Tagged: localcut

So, local indie pop outfit Derby has a very special 7-inch release party show on Jan. 28 (even though the wax and accompanying digital download EP is technically out in Febuary, we're guessing you'll be able to pick it up at this show), and we want to send you there. We also want to give you a Derby 7-inch. And damnit, while we're at it, we'd like to get rid of this Death Cab For Cutie book (no offense to excellent band photographer Autumn de Wilde, but we're just not big enough superfans to geek out on DCFC [...]

It's that time again: Time for John Isaacson to get a little bit metal. This week's Feedback finds him catching a trio of heavy outfits at that most loveable Alberta dive, The Know, and having his shoes shaken (not stirred) in the process. Links: Knelt RoteSpot AnhedonistSpace AcephalixSpace As always, click on the comic to make it bigger and nicer-looking.

Discerning Portland fans may have noticed that Zack Osterlund—better known as the primary force behind local electronic act Breakfast Mountain—wasn't performing much in the latter half 2010. Once highly active in the Portland scene, Breakfast Mountain was off the map for close to six months until Osterlund and a live drummer popped up in 2011 on the Holocene stage for a birthday party earlier this month (and again this past Saturday at Rotture for SuperFresh 2.) Even with the recent appearances, it's unclear what will become of Breakfast Mountain, especially considering Osterlund's brand-new project, Jerome Kersey. The [...]

Luck-One is a lyricist more than he's a rapper. Not to say that the Portland MC can't rap—he certainly can—but his primary objective is to put ideas on the page and get them across to his listener. I think that's an important distinction to make: A rapper likes the way he sounds; A lyricist has something to communicate. In the video, Luck gets up in the morning, starts hustling on his front porch (a message of community building and strength in numbers ousts dope or diamonds in the classic hustle narrative) and keeps hustling throughout the day, [...]

Two weeks ago, we announced—along with the rest of the Internet—that B rent Knopf, one of the three original members of Menomena, was leaving the band to focus on his solo project and on recording a few records for his friends. Since then, Menomena has mostly keep quiet, but both Knopf and Seim were kind enough to answer some of my questions on record about the future of Menomena. Here are the important bits from my email conversations with two of Portlands best (and most forthcoming) musicians. WW: Why did the band decide to carry [...]

A good band is a double-sided one. Its head sees all and therefore tends to be a bit prettier, occasionally in makeup and always smiling for the studio microphones. Its tail is scrappier, with bald spots here and there and the wagging freedom of next to no constraint. I saw Peter Wolf Crier’s live side on Friday and wish to amend my preview write-up. For those expecting this: Peter Wolf Crier [FROM THE SCHOOL OF M.WARD] With freshman release Inter-Be as its beautifully raspy witness, Minneapolis’ [...]

A good rock band is hard to find, and I'm always so happy to find one that I feel inclined to pass them on to you. Charming Birds aren't a new band, but they're still pretty new to me, and maybe to you. The Portland basement quartet (I can call them that because the "Burned Up" video is filmed in a basement) releases its first EP on Wednesday, Feb. 9 at Doug Fir (sharing a bill with one of our longtime favorite local acts, Wow & Flutter), and there's a lot of promise here. Frontman Will Johnson's vocals [...]

Oh, look, Yacht is over at VBS, hanging out in bed like John and Yoko and playing with crystal pyramids like crazy cult people. The Portland duo is seen here talking about how the mystery lights in Marfa, Texas changed their lives (and their music) forever; and how tour is basically like going to war. The most interesting part is probably Yacht's trip to The Grotto , where they listen to freaky brainwashing music tones and talk about knowing eachother as completely as possible. Okay, it's actually not as scary-culty as I'm making it sound, but this [...]

The secret that's not quite a secret is finally out: Thermals frontman Hutch Harris has a new solo project called Forbidden Friends ! If you're smart enough on Twitter (or know some people in this town) you might have heard a rumor that Harris spent a few weeks in 2010 at Jackpot Studios working on a new band, but the news is official this morning, with word that a 7-inch, "Tiny Hands" b/w "For You," is dropping March 15 on Kill Rock Stars. According to Pitchfork , Harris sings and plays guitar, bass and drums on [...]

There are a lot of visual puns going on here. Not only are the mountains at "Higher" elevation than, you know, the ocean—but Cool Nutz may or may not be revealing the strategy he uses to keep those Nutz so Cool. Now, I know that our copy editing squad would take issue with the title of Cool Nutz's forthcoming record flashed across the screen 36 seconds into the vid ("Cool Nutz='s Dope")—but even the copy desk can agree that far too few rap videos are filmed at Mount Hood, and that Mr. Nutz's jacket is totally gigantic. [...]

