“Meet me in a land far from here/or just beside the pier.” When Young People’s Katie Eastburn sings this line, over the ebb and flow of guitar that sounds like the creaking hull of an abandoned ship, you believe she’ll be there at the pier, waiting for you. Her voice, a warm alto, rings out […]
Julianne Shepherd
Posted inMusic
Labteknology
The Science of Being Who You Are
Labtekwon Sat June 22 Meow Meow “I never tried to get signed; I was always satisfied just rockin’ the party, making my tapes, and listening to them. Basically, I’m trying to make the album that isn’t out right now. My goal is to fit into the blank space.” Facts are facts: You can’t swing an […]
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Next Stop: Sundance
Experimental Films You Can Understand
40th Ann Arbor Film Festival Tour Fri June 14, Sat June 15 Guild Theater As one of the longest running and most established experimental film festivals in America, the Ann Arbor Film Festival has been foisting dough and status on experimental filmmakers for the past 40 years. Independent filmmakers enter from all over the world, […]
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Bow Down Now
Two Queens of Songwriting
Nina Nastasia Mon June 17 Dante’s Mary Timony Wed June 19 Blackbird Two of the most creative musicians imaginable–glorious ex-Helium noodle-fantasy Mary Timony, and macabre NYC songwriting belle Nina Nastasia–are playing in Portland this week. Along with bloodletting guitarist Shannon Wright, Mary and Nina are part of my personal Holy Trinity of Amazing Solo Artists, […]
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Rock Opera
Denali: Classical Training, Radical ‘Tude
Denali Thurs June 6 Blackbird “I’ve always wanted to be a torch singer. It’s because I’ve always wanted to wear a really slinky dress,” jokes Maura Davis. “But I don’t know if I could really do that in Denali.” Sequined piano-bar attire aside, Ms. Davis has all the makings of a modern-day torch singer: a […]
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Stop Having Babies!
Little Otik: Squelching Your Reproductive Desires
Little Otik dir. Svankmajer Opens Fri May 31 Cinema 21 Babies are such gross little parasites, why anyone would want to have one is a mystery not even Stephen Hawking could decipher. Sure, you may think your biological clock is ticking and that perhaps having a child would add some meaning to your life or […]
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Watch Out For Your Heart
‘Cause Mirah Might Break it
Mirah W/ Calvin Johnson, C.O.C.O., The Blow Sat June 1 VFW Hall & Sat June 1 Handmade Bazaar 5742 NE Mallory, 2pm Certain songs on Mirah’s newest record, Advisory Committee, have the potential to make one pass out from their proximity. The sound of her lilting/strong voice is textural, humid, sweet and close, buzzing so […]
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Sampling Politics
Band Ditches Vocals, Gives Mic to History
From Monument to Masses Fri May 31 Meow Meow “Whether it was U2, Public Enemy, Fugazi or Downcast, I was drawn to music–and art and pop culture in general–that challenged me to face reality,” explains From Monument to Masses bassist Sergio Robledo, about the origins of his band’s politics. “Just by continuing that tradition with […]
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Rock Chemistry
The Joggers Discover the True Meaning of Love
The Joggers CD Release w/ The Standard, Dutch Flat Thurs May 25 Blackbird Ask anyone and they’ll tell you that being a band is like being in a serious romantic relationship: there’s bickering, there’s doubt, there are times when you don’t see eye to eye and when it’s good, it’s really fucking good. The mechanics […]
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Non-Alienating Art
Lofty Classical for the Proletariat
“Abstracts” Fri May 24 Smith Memorial Center at PSU, 7pm, free Everything is music to somebody–car doors slamming, two pieces of wax paper rubbing against each other, the sound of your boss yammering in the next office. Well, most of that stuff is music to John Cage, the guy who wrote “4’33″”–a composition for piano […]
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Dual Logic
Ex-Models Wear Smart Pants and Rock Pants!
Ex-Models w/ Hella, The Seconds Sat May 18 Blackbird It’s not what you think. By calling themselves “Ex-Models,” the NYC quartet isn’t baring its teeth, ironically or otherwise, at the fashion pantheon, and they’re no sons of John Casablancas. Rather, Ex-Models are braniac rockers, referring, in name and nature, to mathematical philosophy. They even titled […]
