We Like Cats, the new ‘Supergroup-of-sorts’ consisting of Honey Owens (Valet), Adam Forkner (White Rainbow), and Eva Salens (Inca Ore), ooze in melodrama while at the same time never taking themselves too seriously.  If the name is any indication, they’re sort of a joke, but the music itself suggests something more serious, more mysterious.

We Like Cats – Meow Hear Me Roar

Present are the experimental-but-somehow-still-catchy beats of Adam Forkner, the distant-but-still-coherent musings of Honey Owens and the haunted-but-still-charming drone of Eva Salens, all brought together with washes of noise and skanking riddim to create an album that may seem funny at its surface, but makes a strong case for itself as legitimate throughout.

We look forward to seeing what they are all about with an interview and photos preceding their first show ever, tomorrow night at Holocene.  From what I understand, cats are not allowed.  Proper Eats, their debut record is available now at Marriage Records.

Posted By David Hutchinson

Anything related to Black Dice is going to get yours truly very excited. But while Eric Copeland’s solo work to this point has been nothing short of fascinating, it would be a great disservice to the headliner of his upcoming show, Growing, not to talk about their recent album PUMPS!.

My first brush with Growing was 2006’s Color Wheel, which I always used to confuse for White Rainbow’s White Rainbow Box, simply because the spectrum of colors on that set’s cover speak more to the album title than the actual album’s cover. It also didn’t help that they are commonly categorized in the same way.

Growing play with the amazing Eric Copeland this Saturday at Berbatis Pan. Read more about their new record after the jump.

Both White Rainbow and Growing frustrate in that their ambient selections, while entirely engaging, build and build until what you would expect to be an eventual outburst of sound that, for the most part, never comes. But ever since their 2001 cassette Five Patterns (the earliest of their recordings I’ve managed to get my hands on), their ambient tendencies have diminished into a sound that has been described as ‘Psychedelic’, ‘Electronic’, and even ‘Alternative’ and ‘Rock’. Surely these descriptions would be misleading, but they speak to the ways in which Growing have, well… grown. It’s almost as if they’ve been keeping it in for so long, they just had to finally let it all out.

That they have done with this new record PUMPS!. Although hinted at on their last record All The Way, it isn’t until now (having linked up with Sadie Laska) that Growing are ready to give us both their drone/experimental tendencies mixed with their eventual affinity for rhythm. It’s a mutual relationship that works very well. Songs like ‘Challenger’ and ‘Massive Dropout’ are typical of Growing in that they leave the listener hanging for some time, but unlike their previous work, the tracks on PUMPS! actually deliver on the promise the build-up brings. Sometimes it happens early in the tracks, with the fade-out making up the bulk of the song. In other cases when the tracks do seemingly coast along with no climax, Growing have filled them and surrounded them with sounds that have you scratching your head in confusion, but never once disengaging.

It’s been said that the experience is even more consuming live. I can’t say, unfortunately, but try PUMPS! at full volume and i’d bet you’ll get a pretty good idea. Please check out this show and tell us about it; I will forever punish myself for not being able to.

Posted By David Hutchinson

In any given weekend, there’s too much going on to even begin writing about. This weekend in Portland though, there is a particularly unique set of shows going down. Everyone knows the weekend begins on Thursday now-a-days, but for the purposes of this post I’ll start on Friday.

The epic and amazing Black Heart Procession are going to be introducing their doom & gloom atmospherics to the Aladdin Theater this Friday with Bellini. Now into their tenth year as a band (and six albums deep) the places they’ve been and struggles they’ve faced resonate really fucking heavily on their latest record, Six. And hey, as Portlanders we get to take some credit for their masterful malcontent, because founding member Tobais Nathaniel used to call Portland home!

If you’re sick of your typical Friday night (who isn’t?) be sure to check out the Black Heart Procession, I promise they’ll be a pleasurable change of pace. Also, be on the lookout for an upcoming feature on FuckBadMusic in which the aforementioned Tobais Nathaniel shares some of his favorite Portland haunts. Who knows, maybe Aladdin Theater will be one of them after this Friday.

The Black Heart Procession – Rats

And if Black Heart Procession proves to be a little too traditional for your tastes (you are insane), look forward to Saturday! Julianna Barwick will be playing her subdued experimental songs in a (surprise!) somewhat experimental setting. That’s because the organizers of the event, titled Sonic Celluloid, have asked each act to choose an accompanying film for their set. The film they choose will be playing as they play in a “muted and trippy” format. I’m thinking Psychic Ills, but with a narrative! The event goes down (including Portland’s own White Rainbow) at the Reed College Chapel this Saturday at 9:00pm. Be there or be boring.

Julianna Barwick – Various Songs

Posted By David Hutchinson

White Fang
Panther
Eat Skull
Parenthetical Girls
Starfucker
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
The Thermals
Fist Fite
AU
Brace Pain
Horse Feathers
YACHT
Colin Meloy
White Rainbow
Menomena
Southern Belle
M.Ward
Meth Teeth
Valet

What do they all have in common?

Posted By David Hutchinson