Music Blog

Plenty of flavors around this week, including the Ontario-based Great Lake Swimmers, who release their fourth album, Lost Channels, on Tuesday and headline a great bill the next night in Portland. Tony Dekker leads the band, the rest of whom have always been a more or less shifting cast of characters who help bring his songs to life. Once again Dekker seems to draw on the stark and simple beauty of his home province, embuing his songs with the same elegant stillness once found in Neil Young's "Helpless." The result is an album that just might be the long overdue breakout for a band that's always been a little underrated-- and if there's any justice, "Pulling On a Line" will go down as one of the best songs anyone hears all year long. Not one but two solid acts open Wednesday's bill: Canadian songstress Kate Maki and local faves Super XX Man.

Speaking of Neil Young, he releases a new one this week, too (his 32nd or so, as far as we can tell). Fork In the Road is the title of the new ten song collection from Young, an entirely separate release, of course, from the motherlode of archives he recently announced will be coming out in June. Also out Tuesday is the new collaboration from PJ Harvey and John Parish, A Woman a Man Walked By. The release finds the duo back together over twelve years after their first effort together, 1996's Dance Hall at Louse Point. Parish produced Harvey's most recent solo release, the excellent White Chalk out in 2007, and it seems that partnership led ultimately to the new work.

Lots to choose from on stage, including everything from Ratatat (Monday, Crystal Ballroom) to Seattle's Hotels with Iretsu and The Animals at Night (Thursday, Doug Fir) to Merle Haggard and Kris Kristofferson (Thusrday, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall). The week also sees at long last the CD release show for Laura Gibson's Beasts of Seasons, which was released in February on Hush. Full disclosure: we at opbmusic are sponsoring the Thursday night show at The Old Church that includes guests Ah Holly Fam'ly and the Portland Cello Project (and are proud to be doing so).

Stream: Laura Gibson's opbmusic in-studio session

The most unique performance of the week might just be Thursday night at Mississippi Studios as comedian Eugene Mirman and singer-songwriter John Wesley Harding bring their Cabinet of Wonders tour to Portland. Kind of a jack-of-all-entertainment road show, Harding and Mirman team up with whomever might be at their disposable in each city they visit. Thursday's show, for example, is scheduled to feature singer-songwriter Lucy Wainwright Roche, but there's no telling who the duo might bring on stage for their Portland performances. Known Harding cohorts Colin Meloy and Scott McCaughey? Perhaps. Greg Oden? Maybe. We caught them at SXSW in Austin with Todd Barry and Jon Langford, among others, and it was an outstanding time. See for yourself Thursday at two performances (7 and 10pm).

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Don't miss our in-studio session with The Thermals this week, just ahead of their new kill rock stars release Now We Can See. Stream it here on demand beginning Thursday. The thread's all yours...

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