Siren Nation Tickets and Weekend Passes are available here.
Thursday, November 8
Mississippi Studios
3939 N. Mississippi, Portland OR 97227
8pm doors / 9pm showtime
This show is 21+ only
Tickets available at: http://www.mississippistudios.com/
La Sera
La Sera’s Sees The Light follows 2011’s masterful self-titled debut with ten new tracks of peppy break-up pop brimming with defiance and bitter sweetness. On album opener “Love That’s Gone,” the vocals and drumbeat linger for seconds, swaying in the wind while the guitar cuts through, charming you, pulling you by your shirt and telling you that it is time to move on. This is a break-up album for the best kinds of break-ups. There’s a lightness of touch, too, that surround the harmonies throughout and makes one yearn for the days of Donna Lynn, Julie Ruin and The Shirelles. But before you can settle into your seat, La Sera delivers a one-two punch – a rip of rolling snare and sending you speeding off in a fast car. Seize the light.
La Sera’s lyrics are smart but not heavy; phantasmal, like Daniel Johnston attending church every week of his teenage life, but with a bigger sophistication and a shiny, polished fidelity. Lead single “Please Be My Third Eye” buzzes with an intensity and beauty rarely heard outside the first three Vivian Girls albums. (Not so surprising: La Sera IS Katy Goodman IS one-third of Vivian Girls.) “I Can’t Keep You In My Mind” is Shop Assistants great – just a genius straightforward refrain and sympathetic guitars to play it through.
Where the first La Sera album was super-dreamy in its layered vocals, Sees The Light is more direct, more aggressive; almost a soundtrack to a lost drive-in movie classic. This is not an album for half-hearted partakers in the heartache scene: just an all-consuming love for punk as pop and pop as punk. Songs such as “Don’t Stay” soar away into the stratosphere, solemn and possessed of singular beauty. “Real Boy” is playfully driven in comparison: like being whisked away to a tropical island, while “Drive On” is tear-laden and full of hidden menace like a David Lynch film.
Sees The Light was recorded by Rob Barbato (Darker My Love, the Fall) in beautiful and hazy California.
http://www.hardlyart.com/lasera.html
EMA
Combining country, goth and grunge, Erika M Anderson’s music evokes the midwest in all its gory desolate glory.
It didn’t even occur to us how inextricably linked goth and grunge were until we heard Erika M Anderson, who used to be in legendary bands we’ve never heard of such as Gowns, about whom a journalist from the Village Voice was once moved to declare: “Holy fucking fuck!”
Make that country, goth and grunge. This is one of the things – the joys, you might say – about EMA: she blurs genres until suddenly, or rather slowly and with a sense of measured menace, a gentle prairie ballad will bleed into a coruscating noise-out, as though she was channelling Emmylou Harris and Neil Young. Not that either of those venerable musicians is dead, though for a while we did start to wonder whether ol’ Neil’s muse might have passed on. But that’s EMA all over: one minute she’s singing sweetly, the next she’s using a nicotine rasp so hoarse they could play it to kids as a warning against the perils of smoking. It’s quite disconcerting. – http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2011/apr/14/new-band-ema
http://cameouttanowhere.com/bio/
JD Samson and MEN
It’s hard to believe that it’s been nearly ten years since JD Samson embarked on her first tour with feminist, queer dance punk sensation Le Tigre. The band got big fast, and JD went being from the band’s newest member to the hot lesbian everyone at shows had a crush on after witnessing her dance moves (and her calendar). While her Le Tigre band mates, Kathleen Hanna and Johanna Fateman, have taken some time off from the road, Samson has been busier than ever. Between DJ-ing, touring with her new(er) band MEN, working with Le Tigre on Christina Aguilera’s upcoming album, making a live Le Tigre DVD and spending as much time as possible for her girlfriend Sia, JD is a woman on the go.
The live performance part of the equation has definitely kept MEN busy. The band has already done a European tour and played countless dates in the U.S. — which they will continue to do throughout the summer.
While MEN hasn’t released any albums yet, JD says they have plenty of songs to work with when they get around to recording.
“Our hope is that this fall we will have a deal. We got in over our heads [with touring] before we had anything recorded. It’s fun to do it the punk rock way, underground.” – http://www.afterellen.com/music/2009/7/jd-samson
AND
The Secret Society
116 NE Russell St. Portland, OR 97212
8pm Doors/ 9pm showtime
Tickets available at: http://secretsociety.net/live-music/
Ezza Rose
Inspired by broken hearts, healing hearts, the southern California mountains where she hails from, and yearnings for a simpler time Ezza Rose and her amazingly talented entourage of back up musicians seem poised to break out of the Portland music scene. With the launch of her first USA tour in Summer 2012 she will bring her unique voice and musical vision to national level for the first time.
