New Band Alert: Hurts

Hurts are an electronic Manchester duo comprised of vocalist Theo Hutchcraft and keyboardist Adam Anderson. They first started getting some buzz near the end of 2009 when their song "Wonderful Life" (along with an Arthur Baker remix) leaked. Other great (and as of now, unreleased songs) that resonate for electro fans are "Blood, Tears, and Gold" and "Illuminated." Hurts are similar to underrated '80's acts the Lotus Eaters and Ultravox with an image that is sleek and stylish. Their videos are striking and this is definitely a band to keep an eye on if this sounds like your style.

Their first single "Better Than Love" was released in the UK May 2010. The follow-up single "Wonderful Life" was released in the UK August 2010. Their debut album Happiness is scheduled to be out September 2010. Hopefully by then they will be available on the US i-Tunes.

As of this post, they are giving away a free download of "Better Than Love" here:

Hurts

New Band Alert: Mirrors

First reaction to Mirrors is that they sound much like OMD. Ironically, they are opening for the reformed OMD this fall. One of my favorite tracks is "Searching the Wilderness." This has elements of Vitamin Z ("Burning Flame"). I'm looking forward to hearing more from this band. Right now they have only released a few singles.

Hear more:

Mirrors

State of the industry...

‎"Scouring average music for hidden value used to be pretty necessary, but those days are gone. When we had to pay for physical albums, we forgave them more and were willing to work to get our money's worth. Now that people often download them for free, they expect deeper and more immediate gratification. The new currency is time, and we're stingier with it than cash." Brian Howe at Pitchfork

Colin Hay (Men At Work) - LIVE - July 15, 2010 - Portland, OR

Colin Hay was scheduled to perform a solo acoustic concert but what transpired was a hilarious evening of storytelling, interspersed with songs. The former lead singer of Men At Work has struck upon a concept that really connects with his audience and, in turn, finds him in the midst of a career resurgence. After the break up of Men At Work in the mid-Eighties, Hay embarked on a solo career that has had it's ups and downs. But starting with his inclusion on the 2004 Grammy-winning soundtrack Garden State, he has seen his profile increase. In fact, later in the evening he profusely thanked Zack Braff for including his song "I Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You" on the soundtrack.

He began the night talking for the first 15 minutes before playing a single note and immediately had the audience in stitches. Sprinkling in stories of being paid to sing and dance to Kool and the Gang's "Celebrate," to Paul McCartney doing dishes at his house between songs enlivened the night. Hay playing solo also showcased his excellent guitar work that wasn't as evident when he was in Men At Work. Speaking of Men At Work, his versions of "Who Can It Be Now, "Down Under," and "Overkill" gave the songs a fresh re-working that was brilliant. Another story he told was of an audience member asking him to play the song with the line "Goats appear and fade away." This of course was "Overkill" with the actual lyric being "Ghosts appear and fade away."

Other highlights were songs from his solo output including "Waiting for My Real Life to Begin," "Beautiful World," and "Oh California" from his 2009 album American Sunshine. Truthfully, the entire night was a revelation of a veteran musician stripping things back in order to take his songs to even greater heights.

Photos by Alicia Epperly

Nada Surf - LIVE - May 30, 2010 - Portland, OR

Welcome to rainy Portland, Nada Surf. Before their set began, the left side of the Wonder Ballroom stage was beginning to look like the title of their song "Treading Water." Rain began dripping through the roof as touring guitarist Doug Gillard (from both Guidedby Voices and Death of Samantha) was trying to set up his pedals. A bit of chaos ensued as opener Telekinesis! was attempting to get their gear off stage at the same time. The drops were hitting the stage and spraying the equipment until staff put what looked like a busboy's tray filled with towels down to collect the rain. Before leading off with "Weightless," bassist Daniel Lorca looked at the puddle, then to the crowd and exclaimed "I love Portland!"

Touring behind their latest release, the covers album if i had a hi-fi, Nada Surf seemed to be in a playful mood despite the wet stage. Their set featured five hi-fi cover tunes and two surprise covers along with originals from 2002's Lucky onward. In addition to Gillard,hi-fi producer Louie Lino played keyboards to round out the Nada Surf trio of Lorca, Matthew Caws (Vocals, Guitar) and Ira Elliot (Drums).

