March Madness just ended and all of you bracketologists out there are probably pretty sad you'll have to until next year to get your bracketology on, but don't fret! Back for a second year by popular demand, in a move that is sure to establish itself as a Portland institution - it's Rigsketball ! If you're late to the game, Rigsketball is halfcourt, 3v3 basketball played on a regulation hoop attached to the back of a van, just about anywhere the cops won't bust the party. However, when played in a bracket-style tournament with 32 of Portland's most ballin' [...]
PDX Pop Now! 2011 fell on perhaps the only perfect weekend weather-wise of this stubborn Portland summer and it was immediately apparent sunshine was not the only charmed aspect of this eight year-old, all-ages, three-day music fest featuring a wide array of some of the most diverse local acts Portland has to offer. With their two stages, one outdoors and one inside the warehouse space Refuge PDX alternating three acts in a row, I was constantly amazed at how the shifting venues kept the entire event running on time and the scene fresh and popping as the crowds flowed back [...]
PDX POP NOW! Outside Stage ::: All Photography by Josh Lovseth 27 hours in Portland. Sun! Food truck. Coffee. Karen! The Wild Ones! Mississippi Records! Monarques & Beer! More food trucks. Poutine! Tequila! New Nurses songs! More Beer. Brunch! (Cricket Cafe if your asking.) Hausu! Humidity. A walk in the park. Bikes everywhere! 2nd Ave Records! Radiation [...]
AKRON/FAMILY, DELICATE STEVE, AU, BRAINSTORM, WHY I MUST BE CAREFUL, GOLDEN RETRIEVER, ROB WALMART ( Wonder Ballroom , 128 NE Russell) Read our article on Akron Family . MONARQUES, YOURS, HOSANNAS ( Slabtown , 1033 NW 16th) Read the Monarques Feature article .. [...]
NICOLE ATKINS, COTTON JONES, THE ASCETIC JUNKIES ( Mississippi Studios , 3939 N Mississippi) Read our article about Cotton Jones . ROCK & ROLL PROM: THE MONARQUES, DIRTY MITTENS , ROCKY AND THE PROMS ( Rontoms , 600 E Burnside) Ladies, start smoothing out your taffeta party dresses and gents, get that bowtie tied, for it's time again to enter the balloon archway [...]
Recently, I went from completely unemployed to way overemployed, back to kind of employed, and finally I'm normally employed . Economy, blah blah blah - I'm sure we all could go on and on. The moral of my story is: music helps get you through it, for sure. In between joblessness and constantly writing , this has been a good chunk of what's up in my Recently Played. The playlist for all the busy madness as of late: The Woodlands - In The Dark On Monday (Heavy Hands Remix) [...]
Sweaty palms, spiked punch, and losing your virginity can only mean one overwhelmingly pubescent thing. No, it's not your wedding day. It's time for prom. So grab your sweetheart and ready to get dancin'. It's free and the night before Valentine's Day, so you can get your best lines warmed up with the help of Portland's newest old band (and second runner up in The Deli's Year End Poll ), Monarques , Dirty Mittens, and Rocky and (the aptly named) Proms. Joining MONARQUES on stage will be Y La Bamba and Loch Lomond [...]
Last week, I wrote an article for the paper about Portlanders using crowdfunding website Kickstarter to help finance a variety of weird and wonderful creative projects. Due to word limits—every journo's mortal enemy—I was only able to feature one music project: Blue Crane's tour by train idea , which I chose because it was recent, original and because they did such a good job of crafting unique rewards for their fans and supporters. But there are plenty of other local bands and musicians out there still looking for a leg-up. If you've got [...]
Josh Spacek of Monarques and I sat down the other day outside a coffee shop near his house in the inner SE. We hit it off immediately. This may have been due to our matching bedraggled appearances and safety glasses. Whatever the case, something about the meeting lead to a longer story than I'm accustomed to. Though usually pickled with short questions and small answers, this week's installment of Irrelevant Interviews is one question—one full blown story. And it's awesome. Before I delve into that, though, let me say that if you live in [...]
This month has probably been the most prolific month for me since I've started this blog. I've blasted out 20 posts (21 counting this one) and cleared out my mailbox three times. By my own low standards, that's amazing. I think I deserve a vacation. Items of note for you to note: Amanda Zelina makes a third appearance on these hallowed pages. This go 'round, she has released an album of gritty blues under the name The Coppertone. It's very much in the vein of the Dead Weather. I've liked everything I've heard from Amanda and this [...]
