Ages and Ages' Tim Perry and Rob Oberdorfer. Photo by Alicia J. Rose.
"We all have our own vision of what the right path is and which key fits," says Tim Perry sitting in the living room of his NE Portland house.
He's just grabbed a copy of his new record, Divisionary, from the vinyl-filled shelf adjacent to his front door. Flipping it over, he shows me the pile of keys.
"In my mind, it's kind of overwhelming—if you're looking for the right one you might have to search for a while," the Ages and Ages' band leader and songwriter explains. "That said, there's also a lot of different locks in the world and locks represent different doors that open different paths to go down."
This new record is Ages and Ages' second but it's not just simply the next Ages' album—it's a meditated step forward in the band's story. It furthers their individual narrative and experiences as well as the ideologies that Ages' want to share with the world. It also represents the challenges that the group faced to create this record.
Musically, Divisionary once again balances Ages' ability to instill a joyful folk sound amongst underlying complexity. Dividing the sonic space between upbeat singalongs and seriousness, the lyrical half represents the latter. Acknowledging his pop sensibilities, Perry says he writes the songs he does "because they get stuck in my head," but an intimately meaningful message is an integral part of the process.
There wasn't much fanfare surrounding Loch Lomond's latest EP release on March 5th—at least not around these parts. And maybe that's because it wasn't intended for us.
In fact, the five-track EP White Dresses was recorded specifically for their latest European tour, which wrapped up on March 10th, and released only on their European imprint, the Glasgow, Scotland-based Chemikal Underground.
Just over a year after releasing their second album, Little Me Will Start A Storm on Tender Loving Empire, it's not been uncommon for the band to frenziedly record a single or an entire EP during the time in between full-length LPs. Two thousand nine's EP Night Bats was pulled together in six days, two years after the debut, Paper The Walls, but two years before Little Me, and as lead singer and songwriter Ritchie Young put it, the EP was done "kind of to prove to ourselves that we could do something fast and good."
The story behind White Dresses is similar.
"Our last record, Little Me Will Start A Storm, took two years to complete," Young says. "Chemikal Underground asked us to give them an acoustic EP just for this tour. We found ourselves recording essentially one-third of the new record in 16 days. It felt so wonderful to be able to complete this without second-guessing ourselves and just going for it."
The typical elements are here with Young's distinctive, emotive vocals guiding the delicate but robust chamber-pop symphony of familiar but curious and childlike sounds, provided by bells and glockenspiel touches. There's history and drama in the violin and support from the chorus of backing harmonies, which add another, weaving layer to exquisite hush.
Young explains that this EP is essentially a piece, or preview, of their upcoming record.
"We are going back to the wonderful people that helped us record and mix White Dresses to flesh the current songs out and finish the record for release in the US."
That includes Tony Lash (Elliott Smith/The Dandy Warhols), Kevin Robinson (Viva Voce) and Douglas Jenkins (The Portland Cello Project), who Young says "are amazingly talented people and I am very excited to see how the rest of the record will play out."
As for White Dresses, there's a fleeting moment on the opening track "Inventing You" that feels like The Decemberists but the following song, "Kicking With Your Feet" (below), is all Young's, full of wispy androgyny in the vocals, which are calming and piercing, often at the same time.
The title track is spiritual and the closer "Your Eyes" has all the qualities of a future LL single, which it's surely guaranteed to be.
Back in the NW, the lineup of Ritchie Young (vocals, guitar, violin) and his brother Michael Young (drums) as well as Jade "Brings Plenty" Eckler (vocals, glock), Jason Leonard (guitar, bells), Brooke Parrott (vocals, keyboard), and Dave Depper (vocals, bass) will visit Boise (for the Treefort Music Fest) and Seattle before two Oregon homecoming shows in Cottage Grove at the Axe & Fiddle with Brooklyn's Dinosaur Feathers on Saturday, March 24th and in Portland at Mississippi Studios on Sunday, March 25th with Dinosaur Feathers and Seattle's Lemolo.
These shows are your only chances to get your American mitts on a physical copy of White Dresses as Young tells, "We brought over 100 copies just to sell at these four shows."
Sometimes jobs and life can get in the way of the making of a great album. For the Dirty Mittens both and more have gotten in the way of Heart of Town, which has been two plus years in the making. But thank goodness it’s here, and just in time for some real summer weather in Portland.
It’s an album that was meant for sunny times made by a family of friends that formed in 2006. They’ve been through line up changes, and while they may be looking for a drummer at times, they’re proudly here with their first album after more than five years of gigging about town and going on tour.
