For maybe the first time ever, when he took the stage as part of Jenny and Johnny’s backing band Jason Boesel was not the swarthiest tall man in the room. I achieved Portland Life Goal #1 at this show too: run into Brit Daniel about town. He looks cool, like, all the time. I wonder if he enjoyed the show! I wonder if he has to buy his own tickets! I have a lot of questions, if you’re reading, Brit. Anyway.

Even though most people that I mentioned Jenny and Johnny to had heard of either Rilo Kiley or Jenny Lewis, but not the new project, the duo managed to sell out Portland’s Doug Fir Lounge days in advance of the show. I read a tepid review of their first show in San Francisco, where I think poor sound mixing made the reviewer cranky. Fortunately, in the intervening two or three shows, the band seems to have fixed the sound issues and hammered out an exciting, albeit brief, set list.

They opened with album closer “Committed,” probably the wordiest song that Johnny sings lead on, then jumped into “Scissor Runner” without a breath. The uptempo songs were crisp and danceable, and when the tempo slowed, their voices carried the songs from the stage into our little hearts. Rice called “My Pet Snakes” “one of those songs where you can’t say it to them in person so you just say it on stage in front of hundreds of strangers every night,” and for the first time I caught the line about “songs about killing me,” an unsubtle allusion to Rilo Kiley’s song “Under the Blacklight.” In an interview, Blake Sennet surprised Jenny by revealing that it was about killing her in Texas. “Just Like Zeus” was given context as well, which is always one of the most fascinating parts of a show. That song’s about strip clubs!

Unfortunately, the groove of “Slavedriver” did not translate to a live performance; the backing track was too loud and drowned out most of the vocals. The only other audible sound was Todd WHOEVER’s lead guitar, which was much too loud for the entire night. He’s an able guitarist, to be sure, but it threw the balance off. But after a noisy rendition of “Switchblade,” the band burned the damn house down with “The Next Messiah” from Jenny’s album, Acid Tongue. Whether to maintain the balance of their collaboration or just for funsies, in one of the most stunning moments of the night, Jenny and Johnny then sang a haunting rendition of Rice’s “The End of the Affair.”

Late in the set, Jenny debuted a new song. “It’s about hanging out… with a bunch of dudes,” she revealed, eyeing her backing band suspiciously. The simpler, more country song detailed the internal conflict of being a woman approaching her mid-30s unmarried and childless. “No matter how hard I try/to be one of the guys/there’s a clock inside that will not let me…. I’m just another lady/without a baby” she jokes, for in 2010, in Los Angeles, there are plenty of ways around that if what you want is a baby. That’s not what the song is about; it’s about the pressure Lewis feels to want a baby because she’s a woman, a pressure that she sees her male peers escape altogether.

Johnathan Rice has assayed various stage personae since his start—snarky Scottish guy (seriously, in a green suit), a stammering introvert—but he’s most convincing and, frankly, most enjoyable as Jenny’s wise-cracking counterpart. For her part, Jenny tried not to dominate the stage and avoided speaking much for a few songs; however, the enamored crowd kept professing its love. Rice suggested that they could “get a fuckin’ sixty-some going after the show” and about that time, Jenny started chatting more with her band and the crowd. They were charming and funny and I love them.

Rice confessed that, being at the beginning of the tour, they weren’t sick of playing the same songs over and over again. It showed. There were a few awkward moments, a lot of fun ones, and a boisterous closer in “Big Wave.” I’ve yet to see a crowd that knows what to make of their cover of “Love Hurts,” which they sang as an encore. Is it ironic or what? All the duo said was that Jenny and Johnny as a project came about because they had been covering that song.

Openers Love as Laughter, at their best, reminded me of Scott Pilgrim’s band. Not just because I only just saw that movie.

Set List
Committed
Scissor Runner
New Yorker Cartoon
My Pet Snakes
Just Like Zeus
Straight Edge of the Blade
Slavedriver
Switchblade
The Next Messiah
The End of the Affair
Animal
New Song
Big Wave

Encore – Love Hurts

Hey, I have like 30 hours to listen to all the bands playing MusicFest NW and create an airtight schedule of awesomeness. That’s a tall order, even for an unemployed (but no longer homeless WOO!) hobo such as myself. Anyhoo, in honor of being in Portland and all, I’m starting by listening to the local bands for you!

Sara Jackson-Holman – Think, like, a jazz singer sitting at a piano in a smoky club, or a leading lady in a 60s film with gratuitous musical numbers. The piano and strings match the timbre of her voice perfectly. She sounds lovely.

