Ehren Ebbage Offers Free Download Site

Current Seattle singer/songwriter Ehren Ebbage (formerly out of Eugene) recently put up supplemental website to his main blog to release music that normally wouldn’t see the light of day. The Ebbage Patch Song Collection features a nice little Christmas track that Ehren recently wrote and recorded, as well as a couple of live tracks recorded at a live show at the Hotel Café in L.A.: “Bury That Feeling,” one of my favorite tracks from Ehren’s debut album Ten Cent Souvenir and “Hurting Me,” a great song that as far as I know hasn’t been released previously, but is frequently included in Ebbage's set (the track also makes for a nice duet when sang with The Dime's Johnny Clay).

Check out this new site when you get a chance (as well as EhrenEbbage.com) and be sure to check out these tracks, especially if you haven’t heard this excellent musician previously.

ehrenebbagesongs.blogspot.com

ehrenebbage.com

Starf***er Name Change Contest

Acknowledging that the band name isn't doing them any favors as far as radio play and getting music out to the kids, Starf***er announced today via their MySpace page that they are having a contest for their fans to pick a new band name. Here's the deets:

"name change contest...
We know our name sucks...so here is your chance to give us a new one.

There are two ways to vote for Starf***er's new name.

*Email your idea to:
newnameideas@gmail.com

OR

*Vote in person at the merch table at a show

This will be our last tour as Starf***er!
If your name is selected, you will get tons of cool shit
Deadline for ideas is October 1st-ish

This is weird, i know..."

Starf***er was a name chosen by founder Josh Hodges when he was recording demos in his basement and didn't think anyone would ever hear them; it was never meant to be a serious band name. I'm curious to see what the fans come up with.

Saying Goodbye To An Old Friend

Ten years ago today my childhood friend, Kevin Riggs, lost his battle with cancer. He was 20 years old. I just found out. I haven't fully processed it yet.

Growing up, I thought Kevin was the coolest guy I knew and the closest thing to a real life Zack Morris that I had ever met. Kevin had the right mix of cockiness and playfulness, he dated the prettiest girls, and he had the right So Cal look. I wanted to be him. Kevin pegged his pants, so did I. Kevin wore L.A. Gear, so did I. Anything I could do to mimic him, I would.

For his birthday one year he had a sleepover at his place. After his parents had gone to bed, we snuck out and went to a construction field close by. We played on the tractors and other construction equipment. Nothing destructive, but I told my mom about it (I was/am such a Momma's boy). She then mentioned it to Kevin's mom in a phone conversation later. Kevin got in trouble and my friends were reluctant to invite me over for sleepovers after that. Thanks, Mom.

I moved away from Kevin and my friends just after my freshman year of high school. I wasn't good about keeping in touch. Without the internet, email, Facebook, and the like, it wasn't easy to stay connected. I only spoke with Kevin a couple of times after I left Santa Maria. But I thought about him often.

After hearing the news about Kevin, I went home and pulled out my Jr. High yearbook, looking for Kevin's message he had left me over 16 years ago. On Page 11, I found it:

"Justin, I will always worship you! You're the MAN! Keep your grades up so you get in an expensive college and don't have to pay for it! Kevin Riggs"

I admittedly got teary eyed reading it.

Rest in peace, Kevin. I miss you, my brother.

Music, Drink, and BBQ This Friday

Join the party this Friday night at Pyramid Brewery. They are introducing Juggernaut Red Ale, doing a lil' BBQ, and will have food and drink specials going all night. Local acts The Ravishers and Derby will provide the entertainment. I'll be selling band merchandise and giving out free hugs. Win, win, win. Spend your HH (happy hour or hamburger helper, if you're down) with us. Music is 6:30 to 9.

Derby On Tonight's Episode Of The Hills

I would normally NEVER encourage anyone to watch MTV's "The Hills," especially not my friends, who I care for too much to subject them to such mindless entertainment (though I did find myself watching the show for the first time with my good friends Becky and Cla and found myself somewhat amused by Spencer and his flesh-colored beard).