And it’s this friendship and dedication to one another and their craft that has held the band together over the years. Lead singer Chelsea Morrisey attests, “We get along great. It [the band] is more like a family. We’ve only released one record but we’ve already been on the road, more than once.” She continues, “I wouldn’t still be in this band if these guys weren’t great and we didn’t still get along really well because our time is valuable. We’re young and we don’t want to spend it with people we don’t care about and love working with.”
Heart of Town is the product of their labor and love; an album recorded in an abandoned Masonic temple in North Portland (about which guitarist Ben Hubbird says they had to hide from the high school kids when they came and went so potential vandals wouldn’t even know the building existed or could be entered) and with Jim Brunberg in his mobile studio. It features guests like Laura Gibson, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, Dave Jorgensen of Blind Pilot (who was originally a “full-fledged member” of Dirty Mittens and played all the trumpet parts on the album), and Matt Sheehy (who Chelsea literally “grabbed off the street” to do vocals on “Arcadia” minutes before recording).
Heart of Town is a record ripe with catchy tunes like “Arcadia,” “This Here Year,” and “Row” (below), all of which appear on the first half of the album. But, much as the band has grown up and together over the last five years, the album builds in strength and confidence as it continues. It’s no less pop-perfectionism, but the soulful passion of “B-58″ (which Chelsea might refer to as her “500-pound, black woman” vocals), the super-bouncing explosion of “Steppin’ Up,” and the retrospective emotion of “Any Time, Any Day” perfectly close the 12-track, first volume.
We’re thankful for this debut album, but the real reason why we really love the Dirty Mittens and have been anticipating this release is their live reputation.
And it’s no wonder their dynamic performances are memorable with an attitude like Chelsea’s: “You have to demand respect and attention from your audience. People these days come to shows and they don’t even know why they’re there and they’re not really listening. I just want to remind them why they’re there. And why I’m here. This is not an easy thing; this a 40 hour a week job for me and it all comes back to those moments where people either remember you or they don’t.”
With that, the band, which also includes Patrick Griffin on bass, Noah Jay-Bonn on keys, and Josh Hawley on keys and guitar, are ready to celebrate the release of Heart of Town (a title that comes from a Jay-Z lyric and comes out on Magic Marker on July 12th) at Mississippi Studios on Thursday, July 14th with Black Whales (who are also releasing a CD, the reverbed Shangri-La Indeed) and Orca Team.
Watch the Mittens’ Chelsea Morrisey and Ben Hubbird talk about recording Heart of Town, Chelsea’s love for Jay-Z, and her debut performance of “One of Us”… yes the Joan Osborne song:
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!
“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:
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... --- Read the rest on OMN.
Although in the cable TV world it may seem that Jersey Shore killed the video star, bands continue to make music videos by the thousands, and Portland is no exception. With our loads of local artists, from the screen to strings (and other instruments), we have an environment ripe for music video making.
From shot-and-edited-in-a-day on whatever gear and budget the vocal and visual artists could cobble together to incredibly polished, professionally labored works, Oregon Music News has poured through the reels (and by reels we mean YouTube and Vimeo) and came up with a list of Portland Music Videos, which we will present at Mississippi Studios on Sunday, January 16th at 7 and 10pm. The first showing will include introductions and anecdotes from directors and artists while the second showing will feature several additional videos.
We bring to the theater a swath of videos that represent Portland’s diverse scene. There’s the Portland Cello Project’s delicate plucking and bowing set to an entomological marionette (below) contrasted by good ole PDX rock’n'roll from The Dandy Warhols, Viva Voce, The Thermals (in a video that features Portlandia star Carie Brownstein), and Blitzen Trapper. We have amazing songwriters’ stories married with film from folk-inspired, indie-pop collectives like Y La Bamba, Loch Lomond, and Nick Jaina. There is live footage and documentary-inspired live takes from Into The Woods bouncing off electro-dance makers Glass Candy (with their first-ever video after 11 years together!), YACHT, and Copy. And there’s even the Pink Martini contest winner from a filmmaking fan.
We strove to choose recent videos so most come from the last year or so but a few internet classics were too good to be skipped, like Red Fang’s “Prehistoric Dog” (below), and we also wanted to remember the late John Callahan’s ode to his “Portland Girl.”
From professionally obsessed to hastily improvised, we’re proud to show you 90 minutes of Portland’s best crafted music paired with finely tuned visuals on the big screen.
Starfucker is back–in name and tradition. That other band name just didn’t sit right with them, and as the band worked through some kinks on Tuesday night at Mississippi Studios during their second of two sets, Josh Hodges (vox, keys, guitar, and drums here ‘n there) announced that the foursome will “hopefully” have a new album out in fall… under the name Starfucker, which drew congratulatory cheers.
