor of garage punk, the girls still maintain their intentions to only record what can be reproduced live as a duo.

"We don't really have any pretense to elaborate, orchestral pieces or anything like that," Miller explains. "We wanna have as much fun as we would have if we went to a show."

And for both audience members and The Pack A.D. to have fun, expect the music to get "louder and faster" while the lyrics reveal on their geeky pleasures: songs about break ups and monsters, in particular, on Unpersons.

"Sirens" features "an undersea creature" originally inspired by an episode of Angel (more on this later). There's a Frankenstein reference plus robots and ghosts on "Haunt You" (below).

In 2011, "We played the least amount of shows we've playing in three years," says Miller. Well, that's about to change as The Pack A.D. hits the ground running in 2012 starting with a string of four NW dates in January, including the Doug Fir on the 19th, before more dates all over the US in March.

In the weeks following the holidays and leading up to their first dates of the new year, OMN spoke to Maya Miller on the phone from her home in Vancouver, BC. With two and half months of touring already under their belts supporting Unpersons, The Pack A.D. already hit up most of Canada and the Northern US plus recently returned from Europe.

What's been the most memorable tour experience so far supporting this record?

We did Canada and then some US dates and then we went to Europe and did shows in France and Germany and Italy and Switzerland. We played a show in Paris and when we played our song "Sirens" this girl jumped up on stage and grabbed the mic and proceeded to do the chorus parts. We couldn't really stop her because Becky has to keep playing guitar and I can't really leave the drums. To her credit, she actually got it right.

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marrying nature + technology on lost lander’s debut ‘drrt’

“I’m currently sitting in the woods on a very steep cliff… just noticing some hunters that are walking around about 1,000 feet from me,” said Matt Sheehy over the phone on a gray Tuesday afternoon. ”I spend a lot of time in the woods because I’m a forester, and it’s hard for me to put a finger on how exactly me spending this amount of time in nature affects the recording. But what it comes down to is the sense of wonder that I get from looking up at the stars or hanging out at a planetarium or studying trees or looking at the eccentricities of plants–that’s one of my favorite types of feelings. I try as hard as I can to recreate that [feeling] in the work I do in music and art.”

Sheehy’s latest musical endeavor, Lost Lander, reflects his amazement. Crafting an auditory world of wonder, Lost Lander’s delicately elaborate tunes teeter on organic surrealism like the natural marvels that awe and inspire whether it’s the brilliance of aurora borealis, the intricate beauty of ice crystals, the perfect rings of Saturn, or even the glow of a lightning bug.

“It’s that feeling that you get when you discover that there’s a whole other universe that you didn’t even know about and how it makes you feel kinda small,” continues Sheehy. ”Sean Flinn calls it ‘the big small,’ where you realize how big you are and how small you are at the exact same moment. It’s trying to capture that. I try to spend as much time as I can in that headspace.”

And thankfully, now you can too with the release of Lost Lander’s debut album DRRT. The wondrousness that surrounds us all and influences Sheehy now has a somewhat tangible form and a release date: January 24th, 2012.

The album’s title digs even deeper into depths of Sheehy’s artistic process. Stylized as leetspeak-esque spelling of “dirt,” the name is both organic and technological at the same time, a theme relevant to record’s creation. Teamed up with producer Brent Knopf (Ramona Falls, ex-Menomena), the duo recorded separately and together at the Oregon Coast and in the rainforests of the Olympic Peninsula, amongst other locales, before inviting a bevy of Portland musicians to provide support.

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tender loving empire helps radiation city raise ‘the hands that take you’

Cameron Spies and Lizzy Ellison craft a nice press release. In what was likely the first one ever sent out (last February) for their latest project, Radiation City, the two declare to have

“cooked up yet another darling sound to tear you away from your TV dinner. The calmed echoes of amplifier tubes and secret gramophones, the soothing, sonic smile of a warbling Wurlitzer, and precisely sparse heart-throbbing drums bounce from the analogue souls of our newest musical Ozzy & Harriet.”

But the duo, who are also responsible for the electronic-psychosis of Spesus Christ, the minimalist ambience of Soap Collectors, the tape label Apes Tapes, and are a couple, have been more than able to back up their enchanting descriptions with bona fide recordings and live performances. What is heard on “The Color Of Industry” (below) holds fast when the quartet plays out–the warm, fuzzy effect the record has on your ears only heats up your body in person making the vinyl-pop nostalgia a living, breathing reality.

