Sunday, May 14, 2006

all over the map

It's been quite the weekend, music-wise. And it's barely even sunday.

Friday night, I was ridiculously tired. I went out for dinner because I was too tired to cook. I had a beer with dinner. In the state I was in, that one beer made me a bit loopy. I thought to myself, "I keep hearing about Caves. Maybe I should go see them? I'm sooooo tired. But I could drink coffee, and then I'd be awake enough to listen to bands, right?" Um...sorta. I missed Jonah. I got there in time for the start of Oslo's set. Had they done this sound first, they'd be huge. Giant. Stadium shows, screaming fans, the whole bit. As it is, they were just loud enough to fill a stadium, but in the Doug Fir. They sounded just like one of those Rock Revival bands. The Killers? The Bravery? Whatever. They were certainly good, and had I not been so tired I would have enjoyed them on an entirely superficial level. There are certainly people I think would love them. People I know, even.

Next up: Caves. I'd read a few good reviews, heard the name a number of times, decided it was finally time to seek them out. I'd heard "dark, swirling indie" about them. Sounds lovely. In actuality, it was...uh...okay? But again, I was SO tired. I sat through most of the set thinking, "I wonder if I like this band?" They sure didn't look it, but if I closed my eyes, it had a distinct "goth lite" flavor, like Wish-era Cure. Rockin' out, but doing it darkly. Verdict: If they were to play a show with Swords, I bet I'd love 'em. But I'd love 'em even more if they keyed their volume to the size of the room and the crowd.

Saturday: All sorts of fun at the Doug Fir (again). Started out with Bright Red Paper. Only caught the last song and a half. Despite the dumb name, they're not Adult Alternative but a driving-yet-psychedelic foursome of drums, two guitars, and cello. They may be instrumental--by the time I got a beer and settled in to listen, I hadn't noticed any vocals. Worth checking out again--part pretty-indie, part guitar-wank. I hope, overall, they lean former, not latter.

Next up, Ape Shape. Led by someone-in-the-portland-music-scene, better known as the leader of whatever-band-that-was. I don't remember right this second. A seven-piece! Guitar/male vox, female vox/'80's dance moves, bass, drums, trombone, sax, and trumpet. It was kinda...uh, sorta sounded a little like...well, you know, reminded me...huh...yeah, not quite a...Fine. I'll just come right out and say it. With the horn section, the guitar rhythms, the way the two voices didn't meld well, they sounded rather like a ska band. Honestly, to me, part of Portland's charm is its lack of ska bands. I kept trying to imagine it without the horns, to see if the ska thing was accidental, but I wasn't succeeding. Some songs were less ska-like than others.

Last up, Cloud Cult, from Minneapolis. What I'd read about them was interesting. A (ugh) "sustainable music collective" that didn't have a label, yet had shot up the indie/college charts. "Avant chamber-pop" that had a cello. And two painters. You may remember how I feel about bands that feel the need for extra visual art: What are you compensating for? Is the music not good enough? But also interesting: I remember the cellist from my high school orchestra. Well, they launched into their set, and I was immediately in love. A four-piece (if you don't count the painters, which I don't): Male vocal/guitar/occasional keyboard, 5-string bass, cellist/female backing vocql, and drums/male backing vocal. Then there were two painters and two different projected cycles of found images on stage. They can all go. The music speaks for itself. First impression: Flaming Lips. Later impressions: Is that a Neil Young bit? Huh...this one song sucks, sounds like crappy adult alternative...shit. Except adult alternative doesn't launch into a total rock-out that flattens me. Those harmonies...Crosby, Stills, and Nash? Well, that was fleeting. Now the 5-string bass is churning out hardcore metal. Oooh...pretty! And yet it didn't seem at all disjointed. I'd like to hear more from this band, figure out what they sound like in the studio, integrate some of the disparities. I was impressed.

