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It's not surprising to learn that Y La Bamba's records have been produced by the disparate likes of the Decemberists' Chris Funk and Los Lobos' Steve Berlin. The ornate instrumentation calls to mind the revivalist classicism of the Decemberists, as well as the Latin rock of Los Lobos, but the
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From the cacophonous pounding of the drums that open Golden Gardens' Bellflower EP, you'd be excused for thinking that a Spector-esque wall of '60s sound was coming your way. As it is, that sound almost immediately gives way to a gothic, Nick Cave-esque haze. Churchly piano and '80s synths waft
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If you can say one thing about Rogues Gallery (formerly Jipsea Party), it's that they're clearly devoted to the mad energy of their spectacle. Their gypsy punk is a familiar enough style, but they infuse it with a fervency and a momentum that raises them above some of their other
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I sometimes feel jealous of those with upbringings that were strongly rooted in tradition. As a child of your standard white parents with no particular ties to religion, all I had to influence my world-view and sensibilities was the passing presence of the ever-morphing popular culture that would beam into
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Skates is a band formed almost on a whim, formed from the ashes of the recently defunct Redwood Plan. Frontwoman Lesli Wood made a move basically akin to Queen vowing to not use synthesizers on their album, or like Joe Jackson nonchalantly making the decision to not include any guitars
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Considering how abrasive and corrosive solvents can be, the band Solvents may as well be a swimming pool filled with fluffy teddy bears. The Port Townsend duo are a master of controlled intensity, blending guitar and violin in ways that can attack as much as they soothe. The interplay between
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For those outside the ska scene (like me, I must admit), it can be a little bit of a struggle to keep the various "waves" in check. Are we up to 20 waves, by now? In any case, there's no denying the influence that The Toasters had on the ska
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The Soul Revue, coming to Jazzbones, will encompass the breadth and variety of soul over the generations. Featuring the songs of everyone from Aretha Franklin and Etta James to Frank Ocean and Janelle Monae, the Soul Revue will be covering selected bits of evolution from the world of soul music
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There are some bands that telegraph what they're all about before you even listen to their music. As a person who's professionally written about music for almost six years, it's become a sort of game to figure out what the band's all about before even hearing their stuff. By far,
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Soul music has been a genre that's evolved steadily and uniquely, over time, with shining stars picking up the mantle of those who came before them, and then subsequently adding their own bit of unique energy to the form. Since blues, R&B and rock synthesized sometime in the '50s, there's
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Alexander Anderson, a student of the Berklee College of Music, leads a trio of jazz fusion madness. Blending some of the spacy free form wildness of Sun Ra with the down-and-dirty textures of Miles Davis, the Alexander Anderson Trio take an egg beater to expectations, creating deceptively complex songs that
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There are moments that come to people in the artistic world when transition is imminent. This moment seems to have arrived for Scott Anderson and Noodlebird. After getting started in 2012 making music under the Noodlebird moniker, bandmates came in and out, with a permanent lineup
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Toronto's Hooded Fang have garnered their fair share of positive reception since their formation in 2007, even earning a nomination for a Polaris Prize (sort of like the Canadian Grammy's) and setting up a tour supporting Johnny Marr, and they're deserving of every bit of praise. As their sound has
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Noodlebird might just be a first for one of my articles: by the time the show I'm writing up comes around, they may no longer be called Noodlebird. As I spoke with frontman Scott Anderson, he expressed that Noodlebird has just become sort of an all-encompassing moniker that he slaps
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After more than 20 years of taking the punk ethos and bending it to the will of a clothes horse and a stylistic maverick, Ian Svenonius has arrived at Chain and the Gang, which similarly takes elements of early soul music and abstracts them to conform to a 2015 attitude.
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Portland-based experimental pop maestros Aan are making their return to Olympia for a show at Deadbeat Olympia, a record store that's quickly making a name for itself with exciting in-store shows. Although Aan opened for the Smashing Pumpkins, there's little of the Pumpkins' melodramatic posturing to be found in Aan's
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Mattress is a strange beast. The solo project of Portland musician Rex Marshall defies easy categorization. Commanded by Marshall's Calvin Johnson-esque deep, deep baritone, there's a languid sensuality to the music that somehow finds a middle ground between a lascivious crooner and the dirty, desolate electronics of Suicide. In terms
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Once bands became available to legitimate journalism - when writers were truly available to artists to find out what they were truly thinking - questions began to arise about the sincerity of the artists we knew and loved. Were the Beatles really inseparable friends? Was Prince this mystifying sex god?
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Lakefight are a concentrated blast of jittery energy. The amount of churning forward momentum produced by the trio is a bit bracing at times. Comprised of guitar, drums and keyboard, the sound maintains a spry lightness, even as it barrels ahead like a runaway train. Citing influences ranging from the
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"Fish Breath" may be one of the most off-putting word combinations in the English language. Something tells me that the San Francisco band Fish Breath wouldn't mind that observation one bit. This is a band that leans into the abrasive. Their recent, self-titled album opens innocently enough with the ramshackle