First Friday of February brought another great Tower of Song. Johnny Fountain and Lady Lamb the Beekeeper were there of course (although this might be one of the last live performances in a few months for the Beekeeper), and were also joined by this month's guest, Anna's Ghost.
I was really excited to hear Anna's Ghost perform, because I love their 2007 self-titled EP and they don't play out live nearly enough. They remind me of Joy Division if fronted by Nico and influenced by Neutral Milk Hotel (awesome! my first over the top name-dropping piece of music criticism!). Plus Gabrielle Raymond's voice exists somewhere between the thunder clouds and the underworld, so I knew it would sound amazing bellowing out from a window in the Tower of Song. As expected, they put on a mesmerizing show. Supposedly, they have their first full-length coming out in a few months and it should be great. They are previewing one of the new tracks, "Static Habits", on their myspace: http://www.myspace.com/annasghostband
Johnny Fountain was also joined by his full band, The Manes, for the first time ever at Tower of Song. It was a bit of an experiment, as this was our first time setting up the mikes to handle a drummer. But it turned out beautifully, as evidenced by this video:
Johnny & The Manes have a 5-Song EP out now that you can purchase from Eternal Otter Records: http://theottersden.wikispaces.com/John+Fountain
It should also soon be appearing in Bullmoose Records here in Portland.
Lady Lamb the Beekeeper closed the show with a truly gorgeous performance. I'm usually outside at the merchandise table in Congress Square during Tower of Song, but the night was too cold for that- so it was a rare treat to listen to Aly & TJ rock the Tower from the comfort of the sofa with a cold beer in my hand. Their set included a drumless, "beatbox" (or "beedle-bop?") version of Beluga, and each took a solo turn at the mike- with TJ singing "Metal Mouth" and Aly performing "Sunday Shoes", which she first debuted at SPACE's Dead of Winter Show. They are returning to the studio (i.e. their bedrooms and basements) for the next few months to record their new LP, so now is the perfect time to catch up on Samples for Handsome Animals which is NOW AVAILABLE ON iTUNES. Tell your friends.
And if you haven't heard the music of Lady Lamb the Beekeeper. What are you waiting for? Check out their myspace immediately: www.myspace.com/ladylambthebeekeeper
This Tower of Song also boasted the best crowd ever, and yielded some exciting underground news, including a tip that Aly will be guesting at an upcoming Sontiago live performance at SPACE. I'll keep you posted.
Also got to meet some of the lovely people from the Pine Haven Collective, who have a cool art show going on at the Corduroy Surf Shop on Market Street. Check out their scene here http://thepinehavencollective.blogspot.com/
While cleaning up the Tower the next morning, we got some outside confirmation on how great the show was- Hanging in our neighbor's window across the street were two big home-made posters proclaiming "TWO THUMBS UP" (with picture of said-thumbs) and "WE LIKE YOUR MUSIC". Thanks Portland!
Anna's Ghost
Lady Lamb the Beekeeper
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