Best New Bands » Portland http://www.bestnewbands.com News, Reviews and Interviews Wed, 07 Feb 2018 02:08:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=3.8.41 San Cisco Takes Portland To Another World http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/san-cisco-takes-portland-to-another-world/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/san-cisco-takes-portland-to-another-world/#comments Mon, 12 Aug 2013 01:00:00 +0000 Though the members of San Cisco claim that the band’s name means nothing – it is not a real place and has no definition, it just kind of came to be – the Australian-based quartet seems to transport its listeners to a far off land with its dark indie pop covered in a sugary sweet

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  1. Album Review: San Cisco – S/T If there was one album that encapsulated the summer of 2013, it’d be San Cisco’s self-titled debut full-length. The Australian quartet, led by guitarist/vocalist Jordi Davieson, have successfully shrunk the sunny months into 37 minutes of pure indie pop bliss....
  2. The Morning Benders play Big Echo at Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge San Francisco four-piece The Morning Benders played with Cults and Twin Sister at Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge on Tuesday night in support of their recent breakthrough release, Big Echo. The two openers played lively sets that seemed to intrigue the...
  3. Show Review: J Tillman and Phosphorescent at Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge The mellow crowd at Portland’s Doug Fir on Friday night came to almost complete silence when folk singer-songwriter J Tillman sang his first words. Despite his relative fame as the drummer with the sweet voice from Fleet Foxes, Tillman has...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/san-cisco-takes-portland-to-another-world/feed/ 0 Pony Village Premieres Whimsical Acoustic Single, “Wildwood Drive” http://www.bestnewbands.com/previews/pony-village-premieres-whimsical-acoustic-single-wildwood-drive/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/previews/pony-village-premieres-whimsical-acoustic-single-wildwood-drive/#comments Tue, 19 Mar 2013 15:23:09 +0000 Up in the Pacific Northwest, clouds and rain make up the majority of the weather, and though it can be dreary, it can also make for some inspired songwriting. That mood and feeling the rain produces in some is an excellent tool, not to mention the excuse to stay inside the studio and write/record while

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  1. Love Echo Premieres Sensual New Single, “Control” Leave it to a guy/girl duo to create a new type of seductive, lucid dream pop. Love Echo has self-described its music as “post-dreampop, post-chillwave, post-electroindiepop, post-post-twee, post traumatic stress disorder,” and oddly enough, that’s not far off. Consisting of...
  2. Burywood Premieres His Slow-burning Single ‘Blackberry Scowl’ Philip Woodbury has been writing music since his mid-teens, recording songs in his bedroom on a cheap digital 8-track and compiling them onto CDs for his family and friends. But as he aged, his recording proficiency grew—as did his means...
  3. Deleted Scenes Premieres New Single ‘English as a Second Language’ Washington DC art-rockers Deleted Scenes has premiered the first single “English as a Second Language” from their genre-tweaking, sophomore full-length, Young People’s Church of the Air, due out July 10th on Park The Van Records. Streaming at Paste, the single’s “lyrics are dark,...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/previews/pony-village-premieres-whimsical-acoustic-single-wildwood-drive/feed/ 0 La Sera Charms Mississippi Studios http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/la-sera-charms-mississippi-studios/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/la-sera-charms-mississippi-studios/#comments Wed, 14 Nov 2012 21:54:37 +0000 I had never seen La Sera live, but walking into Mississippi Studios last Thursday evening, this is what I did know: Katy Goodman—bassist of lo-fi dream-pop outfit Vivian Girls—was currently touring with her side project La Sera in support of her recent (and quite good) sophomore effort, Sees the Light. The show was part of

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  1. Show Review: A B & The Sea at Portland’s Mississippi Studios San Francisco band A B & The Sea played an energetic short set at Portland’s Mississippi Studios Monday night. The band hopped on the small stage just a few minutes after 9 pm, calling keyboardist David Hunt, who was lagging,...
  2. The Ascetic Junkies: Fun At Mississippi Studios Portland’s Mississippi Studios was packed last night for the Nicole Atkins/Cotton Jones show. People who showed up early enough to see The Ascetic Junkies open were the lucky ones, though. In spite of their austere-sounding name, The Ascetic Junkies play...
  3. Sophie Barker Live At Mississippi Studios In Portland Election night also marked the last stop on Sophie Barker’s West Coast tour at Mississippi Studios in Portland, OR. Amongst the cheers and boos in the next room, Barker and her band played a deliciously down tempo show for a...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/la-sera-charms-mississippi-studios/feed/ 0 Album Review: Onuinu – Mirror Gazer http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/album-review-onuinu-mirror-gazer/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/album-review-onuinu-mirror-gazer/#comments Thu, 27 Sep 2012 04:20:25 +0000 It’s easy for a band or artist to find inspiration from a certain style of music, but how about creating an entirely new genre? That’s what Dorian Duvall did. Under the moniker Onuinu (pronounced on-you-in-you), the Portland-based multi-instrumentalist refers to his music as “disco-hop,” and it’s an accurate description of his sound. Duvall admits that