That being said, Derby, a band whose management team I am now a part of, will have their song "All Or Nothing" from their most excellent album Posters Fade featured on tonight's episode of "The Hills." I chatted with Derby Dave last night at the Doug Fir Lounge about having their music featured on the show and he was able to poke some fun at himself and the band. They even posted a brief, humorous blog about it on their website here.

If you are able to get to a TV tonight at 10pm and not have your roommates or significant others give you too much grief about it, be sure to check it out.

Welcome Home, Darlings!

My favorite darlings of the band Oh Darling have been busy lately. After leaving Portland for the sunny skies of Los Angeles, the band has been hard at work on new tunes to follow last year's most excellent album Nice Nice.

If you are a regular viewer of Dancing With The Stars or CSI: Miami, you may have heard some of the new music and not even realized it. "Colorful Day" is featured in a new Volkswagon commercial which aired during the previously mentioned shows a couple of weeks ago. If you haven't seen it yet, or are a Tivo junkie and forward right through all the commercials, here it is for your listening pleasure. Had the clip featured Jasmine's vocals as well, I may have been tempted to head out and purchase a VW right then and there.


VW Commercial featuring Oh Darlings "Colorful Day" from Oh Darling on Vimeo.

I haven't seen the Darlings since they moved south at the beginning of the year, so I am very excited that they are heading out on tour this month, including a stop at Portland's own Doug Fir Lounge on April 26th. I'm very stoked to see my friends and hear all of the new music they are working on. Their west coast tour dates are as follows and I can't recommend enough checking them out if you can do so.

April 22: San Jose State University

April 23: Spaceland - Los Angeles, CA.

April 25: The Brown Lantern - Anacortes, WA.

April 26: The Doug Fir - Portland, OR.

April 28: Sonoma State University

April 30: Old Ironsides - Sacramento, CA.

May 1: Fresno State University

Finally, if you haven't yet checked out Oh Darling's debut album Nice Nice, now you can and it won't cost you a cent. For the month of April, you can head to the band's blog at ohdarlingmusic.com/blog and download the album in it's entirety for no charge. Score!

Download Nice Nice here.

Intervision Returns To Jimmy Maks To Say Goodbye To An Old Friend

The boys of Intervision return to the stage of Jimmy Maks on Saturday April 11th in what will be the last performance for bassist Mike Glidden, who is leaving the band to pursue other interests. Intervision combines the sounds of Stevie Wonder, Steely Dan, Jamiriquai, and Maroon 5, stirring them up into the band's own delicious stew, ready to be ingested by hungry ears. Oh, and the ladies love these guys.
Northwest Noise interviewed Intervision's lead singer, Paul Creighton, last year in what was a very bizarre meeting indeed. However, the bizarre is well worth checking out as it produced plenty of laughs. You can listen to the interview here.

Opening for Intervision are the Jerrod Lawson Trio. Music starts at 8pm and tickets are just $10.

Great Article To Check Out

Dave over at Pamplemoose wrote a great article about the decline of the full length album as the representation of the pinnacle of a musician's creativity. A great read in this digital age for where the music community is likely going. How The Decemberists new album The Hazards Of Love, certainly an album to appreciated as a whole, fits into this new model remains to be seen...

Check the article here.

NW Noise Interviews The Dimes

Have you headed over to Northwest Noise lately? We recently posted an interview with one of my favorite bands, The Dimes, on the site.

Only hours before Arctic Blast '08 hit our fair city, Tim, Gears, and myself sat down with Johnny, Pierre, and Ryan (Jake was on a train to Seattle) to discuss the band's upcoming album, their blogging efforts, and Pierre's lack of responding to friend requests on Facebook. The Dimes have been working on their second full length album for about a year now, featuring songs about the people and history of Boston. Johnny has posted a TON of new music for fans to sample on their blog here, including what may be my favorite song by the band 'Walden and the Willow Tree' which I dug immediately after hearing when he first played a demo for me last fall (you can hear it here). Talking with the band last week, the album is nearly done and currently they are working on the sequencing of the tracks. It seems as if the album will primarily focus on the songs about the exordinary women of Boston, while the songs about the gents may be featured on a bonus album to be released later.

