Thursday 3/5
Japanther, TacocaT, Mosquito Bandito, Problems
(Funhouse) See Album Review.
Raphael Saadiq
(Showbox at the Market) A couple years ago, Amy Winehouse's Back to Black (created with invaluable help from Mark Ronson and the Dap-Kings) reminded a whole bunch of (white) people of the vast aural pleasures of old-school soul. Legendary singer-songwriter-producer Raphael Saadiq has devoted most of his life to these pleasures, leading the chart-conquering new jack swingsters Tony! Toni! TonĂŠ!, producing the deep funk stew of D'Angelo's classic Voodoo, and, most recently, releasing his freakishly accomplished 2008 solo album, The Way I See It. The latter is an impeccable dazzler that comes on like a one-man Motown show, with Saadiq playing all the parts, from mastermind Berry Gordy to songwriting factory Holland-Dozier-Holland to singing-songwriting superstar Smokey Robinson. That the end result manages to spring to its own 21st-century life is a testament to Saadiq's gifts. Amy Winehouse can only cry in her crack. DAVID SCHMADER See also My Philosophy.
Efterklang, Peter Broderick, the Kindness Kind
(Nectar) Efterklang are a Danish orchestral/electronic ensemble whose name is apparently the Danish word for both "reverberation" and "remembrance" (literally translated as "after sound"). The group's core is a quintet, but their live band bulk up to nine, and the liner notes for 2007's Parades list some 30 guest musicians, on duties ranging from flĂźgelhorn to boys choir to "additional percussion and tap dance." So what exactly do all these crazy Danes get up to? For the most part on Parades they play glacially progressing symphonic pomp, distant choruses arising out of stretched string passages, their electronic side entirely confined to some rhythmic sputters on opening track "Polygyne." All together, it sounds like something in between the wordless transcendentalism of Sigur RĂłs and the less boisterous of the Arcade Fire's theatrical hymns. And it all looks like quite a spectacle live. ERIC GRANDY
Friday 3/6
M. Ward, Port O'Brien
(Showbox at the Market) See preview.
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, Say Hi
(Neumos) Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band are the most well-promoted group in the Pacific Northwest. From the kooky videos to the handmade CD cozies for their self-released Weepy EP, fans (and haters, for that matter) might forget that the local quintet have yet to release an album! That brings us to tonightâthis show is a coâCD release party with MSHVB celebrating the release of their self-titled debut full-length and Say Hi celebrating the release of his new record Oohs & Aahs (his first for local label Barsuk). For the occasion, MSHVB have upped their promotion factor to a tasty degreeâthey've partnered with local ice creamery Molly Moon's and created the Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band ice cream, which is coconut-flavored with chocolate chunks and huckleberry syrup. Yum! They'll be guest scooping at Molly Moon's Thursday night, but they'll bring some to the show, too. MEGAN SELING See also preview.
Motorik, the Prids, Blood Red Dancers
(Sunset) Portland's the Prids suffered a devastating van accident last July that injured all four members and two close friends, and trashed most of their gear. This current tour represents their return to the road, in support of the Something Difficult EP. Like many '00s rock bands, the Prids derive sustenance from first-wave UK post-punk groups, such as 154-era Wire, the Sound, and Siouxsie and the Bansheesâalthough they do execute a gorgeous cover of Guided by Voices' "Motor Away" on the new EP. Artful melancholy, trauma-seasoned male/female vocals by David Frederickson and Mistina Keith, and descending chord progressions carry the day (or, rather, the night) with the Prids. Their downers are uppers, if you catch my drift. DAVE SEGAL
Neil Halstead, Weinland
(Triple Door) In the early '90s, Neil Halstead led the revered shoegaze group Slowdive, whose gauzily morose ambient pop and diaphanous dub inspired many bands and a tribute album released by German electronica label Morr Music called Blue Skied an' Clear. Slowdive shed two members and morphed into the earthier Mojave 3, in which Halstead and vocalist Rachel Goswell sort of got in touch with their inner Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatra. Halstead's solo output ambles into gentle folk-rock contemplativeness. Generally speaking, his musical career has been a gradual, organic reduction from the layered to the stripped-down, a shift from European decadence to American forthrightness. The common threads running through it are feathery prettiness and emotional restraint. DAVE SEGAL
Saturday 3/7
Fujiya & Miyagi; Pop Levi; Project Jenny, Project Jan
(Neumos) See Stranger Suggests.
