Portland was treated well musically Wednesday night: Múm at the Aladdin Theatre and Langhorne Slim, DAWES and Austin Lucas at the Crystal Ballroom. For those at the Crystal, they were treated to strong opening sets by DAWES and Austin Lucas. Although I arrived at the tail end of Austin Lucas’ set, the audience was clearly impressed. DAWES reminded me of a much more patriotic-sounding Wilco; I kept imagining their songs being played as backing music for a Chevrolet Truck commercial. That’s not a bad thing though, since it really did pump up the crowd for the rest of the night.
But my intentions for the evening were to see Langhorne Slim...again. Not long ago, I saw him play at Music Millenium, where his voice gave out after a mere 5 songs, preventing him from performing up to his usual level. So before he went on stage, I told Sean Scolnick (aka Langhorne Slim) that he owes us one, and he laughed about it. His hour and a half on stage Wednesday, however, was pure greatness.
Langhorne Slim has an amazing stage presence, both rowdy and sentimental. At times he had the floor of the Crystal Ballroom dipping down like a wooden trampoline beneath the crowd - jumping rhythmically to the contagious melodies of songs like “Electric Love Letter.” When “Hello Sunshine” began, the whole crowd lost it, and and you could just sense the vibe Langhorne and band were putting on. He also informed the crowd of the results of the World Series between songs, and his bitter response to the Yankees defeating his hometown team in 6 games lead to a full on chant of “FUCK THE YANKEES!” At other times, Slim cast heartfelt silence over the room, using simple words to convey larger ideas on love and the quality of life. The lyrics in songs like “Hummingbird” and “Diamonds and Gold” are so obvious, wise and shamelessly candid, lacking cryptic undertones, that they shock you for being so accessible. It was a wonderful show that was both rejuvinating and human; it possessed an honesty that I feel is increasingly rare in music.
DOWNLOAD: Langhorne Slim - Checking Out (MP3) or Follow us for more Langhorne Slim MP3s (Twitter)
Ugh. Paste’s profile of Free Energy made me kind of hate them. So does your review. It’s this unctuous defense of good-time rock-and-roll ("we’re just here to party, and we’re awesome!") that seems more self-serving than fun-loving.
by beth on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 09.41 pm from the entry: Foreign Born + Free Energy - The Knitting Factory (Brooklyn, NY; Mar. 12, 2010)
that inescapable feeling you are referring to, is that like when you hear something and you could have sworn you heard it before because of the nostalgic catchy quality? or is is like when you’ve heard a band exactly like said band?
great post by the way!
by paul on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 03.15 pm from the entry: The Novel Ideas - "The Sky Is A Field" - Borrow It
Whoa! I had no idea she was enegaged. You would never know with the way she behaves! Wow!
by art on Wed Mar 17, 2010 at 09.48 am from the entry: Nikki Darlin and John McCauley: 1+1=1
This comment stream is so meta. Great review Kelly.
by chris on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 07.50 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
no prob. The whole album is excellent, combining some of the harder sonics of Los Angeles with the meat of his debut and obviously difficult to summarize in only 50 words… 
I’d say it’s on par with the debut, but better than Los Angeles.
by kelly on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.23 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
By the way, I really liked the mp3 posted. Thanks.
by Joshua H on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.17 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
WHO WROTE THIS...PUKE ! “WHO WROTE THIS...PUKE ! “Picture yourself coasting your bike past space funk palm trees, homeless harpists, vintage video arcades, electronic drum circles, and 60s psychedelic singers who’re waiting for the bus. Cosmogramma is kinda like that if someone suddenly tripped you just as you’re starting to enjoy the ride. But in a good way.””
by Joshua H on Tue Mar 16, 2010 at 06.17 pm from the entry: Flying Lotus - "Cosmogramma" - Buy It
