get out! : volcano choir

My contribution to this week's edition of Get Out!

The Midwest invades the Wonder Ballroom on Thursday, and if the name Volcano Choir doesn't ring a bell and you're stuck wondering why this show had already sold out before the end of last year, it's because the Wisconsin-based band's most famous member is Grammy winner Justin Vernon—better known as Bon Iver. That said, this back-and-forth side project features Vernon and his longtime friends (notably members of Collections of Colonies of Bees) together for the second time. The collaborative Repave should more than satisfy the devoted Bon Iver fan—feeling intense and sparse and grandiose individually, and then all of those things at once, the fleshed out rock effort follows in the same vein as his Grammy-winning album. Besides, for all the fanboys and girls, how can you not be assuaged by Vernon's distinctive vocals, whether pitched high or Auto-Tuned? Joining Volcano Choir on tour are Minneapolis neighbors The Cloak Ox with a debut record that feels straightforward in comparison to Repave, yet still retains some surprises—such as Vernon contributing harmonies on frontman "Andy Broder’s Dream" while vocals also come from TV on the Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and Dark Dark Dark’s Nona Marie Invie. At times, Shoot The Dog is a little funky ("Shoot The Dog"), sometimes very frank ("Don't Listen"), and during others Broder reminds of Elvis Costello ("Josephine").

Thursday, January 23, Wonder Ballroom, 8:30pm, sold out, all ages

Watch Volcano Choir perform "Comrade" live in an old tannery in Milwaukee, WI:

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Check out the rest of OMN's Get Out! picks for January 23 to 29.

get out! : white album christmas featuring the nowhere band + wanderlust circus

My contribution to this week's edition of Get Out!

In what's become a holiday tradition at the Alberta Rose, the White Album Christmas returns for its sixth year of doing what Portland does best. Prepare for a Liverpudlian Christmas carnival spectacular featuring a menagerie of amazing PDX players (aka The Nowhere Band, which includes members of MarchFourth Marching Band, The Stolen Sweets, The Saloon Ensemble, Solovox, Trashcan Joe and more) performing the classic Beatles masterpiece from front to back with eye candy (like juggling, acrobatics, aerialism and dancing) provided by Wanderlust Circus, all backed by horns and strings and surprises! Get your tickets now because they're going fast—several evenings have already sold out but a Saturday family matinee (2pm show) has been added.

Thursday, December 5 to Sunday, December 8, Alberta Rose Theatre, 8pm, $25 advance / $30 door / $40 premium seating, minors permitted with adult

Watch a montage featuring behind the scenes footage from the 2011 performance:

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Check out the rest of OMN's Get Out! picks for December 5 to 11.

get out! : poliça

My contribution to this week's edition of Get Out!

Poliça has only turned up the emotional intensity on their second effort as demonstrated by the graphic album art of Shulamith (pixelated to a blur on outlets like iTunes and Amazon) and the disturbingly violent video for "Tiff" featuring vocals from Justin Vernon, the first single from the record. Released one month ago—to the day—on Mom + Pop, the sultry noir of their electronic R&B again hoists the Auto-Tune-drenched vocals of Channy Leaneagh to the forefront with hypnotizing effect, but what really makes this showing of Poliça special is the fact that they're being supported by the producer who helped start it all. Ryan Olson (of Minneapolis' GAYNGS) was the one who conceived Poliça's debut album with Leaneagh but chose to forgo touring with the burgeoning band. With a complete band now intact (still featuring two drummers providing those layered beats), Shulamith may have been more of a collaborative process this time around, but Olson was also there to contribute beats programming, production and synths. Meanwhile, he was working on his own vocally affected, percussion-heavy project called Marijuana Deathsquads alongside Isaac Gale and Stefon Alexander (aka P.O.S), an experiment in evolution and improvisation—like many of Olson's offerings—that's punk, rap and sharp on the edges.

Friday, November 22, Wonder Ballroom, 9pm, $16 advance / $18 doors, all ages

Listen to the aforementioned "Tiff":

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Check out the rest of OMN's Get Out! picks for November 21 to 28.

get out! : cut copy

My contribution to this week's edition of Get Out!