These Are Powers, PWRFL Power, Grey Anne, the Foundry Field Recordings
(Vera) See Album Review.
Smile Brigade
(Full Tilt Ice Cream) The idea of a rock-and-roll show at an ice-cream parlor is appealing, no matter who the band isâI could probably have a really good time with a cone of rocky road and A Flock of Seagulls, for instanceâbut Smile Brigade's particular ghostly folk-rock (accordions have been known to figure in) should make for a really weird contrast with Full Tilt Ice Cream. The Brigade are not afraid of a good guitar riff, but the nontraditional venue could delightfully highlight the band's more intimate old-world European (downright Mirah-like) songwriting skills. PAUL CONSTANT
Pendulum, Excision, the Dowlz
(Showbox at the Market) The live-band drum 'n' bass field isn't exactly crowded, so a group like Pendulum will stand out even if they're mediocreâwhich they are. With drum 'n' bass itself in decline, this isn't very surprising. Australia's Pendulum, however, have garnered a substantial fan base (they packed out a tent at last year's Coachella) through diligent touring and a stadium-sized sound that eschews subtlety. Further broadening the band's mass appeal is their embrace of hard-rock riffing and melodramatic male vocals, which abound on their latest album, In Silico. Credit Pendulum for trying an unusual hybrid; demerit them for coming off ham-fisted and doing neither rock nor drum 'n' bass' discerning fans any favors. DAVE SEGAL
Sunday 3/8
The Von Bondies, Nico Vega
(Neumos) A lot of people regurgitate the term "garage rock" in reference to Detroit's the Von Bondies. Thing is, anything as polished as their latest, Love, Hate and Then There's You, doesn't really count as garage. Not that the band ever really had much more to do with that sound than being from Rock City, having been lazily lumped together with certain names, and dressing the part, though. Sure, their sound is palatable enough, and there's nothing wrong with slickly produced power chords, pleasant backup vocals, standard-but-heavy drums, and semi-skilled execution of frontman duties. Everything here is executed with precision and skill (albeit to a somewhat underwhelming end). Let's just not pretend there's anything garage about it. GRANT BRISSEY
Verlee Rose, Shotty, Whitney Ballen, Candysound
(Columbia City Theater) Whitney Ballen is an un-assuming, blond, 17-year-old high-school studentâand when she takes the stage, alone, with only a guitar, she doesn't give any reason to expect anything out of the ordinary. But then she sings. And holy fuck, when she sings, shivers skip down my spine. In her soft pop song "Good Good People," her voice carries the same delicate charm as Mirah, but with an even more childlike nature. That's taken to the nth degree in her simplistic cover of the Velvet Underground's "Femme Fatale"âit sounds like a 10-year-old is singing. But the song that ultimately floors me is the aching "California State," where she drops the little-girl croon and spills her heart on the floor with the same captivating presence as Karen O (you know, if Karen O sang a little more like Joanna Newsom). It doesn't make sense. It's wonderful. But it doesn't make sense. MEGAN SELING
Monday 3/9
The Bombs, Jaguar Paw
(Funhouse) The Bombs seem like another one of those well-connected L.A. bands with excellent bone structure and more impressive networking skills than musical ones; MTV aired "Revolution/Revelation" on Paris Hilton's My New BFF, even though the trio have only existed for about 18 months. That being said, the Bombs do have a knack for catchy, vaguely garage-rocky songs, but ultimately they're as generic as their moniker. Jaguar Paw peddle straightforward pop punk with adorable vocals by Heather-Jane. It's an old formulaâRamones on a first date with the Runawaysâthat still has some mileage left in it. Jaguar Paw work it with panache. DAVE SEGAL
Tuesday 3/10
K'naan, Gabriel Teodros, Yze, DJ Daps 1
(Neumos) See preview, and My Philosophy.
