Hawthorne Park

Up until the early 1900’s a wooded park stood between Hawthorne and Taylor, and Se 9th and 12th avenues. Today not a single remnant of it remains but Hawthorne Park was one the East side’s nicest and historic parks.

The land in that area was originally a land plot owned by James Stephens. He owned much of the land that the inner-southeast neighborhoods are built on. Stephens donated 7 acres to Dr. J.C. Hawthorne so he could develop Oregon’s first mental hospital, Oregon Hospital for the Insane. The hospital began in 1862 and stood where 12th avenue runs today. The hospital and Mr. Hawthorne were highly regarded for the civil treatment of the patients and for the condition of the hospital as well as the grounds it laid on. By the late 1870s the asylum grounds encompassed 12 acres stretching from “N” St. (Morrison) to “T” St. (Asylum) and 12th to 5th avenues. The grounds featured fresh water streams as well as gardens. Oregon Hospital for the Insane was a major employer in East Portland (the city was still separate from the west side of Portland until 1891) and by 1873 18-20% of the population worked at the hospital.

from The West Shore - April 1880

The hospital and its patients were moved to Salem in 1883 as the Oregon State Insane Asylum was built. Dr. Hawthorne died in 1881 and the hospital was closed in 1883. The building was eventually razed but the area became a tree-lined park. His wife E.C. Hite took control of the grounds and kept the area as a park until the early 1900s. Around this time, the street called “Asylum Avenue” was changed to “Hawthorne” in honor of Dr. Hawthorne.

One of the organizers of the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition and Oriental Fair, Harvey Scott, was in favor of having the fair on the grounds of Hawthorne Park. He had East side ties and thought that the pure water from Bull Run, the natural lagoons along shallow

OHS master file #04609

streams, and streetcar access across the Madison and Morrison bridges would make the area ideal. The other organizers were in favor of a much more costly construction of the fair in the NW area Guild’s Lake and in North Portland, but the organizers decided on Guild’s Lake.

Through 1908, Portland Parks and Recreation attempted to buy the land from Mrs. Hawthorne but the city was not in favor of it. Instead, Mrs. Hawthorne leased the grounds to the city for $100 dollars a year until PPR finally gave up on acquiring the land and the area was soon developed into an industrial, commercial and residential area. Advocates for the park around the turn of the century noted that the large fir trees, large ravine and natural spring, and the proximity to the nice residences to the east as well as the increasingly poor to the west make the park a central location for recreation and refuge. Today, that area of the district consists of mostly warehouses. One can only imagine what a treasure the park would be to the inner-southeast residents if were around today.

Sources:

• The Great Extravaganza by Carl Abbot – Oregon Historical Society Press 2004.

• Harvey Scott self published records on Lewis and Clark Exposition c.1906 -

Oregon Historical Society Library Archives

• Report of the Park Board, 1904 – Portland Parks and Recreation

• Other various sources compiled at the Oregon Historical Society Library Archives.

More Pictures:

OrHi 9263

OrHi 54371

MF OHS #06711

SE 35th Place off Hawthorne

The boundaries of the different neighborhoods in SE have changed many times since the mid-1800s. Neighborhoods such as Sunnyside and Ladd’s Addition were plotted as real estate developments, similar to what happens in today’s suburbs. The difference is that these neighborhoods and others around Portland were built around streetcar. For example, when you look at the map from the SE 28th PL post, you see that Gladstone is an isolated area. So when you are heading up a street and it suddenly stops in the middle of a neighborhood, you know you probably hit an area that was once the boundary of a different community.

If you look at the map above, Marguerette Avenue is a street that seems to be in the middle of Se 37th Avenue and SE 35th Avenue. If you just draw a straight line down 37th, you notice that Marguerette is aligned with it until you hit Hawthorne, where it suddenly stops and shifts into 35th Avenue. One thing that becomes obvious is this whole area wasn’t plotted at the same time.

According to Multnomah County, Oregon GenWeb, a site that lists street name changes througout the century, “Marguerite” Ave became SE 35th PL in 1928, however according to the map above which is a Sanborn Map from 1901, the street’s name is actually “Marguerette Avenue” and looks like it is better suited as 37th. I’m not disputing the validity of the name change or location – I just think it points out how the shape of SE has changed over the years.