See her Friday Sept 10, 8 pm at Ash Street Saloon.

But maybe sneak out early to go see…

Boy Eats Drum Machine – I like this guy! I like the name. I like that he thinks I’m a sweatpant-wearing riot on Twitter. I like the kind of baritoney voice, the samples that are all cut to sound like old video game music, and I really like the hook on “Hoop and Wire.”

See Boy Eats Drum Machine Fri Sept 10, 8:15 p.m. at the Someday Lounge.

See him instead of swim swam swum who definitely have potential but right now all their songs sound kind of the same.

Jared Mees and the Grown Children – If you, like me, are predisposed to like the sound of wonky voices and lots of people singing together, you are going to love Jared Mees as much as I am loving him. Think verbose lyrics full of elaborate imagery set to music that sounds like it was recorded right after the band rolled out of bed—kind of stiff, but still strangely intimate.

See Jared Mees Fri Sept 10, 10:15 p.m. at Someday Lounge—same as Boy Eats Drum Machine! I’d advise staying at this show all night except I intend to see The Tallest Man on Earth so I don’t want to talk the talk without walking the walk.

See them instead of… well, yikes. Jared Mees’s set overlaps Wiz Khalifa, if you’re into hip-hop (I’m too white), Man Man (Michael called them “a vaudeville band from the 40s on crack”), and Okkervil River who I guess are a big deal but my internet isn’t working too well right now for researching.

AgesAndAges - On the one hand, it’s like white people trying to do gospel music. On the other hand, the harmonies are SO FUCKING TIGHT. Love that old rootsy guitar riff on “No Nostalgia.”

See AgesAndAges on Sat Sept 11, 10 p.m. at Bunk Bar. Maybe sneak out a little/a lot early to catch Menomena.

Menomena – I’m cheating. These guys are blown up way beyond being “local” but I think I implied to a big fan that I was totes going to see them, so I have to mention them. Plus, between all of the other bands on at that time (Titus Andronicus, Portland Cello Project, The Smashing Pumpkins) would you blame me for seeing Menomena? I’ve seen the first two and, I mean, the Smashing Pumpkins?

Whatever.

Black Prairie – I called a moratorium on all-dude bands because I was tired of randomly selecting Portland bands and only seeing dudes. Black Prairie features three Decemberists, and two women among its ranks. Often-instrumental turn-of-the-century folk for when your vocal cords are raw and your eardrums are bleeding.

See Black Prairie Friday, Sep 10, 11 p.m. at Berbati’s Pan.

Oh my gosh, you guys, this is more tedious than blogging usually is. I need a team of one million monkey bloggers at typewriters to actually finish this and to revise that “It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times” bullshit. Let’s leave this list where it stands and be glad that I’ve stumbled onto some really sweet local bands! See if you can do better!

KKKKPPPZZZZZZZZZZHHHHHHHHH! Hear that? It’s the sound of Jukebox the Ghost blowing up. RIGHT? Please validate me by pretending that was a good opening joke. I anticipate some google hits for this post. I apologize, googlers.

If I tried to write a traditional review of Everything Under the Sun, (out today and currently the #34 album on iTunes, WHOA) I would get all gushy and probably cry like a proud mom. All these years of creepy fandom, and here they are dropping their second album after a summer that took them from Lollapalooza to Letterman! Yeah, friends, I love this record. They’ve pushed themselves to try new styles, as on Tommy’s dance sensation “Half Crazy” and Ben’s Motown homage “The Popular Thing.” They’ve closed some of the gap between their songwriting styles. They’re the most fun. I think “The Stars” is my favorite, at least right now, but that could change.

In addition to enjoying this album, I am also learning from it! Check it: after the jump, educational moments on Everything Under the Sun.

I’m Learning To Diagnose Mental Illness!
Song: “Schizophrenia”

Relevant Lyrics:
We first met in the summer of my 22nd year.
I got scared and they appeared out of thin air.
They knew my name.
They screamed and screeeeeeeeamed!
They knew everything.

I’m learning Sex Positivity!
Song: “Mistletoe”

Relevant Lyrics:
My mistletoe called me up on the phone
Tried her best to explain to the hearts that she had known
That though they’d misbehaved
She’d known it all along:
No need to feel ashamed.
We didn’t do nothing wrong.

I’m learning Atheism and Nihilism!
Song: “The Sun”

Relevant Lyrics:
If God exists in a place like this,
Then where else could a god or goddess be
If he or she is not trapped inside?
What if it’s all just a black abyss
And lips that kiss you
When you’re scared or feeling just a little out of touch?

