Blog: opbmusic

Played most on opbmusic last week: 1. Weinland: Los Processaur 2. Sera Cahoone: Deer Creek Canyon 3. Typhoon: Common Sentiments 7" 4. Alt-J: An Awesome Wave 5. Benjamin Gibbard: Former Lives 6. Ty Segall: Twins 7. Black Prairie: A Tear in the Eye is a Wound in the Heart 8. Wooden Indian Burial Ground: Wooden Indian Burial Ground 9. El Perro Del Mar: Pale Fire 10. Kid Koala: 12 Bit Blues 11. Guided By Voices: The Bears for Lunch 12. Genders: Genders EP 13. [...]

Friday night it was the homecoming show for Portland bands Typhoon , Laura Gibson and Lost Lander . The bands finished their Western states tour with a show at the Crystal Ballroom, presented by opbmusic. Typhoon played new songs from their upcoming 2013 release, along with well-known songs from their debut record, Hunger & Thirst . Laura Gibson was joined by members of Lost Lander for her set, setting her delicate strumming against an electric guitar backing. Lost Lander opened the show with an energetic set, dressed in their trademark white. Inger [...]

Our recently launched video series On the Tracks focuses on songs and the stories and writers behind them, showcasing it all on the old, (mostly) abandoned railroad tracks that run behind OPB headquarters. The third installment features Robert Sarazin Blake , who stopped by a while back with Anais Mitchell's guitar and a song that, despite its potentially macabre title, is apt for Thanksgiving week. Here's "Death Comes"...On the Tracks. Robert Sarazin Blake's been doing some [...]

Most played on opbmusic last week: 1. Alt-J: An Awesome Wave 2. The Coup: Sorry to Bother You 3. Kid Koala: 12 Bit Blues 4. Titus Andronicus: Local Business 5. Weinland: Los Processaur 6. Neil Young & Crazy Horse: Psychedelic Pill 7. Benjamin Gibbard: Former Lives 8. Menomena: Moms 9. Sera Cahoone: Deer Creek Canyon 10. El Perro Del Mar: Pale Fire 11. Black Prairie: A Tear in the Eye is a Wound in the Heart 12. Diamond Rings: Free Dimensional 13. Wooden Indian Burial [...]

Frightened Rabbit had been busy as of late for a band with no new release news. The Scottish band released the State Hospital EP back in September and engaged in a month of U.S. dates (that didn't include Portland, yet did include Eugene, as well as a tweet from VooDoo Donuts ) all before the recent announcement that their new full-length Pedestrian Verse will be released in February. It marks the fourth album overall for the band but first with their new major label Atlantic. Very good, then. But even better, the [...]

Siren Nation is really a powerhouse organization for the arts in Portland—committed to promoting women in all aspects of the arts, the Siren Nation Festival is a yearly event that puts on free workshops, a concert series and an art show to showcase the work of women artists from all different walks of life. Alela Diane is one such woman, who stood stoically onstage, accompanied solely by her own voice and her acoustic guitar. Sitting in the dim red light of the Alberta Rose Theater , I felt myself swept up in [...]

Tonight at 8 on OPB-TV , Art Beat 's Mike Midlo has a feature on Portland band Typhoon . Midlo and the Art Beat crew filmed Typhoon last summer at Pendarvis Farm, where the band was making its new record (for release in 2013), plus concert footage from their Aladdin Theater concert in September. Watch Typhoon on PBS. See more from Oregon [...]

Typhoon heads up an all-Portland bill at the Crystal Ballroom , Friday November 23rd. Yes, that's the day after Thanksgiving, and perhaps the perfect opportunity to revel in the music of several great Portland bands. Although its configuration has changed at times to as many as 15 members, Typhoon revolves around charismatic songwriter and frontman Kyle Morton. Its songs build through concentric layers of percussion, horns and crescendos over personal lyrics that reckon with life and death, love and loss. The charming Laura Gibson performs one opening set, and Lost Lander does another. It's [...]

Not to go on and on (and on) about it, but as you might know we spent this past summer listening to Seattle's Beat Connection and Portland's Onuinu battle it out for the title of Pacific Northwest Summer Jam 2012-- Beat Connection for their "Think/Feel" and Onuinu for "Happy Home," respectively. All entirely made up and unofficial, of course, but that's how some of us heard it. As chance would have it, each is playing Portland tonight (though, sadly, not together): Beat Connection headlines Holocene with Magic Fades and Sex Life, among others, and [...]

Most plays on opbmusic this week: 1. Alt-J: An Awesome Wave 2. The Coup: Sorry to Bother You 3. Weinland: Los Processaur 4. Kid Koala: 12 Bit Blues 5. Opossom: Electric Hawaii 6. Tame Impala: Lonerism 7. Woods: Bend Beyond 8. David Byrne & St. Vincent: Love This Giant 9. Other Lives: Mind the Gap EP 10. Menomena: Moms 11. The Helio Sequence: Negotiations 12. Grizzly Bear: Shields 13. Boy Eats Drum Machine: The Battle 14. Black Moth Super Rainbow: Cobra Juicy [...]