Hippie—that's the direction Cut Copy has gone with their fourth studio album Free Your Mind. Well, hippie "in terms of uniting traditional guitars and dance music," frontman Dan Whitford told T Magazine. Inspired by the music of the two Summers of Love ('60s psychedelic rock and acid house of the late '80s, respectively), Whitford believes "those eras were about opening minds, stylistically and culturally—it wasn’t just black and white, but all things coming together"—and they’ve been experimenting with this themselves while ensuring that you dance your ass off. Openers include LA's Kauf (aka Ronald Kaufman), whose debut EP, As Much Again, is out now on Cut Copy's own Cutters label, and the US-based (via Milan via Greece) producer Larry Gus showing off material from his recently released, and also psychedelically tinged, DFA record Years Not Living.

Friday, November 1, Roseland Theater, 8pm, $25 advance, all ages

Listen to the third single, "We Are Explorers," from Cut Copy's Free Your Mind (which is currently streaming in full on NPR, plus watch the vid for the title track) out on November 5th:

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Check out the rest of OMN's Get Out! picks for October 31 to November 6.

get out! : gold panda

My contribution to this week's edition of Get Out!

The last time Ghostly International's Gold Panda was scheduled to play Portland, he got snowed in. Since then, the English producer has released his second full-length record, Half of Where You Live, a record that was made while he bounced around the world supporting his first. Derwin Panda describes it as a "city record" because as he moved "from location to location… I felt like I was stealing a piece of each place I went to." From his native London to Brazil and a new home in Berlin, Derwin may say the album's distillation process focused on as few elements as possible, but the layered output is just as rich and textured as ever. Headed to a set at Seattle's acclaimed Decibel Festival following Portland, the trio of acts—including the glo-fi warmth of Slow Magic and Jersey's (USA, that is) urban electronic duo Voices of Black—will take on Eugene's WOW Hall on Wednesday night as well (9pm, $12 advance, $14 door, all ages). VOB will be absent in PDX but fellow Briton Luke Abbott will take their place.

Thursday, September 26, Branx, 9pm, $15 advance, all ages

Get a preview of the live setup you can expect from Gold Panda in his video for "Community"—a track that was inspired by London's house scene and reflects on the cultural divides in the city where he was raised:

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Check out the rest of OMN's Get Out! picks for September 26 to October 2.

get out! : blouse

My contribution to this week's edition of Get Out!

Portland threesome Blouse are back with a sophomore effort, Imperium, that retains the noir dream pop air of their synthesized 2011 debut although with a noticeably different edge—the trio definitively decided to discard their keyboards and drum machines in favor of writing and recording with "instruments that don't plug into the wall," which was a self-imposed mandate handed down by band member and producer Jacob Portrait. While the record feels more in your face, the new sound is still concealed by a wall of fuzz above which hovers the ethereal, Nico-like vocals of lead singer Charlie Hilton. Released this Tuesday, September 17th on Brooklyn's Captured Tracks, Blouse heads home to the Star Theater to celebrate. The feminine, Austin-based electropop of Feathers alongside dramatic electronics from Portland's Litanic Mask open the release party.

Friday, September 20, Star Theater, 9pm, $8, 21+

In the proud tradition of Portland indie rock, "No Shelter" threads a Dandy Warhols-esque energy into Imperium's first single:

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Check out the rest of OMN's Get Out! picks for September 19-25.

get out! : ms mr

My contribution to this week's edition of Get Out!

Making just their third swing through Portland (last seen opening for CSS in June) and this time headlining an already sold-out gig (thanks to a bit of a push from 94.7 FM), NYC's MS MR will again take the Crystal Ballroom stage, with indie folk from Portland's Great Wilderness kicking off the night. Self-christened as "Tumblr glitch pop, soul fuzz, [and] electroshock," Lizzy Plapinger and Max Hershenow's brand of dark, glammy electro-pop is undeniably dancey and perfect for fans of Poliça (who'll also grace a PDX stage—the Wonder—before the end of the year). After the stellar EP Candy Bar Creep Show, MS MR is currently supporting their debut effort, Secondhand Rapture, which, much like they did with the EP, can be enjoyed visually as well as aurally—there's eye candy aplenty to accompany the album's 12 tracks. Now, let's hope these bizarre idiosyncrasies translate well to the live arena.

Monday, August 12, Crystal Ballroom, 9pm, sold out, all ages

Watch MS MR's oozy, odd video for "Hurricane":

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Check out the rest of OMN's Get Out! picks for August 8-14.

get out! : kisses + trails and ways

My contribution to this week's edition of Get Out!

