Today on The Vinyl District Portland we are going to give you two additional entries into the My First Record pantheon. Why? Because each of the artists that wrote them are going to be spending this weekend celebrating the release of their new albums and they are deserving of all the praise and support as we can give them for making that happen.
So, we cede the spotlight first to Stephanie Schneiderman. This erstwhile member of the folk-pop trio Dirty Martini has just released her 7th solo album, Rubber Teardrop. It continues in the downtempo sexy electronica vibe that she cooked up with collaborator Keith Schreiner on her previous effort Dangerous Fruit but manages to turn up the heat and the intensity throughout.
Ms. Schneiderman will be performing both an opening set with Dirty Martini and a headlining set of her solo work tonight at the Alberta Rose Theatre starting at 8:30 p.m.
I grew up in a house full of music. I have two older sisters and when we weren’t practicing on piano, French horn, clarinet and flute, we played records. We had this tiny little record player with horrible sounding speakers that kept cutting in and out. The first songwriters that stood out to me were Paul Simon, Pat Benatar and Billy Joel.
One of the most consistently brilliant hip-hop crews around, Atmosphere are coming to town to perform for their rabid fan base on Monday May 9th at the Roseland Theater. But you’ll have a chance to meet the boys behind the music in person if you stop by the downtown Jackpot Records on Sunday the 8th at 3pm. They’ll be hanging out behind the counter, autographing copies of their most recent album The Family Sign, and drinking in the adoration of Portland’s hip-hop heads.
Here’s what the good people of Jackpot had to say about this Sunday’s in-store:
Super solid, highly respected and always in our rotation hip hop crew Atmosphere will be turning up at our Downtown location to meet, greet and sign copies of their new album The Family Sign.
Released on April 12 and available at both Jackpots right now, the new cd/lp is another bulletproof entry in one of the most revered contemporary discographies. Atmosphere will be hanging out starting at 3PM at our Downtown location. Come by and say hi or get something signed. We will have plenty of copies of the new album on hand but no purchase is required so just come and enjoy yourself!
The sound of the band known as Lovers is one that feels like the logical extension of the raw punk and rock that came out of the Riot Grrrl movement in the ’90s, even though they sound nothing like their forebears. Instead, these three women embrace the sound of disco and pop, turning the romantic yearnings that sidle through the warm synth drawls and skip-step beats into statements of sexual empowerment and political truth.
The trio are hitting the road for the next two months to bring their powerful and danceable sound to the entire U.S. But before they did singer Carolyn Berk was kind enough to offer up a touching remembrance of the first album that changed her life.
I think the first album I remember responding to in a very visceral way is probably Green, by R.E.M. And particularly I remember the song “You Are The Everything” really touching my heart and being very transformative, as honest and courageous art can be.
I was probably about 15 or 16, my mother had recently died. It was not by any means an easy or peaceful passing, and my father and brother and I had all turned very inward. I remember being in high school, and my father would go to sleep and I would stay up alone in the kitchen and sing that song.
There was also that song, “The Wrong Child,” which expanded my consciousness by being both so vulnerable and so empathetic. The expression of gender on that album felt very real to me, and I was desperate for realness, alone in the cold and motherless suburbs. That album was maybe my first cathartic experience.
Here are the shows you won’t want to miss going on in Portland this week.
Fight Amp (above)/Wizard Rifle @ Tube (18 NW 3rd) Monday May 2nd This fine double billing matches up Wizard Rifle, one of Portland’s best up-and-coming young acts that meshes the bombast of prog rock with the blistering squall of technical metal, with Fight Amp, a band from New Jersey that hearkens back to the halcyon days of Amphetamine Reptile Records with their muscular punk-infused sludge.
Battles @ Doug Fir Lounge (830 E Burnside) Wednesday May 4th When it was announced that Tyondai Braxton was leaving Battles to pursue his solo career, many folks were worried that it would mark the end of the band as a whole or at least put a wrench into their creative heart. But from the sound of the band’s second full-length Gloss Drop (out on Warp Records in June), they are still as wily and punchy and vibrant as ever. And their live show is an unbeatable combination of sweat and volume.
Zola Jesus/Pete Swanson @ Holocene (1001 SE Morrison) Thursday May 5th Not only is this show a must-see as it brings Zola Jesus, one of the most original voices in the indie world, back to Portland for what should be another stunning performance, but it also marks one of Pete Swanson’s last live appearances in the Rose City for some time. This month, he leaves for a Master’s program at Columbia. He will be missed.
