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:

---
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:

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

donate to oregon music news

OMN recently announced that we are becoming a nonprofit organization with a mission to grow and sustain Oregon’s music community by providing a platform for comprehensive music journalism and digital education opportunities.

We also set an initial fundraising goal of $20,000 by January 31st, 2014. We need all of our readers to help in order to reach this goal. Please make a tax-deductible contribution today and help us improve, grow and sustain the most comprehensive music journalism website in Oregon.

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":

---
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:

---
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:

---
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:

---
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":

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

get out! 'city baby' — portland film premiere

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

Written by locals David F. Morgan and Cora Benesh and directed by Morgan, City Baby—showing one night only—is "a Portland-centric coming-of-age story about a group of meandering 20-somethings trying to find meaning in the new world of adulthood." It’s also a fictitious Portland band. Love and friendship and… self-absorption—sound like someone you already know in Portland (or someone you encounter at the coffee shop every day)? What's notable here is the stacked musical lineup the film features and intertwines into its story. With live performances from Glass Candy and Starfucker and cameo appearances by Stephen Malkmus (Pavement), Rocky Tinder (Wampire), and Jake Morris (Joggers, Street Nights, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks), the soundtrack also features several Johnny Jewel composed songs (Glass Candy, Desire, Chromatics and tracks from Symmetry), plus music from past and present (as well as active and inactive) PDXers like Red Fang, The Helio Sequence, Lovers, Explode Into Colors, Mattress, The Reservations, Reporter, Angelo Spencer, Jeffrey Jerusalem, Okay Colour, Aan, Guidance Counselor, Marius Libman (as well as Copy), The Miracles Club, Charlie Salas Humara (Sun Angle, Grapefruit, Panther), and Jay Winebrenner (Street Nights, 31 Knots). All this means you can now enjoy some of your favorite local tracks on the big screen!

Thursday, May 23, Cinema 21, 7:30pm, $8 advance / $10 door, not rated (but there is nudity and strong language—so I’m not exactly sure that will dissuade adolescent audiences)

Watch the trailer for City Baby:

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

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:

---
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):

---
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:

---
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.

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

i'm thankful for...

With Oregon Music News celebrating our third birthday just a month ago, it's truly amazing to look back on what we've accomplished in the past 36 months and the people who have made us what we are today.

I am most thankful for the bevy of names that you see everyday on OMN's homepage—they are the lifeblood of this publication and their tireless efforts have kept OMN flush with not just content but also encouragement and a good deal of friendship and fun. Whether our staff has been with us writing, photographing, interviewing, designing, promoting, editing, tweeting, emailing, consulting, performing, producing videos and podcasts, and doing countless other activities behind the scenes since day one or day 1,001, each and every individual has helped build what you see today, shaping OMN with their contributions. Thank you to everyone who's ever submitted story or snapped a photo, everyone who's ever been an ambassador for OMN in our rich northwest music community.

I'm also thankful for the outpouring of support for this endeavor from the music community—from artists to professionals, promoters, small business owners and venue owners to fans and social media friends—you've each contributed to the success of OMN as well. We're humbled and delighted each time you share a story, leave a comment, or pay us a compliment. Without our readers and supporters, there'd be no OMN.

Finally, as already emphasized, there are oodles of artists and musicians, individuals and festivals, businesses and organizations in our community that are advocates for local art and music, and many of which are consistently giving back in one form or another. Since it's that time of year, we encourage you to give back to those that are in need or those that may be fundraising for the future. Many of the aforementioned arts and youth organizations are currently doing so via the yearly Give! Guide, so go ahead and make a donation to a worthy cause. Or, just pay attention for the next time an artist you love is seeking support through crowd-funding efforts or a nonprofit needs volunteers for an upcoming event—give back and give someone a reason to be thankful for you.

And if you're still not thankful for anything, just be thankful we didn't make you watch this.

---
See what else Oregon Music News is thankful for.

omn swag

I designed some swag, t-shirts and flyers for this year's Waterfront Blues Festival. The buttons were a hit—thanks goes to our Publisher Ana Ammann for suggesting. Lots of people asked where they could buy one of our incandescent lime tees so we'll have to print more in the future. For now, look for them at more festivals this summer!

omn turns two! our second year in review.

