Thurston Moore's new solo album Trees Outside the Academy is not necessarily the kind of release one would expect from the Sonic Youth frontman. It's surprising in its acoustic sparseness, a major departure from Moore's regular fare if not from that of his band (outside of 1995's Psychic Hearts, his solo oeuvre has consisted mostly of twenty minute noise excursions and the like). Instead, the new effort feels like a distant cousin to some of the more pop-oriented material Sonic Youth has issued in recent years, notably Murray Street, Sonic Nurse and Rather Ripped, a rather under-appreciated trio of releases that let the pop seep through the cracks in that famed Sonic Youth sound. Call it Thurston's midlife crisis album if you must, but it's a much better way to go than a sports car. Thurston Moore plays the Doug Fir tonight (with Scorces).

MP3: Thurston Moore, from Trees Outside the Academy- "Fri/End" 

Elsewhere, former Oregonians the Parson Redheads are blanketing the area over the next week or so with performances in Eugene, Portland, Salem, Bend, and, tonight, Corvallis. Upwards of nine members strong, the Redheads have been spreading the word with their live shows, which marry the necessary ingredients of classic popped-out bliss (tambourines, four-part harmonies, etc.) with the ecstatic righteousness of religious revival (all clad in white, no less). In this case, music is the religion, and their fervor challenges the "smuggest of indie hipsters," as they put it, not to clap along. Get up with people(!) tonight at Iovino's in Corvallis (with Acute).

Watch/listen: The Parson Redheads- "Punctual As Usual"

Also tonight: A Fine Frenzy and Brandi Carlile at the Crystal Ballroom; Me'Shell Ndegéocello at the Roseland Theater; and Aesop Rock with Black Moth Super Rainbow at the Wonder Ballroom.

Posted by jpetersen on Thursday, October 25 at 12:26pm