I’d love to go to a Stoned Soul Picnic right about now…… by the way – the four night run of shows by Miles Davis (with Chick Corea-Keith Jarrett-Jack DeJohnette-Steve Grossman and Airto) in June 1970 that become Miles Live at the Fillmore [East] was in fact, Miles opening for Laura Nyro each night – …
34 years ago today, REM’s Chronic Town EP was released and it simply changed the whole landscape of indie-rock, college-radio, clubs, touring, fanzines – it inspired a whole host of imitators (god help us!) but also tons of bands that sounded absolutely nothing like them (such as SST bands). During the first half of the …
Last Sunday, I paid a visit to the new statue at AT&T Park: Gaylord Perry, who spent the first decade of his career in a San Francisco uniform alongside Juan Marichal as a mainstay of the Giants pitching staff during the 1960s. Perry’s most famous pitch was a spitball, which he discussed at length in …
On a hot August 19 night Darrel’s Tavern just north of Seattle hosted a night of Seattle hillbilly, celtic and folk punk bands. The headliner was Wages Of Sin. This Seattle quintet combined a bit of country, a bit of folk, a bit of punk and a heavy dose of Celtic and tossed it into …
Everyone’s favorite acid organ punk duo, Archie and the Bunkers, have returned from a massively successful European tour and released a new record, Mystery Lover. Below is a video they released a few months ago which will give you a feel for their electrifying retro sound. http://archieandthebunkers.com/
Strangely, this version of “Joe Cool” sung by Vince Guaraldi is NOT featured on any of the countless Peanuts soundtracks issued by Fantasy Records (their albums only have an instrumental version) – I had to buy a CD called Lost Cues from his family’s estate. – Pat Thomas is the author of Listen, Whitey! The …
I twice voted for Barack Obama for President of the United States of America. Now that he has less than six months left in his job as President, and since I have been rightly critical of his predecessor (and Obama’s successor will likely be worse than Obama), I feel compelled to present some of his …
The Chicago Tribune has printed a four-part series on a subject I wrote about last year: https://www.eastportlandblog.com/2015/09/22/the-pope-pig-manure-and-minnesota-water-quality-by-mark-erickson/ Here’s one Tribune article regarding pig polluters: http://digitaledition.chicagotribune.com/launch.aspx?pbid=3e7227b1-e3b7-4fac-aa07-5f943e58b4c5 As I read the article that landed on my doorstep today I recall the book The Jungle by Upton Sinclair, which exposed the production and sale of meat and the …
“Credit must be given to the foremothers: the Shaggs. In 1969 they recorded an album that can stand, I think, easily with Beatles ’65, Life with the Lions, Blonde on Blonde, and Teenage Jesus and the Jerks as one of the landmarks of rock history. The Wiggins sisters (an anti-power trio) not only redefined the …
This fine Carpenter’s cover was discovered by my lovely wife who tells me that when she grabs the mic to sing, her favorite karaoke jam is this song. As for this version, it’s marvelous. Ms. Ericks channels Karen Carpenter excellently. Enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/user/ShaneEricks https://www.facebook.com/shaneericksmusic
On the eve of the Pitchfork Music Festival last month, I read the Chicago Tribune’s preview of the three day event. The article coded the entertainers by genre such as EDM, hip hop, indie, rock, etc. On day one, the first act was a rock band called Beach House. On day two, Brian Wilson was …
The NYT posted a video today of Trump’s supporters letting it all hang out at his rallies. The footage is instructive, but not for the squeamish. – Vino Knight-Trané http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000004533191/unfiltered-voices-from-donald-trumps-crowds.html
I have been on a Modest Mouse kick of late. Love the records Good News for People who Love Bad News and We Were Already Dead before the Ship Sank. I really love those records, pretty much in their entirety, but especially, “Ocean Breathes Salty.” My right now favorite lyric of all time is: “That …
Last Saturday night was a long anticipated event, the return of NJ ska band Streetlight Manifesto. SLM are a very tight band. They exude an energy on stage that is reflected in their music, but not in their physical actions. This is not a band that interacts much with their audience. They get up on …
