Hard to beat

Our favorite things about the year in Portland music

By Josh Rogers, Sam Pfeifle, Sonya Tomlinson, and Mark Sayer

STARSHIP TROOPERS: Extendo Ride (Slutphase) fired their boosters this year.

Musically, things just seem to keep getting better and better around here. Stonecoast reopened (steakhouse lovers may be asking “Where’s the beef?”), the Basement reopened (as Club SubTerra, but ostensibly the same), the Shady Lady reimagined itself (taking the place of the Better End in our hearts), the Big Easy reenergized (thank you, O’Brien boys), and the Asylum reinvented itself (thank you, Woitacek). Hey, the Alehouse even survived an assault from the ultra-ritzy Regency Hotel. Couple all that with the Well’s all-ages fun, the Skinny’s one-of-the-50-bestness, the Free Street’s willingness to show anything, and Geno’s iron will, and you’ve got a pretty damn thriving scene.

There will always be complainers (“I still,” you sniffle, “miss Zootz”), but really, we’ve got a lot going on here. And we’re more in the mood to celebrate. Though we could have come up with a brilliant analysis of the year’s best albums, songs, etc., we’ll wait for Best Music Poll for that. Instead, we’d rather regale you with a few simple lists. Coming from our music fans here at the paper, we present to you lists of our 10 favorite musical moments from the past year:

Sam Pfeifle, Managing Editor

1. The Area Code 207, Vol. 2 release party at the Stonecoast. The energy for every band was fantastic, but it was chilling when Darien Brahms got up there solo. Everybody in the place was talking, but, by the end of her set, the place was hanging on every single note.

2. The “Family Tree” show at the Big Easy. Way back in February, Relish, kNOw Complex, Inside Straight, the Popsicko, and Stream joined Rustic Overtones for a show that celebrated one of the aspects of the Portland music scene that is so impressive: musicians support musicians, regardless of genre.

3. The Coming Grass show at the St. Lawrence A&CC. The same night as game seven of the World Series, there were maybe 15 people in the audience. Still, we were able to make enough noise at the end of the show so that Nate Schrock came out and said, “Alright, we’ll play you another song.”

4. Gillian Welch coming to the Skinny with partner David Rawlins. What’s great is that nobody seemed to even care that she was on the O Brother soundtrack. People were calling out, “Play ‘Tear My Stillhouse Down,’ ” a track off 1996’s Revival. That’s how knowledgeable Portland’s fans are.

5. The Ossippee Valley Bluegrass Festival picking contest. Jerks of Grass Carter Logan and Jason Phelps were brought in to represent the local talent. Unfortunately, Carter didn’t realize he was supposed to play clawhammer at some point, and came in third. And Jason didn’t realize he was supposed to be playing bluegrass music.

6. The Thompson Point Beach Bluegrass Festival. Not only did this bring Doc Watson, Tony Rice, Peter Rowan, the Del McCoury Band, and all sorts of other big names to town, but it also provided Joe Brien over at Big Sound with the opportunity to record a session with Rice and Rowan that he reports “was the best session I’ve ever done.”

7. “Timberline,” places second in the Best Music Poll. Penned by Muddy Marsh Rambler Scott Conley, I put this on the ballot on a whim. It beat out songs that were getting airtime on local radio.

8. I found a Dick Curless album at a yard sale for seven bucks. And, yes, it did have “Tombstone Every Mile” (covered often by Hollerin’ Man) on it. I almost had it for a buck, but then the husband came over and said seven. “But she just said it would be a buck,” I stammered. “Well, she doesn’t know how good Dick Curless is.”

9. Extendo Ride’s (then Extendo-Ride Starship) first show at Geno’s. I often consider this show — their first “headliner” at Geno’s — to be the start of a whole trend in Portland music that’s moving toward pop. It’s giving more weight than necessary to three kids who haven’t even recorded anything yet, but, at one point, I’m pretty sure Peet Chamberlain, while playing, walked up to somebody’s table and took a swig of their drink.

10. Bob Dylan at the Civic Center. Normally, Bob comes to the State Theatre, but, apparently, his popularity has soared in the last year. He played seven encores or so, and looked right at home. Maybe that’s because he ate Thanksgiving dinner at Bella Cucina.