Today marks two years to the day since Oregon Music News went live in 2009. It’s been an eventful year full growth and growing pains (a recent server move stagnated us for a couple of days), but a dedicated crew of OMNers has kept us afloat and flourishing through the trials and tribulations, chaos and triumphs.

As the story goes, the writers are now navigating the ship (or inmates running the asylum) as several key contributors stepped up to fill new roles, in addition to their normal written duties, during the last year. We’d like to recognize the efforts of Ana Ammann as Publisher, Mark Niemann-Ross as Tech Guru (aka Media Strategist), Alaya Wyndham-Price as Director of Business Development, Brandon Ellison as Social Media Specialist, Alex Jones as Associate Editor, Jessica Black as Promotions Manager, and Annette Zuzio as Production Director (who we will miss dearly as she recently moved to LA).

The days, weeks and months flew by, especially as we tackled numerous festivals during the summer months, accompanied by a slew of regular contributors. Our ridiculously talented and supportive team of photographers, writers and organizers allow OMN to publish fresh, local content on a daily basis–hardly a day passes without a new feature story, concert review, or piece of news. Just take a look at the homepage on any given day to see a swath of names covering a variety of genres and events across Oregon and the NW–some 8,000+ posts have been published in our first two years! From Classical to Metal to Family to the unclassifiable yet quintessentially understood, in Portland at least, Melting Pot, we cover it all in an attempt to comprehensively blanket the scene in Oregon.

We’ve also tried to build and support our community, sponsoring events like the Portland Jazz Festival, Mississippi Street Fair, Reel Music Festival, Silverton Wine & Jazz Festival, Soul’d Out and more, and we’ll continue to do so in the coming year.

We look forward to evolving technologically, capitalizing on mobile publishing opportunities, which we initiated this summer with two mobile, festival websites. Spearheaded by Mark Niemann-Ross and photographer/writer Kevin Tomanka, OMN went mobile with festival sites for the Waterfront Blues Festival and PDX Pop Now!, and we look to continue this success with future, local festivals.

As our readers, we’d also like to thank you for all your support, feedback and interaction here on OMN plus via Facebook and Twitter. (Psst… if you don’t already, like us! Follow us!) And we hope to see you all tonight at our free 2nd birthday party in the ballroom at The Secret Society. Doors open at 7pm with the Renato Caranto Project kicking it off with some fat, funky sax at 7:30pm followed by electronic alchemist Auditory Sculpture with collaborators (trumpeter Derek Sims and female vocalists Orianna Herrman of Oracle and Stephanie Schneiderman), and indie folkers Sunbeam closing it out.

Get more on the artists playing our party plus listen to a few songs in the opening minutes of KZME 107.1 FM’s Trixie Pop show (sound bite starts at 3:15) from last Thursday (and download the podcast here):

Thanks for all your visits.

---
Read some our favorite stories from year two on OMN.

celebrate omn’s second birthday with sunbeam on october 26

Lead by Portland singer/songwriter Brian Hall and supported by wife Amy and friends, Sunbeam may be a fairly new band around town but their calm harmonies carry a confidence and a warmth like a ray of, well… a sunbeam. Self-releasing their debut album, Sunbeam & the Lovely Ghost, in August their rambling sweetness is typified by the stand out track “Honey” (below), a rhythmic effort that would sound good next to Americana-inspired folk rock like Blitzen Trapper or baroque-pop like Beirut:

The lovely melodies are helped along by band members Liz Palmer (keyboards/vocals), Charlie Morris (guitars/vocals), Adam Souza (bass/vocals), and Jon Collins (drums), and in their short career they’ve already shared stages with friends and collaborators like Nick Jaina, Norman, Mike Coykendall (She & Him, M. Ward), The Parson Red Heads, and The Ascetic Junkies.

