Yeah, I think we'll make this a regular thing, maybe. A weekly grab bag of goodies, all inspected for razor blades and Nickelback mp3s and such so as to be safe for your consumption. What do you think?
I mean, how could we possibly bring you this in any other way? It's our old friend Billy Bragg in Canada. Talking to a lobster. Singing "Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key."
More with the videoage, because it's cool when great bands who aren't huge (yet) with albums out on indie labels (Barsuk) get on the TV. Luckily, it seems to be happening more and more. The surprisingly young Ra Ra Riot played Letterman earlier this week, offering a rendition of "Can You Tell," from their recent (and wonderful) debut The Rhumb Line. As impressed as I've been with the album, their Doug Fir performance last month showed that it's their live show that really excels, if only because it's rare to see so many strings in such surroundings. Add to that the vocals and presence of frontman Wesley Miles, who seems a bit stiff in this clip by comparison, and you have a promising formula that feels familiar but interesting. Also, they cover Kate Bush on the new album.
Appetite not yet whetted enough for tomorrow night's Jolie Holland show at the Doug Fir? How about this shiny new video for "Mexico City," co-starring Portlanders Jason Leonard and Rachel Blumberg, among others (as well as a kid who resembles Portland's own turtle-boy, but I don't think it's him). In case you missed it the last time I said it, we've got an in-studio session with Holland to be featured in the near future. To Joshua Tree we go!
As for live music options tonight, The Shaky Hands kick off a U.S. tour with a hometown send-off at the Doug Fir. The band, of course, released their sophomore album Lunglight last month on kill rock stars, an effort that they self-describe as being "more like what our live set sounds like than the first album was." They played a long in-studio set for us last summer, in the process previewing a number of songs that ended up on the new album.
MP3: The Shaky Hands, from Lunglight-
"We Are Young"
Elsewhere tonight, it's the aforementioned Boy Eats Drum Machine's CD release show at Holocene. Booomboxxx drops officially next week on Tender Loving Empire. BEDM himself, Jon Ragel, recently gave us an in-studio preview of the new music. Also, the McMenamin's Great Northwest Music Tour continues tonight at the Kennedy School in Portland with Brothers of the Baladi. In case you haven't heard, it's free, all ages, begins at 7:00 and is sponsored by opbmusic (that's us). Meanwhile, five words: Celine Dion Rose Garden tonight.
Finally, speaking of us, don't miss the photo review of the showcase we curated for last weekend's Mix & Mash event in Salem. Calvin Johnson, Boy Eats Drum Machine, Andy Combs & the Moth, and many others played the event.
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