Looking back at the LocalCut archives, I realize that I haven't written a proper off-the-cuff live review in almost two years. But this morning, while laboring through a glut of PR emails and music listings, a funny thing happened: I couldn't stop thinking about the show I saw last night. Crazy for a music writer, I know, but that's just the power Carrie Brownstein holds over me when she's playing guitar. So here I present a series of thoughts on the Wild Flag show (I missed the band's first Portland appearance at Doug Fir), with the style totally [...]

Since he got to work on illustrating WW 's year-end cover story , local cartoonist/music geek John Isaacson is back in the saddle for his weekly comics show review column, Feedback. This week's comic is actually from a show that happened a couple of months ago, but we'll take what we can get to kick-start John back into action. Look for him each week right here at LocalCut. As always, click the image to get a bigger, purtier picture. CowerSpace [...]

Ringtone City, Baby! There's a Portland Monthly fashion shoot quality to this latest video from Portland hip-hop duo Living Proof—filmed largely in iconic PDX locales (wait, Fire on the Mountain? Does the director work there or something?) with LP MC Tope sporting at least two different frames throughout. These guys kinda look like they're 15 years old (the stubble isn't really making Prem look any older), so if you mute the sound, you might not think this is the jam. Only, it is: "Full Speed" is one of the funkier, smokier local hip-hop jams to surface [...]

It seems like just the other day (wait, it was the other day !) that we were talking about longtime Portland MC Kenny Mack's new collaboration with fellow MC Mikey Vegaz, Money Rules . So it came as a bit of a shock to hear that the 36-year-old MC—who seems to be on every hip-hop bill in the city as of late—was sentenced yesterday to a seven-year-plus prison term on a firearms charge stemming from an arrest in August of last year. It wasn't a shock to Mack himself, who made a deal with federal prosecutors in order [...]

Can't say I didn't see this one coming . This afternoon Menomena announced on its website that multi-instrumentalist Brent Knopf —founding member, skilled keyboard player, and the creator of the Deeler looping system used to create all the band's music— is leaving the band to focus on other projects , including Ramona Falls. I hesitate to call Ramona Falls a solo project, because 2009's Intuit featured over 30 other local musicians, but it was the first work Knopf created without the help of Menomena's other founding members, Danny Seim and Justin Harris. I've got a line [...]

A few things have crossed my desk this week—well, very little actually "crosses my desk" these days...crossed my desktop?—that I thought I should share. So let's zone out on some videos together, shall we? Kenny Mack and Mikey Vegaz, "Iller Nigga" I have my issues with the ol' "money/ crime/ champagne rap" genre, for sure, but I'm also smart enough to know that I'm not the target audience here—the n-word in the song title was a tip!—and the ears to hear that veteran Portland MC Kenny Mack and young local hip-hop standout Mikey [...]

A new Decemberists album is a big deal round these parts—especially when said release has been rumored to be a "change in direction" record. Even with R.E.M.'s Peter Buck on board, though, early snippets from The King is Dead sounded more and more like a back-to-our-roots album for the literary, rustic Portland pop outfit than a true left turn. In any case, we thought that instead of taking the disc in as a whole—plenty of time for that later—we'd send ten writers (music and otherwise) to spend time with individual new Decemberists' songs ( over at NPR, where [...]

The kids of today, they know what they like. They like vampires. SEXY vampires! So they are bound to dig Morgan Grace's "Vampire Love," a tribute to the Twilight series that includes some scenery familiar to those who've sat alongside teenage girls in the theatre to enjoy the insanely popular film franchise. I'm not familiar enough with the plot of the Twilight books or films to know whether Ms. Grace's crisp, Cars-esque pop song's lyrics ("Vampire boyfriend, pretty cool/ Til bloody birthday comes/ This may be too much for high school") are a [...]

You get a Sapient mix CD in your stocking! There are some pretty sweet tracks on here from the prolific Sape and his Sandpeople family. We haven't heard a ton from the 'Peeps this year (considering the size of the crew, anyway), so I'd expect 2011 to be a big year for the Portland hip-hop collective. Until then, we'll just have to put this mix on repeat and stare blankly into the sky, waiting on the next Sandpeople record to fall from the heavens. Key tracks: "Don't Sleep" (ft. the Grouch); "Oh My God" (ft. [...]

It has been awhile since we've done one of these! But I've seen some strange, strange videos in the last couple of days. So here you be, a video roundup with lots and lots of randomness in it... Last Prick Standing, "Zebra" I'm honestly not sure if I should like this video from Portland rockers Last Prick Standing, but I really like it. It's like a hippie-dippie Hold Steady song combined with some weird Black Crowes/John Mellencamp-type shit. What's going on here!? I can't figure it out. The video, directed by [...]