Posts from — September 2011

Reel Music Festival 29 / October 7-23, 2011

Music Millennium is a proud sponsor of the Northwest Film Center’s 29th Reel Music Festival, an annual celebration of the unexpected stories behind some of the world’s greatest music, with films spotlighting the incongruous, transformative, and sometimes bizarre origins of songs we sing every day. Whatever your musical tastes, something in this year’s eclectic lineup is sure to strike the right note.

SEE films about:
George Harrison
Cab Calloway
The Swell Season
Noise Pop
Stravinsky
Frank Zappa
Brenda Bilili
Mott and Hoople
The Doors
Foo Fighters
David Byrne
Brian Eno
Richard Thompson
Marian McPartland
Jim Pepper
Ornette Coleman
Elliott Smith
Bob Forrest
Vinicius
Harry Belafonte
Fugazi
and much more…

For more information and tickets visit nwfilm.org. All films screen at the Northwest Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium (1219 SW Park Ave.) unless otherwise noted. Entry is $8 for students/seniors, $9 general.

The Siren Nation Music and Arts Festival Celebrates it’s 5 Year Anniversary!

The 2011 Siren Nation Festival presents a stunning musical line-up, new film festival, a huge visual art show, art and craft sale and free workshops.

When: Thursday, November 3 – Sunday, November 6 2011
Where: Portland, Oregon
Tickets: http://sirennation.org/tickets/

Featured musical performers include: Led To Sea, Lemolo, The Corin Tucker Band, Kelli Schaefer, Y La Bamba, Laura Gibson, Kimya Dawson, STLS, My Brightest Diamond, DJ KM Fizzy (Kathy Foster of the Thermals).

This year the Siren Nation film program will include Sundance and SXSW winners, highlights from the international festival circuit and a special tribute to Russian filmmaker Larisa Shepitko. Several guests and subjects are scheduled to attend. All screenings will be held at the historic Mission Theater.

In addition to performances and film, there will also be a visual art show at the Albina Press on Hawthorne Blvd featuring the original works of artists from around the Northwest. Siren Nation will be hosting many free events including an art and craft sale at the Kennedy School and workshops on a wide range of topics.

Siren Nation is a unique arts organization that showcases and creates performance and exhibition opportunities for women throughout the year. We also produce an annual festival showcasing the original work of women working in music, film, performance and visual art.

Siren Nation’s mission is to inspire and empower women of all ages to create their own art and to highlight the many achievements of women in the arts. We focus our attention on the work of women artists and help to create equal opportunities in creative professions.

For a schedule of upcoming fundraisers, festival events, times and venues please go to: www.sirennation.com

John Wesley Harding is premiering the video for the track “There’s a Starbucks (Where the Starbucks Used to Be)” off his forthcoming album The Sound of His Own Voice (out Oct 11 via Yep Roc Records). Check out the video below.

Harding is set to tour the U.S. this fall with the all-star King Charles Trio, whose lineup includes John Moen, Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee-Drizos and Nate Query, all members of The Decemberists, Peter Buck of R.E.M. and Scott McCaughey (Thee Minus Five, The Baseball Project). Thee Minus Five are tabbed to support. Please see below for a complete list of dates.

John Wesley Harding Tour Dates
October 14 The Egg (supporting Josh Ritter) Albany, NY*
October 15 Tarrytown Music Hall (supporting Ian Hunter) Tarrytown, NY*
November 5 Red Devil Lounge San Francisco, CA†
November 11 Aladdin Theater Portland, OR†
November 12 The Sunset Tavern Seattle, WA†
November 15 World Café Live Philadelphia, PA†
November 16 Jammin’ Java Vienna, VA†
November 19 The Bell House Brooklyn, NY†
November 20 Maxwell’s Hoboken, NJ†
February 25 Jewish Community Center Scotch Plains, NJ*

* John Wesley Harding solo
† John Wesley Harding & the King Charles Trio with Thee Minus Five

upcoming in-store performances & events:

All in-store performances are at Music Millennium 32nd & E Burnside, 503-231-8926 .

NURSES
Tuesday, 9/20 – 7 PM
An encyclopedic list of musical influences and sound-alikes won’t necessarily cozy up your brain to the Nurses experience. Their compositions revel in the unexpected, and it creates music that’s endlessly fascinating. Nurses is a band that scavenges beauty and wonder, uncovering Technicolor where others see somber hues. Their off-kilter psych-pop is driven by ever-swelling vocal harmonies, adventurous electronics, some serious wheelin’ and dealin’ on the Rhodes piano, and the kind of new-primitivist percussion that may or may not involve a standard drum kit.

