NW Noise Reviews
Oh Darling CD Release Review
MP3 of Shoulda Never
We were a the CD release for Oh Darling on Friday, October 3rd at the Doug Fir. Oh Darling’s new release, Nice, Nice, is one of my favorite albums for 2008, from Portland. It’s a mature composition, with a unique sound and has enough energy to propel the band out of Portland and on to bigger and better places.
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Oh Darling - Nice Nice
MP3 of Shoulda Never
Alright, I’ll admit it, a have a bit of a thing for Portland singer/songwriter Jasmine Ash. Yes, every time I talk to her, I turn into a 14 year old girl flipping through the pages of Tiger Beat looking at pictures of Orlando Bloom. But what’s not to like about her: she’s a pretty girl, with a great sense of fashion (along with band mate J. Marie), and she loves bunnies. However, this post is not about my admittedly borderline-concerning crush for Jasmine. Nay, it is about the debut album Nice Nice from Jasmine’s band, Oh Darling.
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Obscured By Clouds
MP3 of Soft Cheeked & Worried
Portland-based art rock band Obscured By Clouds will release their first full-length album, Psycheclectic, on October 14th of this year, appropriately just in time for Halloween. Band members William Weikart (vocals, guitars, synthesizers), Kevin Cozad (piano, synthesizers), Reinhardt Melz (drums), Ian Wengs (bass), and Matthew Bradley (guitars) maintain heavy influence by psychedelic and art rock of the 60s and 70s, particularly experimental bands like Pink Floyd. Even the band’s name, Obscured By Clouds, is a tribute to Pink Floyd’s 1972 album of the same name.
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Caught in Motion
MP3 of Blood Still Beats
Caught in Motion’s new album On the Edge of a Dream drops into life in a series of poignant pop songs…
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The Slants: Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts
MP3 of Sakura Sakura
Being the chief resident “Asian expert” of NW Noise, it only makes sense for me to review the debut album Slanted Eyes, Slanted Hearts from Portland-based Chinatown dance rock band, The Slants. While the band’s name may raise a few eyebrows, their music is sure to gain attention based its own merit. Living in a town where “everyone is in a band”, it can be difficult to find a lot of diversity within the local music community. However, The Slants are unlike anything I have heard in the Portland scene, and as much as I love the “Portland sound,” in this case, that’s a good thing.
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Brandon Chandler Review
MP3 of Until the Whiskey Wears Off
I was very impressed by the debut album of Brandon Chandler and his band, The Revival, titled After All This Time. The album is a very catchy and soulful tracklist of summery tunes, like something you’d hear gracing the background at the neighborhood backyard barbecue. Chandler’s voice is reminiscent of the vocal style of Jason Mraz and Ray LaMontagne, and as a big fan of those aforementioned artists, I found Chandler and his band’s work equally appealing. He has a bluesy, feel-good vibe, paired with beautifully written lyrics and excellent guitar sound. I loved the diversity of instruments used, from guitars to pianos to organs, all mashed together into the wonderful harmony of sweet-sounding soul.
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Ehren Ebbage - Ten Cent Souvenir
MP3 of Ehren Ebbage - Ten Cent Souvenir
Traditionally I’m not a big fan of acoustic guitar music, it reminds me too much of summer camp sing-alongs and s’mores and almost every Christian “rock” band out there. Despite my bias, there were a few songs on Ehren Ebbage’s debut solo album, Ten Cent Souvenir, that led to obsessive repeat listens. My favorite track on the album was track two, “The Way She Does It”.
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Perhapst - A Sonic Journey
MP3 of Caution
Disclaimer—I tend not to like side projects, and Perhapst, the new effort from The Decemberists’ drummer John Moen, is no exception. Though the results are often interesting, there is just something unfinished about most side projects—not to mention the faint tinge of vanity hanging around like an emo kid at a frat party.
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Not at Sasquatch...but with Blind Pilot
MP3 of I Buried a Bone
Unlike Tim, I was unlucky enough to miss the vaunted festival in lovely George, Washington. So while he limped between stages, dodging showers and quaffing overpriced cups of alcoholic heaven, I turned my attention to the debut release of local band Blind Pilot.
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El Perro Del Mar - From The Valley To The Stars
MP3 of El Perro Del Mar's Somebody's Baby
Sarah Assbring, a Swedish pop artist. She is the sole member of El Perro Del Mar, a band name that came to her after a depressing time in Spain through a stray dog that consoled and bonded with her while seated on a beach. Her songwriting is her expression of her feelings, and with much effort she wrote, played and recorded her own music with the label Hybris releasing a three-song EP of her work in early 2004. After respectable sales of the EP and successful tours of Sweden, the EP was reworked and released in England and Europe in 2006.
El Perro Del Mar’s next album was released in late-2006, self-titled and released by The Control Group in the US, UK, Australia and New Zealand. After a successful tour of the US in 2007 joined by additional bandmates and after jettisoning Hybris for the label Licking Fingers, work on their second album begun: From the Valley to the Stars.
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