Asobi Seksu, Bell, Resplandor
(Chop Suey) On 2006's Citrus, Brooklyn quartet Asobi Seksu played shoegaze rock that wasn't going to make anyone forget Ride or My Bloody Valentine, but it was delightful nonetheless. On their third album, Hush (out this month on Polyvinyl), Asobi Seksu have gone head over heels for the Cocteau Twins. Vocalist Yuki Chikudate has elevated her froufrou vocals to Elizabeth Fraserâesque heights of angelic delicacy, while guitarist James Hanna has pulled a Robin Guthrie, generating iridescent plumes of chimes. While it lacks the Cocteaus' other-worldly grandeur, Hush really is a blatant CT tribute. But since the originals probably aren't reuniting any time soon (they disbanded in 1998), it will serve as a reverent reminder of that Scottish band's heavenly grace and splendor. DAVE SEGAL
Tina Dico
(Triple Door) Tina Dico is a Danish singer-songwriter who cites Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen as influences, which is illustrative mainly of how far short she falls of her aims. Her songs balance plain-sung folk and AC balladry (adult contemporary, not Animal Collective) with polished studio productionâthe kind of combination that might appeal to baby-boomer nostalgia while not jarring any auditory nerves when piped through the Starbucks sound system. The lyrics are equally innocuousâher song "No Time to Sleep" begins with the tepid "Who's gonna sing the song of change/If no one can imagine life outside the beaten track?" According to Wikipedia, Dico was recently awarded a substantial monetary prize by the crown prince of Denmark for her courageous and "very special, life-affirming" songwritingâfinally, a Dylan that even royalty can love. ERIC GRANDY
Phosphorescent
(Nectar) Phosphorescent is the stage name of Matthew Houck, a sometimes solo acoustic singer sometimes full bandleader formerly of Athens, Georgia, and currently based out of Brooklyn. On Phosphorescent's latest album, To Willie, Houck and his band cover a handful of songs written and/or performed by Willie Nelson (and here I was hoping for an alt-country song cycle about Charles in Charge doofus turned conservative Christian "Bible Man" Willie Aames). Houck and his cohorts generally give these songs spare, reverent treatments, Houck's voice and his band's vocal harmonies pushed forward, alternately into the warm, flat air of a front porch and the cavernous reverb of a church hall, and they're gently buttressed by acoustic, electric, and pedal steel guitars. Phosphorescent's simultaneously somber and celebratory take on "Reasons to Quit" is especially satisfying. ERIC GRANDY
Dan Auerbach, Hacienda, Those Darlins
(Showbox at the Market) What with all the Black Kids, Black Lips, and so on running around these days, it's probably a good time for Black Keys frontman Dan Auerbach to give the solo thing a whirl, if only for nominal reasons. As with Black Keys, Auerbach's new solo album, Keep It Hid, showcases his classic, deep-fried, blues-rock guitar and well-worn vocals. But Keep It Hid also allows Auerbach the room to wander ever so slightly from the duo's long-established mode into simple acoustics (the folky hymn "Trouble Weighs a Ton"), studio head-trippery (the phased echoes of "Heartbroken, In Disrepair," the backward-masked ambient interlude "Because I Should"), and the piano-backed lullaby ("When the Night Comes"). Hacienda are a San Antonio rock quartet with slightly retro, rootsy tendencies; Auerbach is credited with having discovered them. ERIC GRANDY
Wednesday 3/11
Disney Cover Night: The Catch, Kane Hodder, Aqueduct, Sirens Sister, the Pale Pacific, People Eating People, Lonesome Rhodes, Wild Orchid Children, Is Electric
(Chop Suey) See Stranger Suggests