The Cabin Project
“For the past 10 years, singer/songwriter Katie Sawicki– a Connecticut native who made her way to Portland, OR via Brooklyn – has been making her way across the country singing her “deeply original poetic expressions” in a traditional acoustic folk/Americana style that has, until now, been her signature sound. While it was all the Boston contemporary folkies that helped shape her initial approach to songwriting, today, that signature sound has evolved into a project that Sawicki calls “Chamber Folk” or “Indie, emo-rock,” with her latest effort and fourth studio release, The Cabin Project.” – Ana Ammann
http://www.thecabinproject.com/
Sara Jackson-Holman
“Having shed the cutesier post-adolescence of her first album, When You Dream, Jackson-Holman has entered a phase of world-weary heartache on her excellent second album, Cardiology. Her voice will continue to be compared to Adele’s, though she no longer sounds so remarkably like Feist. Dark trip-hop beats (courtesy of Keith Schreiner of Auditory Sculpture and Dahlia) create the sophisticated cool behind some of the best songs (“Can’t Take My Love”). But the huge standout here is a hot R&B number, “Break My Heart,” which features a Jackson-Holman vocal that could hold its own next to Rihanna and an unforgettable chorus: “Honey, honey why you gotta be so cruel/All my love will never be enough for you.” – Portland Mercury
http://www.sarajacksonholman.com
Friday, November 9
Alberta Rose Theatre
3000 Northeast Alberta Street Portland, OR 97211
8pm doors. 9pm Showtime
Minors OK when accompanied by a parent or guardian
Tickets available at: http://albertarosetheatre.com/
Antje Duvekot
“‘New Siberia’ is a special album to me because the songs are wiser,” says songwriter Antje Duvekot. “They have an age to them that should resonate with anyone who’s struggled through a difficult period and come out better.There’s something really sweet in being able to look back on a journey like that, from a darker, younger self to a better, older place.”
That might not seem like a startling statement from most songwriters. But Duvekot is not most songwriters. For years, her songs have been critically praised for their hard-won wisdom, dark-eyed realism, and street-smart romanticism. Fans will certainly find all of that in ‘New Siberia.’ But coursing up from beneath the dark, like flowers pushing through stone, is a mature sense of hope, growth, renewal, and love. She sees past the ghosts of a receding past to forge new trails of self-exploration, judging her journey not only by what’s facing her, but by how far she’s already traveled.
Blending uncommonly beautiful vocals with one of the sharpest poetic sensibilities in her field, Duve- kot has a remarkable ability to make us believe she is whispering secrets in our ear, and we know that she believes every word she sings.”New Siberia” is her third studio album — and a masterpiece of the modern folk genre. She assembled it herself with a fresh confidence enhanced by the fan loy- alty displayed on Kickstar ter.com. Again produced by folk legend Richard Shindell, the cinematic en- semble sound showcases Duvekot’s bold, sure-footed path through emotional terrain most artists dare not even enter. “Musically, I think I am in the strongest place I’ve ever been,” says Duvekot.
Jesse Sykes & Phil Wandscher
Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter follow up 2007’s critically acclaimed ‘Like Love, Lust and the Open Halls of the Soul’ with ‘Marble Son’, their fourth release from Paris’s Fargo Records and the first on their own US imprint Station Grey/Thirty Tigers.
Sykes and Wandscher took on full production duties for ‘Marble Son’; recorded entirely in and around their hometown of Seattle (engineered by Mell Dettmer and mixed by Martin Fevyear). ‘Marble Son’ exemplifies a band at their creative pinnacle—heavier and more complex than previous records; the music resonates among the parallel worlds of the avant-garde and the timeless. Sykes’ voice and sometimes-mystical leanings (the former described aptly by Magnet as “sounding less like a performer and more like a sage”) and her band’s incomparable musical repoire culminate in what the New York Times has described as “spellbound music, rapt in fatalism and sorrow.” Syke’s trademark thematic darkness and acclaimed songwriting have never been more present; yet ‘Marble Son’ speaks of evolution, which Sykes describes as, “a sonic mirror of the most chaotic, turbulent times of our lives, where beauty triumphed, and the tears that spilled became this record”.
