Darien Brahms

Latest Articles

Clearing things up with the Fogcutters

Huge sounds
Walking into the old Hanover Street warehouse space in Portland to a full-blown rehearsal of the Fogcutters Big Band is a little like moving from a sauna to the frozen tundra.
By SAM PFEIFLE | November 30, 2011

I wanna Jamericana

Carry on, wayward sons (and daughter)
For some of us, the title of Dirigo's debut album makes perfect sense. But I can't tell you how many times I've been asked: "So, it's like Jamaican reggae, but played in America?"
By SAM PFEIFLE | August 31, 2011

Reinventions and retrospectives

Sibilance
Who said jazz in Portland is dead? The PORTLAND QUARTET would beg to differ.
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | June 22, 2011

Covers and collaborations

Sibilance
Former Portlander, now New Yorker, RACHEL GRIFFIN is one of 25 artists on a new CD of BRUCE HORNSBY covers, available for free download at salivatecd.com .
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | June 08, 2011

Review: GFAC returns with double the horsepower

Inverted V8
How spoiled are we in this town? A record like the new Greetings from Area Code 207 Vol. 8 can come out and it's like: Big Fuckin' Deal.
By SAM PFEIFLE | November 10, 2010

Fall Music Preview: Stay positive

The local concert calendar is filled to capacity
The face of the local nightlife landscape undergoes a major change in the form of a renewal this autumn, as the State Theatre’s exhaustively maligned absence ends on October 15, with 10 fall concerts on their docket already. But that’s not the only new venue to look out for.
By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | September 15, 2010

Fall Music Preview: The road ahead

Seekonk, Molenes, Spooner, Schrock & the Rocket lead fall line-up
As the local music scene continues to grow, it shouldn’t be surprising that this past summer was the most active we’ve ever seen in terms of album releases.
By SAM PFEIFLE | September 15, 2010

One man’s picks for the BiMPys

Handicapping the Best Music Poll
Pffft. That Phoenix Best Music Poll is just a popularity contest!
By SAM PFEIFLE | June 02, 2010

We heart these people

Meet Portland's most influential
We all know Portland is a busy, exciting place to live. It takes a lot of people's amazing energy to keep it going, though. Who's doing the moving and the shaking?
By JEFF INGLIS | February 10, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Portland’s wishes for 2010

New Year’s resolutions
Ah, these fresh moments of the new year, when our hopes and resolutions are unsullied by the rough ravages of time, politics, and the Maine winter.
By DEIRDRE FULTON | December 30, 2009

Ripple effect

The 10 most influential bands of our first 10 years
The Portland Phoenix launched in 1999, just as the Portland music scene was turning.
By SAM PFEIFLE | September 16, 2009

So good

Spencer Albee's got Spirit. How 'bout you?
One way to experiment with songwriting is to throw convention out the window, eschew verses and choruses, try to be completely unique. Sometimes the idea appears that if a song sounds like anything that came before it, well, that's points deducted like a gymnast who missed her landing. It's derivative!
By SAM PFEIFLE | July 30, 2009

A decade of song

10 years of the Portland Music Awards
It’s been a decade since the Portland Phoenix and the Portland music scene first joined up to celebrate the best in local music. Here are some highlights from this year’s party, and some artifacts we dug up from the archives.
By MARGO ROY, CLIF GARBODEN, JOHN MARSHALL, LISA CRAIG, MATTHEW ROBBINS, SONYA TOMLINSON, JEFF INGLIS, AND JENNIFER KEARNS | June 11, 2009

Album

Pantheon of the Lesser , Ocean
Pantheon of the Lesser , Ocean
By | July 23, 2009

Musicians: What you need to know

Portland Music Foundation
It's true that we don't live in a city where there are tons of big labels looking to give local musicians their shot at the big time.
By DEIRDRE FULTON + KATRINA BOTELHO | January 14, 2009

Scrutiny of the bounty

Was 2008 the best year ever for local music releases?
I'm an enthusiastic guy, and maybe prone to hyperbole from time to time, but it's hard to argue that 2008 wasn't an all-time banner year for music created here in the Portland area.
By SAM PFEIFLE | December 23, 2008

Seven Sirens

Music seen at SPACE Gallery, November 14
SPACE Gallery showcased a "Seven Sirens" all-lady lineup last Friday, in front of a packed house.
By SONYA TOMLINSON AND JEFF INGLIS | November 19, 2008

Portland scene report: October 31, 2008

Sibilance starts now
Civil Disturbance drummer Nick “Nikko” Villaci, who’s been in the local rock scene long enough to have produced progeny to fill out other local bands, has announced his retirement from the original music scene.
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | October 29, 2008

Rhapsodies in blues

Scissormen razor sharp on Luck in a Hurry
“There are a lot of people that play the blues with too much reverence. And that’s the reason that most blues sucks,” says Scissormen frontman (and Phoenix contributor) Ted Drozdowski.
By MIKE MILIARD | October 15, 2008