At the Paramount Theatre last week, Phantogram opened their set without even being on stage. After they performed two songs obscured from the audience, a screen fell shortly thereafter, revealing the New York duo behind the fourth wall to fervently shake the physical walls of the venue. Going from …
"Good evening" or "we're Iceage from Copenhagan, Denmark" wasn't the first thing that Iceage frontman Elias Bender Rønnenfelt said when the Danish four-piece arrived onstage. It wasn't even a simple "hello". It was a startling, guttural grunt that soared over the opening chords of "On My Fingers". …
"This is our first rap song." Sharon Van Etten may have an extraordinary talent for extracting every last excruciating detail of her romantic failings, but it can't be said that she doesn't have a sense of humor. One of a handful of acts to play during Monday's brief period of cloudy skies, Van Ett…
Although there was plenty of star power on the final day of Sasquatch, there was a clear standout during the early afternoon on Monday, and it wasn't just because brought a Godzilla figurine onstage with her. When an assured Natalie Prass opened with an electric version of "Bird Of Prey", it was cl…
Soul legend Bobby Womack has passed away today at the age of 70. Cause of death is not currently being reported. Womack began performing music in the mid-'50s, and was discovered by Sam Cooke who signed his band, The Valentinos, to SAR Records. The Valentinos' 1964 single "It's All Over Now" was co…
While it's a fairly slow summer week for new releases, there are definitely some terrific Northwest releases to get you shopping at your favorite record store today. In the past three years between their second and third albums, Seattle's Feral Children seem to have grown into men... wild men, sure…
This week's installment of Review Revue -- as is often the case -- finds me learning about all sorts of things I never knew existed, most of which are listed in the title of this very post. Bill Nelson and Daryl Runswick? Never heard of either. Scala? Brond? No idea. And yet due to the technologica…
On the show this time, it’s the groovy, new-classic roots-rock of Portland’s Rose City Band.
The problem with cool stuff is there's always a process by which it becomes uncool. A handful of true artists perfect a craft and then an uncanny number of hackneyed copycats sample bits and pieces out of context and bastardize the whole thing to no end. This is maybe no better exemplified than wit…
Next on the roster for day two of Iceland Airwaves Music Festival live from Kex Hostel were the incredible young polish duo Coals. Hailing from the coal-mining region of Silesia, Poland, an area known for its coal mines, Coals are Katarzyna Kowalczyk and Łukasz Rozmysłowski. Formed in 2014, Coals h…
Even for a band that’s made a career out of reinterpreting styles from the 50s, 60s, 70s, and beyond, Dr. Dog’s latest release, Psychedelic Swamp, (ANTI- Records), is more meta you might think. The album is a rehashing of their first unreleased demo, originally recorded in 2000, and as such, it mak…
With the exception of maybe Kendrick Lamar's epic To Pimp A Butterfly cover, Tame Impala's Currents should win the award for 2015's best artwork. The Australian psych outfit are no stranger to great art - 2012's Lonerism sported a similarly self-describing title, on the outside of an iron gate look…