I’m learning Fashion Tips!
Song: “Carrying”

Relevant Lyrics:
You were walking down the street in your patent leather
Wearing it out ’cause it looks better weathered.

I’m learning Disaster Forecasting!
Song: “The Stars”

Relevant Lyrics:
Didn’t want a wave but a wave was coming.
We didn’t wanna swim but the cities were sinking.
Though we wanted to react we were too busy sleeping
Through the ground that was shaking and the bass was thumping.
There’s a tidal wave coming, so you’d better start learning to swim.
I should have seen this coming!
It could not have been more obvious!
Like the storm that Noah dreamed,
Except bigger and more ominous.

I’m learning Social Skills!
Song: “The Popular Thing”

Relevant Lyrics:
Everybody else, everybody’s doing it.
If you wanna do the popular thing
Well, then follow away
But if you wanna find something unique,
You can’t look that way.

I’m learning To Practice Safe Sex!
Song: “The Popular Thing” (This song was in a children’s movie!)

Relevant Lyrics:
Have a kiss, babe, one little kiss
You will never, never, never, never miss it
Cause when you get kissed you also kiss.
One thing then leads to another
(something something) you make her a mother
(something something) til-death-do-you-part
But not because everybody else, everybody else,
Everybody’s doing it.

Ok, seriously I am not sure what they are saying in that verse but I’m pretty sure it’s about not getting pregs. Good advice! Can anyone else decipher those mystery lines?

With that, scholars, I leave you to form your own opinions of the album, to live it, but most importantly to learn from it. What have you learned from this band?  Jukebox the Ghost are my new Yoda. Sorry, actual Yoda from Star Wars (my previous Yoda).

Jenny and Johnny is a collaboration between musicians who have been collaborating for long enough that their album sounds like a cohesive unit and not a split EP. Much has been made of Rice’s role on Jenny’s last album, and for the song “Carpetbaggers” alone he deserves a hat-tip; still, it’s only fair to note that my favorite song on Rice’s album Further North was the beautifully executed duet with Jenny, “The End of the Affair.” The razor-sharp harmonies were the only recommendation I would have needed to buy I’m Having Fun Now. The duo may not be Johnny Cash and June Carter, but their fun has been laid down for our listening pleasure.

I’ve often been disappointed by duets that shortchange one voice (see: anything featuring Regina Spektor) but Jenny & Johnny carefully layer their counterpoints and trade melodies with the ease of a conversation. Somehow, Johnny’s husky drawl wraps around Jenny’s clear voice like a pig in a blanket for your ears. Each takes lead on a few songs, Jenny the more verbose and Johnny the more music-driven. When they take an entire tune to harmony, as in “New Yorker Cartoon” or “Animal,” you could take a bite out of those delicious harmonies. (Sorry.)

“My Pet Snakes” is a standout for its alternately playful and sarcastic lyrics, as the narrators cut one another up to a delightful melody. “Are you trying to compete with me?” Jenny asks early on, then threatens, “I’ll sink this ship if I want” which, admittedly, I liked a little better when I thought it was “I’ll sing this shit if I want.” The song concludes “All the best of luck with your career,” in a caustic tone that suggest bad blood behind the kind words.

On “Switchblade,” Rice’s voice is its most powerful. It is deep and drawling and more mature than anywhere else on the album. On “Animal,” he displays more reverence for religion than Jenny ever has. In fact, deities are a recurring theme throughout this album, as are snakes and blades.

During the slinking groove of “Slavedriver,” the album seems to be drawing to a low-key close, but “Committed” revisits the energy of the beginning of the album. Just try and get this one out of your head; it has more hooks than a pirate convention! (Sorry.)

Overall, the album charms, shimmers, and makes me want to sing along. For all the recognition that comes from Jenny’s name, that much more attention falls on the rapidly maturing songwriting of Johnathan Rice. And that’s a good thing.

The rumor was circling Twitter all day yesterday—Jukebox the Ghost on Letterman! Jukebox on TV! Gonna shake hands with Donald Trump! Et ceterahhhh. I thought it might be a hilarious joke until all of their music friends reposted it with genuine enthusiasm, not more hilarious jokes.

As it turns out, yesterday afternoon, our dears in JtG donned their finest denim blazers and made their network debut by playing “Schizophrenia” off of next week’s Everything Under the Sun. (Order it, dawgs!)

I know I’m easily charmed, especially by this band, but here’s why: you can see the joy in their little faces to be playing right there at that exact moment, and that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Now I really need to find a place to live, because I plan to celebrate by ordering a ticket to see these guys at Mississippi Studios next month.