 

Josh Rogers, Listings Editor

1. Angst in My Pants reunite at the Free Street’s El Camino Song Club Night. On the eve of an honest-to-goodness Peepshow official CD release, it was cool to see founding members John White and Pat Corrigan return to their proto-Peep roots. They took turns switching off drums and guitar. At one point John ended up facedown on the floor screaming into the mic — sloppy punk rock at its best.

2. Black Tara at the Skinny. Returning to Portland after a winter away, I was shocked to see so many new bands breaking the stagnation. Singer Susannah Sanfilippo came off like a demonic Hope Sandoval, and “noodle-core” guitarist Chris McKneally must have helped himself to both Dave Roback’s and Kevin Shield’s effects selection. They’ve taken a long break to “recalibrate” their sound and record with Cerberus Shoal producer Steve Drown. Look for a gig at Local 188 in early February.

3. Radiohead at Suffolk Downs. Yeah, I liked Kid A and Amnesiac enough, but standing in a field with 50,000 other people watching Thom Yorke sing “Idioteque,” shaking his ass and playing tambourine incessantly, was transcendent. I finally understood that Radiohead had become a hippie band.

4. Satellite Lot: Phil Collins’s backing band? People lining the walls at the Skinny jerked their heads toward the stage when the Lot played that beginning keyboard riff to Phil’s “In the Air Tonight.” It was their opening song and Aaron Hautula nailed those impassioned vocals. The band didn’t miss a beat, either. Funny, while at the same time, disconcerting.

5. Watching Billy Lee Reilly record at Track Farm Studios. I missed the rockabilly legend when he played Congress Square this September, but was lucky enough to watch him cut a new version of his hit for Sun Records, “Flying Saucer Rock ‘n’ Roll,” at Pip Walters’s studio in South Portland. The Menchers, Haakon, and Matt Robbins sat around trading licks and talking to the old guy. Billy Lee kicked out a mean harmonica solo on one of Sean’s tunes, too.

6. Gimme Shelter at the Movies on Exchange St. Albert Maysles presented his classic documentary about the Rolling Stones’ ill-fated 1969 concert at Altamont Speedway in California. Mick was never more pretentious, Keef never more unintelligible.

7. Hedwig and the Angry Inch at Seacoast Repertory Theatre in Portsmouth, NH. The SRT production of John Cameron Mitchell’s gender-bending punk rock odyssey was better than any rock show I’ve been to all year. Hedwig (Constantine Maroulis) prowled the stage, heckled the audience (some teenage fans in the front row heckled back Rocky Horror style), and cracked jokes that made you want to “laugh to stop yourself crying.” Backed by Portsmouth’s own Bedbug Eddy, Maroulis ascended to levels, both vocal and camp, Freddie Mercury never dreamed of.

8. The Strokes show at the Skinny. I had no expectations for this show: just kind of got swept along by some of my friends and accidentally had the best rock ’n’ roll night of the summer. The place was wall-to-wall people and the band played the kind of rock you could do more than just nod your head to. Even though they pretty much just played their album straight, and one of the members passed me in the vestibule and said, “Excuse me, mate” in a fake Cockney accent, I’d forgive them anything. They rocked. I got drunk, damaged my hearing, and danced all night with a girl I never saw again.

9. There’s No Denying the Existence of Eggbot. Pitch-shifting. Distorting. Phasing. No, it’s not an episode of Star Trek (although their posters would have you believe otherwise). It’s Eggbot’s new album: part ’60s variety show, part Portuguese psychedelia, part Martian garage rock.

10. Enterprise Records now sells turntables. I know a lot of people that have sizeable LP collections and nothing to play them on. There’s always some excuse, too: it’s broken, it’s at my parents’ house, they’re too expensive. Finally Bill got wise to this problem and now stocks a cheap, decent model at his Congress Street store. Now there’s no excuse.

 

Sonya Tomlinson, music writer

1. New Hampshire rhymer ADeeM was in Portland for an Anticon show at the Skinny last May. He encouraged me to buy an album by Atmosphere, called Lucy Ford. I had no idea that I was being introduced to my all-time favorite MC — Slug. He’s irresistible.