Anyway, the point? Marguerette Avenue + Marguerite Avenue + 37th + 35th = SE 35th PL.

SE 28th Place near Hawthorne

Edit: I found a Sandborn map from 1924 which shows Kenilworth street. It is located just left of the mouse pointer.

If you look at the sidewalks South of Hawthorne on 28th Place, you will notice it says “Kenilworth Ave”. According to Portland Parks and Recreation, the name comes from a neighborhood to the South which includes Holgate and Gladstone streets called “Creston-Kenilworth”. The picture above is in front of a school near Division St. on 28th place, which doesn’t place it within the neighborhood. I can’t seem to find any old maps of the area (or anywhere else above 20th for that matter) which details how long of a street it originally was, but the street was renamed in 1931 to 28th Pl.

Supposedly, the name Kenilworth came from the title of a romantic book series by Sir Walter Scott. He wrote such hits as: Ivanhoe, Lady of the Lake, and Rob Roy. Here I was thinking that I may have stumbled upon another lesser known Portland merchant to research. Other streets within the district are named for characters by Scott.

Lone Fir Cemetery History

Lone Fir Cemetery – Portland, Oregon – written by Josh Steiner, December 2008

The Lone Fir Cemetery lies on 30.5 acres in SE Portland, between Morrison and Stark, and 20th and 26th. There are renovations currently planned to turn the SW corner of the cemetery into a a place to ponder and a memorial to the thousands of Chinese workers that were once buried there, sometimes in mass graves. Friends of Lone Fir Cemetery and Metro are heading the rejuvenation of the historic cemetery so current citizens of the city can come to touch some of Portland’s most important citizens of the past at “The Silent City of the Dead”.

The original acre plot of land that the cemetery now sits on was a farm owned by Emmor Stephens who received the land as a pioneer land grant in the 1840’s. Stephens died in 1846 and was buried in the NW corner of the plot by his son, James. In 1854 James sold the family farm to Colburn Barrell under the condition that Barrell maintain the area Emmor was buried at. The following year, a steamboat owned by Barrell called “Gazelle”, which operated between Portland and Oregon city exploded near Oregon City killing one passenger and Barrell’s business partner, Crawford Dobbins. The casualties of the boat explosion were buried near Emmor Stephens at the cemetery. Barrell then set aside 10 acres of the land as a cemetery and renamed the area “Mt. Crawford” in memoriam of his business partner and because the site sat on a hill. Barrell sold plots for $20 an adult, and $10 a child. It was known though that he was flexible with the price and allowed others to occupy the space for less money or no money at all. In 1862 the City Fire Department and Masons bought plots on the North side. Barrell bought an additional 10 acres in 1855, and added more in 1865 and 1866 – bringing the total acreage to today’s 30.5 acres. In 1857, Portland decided to exhume remains from the four largest cemeteries on city land on the west side and move them to Mt. Crawford. These cemeteries included the land on current Skidmore Fountain, 6th and Burnside, 10th and Washington, 11th and Burnside, and two in South Portland.

In 1867, Barrell tried proposed to sell the cemetery to the City of Portland for $4000 but the city declined citing that the land was too far outside the city and that a funeral procession to the site would take a full day from Portland and that many would not want to grieve for that long. Instead, At this time much of East Portland was still wooded forest and even the cemetery site was surrounded by forest. A trip to the cemetery required a trip on the Stark Street Ferry and a long trip on dirt roads to the site. Later that year, a group of investors including Robert Pittock agreed to buy the land and a wife of one of the investors proposed to re-name the cemetery “Lone Fir Cemetery” because of a single fir tree that lied near the original plot. The name was changed and has remained the name to today.

Around the 1860s, the Oregon Hospital for the Insane operated by James C. Hawthorne was located between SE 9th and 12th, and Morrison and Hawthorne (U street, Asylum street), land donated by James Stephens. It was the largest of mental hospitals in Oregon and was well funded by the state. An estimated 200 patients were buried at the Lone Fir Cemetery, many unmarked and in mass graves, and is said to lay beneath the current entrance to the cemetery on 21st and Morrison. It is not known how many other citizens lie in the grounds because there are no records for the first 17 years of operation and many of the grave markers have disappeared because of weather, grass fires, lack of a desire for extravagance, and time. However, an estimated 25,000-30,000 lie there with records for 14,700.

