Music Blog

Of Montreal played an in-cred-i-ble show Thursday night at the Roseland Theater here in Portland. Kevin Barnes and crew do not disappoint so if you have a chance to catch them in the near future, I highly recommend doing so.

Amidst a crazy touring schedule and pre-concert prep work (which I have to imagine is a lot of work in and of itself), Barnes has still managed to find time for interviews too, including a fun one with Drowned in Sound where he listed out some of his favorite things. The frontman also provided Blender with a playlist of a few of his favorite songs and chatted with the San Francisco publication SFist.

Speaking of good live shows, Portland had a slew over the weekend.

Paste Magazine has named Volume One by She and Him the best album of 2008. Do you agree?

Chuck Klosterman’s popular rock-themed book, “Killing Yourself to Live,” is now going to appear on the big screen.

Bruce Springsteen is offering fans a free download of the new single "Working on a Dream" on iTunes and his official Web site. Offer is good for today only, though, so hurry!

If you think you've been to a lot of live shows, you may want to rethink that claim after meeting this guy.

Ever wonder what happed to the pudgy little bee girl from Blind Melon’s "No Rain" video?

The polls for Stereogum’s 2008 Gummy Awards are once again open. Meanwhile, over at NPR, Bob Boilen and company are accepting listeners’ nominations for CDs of the Year.

The second annual record store day is set for April 18th. Last year, multiple locations around Portland – including Jackpot Records and Music Millennium – participated.

A few new lists worth mentioning … Paste names the “10 Best Canadian Musical Acts of All Time.” Prefix lists out the “20 Greatest Albums” to come out of Merge Records. And last but not least, FactMagazine comes up with the 20 best psychedelia albums.

In Oregon news, Pitchfork calls the Decemberists new album “a rock opera,” while the Futurist hosts a couple of live mp3s from the Rose City’s Horse Feathers.

The New Yorker took a tour of Prince’s L.A. home recently. 

In regional news, Seattle has dubbed itself “The City of Music” (and yes, they even have a trademark to go along with it …).

Portlander and NPR blogger Carrie Brownstein spoke with Pitchfork this past week about her recent activities, including her role in an upcoming film with the Shins’ James Mercer. The film is titled Some Days are Better Than Others and is scheduled for a Fall 2009 release.

Names are starting to trickle out for San Francisco’s Noise Pop festival set for February 24-March 1. Some of the highlights include Antony and the Johnsons, A.C. Newman and No Age.

On a final note today, got a balloon of hope for all you aspiring singers with terrible voices …  welcome to the wonders of pitch correction.

Happy Monday everyone. As always, comments, suggestions, observations and the like are welcome and appreciated.