Here's to a Sunday night of warm, California-hued, unabashed electro-pop. Headliners Kisses look like they live inside an Instagram filter. One look at their Tumblr or the wood-paneled album art of their upcoming sophomore release (Kids in LA due out May 14th on Cascine), reveals a decade-spanning, sun-soaked sensibility for fashionable kitsch. It's an appealing style—full of palm trees and Aloha shirts (including one they designed themselves) as well as something fabulous we'll dub the disco pineapple—and a retro mood which is definitely carried onto the inviting analog keys and danceable drum machines of the new record.

Mixing Latin influences with dreamy pop and Brazilian jazz, the Spanish- and Portuguese-infused "bossa nova dream pop" of Oakland-based Trails and Ways is a pleasant complement to open the night. Set to release their debut EP on June 6th, Trilingual is presumably named for lead singers Emma Oppen and Keith Brower Brown's escapades in Spain and Brazil following studies at UC Berkeley. With these two on the bill, it'll be a summery night that fans of Portland's Pure Bathing Culture can enjoy.

Sunday, May 12, Holocene, 8pm, $8 advance / day of show, 21+

Listen to four tracks from Kisses upcoming record Kids in LA:

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Check out the rest of OMN's Get Out! picks for May 9-15.

get out! : there is no mountain

My contribution to this week's edition of Get Out!

Formerly The Ascetic Junkies, the husband-and-wife team of Matt Harmon and Kali Giaritta have pared down to a duo and are excited to make their live debut under a new moniker: There Is No Mountain. Kicking off a two-month national tour (their most extensive to date) as well as celebrating an album release, Kali and Matt have chosen an intimate house show, which will feature Q&A sessions between songs (you can submit your own questions!), to modestly introduce their reconfiguration to the world. Space is very limited but anyone who purchases an advance copy of the record is guaranteed entry. The self-titled album will officially release on April 16th—so check Bandcamp and iTunes then to download your own bundle of acoustic-turned-electric guitar, ever-present guy-girl harmonies, and bouncy, African-tinged Americana reminiscent of classic (Paul Simon) and contemporary (Vampire Weekend, Dirty Projectors) influences.

Saturday, April 13, Hippo Campus, 8:30pm, $10 advance (includes new record) / $5 (or more) suggested donation day of show, all ages

Listen to There Is No Mountian’s first single “Owl Hymn” (and right click to download):

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Get the rest of OMN's Get Out! picks for April 11-17.

get out! : spiritualized

My contribution to this week's edition of Get Out!

If you missed Spiritualized last May when they traveled through town, you can be excused if it was because you were at Sasquatch. You can also be excused if you missed that set because their performance time was bumped back an hour because Mogwai failed to show. Regardless, they played a glorious night- and festival-ending set—backed by two sexy, naturally colorful singers clad in white dresses—in the cool darkness of the final eve of the four-day extravaganza. Still supporting their most recent release and seventh studio album, 2012's Sweet Heart Sweet Light, Spiritualized is back in the Northwest and headlining the Wonder again. As always, expect dramatic, experimental, symphonic rock full of soaring highs and heart-wrenching lows from the English six-piece led by the troubled, soul-bearing J. Spaceman (aka Jason Pierce).

Tuesday, April 9, Wonder Ballroom, 8:30pm, $18 advance / $20 door, 21+

Watch Spiritualized’s NSFW video for “Hey Jane,” the lead single off last year's record:

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Get the rest of OMN's Get Out! picks for April 4-10.

get out! : gold panda

OMN recently started publishing a weekend (and then some) guide to gigs called Get Out!, organized and edited by the adept Spencer Teilmann. Here's my addition to this week's fare:

In the years since his first full-length album, the UK's Gold Panda has continued to bless us with a sprinkling of complex recordings overflowing with cut up ambient samples, all of it meticulously cobbled together with electronic glue. While the EPs, limited edition vinyl releases, and a storied DJ-Kicks comp have been pleasant, the real magic happens when Derwin Panda takes the stage to recreate all of his layers live. Crafting goosebump-worthy grooves, you'll lose yourself in the chilled, earthy beats as he casually puts the musical pieces of his mosaic together in front of your eyes and ears. Almost rivaling the main act's complexity and texture, Ghostly International labelmate Dauwd precedes Derwin with his slightly more conventional sound while PDX DJ Tan't spins before (as well as during and after, I'm sure).

Saturday, March 23, Holocene, 10pm, $12 advance, 21+

Listen to the title cut from Gold Panda's latest release, the 2013 EP entitled Trust, which is the first full EP he's released since before his widely acclaimed 2010 debut—and rejoice in the news that there's supposedly a second full length coming later this year.

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Get the rest of OMN's Get Out! picks for March 21-27.