Back to basics, the boys slinked on stage dolled up in lovely party dresses and wigs while their man Ryan Biornstad (vox, guitar, synths, turntables) took center stage, leading his ladies wearing a coat and tie. Awkwardly alternating between American Gothic stoic and cranium slamming spasms, Biornstad’s vocals remained submerged beneath pulsing space lasers and drummer Keil Corcoran’s hollow, reverberating thumps.
With some technical difficulties and cumbersome pacing, the sound from the floor was poor and the show did not flow. Songs ended too quickly and abruptly followed by long pauses, unlike other Starfucker gigs where songs meld together seamlessly smooth. But it didn’t really matter. After the slow opening drone, party people pushed to the front, tweaking out to the layered loops as the band shook frantically on stage causing you to ponder, “How do those wigs stay on?”
Starfucker… ahem, Pyramiddd is having an identity crisis. Trying to shed old skin, the original Starfucker MySpace page was finally deleted (well, the URL changed) only to be replaced in Pyramiddd’s Top 8 Friend Space by this Starfucker MySpace.
And Pyramiddd is NOT on tour (but Starfucker is) nor do they have any music streaming on their MySpace… all of those pertinent details are found on the new Starfucker page.
And coming to Mississippi Studios on Tuesday, May 11th is Starfucker, who are currently on a West Coast tour–playing two homecoming shows, one early, all ages gig at 6:30 PM with Wampire and XDS and a second late show at 9:30 PM with Strength, XDS, and DJ Copy that is 21+.
Unorthodox, revolutionary, bizarre rock’n'roll has always been a part of life on Mississippi Ave. But until Jim Brunberg and Alicia Rose came along, North Portland’s indie rockers, folk strummers, roots whiskey guzzlers, electro-dance party-goers, and neo-bohemian, post-vaudvillian eccentrics didn’t have a proper home in the neighborhood–a suitable space for the cornucopia of talent that graces our city.
The guitarist, songwriter, record producer, entrepeneur Brunberg had an idea to create such a home, and he enlisted the talent booker, photographer, accordion-extraordinare Rose. And on Saturday evening, this home–to artists and concert-goers alike–turns one year old… with a celebration of course!
Actually, a Swellebration… as the line up swells with some of Portland’s and Oregon’s best indie, folky, rocky, soulful talent. “We wanted to thank PDX for supporting us and the local music scene through one hell of a recession year by offering a pileup of some of our favorite artists" including :
If you don’t know The Yummy Fur, you know a plethora of bands who they’ve influenced. You’ve been listening to this 1990s Glasgow group for the last decade, only reincarnated as Franz Ferdinand or through the bass lines and dance rock that drives indie acts like Interpol and Gossip.
So four boys from Scotland made their first trip to the United States as The Yummy Fur, over 10 years after the band last played together in 1999, to play five dates and ultimately bow out (probably forever) at Mississippi Studios in Portland.
As December rolls in, it's time to cozy up in your neighborhood record store and enjoy warm, acoustic strumming and whimsical, historical narratives.
On their second album, The King Can Drink the Harbor Dry, The Dimes added some instruments and doubled in size while singer/songwriter Johnny Clay began buffing up on his history of Boston.
Inspired by stories of our founding fathers, specifically strong women, he name drops Susan B. Anthony, Abigail Adams, Clara Barton, and Mary Dyer like calling defendants at a witch trial.
With sunny melodies and floating rhythms, I thought they wouldn't be back so soon after their album release party at Mississippi Studios on November 14th. Yet, The Dimes are playing a free acoustic show at Music Millennium on Tuesday, December 1st at 7 PM and also announced a NYE extravaganza at the Mission Theater with Weinland.
So come soak up the stories inside while The Dimes sow the seeds of history.
Beantown, Red Sox, Harvard, Irish immigrants, and Paul Revere. What does any of this have to do with Portland indie-rock outfit The Dimes.
Everything, my friend. Everything.
On their sophomore release The King Can Drink The Harbor Dry, the quartet (recently multiplied to an octet) tackles the theme of Boston conjuring up images of Susan B. Anthony, Abigail Adams, Red Cross founder Clara Barton, Mary Dyer, and the great fire of 1872.
With crafty ingenuity and cleverness, the band accomplished to create love songs and story-telling tales rather than history lessons, a la Sufjan Stevens' poignant tributes to Michigan and Illinois.
The album came out this week and if you missed their listening party at Mississippi Studios you can still catch release parties in Eugene and Ashland in mid-December.
And while we're at it, why not watch The Dimes perform in a cupcakery.
