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Sunday, June 22 And the Living Is Easy...
Aside from the annual promise of sunburns, festivals, and fragrant evenings, the arrival of Summertime in Portland this week also brings with it a wealth of live possibilities-- no small feat considering the current plight of the traveling band. Double that, then, for singer-songwriter Hayden. The notoriously reclusive Canadian doesn't tour often-- even less so around these parts-- so you might make it a point to catch him at the Aladdin Theater Monday night with opener Haley Bonar. His latest, In Field & Town, got a U.S. release this spring from the no-longer-just-a-blues-label Fat Possum, and it finds him sounding energized, even upbeat, in a few places.The rest of the summer finds Hayden festival-ing in his homeland, followed by several dates with Feist this fall.
MP3: Hayden, from In Field & Town- "Where & When"
Also on stage this week is the San Francisco-based duo The Dodos, who play the Doug Fir on Tuesday night. Essentially an acoustic duo, Simon & Garfunkel they're not, as Meric Long and Logan Kroeber attack the guitar and drums that make up their sound with aplomb, with often manic results. The songs morph and shift, often switching up rhythms and tempos, playing out like mini-suites that rarely clock in under five minutes. Plants & Animals and Thee Oh Sees open.
MP3: The Dodos, from Visiter- "Fools"
MP3: Plants & Animals, from Parc Avenue- "Faerie Dance"
A decidedly more subdued option this week finds Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter playing the Doug Fir Lounge on Friday night (after a Monday night show at Eugene's WOW Hall) with Earth. Sykes and her band recently followed up their stunning Like, Love, Lust & the Open Halls of the Soul full-length with the Gentleness of Nothing EP, currently only available digitally and on tour. Sykes' smoky vocals are, as always, the centerpiece of the new songs, while the band looks to be taking the neo-psychedelic flavors they discovered on LLL a few steps further in places.
MP3: Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter- "LLL"
Stream: Jesse Sykes' opbmusic in-studio session
Also this week, Tea For Julie plays a CD release show for their new The Sense in Tying Knots Wednedsay night at the Doug Fir; Death Cab for Cutie plays at Edgefield in Troutdale with openers Rogue Wave on Thursday; and the Cowboy Junkies play a couple of dates in the area with the Indigo Girls, including next Saturday at the Oregon Zoo.
The thread is open...
Comments:
On Sunday, June 22 at 9:13pm, inmemoryofjohnpeel said:
Evening JP
Hayden has done some excellent stuff down the years, looking forward to hearing it.
Here's a request: Susanna & The Magic Band - Believer (or any other song)
On Sunday, June 22 at 10:29pm, jpetersen said:
I must claim ignorance on Susanna & the Magic Band. Educate us...
On Monday, June 23 at 1am, inmemoryofjohnpeel said:
Sorry, it should have been Susanna & The Magical Orchestra- she's a Norwegian singer, been around for just a few years, lovely voice and would fit right into the OPB music taste bag. Her web site: http://www.susannamagical.com/#
some of it is stunning.
On Monday, June 23 at 9:39pm, gunky said:
Thanks for getting back to Chris Smither ...
On Monday, June 30 at 6:38pm, inmemoryofjohnpeel said:
I missed the Jesse Sykes & the Sweet Hereafter in studio, so visited the link where I find 3 in studio songs but no interview - can the interview be heard somewhere? I love her first album (which I have).
Have you tracked down Susanna & The Magical Orchestra yet, really is up your street, and Scandinavian...)
On Wednesday, July 2 at 9:44am, jpetersen said:
That interview was pre- website switch. We're working on getting that and others from last year up in their entire forms. That Sykes one is a good one, too-- she has a lot to say.
Have not yet located Susanna and her orchestra, but I'm looking.