EMPIRE DINE AND DANCE

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A little bit country

Wax Tablet
The line-up for the Portland showcase at the CMJ Festival will be: SPOSE , BILLY LIBBY , THE MALLETT BROTHERS BAND , SUNSET HEARTS , THE MILKMAN'S UNION , THE TOUGHCATS , and KURT BAKER .
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | September 21, 2011

Revivals + recesses

Wax Tablet
Those who recall the work of PETER DONOVAN — who fronted the punchy, sour-luck rock and roll of ALL THE REAL GIRLS until the band's hiatus in 2009 — would be keen to know this: Donovan himself has spent the summer acting in an independent film (titled LOST ON PURPOSE ) about some guys finding themselves on a dairy farm.
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | August 31, 2011

Say Hi to I Love Music

A burning Tiger
That photo with the high heels is so good you almost don't need to know anything else about Hi Tiger before taking the plunge with their music.
By SAM PFEIFLE | August 09, 2011

Marie Stella and Sophomore Beat call it quits; Dean Ford polishes a new EP

Sibilance
Looks like MARIE STELLA are calling it quits.
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | July 13, 2011

Erica Brown is more than a pretty girl with a fiddle

Bluegrass connections
Just hitting the backside of her mid-twenties and already coming up on two decades into her career as a fiddle/violin player and singer here in Maine and beyond, Erica Brown is one of the youngest true veterans on the circuit you're likely to find.
By SAM PFEIFLE | July 06, 2011

Pinsky win by Losing Touch

Get up, kids
Pinsky don't seem to be in any kind of hurry. Roughly three years following their first EP, the intriguing Two for the Road (with a two-song release mixed in last year), the four-piece are ready with a debut full-length on Sinking Ship Records.
By SAM PFEIFLE | June 29, 2011

Mod Night at Empire Dine and Dance, June 3

Music seen
Speaking from experience collaborating with him on the decks, the litmus test that best gauges the success of any Ian Paige DJ night is how well Booker T and the MGs' "Green Onions" goes over.
By CHRISTOPHER GRAY | June 08, 2011

Theodore Treehouse + Soft Bullets + Ashpark at Empire Dine and Dance, May 7

Music seen
Opening the night, Boston's Ashpark showed themselves to be a professional band in the least interesting sense of the term.
By NICHOLAS SCHROEDER | May 12, 2011

Port City soars, Venue tanks

Sibilance
PORT CITY MUSIC HALL must be doing something right.
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | March 03, 2011

A talk with legendary producer and musician Martin Bisi

‘Tired of recording’
Since opening BC Studio in Brooklyn in 1979, Martin Bisi has recorded dozens of records on the fringe of the avant-garde scene, including early Sonic Youth, Michael Gira's Swans and Angels of Light, and the cabaret breakout debut record from Boston's Dresden Dolls.
By NICHOLAS SCHROEDER | February 23, 2011

28 ways to escape the winter doldrums

Get outta that rut!
I know, I know. When winter rolls around, most of us want be eating comfort food with cheese in it and watching 30 Rock on a cozy lap-warming computer. But, c'mon!
By DENA RIEGEL | February 01, 2011

Dan Capaldi steps out from behind the kit

On the Level
In addition to plenty of other projects, Dan Capaldi has played drums now for two of Portland's most important bands of the last five years: the brightly burning Cambiata and the still-on-the-rise Holy Boys Danger Club.
By SAM PFEIFLE | January 26, 2011

Gully + Foam Castles + Sunset Hearts at Empire Dine and Dance, January 8

Music seen
Gully, Foam Castles, and Sunset Hearts at Empire was a veritable who's-who of the Portland indie rock scene.
By AMANDA PLEAU | January 12, 2011

New projects, debuts, and goodbyes

Sibilance
Former CAMBIATA mates CHRIS MOULTON and STAN DZENGELEWSKI (hardest name in Portland music to spell?) have a new project they're calling VANITYITES , and they're getting help from all kinds of former bandmates and other talented folks.
By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | January 05, 2011

By | January 01, 0001

Jeff Beam navigates the Flying Trapeze

Without a net
Talk about a high-wire act. On his fourth full-length album in as many years, young songwriter/performer/engineer Jeff Beam has set out to make an important album that's listenable, a record that both challenges ideas about pop music and embraces them.
By SAM PFEIFLE | December 08, 2010

Starving artists, meet starving Artwalkers

Hey galleries, what happened to the standard wine and cheese?
While it's a lot to expect gallery owners to provide an extensive cheese platter or booze for the masses, the First Friday Art Walk is supposed to be a monthly celebration of the arts here in Portland. It's a chance for working folks to get out to the arts district after hours and gallery owners to display what's new in their collections.
By LEISCHEN STELTER | December 08, 2010

By | January 01, 0001

Div Kid span the rock spectrum

Tinted colors
Div Kid really should have garnered more attention for their self-titled full-length debut in the summer of 2009. It was a pretty good pop rock record.
By SAM PFEIFLE | December 01, 2010

Sparks the Rescue record Fearlessly

In the studio
Why do bands still pursue label deals? Let's ask Sparks the Rescue, who just finished up seven weeks working with producer/engineer Jonathan Wyman out at his studio in Windham, all on the Fearless Records dime.
By SAM PFEIFLE | November 24, 2010

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Review: AoK's solid debut

Start-up
Appropriately, AoK Suicide Forest's self-titled debut record is traveling music; whether a soundtrack for coursing through terrain similar to their grim namesake or a more, uh, cosmic environment, is a decision left to the listener.
By NICHOLAS SCHROEDER | November 11, 2010

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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

By | January 01, 0001