The (again) self-described “soothing siren-lullaby” of Ellison is contrasted by the once-in-a-while coarse vivacity of Spies in a perfect blend of guy/girl vocals that are further complemented, while the emotion is complicated, by the chemistry of bassist Matt Rafferty and drummer Randy Bemrose–who both supply additional harmonies. But it’s not all dreamy prose–unadulterated passion rears it’s head as formidable synths and guitar mix Brazilian jazz and ’50 melodies with modern dance and indie rock as vocals wail over bossa nova rhythms, from the rim-clicking clave combined with electronic touches on the album opener “Babies” (watch a home-baked chicken ‘n waffles edition via Into The Woods below) to digging in deeper on the heavy-soft undulations of ”Park”–their newest single, which you can listen to as the final cut on this Baeble mixtape. (Spies explains “Park “was conceived just after I first met Lizzy. I was still living down in San Francisco, and she was living in Portland. The song was simultaneously a lament about the distance between us and excitement about knowing her.”) With so many other hazy contemporaries around town, Radiation City may just float to the top based on their synchronous spark and the elegance of Lizzy Ellison’s voice in the live arena.

After a few tape releases on their own Apes Tapes, Tender Loving Empire quickly snatched up Radiation City and will re-release the once tape-only debut The Hands That Take You (stream the entire album here) on September 27th on CD, vinyl and as a digital download. Just returning from a comprehensive, 25-date national tour, the band will wrap it up with one final date: a proper release party this Saturday, September 24th at the Doug Fir with dream-pop pals Blouse and moody, avant-popsters Aan.

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Read the rest and watch a video interview on OMN.

deelay ceelay : outside the normal realms

“We’re outside the realm of a rock band yet outside the realm of an electronic band,” explains Deelay Ceelay’s Chris Lael Larson. “It feels like we’re doing something that’s a little hard to pin down.”

Two drummers. Beating two drumsets. To an electronically orchestrated mash of samples and live instrumentation. Backed by a psychedelic stream of chaotic yet naturally flowing visuals projected on a massive sheet screen.

Yeah, it’s a little hard to categorize.

To many, it may seem daunting to pour your heart and soul, time and finances into a band that might not be well-received or even perceived as a band. An experiment that could’ve existed as a one-off art project.

Don’t think the band didn’t have their own reservations.

Reflecting on their beginnings, Chris states, “It felt like an experiment. The idea was: ‘We’ll just be two drummers.’ And I didn’t really think… I wasn’t sure that it would work to be honest.”

Then again, if you’re creative and optimistic, it might not be a stretch at all.

“So it was encouraging after our two or three shows that it was as fun as it was and people seemed to respond to a degree,” Chris continues. “It was kind of a surprise, but even now, almost three years in, it almost [still] feels like an experiment of sorts.”

And, if you’d describe a song off your debut album, which you worked on “squirreled away for the better part of a year” in a basement, as: “It should sound like an evening party… in a coastal region… in an equatorial city,” followed by amiable chuckling, how can you go wrong?

People, especially Portland people, will seek out this warmth and bask in it, whether it’s hot or cool, wet or dry.

The drumming duo of Deelay Ceelay has encountered the above trials and prevailed with a topically pulsating debut album, appropriately (and awesomely) titled Sunset Drumsets. The percussively talented team of Chris Lael Larson and Delaney Kelly have followed a path of constant refinement which has taken their two-man, audio-visual production from its launch at TBA in September 2008 to being wildly accepted around town as sweaty party starters to their long-awaited, self-released and self-recorded first album.

A creative spark, mutual respect, and friendship were the elements that started this journey some nine months before their first performance, which also coupled as their EP release–Thank You can still be downloaded for free here.

“Wanting to come out of the gates ready to move,” according to Delaney, Deelay Ceelay rehearsed long hours and prepared a vast library of custom visuals, spending an unfeasible three to four months on a single video at one point, in the months leading up to their TBA premier.

The intensive focus on prepping the project “was very intentional [after] having done it the other way in bands for so long… where you get two or three rough songs and go, ‘Yeah, let’s have a show!’ and then have to work them out in front of people,” says Chris.

And although Deelay Ceelay weren’t sure if the band would even work live, let alone how the audience would respond, they were a success and Deelay Ceelay was soon playing all over town, defying classification and never allowing anyone else to brand them.