Willamette Week’s Best New Band Showcase @ Mississippi Studios (3939 N Mississippi) Friday May 6th This week, the music lovers in Portland will have much cause for joy, debate, and consternation as Willamette Week releases their annual Best New Band edition. Full disclosure: as a writer for WW, I was able to vote in the poll and wrote a profile on one of the top 10 bands for the paper. BUT, I only know who ONE of the winning bands are…but regardless, this is going to be a great night of great music featuring, yes, some of the best Portland musicians playing right now. Top it all off with the fact that it is FREE.
Is everyone still working for the weekend? Does that still happen? If so, you people are seriously missing out on some amazing stuff going on during the days that don’t start with “S”.
For starters, if you saunter down to the downtown Everyday Music today at 3pm, you’ll be treated to a free in-store performance (acoustic, I do believe) by Merrill Garbus, the young polymath musician who records under the hard to type name of tUnE-yArDs. Ms. Garbus is on tour right now in support of her second full-length, the also hard to type w h o k i l l. She’ll be playing tonight at the Doug Fir Lounge (with some fantastic opening acts, Buke & Gass, and White Hinterland), a 21+ venue, so all you underagers will get your shot at seeing her in person.
Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages are welcome at the Hollywood Theatre tonight where the peerless record label Sublime Frequencies and local record shop Exiled Records are hosting a screening of two incredible documentaries about music from far-flung parts of the globe. One, The World Is Unreal Like A Snake In A Rope, is a gorgeous collage of sights and sounds from Tamil Nadu region of India; the other, Land of The Songhai, as the description says “explores the music and landscape of Songhai country in Western Niger.”
The directors of the films, Robert Millis and Hisham Mayet (the latter being one of the founders of Sublime Frequencies), will be in attendance to answer questions about their work. And hopefully the label will have some of their amazing limited-edition LP compilations there for sale as well.
For the past 24 years, Tim Hinely has been documenting the worlds of indie, punk, power pop, garage rock, and beyond in his self-published ‘zine Dagger. A peerless supporter of the above scenes, and the world of rock mags both big and small, Hinely is equally loud and proud about the things that he absolutely loves and the things that he can’t stand. In a word of waffling online writing that rides the fence lest the authors lose advertisers or hits to their pages, Hinely’s ideals have become far too rare, and should be celebrated.
I blame it on the neighbor kid, Scott Baker. This was in the mid-’70s in suburban southern New Jersey (Linwood to be exact). He was a few years older but had a sister my age and a brother a year older than me so we all hung out and played sports (that family was real big into sports). In between trading baseball cards and pickup games of whiffle ball, discussions of music would occasionally creep into the conversations. He told us about a band called the Electric Light Orchestra that we had to get into. “You have to get the record Ole ELO. It’s the best!” I bought that record and he was right, I was quite smitten with that band but it was his next suggestion that sent me over the top: The Beach Boys’ Endless Summer!
Hard to believe but the month of May is just around the corner. And while that does mean warmer weather and another month of baseball (at least that’s what I think about), it also means that Music Millennium is lining up some awesome events at their store on E Burnside.
May will bring an appearance (autograph signing only, sadly) by legendary surf-popsters The Ventures, Seattle roots-rock outfit Massy Ferguson, and a performance by the great Steve Earle.
Peep the rest of the schedule as it stands right now, and be sure to keep an eye on Music Millennium’s website for additions and changes to the schedule.
5/1/11 Brian Oberlin Sunday, May 1, 2011 at 3:00pm
5/2/11 Community Day/Songwriters Circle Rich Waggoner, Mindy Dillard, Eric McEuen Monday, May 2, 2011 at 7:00pm
5/5/11 NoPoMoJo Thursday, May 5, 2011 at 6:00pm
5/7/11 Fonzarelli Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 5:00pm
5/8/11 Steve Earle Pre-buy a copy of the album for guaranteed admission. Sunday, May 8, 2011 at 3:00pm
5/11/11 The Ventures (signing) Wednesday, May 11, 2011 at 7:30pm
5/13/11 Level Flow Friday, May 13, 2011 at 6:00pm
5/14/11 Joe Pug Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 3:00pm
5/15/11 Silverstein/Bayside CD signing Sunday, May 15, 2011 at 4:30pm
5/20/11 Lew Jones Friday, May 20, 2011 at 6:00pm
5/21/11 Massy Ferguson Saturday, May 21, 2011 at 5:00pm
In each city Mike plays where there’s an affiliated TVD, we’ve got an opportunity for one of you to win the aforementioned “hyphenated-man” on vinyl in exchange for your comment to the contest posting. Let us know why you deserve to win Watt’s latest vinyl opera and the most convincing of the bunch will find the LP in his or her mailbox.
