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Saturday, July 26 Flying With Blind Pilot
In case you haven't noticed, 3 Rounds and a Sound, the recent debut from Portland's Blind Pilot, has been getting its fair share of attention as of late. Not that the band led by Israel Nebeker and Ryan Dobrowski expected no one to hear it, but chances are they didn't expect to be featured as an iTunes single of the week and heralded by the likes of Aimee Mann, either. Such is the stuff of the unexpected success story, however, and the band has enjoyed comparisons to The Shins and Iron & Wine, among others, while the iTunes stint landed them a spot in a recent Billboard Top 200. All well and good, yes, but it's the songs that do the work, getting to the point by means of occasionally rootsy sometimes jangly pop, buoyed by Nebeker's heartfelt delivery. On a night that sees Blind Pilot take the PDX Pop Now! stage, they also join us in-studio as part of tonight's In House-- hear it just past 10:00 PST on our 24-hour stream, our HD music channel (91.5 FM-2 in the Portland area), and the radio stations of OPB.
Stream: Blind Pilot's opbmusic in-studio session
Elsewhere tonight, the Watson Twins visit the Doug Fir Lounge as they continue to tour behind their recent debut full-length, Fire Songs. First coming to people's attention a couple of years back as the haunting vocal duo who got part of the artist billing for Jenny Lewis' solo debut, sisters Chandra and Leigh issued a promising EP called Southern Manners before inking a deal with Vanguard. They take the stage tonight following off-beat opener Tim Fite, whose own recent release on Anti-, Fair Ain't Fair (although it should have been called Fite Songs) has had people talking about its unique sound, something akin to a mash-up involving Tom Waits, Beck, and Nas ("deeply steeped in the contradictory traditions of the country and hip-hop genres," as his website puts it).
MP3: The Watson Twins, from Fire Songs- "Sky Open Up"
Plenty more to come here tonight, of course, and we'd love to hear from you, particularly if you'd like to chime in with a first-person report from any one of the multitude of performances in Portland over the last 24 hours or so. What you got?
Comments:
On Saturday, July 26 at 11:01pm, inmemoryofjohnpeel said:
Phew! Just returned from a nine hour stint at the PDX POP Now! Fest. Fabulous - lots of varied music, well organised and Free. I'll catch my breath and give you my highlights for the day.
On Saturday, July 26 at 11:03pm, jpetersen said:
Do tell.
Did I see you there?
On Saturday, July 26 at 11:11pm, mandy said:
is it possible to see the set list for tonight?
thought there might be a link.
thanks
On Saturday, July 26 at 11:13pm, mandy said:
nevermind. found the link above. thanks. that really was beck. hmmm.
On Saturday, July 26 at 11:13pm, jpetersen said:
Cool, yeah, Beck with a little help from Danger Mouse on the new one...
On Saturday, July 26 at 11:46pm, inmemoryofjohnpeel said:
My post doesn't seem to have appeared... once more then.
Don't know if you saw me, I didn't see the handsome bloke portrayed in the OPbmusic website...
My pics in ascending order: (I left before Portland Cello Project and missed an act or two talking or taking breaks)
- The SubArachnoid Space - Unrelenting bass-led bone-shuddering no-vocal Spiritualized-like sweeping rock - free ear-plugs much needed.
- Blind Pilot - slightly pop, slightly lightweight for my taste but you can't help liking this act, everything about them is good
- Bodhi - The surprise package - sub-punk driving rock with a taste of the early Costello about them - spectacular and playable on OPB
BEST of the day
Y La Bamba - The delicious Luz Elena grows in confidence and has 4 top quality musicians around her to deliver those complex yet delightful songs
On Saturday, July 26 at 11:56pm, jpetersen said:
Nicely done, but why the decision to skip PCP, Loch Lomond and Star-f-er (as they're known around these parts)? 9 hours=a bit of burn out? :)
Interesting take on Bodhi, I've yet to hear them/him outside of this year's PDX Pop comp-- I'll look for more. Same goes for Y La Bamba, "Fasting in San Francisco" got me interested for sure. I'm heading out quickly after tonight's show to try to catch the final set of the night.
On Sunday, July 27 at 0:13am, inmemoryofjohnpeel said:
Dead right, 9 hours with a notepad =a bit of burn out. +PCP, Loch Lomond I know and like (LL I've done in depth interview with). storing energy for tomorrow when I'm considering another run in conjunction with the Oregon Brewer's Fest...
Thank you for the Susanna and the Magical Orchestra - always interesting.
Hope you miss this and make the Star Fork er show.
On Sunday, July 27 at 0:34am, peace said:
ummm, hate to be a bother, but I heard a song on this show -- at least I think it was this show -- called 'same sugaree?' Was is Shake Sugaree by Elizabeth Cotten or some other song or am I just confused. Well, I am confused but I'd really like to know the name of the song I heard...
On Sunday, July 27 at 2:17am, peace said:
Nevermind, I found the playlist link. Duh.
Keep up the good work; it's a good show.
On Sunday, July 27 at 11:35am, jpetersen said:
No bother, thanks for listening.
Kind of interesting take on that song, I think: you have Laura Gibson's faithful take on the original met with Podington Bear's beats. Old-timey, 21st century style, I suppose.
On Sunday, July 27 at 12:42pm, ezadow said:
Were can we find the full James Low broadcast? That guy's one of the greatest songwriters around these days; to be revered. Sorry I missed it the first time last year. Is there a place to find it?
On Sunday, July 27 at 8:16pm, jpetersen said:
Hey ezadow, I'm a big James Low fan myself. His session can be found here in the in-studio section.
On Sunday, July 27 at 11:10pm, dave said:
Hey--I'm listening to the Sunday version of this show--great music. I'm really glad you played the Blind Pilots--Looking forward to getting their album