Montreal native Patrick Watson returns to Portland after the release of this year's Adventures In Your Own Backyard . Indeed the record was made in Watson's home studio, with the help of his loyal bandmates, Simon Angell, Robbie Kuster and Mishka Stein. A slight departure from previous albums Wooden Arms and Close to Paradise , Adventures is comparatively straightforward, stripped-down and laid-bare. This description, however, might bely the atmospheric quality of the music, which is rich in texture, honest while also theatrical, and whimsical but full of substance. Watson and [...]

One of the strength's of Portland's music scene is that there is no one particular "Portland sound" that our bands have. The same can be said of the music videos our directors create, which these three are a great example of. Artist and musician Rachel Blumberg is a Portland native, who just recently left our fair city to live in Providence, Rhode Island. About a year ago, she made her first music video , using stop-motion animation, for Tom Hagerman (known for his work as a member of DeVotchKa). She has now created her second, [...]

Kid Koala is Montreal DJ Eric San. Monday night, he performed his new work 12-bit Blues at Holocene , a show presented by opbmusic. 12-bit Blues is Kid Koala's highly imaginative recombination of gritty electric blues, beats and turntable wizardry, performed with two cameras projecting birds-eye views of his turntable work. There were dancers. There were puppets. Dancers changed costumes throughout, starting out in 80s jazzercise spandex, then burlesque feathers and fans, and finally as flight attendants throwing paper airplanes into the crowd. San donned a panda costume for part of the set, [...]

Played most on opbmusic last week: 1. Alt-J: An Awesome Wave 2. Kid Koala: 12 Bit Blues 3. Menomena: Moms 4. Opossom: Electric Hawaii 5. Sera Cahoone: Deer Creek Canyon 6. The Helio Sequence: Negotiations 7. Band of Horses: Mirage Rock 8. Cody ChesNUTT: Landing on a Hundred 9. Tame Impala: Lonerism 10. Boy Eats Drum Machine: The Battle 11. Grizzly Bear: Shields 12. Mumford & Sons: Babel 13. Matt and Kim: Lightning 14. Sea Wolf: Old World Romance 15. Woods: Bend [...]

After hearing his solo set at OPB, it was great to see Jens Lekman in concert with the full support of his band. The Aladdin Theater was filled to the brim (to quote one of his songs!) with fans, and by the end of the night, all were on their feet dancing. Jens' penchant for comedy was clear as he made everyone laugh with stories that had inspired some of his greatest songs, like "I Know What Love Isn't" and his encore performance of "A Postcard to Nina."

Not that Old Light has ever really tried to keep it a secret, but if you saw beards + guitar jams and made the kneejerk leap to the band being another musical attempt at recapturing some hippie shangri-la of lore then, brother, a dis-service has been done. The truth is, the Portland quartet led by (a now beardless) Garth "Steel" Klippert is a lot more Ozzy than Jerry; there may be harmonies, dual drummers and an autoharp, but rest assured none of it will be done with bare feet. The band headlines our [...]

Alt-J (or ∆, if you prefer) were announced today as the winners of the 2012 Mercury Prize for their excellent debut effort, An Awesome Wave. It's not the first time a debut has won the prize-- in fact, it seems to happen more often than not (The xx, Antony & the Johnsons, and Franz Ferdinand are all recent examples). Alt-J's already anticipated Portland date December 5th at the Star Theater just got a little hotter. To refresh, the award is given annually by musicians, executives, and journalists, among others, [...]

Most played records on opbmusic this week: 1. Tame Impala: Lonerism 2. Grizzly Bear: Shields 3. The Helio Sequence: Negotiations 4. Menomena: Moms 5. Opossom: Electric Hawaii 6. Alt-J: An Awesome Wave 7. Matt and Kim: Lightning 8. Band of Horses: Mirage Rock 9. Boy Eats Drum Machine: The Battle 10. Jens Lekman: I Know What Love Isn't 11. Rupa & The April Fishes: Build 12. Weinland: Los Processaur 13. Bat for Lashes: The Haunted Man 14. Beth Orton: Sugaring Season 15. [...]

We're very excited to bring Kid Koala to Holocene this Monday, November 5th. His latest album, 12 Bit Blues , has been applauded as a testament to the art of turntablism, bringing music's roots into the present and beyond. This record emphasizes the bare-bones of blues music, and the relationship between sound and feeling. Kid Koala's music has been undeniably well-constructed, and this most recent project seems to delve even deeper than his previous work. He's well known for his costumed performances, incorporating lights, dancers and other multi-media elements designed to [...]

Ed & the Red Reds (Portland's Ed Thanhouser) stopped by OPB to play this song for our series On the Tracks . We've been holding it until just now, and while it was a bit warmer the day we recorded it, the song is perfectly suited to the last day of October. Here's "Black Fitted Shirt." Portland's Ed Thanhouser (aka Ed & The Red Reds ) released his debut LP, Lost Leader , earlier [...]