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  1. Album Review: Expensive Looks – Dark Matters Over the past few years, musicians and producers have blended into one entity. With the rise of the “chillwave” genre, more musicians have turned to producing synthetic beats and recycling bits and pieces of old tunes to create new music,...
  2. Album Review: Miike Snow, Happy To You If Miike Snow’s eponymous debut is this relatively new band’s introduction to indie-friendly electro-pop music, then this sophomore offering by Stockholm-based trio is their gate to top-40 success. For some this is a revelation, but if you found comfort in...
  3. Album Review: Matthew Dear, Beams In nine years, Matthew Dear has shown many incarnations, from DJ to producer to pop artist, but it wasn’t until his latest release that the co-founder of both Ghostly International and its offshoot Spectral Sound revealed the most important person...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/album-review-onuinu-mirror-gazer/feed/ 0 King Tuff Lights Up The Doug Fir http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/king-tuff-lights-up-the-doug-fir/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/king-tuff-lights-up-the-doug-fir/#comments Thu, 26 Jul 2012 16:16:39 +0000 It’s not that the sun hates Portland, OR. It’s just… a little negligent. Even after the summer solstice, when the rest of the country bakes in warmer climes, it’s not uncommon to find us still cursing overcast skies (see: this). So if we ever needed some irreverent stoner rock to boost our spirits and fuel

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  1. AU’s Both Lights Shines at Doug Fir In Portland They weren’t exactly unknowns, but after being introduced to AU via their excellent—and critically recognized—2008 release Verbs, mention of the Portland experimental pop outfit to local music fans had been met with a disconcerting number of shrugged shoulders and furrowed...
  2. Kaki King’s GuiTour What surprises most people about Kaki King is her size. She’s not a tall girl, and it’s a wonder how her small hands manipulate the guitar like they do. Since meeting her back in 2008 at Outside Lands while running...
  3. Show Review: J Tillman and Phosphorescent at Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge The mellow crowd at Portland’s Doug Fir on Friday night came to almost complete silence when folk singer-songwriter J Tillman sang his first words. Despite his relative fame as the drummer with the sweet voice from Fleet Foxes, Tillman has...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/king-tuff-lights-up-the-doug-fir/feed/ 0 Cults Mix the Past and Present at Wonder Ballroom http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/cults-mix-the-past-and-present-at-wonder-ballroom/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/cults-mix-the-past-and-present-at-wonder-ballroom/#comments Sun, 15 Apr 2012 17:59:39 +0000 As a currency, nostalgia seems to be more valuable than ever.  Thanks to the Internet, the neatly packaged annals of human history are available everywhere, at any time. People are now archivists of this information, with rediscovered art currents blooming in a scattered, but collective renaissance. I’ll admit this topic is well-trod ground, especially from

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  1. The Cults take over San Francisco’s Clift Hotel On Sunday night, the Clift Hotel in San Francisco continued their successful free concert series run with a performance from the New York Indie Lo-Fi band the Cults.  Having just formed as a band in 2010, this project has already...
  2. Walls and Battles Take Over Portland’s Webster Ballroom Thursday night at Portland’s Wonder Ballroom might not have been the best place to see too many great singers, but stellar musicians abounded. First up was Walls, a two-piece electronic act that took the stage right at 9:00. The band...
  3. 89.9 KCRW Presents New Years Eve at The Standard Hotel in West Hollywood with:: Jenny and Johnny, Cults and DJ Marion Hodges 89.9 KCRW Presents New Years Eve at The Standard Hotel in West Hollywood with: Jenny and Johnny, Cults, and DJ Marion Hodges – Sat, December 31, 2011, Doors: 8:00 pm / Show: 9:30 pm (event ends at 1:00 am) The Standard Hotel, West Hollywood, CA $75.00...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/cults-mix-the-past-and-present-at-wonder-ballroom/feed/ 0 AU’s Both Lights Shines at Doug Fir In Portland http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/au-s-both-lights-shines-at-doug-fir-in-portland/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/au-s-both-lights-shines-at-doug-fir-in-portland/#comments Sat, 10 Mar 2012 21:40:15 +0000 They weren’t exactly unknowns, but after being introduced to AU via their excellent—and critically recognized—2008 release Verbs, mention of the Portland experimental pop outfit to local music fans had been met with a disconcerting number of shrugged shoulders and furrowed brows. Still, four years later, the duo had little problem selling-out the Doug Fir for