“Psychedelia as communal creation, psychedelia as mystical quest, psychedelia as a roiling tangle and psychedelia as a euphoric, entranced sprawl are all encompassed in the music of Jesse Sykes and the Sweet Hereafter…There’s nothing neo- about this band’s psychedelia. -The New York Times
Alela Diane
Unlike fellow Nevada City folkies Joanna Newsom and Devendra Banhart, Alela Diane possesses neither the head-mangling lyrical ambition nor weed-woven whimsy. She has instead spent the best part of a decade spinning uncluttered pastoralism. Granted, this record (Alela Diane and Wild Divine) is a little hardier than previous material; the drums have got louder, the twangs have got twangier and brief, woody organ flourishes fleck proceedings now and again. It’s ‘The Wind’ that marks the album, though – an ode to a murdered friend, it flutters along in a rush of banjo- topped catharsis. ‘…Wild Divine’ ain’t ‘Kid A’, but it’s hardly musical stagnation. Katherine Rodgers – http://www.nme.com/reviews/alela-diane/11933
Alela Diane is a homebody by nature. The Portland, Oregon-based, Nevada City, California-bred musician, though traveled the world over, is most at peace within audible range of a crackling fire and her cat’s paws padding across the wood floors of her creaky Victorian residence. And although her methods thus far have echoed this aspect of her being–from fashioning hand-sewn CD jackets for The Pirate’s Gospel, to nearly spit-shining 2009′s To Be Still in her Dad’s studio-the reach of her success has spanned quite a bit further.
In a time of pitiful sales charts, Pirate’s Gospel went gold in France and To Be Still garnered Miss Diane an even heartier European following.
However, let it be known; this (Alela Diane and Wild Divine) is not your typical Alela Diane record. There is no banjo plucked and drenched in ghostly reverb, no violin wielded like fine china at your chest cavity, no chiffon blowing curiously in the wind and most importantly, nothing vaguely freaky going on that goes beyond the inevitable waxing and waning of the moon. Rather, there comes a time when artistic pursuits warrant a new approach–one that reflects personal growth and its continued path.
Saturday, November 10
Alberta Rose Theatre
3000 Northeast Alberta Street Portland, OR 97211
8pm doors. 9pm Showtime
Minors OK when accompanied by a parent or guardian
Tickets available at: http://albertarosetheatre.com/
Like A Villain
“Ethereal melodies of melancholy and strangeness.”
In early 2010, Holland Andrews began a solo project behind the alias of Like a Villain. Holland is a dual-instrumentalist playing both clarinet and tenor saxophone. She pulls her influences notable minimalist composers such as Arvo Pärt, Erik Satie and contemporary vocalist Meredith Monk. Other influences include modern experimental music’s spearhead, Björk. By creating tapestry of live loops using her voice, clarinet, and glockenspiel, her aim is to put emphasis on the roots of organic sounds.
Like a Villain currently lives in Portland, Oregon.
Edna Vazquez
Edna Vazquez grew up in a traditional town in Mexico. However, her life took a non-traditional turn after she came out to her parents at 16. Their reaction was to send her away to the United States to live with relatives. Although at the time, this wasn’t her choice, she says that’s where she learned to play guitar and compose music.
In fact, at the urging of her friends, she sold her personal television to get a bus ticket to LA to compete in the Spanish language talent show Tengo Talento, Mucho Talento. Vazquez did not win the competition, but the exposure was a win unto itself.
She now plays her music all around the northwest, while experimenting with various Mexican genres like mariachi and boleros. -
http://www.opb.org/thinkoutloud/shows/edna-vazquez/
Jolie Holland
On her fourth studio album, Jolie Holland embraces the live-studio rock approach of the 60’s and 70’s, and transforms it with her unmistakable touch. Loosely inspired by Neil Young’s Zuma, with nods to The Velvet Underground, the Stones, and Bowie, this playful dialogue gives way to Holland’s most grounded work. Some of the lyrics were written tipsy on a train, others out of a trance state—every one drawn from the seemingly bottomless well of her muse. From the electrified sidling ode of “Gold and Yellow,” through the outright violence of “Remember,” to “Rex’s Blues”—a devastating Townes Van Zandt rendition, Holland’s inspirations and evolving aesthetic ring bell-clear in every song. Her complete vision for this album is evident from the songs’ sound to the handwritten liner notes; even the record’s cover is a watercolor painted by the artist herself.
The album was mixed in Portland, Oregon at Adam Selzer’s Type Foundary. The mix was executed by a triple team of Adam Selzer, Jolie Holland and Grey Gersten, with Shahzad on skype from Iceland giving his invaluable opinion here and there. At one point, they were graced by the presence of American musical luminary, Michael Hurley. Bopping out on the couch while listening to a mix of “Honey Girl,” Hurley declared, “Now you’re swimming. This is experimental. But it’s a successful experiment.”