In 1877 the MacLeay Family Crypt was built by Don MacLeay for at a cost of $10,000. The Gothic crypt was meant as a mourning chapel as well as a family plot. It is now closed off to visitors. In the fall of 1903 the Soldier’s Monument was built by the funding of 500 local citizens at a total cost of $3,500. This is a monument to the soldiers of the civil, Spanish-American, Mexican, and Indian wars.

By the 1920s, the cemetery had deteriorated and had become overgrown with bushes. Many of the grave markings had fallen over or had disintegrated . Some in the community proposed that the bodies be exhumed and that the land be turned into a public park or playground. The idea faced huge criticism and was turned down. A few local committees were started to provide funding to the cemetery to maintain the grounds. In 1928 the State of Oregon granted control and maintenance of the land to Multnomah County. By this time there were streetcars running down Morrison Street and there was a stop on the campus of Lone Fir. It was also a popular picnic spot for people traveling east to Mt. Tabor.

The county decided to construct a county building in the SW corner of the land called the Morrison Building. 265 graves were exhumed for the construction; many were Chinese laborers that had been buried there without identification and were technically outside the grounds of the original cemetery because the Chinese were not allowed inside. Around this time the county relinquished the cemetery to the Metropolitan Services District, except for the building which remained property of Multnomah County. In 2002 the Morrison Building closed and planned to sell the site and connect the area to the main portion of the cemetery. Under suspicion that there may still be bodies buried under the site, in 2004 archaeologists excavated under a parking lot and found human remains. Metro gained control of the land in January 2007 and the complex and parking lot were removed in August 2007.The area is currently vacant but plans are currently in the works to redevelop the area.

Notable burials:

John Couch, Dr. James Hawthorne, Asa Lovejoy, Frank Dekum, George Law Curry, William Wallace Thaver, Daniel Lownsdale, James Stephens, Emmor Stephens, William Ladd, Thomas Dryer, Harry Lane, J.A Chapman, Henry Rowe.

Sources: Compiled from information at the Oregon Historical Society Archives-  Portland, Oregon.

Laura Gibson – If You Come to Greet Me

 

One of Hush Records’ strongest releases of late is Laura Gibson’s If You Come To Greet Me, her debut full-length. This is a fine collection of voice-and-nylon-stringed-guitar-based songs, but it’s Gibson’s delivery that consistently bowls over. Gibson pulls every last sweetness from her simple, unpretentious song constructions and melodies. Her sense of vocal cadence and dynamics far outreaches those of her Indy-folk peers–its delicateness and sensitivity, if not style, recalls more a skilled Jazz vocalist. Lyrics are at once reflective, tactile, poignant, melancholic, and often nostalgic (don’t worry, the nostalgia comes off as honest, not overly premeditated). A snippet from “This Is Not The End”: “I had forgotten how light reflects on water. In your hand, flowers held, thin red ribbon tied around. Forget about the end.” The overall effect of music and lyrics combined tends toward a sort of heartbreaking sweetness.

The most important thing in recording/producing someone like Gibson has to be to avoid treading too heavily, to apprehend fully what’s already there. But this is no easy task, and Adam Selzer of Type Foundry Studios pulls it off commendably. Gibson’s voice is kept in its own element, a sort of performed-for-three-good-friends-in-your-living-room-late-at-night-after-all-the-mere-acquaintances-have-left element. Her nylon string finger-picking is allowed to be its slightly clumsy self, and to charming effect.

I find myself mildly irked by some of the banjo and bowed saw accompaniments–as much as I’m all about this sort of thing in principle. That said, the arrangements and performances of Peter Broderick and company are consistently strong, and in keeping with Gibson’s gifted touch. The piano and string accompaniments heard on track one, “This Is Not The End,” and the final track, “The Longest Day,” are masterful. There’s plenty more of this good stuff on the tracks between.

Mica Rapstine

 

Laura Gibson – “Hands in Pockets” Mp3

Laura Gibson – “Wintering” Mp3

Laura Gibson Links

Home Page

MySpace

Matt McCormick – Very Stereo

Matt McCormick is the go to guy in town if you need to shoot a film or music video. Reading through his bio I find out that he’s worked with The Shins and Sleater Kinney, has exhibited video all around the world, and has a slew of documentary type short films. Not to mention he works with photography as well. So with all this artistic talent of course the next step is music. Marriage Records sent over an album called “Very Stereo” which is a compilation of music created by McCormick for his various films.

