I was going to say how these guys are the only Southern Rock band that matter, pre-plane crash of course. But then I saw this comment exchange for the video and I almost lost it:

Trashtodeath: lol the drummer looks like Chris Haslam (ed. note: Haslam is a professional skateboarder from Canada)
metalmuncher14: the drummer is artimus pyle and hes also a registered sex offender out of florida, musics still awesome

Yes metalmuncher14, the music is awesome.

Seems appropriate because it’s the start of the rain season here in Portland, a miserable dark affair.  This cut seriously burns though.  Two of the blues finest going lick for lick during a special jam at CHCH Studios in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.  December 6 1983.  If you don’t have this album, then you need to run out right now and get your ears a copy.

Sick.

Just wanted to do a quick post on the few other videos I collected from the weekend.  It’s fairly random and mostly from the first two nights.  Security was tighter than tight (wow that’s a bad metaphor) on Friday and Saturday, which means there’s is no video of John Vanderslice, Vampire Weekend, Lackthereof, Blitzen Trapper, Fleet Foxes, Menomena or Helio Sequence (those last four bands all played at the same show Saturday night!  My face melted clear off and I still haven’t put it back together. I look worse than Joan Rivers).

I’m particularly upset about this because my final memory of MusicFest Northwest was Menomena coming out to play with Helio Sequence, a band they dubbed “The Helio Unsequence.”

Also Danny Seim is a world class fucking drummer.  I’m not sure you could definitively say he’s the best drummer right now, but between Menomena and Lackthereof, if you’re having that conversation it definitely starts with him.

Anyway, some video from the week that was.  We’ll have a final “thoughts” roundup about the fest with some photos to touch on all the good stuff.

1900’s

The 1900’s are a Chicago outfit and became one of my favorite acts. They have about seven members and sound similar to numerous tweepop bands like Belle and Sebastian or Camera Obscura, Essex Green, etc. However, their brand of psychpop with boy-girl harmonies and upbeat melodies was catchy as hell.

The played one extended jam to close their set and at times I kept thinking “wow they sorta remind me of Velvet Underground or Zombie.” Not that they were beholden to any of those influences, only that you could parse them. I’ll be keeping my eye on them, as I think they have a full length that’s out Oct. 2 from Parasol Records.

They played Berbati’s Pan and it was the first set I caught on Wednesday to kick things off. Great way to start.

M. Ward

Like Mr. M. Ward needs any introduction at this point. He closed Thursday night and delayed coming on by about 45 minutes. The crowd, usually patience reigns in Portland, became agitated with this and you could see it everywhere - the mumblings and grumblings, the loud cheering and clapping anytime the house music songs ended and the rapture when M. Ward finally strode out on stage.

He played songs from across his entire catalogue, played solo for a bit and I was shocked by how much he rocks out. His albums are generally quiet, contemplative affairs - even the uptempo tracks - but here he let loose just noodling his guitar and having fun.

I left a bit early to try and catch Starfucker and Deerhunter across town. My last mistake in trying to leave a show for another one. Needless to say, lines suck.

And this one got cut off unfortunately due to the ever vigilant security. *Sigh* Don’t they know?

Eskimo and Sons

These guys and gals are from Portland and only have one EP and a 7″ to their name, but it’s a gloriously awesome set of songs. Unfortunately, they are going on indefinite hiatus, well they are on hiatus as of Sunday morning. Saturday at the Towne Lounge was their last concert. I caught them on Thursday and it was an emotional show for all involved. They played with friends The Old Believers.

Bittersweet is the word. I’m glad I caught them though and hopefully they’ll come back under a different name or lineup or something. Too much enjoyment and talent involved to just walk away.

And the song “No Shit” which I incorrectly typoed as “No Shirt” when I uploaded the vidoe. Grrrrrr.

Okay, that’s it for video. We’ll be back with some closing thoughts on the rest of the bands we saw this past week, possibly tonight, as well as an open letter to Vampire Weekend. We hope the band might take some steps to alleviate what we would call their “fan base problem.” Unless they take steps they are going to become the next DMB with a fan base of 15 year-old girls and college asshat dudes. The crowd just about ruined their set for me. Just sayin’

Britt Daniel is one of us.  Yeah sure, he’s the front man for Spoon and that makes him nothing like us on a certain level.  But seeing him kick around Portland at shows, whether it’s checking out White Rabbits or Los Compesinos!, I get the impression he’s one of us.

Wearing jeans, red chucks and t-shirts he blends in more than most of the crazy fashionistas here, except it’s Britt Daniel and he stands out because of who he is.  Still, I get the sense that Britt Daniel was the most popular guy in high school.  Not in that captain of the football team kind of way, but the kind of guy who floats between cliques, excels at everything, is loved by cheerleaders, teachers and moms alike.  He’s that guy.

And we’re all the better for it.  Nowhere were these traits on display more than during his solo set at Wonder Ballroom for MusicFest Northwest.  He was charismatic and coy, often laughing at his mistakes and having fun.  He came on the stage with a simple “thanks for coming to my show” (as if noone would show up?) before blasting into “The Beast and the Dragon, Adored.”

