Julien Baker
For me, a truly great live performance isn’t a matter of theatrics, fancy light shows, or “showmanship.” It’s about genuine, raw emotion that’s powerful enough to transmit across the crowd. And when this is done with enough intensity, you get goose-bump moments. I’ve been excited to see Julien Baker perform live because I suspected she’d deliver that kind of experience and on Sunday night she did not disappoint.
Dia De Los Muertos
I went out one night this week to see a local band I’d heard was playing but didn’t realize they were performing as part of a Day of the Dead celebration. Found myself dropped into a room full of costumed revelers (combined with Portland hipsters) and a wonderful mix of Latin-American influenced sounds.
The surprise highlight for me was the set from Savila:
https://savila.bandcamp.com/track/cantame
Full Moon Fever
This album hit when I was 16 years old and working hard to hate anything mainstream or commercial. But there was no avoiding Tom Petty’s gift as a rock n roll master and I will argue to this day the merits of Full Moon Fever for best rock album of all time.
If We Were Vampires
Jason Isbell continues to give Jeff Tweedy and Neko Case a run for their money as my generation’s best song writer. Jason just released another single for his upcoming album and I’ve been binge-listening to it all this week. I’ve written in this blog before about my predilection for sad songs, so this shouldn’t come as a surprise, but something as heartbreakingly beautiful as this really does make me happy. (And apparently Jason can laugh at the contradiction in that as well, based on this clip from The Late Show.)
Not More Music Crap? 