SOUTHERLY
Wednesday, 9/21 – 6 PM
Southerly began, as many projects do, on an Otari four track reel-to-reel in bedrooms and basements, releasing short runs of hand packaged cassette tapes on singer/songwriter Krist Krueger’s previous imprint (dharmakayamusic/DKM). With Southerly’s third full length, Youth, Portland’s dark-pop auteur takes on the very notion of earned perspective through age and experience. Youth itself is a poignant exploration of life’s varying stages of uncertainty and self-deception. Likewise, musically it explores shades of song structure with equal measures of childlike wonder and nuanced pop expertise.

JACOB FRED JAZZ ODYSSEY
Saturday, 9/24 – 4 PM
Since 1994, the JFJO collective has brought their impressionistic and improvisational vision from the Midwest’s Bible-Belt to many of the world’s finest music festivals and clubs. Music lovers are blown away by JFJO’s instrumental virtuosity and creativity, musical risk, and near-telepathic communication on stage. Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey is the evolution of an ongoing musical discourse that’s been developed during 16 years of touring.

PEPPER RABBIT
Sunday, 9/25 – 4 PM
While they now live in Los Angeles, Pepper Rabbit was practically born in New Orleans. In fact, the NOLA sessions for their debut LP (Beauregard) left such a lasting impression on the young duo that it continues to haunt this summer’s Red Velvet Snow Ball album, from the surreal art on its sleeve to the cake-flavored snow cone that gave the mind-expanding record its name. Incorporating around 11 instruments–including ukuleles, clarinet, horns and a striking array of dusty analog synths–the Pepper Rabbit sound can be described as a loose brand of psychedelic pop music, rounded out by deftly-layered loops, as well as bass and synths.

CRUSH UK
Wednesday, 9/28 – 6 PM
Formed in London, April 1999, Crush UK have developed a powerful, eclectic and lively mix of original and classic power rock-pop. Having performed with some of the best in the business: Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Hawkwind, Peter Frampton, Dean Friedman, Frampton-Weller, Captain Sensible, UK Subs, Counterfeit Stones, T-Rextasy and Mike ‘Wonderwall’ Flowers, Crush UK confidently offer the best in professional live music. Crush UK’s versatility, excellent songs, charisma and sheer energy have earned them a worldwide reputation as an unmissable live act.

XOE WISE and MATT RYD
Thursday, 9/29 – 6 PM
Chicago Innerview recognizes Xoe as “easily the singer/songwriter and pop counterpart to Columbia native Chaz Bundick’s (a.k.a. Toro Y Moi) laconic chill-wave synth ballads. Both share an evanescent “dreaminess,” as if washing in the aquamarine surf of their native environs. On Wise’s new album, Echo, simple guitar and keyboard arrangements back up almost deliquescent vocals and lyrics tinged with starry-eyed romanticism.”
Matt Ryd is a singer/songwriter/all-around-geeky-nice-guy from Chicago, Illinois. In just a short time on the Chicago music scene, he has already made quite a name for himself. The song “Healed” from his debut EP was placed on episode 803 of the hit ABC show “Scrubs”. “Healed” also received radio attention, including multiple spins on the mass-market WXRT 93.1 in Chicago. Above all else, Matt Ryd’s music is genuine and heartfelt, and that when the honest lyrics mix with the catchy melodies, it’s impossible not to sing along.

ZIGGY MARLEY
Saturday, 10/1 – 12:15 PM
Pre-buy the album and get a certificate for guaranteed admission
The overall theme of Ziggy’s fourth solo album is a powerful one, as it propels Marley to challenge social injustice along with the political weapons of ignorance and fear. Wild and Free may be Ziggy’s most political and personal to date. “The thing that makes this new album special is that Ziggy has embraced the more traditional and familiar textures and rhythms of reggae, while further defining the unique artistic vision that sets him apart,” says producer Don Was. “His quest to find his own voice within the framework of tradition is the real story of the album.” With themes of freedom and responsibility, tempered hope and intemperate love, Wild and Free affirms Marley as a master storyteller with an innate sense of soul.