We only posted Part 1 of 3 of the interview, so there's plenty more to come, including a few acoustic tracks that the guys recorded in my living room. I'll be sure to let y'all know when we have more of the interview up on the site.

The Dimes play a show with Chris Robley at the newly reopened Mississippi Studios on Friday March 27. Show starts at 9.

Check out the NW Noise interview with The Dimes here.

Debra Arlyn Returns To Jimmy Maks

In about an hour and a half, Debra Arlyn will be performing at Jimmy Maks in the Pearl, recognized as one of the world's top 100 places to hear jazz. It's Ms. Arlyn's 24th birthday and it's sure to be a great time, featuring birthday cake for all! Paul Creighton of Intervision will join Debra for a song or two and Vicci Martinez and the Jacob Merlin Band will continue the evening with their own sets as well. The NW Noise boys will also be there, of course, to support our good friend on her special day. If you haven't yet checked out a concert from this amazing Oregon songstress, tonight is an excellent opportunity to do so. Show starts at 8PM.

Who Just Scored An Exclusive Interview With Starf***er?

I did (well, as a representive of Northwest Noise I did). I'm very excited. More to come...

Portland Music Awards

Over the past couple of weeks, many people have asked what I thought of this year's PMAs. I myself wonder what others thought of the awards. A recent Google search yielded mostly results discussing last year's inaugural ceremony. This year's show seems to have gone largely unnoticed by the local press. Not surprising since the media tore this thing apart a year ago. Even Northwest Noise was critical of the event. I'm amazed that organizer Craig Marquardo was willing to do the whole thing over again.

I wasn't sure what to expect when arriving to the event at the Crystal Ballroom with fellow NW Noise Boy Jason Gears and Jeremy, high school friend and former lead singer of L.A. metal bands Ruin and Ragged. There were certainly a lot of lavishly dressed individuals and lots of 'red carpet' interviews as I waited to get my tickets. Surely last year's negative press had not turned off everyone to the idea of the show. In fact, everyone seemed to be having a really good time.

The evening opened with the March Fourth Marching Band, arriving on stage with colorful costumes, baton twirling, and guys on stilts, an impressive opening for any show. Tea For Julie played "And Winter Comes" from their album The Sense In Tying Knots, one of my favorite indie albums of 2008. Good friend Debra Arlyn, winner of last year's PMA for "Best Female Artist," played twice. Floater, who I hadn't seen live in years, rocked the crowd. And deserving winner of the Pioneer Award, Mel Brown, was joined on stage by Ben Darwish for a jazzy number (I just received a copy of Ben Darwish's new album in the mail and I'm looking forward to checking it out).

Host Chloe Houser from PDX TV could do just about anything and look good doing it, while co-host Auggie Smith played awkward comedian presenter perfectly (not sure if that was intentional or not, however, Auggie did have a couple of funny bits). Plenty of local celebrities made appearances as presenters during the evening, including KATU's Dave Anderson falling off of the stage, Kelsey Grammer-style.

And now, to the bad of the evening...

First, the voting process was incredibly ill-advised. Individuals were allowed to vote up to 5 times per IP address for their favorite nominees in a variety of categories. It seems to me that this would skew the results towards fans of bands that had nothing better to do with their days then vote multiple times. I regularly use 3 different IP addresses myself, giving me 15 votes without even trying. Nevermind me being able to use my roommates' computers, another office computer, the computer at the library, going into a Starbucks and logging in there. If I wanted to, I very easily could pick all the winners myself with just my votes. Doesn't seem like the best way to do things. And I don't want to specifically attack any particular band here, but some of the night's winners simply do not represent the best of Portland.