For the ninth of ten opportunities to win the new LP, Mike Watt + The Missingmen play Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge on Monday, 4/25. You have one week from today to be sufficiently convincing in the comments to be awarded the record. Comments from a previous hyphenated-man giveaway will still be considered for future ones. Winners must have a mailing address in the continental US or Canada.
Mark Fagan of TVD Austin spoke with Mike in advance of the tour:
Mike Watt’s rock & roll résumé is as impressive as they come. His legendary career began with the Minutemen in 1980 alongside guitarist D Boon and drummer George Hurley which ran until the tragic car accident in December 1985 that took D Boon’s life. He then started fIREHOSE with Hurley and Ed Crawford which existed from 1986 to 1994, and has played bass for the legendary Stooges fronted by Iggy Pop for the last eight years. And those are just a few highlights from his storied career.
He’s back in support of his newest solo album and third opera, hyphenated-man, which features Watt on lead vocals and, of course, holding down the low end on electric bass with his signature flowing style that has inspired and influenced fellow bassists for decades. Interestingly, he actually composed hyphenated-man on D Boon’s Telecaster instead of the bass as per his usual practice.
Due to the growing backlog of projects, Watt decided to start his own label—clenchedwrench—and hyphenated-man has the honor of being the first release from this new imprint. The Vinyl District had a chance to chat with Mike before he hit the road.
A BUNCH OF LITTLE THINGS MAKE ONE
TVD: I read that hyphenated-man is inspired by the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. Can you go into further detail on this? Watt: … [The documentary film on the Minutemen] We Jam Econo, have you heard of this?
TVD: Oh, certainly. Watt: Ok, [hyphenated-man] was being made about the same time these cats Keith [Scheiron] and Tim [Irwin] asked me to help them. So I hadn’t listened to Minutemen in a long time because of sadness – with D Boon – but I had to hear it, ya know, for this thing. They wanted me to do a spiel and drive ’em around town. But hearing it was it was like, “Wow, I kinda like this little thing.” [Watt laughs] Ya know, no filler. I wanna work again with this kind of thing. I mean we got the idea from the English band called Wire, Pink Flag. But I still like the way ya know George [Hurley], Boon, and myself went and did this. I wanted to do it again. It struck a chord in me, a resonance in me. Mr. Bosch used all these little things to make one big thing.
Minutemen kinda did that with a record or a gig ya know, a bunch of little things make one. That’s where I kinda found a little parallel. So, in a way I went back to my old days, but then in the opera form. … I was also thinking of this other angle, as far as the middle-aged thing goes. Dorothy and The Wizard of Oz. I don’t know the intention of the writer, it was a man, L. Frank Baum. I don’t know his intentions. But my take is like, you notice that that tin man and scarecrow and lion, they’re the farm hands.
They may just be getting things cleaned up from Record Store Day 2011 and Red Fang’s raucous in-store performance, but Jackpot Records‘ downtown location is ready to welcome another acclaimed band in for a daytime performance tomorrow.
This time it is San Francisco’s dream poppers The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart. The quartet is on the road in support of their fine sophomore LP Belong, and will be playing a 21+ show at the Doug Fir Lounge. So this is your only chance tomorrow to catch a set of catchy, shoegaze-y pop if you are below the drinking age. It all starts at 2pm at the Jackpot Records at 203 SW 9th Ave.
You’ve already read his amazing My First Record post here on The Vinyl District. And hopefully that led you to check out his music. And if you’re like us, you probably loved what you heard and wanted to have some to call your own.
Well, good people, you are in luck.
Big Pauper and his label Circle Into Square are offering up three copies of his new amazing new album Beyond My Means!
All you have to do to win is this: leave a comment to this post telling us what you would buy first if you decided to live beyond your means.
We’ll pick the best three answers and send the writers their very own copy of the new Big Pauper LP. Make sense? Gosh, I hope so.
Contest ends on Monday April 25th at 11:59pm PT. Plenty of time to think up a great answer and to enter. And while you’re working on that, check out Big Pauper’s video for his track “First Trimester, Second Month” below.