Main set highlights of the 18 songs played were "Whose Authority," "Enjoy The Silence" (Depeche Mode), the rocking version of the aforementioned "Treading Water," "Blizzard of '77" played by Caws and Elliot, and "Electrocution" (Bill Fox). Lorca's cigarette smoke and dreadlocks silhouetted by the lights only added to the spectacle of water dripping from the roof.

The encore started with a cover of "I Am A Tree" (Guided By Voices), followed by "Always Love" whose opening notes elicited screams from the audience. "Blankest Year" turned into a raucous sing-along and the band ended the night with another cover, The Clash's "I Fought The Law." Perhaps it was only fitting that, as the audience filed out of the venue, it was still raining.

Photos by Alicia Epperly

The Prids "Chronosynclastic" album review

Release Date: July 10, 2010

Nearly two years after a serious highway accident that could have ended the band, The Prids make a triumphant return with their new full-length release Chronosynclastic(Velvet Blue Music). The Prids have a compelling history of overcoming the odds while continuing to make great music. In fact, they should have their own Behind The Music episode. Here's the short version: founded in St. Joseph, Missouri in 1995 by David Frederickson and Mistina La Fave; Frederickson and La Fave marry, divorce and remain roommates as well as band-mates; move to Portland, OR; release nine singles, EPs and albums; due to a blown-out tire while driving from San Francisco to Los Angeles their van rolls multiple times severely injuring everyone and destroying their equipment and van; devoted fans raise more than $16,000 for medical bills, equipment and a van; and seemingly from the wreckage they return with their first full-length release in four years.

On Chronosynclastic, Frederickson (guitars/vocals), La Fave (bass/vocals), Maile Arruda (keys) and Lee Zeman (drums) continue to mine the depths of their melodically dark template. What really sets them apart from contemporaries like The Cinematics or Interpol is the male/female vocal interplay. La Fave's voice adds a touch of sweetness to the songs, not unlike Hope Sandoval with Jesus and Mary Chain. And that sweetness delivers some heartbreaking lyrics that are enveloped in a dramatically sweeping sound.

"Hide Your Thoughts" opens Chronosynclastic with guitar that has a distinct shoegaze feel. Arruda's atmospheric keyboards soar as Frederickson and La Fave sing great lines like, "Touch you until it hurts my hands." On "Waste Our Time", Zeman lays down a tight groove that the rest of the band locks into. A standout here is La Fave's voice. When she sings, "Raise up your hands / Hold them high / Or die where you stand," listen for her subtle vibrato on the word "stand." She nearly sounds like Siouxsie Sioux and it's these little things that make you listen intently to their music.

"Break" sounds like Head On The Door-era Cure morphing into My Bloody Valentine. The uh-huhs and yeahs set up some great lines like, "Spending my life getting good at goodbye." Frederickson takes sole vocal duty on "Desolate", a somber song with guest Ryan Lynn on lap-steel. The highlight of Chronosynclastic is "I'll Wait". Arruda's Cure-like keys and Zeman's perfectly simple percussion lay a beautiful platform for Frederickson and La Fave vocals. This song really shows how great their singing works together.

Built to Spill's Doug Martsch guests on "In The Fall", another pretty song that you wish lasted longer than just barely two minutes. Chronosynclastic closes with "Tonight, October". Sounding a bit like Slowdive with lap-steel guitar, they sing, "Dreaming my life away," and for a moment it feels like all the difficulties they've had in the past never happened. Then again, it's those things that have shaped The Prids, made them survivors in so many ways, and perhaps Chronosynclastic will bring them the wider recognition they deserve.

Nada Surf "if i had a hi-fi" album review

Release Date: June 8, 2010

Starting with the title of their covers album (a palindrome), you know Nada Surf's intentions with this release are to have fun. Kicking off with "Electrocution" from semi-obscure artist Bill Fox, they add more power to this infectious pop song. Their take on Depeche Mode's universal hit "Enjoy the Silence" is sunny and a blast. Matthew Caws adds a nice touch in his delivery especially on the line "Oh my little girl" and there is no reason why this shouldn't be a big song for summer 2010.

