If “heroin chic” had a theme song, it would be the gripping “Almost There” by Portland singer Madeline Mahrie, who records as Machine. Doused in simple, yet thundering, grand piano, drums and knife-edged vocals, the less-is-more sound of not only that tune, but all of Machine’s steadily growing catalogue is the perfect musical manifestation of […]
On Stage
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Poems-A-Plenty
Portland’s Anna Tavil is a poet…and knows it
Even in silence—typically not the preferred way to experience music for the first time—the tunes crafted by Portland poet/songstress Anna Tavil expose themselves as tidbits of magical observations set to angelic melodies. That’s right, in silence, her words are musical. Hopping on the Internet to investigate the interestingly-named band, Anna and the Underbelly, ahead of […]
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Touched by a Legend
Fine on her own, jazz singer doubled down with Dizzy Gillespie collaboration
Dizzy Gillespie has been gone for over two decades now. Thankfully, the trumpeter’s rich and bright legacy lives on in the teeming numbers of jazz musicians who worked with the legend. In fact, it is difficult to find any notable jazz musician who has been kicking around jazz clubs for a while who lacks a […]
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Musical Archives
The albums of Dirty Dozen Brass Band map the history of New Orleans
Books, Wikipedia and documentaries, are all okay means to access historical knowledge. But a better way to truly understand the emotional and cultural history of, oh, say, New Orleans, is the twenty-plus albums released over the course of 30 years, either by or featuring that city’s legendary Dirty Dozen Brass Band. Its anthology of bright […]
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Rock Sandwich
Menomena serves up a savory smorgasbord of indie goodness
Menomena serves up one part guitar, one part hammering keyboards, one part rocket launcher, one part synthesizer, one part emotional sincerity, one part sexual innuendo, and one part flowing blond hair. The first syncopated hand claps of Menomena’s “Plumage,” the first track on 2012’s Moms, are entirely misleading. The simple start is in direct opposition […]
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Boy Girl Dance Party
Anjali and The Incredible Kid globalize EDM
It is like a Lonely Planet glossary of terms: Bhangra is folk from the Punjabi region of India, remixed with hip-hop. And, Purnima, this weekend’s dance party is the Indian word for full moon. Also important to understand are the twisting beats of Bollywood, and the tinny strings of shimmering Balkan gypsies. Anjali and the […]
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Rose Windows Sounds Like…
Drummer Pat Schowe talks lofty band comparisons, dog food and Steven King
“I’m on a bus, actually,” is Pat Schowe’s response to our initial pleasantries during our phone interview. Part-time, Schowe is the drummer for Rose Windows, the new-wave, psychedelic seven-piece rock band out of Seattle. The rest of the time, he works at a holistic pet food store. “Weird, I know,” says Schowe as he bumps […]
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Rising to the Top
In a sea of outstanding PDX bands,
Genders caught a break
Like Minneapolis, Austin and Brooklyn, Portland ranks among our nation’s top zones for producing quality bands. (See the recent success of Blind Pilot and Typhoon for starters.) And just like artists in those cities, an inexplicable number have the talent to make it big; and yet, only some ever will. The rest are resigned to […]
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Feeling Lucky
When did Canada become so damn American?
If musical talent can be inherited, Zachary Lucky is the Canadian equivalent of Hank Williams Jr. He’s a Bobby Bare Jr., a Jeff Buckley, a Jacob Dylan, but in his case, the musical bug skipped a generation. Grandson of Canadian country music legend Smiling Johnny Lucky, who the younger Lucky claims was the first musician […]
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A Tale Re-Toad
After a 16 year studio hiatus, Toad the Wet Sprocket re-emerges
George Harrison waited 15 years before following up his 1987 album Cloud Nine with Brainwashed in 2002. Grace Jones went 19 years between releasing 1989’s Bulletproof Heart and 2008’s Hurricane. And perhaps most famously, The Eagles took nearly three decades off between studio albums, finally issuing 2007’s Long Road Out of Eden, 28 years after […]