Second, some of the awards seem very unnecessary. After KINK won the PMA for "Best Radio Station," my friend Jeremy leaned over and said to me "I'm pretty sure a radio station just won an award for playing music." And I'm not really sure how a PMA for "Best Performance By A National Touring Act" is supposed to represent the best of PDX. As much as I love the winner, Ben Harper, does this award really mean anything to him? Or Portland?

Finally, there's the evening's organizer, Craig Marquardo. I haven't met the guy, so I'm not going to attack him or his alleged shady past. However, his need to address the negative press he receives while on stage for an event that is supposed to celebrate local music was very uncomfortable. This simply was not the venue to express his frustration. It was awkward and inappropriate. Should Mr. Marquardo choose to do this ceremony again next year, I sincerely hope that he makes his defense using another venue, leaving the award show as an evening to honor Portland music.

If you didn't make it to the show (and a lot of you didn't because there were a lot of empty seats), you can check out the event at Comcast OnDemand starting February 16th. I encourage those of you who have the time to watch to do so with an open mind and make your own opinion.

New Tracks, No Cost

In the past few weeks, a few of my favorite artists have released new music via the interwebs, all at no cost. Score!

Little has been heard from Pete Yorn in the past couple of years, since the release of Nightcrawler, but there's a ton of material on deck coming out this year. PY recorded a few songs down in Salem, OR with Frank Black of The Pixies for an EP to be released later this year, in addition to a full-length album's worth of tracks he recorded with Mike Mogis in Omaha, also out later this year. You can download a track from each at the Fuel/Friends blog here.

Speaking of artists that have been MIA, it looks as if Howie Day is finally putting a new album out this year, his first since 2003's Stop All The World Now. Of course, there's been concerning bits and pieces about his world that have come to light over the past few years: the disturbance on an airplane, trapping two girls on his tour bus, dating Britney Spears. That, and the quality of his music had certainly suffered, as evidenced by the album Live From... Ever since "Collide" became a huge hit, Howie seems to have gone downhill. But he may be ready to come roaring back, if the song he released this past weekend is any indication. If you sign up for Howie's mailing list, you can get a free download of "Counting On Me," a track that I am digging on so far. Sign up here.

If you sign up for Hyundai's email list here, you can get a free download of the new Smashing Pupkins track "FOL" (this follows their last single "G.L.O.W." leading me to believe the Pumpkins are just naming their new songs after their leftover Scrabble letters or random words found in their Alpha Bits cereal). Billy Corgan stated late last year that the Pumpkins would no longer release full albums and would instead release singles through different venues, "FOL" debuting on a Hyundai commercial during the Superbowl, "G.L.O.W." on Guitar Hero: World Tour, and the previous "Superchrist" through a guitar magazine compilation album. It will be interesting to see where Billy and Co. decide to take this new philosophy on releasing music (kudos to them for embracing new avenues, I think we will soon find that the album concept will be dead and gone in a few short years).

Finally, a band that I used to love, but have kinda moved past, Dashboard Confessional, released a new song for download via MySpace. In any case, if you were a fan at some point or even mildly curious, you can pick up the new track at www.myspace.com/dashboardconfessional.

Happy President's Day, all. Hope most of you are enjoying a day off.

Blind Pilot on Last Call

If you were as busy as I was this week (or you don't stay up past 1:30AM on weekdays), you may have missed Portland's own, and NW Noise favorite, Blind Pilot on Last Call With Carson Daly. Blind Pilot has been on quite a roll the last few months, featured as iTunes' "Single of the Week" and Starbucks' "Pick of the Week," as well as making it to my own list of Top Albums of 2008. Check out Israel, Ryan, and friends performing "One Red Thread" in the above video.

Blind Pilot plays two shows at the newly reopened Mississippi Studios on March 5.

Star Star

At last night's Valentine's Day show, Starf***er certainly exceeded my expectations. Playing to a sold out crowd at the Wonder Ballroom (an impressive feat as the Ballroom fits nearly 800 people), the group had all of them dancing, including myself. The band got an intense dance workout as well as they grooved to the music with as much energy as the audience. They also must have exhausted themselves with the multiple instrument changes; at one point, there were three drummers going at the same time. Starf***er incorporated keyboards and synth, DJ scratching, and a wealth of electronic equipment that I'm not even familiar with.