"Love Goes On" from The Go-Betweens is lovingly covered and it's hard to wonder if this is a tribute to the late Grant McLennan who passed away unexpectedly in 2006. With "Janine" (Arthur Russell), Nada Surf cut the original version in half and end the song with the line "You were so warm" which lead right into a cover of a song with the same name. Clever. Dwight Twilley's "You Were So Warm" is a virtual note for note rendering of a severely underrated artist. Next, they take on Kate Bush's only chart-topper on any U.S. chart, "Love and Anger". It's a nice updated version of the 1990 original. On "The Agony of Laffitte", Nada Surf cover one of their contemporaries, Spoon. They make a song Spoon wrote about getting screwed in a record deal sound pretty and maybe even sweet (until you listen closely to the lyrics).

At this point in the album, the band goes a bit schizophrenic. They cover French chanteuse Coralie Clément's "Bye Bye Beauté" (sung in French) then head into "Question" by British prog/pop/art/rock band The Moody Blues. Nada Surf stretch this one out nearly one minute longer than the original and though it rocks harder, it feels a bit uninspired. Perhaps it was meant as a launching pad for the next up-beat track, The Soft Pack's "Bright Side". It is similar to the original and is probably better as well. Now it's time to sing in Spanish while covering "Evolución" by Spanish pop-rock band Mercromina. Five minutes of somberness ensue. Nada Surf end with "I Remembered What I Was Going to Say" by The Silly Pillows, an instrumental that just so happens to be by Caws' sister's band. Overall this is a fun record. Which is what the band intended. Perfect? No. But if fun were perfect, well, it wouldn't really be fun now would it?

Hello Morning - LIVE - May 7, 2010 - Portland, OR

While Hello Morning is a relatively new band on the Portland scene, the members have quite a lineage. Ben Sims of Sappo (guitar and keyboard) and Kevin Breuner (guitar) of Smalltown Poets started a new project in 2007 and shortly added Peter Swenson (drums) of Boy Eats Drum Machine. Enter Henry Curl of Jonah to fill the lead vocal position and Hello Morning is born. They started playing live in late 2008 and just recently released their self-titled debut EP. Praise for their live shows has netted them some nice gigs including the opener slot for Irish buzz band Two Door Cinema Club on Friday, May 7th at Doug Fir Lounge.

Despite being a bit cramped due to Two Door Cinema Club havingsome of their gear on stage, Hello Morning made the most of their space. Kicking off with "The Lucky One", the band showed that they could work a much larger stage if given the chance. Their sound quickly fills up a room. Press have thrown around U2 and Muse as examples of Hello Morning's sound, and while there are some similarities, the main fact is that this band deserves to fill the same size arenas.

Their second song of the night, "Coldbreakers", isreminiscent of Muse both musically and in Curl's vocals, yet without the bombast Muse can be known for. "Mercury (Once Again)" acts as a great showcase for the three chiming guitarists (Sims, Breuner, and Curl) each playing their particular notes to great effect. It also must be said that many guitarists in the crowd were envious of Curl's lovely blood red Gretsch. Instead of enlisting a bass player, Sims plays the lines on a Moog synthesizer that is run through a bass amp. Add Swenson's steady drumming and there is a deep beat throughout these songs pounding the audience in their chests.

"Everything Is You" is a simply gorgeous song that really showcases the beauty of Curl's voice, which sounds similar to Jimmy Gnecco of Ours. Continuing to show his versatility as a vocalist in "Letters," Curl comes across as a bit less ragged Neil Young. They end their main set with "Come Home," the opening track of their EP, with Sims again alternating between his guitar and keys. Though Curl is fairly sedate in his approach as a frontman, he's book ended by the more animated Sims and Breuner.

For the encore, Nathaniel Merrill of Charmparticles joined Swenson on drums for the tribal "Everglades." Clocking in at 5:38 on their EP, played live, Hello Morning gives it the longer workout it just begs for. Curl's vocals soar, Breuner strangles every last note out of his guitar, all while Sims is down on the floor abusing his effects pedals and spinning the knobs to gloriously dirty effect. Now, if only they had a bigger stage to showcase such a large sound. For Hello Morning, that time will probably come sooner than later.

SET LIST
The Lucky One
Coldbreakers
Mercury (Once Again)

Simple as You Said
Everything Is You
A Good Year
Letters
Come Home

Encore

Everglades

Photos by Alicia Epperly