Start practicing your Siegel Salsa! Tour dates listed after the jump in case you’re still hemming and hawing. And hat tip to the Audio Perv, who appear to be the originators of this sweet video!

If you know me, follow me on Twitter, or are a proficient internet stalker, you already know that the highlight of my young life was winning a badge to this year’s CMJ Music Marathon, lineup unseen. But now that lineup is beginning to be seen! Follow me, y’all.

According to the press release, “Surfer Blood will be making [sic] a victory lap following their breakout performances last year, Kevin Devine and Manchester Orchestra will debut their new Bad Books project, Dean And Britta will accompany Warhol screen tests and DeVotchKa are playing in a circus tent. Yeah, you read that last part correctly.”

I don’t know what any of those words mean, but I think a Warhol is a kind of whale with a horn, right? I kid, I kid. Surfer Blood blew up this year. And DeVotchKa did the soundtrack for Little Miss Sunshine which, you may recall, was adorable. Anyway, also there’s these guys:

DeVotchKa
Four Tet
Two Door Cinema Club
The Drums
Surfer Blood
Ghostface Killah (True story: once Wes told me I looked like Ghostface Killah when I was wearing a knockoff snuggie and a running hat. True story: I own a blanket that you can wear, but it’s not a Snuggie.)
Greg Dulli
Foreign Exchange
Bad Books (featuring Kevin Devine and Manchester Orchestra)
Helmet
Lissie
Katzenjammer
Kristen Schall & Friends (!!!!!)
Dean & Britta
School Of Seven Bells
Bayside
Senses Fail
Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit
Salem
The Blow
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart
Small Black
Big Freedia
Dominique Young Unique
Angus & Julia Stone
Frankie And The Heartstrings
Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr
Langhorne Slim

There are literally hundreds more to be announced, maybe, so try not to get too crazy. And try not to get too excited about seeing me in, like, six weeks; I look pretty much the same, just less employed!

So, I’m assuming out of boredom, or maybe because he is eccentric as hell, Sufjan Stevens released an EP titled All Delighted People last week without telling anybody.  I find it hard to sum up in words what makes Sufjan (I can call him Sufjan since we’re best friends) in general amazing, so describing his eccentric surprise album is nigh impossible.  Allow me to simply sum it up with this sentence:  It is amazing, and exactly what you would expect from a Sufjan album, and you can stream/purchase it here.

Now onto the opus that is the single “All Delighted People”

This is one of the most amazing songs I’ve ever listened to in my life. I am definitely raising my hand (sorry).  It spans so many styles, and tones, taking you on a journey as the music slowly builds until it swells to a chorus of voices, finally exploding into a purely Sufjan breakdown.  This song truly is his masterwork, it combines elements from everything he has done previously, and just shows the world why he is a god amongst hipsters. At the same time though, the rest of the album shows that he is still exploring other types of music, and will eventually reach a point where even “All Delighted People” is considered one of his lesser works.  After the semi-letdowns that were The Avalanche and The BQE (I say semi because honestly, they were good albums, just not as amazing as his older stuff), this EP is a treat that show promise for the future. I never want it to end.

Now, if you are anything like me (which, as a hypothetical entity, you are), during the 90′s and early 00′s you loved Weezer.  I would ride the bus every morning listening to Pinkerton (I still have the breakdown of El Scorcho memorized).  The music video for Buddy Holly (recently placed in Pitchfork’s Top 10 videos of the 90′s) actually came with my family’s first computer, so we would listen to it daily.  Now, if you are still like me, then when Green (Self-titled) Album came out, you sort of paused.  Yeah, it was a good album, it just wasn’t as good as their old stuff.  Finally, when Maladroit came you, you probably made jokes that the title was Weezer’s tongue-in-cheek jab at the record company for forcing them to produce such an over-all bad album.  You also figured that would be the end of Weezer.  They then released 3 more albums, and you watched as everything good in the world slowly died.  Now they are working on an album called “Hurley” named after the magic fat guy from Lost (I still love you Jorge Garcia, just not you on Lost).