Despite the lack of an encore and an extraordinary number of under-age audience members (yes, it weirds me out to think that I enjoy the same music as people half my age, though perhaps I should be encouraged that Miley Cyrus and High School Musical haven't completely taken that demographic), it was easy to see why Starf***er is considered one of the best live acts in the Portland music scene.

The band closed the evening with a cover of Cyndi Lauper's "Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun." For your listening pleasure, here is the studio recording of that song, courtesy of the gang at Buffet Libre.

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

St. Valentine's Day

Well, it's Valentine's Day, and if you haven't already made plans to take your special someone out tonight, you may be out of luck... but hopefully not.

I was originally hoping to make my way to the Someday Lounge for the Cover Your Hearts show, featuring many local bands, such as Charmparticles, Climber, Crosstide, Derby, Jonah, Tango Alpha Tango, and Tea For Julie, playing covers of 80s power ballads, perfect for the occasion. Sadly, this show is sold out and Craigslist ended up a bust for me as well. No guest list either, so I could not work my charm and connections to get in the door. Bummer. If you are one of the lucky ones to have tickets, I beg you to consider giving them to me. However, if I can't convince you of that, enjoy the show. It's sure to be a good one.

Instead, my Valentine's dates and I will head to the Wonder Ballroom for a special show with Starf***er. Now I am usually not a fan of bands that include an F-bomb in their band name: F*** Buttons, Holy F***, and of course, the short and simple F***. Starf***er was off of my radar for awhile due to their name. Then I heard the music. It's so good, they can call themselves whatever they want. Perfect indie pop. It should be a great night of music, if the ladies this evening can get over the band name themselves. Strength, Explode Into Colors, and Dirty Mittens are also playing. I'm not familiar with any of those bands, but hoping they can make a fan out of me tonight. And I'm praying I have more luck with these tickets than I did for Cover Your Hearts. Show starts at 8pm and tickets are only $10. Hope to see some of you at the show. And happy Valentine's Day to you all. Especially you :)

Speaking of the Grammys...

Those of you watching last night's award ceremony may have seen Lincoln's "Music Video Challenge - Project Rising Stars" commercial. Readers of this blog and NW Noise may recognize the music of my good friends Ted, Genevieve, Jeremy, and Masonori, better known as The Heavenly States. Needless to say, I got very excited when I heard "The Race" from Delayer playing on a network prime time commercial.

You can check out the commercial yourself here and while you're at it, give The Heavenly States your vote for one of their two featured commercials.

Grammy Thoughts

Jay-Z, Kanye, Lil Wayne, T Pain, and MIA = Cool.

Coldplay and Jay-Z = Even Cooler.

Radiohead with the USC Marching Band = Cooler Still.

Paul McCartney with Dave Grohl on drums = Very Cool.

Neil Diamond = Nostalgic Cool.

But someone please tell me why you would ruin the evening by having Katy Perry perform?

Favorite Free Album Of The Week: Jaydiohead

I received a couple tracks via email of a mash-up project mixing Jay-Z and Radiohead. I dug the music so much, a combination of one of my fav rappers with one of my fav bands, that I went online to find out more about the artist behind the tracks. To my surprise, there was a whole album worth of music available for free on the interwebs. The artist behind the music goes by Minty Fresh Beats and you can find the album here.

Mash-ups can be an iffy thing. When Napster first came out, I downloaded a whole bunch of tracks, which I thought were cool at the time, but upon further listen, sounded like crap. Then Danger Mouse came out and combined Jay-Z's Black Album with The Beatles White Album and raised the bar for mash-ups forever. The Jigga Man has certainly had more than his fair share of mash-up treatments and even released his own authorized mash-up album with Linkin Park.

