Experimental Dental School's new record

Local duo Experimental Dental School released their new album, Forest Field, as a free download today on their website www.experimentaldental.com.

Originally from Oakland, where they shared stages with Bay Area bretheren Deerhoof, they moved to PDX a couple years ago to hide in a basement and record. This is their first album as a two piece, and it follows suit that it's their tightest yet. Gone is the smorgaasbord of sound from earlier efforts like Jane Doe Loves Me or Hideous Dance Attack. They've stripped it down quite a bit, I mean they still sound like a dissonance-dance party/rock and roll science experiment, but Forest shows a lot more of the bones and muscles of their sound.

Shoko's voice is absolutely perfect, and her drumming, sexy, dancey and to the point, really holds these songs down. It makes sense that her presence is more relevant now that the band is a two-piece, and thats a wonderful thing. Jesse Hall seems more confident as a vocalist, and while he still bends his guitar riffs into dissonant weirdness, he does so with a new bareness. It's like a no-nonsense approach to a whole lot of nonsense, craziness applied in a straightforward manner. This record is the best no-money you'll spend today.

Three headed freak babies and the mermaids who loved them

Pink Tentacle has an image-rich post on the ancient Japanese art of stitching together various dead animals to create "demons" and then mummifying them. Why did this never catch on in the West?


I'm pretty sure this one is actually Golem

Next time Jen, stick with Great Clips

From the New York Post:

Jennifer Aniston's honey-colored highlights and unadorned 'do on the red carpet only look effort less - in reality, the laid-back-looking locks cost an estimated $50,000 to achieve.

More details here.

Michael Gira @ the Doug Fir

Is there a direct correlation between aging, going solo and wearing a cowboy hat? Are the three mutually exclusive? Perhaps not, but Michael Gira's set last night at the Doug Fir would show evidence strongly in favor this.

The night started with Larkin Grimm, a strong bisexual female singer/songwriter. Go ahead, google “strong bisexual female singer/songwriter,” then scroll down a few, you might find her. She wears her sexuality on her sleeve, or she would, but sleeves are probably a function of patriarchal fascism, so she doesn't have any. Her best song, for instance, was about a distant galaxy where everyone has their own spirit orgasm.

“The female orgasm is outlawed in Georgia, where I'm from,” she began, and went on to preach the gospel of some ethereal orgasm wormhole. Very enlightening. Another highlight of her set was a lyric about sleeping with other women, where she describes a lover's legs “open like scissors.” Scissors? Really? I mean, its just too damn easy.

Perhaps I was all singer/songwritered out by the time Gira got on stage. Perhaps I just don't hold him to the same level of genius as a lot of Swans fans do. All I can say, and I say it because this is blogging and I can blog any opinion I have whether is valid or not, is that I was terribly bored by his set from the start.

What it comes down to, for me, is that while Gira has an amazing voice and great stage presence, his songs are one-dimensional when stripped this bare. Even when, in groups like Angels of Light, his instrumentation is minimal, the other musicians, in very subtle ways, flesh his simple chord structures into dynamic, moving songs.

Whether he's a legend or not, I gotta calls it like I sees it: When you're bored, you're bored.

--Jeff Guay

Oh man, who else is jonesin' for another CAT COMPILATION?

At least this one starts off with bonsai-kitten antics.

The Ravishers debut at the Doug Fir

Last night was the premier of local Portland group The Ravishers at the Doug Fir. Or at least the premier of the band performing under their new name, formerly hailing as Dominic Castillo and the Rock Savants. For more information regarding their name change, and other info, check out their interview in The Vanguard.

The Ravishers, are a sigh of relief from quite a few bland performances I’ve seen. They put on a great show. Whether you were following them from the Rock Savant days, or just being introduced, all spectators were exceptionally entertained.

Each member has a personality on stage that melds well together. Beyond having fun, it really did just seem that they were in their element, a vibe forwarded onto the audience. The Ravishers seem to have a handle on the show while working the stage, and just go with the flow. In the end, their performance was much like their music, keeping it simple so that the song can catch you up with it.

And that was really their greatest selling point. While The Ravishers appear fun, easy going and comfortable, it is their music that sets the foundation for a live show. A trait many live bands can learn from. There is nothing more annoying than a band that loves to jerk-off to themselves on stage, with forced poses, half-tolerable sound experimentation and awkward banter with the crowd.

With their own approach of indie-rock dabbling in the pop realm, they remind you of Phantom Planet’s early energy, and gives you the feel of bands such as the Lemonheads or a pinch Elvis Costello, that predate the gimmicky trend of indie-alternative riding the radio waves today.

There should be more shows to follow, so leave your dorm, house or back-alley cardboard box to support a local band that is one to watch, and won’t leave you disappointed.


Though bearing their former name of the Rock Savants, this video is of The Ravishers performing their song "Keep You Around."

Drop it in the sauce bottle up the sauce

Mike Doughty just debuted his music video for "Put it Down" off his latest album Golden Delicious over at IFC. I like the low-fi aspects and the part where he tries jamming with the sirens. It's nice to see some personality in a music video these days.