On Wednesday, October 26th Sunbeam will also be closing out Oregon Music New’s second birthday party at The Secret Society where they’ll share the stage with the funky Renato Caranto Project and electronic producer Auditory Sculpture with collaborators Stephanie Schneiderman, Orianna Herrman and Derek Sims. And it’s free so you have no reason not to show–plus there’ll be cake!

Sunbeam’s 10-track debut is “an album about love and estrangement and forgiveness and hope,” as described by Brian, that will leave you with an affection for more airs of a Sunbeam summer, especially as the months get colder and wetter.

Feel free to warm yourself up at OMN’s 2nd birthday party on Wednesday, October 26th at The Secret Society. Doors open at 7pm, show starts at 7:30pm with the Renato Caranto Project followed by Auditory Sculpture and Sunbeam. Get more details on the line up here; 21+, free.

---
Read this story on OMN.

nw september festies : bumbershoot + mfnw 2011

Brandon Ellison and I recently attacked both Seattle's Bumbershoot and Portland's MFNW in consecutive weeks. After a straight week of seeing concerts every day and every night, here are the fruits of our (and a few others including some amazing photogs) labor from Bumbershoot 2011 and MFNW 2011. Get the daily recaps from the former (day one, two and three) and a great MFNW festival diary written by #bonerjam Numero Uno.

omn goes mobile with pdx pop now! 2011

That’s right! We did it once at this year’s Waterfront Blues Festival and we’re doing it again for the 2011 PDX Pop Now! festival. Oregon Music News is proud to announce that OMN Mobile (ppn.oregonmusicnews.com) is officially live today and will be your mobile source for information on the 2011 PDX Pop Now! fest, which runs from Friday, July 22nd to Sunday the 24th at Refuge.

You’ll also be seeing this QR code around the fest on flyers, posters, banners and t-shirts, so make sure you’ve downloaded the requisite app from your App Store or Marketplace so you can scan it.

Like always, the 2011 PDX Pop Now! fest is free for all ages and includes more than 40 performers on two stages. It’s three days full of everything from bands you’ve never heard of, because they’ve yet to record or release much music or because you’ve been sleeping under a rock for the last 15 years (Rollerball), to reunions (The Minders) and send offs (Guidance Counselor), to scene mainstays. It’s indie, R&B, punk, electro, psych rock, hip-hop, folky singer/songwriter, dance, metal, pop, and two-steppin’ bluegrass from some of the hottest bands around town.

We’ll be publishing several smaller previews of our favorite acts over the next week as the festival approaches but the real meat of our content can be found by navigating through the mobile site where you can find the complete schedule, general fest information, and artist bios including past OMN coverage like interviews, live reviews and mp3 downloads plus a place to share what you’re doing and who you’ll be seeing on Facebook.

At the fest, we’ll have live coverage of each day (which can be accessed on your phone as soon as it’s published) complete with photos and video. Stay on top of everything by following us on Twitter @oregonmusicnews and use the tag #PPN in your tweets.

We could tell you to check out the image below for the complete line up… or you could click on it and take it with you on your phone. See you at PDX Pop Now!

---
Take OMN's PDX Pop Now! 2011 mobile site with you here.

omn goes mobile!

Oregon Music News launched our first piece of mobile technology today. The mobile site (wbf.oregonmusicnews.com) is a festival guide for the 2011 Waterfront Blues Fest, which takes place in downtown Portland over 4th of July weekend. The site will give users real-time access to the music schedule, artist bios, and live OMN content as our team will be there writing and publishing stories and photographs live.

Although it's not a complete mobile site for OMN nor an app, the potential is huge as we will be rolling out another edition in mid-July for the 2011 PDX Pop Now! festival. As we continue to smooth out the kinks, already thinking about modifications in functionality for future fests, the current mobile site is an amazing start that was pushed along by the whole OMN crew with major props going out to developers Mark Niemann-Ross and Kevin Tomanka--also OMN writers and photographers. More info from them on the mobile site here.

We're also using a QR code to promote the site; you can find it printed on flyers, posters and even t-shirts around the fest. Can't wait for this one! Come find OMN at the 2011 WBF in The Delta Music Experience Louisiana Pavilion.

---
Check out OMN's new mobile festival site here.