Jaydiohead certainly holds its own. "Dirt Off Your Shoulder" mashed with "Paranoid Android"? Check. "Karma Police" with "No Hook"? Nailed it. And the most unusual: "Never Change" combined with the virtually unknown "Gagging Order," a Radiohead song featuring only Thom Yorke's vocals and an acoustic guitar, available only on a limited release Japanese EP. If you are into Hova, or even Radiohead, you have to check this out.

And also worth mentioning, I finally downloaded The Decemberists Always The Bridesmaid singles. The songs on these A/B-side singles didn't fit quite right on their new album coming out later this year, but The Decemeberists still thought were worth getting out there. And the music is sweet. Not earth-shattering material by any means, but enough to get the fans, including myself, excited for the new CD. However, in what could be nothing more than a coincidence that I am making up in my head, one of the B-sides is a track entitled "O New England." Hmmm, what other Portland-area musicians has been writing songs about that ol' Boston area? Could it be none other than local favorites, The Dimes? Why yes it could! You can download a whole bunch of demos featuring the people, places, and history of New England at The Dimes blog here. I don't want to suggest anything, but I have seen members of The Decemberists in the audience at Dimes concerts, so you can make your own conclusions. :)

Happy Birthday Petey!

I miss you so much, lil guy.

Introducing Butters

Respecting the results of this past week's poll, my bunny's name is Butters. Though the little guy has no yellow color to speak of, I'm happy with the final selection. Thank you all for your help, in particular some of the more amusing and creative names that were suggested, such as Clooney (my second fav choice), Hef (appropriate for a bunny), Frank (from Donnie Darko, creepy suggestion, but witty), and Lettuce (uhhhh....). I'm looking forward to introducing the new addition to you all in the coming weeks.

Tonight: Portland Music Awards

I am attending the 2nd annual Portland Music Awards tonight with fellow NW Noise Boy Jason Gears and Jeremy Reid, former lead singer of LA metal bands Ragged and Ruin. Many friends of Northwest Noise are up for awards tonight, including Debra Arlyn, Oh Darling, The Dimes, Derby, Tea For Julie, The Slants, Blind Pilot, and Alex Steininger. My good friend, Matt, whose musical tastes are far cooler than my own, sent me this article from the Willamette Week which pretty much sums up my feelings of tonight's event. However, I'm going in with an open mind and I'm sure to have a good time, regardless of the validity, or lack thereof, of these awards. At the very least, organizer Craig Marquardo must have spent a lot of time putting this event together in an attempt to recognize the area's best talent, and I have to respect him for that.

Name My Bunny

As many of you know, yesterday I adopted an adorable bunny rabbit. The little guy is only 8-9 weeks old, but is full of energy and incredibly friendly. He is a white and gray dwarf mix and he has a little bit of Lionhead in him (notice the long hair on the top of his head sticking up).

I've been struggling to think of the perfect name for my little guy and am coming to you all for help. Butters (from South Park) has been a popular response on Gchat today, but there's also been some Trailblazer related suggestions, such as Outlaw, but I also like the sound of Batum. Then there's the idea that based on his white and grey fur, I call him Clooney, which I really like, and Taylor Hicks, which is funny, but not what I would want to call a pet. Of course, Tim threw in a wild card with Ghostface Killa.

What are your thoughts? There's a poll to the right. Click on a box and help me out. Leave any comments below if you have additional suggestions.

Weekend Recap Jan. 23-25

It was a weekend full of excitement, complete with fire trucks and ambulances, which I will not get into here, but feel free to ask me about it through a different venue.

Instead I'll focus on the more 'artsy' aspects of my weekend, which began with a trip to the Portland Art Museum, my first trip to an art museum that did not involve going on a school field trip. My good friend, Miriam, an artist herself, joined me as we explored the wonderful world of artistic expression. I'll be honest, I don't get a lot of it. The museum hosts a lot of modern art, which to me is just bizarre. Take, for example, the burlap bags stuffed with who-knows-what, two to three dozen of them, arranged to look like a cluster of over sized potatoes. Or a block of marble sitting on the floor with uncooked rice around the base, appropriately titled "Marble and Rice." Then there was renowned British sculptor Rachel Whiteread, who had an entire exhibition at the museum. One of her pieces featured a old metal chair frame with half a dozen painted pizza boxes on the seat. Pizza boxes on a chair, people! A few of her other pieces included old toilet paper and paper towel rolls painted in pastel colors in various arrangements. I guess I'm just not that cultured.

