LORD HURON, LEON BRIDGES
(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) “A friend of mine asked if Sam Cooke was one of my inspirations,” says Leon Bridges. “I was like, ‘Nah, but I’ve heard about him.'” That was about two years ago. At that time, Bridges’ tastes were of the moment. “I was listening to a lot of underground hiphop,” he says. “I was listening to a lot of Frank Ocean and Miguel, all that type of stuff.” Then his friend mentioned Sam Cooke. “After that was when I really started digging in to the older sound,” Bridges says. “And that’s when I really found my voice.” Indeed, Echoes of ’60s R&B abound in the 25-year-old Texan’s music. Bridges possesses an effortlessly sweet, smooth, enveloping vocal instrument and a resplendent, retro style. He can also turn a clever phrase. ANDREW R TONRY Read the full article on Leon Bridges.
SOUL’D OUT MUSIC FESTIVAL: LYRICS BORN, BLACK MILK, NEKA AND KAHLO, DJ WICKED
(Alhambra Theatre, 4811 SE Hawthorne) Lyrics Born is a Bay Area rapper who initially came out of the underground rap world as one half of the hiphop duo Latyrx. For his upcoming solo release, Real People, he decamped to New Orleans to collaborate with local musicians, creating a soulful, funky sound to spit over. Black Milk is a producer/rapper from Detroit who is touring with his band, Nat Turner, comprised of a bassist, drummer, and keyboardist/vocalist. Neka and Kahlo are an immensely talented Portland duo featuring singer/musician Neka and rapper Kahlo. Tonight finds them introducing material from their debut full-length, Outside the L.I.N.E. RYAN FEIGH Also see My, What a Busy Week!
TWO GALLANTS, WILL SPROUT
(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) On their fifth studio album, San Francisco’s Two Gallants called upon the fuzzier garage-rock wellsprings of their homebase. We Are Undone still matches the complex, rich-sounding blues guitar flurries of Adam Stephens with the fiery, unhinged drumming of Tyson Vogel; the difference here is that the band’s ambitious palette now emerges blustery and more daringly rock ‘n’ roll. The single “Incidental” is a blistering punk number teeming with California double-snare beats and pop-centric melodies. If for some reason you’d forgotten how good this band is, this song will make you come back and apologize to someone about it real quick. Tonight’s show is the first on their month-long US jaunt, so get to the Aladdin and don’t listen to that person behind you asking you to sit down. RYAN J. PRADO
THE DELINES, SCOTT McCAUGHEY
(Kelly’s Olympian, 426 SW Washington) The Damnations were one of the great near-misses of the ’90s alt-country bubble, a band of twangy Texans that always seemed on the verge of something big, but never quite got there. And you probably already know Portland’s Richmond Fontaine as a slow-burning Americana success fronted by celebrated novelist Willy Vlautin. Last year, Vlautin wrote some songs for a new band called the Delines, and the Damnations’ Amy Boone sang ’em, and the result was Colfax, a gorgeous collection of tunes that unfold slowly, allowing vintage country and low-key soul to tease and tangle in time. The Delines make music for late nights at the coolest bar in your neighborhood, which is to say they make songs that you never want to end. BEN SALMON
THIRD ANGLE, JACOB COOPER, MELLISSA HUGHES
(Studio 2 at Zoomtopia, 810 SE Belmont) To close out the group’s inaugural season of small showcases for modern classical, the Third Angle Ensemble is flying out composer Jacob Cooper and singer Melissa Hughes, both from New York, who will perform the song cycle Silver Threads. The work began with Hughes singing the words of a haiku by Matsuo Bashö over Cooper’s skipping, glitchy electronic backdrop, but was expanded into a full song cycle after five poets were commissioned to write new work based on the original Japanese text. The whole package is an abstract masterpiece, anchored by Hughes’ breathtaking soprano that curls around each line like a soft grip. ROBERT HAM