Chris, with his graphic designer and visual artist eye, brings a distinct ocular vision to all communications including the sunny environs of the new album’s artwork–an album that’s soaked with camouflaged field recordings that create tropical vibes and a bubbling atmosphere, like the album opener “Sidewalking” (listen below).

“It does seem optimistic,” contemplates Chris, adding, “if I had to put an adjective on it.”

And there was a conscious effort to “recreate the dance experience that always happens at our shows,” says Delaney. “For the last two and half years, the only thing people have been able to listen to is a four-song EP that we recorded before our first show,” says Delaney. “Because with the first EP, we weren’t really sure what we we’re doing–if it was in fact an ‘indie’ rock band or a dance/electronic project. With this album we’ve tried to reinforce that we’re more interested in those pulsing dance tracks.”

It’s the knowledge that their experiment does work, on record and on stage, but the two experiences are very different.

“Most people hear about us or discover us through seeing us and then hear the recordings and it’s maybe more toned down. But,” Chris explains, “it can’t not be in a certain way because [live, it's] two drumsets pounding.”

On the new record, Deelay Ceelay has no somber moments; that’s not their style. Auditory samples will draw forth images of treks through bustling cities on the album opener “Sidewalking” (below) and soothing tides on the closer “Ocean Dragons.”

The additional use of scattered vocal samples–speeches by George Andrus, a 94-year-old folk/outside artist who lives south of Salem, OR–resembles former tour mates and friends Starfucker...

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honest, ‘dirty radio’ from sallie ford + the sound outside

“Dirty Radio is honest.”

It’s about “always being comfortable” and always “being true to yourself,” says Sallie Ford.

“When I turn on the radio, it all sounds the same. It ah-all sounds the same,” belts Sallie Ford in her distinctive, beguiling bawl on the first track from the band’s debut full-length. With a purposefully placed stutter, her words come in soulful exhalations and end in muffled grunts.

“What have these people done to music? They just don’t care anymore. They just don’t care anymore.”

Those lyrics, from “I Swear” (above), and the rest of Dirty Radio epitomize the honesty that can be felt through the music of Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside–a sound that may be utterly foreign to that dirty mainstream radio but is quite familiar here in Portland.

The band of Portland transplants has something honest to say, and after more than a year in the works, the record on which they say it is finally available. Dirty Radio was released via Partisan Records on May 24th and Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside, which features Ford Tennis on drums, Tyler Tornfelt on upright bass and Jeffrey Munger on guitar, will celebrate with two shows at the Doug Fir Lounge on Friday, June 3rd and Saturday, June 4th with handpicked openers sharing the stage.

“Radio sometimes has a reputation of not including swear words and chopping up songs,” continues Sallie Ford. It also, like popular culture, has a reputation for being fickle.

Yet something about Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside is timeless. It may be their unclassifiability, the gospel and soul divas present in Sallie’s uncommon vocals, or her throwback backing boys who conjure up classic folk, Americana, blues and straight-up rock ‘n’ roll rhythms.

The fluctuations in Sallie’s vocals create an energy, a palpable spontaneity, that comes from her style of songwriting. “The way I write lyrics,” begins Sallie before changing her train of thought. ”I used to sort of write them down but these days I don’t even do that. It’s a rhythmic thing and sometimes they end up forming themselves.”

Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside’s debut album has been a long time coming, but if you’ve been paying attention over the last year, much of it has already been revealed live or reworked from their five-track, 2009 Not An Animal EP.

Gaining subtle crispness in production, the band worked with Mike Coykendall (“We had originally wanted to work with him [on the entire album] but he had a real busy schedule”) and Adam Selzer at Type Foundry Studio. Recording with Mike in February of 2010 and Adam in March of the same year, the band has spent more than a year not just trying to get all the pieces together but putting everything in the right places–not to mention spending the appropriate amount of time simply “feeling overwhelmed with the business side of things,” including shopping the record around and putting together a management team.

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three nights, three venues for starfucker

Since OMN last checked in with Starfucker before their biggest hometown gig ever, there has been an album release, an arrest at SXSW, and lots of touring in between. Yet, there has not been a proper Portland release gig for the long-awaited second Starfucker album, Reptilians, which came out in March on Polyvinyl. But rather than simply play one show to celebrate the release, Starfucker will play back-to-back-to-back nights at three PDX venues, completing more than a month on the road–their most expansive tour yet, which covered the entire US plus a recent stop in Vancouver, Canada.