The album at its root is very minimalist. I think of a fusion of Philip Glass and early electronic composers when I listen to it, sans acoustic piano and ear piercing 50s synthesizers.

In his artist statement he says that the music was “only intended to be abstract sound tracks,” to accompany his films. While I am sure the music fits the film very well, by itself the music is pretty hard to listen to. I’ve listened to the record quite a few times now and have been trying to think of a situation where someone would want to listen to it. Honestly, the only scenario I can think of is the background to a film.

It is quite amazing the amount of music and range McCormick can get out of a Casio keyboard. Some songs are just a soundscape of distortion and others like “it was a crushing defeat” has some real pull to it and lets you imagine what the music originally accompanied.

I am really confused by the record because I can’t tell if I like it or not. I really like the music of Glass and Riley, I like atmospheric music that lets you use your imagination. I like music with emotional quality and distorted music that let’s you get some frustration out. “Very Stereo” has each of those qualities in one form or another but it’s hard to listen to and probably makes a lot more sense on film. But this is one very talented person.

Matt McCormick – refrigerator dance musics Mp3

Matt McCormick Links
Home Page
Marriage Records page

The Rainy States – demo

The Rainy States sent me a three song CD as a sampler of some of their stuff and although it’s not really enough to gauge a definite opinion on the band overall, its good stuff. It’s really good stuff.

Upon a first listen through there wasn’t too much that would separate The Rainy States from many of the other indie influenced bands in town but the second time around I started noticing characteristics that make them unique. Probably the one that stands out the most is the guitar playing of Kevin Morgan. The guitar has an incredible tone clean and a very rich distorted tone. I really like the way he accompanies everything else in the first track “with fever” and the weaving melodies he creates (which to me sounds like the guitars from Minus the Bear) on “suddenly electric.”

 

That’s not to say the rest of the band can’t hang because they really do. Their own voices are apparent throughout the songs and all of them together create some really interesting music. I like the vocal harmonies on the first track “with fever”, although throughout the sampler singer Betsy Johnson’s vocals seem a little too laid back and lacking in range. It fits the music but hearing a more energetic vocal style would add a whole new dynamic to the music.

So in conclusion, good band, good songs, I’m interested in hearing more because I’m sure it’s going to be good.

P.S. Extra points for the Rainy States for the typewritten bios.

 

 

The Rainy States – Suddenly Electric (track 2) Mp3 -

The Rainy States Links -
The Rainy States Home Page

Oui, Mouton – Hindsight

Portland, I have the album in my hands you will all be listening to very soon. The band is named Oui, Mouton and they’ve got just the right amount of ingredients to make a sweet, melodic, yet upbeat record. The band sent along a “cassingle” which is just as it sounds – a release on cassette. So,I guess now I should justify all the kind stuff I said about the band.

The first track “hindsight” reminds me of “Oh, Inverted world” by the shins mixed with the vocals of Jenny Lewis. What strikes me about it is the vocal harmonies and countering bassline. There is a transitional section with the vocals and a lone guitar descending pattern which leads back into the first section. The song eventually gets a little louder and and a good capitalization on the song. The second track “Sovereign Whispers” features an acoustic guitar melody that sounds like it was recorded on vinyl and played back on a record player that doesn’t quiet play things at the same speed. “Push back fall” varies from the others with its upbeat drum boom chuck, boom boom chuck rhythm and an organ of some sort. I really like the lyrics “…lets shed our clothes without shame, … a salty breeze might push back fall.” Being from the Puget Sound I can totally relate to that last summer day and swimming knowing its going to be the last. The last track on the cassette is probably the most rocking of them all with a faster rhythm and a distorted guitar, but it doesn’t get dissonant and remains true to their folk pop sound.

Oui, mouton has created a very fluid record that has a definite progression in mood from a slower harmonized beginning to a lounder finale which leaves me wanting more. Their sound takes pieces of things current in the spectrum of indie rock and blends them into some very new and refreshing.