YOUR RIVAL
Saturday, 10/1 – 5 PM
A young and enthusiastic power trio from Portland, Oregon influenced as much by the 70′s power pop sound of Big Star as by the rambling early 90′s college rock of Superchunk, Your Rival have been making waves in Portland for the last year. Completed on Harry Nilsson’s birthday, the group’s second EP, Seven Sparkling Children, is seven (sparkling) attempts at power pop greatness, recorded from January-April 2011. The EP has been hailed as “one of the most immediately likable local releases in recent memory” by the Portland Mercury’s Ned Lannaman. Mississippi Studios calls Your Rival “indie-rock at its finest” and Willamette Week’s Casey Jarman says “Your Rival has my undivided attention.” See them now so you can say you saw them when.

Portland’s own, The Parson Red Heads focus on the good old days in their new video for “Seven Years Ago.” The beautifully shot short comes with the message that true magnificence can be found in the most uncomplicated moments, be it playing baseball in a back lot or dancing alone in an empty bar. The Portland natives visit old haunts like the Highland Stillhouse and a local barbershop with new perspective in a video that offers reflection on age and the passage of time. The music itself adheres to the same ideologies. It’s simplistic and pure with an all too familiar sound to it. The Parson Red Heads play like a group who has been around each other for some time—all of the parts bouncing off each other perfectly and instrumentals interlocking like old friends. In all of its warm, heartfelt nostalgia, there’s a lingering hint of loneliness as lead singer Evan Way chants “I tried to walk on / I tried to move along / I tried to sing my song with no one at my side.” But “Seven Years Ago” is definitely not a downer, just a good piece of advice from a band who’s been there before.

Created by two brothers. Directed and edited by Adam Souza. Shot by Everett Nate Yockey.

Tired of all those annoying buskers ruining your downtown rail experience? Me too. Thankfully the noble souls at PDX Pop Now! have joined forces with New Rail~Volutionaries (~~~that is how they spell it~~~) and the Women Transportation Seminar to present the first annual Streetcar Mobile Music Fest.

On September 19, from 7-9pm, a handful of excellent Portland bands will hijack the streetcars (like a musical version of The Taking of Pelham One Two Three) between the PSU and Good Samaritan Hospital stops. Live music on the streetcars? Yes, please. It sure beats listening to a crazy guy yell into his shoe about how 9/11 was an inside job orchestrated by Zionist cyborgs.

Here’s the schedule:

6:10 pm – 7:02 pm: Jared Mees and the Grown Children
6:22 pm – 7:13 pm: Left Coast Country
6:44 pm – 7:31 pm: Dag B and the Zig Zags
7:09 pm – 7:55 pm: Blake Lyman
7:23 pm – 8:09 pm: Sara Jackson-Holman
7:38 pm – 8:24 pm: Laurent Nickel
7:55 pm – 8:41 pm: The Sons of Good Fathers
8:12 pm – 8:58 pm: Boy and Bean

Blitzen Trapper Update! – http://www.blitzentrapper.net/

American Goldwing out NOW!
After previews, streams and videos, you can finally get your very own copy of the entirety of American Goldwing right now! You can buy a copy here, download it from iTunes, or of course pick up a copy from your local record store.

Or if you still wish to stream the album, you can find the whole thing combined with some gorgeous time lapse nature footage put together by our very own Brian Adrian Koch. Feel free to share with your friends!

Want to be in our next video?
We want to feature you and your friends in our upcoming video for the American Goldwing track “My Hometown.” Submit up to a minute of video of you, your friends, or just the city and landscape surrounding your home. Whatever footage you feel best represents your hometown is welcome!

See the new songs live
We’re excited to announce we will be playing on Jimmy Fallon on October 25th! Tune in to check out a performance from the new album.

In addition, if you’re in the Seattle area we will be performing these new tracks at Easy Street Records Queen Anne at a free all-ages in-store at 7 PM.

Lastly, we’re pleased to announce we’ve just added Portland (11/12) and Los Angeles (11/17) shows to our fall tour with Dawes. A limited number of pre-sale tickets will be available this Friday starting at 10 AM Pacific time, and general on-sale tickets will be available September 23rd. If you aren’t on the West Coast, fear not – we will be all over North America in the coming months. Check out the complete list of tour dates below. Hope to see you soon!