For the past nine years, Ghostwriter (known to his family as Steve Schecter) has been strapping on a dirty-sounding hollow body guitar and using it to tear out some vicious country-blues riffs, while straining his already tortured vocal chords to spell out stories of working men, hard living, and kicking against the pricks. The hard-working Schecter is also a testament to the DIY spirit, releasing all of his albums on his own and booking all of his shows and tours (including a recent date in Portland opening up for Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds).
Some of my earliest memories are of records blasting through the house. My folks have always been really into music, which is lucky growing up in Friend, Oregon (rural Wasco County). We didn’t have TV reception, so the stereo was our focal point. There are stories of me bouncing on the couch to Waylon Jennings as a toddler, and I have faint memories of Kristofferson and Dylan. But Elvis Costello’s My Aim Is True has to be the first album I really remember being infatuated with.
Mere hours are between you and your favorite unsanctioned holiday of the year: Record Store Day. I’m already buzzing at the prospect of getting my hands on some exclusive wax and then getting a bacon maple bar or 12 from Voodoo Doughnut’s mobile service at the downtown Jackpot.
Now, we’ve already clued you into the many shops that are doing special stuff for RSD 2011, from the aforementioned Jackpot to Music Millennium to the good folks at Record Room and Tender Loving Empire and Everyday Music. But those are hardly the only shops that provide you and I with our regular fixes of new tunes. And while we haven’t heard from many of those stores about special stuff they have going on tomorrow, we’d be remiss if we didn’t encourage you to stop by either tomorrow or at some point during your frantic hunt for that rare Flock of Seagulls 12″.
I won’t take the time to link you every one…because someone has done that for me! The good people at Stumptown Printers have run off hundreds of copies of the 2011 Portland Guide to Independent Record and CD Stores that you can pick up around town, and have given you the list of all the shops in the guide on their website as an online reference. There are plenty of places worthy of your time and money, so close your eyes, pick a shop, and give them your business.
It’s not just the big name shops getting in on the action on Record Store Day here in Portland. The fine folks who run the Tender Loving Empire label and retail space have announced that they will be cutting the price on their TLE releases by 20% on April 16th! And when you consider the amazing roster of folks signed to the label – Typhoon, Loch Lomond, Jared Mees & The Grown Children, among them – that is one incredibly enticing offer.
The shop (located on 412 SW 10th Ave.) also boasts a sizable selection of vinyl, CDs and cassettes all by local bands or local labels, on top of their vast supplies of homemade jewelry, clothes, and tchotchkes.
More music purveyors are getting in on the Record Store Day fun here in Portland and I will endeavor to bring as much news about what they’re up to as possible, starting with all the events that Everyday Music has lined up for their two locations.
The downtown store (at 1313 W Burnside) has a full day of music planned, starting with an instore performance by Hosannas at 1:30pm. At 2pm Zia McCabe from the Dandy Warhols will spin records, and then will follow that up with a performance by her new side project, Brush Prairie. 4pm brings in Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside for a set, and the day gets wrapped up with DJ sets from Nurses (5pm), White Hinterland (6pm) and Ancient Heat (7pm).
There are only two events planned for the NE Portland shop (at 1931 NE Sandy Blvd.) but they are fantastic ones. Mudhoney’s Steve Turner does his second DJ set of the day there starting at 1pm, and the band Purple & Green will be performing there at 4pm.
To sweeten the deal, they are also having a one day sale on the 16th where all new music is 10% off and all used music is 20% off.
In a town cluttered with singer-songwriters culling from the dense history of folk, blues, and pop, it takes something extra special to get your voice heard above the din. One of the few artists able to reach those heights is Brooke Parrott. This wayward spirit has been stirring up quite a storm throughout the U.S. and U.K. with her poignant storytelling and the rambling lilt of her rich, evocative singing voice.
Parrott is gearing up for a quick NW tour that starts tomorrow, April 13th, in Portland at The Woods and ends with two nights in Port Townsend (check the rest of the tour dates below).
As musicians, we rely on our creative instinct like people with regular jobs rely on their beat-up Subaru (in Portland, anyway) to get them to work. It’s a tool – we don’t understand how it works, and it may falter from time to time, but we know that it will get us there eventually.
But where does that creative instinct come from? We spend an entire music career trying to cultivate it, but I believe it initially comes from what we listened to during our early years.