Finally, this weekend I received a 3-cd mix set of all-'80's nostalgia. And as you turn up your nose and think, "I'd never listen to that crap," I'll list some of the tracks. Not a clinker in the bunch, and all obscure-cool or forgotten or in some way unexpected. The La's - There She Goes. Robyn Hitchcock & the Egyptians - Flesh #1. The The - This is the Day. The Mighty Lemon Drops, Mojo Nixon, Grandmaster Flash, The Art of Noise, The Cocteau Twins. Kate Bush - Running Up That Hill. Style Council, Jellybean, Stacy frickin' Q, Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam (seriously!), Dead or Alive. Real Life - Send Me an Angel. Alphaville - Big in Japan. Icehouse, Wham!, New Order, Front 242, Meat Beat Manifesto, Ministry, Siouxie and the Banshees. Thank you, Nick Danger, and your slightly-earlier-than-mine, slightly-cooler-than-mine high school existence.

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

I promised what??!?

Okay, that's right. Never to hide anything from you again. So here goes:

I haven't been to a show in nine days. My name is OMS, and I'm...ready to get the hell out of my apartment.

Tonight was a free Binary Dolls show at Dante's. But first I had to sit through two other bands. First, Super Plus. I have to admit, there's not much I find funnier than women dressed as drag queens. How much more meta-meta-whatever can you get? And I loves me some meta-meta. So the fact that, among the six of them, they could barely play any instruments or sing anything, despite the four microphones, was almost forgivable. Almost...but not quite. Honestly, they sucked, and didn't make up for it with humor or chutzpah like they intended to. The Aerosmith cover was either obscure or so crappy as to be unrecognizable, and the Neil Young cover just sucked. The rest of it was girls without melody or rhythm, or even coherence, but with costumes galore. Lots of knee-high stiletto boots, two (maybe even three) pretty impressive wigs, and three girls who I'm sure read fantasy-romance in their spare time, but like playing dress-up in the band. Next up: The Crosswalks. Keep at it, guys! Good but not great, almost-interesting but not special, all this trio needs is to figure out who their voice is and where they want to put the exciting moments. It's a Band With Potential (BWP). Perky indie-pop guitar, bouncy-yet-tom-heavy drums...you're almost there. Almost.

Binary Dolls. Oh, I love this band. Tonight they ditched the subtlety for outright kickassness.
Every song was zero-to-sixty with nothing in between. Raucous, wild, amazing. Too short. But they totally read their venue and played to it. Mmmmm....love. Love this band.

Monday, May 01, 2006

confession

Is it weird that I fear posting my reviews here because I'm afraid someone will read them? Let me rephrase that: How weird is it that I'm afraid to post at my own blog? I have this terrible fear that I'll review some band, or I'll relate some conversation, and someone with a basic working knowledge of google will discover it, and will somehow connect it with me. Not me, OMS (tm), but the real, actual me that went to the show, and could be identified by what I was wearing, or where I was standing, or whether I spilled only a little beer on myself, or a lot of beer. So that's the crux of it, really. I'm not so much afraid someone will read my opinion. Even an opinion about the person reading it. I'm afraid of losing my anonymity.

At the risk of giving away state secrets, I've seen several shows recently that I haven't reviewed here. Last weekend I saw Small Sails (barely), Binary Dolls, and Helio Sequence. This weekend I saw, over the course of two shows, Point Juncture WA (twice), Super XX Man, Norfolk & Western, and Alan Singley & Pants Machine.

The short version (in the order listed above): Missed the music so no opinion but stuff-projected-behind-the-stage always makes me wonder what they're covering up; never the same and mathematically improbably always above median--they rocked; where does the invisible bass player stand and why so prog-rock?; always lovely and stellar with vibraphone (twice), pretty and whispered but I imagined there was some interpersonal tension on stage; move further from "pretty and...uh....pretty" toward "shit, they rock!" every time I see them and they had a violin and a viola; and silly, wild, and playful but they've got to have some serious talent to keep it from careening off the stage and crashing in a heap and someone getting hurt.

Whew. Now I feel better. I promise, I'll never hide anything from you again.