Like any band on tour, Starfucker’s current 30+ show jaunt was not without its own adventures and adversity, and the guys documented it well on their active Facebook, Twitter (where you can play 20 questions), and pet-friendly Tumblr accounts.

There was Ryan Biornstad’s “B.S.” arrest for something akin to “jaywalking” at SXSW, for which the charges were dropped on April 15th, and the subsequent sale of fly, new “FREE RYAN” tees because although “Ryan does not have to go back to jail, he still has to pay a lawyer,” the band Tweeted. “We’re selling special shirts on tour to raise money for him.” All proceeds from the sales of this shirt will go to pay his legal fees, which you can help pay here.

Then, immediately following the SXSW debacle, the tour van broke down and the band arrived in Houston via tow truck. Thanks AAA!

But, on the plus side, there have been tatted fans and three broken keyboards… so far. See here.

“Fuck, had to by another keyboard. That’s 3 this tour.. Hate Guitar Center, love their return policy though!! #returnitaftertour.”

The hijinks never end when Portland’s most lovable electro-miscreants take to the road; they even managed to fit in the filming of a hooded, cloaked and caped video for ”Julius” somewhere along the way.

As of Monday, the band had sold out nineteen gigs, and now they’re well into the twenties as they’ve already sold out all three Portland gigs; although, if you’re lucky, you might be able to snag a ticket at the door as these venues often hold onto a handful. And in case you can’t remember where you’re seeing Starfucker, and on which night, or have no clue who’s opening (unfortunately Unknown Mortal Orchestra has been called off to open for the Smith Westerns instead of opening the Holocene gig), get your important info here:

Thursday, April 28th (RSVP) at Holocene with Guidance Counselor and DJ Brkfst Sndwch; doors and show 9:30pm, 21+
Friday, April 29th (RSVP) at the Doug Fir with Blouse; doors 8pm, show 9pm, 21+
Saturday, April 30th (RSVP) at Mississippi Studios with Champagne Champagne and Arohan; doors 8:30pm, show 9pm, all ages

The above venues will satisfy Starfucker’s desire to play smaller, sweatier gigs, and you can expect a set heavy with crisp Reptilians cuts, an album written...

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introspective atmospherics : q/a with cale parks of brahms

Brooklyn-based, “chillwave” trio BRAHMS performed their debut gig just “three months after we played the first notes together,” says lead singer and producer Cale Parks. “That’s when we became BRAHMS, at that first show at Terminal 5 in New York opening for Passion Pit” in January 2010.

Not bad for a band who until recently had only released four, hastily recorded demos. “We made these four songs to make a MySpace page basically to book shows as a new band.” Parks continues, “The new songs are nothing like the demo. It’s the same band but [in the beginning] we made a bunch of songs and knew we wanted to be a band but we didn’t have an album written.”

That album is now written, yet to be recorded, and being finalized while the band is currently on tour opening for Asobi Seksu, visiting the West Coast for the first time. (Plus they even share a couple of upcoming road dates with Starfucker before they hit SXSW.) Portland was spared the misfortune of missing the band as they recently had to cancel the three preceding shows “due to a family emergency” and are still on schedule to play the Doug Fir on Sunday, March 6th.

The latest offering of BRAHMS’ darkly atmospheric, surging style is the self-filmed music video for “Repeat It,” the B-side to their soon-to-be-released debut 7-inch. “‘Repeat It’ is like ’90s, Front 242 industrial gothic with actual melodies–a dance track but still our thing,” according to Parks. After shooting the footage themselves on their iPhones and surveillance cameras while on tour and while in Tokyo, BRAHMS first-ever video was edited by friend Adam Bennett.

The new BRAHMS tracks offer a bit of a departure from what early internet (and East Coast) fans heard on their demo. “It’s gonna be more chilled and atmospheric,” Parks says. “All the sounds are gonna be a little more intense, bassier” as reflected on the above track and the 7-inch A-side, “Add It Up” (listen below).

The difference is, the music BRAHMS is now creating has a definite vision; it’s survived a year-long gestation period. They are decidedly, especially in the live setting, “going less for ‘dance music’ like Hot Chip or Passion Pit or a dance show. It’s more about creating some kind of atmosphere,” says Parks, to get people thinking about the sounds. It’s passionate and introspective. “There’s definitely more to it than getting drunk and dancing.”

