Hockey at Sasquatch ::: Photo by Josh

Portland-by-way-of-Spokane band Hockey has come a long way in the two years since we last saw them tearing it up at the Comet Tavern. This year they are playing festival stages, Sasquatch and Bonaroo among them, as well as taking their act across the water for festival season there. A look at their myspace schedule right now indicates they’ll be spending are large portion of their 2009 summer throughout western Europe. Singles will get people’s attention right quick, and “Too Fake” is a good one:

Two lucky readers who comment on this post by Monday June 22nd at 5pm, will randomly be chosen to claim a vinyl copy of Hockey’s new release Mind Chaos which doesn’t come out until August 25th. You read that right, this contest will have two winners. If you’re comment gets held for moderation, don’t worry, we’ll make sure it gets approved in a timely manner and considered properly.

I’ll note in the comments when the contest is closed and our winners have been chosen.

Murder City Devils ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Our day 2 of Sasquatch was focused around Mad Rad to start, the Avett Brothers and then the Murder City Devils both on the mainstage mid-day, and then Of Montreal to finish off. Each of these bands lived up to their billing, with Of Montreal taking the award for the most visually riveting rock n’ roll experience, and Murder City taking their own for the most painfully riveting set to watch. And did anyone else think the singer for The Henry Clay People sounded a little too much like Hutch? Just sayin’.

Head over to flickr to view the entire day’s set of pictures.

Mad Rad ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Mad Rad ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Hockey ::: Photo by Abey Simmons

Dancing to Hockey ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The Henry Clay People ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

John Vanderslice ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

St. Vincent ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

St. Vincent ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons

Avett Brothers ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Fences ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Murder City Devils ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

Read the rest of this entry »

The Builders and the Butchers ::: Photo by Josh

Last year Sasquatch showed Seattle’s up and comer’s a whole lot of love, and this year Portland is the local city with the honor of the most performers. In fact it’s a veritable who’s who of notables coming out of PDX: Hockey, Blind Pilot, Loch Lomond, M Ward, The Decemberists, Viva Voce, Pt. Juncture, WA, The Builders and the Butchers, Blitzen Trapper, Horse Feathers. We can honestly say there’s not a bad one in the bunch and something for everyone, with a small gripe that maybe a little more female representation from the Rose city might’ve been nice (Laura Viers, Mirah, Explode into Colors… the list is lengthy).

To help you decide about which of these distinguished Oregonian bands you should see, I’ve assembled a nice list of free tracks from each of these bands (except one band who keeps a tight grip on their tracks online) for you to evaluate on the long drive to the Gorge. Enjoy and make sure to pick up these band’s albums should you like what you hear. A number of these bands including the Decemberists and Blind Pilot will be signing their albums at the Easy Street Booth throughout the festival, so take a look at that schedule too.

MP3: “Go On Say It” by Blind Pilot courtesy of SXSW 2009

MP3: “Blue Lead Fences” by Loch Lomond courtesy of SXSW 2009

MP3: “Never Had No One Like You” by M Ward courtesy of Merge Records

MP3: “Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect” by The Decemberists courtesy of Kill Rock Stars

MP3: “Devotion” by Viva Voce courtesy of Barsuk Records

MP3: “Sick on Sugar” by Pt. Juncture, WA
courtesy of Pt. Juncture, WA

MP3: “Devil Town” by The Builders and the Butchers

MP3: “Gold For Bread” by Blitzen Trapper courtesy of Sub Pop Records

MP3: “Curs in the Weeds” by Horse Feathers courtesy of Kill Rock Stars

Video: “Too Fake” by Hockey

So Portland band Hockey, now signed to Capitol Records, has a new video for their song “Too Fake,” that looks pretty good. Despite being posted over a week ago (February 23), it’s only been viewed, as of this writing, 89 times. I’m frankly shocked and disappointed. Only 89 times? And then I saw it… “Embedding Disabled by Request” paired with “Hockey - Too Fake CAPITOL (P) 2009 The copyright in this audiovisual recording is owned by EMI Records Ltd.”

Ah-hah. It’s all coming together now. Really?! Still?!! Clearly this strategy isn’t too effective one week out. Don’t they know embedding is the cat’s pajama’s for everyone? (Maybe they’ve got a stereogum premiere or something? Maybe they really don’t care if people watch a video they spent many thousands of dollars on?)

In lieu of my normally being able to embed the video, head over to youtube to see Hockey’s “Too Fake.” Maybe you’ll be lucky stream number 100.

Aristeia ::: Photo by Josh

So last Thursday we get there expecting Hockey at 10. Instead Ms Led who was originally headlining, asked if they could play second to last since they were going to be heading down to be counselors at that rock camp for girls in Portland the following day. Anyways, to make a long story short, Hockey ended up playing last and Aristeia was the first band we got. It all worked out though.

Generally I don’t like prog/experiemental/instrumental bands. While most go big, in my mind very few have the necessary chops to pull off a truly interesting and experimental sound, and most sound like caricatures of themselves by getting too loud or only being loud. In seeing Aristeia for the first time in the dingy confines of the Comet I was struck by the sheer magnificence of their output without the pesky volume issues that usually effect small shows or inexperienced bands, as well as their attention to texture and mood.

Pedals were in evidence heavily all around (including my personal favorite of the moment the Big Muff) and they were actually using them in ways most bands ignore. Along with a tightly woven dueling (dueting?) guitars, delicate and efficient use of the delay was surely a trademark effect of the quieter moments. In my mind a truly successful instrumental rock band has just as much mastery over the quiet moments as the loud ones, and Aristeia did just that with frightening frequency and precision, keeping me interested and engaged their whole set.

Ms Led came next, and as per usual, made it really feel like a weekend party night by ratcheting up the rawk while following them was Hockey who broke the Comet after three songs by blowing a fuse that the soundman was having a hard time fixing. We decided to jet once that time of the night came around, but all in all came out of the night feeling pretty good about hearing Aristeia. They’ll be back in Seattle on September 6 at the Skylark Cafe in West Seattle.

Aristeia ::: Photo by Josh

Ms Led ::: Photo by Abbey