2. Ani DiFranco at Merrill Auditorium. The best songs are the intimate ones where it’s just Ani, an acoustic guitar, a spotlight, and attention-getting lyrics. The crowd was hushed and on their toes, not knowing what to expect when she opens with the line, “White people are so scared of black people.”

3. The Four Elements at the State. What do you get when you mix DJ Q-bert, The Floor Lords, and other big names with good promotion? A hip-hop extravaganza with superior attendance. DJ Jon’s show was big-city quality, only it was at the State Theater.

4. ADeeM’s long awaited solo album, Sweet Talking Your Brain. Just when you thought you could pigeonhole him as hip-hop, he exceeds all genres and serves up everything from hardcore singing to spoken word. A must have.

5. Rustic Overtones’ “C’mon” video shoot. I was one of the 100 or so friends who showed up at their practice space to take part in a staged concert. Lights, camera, action.

6. %frica/America Children of the Dance. It combined legendary gospel singer JD Steele, the Maine Mass choir, choreographer Julio Leitão, and local youth dance troop, ¡YIP! A moving visual and acoustic masterpiece.

7. Afro-Cuban All Stars at Merrill Auditorium. I wished I was a resident of Miami, or that Maine was a little more diverse with a better climate, after hearing these guys. The epitome of Latin music.

8. Okay, so I had to throw my own band in here somewhere . . . kNOw complex at the Paradise in Boston. Captivating and full of energy, even though we were a very unsuspected, unheard of opener for Rustic Overtones.

9. Everyone knows Anticon, but too many overlook Sole’s former local band mate, jdwalker. His album Logan Projects is one that keeps on giving. Every listen exposes a new line or new emotion. It’s so much more than hip-hop.

10. Josh Martinez at the Skinny. Wearing a Burger King cardboard crown, the Canadian lyricist and crew gave the Skinny’s crowd their all, even after two of their members had been refused at the border as a result of tighter security since the September tragedies.

 

Mark Sayer, Production Manager

1. Slayer back in the mix. One of the oldest (if not the oldest) metal bands still around, Slayer released their latest record on the ill-fated date of September 11. Aptly named God Hates Us All, this is arguably the best Slayer record since Seasons in the Abyss. A show in November at the State Theatre topped it off as number one for this year.

2. Pledge of Allegiance Tour. With Slipknot and System of a Down teaming up on this mega-tour, many 15-year-old kids discovered what it was like to meet hell (and my fists) in the pit.

3. 300 Percent Density. Candiria, Brooklyn, New York’s metal/jazz/hardcore hybrid outfit, released their fourth full-length album on their new label Century Media. With two tours to Japan, and a few kickass shows up here, it was a great year for these five Yankee fans. (Yankees suck!)

4. Pop the Clutch. West Virginia’s stoner-metal kings Clutch had a record year. After releasing their self-produced Jam Room album late last year, the boys came through with a vengeance on their last effort, Pure Rock Fury. After an endless year of touring in support of the album, Clutch plans to take some time off to catch up on their “American Sleep.”

5. Boo-Hoo-Hoo. One of the best snippets of metal news this year was that Wes Borland left Limp Bizkit. Does this signal the demise of Rock & Roll’s worst band ever? We can only hope.

6. Tomahawk. Mike Patton has been busy lately. In his latest project, Tomahawk, he teams up with former members of Helmet, the Melvins, and Jesus Lizard. This, so soon after an opening slot on the Tool tour with another of his many faces, Fantômas (also featuring a member of the Melvins, and Dave Lombardo, the ex-drummer of the aforementioned Slayer). So, exactly how many bands are you in now, Mike, anyway?

7. Mass Concerts. Steve Woitacek headed up here to Maine over a year ago, and the local/regional/national heavy concert scene has been grateful. Steve brings a vast array of bands from all over the country to the Asylum regularly, giving them a chance to play a medium-club-sized venue, and resurrecting an all-but-dead scene into a viable communinity for heavy music. Some of his endeavors include Clutch, Biohazard, Hatebreed, Candiria, Diecast, Shadows Fall, W.A.S.P. (WASP?!?), Reach the Sky and more. Way to go Steve, keep it up.