I keep my grandpa’s wooden box full of foreign coins and coins I find interesting. I hadn’t looked through it for a long time. I was dusting tonight and found this CTA token. What happy memories~thought you– and all of the Chicago diaspora nation– would enjoy seeing it. I don’t know if tokens like this …
I am extremely grateful that Ian Hunter is still with us. So underrated… He has a new record coming out called Cross My Fingers. Since I saw Ian and the Rant Band on their 2001 tour I honestly don’t think anyone has put out better music since. We’ve had Rant, Shrunken Heads“, Man Overboard, and …
A side project from her work as front woman of Philadelphia indie punk band Little Big League, Michelle Zauner released a tape in June 2013 under the solo moniker Japanese Breakfast. The tape was titled June and boasted thirty tracks written and recorded every day of the month. A stark deviation from Little Big League’s …
In light of the recent stories about Roger Ailes and what appears to be the locker-room culture at Fox News, this would be an appropriate musical theme for their broadcasts: Fountains of Wayne’s, “Traffic and Weather”. “We belong together, like traffic and weather . . . “
I saw the Furs the first time at the Riviera Theatre in Chicago on August 21, 1981, 34 years and 11 months to the day before last night’s show at the Santa Monica Pier. That show was opened by the Chicago power pop band, The Kind, and was followed by a night of dark droning …
This tune is truly special. It starts out pained, focused and inward but opens to illuminate an emotional story and sonic landscape as big as all of our sadnesses put together. The voice of Darling Cora (Darlene Cuevas) has a delicious range, vivid color and a soothing, comforting feel. She sounds like the Mona Lisa, …
Cheryl Strayed, whose memoir, Wild, became a successful movie with Reese Witherspoon, is a good storyteller whose online talks and Q&As never contain a dull moment. It was during one of my searches for her talks that I learned that she had resurrected her advice column, Dear Sugar, as a WBUR podcast with Steve Almond, …
Fitz and The Tantrums’ self-titled album came out June 10. The first single, “HandClap,” was #1 most added at Alternative radio for 3 weeks in a row, was in the Top 5 of Spotify’s US viral chart and is already in a FIAT ad. It’s big and danceable and may be the summer song for …
Oregon’s Willamette Valley has some of the best wine country on Earth, especially if you’re into the Pinot Noir variety that Rex Pickett made famous with his novels Sideways and Vertical, the latter of which is set in Oregon. For those who live in Portland or are just visiting, most of the wineries are within …
I shouldn’t like Skating Polly, two Oklahoma kids playing thrashy post punk, but it turns out I love them utterly to bits. I got the album on a whim, and to check them out further, seeing as it turns out I’d seen them live supporting Babes In Toyland. I’d kinda filed that away in the …
Friday night July 8 Seattle’s foremost punk club, El Corazon, hosted one of punk’s foremost bands, the Dickies. Hailing from So Cal, the Dickies have been around since 1977 and are essentially the clowns, the satire of punk rock while still being punk. The band integrates numerous props in their performance including an anatomically correct …
Maccie is from a different Portland, “I grew up in Portland, Ontario in foster care, and from a young age I used music as an escape. I always had a passion for singing but when I discovered the piano at age 8 I was hooked. I taught myself by ear, I learned piano, then moved …
At an East Portland Blog staff meeting tonight, one of our fine writers related a story about visiting the Billy Graham Library in North Carolina. This reminded me of hours lost in the 1970s sitting forcibly quiet and heroically bored as my parents monopolized the lone family boob tube watching televised versions of Billy Graham …
From the album Impossible Dream out August 5, 2016:
Purslane has more omega 3 than any other leafy green. Purslane is easy to find in the cracks of the sidewalk. Kay Young substitutes the purslane for lettuce in tacos or sandwiches. Bonus no chopping or wilting! The leaves can be eaten raw or cooked. I vote for raw~the less work the better! I added …