Oui, Mouton Links

Oui, Mouton myspace

…worms – self titled

This is one of those bands around town that I have heard a lot about but never heard them. Marriage Records was nice enough to send along their new disc, which I am assuming is ripped from vinyl because the track-listing includes both sides A and B. …Worms has that schizophrenic rock thing going really well. Bands like Drive Like Jehu, Shellac and early Blood Brothers come to mind.
One thing is for sure – these guys kick a lot of ass. Like most bands I am sure their live show is incredible and this album captures a live sound well. When listening to the disc it is a bit hard to get into the songs because none of them are more than 2:30 long, but each has its own identity. The album opener “track 1″ is a distorted collage of sound which eventually makes sense towards the end and leads into a more coherent “track 2″. Other tracks I really like “track 4″ which features a great rhythm played on a tightly tuned snare drum and blends into a sonic barrage of guitars and and volume. “track 5″ sounds like a song straight from Shellac’s 1000 Hurts record.
…Worms doesn’t really have too unique of a sound to listen to without comparison (which I’ve done enough of already), but their music has tons of dynamics and contrast. One example of this is “track 7″ which is a total turn from the rock stuff to a mellow reverbed out guitar song which includes the lyrics “…such a pretty face, I want to kick it in like a deflated basketball”, which is fitting because if they said something else, I wouldn’t believe it.
I have to say that although the music is real good and up my alley, the vocals are a bit over the top in the squeaky, screechy, yelling category. The album could be the soundtrack to a very drunken night of shifting between their show and heckling all the people who go to Barracuda.

…Worms Links
…Worms at Marriage Records

Weather Exposed Skeleton Music – Jerusalem

So I’ve been doing reviews for a little while now on this site and get emails from bands all the time about reviewing their album. I’m always down to review anyone in town whether it’s a basement recording of some high schoolers making noise or a band with an actual budget putting out a record, but I always request a bio of some sort to find out more about them. I got an email from Weather Exposed Skeleton Music a while ago and I mentioned I needed a bio of some sort, written in crayon or whatever and just a burned copy of a CD. You know what I got? Exactly what I asked for, and that is extremely rad.
Weather Exposed Skeleton Music is composer/musician Jason Gray and the music is pretty far out there. It sounds like a wash of synth strings on top of synth cello with no direction. I’m not sure how to critique this album so here is my take:
You are in an airplane going to Mongolia when suddenly your plane goes down. It’s a small airplane so you got to know everyone on board over the last few hours and now you are all crashing together in a united panic. You crash and only yourself and one other person survive. You escape the flames but have a broken arm and leg. It’s now dark and you need food. You don’t find any. Your friend dies. You lie there in the snow for a few days and then you die. 20 years later a group of monks walk by and play a song on for you in a very non-chant respectful, peaceful way. They leave the bones there but they go on to record a memorial called “Weather Exposed Skeleton Music.”
Granted that was a bit darker than the actual music of the album but you get the idea. It’s a pretty well done high in mood album with the best press kit I’ve seen.

Weather Exposed Skeleton Music Links
WESM Myspace

Gejius – Black Eyes

The first thing that strikes me about the Gejius album is how well it is put together. The packaging is a gorgeous Digipak, which is the new trend for good reason. Not only is there full color artwork but the inside cover includes the different technologies used to make the album. For any music/production nerd like myself this is a nice addition. On to the music…
I can’t quite put my finger on who Gejius reminds me of but the electronic bleeps and darkness of Aphex Twin and the drum samples of DJ Shadow come to mind. I like the way he mixes the electronic effects and live guitars to create a deep and live sounding album. Compositionally Gejius is all over the place, in a good way. There are some real strong areas of counterpoint and use of timbres like the synth string introduction of “ In Search of Moby Dick.” I can tell he studied music at some point and the inside of the CD thanks “Berklee & their professors who gave me what I needed,” which make sense. “Osmosis” is very strong in the same area and is an absolutely great demonstration of how good of a progressive musician he is.
Another aspect of the music I really like is the use of percussion. At times it is deep and gives the music a definite pulse and other times like on the song “the North Star” he uses it more as a background texture. The rest of the instruments seem to wander freely most of the time so it is nice to have the drum samples to fall back on. I can’t really tell whether he recorded them live or if they were bundled with Live but they sound so good.
Overall I think the album is very creative and well thought out but there are a few times where the tracks don’t flow too well from one to the other. I’m not sure if Gejius plays the same material live but I would really like to see how performs it. The album is split between the classical instrumental influence music and the straight forward dance music which is a great mixture but if they were separated into two different albums I think each would stand out on their own better. But what Gejius has here is an album pretty ahead of the times and one most musicians wish they could create.

