Jeff Beam steps away from the Union for ‘Be Your Own Mirror’
Posted on March 30, 2012 by Ryan Cutler in Album Reviews, Arts & Culture
Jeff Beam is one of those Portland staples who is difficult to not notice. You have seen him walking down Congress Street with the lanky stride of John Lennon crossing Abbey Road, perhaps you have even caught him pulling off a Hendrix-influenced solo at various bars around town. Chiseling away for years at his own artistic vision, [...]
A&C Recommends: Haru Bangs and Captain Hollow at Port City Music Hall
Posted on March 30, 2012 by Kevin Steeves in Arts & Culture
This Tuesday, two of Portland’s most volume-fixated acts will be co-headlining Port City Music Hall, as the noise-pop trio Haru Bangs will be joined by Ryan Higgins, Kyle Mallory-Macdonald, Patric Cunningham and Jakob Battick — better known as the newest line-up for Captain Hollow, for a show that comes just in time to snap you out of [...]
A&C Recommends: ‘All in: The Poker Movie’ at the Portland Museum of Art
Posted on March 29, 2012 by Margo Mcintosh in Arts & Culture
A game or job? Since the dawn of its days in underground clubs in New York and on Mississippi riverboats, poker has been a symbol of the pursuit of the American Dream and the journey and risks it takes to achieve it. The Portland Museum of Art will be featuring a screening of All in: The Poker Movie, [...]
Somewhere between Sonic Youth genius and Xtina, Lee Ranaldo falls short
Posted on March 28, 2012 by Ryan Cutler in Album Reviews, Arts & Culture
For fans of Sonic Youth, Lee Ranaldo’s ninth studio album Between the Times and the Tides will be very familiar territory. Don’t look here for an ultra-modern update of the hyper-loud and noise-ridden experimentation of the Daydream Nation days. Instead what you will find is Ranaldo wandering through his comfort zones with ten assemblages of hazy noise and sappy love-rock standards. [...]
A&C Recommends: Jeff Beam, Tanner Smith and Billy Carr at Poland Street
Posted on March 17, 2012 by Liza Miller in Arts & Culture
This Friday, the D.I.Y music venue Poland St. will host an evening featuring Portland’s finest young talent. Your weekend will be sure to start off with a bang as Jeff Beam Boombox, Tanner Smith, Billy Carr and Boston natives Holiday Mountain take the stage at 26 Poland St. Prolifically creative psychedelic-indie rocker Jeff Beam will [...]
Springsteen comes to the frontline the 17th time around
Posted on March 17, 2012 by Ryan Cutler in Album Reviews, Arts & Culture
Bruce Springsteen has always spoken for America’s unheard voices, from the love-torn rock operas in 1975′s Born to Run, to the American Dream-turned-broken nightmare of 1984′s Born in the U.S.A. After witnessing and retelling the effects of a wayward nation for decades, The Boss now assumes the roles of judge and jury to accuse “all them fat cats” with [...]
Local Top 5: Portland Bands to watch in 2012
Posted on March 13, 2012 by Kevin Steeves in Arts & Culture
1.) The Outfits: It’s hard to think of another band that covered as much ground and made as many fans as The Outfits did in 2011. In just a few months’ time, the bare-bones punk outfit (yeah we went there) went from scantly-watched grainy YouTube videos to playing a marathon set at the grand opening [...]
Of midwest moonshine in Great Western Plain’s ‘Mustache Eye Patch’
Posted on March 09, 2012 by Ryan Cutler in Album Reviews, Arts & Culture
Despite their residency in the Pine Tree State, Great Western Plain encapsulates those expansive west-of-Mississippi flats that stretch from Texas to Canada in sublime isolation. With their sophomore release Mustache Eye Patch, the Portland trio lets their frustrations loose like a drunken twister in Kansas. Mustache Eye Patch is a recipe for the perfect cowboy garage rock record, [...]
Popular Portland restaurant, Silly’s, gets a new ‘Twist’
Posted on March 09, 2012 by Anna Flemke in Arts & Culture
Malt! Who goes there? No, it’s not a typo. Loaded with Bailey’s Irish Cream, chocolate, malt and coffee, “Malt! Who goes there?” is one of the many cleverly-named cocktails offered at Silly’s With a Twist, the latest addition to Portland’s East Bayside neighborhood. Located at 40 Washington Ave., Silly’s With a Twist opened in the [...]
A&C Recommends: Jaws Gems and Ro Sham Beaux at SPACE
Posted on March 08, 2012 by USM Free Press in Arts & Culture
By Kirsten Sylvain, Contributor This Friday, two of New England’s most impressive genre-fusion acts will take the stage, as Portland’s own psychedelic soul band, Jaw Gems, will be joined by the experimental jazz quartet, Ro Sham Beaux, at SPACE starting at 9 p.m. “We like weird sounds with a soulful element,” said Jaw Gems’ pianist, [...]
Bangor Daily News