However, once we got to the actual paintings, they were amazing. They have a Monet and a Van Gogh, both of which were very cool to see in person. My friend Johnny of The Dimes has also recently got me interested in the paintings of Childe Hassam, who has a few pieces in the museum, including 'Isle Of Shoals.' The Dimes recently wrote a song using the titles of Hassam's paintings, entitled 'Celia's Garden.' You can download a demo of the song here. I also loved the Asian and Renaissance art work and spent quite a bit of time admiring them. Overall a great experience. I will definitely need to include a trip to the MET when I visit NYC later this year.

I also went with a group of friends to check out Revolutionary Road. Honestly, I wasn't sure what to expect. I wasn't familiar with the book and knew nothing of the plot. I only knew that Leo and Kate were in it and getting rave reviews for their performances. Admittedly, I have been a fan of DiCaprio for awhile, ever since I saw him in Basketball Diaries, and his performance this time did not disappoint. Kate Winslet has already won a Golden Globe for her performance, but, and maybe it's just me, I detected a bit of overacting on her part. Not much, but enough for someone with some acting experience to pick up on. As far as the story itself, it was just depressing. Think of American Beauty set in the 50's, the ideal of the perfect suburban life falling apart at the seams. But I never felt attached to the characters to really feel sympathy for them. It wasn't a bad movie by any means, but I can't say it is a must see.

Heading to the movies did encourage me to see more. I've been so reluctant to see anything since movies now cost over $10 a ticket. Lately, I've been reserving my movie watching to $3 tickets at McMennamins. That may have to change though. Any suggestions on what to watch next? I'm hearing Slumdog Millionaire.

New Year's 2009

Full disclosure: I'm stealing this post from my friend, Ryan, who I spent New Year's Eve with, amongst others. Ryan is one half of Pet Marmoset, an entity that manages two exceptional Portland bands: The Dimes and Derby. He is also an active blogger (and Twitter-er, and is trying to push me into signing up for Twitter, but my will is strong...) and his blog about music and the industry is one of my favorite reads, which is why I'm stealing his post to describe my own New Year's. On his site, Ryan discusses new ideas about marketing music at length and has some really great articles and opinions. The other half of Pet Marmoset, Joe, also writes for the blog. You can check out their thoughts here or click the link in the right column.

As far as my own experience for an exceptional night of music and ringing in 2009, I was very fortunate to run into the Marmoset boys that night as, while I was lucky enough to get into the venue that night, the rest of my not-so-punctual crew was not able to sweet talk their way into the sold out concert. In what could of been a ho-hum New Year's, I got the opportunity to enjoy an incredible music experience, take in some good drinks (the Jubelale flowed liked wine...), and meet some new people (the women instinctively flocked to the show like the salmon of Capistrano...) Oh Bree, our time together was too short...

Ryan's post follows, but you will have to go to his site to check out pictures and video of the night here. His story regarding James Mercer of The Shins from that night is classic. I thought he was almost gonna have to throw down.