Gejius Links
Gejius Myspace

Yacht – I believe in you. Your magic is real.

 

Jona Bechtolt (aka Yacht, part of the Blow) is getting a ton of praise for the new Yacht album I Believe in you. Your magic is real. I don’t want to be that review guy who says that it sucks because it’s cool to say things suck if other people like it… but honestly, I don’t know what to think about it. There are some pretty cool compositions and use of instruments which lead to big, powerful songs, like the track “If music could cure all that ails you”. But on the other hand there are some really cheesy attempts at dance music like the Night Rider themed track “See a Penny (Pick it up)”, and the cheerleading shouts in “We’re always waiting.” It is kind of like he wrote half the album for high school dances and the other half for people like me who are looking for a new, creative use of electronic instruments.

Yacht is very consistent throughout the album with the midi voices he chooses and a chorus hook that is almost always spoken multiple times. For my weekday job, I do work study at a college campus and mess around with Garageband because there is nothing else to do and I noticed a lot of the same samples. It’s a great program with lots of cool sounds, but personally I don’t think I could write a tune with them and not do any alterations to the tones. But I guess that’s beside the point.

One of the strongest tracks on the album is “Drawing in the Dark” which offers a creative use of a film reel sample and is accompanied by multiple voices, then progresses to a Screw type vocal alteration with a dance beat background. The following track “It’s coming to get you” is a pretty upbeat standard pop tune that actually sounds like a song. It is songs like this that make the Yacht album accessible to people outside the dance party scene. Another highlight is the track “I believe in you,” which a nice song with a bunch of rhetorical questions and guitar.

I think there are some real strong points to the album as well as some very weak spots. It is easily one of those albums that you would hear once and never think to pick up again. Sincerely, I think that if he focused on the more melodic parts of the songs and developed the songs into something stronger with a definite center, it wouldn’t be one of those albums. It just seems to lack that special something that allows the listener to make a connection to it. (Unless you are one of the zillion people he thanks personally on track “Your magic is real.”)

Yacht – I believe in you. Your magic is real.
2007 – Marriage Records

Yacht Links
Yacht Homepage
Yacht Myspace

Catfight! – 3 song demo

 

There is this band from around here called Catfight! Ever heard of them? No me neither… but I’m sure everyone will soon. The band is just infectious. I mean, they have all the right hooks to sing along to, the gritty White Stripes-y guitar, and their tracks are produced so damn well. I am totally surprised these guys (and gals) aren’t playing way bigger shows. Wait… they opened for Bloodhound Gang and Goldfinger… what??

The band sent me a sampler of three songs from one of their albums and they seem to just breeze by meriting a few repeats. There is an obvious influence of Dandy Warhols and White Stripes, but they are different in a way. For one, their harmonies are tight and the production is much cleaner, really making the music approachable. They have that guy/girl vocal thing going and it works well.

The names of the songs were not included with the CD and my pop-up internet song finder thing says Elvis Presley, but the third song on the disc has the lyrics “My candy cane”. That song is probably the best of the three, featuring a synth line beneath subdued vocals, and then exploding with the candy sweet chorus. It really reminds me of those Warhol guys.

The second track has a killer guitar harmony and the singer shouts “Getting ready for the weekend, getting ready for the summer, getting ready for the show,” which I imagine people will probably do when the band finally breaks.

I mentioned it before, but the production of the disc is absolutely great. They enrolled Jason Robbins (Lenny Kravitz, Ben Harper) as engineer, so I guess that will explain it. Everything sounds so clear while maintaining the dirty sound they are going for. The vocals especially benefit from this.

I’m going to go out on a limb and give these guys less than a year before they make it big-time (in Portland standards). They’ve got something super great.

Catfight! Links
Catfight! Myspace

The Shaky Hands – self titled

I am so glad this band meets the hype. More often than not, bands have friends in high places, get the hype going, people realize they aren’t good, and fade away. Mediocrity doesn’t fool everyone. The Shaky Hands are actually a damn good band. Believe it.