The rest of the new material for their future album is still in flux. While on tour, they band has lots of planning to do, figuring out how to finalize the songs and record them, but most of all, they’re looking forward to returning home to New York City in April, inspired to finish the record.

“All the songs are written so there’s no more writing in the studio as we go along,” says Parks. “But we’re taking our time, and I don’t think a year as a band is a very long time to work on an album, but I guess in today’s internet time, it is.”

Continually working on some 30 songs, the band now needs to choose which songs work together as an album. “In the context of the flow and vibe of an entire album, I think we’ve narrowed it down to 11 songs. We have no idea how it’s even going to be released. It’s still in such early stages but there is an actual album being formed now which is really exciting because you can see the picture and what it’s going to be like–just making it come true and happen and getting it out there.”

Putting out their debut album also includes managing their own style as they create photography, album art, and music videos. So far, they’ve done it all themselves. “Unless you control the way you present things visually, other people will try to do it for you,” simply states Parks. “It comes to the point where we do have people that want to help out and they’ll have a very good foundation because we will have presented that to them.”

Performing “solo music for a few years off and on” under his own name, Cale Parks, 30, (who formerly held down the rhythm sections of indie bands Aloha, White Williams and Cex) is a Cincinnati native but NYC resident for five years. Looking to put together a live band in October 2009 to back his solo project, he hooked up with Drew Robinson, who “I knew was looking to start something new,” says Parks, and Robinson’s friend and fellow Baltimorean Eric Lodwick.

In BRAHMS, Parks, who has a Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Studies and Percussion Performance, handles the beat production and all percussion as well as playing the keyboard and singing. On guitar, vocals and keys is Drew Robinson with Eric Lodwick providing bass, some synths, and backing vox.

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the blow’s celebrity fantasy

“Do I look like a pop star?” queried The Blow’s Khaela Maricich after her third song–the first new track, “Make It Up”–of the evening as she dug herself deeper into her tale of celebrity collaboration. “Do I look like a world-famous lesbian?”

The answer to both those questions is: Yes. In Portland at least.

The Blow didn’t reveal too much about her current live show–a combination between a solo, electro-pop act and a monologue–when we spoke to her in December so we just had to wait patiently for her first return to Portland more than two and half years, selling out the Doug Fir on Wednesday, February 2nd.

Immediately silencing a packed house with a simple tapping on the mic with her index finger, The Blow opened the show in a hushed, a cappella whisper before easing into her narrative: a fable of big city, Big Apple, can-do-anything romanticism where an eclectic Northwest pop artist gets mixed up with the most feminine of feminine New York/Hollywood celebrity and is asked to collaborate, to write the story of her lesbian love.

It’s already been well reported that The Blow is not working with Lindsay Lohan, and although her name was not mentioned a single time on Wednesday night, we all knew the celebutante in reference was Lohan, from fashionable to disastrous to the same-sex fling.

Completely alone on stage, save for a mic, stand and several conscientiously placed lights, and with narrative help from her “coach” and numerous voicemails along the way, The Blow told the story of the album she’s been writing for her celebrity partner. Sharing “demo” versions of the album that will never be released, The Blow alternated between new songs and old hits like “Hey Boy,” “Come On Petunia,” and “Fists Up” as she worked her away through some eleven “songs” in 60+ minutes.

Asking a lot from her audience to stay so attentive between three-minute electro-pop blasts, The Blow had no problem captivating the willing bodies even during the intentionally awkward moments–like the extended sequences where she fashioned a side pony into comb over or the attraction to the pulsating, life-invigorating light.

The music, new and old, lived in abstraction amongst a world of NYC cafés and soirées, supposed voicemails and secrets shared, sun bathing on an inflatable mattress...

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no guitars, no pressure : q/a with little dragon’s fredrik wallin

For a band that had to be coaxed into releasing their first vinyl, Little Dragon is doing quite well for themselves. The Swedish quartet from Gothenburg spent the end of 2010 touring the world with Gorillaz after being featured on two tracks (“Empire Ants” and “To Binge”) from the animated band’s third album, Plastic Beach, which wound up on many best of 2010 lists. Skipping across continents, Little Dragon supported Damon Albarn’s Gorillaz and De La Soul in Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Hong Kong on the Gorillaz: Escape to Plastic Beach Tour.