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  1. Show Preview: Brad Mackeson, Redwood Son, and Glassbones at Portland’s Doug Fir This week we have a show preview for best-new-band-hunters in Portland, Oregon at the charming Doug Fir Lounge. Local PR company In Music We Trust hosts a local showcase at the Doug Fir each month and we think this week’s...
  2. Show Preview: Peter Wolf Crier at Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge Portlanders can enjoy a night of mellow indie-folk at one of the rose city’s best music venues this Friday. Head to the Doug Fir early for some dinner or to enjoy some of the great happy hour bar food. Walk...
  3. Reading Rainbow and The Dodos at the Doug Fir in Portland Reading Rainbow by Maxwell Monty Tuesday night’s Reading Rainbow & The Dodos show at the Doug Fir Lounge jumped out the the gate, with opener Reading Rainbow taking the stage at exactly their assigned time of 9:15. The Boy-Girl garage-pop...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/au-s-both-lights-shines-at-doug-fir-in-portland/feed/ 0 Starfucker Hit The New Parish Full Force with Beams of Synth http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/starfucker-hit-the-new-parish-full-force-with-beams-of-synth/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/starfucker-hit-the-new-parish-full-force-with-beams-of-synth/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 02:37:17 +0000 The Portland based pop-heavy electro project Starfucker used to get more attention from their name than their music. Finally, they are resolving this issue after failed name changes (Pyramiddd and PYRAMID) with a nearly sold out tour last spring, monster crowd at Outside Lands and likely the same story this time around. It was no

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  1. Shopping for Dresses with Starfucker After my first time seeing Starfucker play at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, last fall, I was hooked. This Portland based electro-pop band has been bringing dance floors alive with their fun lyrics and infectious snyth hooks...
  2. Walter Meego Weaves Dreamy Synth Pop Fantasies at the Echo Walter Meego is a five piece synthpop band that sounds like of Montreal meets Islands meets Vampire Weekend.  Last night at The Echo, they filled their headlining set with the kind of dreamy dance pop that’s so in vogue right...
  3. Morning Teleportation Beams Up to The Mercury Lounge I’m going to be honest; early shows have never really been my thing. I like a little time to take off my dinner suit and put on my music critic hoodie. Plus it feels weird to be inside a darkened...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/starfucker-hit-the-new-parish-full-force-with-beams-of-synth/feed/ 2 Live Review: The Cave Singers Bring Pacific Northwest Folk to Los Angeles http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/live-review-the-cave-singers-bring-pacific-northwest-folk-to-los-angeles/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/live-review-the-cave-singers-bring-pacific-northwest-folk-to-los-angeles/#comments Mon, 12 Dec 2011 21:48:58 +0000 The Cave Singers could not have chosen a better venue to host its backwoods-inspired folk than the legendary Troubadour in West Hollywood.  Astounding history aside, the Los Angeles club’s atmosphere is small and intimate, which is perfect for a band that engages its audience as much as the Seattle-based swamp rockers. Saturday night was not

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  1. Seattle Rockers Come Out Of Their Cave To Make Terrific Album Seattle has long been a hub for rock bands. Starting with Jimi Hendrix to the grunge bands of the early ‘90s to the Sub Pop indie rock revival in the past decade, Seattle has housed the best music of generations...
  2. The Surf Roots Tour: Currently Working its Way Through the Pacific Northwest Eugene, OR certainly missed a great show last night. The Surf Roots Tour, featuring Tamarama, The Green, Stranger and Anuhea, stopped at the WOW Hall, but only 25 or so people came to see it. A small audience didn’t affect...
  3. MusicFest Northwest Preview! Portland’s best music festival is back again! This will be year ten for MusicFest Northwest, the city-wide festival sponsored by the Rose City’s alternative weekly paper, Willamette Week. MFNW lets music fans run rampant through the city; all you need...
]]> http://www.bestnewbands.com/live-reviews/live-review-the-cave-singers-bring-pacific-northwest-folk-to-los-angeles/feed/ 0 Album Review: Blitzen Trapper – American Goldwing http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/album-review-blitzen-trapper-american-goldwing/ http://www.bestnewbands.com/album-reviews/album-review-blitzen-trapper-american-goldwing/#comments Fri, 11 Nov 2011 19:31:11 +0000 There’s a feeling that I get when I listen to the new Blitzen Trapper, an inexplicable sense of warmth and home. American Goldwing is a quintessential rock album. It is all things to all people. At one point it feels like Bob Dylan as is the case with “Stranger in a Strange Land,” but then

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  1. Dawes and Blitzen Trapper Release Free Tour Sampler EP for Upcoming Fall Tour I find I encounter this issue frequently:  I am going to a concert, and I range from vaguely familiar with to wholeheartedly obsessed with one of the bands, and am completely clueless about the opener or headliner or co-headliner or...
  2. Album Review: Indians I was sitting in front of my new laptop today lamenting the death of Punk Rock…again. Punk has lived and died more times in the past twenty years than Paul McCartney during the Abbey Road years. Then I listened to...
  3. Album Review: Big Talk’s Debut Album Is a Fun but Forgettable Effort And so Ronnie Vannucci comes crashing into the rock music scene, proving his place as a solo artist and talented musician.  The Killers’ drummer and Jason-Lee-lookalike releases the self-titled, debut album from his solo group, Big Talk, comprised of Vannucci...
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