The Shaky Hand’s self titled debut record came out on April 10^th through the Holocene Music label. The album’s opener “Whales sing” actually does sound like whales singing. Go figure. I was expecting some sort of Panda Bear type record based on that, and made my way to the next track. “The Sleepiness” is just straight up guitar rock. The vocals are reminiscent of the Joggers, along with the open-shut high hat drum beat, but it progresses to a louder chorus which brings things up a notch.

At times the record sounds a bit folky but doesn’t lose that rock thump. “Sunshine” is a song that will probably be the soundtrack to those few and far between sunny days in the Portland springtime. “Clapping song” is a great mix of somber trumpet, shakers, and well, clapping. In my opinion, this is the highlight of the album. There are so many singable melodies occurring at the same time as the drums keep you bobbing your head. I really like the way the record was engineered also. It seems warm, but still has a bright sharpness to it… or something.

Overall, I think this is an album that will stick around for a while. It may only be April, but I imagine I will be taking this record to Sauvie Island in the summer time and making fun of the dudes in speedboats listening to Evanescence. Sadly enough, as every innovative band knows, someone will rip it off soon. But judging by the musicianship and creativeness of this record the Shaky Hands will be one step ahead.

The Shaky Hands links
Homepage
Myspace

Small Sails – Similar Anniversaries

It may be old news to some, but to others this is an introduction to the Portland, Oregon band Small Sails. The band has been playing around town for quite a while with their unique blend of acoustic and electronic instruments, as well as a great live show with visuals. But anyone fortunate enough to see them live never got the chance to bring some music home from the show. The album “Similar Anniversaries” came out over a month ago on local label Other Electricities but the album’s release seems kind of low key. But that may just mean I am not quite “with it”.

The album’s opener is the hard to pronounce “Somnambulist”, which reminds me of the african rhythm stuff the Police were doing towards the end of their march. The clever acoustic guitar lines mix nicely with a drawn out synth horn of some type. It has that pulse that makes you at the very least nod your head.

“Aftershocks and Afterthoughts” follows a similar instrumentation and is the only song on the album I’ve heard before due to its stint on their Myspace page. At times it sounds straight out of the disco or something with the sing-a-long synth horn and high pitched “hi-ho, hi-ho” vocal melody.

Another highlight of the album is the track “Corners” which is dripping in layers of synth instruments and a nice xylophone melody. I especially like the seamless mixture of acoustic and electronic percussion. Other notable tracks are the Postal Service-y “Earthbound with Parents”, and “No Spirit Animal”.

The album as a whole seems sparse and open, kind of like driving through the desert at night (as if that metaphor had never been used before, but it is fitting). I especially like how the creative timbres of the instruments chosen recur throughout the album, so even if you wander you always have something familiar to get you back on track. It sounds great loud so you can hear each well written and planned out layer of music, as well as when you want a record to put on to relax but not fall asleep.

Small Sails Links
Small Sails Homepage
Small Sails Myspace

Deadeye – Web review

Writing reviews for bands based on their Myspace music is quite difficult. The artwork and packaging of a CD/Vinyl can give the listener an idea of who they are and their intentions. On the other hand, it doesn’t matter all that much. A band’s Myspace page can almost replace the album (without the good feeling of actually holding the music.) So, I introduce the Portland, Oregon band Deadeye.

I had heard of these guys around town hitting up the usual punk rock circuit of the Tonic Lounge and Satyricon, and I think my old band might have played with these dudes… but never had the opportunity to listen to them.

Comprised of members from all over the country and ages (their old singer was a 50 year old Scott), these guys definitely get some blood flowing in a more scaled back, faster idea of Fugazi meets throwback punk. At times the singer sounds a bit like the singer from the Strokes, but that might be due to the production of the vocals.

The songs on their page all sound like they were recorded in a basement with a four-track, but I think that it works very well. I am so sick of hearing loud rock bands with over-compressed guitars and Bonham drums. One track in particular, “Off the Rail” has a great intro bassline and wicked loud guitar lines. The first track on their page titled “Reminder” lacks a serious melodic line, which I am always a sucker for, but the effects-processed vocals fill out the song to make it stand apart from the other songs.

I’ve always been a fan of bands that sound raw with lots of energy, and occasionally miss a note here and there. I think it brings a lot of personality to the music. Although Deadeye isn’t breaking any sort of boundaries with their music, I find it very addictive and I bet their live show details the energy on the tracks.

Deadeye Links
Deadeye Myspace