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" Cut of the Day" Archive

Neal Morgan, “Birch Bark Boat in Space,” To The Breathing World (Self-released)


2 CommentsPosted on Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

The cut of the day section is still being fussy, but here’s another one for ya anyway.
With Neal Morgan’s new disc, To The Breathing World, one gets more than just the eight songs advertised. Each cut—opener “Birch Bark Boat in Space” included—is a few songs packed in one, like different movements in a piece of [...]

The Mean Jeans, “Born on a Saturday Night,” Are You Serious? (Dirtnap Records)


2 CommentsPosted on Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Our “Cut of the Day” section is busted at the moment, but here’s one for your enjoyment.
My first thought, upon hearing the Mean Jeans, was that the group reminded me a lot of the Ramones. That was probably your first thought, too.

But “Born on a Saturday Night” is even more Ramones than the Ramones. [...]

Federale, “Starvation Creek Trail,” Devil in a Boot (Revolver Records)


0 CommentsPosted on Friday, October 9th, 2009

Here’s a cut from a band playing Dante’s tonight with Michael Dean Damron (and not playing with the pulled-out Richmond Fontaine. Portland spaghetti westerners Federale brought out their second disc mere weeks ago, telling a whole new story in their inimitable soundtrack-without-a-film style.
Enjoyed best while reading the plotline in the liner notes, you can [...]

Loch Lomond, “Wax and Wire,” Night Bats EP (Hush Records)


0 CommentsPosted on Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

To say it’s been a good year for Loch Lomond would be an understatement. The chamber pop group—now a nice and neat quintet—have toured with the Decemberists and Blitzen Trapper, played a rousing early morning set at Sasquatch, released a 7-inch and free “getting to know us” EP, and somehow managed to get tighter as [...]

Bobby Birdman, “Only For a While,” New Moods (Fryk Beat)


3 CommentsPosted on Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

Though Bobby hasn’t lived in PDX for a good while, it would be a huge miss not to share his new single with y’all. “Only For a While” is classic Birdman: Half bootie jam and half tender ballad. He hits the sweet spot between the two zones with a tune about finding oneself in a [...]

Quixotic, “Intoxicated Conscience,” Self-Titled Album (Self-released)


0 CommentsPosted on Thursday, September 17th, 2009

I think live band hip-hop is one of the hardest genres to make work. To underscore that point, think of how many hip-hop bands have gained national attention. The Roots and…the Roots? Unless you want to count rap-rock outfits like 311 and Rage Against the Machine, it’s a reasonably slim field.
So Quixotic—a group of New [...]

St. Frankie Lee, “Very Last Blues” (Self-Released)


4 CommentsPosted on Wednesday, September 9th, 2009

Portland is a town that’s littered with large ensemble folk bands. It’s an easy aesthetic to get behind: take a tender song, add lots of chamber instrumentation and orchestral flourishes, and storm the stage, group style. Often, though, all the extra bells and whistles (violin and trumpet, most likely) only serve to distract from subpar [...]

The Unified Theory, “Versus,” The Project for the New American Century (Paragraph Records)


0 CommentsPosted on Monday, August 31st, 2009

“The Project for the New American Century is hip-hop, youth, art, freedom, and funk.”

So says the Unified Theory, in response to a neo-conservative think tank of the same name. The dynamic duo, ADM and MC-Delta-T, brought out this beat-laden, fast-spittin’ hip-hop album last month (now available in digital and physical form on CD Baby). And [...]

The Woolen Men, “Land Of Laughs,” The Woolen Men (Eggy Records)


1 CommentPosted on Thursday, August 27th, 2009

Pay attention to a particular songwriter long enough and you will count yourself fortunate to watch them mature over time and then succeed. I have known Lawton Browning—one third of lo-fi rock band the Woolen Men—since we attended Lincoln High School together in the early part of this decade, along with Browning’s bandmate/Eggy Records founder [...]

Panther, “Love Is Sold,” Entropy (Kill Rock Stars)


4 CommentsPosted on Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Whoa, you guys, I’m totally in love with this new Panther song. “Love Is Sold” is the first single from the band’s new EP, Entropy, and it’s got a serious Steely Dan vibe going on. That piano? The driving guitar solo at the end? It’s like Charlie Salas-Humara and Joe Kelly decided to make their [...]