With no initial hopes or aspirations, Little Dragon continues to keep their cool and simply remain in love with the idea of “creating new sounds and making new songs” as bassist Fredrik Wallin puts it. Childhood friends since their teens and later living together in a cooperative called the The Seal Colonie in Gothenburg, the initial story of vocalist and percussionist Yukimi Nagano, drummer Erik Bodin, Fredrik Wallin, and keyboardist Håkan Wirenstrand can be found in their official bio by Ulla Tom Tom.

Their first single became the Rough Trade single of the week and the band was picked up in the UK by Peacefrog Records, which released their 2007 self-titled debut. And even though that first album is still available as an import only, fans immediately clung to the cool, down tempo jazziness of that album, garnering supporters across the globe from DJ Shadow to KCRW in Los Angeles.

Another album (Machine Dreams) came in 2009 and now Little Dragon visits Portland for their third time at the Doug Fir on Monday, January 10th with support from multimedia soundtrackers Billygoat (made up of Portland stop-motion artists and musicians David Klein and Nick Woolley). The hometown duo will not only open the Doug Fir date but also travel 25 dates (their first exposure to the greater world) with Little Dragon from west to east and back again finishing up with two dates in San Fran in early February. Joining Woolley and Klein on the tour will not only be their trusty projector and arrangements on harp, keyboards, accordion, glockenspiel and electric guitar but also their newest addition: Corey Nelson on live drums.

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Read the rest on OMN and win tickets to see Little Dragon with Billygoat at the Doug Fir.

direct brevity : on his ninth album, tricky knows what he wants to do now

After releasing one of his most critically lauded albums in years with 2008′s Knowle West Boy, Tricky came back in late 2010 with what has been called one of his most accessible and trivial albums to date, receiving very mediocre reviews across the board. With seven of the ten tracks clocking in under three minutes for a total run time of less than a half hour, Mixed Race lacks cohesiveness and the experimental depth seen on previous Tricky releases. As his ninth studio album, it’s a mixed bag of what’s been viewed as skin-deep experimentation from one of trip-hop’s founders and innovators–a variety that moves from jazz to hip-hop to the Middle East without the singular touch of his previous work.

But for Tricky, he’s never been so sure of his work.

“Some of my early albums sound like a mess to me… too cluttered. I don’t understand them anymore.” He continues, “I know what I want to do now. Mixed Race is deliberately direct and in-your-face. It’s the easiest album to make that I’ve ever done.”

Basically, it’s been a disappointment for many die-hards and critics. In the past, no one has known where Tricky’s intentions lied or where they were going. Now, it may finally seem as though his “mind isn’t cloudy” or “muddled-up or as confused” as it once was.

But was the muddle what created unprecedented releases like 1995′s Maxinquaye? Is Mixed Race Tricky’s (conscious or unconscious) attempt to acquire new Tricky fans–a clubbing crowd?!

“This is also the most uptempo album I’ve done,” says the 42-year-old, Bristol-born producer. “I wanted something that could be played in a club… maybe! Which is unusual for me. Because I don’t give a shit about clubs.”

Although it’s hardly “clubby” by European standards (or anyone else’s for that matter), the actual quality of the music remains strong throughout and hints at telling some more of Tricky’s personal story. (Tricky may be trying to squeeze his way into the clubs as a guest on INXS’ new Original Sin album, reimagining the track “Mediate.”) As a “gangster album” there are some tense, introspective gangster moments, like the nursery music box to 007-tinged first single “Murder Weapon,” the tender thump and twang of “UK Jamaican,” or the silky smooth single number 2, “Ghetto Stars.”

“I can’t do gangsta rap. That’s not me. I can’t talk about being a bad boy, ‘cos I’m not. But I’ve been around that. So this is the closest I can get to a gangsta album. It’s very gully, as Jamaicans call it… very dark. Tense, street and urban. It’s like a movie, almost.”

Due to planes and trains and traveling from Paris before beginning his 11-date, North American tour in New York on December 9th, OMN’s scheduled phone interview with Tricky was not able to be realized. But in lieu of that interview, we do have this detailed track-by-track breakdown of his latest album for you reading pleasure.

