Author: Stephanie Fine Sasse

Celebrate the season and do some good for the community at the same time.

If Andy Warhol started an electronic-rock group, The Gentry just might be it. Unexpectedly sampling pop culture to fit their needs, The Gentry’s tunes fall somewhere between admiration and parody with a rock ‘n’ roll kick.

Since 1995, Scott Garred has been presenting his insights on the world through albums replete with low-fat, highly catchy, folk-pop tunes. He releases one per year, and this Sunday will be the avant garde release of Volume 12: There’ll Be Diamonds on Tender Loving Empire Records. Thirteen years ago, after Garred graduated from Washington University, he met up with an old friend, Tom Hudson. Realizing he had never lived more than a skip away from home, he decided to embark upon an impromptu change in locale to pursue a collaborated musical effort.

There’s always that one guy on the streetcar with the oversized headphones, socially aware T-shirt and contently bobbing head. He’s clearly witty, stylish and with the times, so one can’t help but wonder what’s playing on those things (or if he’s just using them as a particularly hip earmuff alternative). After extensive pondering, it should become clear that it is most likely an advance copy of Blue Horns’ upcoming release streaming through the gargantuan electronic devices, providing John Doe with a surround sound experience of their tunes’ invasive, uplifting beats and juxtaposed casual/energetic mentality.

So, what are your plans this Friday night? If you said anything other than attending the AMP benefit concert at Portland’s Secret Society Ballroom, you should seriously reconsider.

The inspiration for The Dimes’ first album came from beneath the floorboards of guitarist Pierre Kaiser’s home. While cleaning, Kaiser noticed a stack of newspapers dating from 1929-30 wedged beneath the wood; a discovery that led to nearly half a dozen songs from band member Johnny Clay and the musical rebirth of many heroic and fascinating characters that would have otherwise been forgotten.

The moment a band decides to call itself “Church,” its members sign an implied contract to create powerful, moving, bigger-than-life tunes, or be forever sentenced to stand shamefully in the shadows of such a dauntingly suggestive name. Luckily for Cristof Hendrickson and brothers Brandon and Richard Laws, their new album Gold lives up to the expectation.

With Americans’ constant complaints about their home country, it has, disturbingly enough, become shocking to hear genuine praise for the good ol’ U.S. of A. Even more startling is that most of said praise has not come from people who grew up here, but rather individuals who fought hard to reap the benefits that most of us take for granted. Such is the case with West African born hip-hop/R&B artist Issa (pronounced E-suh) and his business partner Shaun Chine.

Sometimes the quintessential blend of horns, pop and warm-you-up lyrics is exactly what Portlanders need to fight the imminent threat of seasonal affective disorder. This year you can save money on anti-depressants as The Pink Widower offers the remedy on their much-anticipated debut album, The Enchanted Realm of The Pink Widower, to be released Oct. 14. With rave reviews from Willamette Week, Portland Mercury, and Bella (the alto sax player’s pet pooch) The Pink Widower is well on its way to becoming a “psychedelic/reggae/pop” staple, and Portland may be the beginning. This fall they are sharing their music’s crisp, upbeat tone on a tour of the Northwest. Lead singer Jed Allan, formerly of Six Foot Sloth, defines their sound.

Bands like Portland-based, indie poppers Derby are the reason audiophiles justify thumbing through thousands of albums just to find their perfect fix. Set to persistently catchy claps, stomps and guitar licks, the band’s music gives worn out cliches an extreme makeover, capturing the reason they became infamous in the first place and reintroducing them to society with pluck and enigma. They are the musical personification of field frolicking and curious peaks into foxholes, teasing you with simultaneous energy, melodrama and poise.

With a proper dose of irony, a self-released album and fan nicknames such as “ontological terrorist,” Ian Anderson of Guidance Counselor is making a convincing play for the respect of all aficionados in Portland’s nationally recognized dance scene. His one-man music project, which began with the serendipitous purchase of a sequencer as opposed to a synthesizer, was recognized as an entirely unique element of Portland’s “DIY-punk dance-starters” in the October 2008 issue of XLR8R magazine. His lyrics poke fun at the contradictions of the local scene while his experimental beat constructions and crowd-oriented live shows secure his spot in the paradox.