Sep 13 Easy Street (Queen Anne), Seattle, WA
Oct 07 Mystic Theater, Petaluma, CA
Oct 08 Soho Restaurant & Music Club, Santa Barbara, CA
Oct 09 Belly Up, Solana Beach, CA
Oct 10 Crescent Ballroom, Phoenix, AZ
Oct 11 Sol Santa Fe, Santa Fe, NM
Oct 13 Club Dada, Dallas, TX
Oct 14 UTOPIAfest, Utopia, TX
Oct 15 Manship Theatre, Baton Rouge, LA
Oct 16 Bottle Tree, Birmingham, AL
Oct 18 Variety Playhouse, Atlanta, GA
Oct 19 Mercy Lounge, Nashville, TN
Oct 20 Headliner’s Music Hall, Louisville, KY
Oct 21 Orange Peel, Asheville, NC
Oct 22 Cats Cradle, Carrboro, NC
Oct 23 Mountain Stage, Charleston, WV
Oct 24 Black Cat, Washington, DC
Oct 25 Jimmy Fallon, broadcast 12:35 Eastern/11:35 Central
Oct 26 Webster Hall, New York City, NY
Oct 27 Theatre of Living Arts, Philadelphia, PA
Oct 28 Royale (MA), Boston, MA
Oct 29 Mohawk Place, Buffalo, NY
Oct 30 Opera House (ON), Toronto, Ontario
Nov 01 Beachland Ballroom, Cleveland, OH
Nov 02 Calvin College Fine Arts Center, Grand Rapids, MI
Nov 03 Metro, Chicago, IL
Nov 04 First Avenue, Minneapolis, MN
Nov 05 Turner Hall, Milwaukee, WI
Nov 07 Fox Theater (CO), Boulder, CO
Nov 10 Rickshaw Theater (BC), Vancouver, Canada
Nov 11 Neptune Theatre, Seattle, WA
Nov 12 Crystal Ballroom, Portland, OR
Nov 13 McDonald Theatre, Eugene, OR
Nov 15 Fillmore, The (SF), San Francisco, CA
Nov 17 Music Box, Los Angeles, CA

SEPTEMBER 2011

9/13 : ANR, We Barbarians

9/14 : Slim Cessna’s Auto Club

9/15 : Cake

9/16 : Just Like Vinyl, The Days The Nights, Shelter Red

9/17 : The Album Leaf, Sister Crayon

9/19 : Robbers On High Street, Allah-Lahs

9/20 : Uri Cane

9/21 : Junior Boys, Young Galaxy

9/22 : Anya Marina, Oh Darling

9/23 : Kings Go Forth, Brownish Black

9/24: Radiation City, Blouse, Aan

9/25 : Active Child, Chad Valley

9/27 : Bobby Long

9/28 : Sean Hayes, Michael Musika

9/29 : Tango Alpha Tango, Au Dunes, The Soft Hills

9/30 : Lovers, The Shondes, STLS

OCTOBER 2011

10/1 : CANT

10/2 : Liam Finn, Marques Toliver, The Young Evils

10/3 : Neon Indian, Com Truise

10/4 : Lisa Hannigan, John Smith

10/6 : Megafun, Doug Paisley

10/7 : Dum Dum Girls, Crocodiles Colleen Green

10/8 : Mona, The Funeral Party

10/9 : Wild Beasts

10/10 : The Drums, Veronica Falls, io echo

10/11 : Zee Avi

10/12 : Van Hunt, Empress Hotel

10/13 : The Naked and Famous, The Chain Gang of 1974, White Arrows

10/14 : Melissa Ferrick

10/15 : Mother Hips, Quiet Life

10/16 : Moonface

10/17 : Theophilus London

10/20 : Katie Herzig, Butterfly Boucher – EARLY SHOW – Doors at 7:30pm, Show at 8:30pm

10/22 : Fruit Bats, Parson Red Heads

10/23 : Vandervelde, The Fling

10/24 : The Boxer Rebellion, Canon Blue

10/25 : The Felice Brothers

10/26 : The Gourds

10/27 : Pomplamoose

10/28 : Mr. Gnome, Boats, Paper/Upper/Cuts

10/30 : The Parlotones, Scattered Trees

For more info >>>> http://www.dougfirlounge.com/

upcoming in-store performances & events:

All in-store performances are at Music Millennium 32nd & E Burnside, 503-231-8926 .