Tricky hits the Doug Fir Lounge on Sunday, December 19th with his Irish-Italian female vocalist Franky Riley, who is featured on much of the new album including “Murder Weapon,” which is a reworking of a classic dancehall hit originally done by the Jamaican-born Echo Minott.

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Read the rest on OMN.

peter hook deservedly revives joy division

For most, on stage and off, Thursday, December 9th at the Doug Fir was and forever will be the most Joy Division songs one will ever experience at a live performance, in the United States or abroad. When lead singer Ian Curtis committed suicide on the eve of Joy Division’s departure for the States in May of 1980, he may have dashed the band’s immediate dreams but he didn’t stop their aspirations and future success. Indelibly writing their name in every musical history book, Joy Division became New Order and turned the ’80s upside down.

After decades as their own entity, New Order finally came to terms with the music of Joy Division in the early 2000s and began performing a select few tracks during their live sets, notably “Atmosphere” but also four of the bigger hits on 2008′s Live in Glasgow DVD.

So when Peter Hook, the founding bassist of Joy Division, announced he’d be touring, playing Joy Division’s 1979 debut Unknown Pleasures in its entirety 30 years after the death of Ian Curtis, there was excitement but also suspicion and criticism. Three of Joy Division’s original members are still alive, yet the post-Joy Division band they formed together, New Order which lasted for 20+ years, has since split. It seems as though his intentions were pure and Hooky simply wanted to give Americans fans, all of whom never had the opportunity to see Joy Division live, an opportunity to experience the passionate energy of that influential music live, even if it be just a shred.

The idea for the tour, which included just nine North American dates (all in the US), was spawned out of fan enthusiasm for the now-classic material when Hook and his band The Light played Unknown Pleasures in honor of the 30th anniversary of Ian Curtis’ death.

Billed as “Peter Hook Presents Unknown Pleasures,” or Peter Hook and Friends, Hooky and Co. played a set which delivered exactly what was advertised. After warming up with four non-debut album Joy Division tracks, the band kicked into Unknown Pleasures, moving from start to finish, ending their set with “I Remember Nothing.”

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Read the rest on OMN.

q/a : where has the blow been?

A gig by The Blow is never just a musical endeavor. Rather, the show’s of Khaela Maricich blur the line between concert and monologue. From irresistible, lo-fi, laptop dance-pop to laugh out loud or awkward encounters, she is a true performing artist; one who can control the stage with no more than a mic and a MacBook.

So what happens when she adds a visual partner to the mix?

In the past we saw how a musical partner in Jona Bechtolt (YACHT) propelled The Blow to new heights, and now The Blow is collaborating in a visual manner with installation and conceptual artist Melissa Dyne who will be “working with lighting and sound to manipulate the environment and to kind of play with the possibilities of whatever space we are performing in,” says Maricich.

That means a unique experience in every venue, every night. As her on stage narrative develops so will the visuals; at least that’s what we’re led to believe. But we honestly won’t know until we get the chance to see The Blow in concert. And Portland will finally have the opportunity to do so when The Blow returns home for the first time in more than two and half years performing the Doug Fir on Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011.

By keeping a low profile online, The Blow has only allowed access to her new material at her live gigs, and as the girl of NW origins but residing in NYC since 2008 gives OMN the run around, she’s enjoying the “chaos” of a city of 7 million, being inspired by Joan Rivers, Tina Fey and Beyoncé, and “getting pregnant” (?!), yet still misses a Portland full of friends, Powell’s, river swimming, and The Asian Reporter.

You’ve been working with Melissa Dyne, what’s her role?

Melissa Dyne is an installation and conceptual artist, and she is collaborating with The Blow. We are working together on the live performance; she is treating the venue each night as one would treat an installation, working with lighting and sound to manipulate the environment and to kind of play with the possibilities of whatever space we are performing in. We have been touring a fair amount this past year, so there has been time for our collaboration to grow and develop over time, and as we keep touring, it keeps growing. We’re also working on other elements of the greater performance project together...

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Read the rest on OMN.

the ascetic junkies mature… into youthfulness

No longer singing about vampires, The Ascetic Junkies are contemplating a move to Canada because neither God nor the Devil nor even the Gov’t can answer their prayers or solve their problems.

Seriously? No, they’re not serious. They’re happy here!

