Music

Taken By Trees | East of Eden

Rough Trade (2009)
Truth be told, I get a little crumply whenever I hear of Western indie types going off on East-bound inspirational jaunts.

By MICHAEL BRODEUR | September 02, 2009

King Cannibal | Let The Night Roar

Ninja Tune (2009)
King Cannibal is the latest incarnation of the artist formerly known as Zilla, a mixtape prodigy (check the supremely eclectic mid-'00s One Foot in the Fire, One Fist in the Air , if you can track it down) who managed to impress even the jaded Warp Records honchos a few years back.

By GUSTAVO TURNER | September 02, 2009

Beat Circus | Boy From Black Mountain

Cuneiform (2009)
The subjects of the stories sung on this second installment of Beat Circus's "Weird American Gothic" trilogy attain greater awareness of family, culture, and the world by voyaging across schisms in perception.

By BARRY THOMPSON | September 02, 2009

Second summer

Catching up with discs missed
Summer's over, the kids are getting back to school and I'm loath to turn the seasonal page. The music's been terrific. New discs by Spencer and the School Spirit Mafia, Grand Hotel, dilly dilly, Samuel James, and Gypsy Tailwind have highlighted the depth and breadth of our local talent and the return of shows on the pier has reminded many of us just what a great summer town this can be.

By SAM PFEIFLE | August 26, 2009

Rock of wages

Huak intertwine politics, sentiment, and decades of influences
Huak are the rare local band who, in the two-plus years they've been playing regular gigs, sound bolder and more self-possessed every time you see them.

By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | August 26, 2009

Music Seen: [dog] and [pony]

Coming to a computer near you, anytime
Let's face it — it's hot, we're poor, and we're lucky to be stealing our neighbor's wireless. When you can't muster the energy to go out in these dog days of summer you can go to the best attended venue not only in Portland, but worldwide: the Internet.

By SONYA TOMLINSON | August 26, 2009

Holy Boys and Sea Captains

Sibilance
• The HOLY BOYS DANGER CLUB are making a real go of it. They've made a video for "Criminal," off the Lessons for Liars EP from earlier this year. GUY MANLY VIDEOS , who crafted the Cambiata documentary, did the filming. Check the brand-new www.holyboysdangerclub.com to take a peek.

By PORTLAND MUSIC PHOENIX STAFF | August 26, 2009

The Big Hurt: Checking the Billboard Hot 100

Who charted?
As usual, I won't be able to make it through the full 100, but seven is just as good, right?

By DAVID THORPE | August 25, 2009

Community: served

Solillaquists of Sound spread some Orlando magic
Without Solillaquists of Sound and the holistic hip-hop hamlet that its members cultivate within Orlando, their city would be home to little more than methadone retreats and plastic rodent ears.

By CHRIS FARAONE | August 26, 2009

David Bazan | Curse Your Branches

Barsuk (2009)
The "Christian music" tag is still a puzzling cross on David Bazan's back. Sure, he writes a lot about Christianity, but he mostly sticks to its failures in the face of depression, death, and doubt.

By JAKE COHEN | August 25, 2009

A. A. Bondy | When the Devil's Loose

Fat Possum (2009)
I just don't get most of alt-country — what is it even alting us out of at this point?

By MICHAEL BRODEUR | August 25, 2009

Review: Monty Python's Flying Circus: 30 Musical Masterpieces from the Infamous Television Series

DeWolfe (2009)
Such is the legendary status and posthumous influence of the original run of Monty Python's Flying Circus on BBC One in the early '70s that it's easy to forget how low-budget British comedy production was in those days.

By GUSTAVO TURNER | August 25, 2009

Jay Reatard | Watch Me Fall

Matador (2009)
Jay Reatard is the Lil Wayne of the Memphis garage-rock scene.

By MIKAEL WOOD | August 25, 2009

Little Dragon | Machine Dreams

Peacefrog (2009)
Sometime in the not too distant future, we can finally put to rest the endless speculation regarding what machine music will sound like.

By DANIEL BROCKMAN | August 25, 2009

Swinging blues

Samuel James's stories from the road
On the eve of Samuel James's second CD release on Northern Blues Music, For Rosa, Maeve and Noreen , we needed to catch up on all of his happenings since the release of 2008's Songs Famed for Sorrow and Joy .

By SONYA TOMLINSON | August 19, 2009

Rock'n'Roll birthday party!

Sibilance
While you're out celebrating MARK BELANGER 's birthday August 21 — at Geno's, of course — make sure to catch the set by WHITCOMB , who are shaping up to be the next supergroup of sorts.

By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | August 19, 2009

Book of Samuel, Vol. 3

For the ages, and For Rosa, Maeve and Noreen
It's so easy not to think about the music Samuel James makes much at all. Built from the very pillars of American music, it's easy to dismiss it as an homage, a throwback, a curiosity. And it is all those things, with James's ageless voice — he could be 20 or 80 — and variety of stringed instruments that scoff at modern technology.

By SAM PFEIFLE | August 19, 2009