"Fully realizing we’re two weeks into the new year, we’ve finally found some time to upload some photos and share what a wonderful night Team Marmoset encountered on December 31st, 2008. Better late than never, right? It was definitely one of those rare, yet classic Portland music experiences, where there was just a special vibe in the air that you simply cannot find anywhere else in the world. We were at the Laurelthirst Public House on NE Glisan for a special night of P-town music…

Who was there? Who wasn’t there is a better question. Along with all of Team Marmoset and our better halves, we joined forces with Northwest Noise, which made it plenty fun. The night was billed as Two Beers Veirs - rumor has it that Laura Veirs can only drink two beers before she has to pee. lol

The “house band” for the night was none other than Chris Funk, Nate Query, Jenny Conlee, John Moen (all of the Decemberists), plus Annalisa Tournfelt of The Builders and The Butchers, and Jon Neufeld of Jackstraw. Not a bad house band, huh? But it doesn’t stop there. Here’s who joined them on stage…one by one, each leading about five or six songs before inviting the next artist to the stage - for what seemed like the world’s greatest little blue grass folk rock jam of all time:

John McDonald (King Wilkie) and Annalisa Tournfelt (The Builders and The Butchers)
Casey Neil
Ashleigh Flynn
Little Sue
Kevin and Anita Robinson (Viva Voce/Blue Giant)
John “Spider” Moen (Decemberists)
Scott McCaughey (Minus 5, R.E.M.)
Laura Veirs

…and not performing, but there with the rest of us to take it all in included the likes of James Mercer of The Shins and at least one or two of the other Shins guys and Colin Meloy.

As a side note, I will say that I had to keep my eye on James Mercer throughout the night… The first time or two I caught him checking out my wife, Jeana, from afar, I really didn’t think much of it. But then he kept on and I swear, I caught him pointing her out to a friend of his. I thought to myself, “fair enough - Jeana’s a hot girl.” And then towards the end of the night, I heard him say to her, “you’re too cute” and then he complimented her on her clogging as she danced across the room. Hmmm…. I thought to myself, “what is this guy up to?”

However, in all honesty - Mercer was simply enjoying himself and enjoying the fun, festive atmosphere like the rest of us. While it gave me some good material for my Twitter feed, I’m sure he meant no harm. Again - what a fun night. Note to self: One hard cider is good. Two hard ciders is plenty. Three hard ciders is too much!

Happy New Years, y’all."

Justin Royce's Uber Pretentious Top 5 Indie Albums of 2008 List - #1

#1: Oh Darling Nice Nice

It should come as no surprise to anyone who I have discussed music with in any capacity last year that Oh Darling's Nice Nice would be my favorite album 0f 2008. I was originally drawn in by singer Jasmine Ash's vocals and the bouncy pop/rock of such tracks as "Electrocute" and "Against The Skyline" and the slower "Blindspot" which remains my favorite track on the album. More recently, I have been digging the songs found later in the album, in particular the Triple-Oh trilogy of the dream-like "Only Beginnings," "The Ocean," and "One And The Same" that close out the album. Rhythm section J. Marie on bass and Shane on drums (who is no longer in the band, replaced by the oh-so-enthusiastic showman Jake) keep you dancing throughout, guitarist Davey adds textures that add greatly to the surreal mood of the music while Jasmine's vocals bounce around, giving the band their original sound. Since June of last year, Nice Nice has been on regular rotation in my home and my car and continues to be. It is just about a perfect album, my one complaint being it is too short at 32 minutes, but that just leaves me wanting more. The Darlings recently left Portland to share their brand of music with a wider audience in Los Angeles. I wish them all the best and I am very excited to see what this great group of musicians accomplishes.

Justin Royce's Uber Pretentious Top 5 Indie Albums of 2008 List - #2

#2: The Heavenly States Delayer

Yeah, they're from the Bay Area and not technically a Northwest band. But they spend enough time up here for me to give them a pass. That, and their record kicks ass. Delayer opens with a flurry of keys and Ted shouting "It hurts so bad this goes on the record" on "Morning Exercise" and continuing to the exceptional "Lost In The Light." The band slows things down in the middle on tracks "Sun Chase Moon," "Butterflies," and "Roses" before giving kicking things back up on my favorite track "Pretty Life" and then taking a completely unexpected turn on the country-esque "Never Be Alright." Genevieve keeps things interesting on the keys and adds her violin skills throughout, Jeremy and Masanori hold down the rhythm section and guitarist/vocalist Ted may just be the funniest guy in indie music. Delayer is highly recommended.