In the third track she promises: “what I lost in a broken sphere/ I’ll find in a tender mirror/in the love from the heart.” Listeners will find their own lost parts in her voice, which captures the unnameable more succinctly than ever. She croons of the hardest kinds of love and most aching choices, along with the light and lovely. These ten songs are rich with moments to savor —evoking memories of moonlit fields, past lovers, and the childhood dream of summer. As always, her lyrics speak transparent and true as tender mirrors themselves. The mermaid adorning the album’s cover is an apt symbol for Holland’s work: a magical coupling of disparate tones. Pint of Blood is, as that old book says, as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves.
Sunday, November 11
The Doug Fir
830 East Burnside Street, Portland, OR
8pm doors / 9pm showtime.
This show is 21+ only.
Tickets are available at: http://www.dougfirlounge.com/
Mynabirds
The Mynabirds are a collective of musicians fronted by singer-songwriter Laura Burhenn. Founded in 2009 following the split of her previous DC band, Georgie James, the Mynabirds are currently based in Omaha, Nebraska. Their debut album, “What We Lose in the Fire We Gain in the Flood“, was produced by Richard Swift and released to critical acclaim by Saddle Creek in April of 2010.
The Mynabirds supported their debut LP with more than a year of busy touring alongside bands-become-friends, including Bright Eyes, David Bazan and Crooked Fingers. In December of 2010, they released “All I Want is Truth (for Xmas)“, a limited edition 7″ on Saddle Creek, which featured an original (anti-commercialism) holiday song and a cover of the Zombies’ “This Will Be Our Year”.
At the end of 2011 following a year on the road as a member of Bright Eyes’ touring band, Laura headed back into the studio with Richard Swift to start on something new. The Mynabirds’ sophomore album, GENERALS, will be released on Saddle Creek on June 5, 2012. The first single, the title track “Generals” is available for FREE download here. The Mynabirds will be hitting the road for a short US tour in March 2012, including dates in the midwest, on the west coast, and down south for SXSW. Check out all the tour dates and come hear new songs live.
YENTA (formerly Clea Partridge)
Portland’s latest and greatest musical act, YENTA (Lisa Schonberg, Heather Treadway, Aaron Hartman from Old Time Relijun and TJO), sure to be the next Elliot Smith, but happier.
Rebecca Gates
“Whether folding Memphis R&B into slacker bedroom laments or post-rock abstractions into catchy pop, she nails the ennui of lovesick transitions and physical displacements with a marksman’s aim. And she might just possess the sexiest voice in rock.” – Entertainment Weekly
Rebecca Gates is a US based musician, curator, artist and audio editor. She has released four albums, three as leader of the critically acclaimed group The Spinanes (Sub Pop), toured internationally and appeared as a vocalist on numerous records by artists as wide ranging as The Decemberists and Willie Nelson. Her record Ruby Series was hailed by Spin Magazine as “warm, thoughtful, and melodically gorgeous.”
Gates co-curated The Marfa Sessions, an exhibition of sonic land art installations by US and international artists in Marfa, Texas. She has been featured as an artist at Lehmann Maupin Gallery (New York, NY), Vedanta/Kavi Gupta Gallery (Chicago, IL), Centro La Fontana (Barcelona, SPAIN), Fontanelle (Portland, OR) and The Sun Valley Center for the Arts (Sun Valley, ID/Los Angeles, CA). She was editor and co-founder of The Relay Project audiomagazine, a sound-only periodical featuring content from a variety of editorial and sonic sources which will be re-launched in 2012 as Sonoset Magazine.
She currently performs solo and with a combo under the Consortium moniker. The fine onstage version of the Consortium, may feature any and all of : Ji Tanzer (Blue Cranes), Joanna Bolme (The Jicks, Quasi), Rebecca Cole (Wild Flag, The Minders), Nate Query (The Decemberists, Black Prairie), Jenny Drizos (The Decemberists, Black Prairie), Amy Domingues (Garland of Hours), Dave Depper (Loch Lomond, Blue Giant) or any other musical genius who consents to participating.
http://parcematone.com/
AND
Alberta Rose Theatre
3000 Northeast Alberta Street Portland, OR 97211
7pm doors. 8pm Showtime
Minors OK when accompanied by a parent or guardian
Tickets available at: www.AlbertaRoseTheatre.