Arriving in Portland in 2008 with an album in hand, the couple of Kali Giaritta and Matt Harmon put out their debut, One Shoe Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, with just two Junkies on board. But the self-proclaimed whiskey stompers quickly grew and are set to release their sophomore album This Cage Has No Bottom, an effort that features five band members and no electric guitar, as co-lead singer and songwriter Harmon likes to point out.

Like the first effort, the duo still wrote the album, but the rest of the band had a much bigger role this time around. “It was much more collaborative in terms of arrangements,” says Harmon plus the group had been playing these songs live for almost a year before recording them. Each band member had the opportunity to add his or her own flourishes, all five contributing their own ideas as the vocals, keys, glockenspiel and percussion of Kali Giaritta and vocals, guitar, keys and percussion of Matt Harmon were combined with Cole Huiskamp on bass, Graham Houser on banjo, and Stephen Colvin on drums. The album even includes contributions from Harmon’s mom and dad, on violin and trombone respectively. You can feel the intricacies. And even a little bit of maturity.

But maturity doesn’t mean you have to be stern and unsmiling. Even though there are serious themes (like the above “God/Devil/Gov’t”) throughout This Cage Has No Bottom, The Junkies will always retain their playful lyrical content and sound.

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Leave a comment on OMN to win a copy of the new CD, a pint glass and two tickets the Junkies CD release gig at the Doug Fir on October 15th.

q/a : fuck buttons retry with a sonically conquering return

This English electro-experimental duo were set to smack PDX artsy hipsters with massive walls of sonic soundscapes during a fantastical audio journey they call a gig at Worksound on November 14th, 2009… when something–we’re not sure what–happened and they were forced to call the rest of their tour off. Bummer.

But now it’s spring and Portland will gladly welcome back the pair of Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power when they approach the Doug Fir on Thursday, May 13th with our own electro-minimalist White Rainbow (Adam Forkner) opening.

Making progressive, electro-ambiance since 2004, Fuck Buttons released their second disc Tarot Sport in October 2009, an album where five outta seven tracks broach the 10-minute mark.

Sculpting beats into a river of noise that thrashes and drowns, the Bristol, UK Buttons have supported Mogwai and Caribou on previous tours, but before they bring their commotion to your underground log cabin, the Fuck Buttons spoke to OMN about strippers and Tupac Shakur reincarnated.

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Read the interview on OMN.

last stop : explode into colors + quasi at the doug fir

Welcome home Quasi and Explode Into Colors. The last stop on a tour that took them from PDX to SXSW and back was thankfully at home. While Explode Into Colors left their rougher times on the road, Quasi may have experienced their roughest right at home on Saturday at the Doug Fir. Shredding and screaming since the early ’90s, you are bound to have an off night–at least it happened in front of your most loyal fans and friends… or does that make it all the more frustrating?

The set started off smooth for Quasi as guitarist Sam Coomes’ sandpapered vocals burst with fervency as he perched atop a speaker and flicked licks across the cheering crowd on “Repulsion” off their latest release, American Gong. Complemented by drummer Janet Weiss’ vox from behind her kit, Quasi’s mid-90s sound could almost be called vintage these days. The rebellious, indie rock’n'roll trio from Portland played songs from their last 15 years with rapid, punky instrumentalization and surging folky electricity...

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home from sxsw : quasi + explode into colors at the doug fir

The showcases are over, the street corners are considerably less crowded, and the bands are on their way back home from SXSW. Using the time on the road before and after the jaunt to Austin, most bands make a few stops along the way. On Saturday, March 27th, our indie rock darlings return to Portland for their homecoming showcase… at least that was the plan.

Both trios, Quasi and Explode Into Colors, played official SXSW showcases on a tour that saw them hit 15+ cities planned around their time in Austin. With two decades of gusto behind them, NW indie-staple Quasi showed their “rebellious, anti-corporate, loud rock’n'roll, peppered with pop harmonies, shredding guitar solos, hum-able bass lines and long drum fills” (according to drummer Janet Weiss in an interview with Spinner before SXSW) to a crowd at the Gibson Guitar Showroom that was record by Seattle’s KEXP and is now streaming on NPR.

OMN spoke to the bombastic rhythm makers from EIC just after their gigs at SXSW and a trip into Monterrey, Mexico for the MtyMx Fest. But then Explode Into Colors blew a tranny somewhere in Oklahoma and got stuck in San Antonio…

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Read the rest on OMN along with tour notes from EIC.