WILLIAM TOPLEY
Monday, 9/12 – 5 PM
William Topley has developed a dedicated fan base in the U.S. ever since the release of Prince of the Deep Water in 1991, his first album with his band The Blessing. Producer Neil Dorfsman (Sting, Dire Straits) described him as “the most original songwriter I’ve heard for years.” The influences, still recognizable in his music, were already there – The Stones, Van Morrison, the best of soul and southern rock. The album catapulted The Blessing into a world tour, videos in Jamaica, TV stations in Paris and soccer stadiums in Germany with Simply Red and Level 42.

LADYTRON LISTENING PARTY
Monday, 9/12 – 6 PM
Gravity The Seducer finds the foursome framing the indelible vocal melodies of twin sirens Aroyo and Marnie with painterly soundscapes that shape-shift like cloud formations above the narratives’ stark, vivid imagery. Hunt calls this metamorphosis of Ladytron’s sound “baroque ‘n’ roll,” but whatever the term, it’s dreamy. Enter to win great prizes at the listening party, plus purchase the new CD and get a special DVD (while supplies last)!

BLITZEN TRAPPER
Monday, 9/12 – 8 PM
Pre-buy the album and get a certificate for guaranteed admission
Blitzen Trapper is one of the Pacific Northwest’s more eclectic indie roots-rock bands. Instead of honing a single vision like Fleet Foxes, the Portland outfit hops from genre to genre, all the while maintaining their twin loves: arty bombast and sharp, power-pop hooks. It’s an aesthetic that immediately calls to mind the classic Move-E.L.O.-Wizzard axis: With each successive album, singer and songwriter Eric Earley’s tunesmithing grows more varied and confident, a modern-day Roy Wood in terms of rapid transformation.

BLIND PILOT
Tuesday, 9/13 – 6 PM
Pre-buy the album and get a certificate for guaranteed admission plus a limited edition poster
There’s no shortage of angles to Blind Pilot’s story: the tours by bicycle, the sheer volume of iTunes downloads, the dizzying ride from relative obscurity to headlining a national club tour in less than a year. But the real story of Portland, Oregon’s Blind Pilot is about the songs. Led by the acoustic guitar and gentle voice of songwriter Israel Nebeker, Blind Pilot’s heartfelt music is the sort that cultivates devotion among fans, that elicits sing-alongs at concerts, that inspires late night mixtapes.

AMY LAVERE
Thursday, 9/15 – 6 PM
Amy LaVere continues to defy and test love’s constraints, adding to the body count of the last album (“Killing Him”) with “Red Banks,” a sly turn on the blues/country yarn where the girl usually ends up getting it in the end. In “Damn Love Song,” she finally writes the love song that her lover has longed for, but it’s practically spit at him as she is walking out the door. “You Can’t Keep Me” is a insolent pop song that warns that she won’t be held captive in her relationship as a building cacophony of horns and Theremin joyously celebrate her imminent freedom. Always texturally rich and often employing dissonance and off-kilter instrumentation, Stranger Me is her most exploratory work to date.

WHITE ORANGE
Sunday, 9/18 – 6 PM
Psychedelic sludgy doomy stoner rockers White Orange are a synesthesia of sound and movement, an ideological translucent experience, jammy epic psychedelic trance rock. Sending melodic vocal signals, their laid back content chaos was meant to be played loudly. Bringing versatility to the table, no song surrenders its essence to the confines of any genre, while paying homage to bands such as Kyuss, Dinosaur Jr., Sonic Youth, King Crimson and Syd Barrett.

NURSES
Tuesday, 9/20 – 7 PM
An encyclopedic list of musical influences and sound-alikes won’t necessarily cozy up your brain to the Nurses experience. Their compositions revel in the unexpected, and it creates music that’s endlessly fascinating. Nurses is a band that scavenges beauty and wonder, uncovering Technicolor where others see somber hues. Their off-kilter psych-pop is driven by ever-swelling vocal harmonies, adventurous electronics, some serious wheelin’ and dealin’ on the Rhodes piano, and the kind of new-primitivist percussion that may or may not involve a standard drum kit.

SOUTHERLY
Wednesday, 9/21 – 6 PM
Southerly began, as many projects do, on an Otari four track reel-to-reel in bedrooms and basements, releasing short runs of hand packaged cassette tapes on singer/songwriter Krist Krueger’s previous imprint (dharmakayamusic/DKM). With Southerly’s third full length, Youth, Portland’s dark-pop auteur takes on the very notion of earned perspective through age and experience. Youth itself is a poignant exploration of life’s varying stages of uncertainty and self-deception. Likewise, musically it explores shades of song structure with equal measures of childlike wonder and nuanced pop expertise.