After all that heartbreak, Weezer is now trying to make good to all the fans they’ve driven away over the last 14 years with a little gift.  MTV News reports that Rivers Cuomo is trying to set up an Apology Tour (my name, I have it copyrighted, Weezer).  The tour will be 2 nights in each city, the first night they will play all of the Blue Album, and the second night will be all Pinkerton.  Now, obviously this doesn’t make up for everything Weezer has done (I can never forgive the song “Beverly Hills” or the fact that they named an album “Raditude”), but it definitely makes me forget about it long enough to drop I’m gonna guess $70 or so to see both nights (that is unless a certain person named after a body of water (no, not Lake Bell) wants to give a certain music blogger some press passes)

I’m on the road with Liz and Wes, which is of course tons of fun! Also, I have access to the music news, so here’s a bit of it that I might have blogged (I originally wrote blgoged there, which sounds like a delicious Korean dish) about if we weren’t busy having sing-alongs, eating fresh fish, and drinking wine.

• JENNY AND JOHNNY! JENNY AND JOHNNY! Stream I’m Having Fun Now on NPR! I’m only about two glorious tracks in, but I’ll get a review together eventually. Expect a bit too much fawning; as you know, Jenny Lewis can do almost no wrong in my eyes.
• Related: Aren’t Jenny and Johnny adorbs in this video from Spin? They show their industrial/cabin loft, which features a framed cardboard cutout from the movie The Wizard, a sensitive plant, Stumptown Coffee (PDX, whaaaaat!), and, uhhh, more!
• ESSENTIAL PORTLAND MUSIC NEWS: Jenny Lewis mail-orders Stumptown Coffee! No, not just that. Somehow, I’ve been in Oregon for two months and not mentioned Elliott Smith at all! That is a travesty. I’m ashamed of myself. Kill Rock Stars is releasing a compilation of his most essential tracks. For the uninitiated, Smith wrote some of the most beautiful acoustic music to emerge from the Northwest during the grungiest days of grunge. Then he stabbed himself in 2003 before finishing the epic album From a Basement on a Hill. Unrelated fun fact, Smith played the clarinet in high school!
• ESSENTIAL SEATTLE MUSIC NEWS: When we got to the city, Liz thought aloud, “They can’t still be trading on Kurt Cobain out here, can they?” And then his grandfather was on the cover of the Seattle Weekly. If I could find the article, I’d link it. But I didn’t even read it, so, I’ll instead recommend the exhibit, KURT, at the Seattle Art Museum, as well as the Experience Music Project and Science Fiction Museum for general awesomeness. Liz and Wes ran into the Black Eyed Peas at the museum!
• Hey, SSLYBY’s new album is out! I just bought it. In my defense, I don’t have a house, job, or reliable internet connection. Review to come!
• Jukebox’s U.S. tour is on sale! Get your tickets! There is no one more excited than I about this album and tour! NOT EVEN THE BAND THEMSELVES. Ok, they might be more excited.

Welp, I’m off to explore the Oregon coast! We’re in the town where Goonies was filmed, and I for one can’t wait to do the truffle shuffle all over the place.

Suck it Katie, look at me blogging the SHIT out of the internet over here.

Every year NYU has an event called the “Mystery Concert” where a random artist comes and performs for all the NYU students.  It’s never actually a secret though, this year’s artist has already been leaked, last year was Raekwon who accidentally advertised for the show,  and my Freshman year the show was Ted Leo and the Pharmacists.  My roommate was a fan, so I decided to attend.  We waited outside in a huge line, and then didn’t even get in until people saw the openers were The Aquabats and started to leave.  After such a long wait, and my roommate’s unyielding optimism, I was expecting something amazing.  I was not impressed in the least, they just weren’t anything special, and I was already bitter from the wait.  Because of this experience, I have not listened to Ted Leo since then, despite people telling me how awesome they are.

So, when I heard there was a new Ted Leo video, I ignored it since I simply did not care.  Then the video blew up all over the place, so I felt obligated to check it out.  The fact that it’s currently only available on Funny or Die gives you all a pretty good indication what you’re in for.

Video opens in new window

I watched this video two separate ways.  The fist time, I just listened straight through, the second time, I muted the video when the music was playing, and I must say, it’s better.  The song is not that great, and did nothing to reverse my previous opinion.  It actually kind of detracts from what could have simply been an amazing parody of the shit that was American Idiot. Paul F. Tompkins is hilarious as the over the top Broadway producer who is clearly heralding in the death of culture (I would totally watch a Shawn White musical though) and should have remained the main focus of the video.  In the end, while upset with the song,  I am glad that even though Ted Leo and I disagree on what constitutes “good music” we can still find common ground on the fact that Paul F. Tompkins is hilarious, and Green Day sucks.

P.S. I want you all to salute the effort it took me to get this video on here in a way despite the fact that I don’t know what the hell I’m doing with all this computer mumbo jumbo. PRAISE ME!