His set was rife with material from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, Gimme Fiction and Kill the Moonlight. But the highlights were the three new songs he debuted.  One was “Writing to You in Reverse,” a song Spoon played at Pitchfork Music Fest that’s been kicking around; the second had no name but it was an aggressive uptempo number in the vein of their Telephono days.  You could almost here the Pixies influence in the tune’s rawness.  Unfortunately, I didn’t get great video of the song; a shame because it was the best of the three.  Finally, he played “Who Backs Your Money?”

But over the course of the hour that he played there is no doubt that Britt Daniel is one of the biggest rock stars we have, even if he refuses to act like it.  His mini-set with Quasi/Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss was one of the highlights of the entire music fest, just an awesome surprise.

He left the stage with an even simpler slight wave of the hand and “goodbye.”  In five years I doubt I’ll remember most of the music I caught this week, but Britt Daniel solo isn’t one of them.

Mp3: Britt Daniel (w/Janet Weiss) - “Who Backs Your Money?” (new!)

Mp3: Britt Daniel - “Underdog”

Mp3: Britt Daniel - “The Beast and Dragon, Adored”

Mp3: Britt Daniel - “Something to Look Forward To”

More videos from the set after the jump.  MORE »

It was shaping up to be a rainy Sunday afternoon here in Stumptown and something that always brings a smile to my ears is Wilco.  Add in a dash of Fleet Foxes covering The Band’s “I Shall Be Released” (whah? That’s a Dylan song!  Mon dieu! No, it was written by Dylan, performed by many but perfected and recorded first by The Band.) and the rain can’t hold me down.

This was recorded during the stop in Spokane, Wash. on Aug. 21.  Jeff Tweedy really goes for those high notes made famous by Richard Manuel and Fleet Foxes provide sumptuous backing harmonies (though I think I’ll always prefer Levon Helm and Rick Danko).

Mp3: Wilco and Fleet Foxes - “I Shall Be Released”

For Comparison’s Sake

Here is The Band performing “I Shall Be Released” during The Last Waltz. Not exactly fair given the shear musical genius on stage during this performance. But who said life was fair?

Mp3: The Band - “I Shall Be Released”

On a not so random note, I’m hoping the future Mrs. Oyster will let me name my first son Danko.

Only recently have I started to come around to The National. It’s not that I didn’t like them, but I just never felt them in the way that so many people seem so feverish towards them. You wouldn’t get an argument from me if you told me you loved The National, it’s just well, that’s where you and I would differ.

They always came across as calculated for maximum critical adulation. The baritone voice, the tight song arrangements, the cryptic yet poetic lyrics, the fluttering of horns, the way songs would crescendo at just the right moment.

Last night in Copenhagen, Denmark, the band debuted the song “A Thousand Black Cities.” No indication if this is the start of the band prepping new material for a follow-up to Boxer. The new song has all the trademarks you would expect from the band, but it has a little more slink to it. It’s a sexy song, with great horn arrangements and a wonderful outro.

[via IGIF]

The ever diligent Largehearted Boy is compiling a list of all the bands whose sets have surfaced for downloading.  So far he’s found Bloc Party, The National, Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine, Wilco, The Whigs, Blues Traveler, The Raconteurs and Explosions in the Sky.  Head here to grab the music.

This one seems to be going around all the music blogs, only a day after Wilco’s set at Lollapalooza. Which means it wasn’t like someone found it, so much as it was an intentional leak. Granted the triple-axe building song is a work in progress, it still shows why Nels Cline as been such a huge addition to Wilco. He’s truly taken a great band and put them into the pantheon.  Luckily though their entire set surfaced at Deaf Indie Elephants.

Heather has done it again and dug up a shit ton of live cover songs by Wilco. I can’t wait to dig into these tunes because I love both covers and Wilco. Among the bands Jeff Tweedy and company put a spin to are The Kinks, The Stooges, Daniel Johnston, Kermit the Frog, U2, Carole King, Brian Wilson, The Who, Bob Dylan, and so many others. She found these tunes over at Owl and Bear, but b/c they only deal in FLAC files, Heather has been generous enough to translate them all to Mp3 for your enjoyment.  Grab nearly 29 covers and keep your eyes out for part 2!

If you missed Vh1’s Rock Honors, featuring not only The Who, but also The Flaming Lips, The Foo Fighters, Tenacious D and Pearl Jam paying tribute to Peter, Roger, Keith Moon’s Ghost and the other guys in the band fear not.  You can catch the most of the highlights here.

The Hold Steady swung by Letterman on Wednesday night. We know we’re late in getting around to this, but shit we were watching The Watchmen trailer all day yesterday. Anyway, the band played “Sequestered In Memphis” and even got to work some comedy chops in a skit, well, at least singer Craig Finn was in a skit.

Their new album Stay Positive is out now on Vanguard Records and we like it a lot. We’re not sure if we like it more than Boys and Girls in America but it’s been on non-stop rotation all week. Pitchfork gave it an 8.4. And though we generally detest Pitchfork their review of the album was pretty good.

I love how Finn seems to be milking every moment of his new found rock star status. It’s always great to watch a band that never expected to have success find it the most; still, he needs to work on his stage moves. But he’s a rock star! Which he goofs on in the skit.