THE RUMBLE: PORTLAND returns to Holocene TONIGHT with an incredible line up of Portland bands + a traveling act that make this FREE party something you can't miss. First up is 1776 , a band we got turned onto by our partners at CRAVEDOG , and then after listening we understand why this band was recently signed to the Dandy Warhols' label, Beat The World Records , because this band has the songs, and tonight we'll see their live chops. [...]
The first week of May is upon us and THE RUMBLE is back with week of shows guaranteed to stretch Cinco de Mayo throughout the entire week. As usual the party's always free! THE FEROCIOUS FEW will be joining us this month on the entire THE RUMBLE WEST COAST TOUR in support of their staggering debut release Juices (Birdman). The brainchild of SF troubadour Francisco Fernandez and Daniel Aguilar, this blues rock duo are a return to the [...]
Saturday. We were picked up promptly at 12:30 pm to head to NJPAC. We practiced our songs a ton in our dressing room and we were feeling confident. We got a bottle of Jim Beam, which Jon (our guitarist) claims he risked his life for (Newark's a tough town) to calm our last remaining nerves before showtime. During rehearsal Garrison had this idea that he wanted to do a "round robin" where each band jumps into a theme that's carried by Vince and the Nighthawks (house band: amazing) where he reintroduces each band right before voting. [...]
Last week, local retro-pop band Monarques received a surprise phone call from a woman who works for the NPR live radio variety show A Prairie Home Companion . Over 700 people submitted tracks for the show's 2010 "Battle of the Bands" but only five—including Monarques—were choosen to fly out to Washington, DC on April 17 for the taping and a chance to perform three songs for over 3,000 people. I emailed Monarques' singer/guitarist Josh Spacek and he verified that the band is thrilled at the opportunity to play for the show and its host [...]
Like rock 'n' roll? Debauchery? Rock 'n' roll and debauchery skipping hand in hand in a golden field of wheat? Uh ... me, too. The first The Days of Lore Presents show featuring San Francisco's The Mother Hips is coming to the Doug Fir Friday, April 16 (the key word here being "the"). Joining them are a couple of great Portland bands in Jared Mees & the Grown Children and Monarques . All three make sweet, sweet rock 'n' roll ... you and I will take care [...]
I come to you from the past. I wrote this almost a week ago so that it would reach you in the future ... as we meet here at this very moment in the present. ¿Confundido? As you read these words I am in Guanajuato, Mexico-the birthplace of Diego Rivera -perhaps inside the very house he grew up in ... that or I'm looking at dead people at the Museo de las Momias . And there's a very good chance I have a cold Negra Modelo in one hand [...]
Alcest's new album, Écailles De Lune so relaxing to listen to... it's like an aural tongue massage. Even when there's screaming, it's, like, the most mellow screaming ever. In fact, I'm making a MetalSucks Mansion Monkey rub my shoulders while we crank it right now. He offered to add the tongue massage part, but even [...]
When I'm listening to new music, not many groups inspire me to think of my grandparents' high school prom. But with the Monarques' "Angel Eyes," it's hard not to picture slim-slacked boys and girls with horn rimmed glasses doing the twist. Weird? Maybe, but singer Josh Spacek's innocent lyrics about love don't stray too far from the OGs of 1950's hold-my-hand romance (e.g. the Crickets, Frankie Valli or the Penguins) with lyrics like "I love you baby and you know I always will/ You know with all my heart, and we'll get to the top of this mountain called love/ [...]
Can't believe it's Thanksgiving already. Here's a little playlist I threw together. Based it more on the mood of the songs than the lyrics. It's best for the after dinner tryptophanic/drunk slumber. Share it with the family and friends while you reminisce and share stories about each others lives. Happy Thanksgiving!!!! MP3 :: Monarques - Everybody Needs Somebody To Love MP3 :: Bowerbirds - Northern Lights MP3 :: The Walkmen - New Country MP3 :: Volcano Choir - Sleepymouth [...]
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Schedule Two
Music Singles Chart #109
The Killers title new album Battle Born
I’ll Just Leave This Here #161
Knife Party – Rage Valley EP
