What are you doing this weekend? Getting drunk in preparation for the often-awkward family reunions of Thanksgiving weekend? Watching some crappy Christmas movies at the local multiplex? Studiously re-watching the first third of this season of Lost, anxiously awaiting its return, which isn’t till the middle of next term? Preparing for finals? Writing your earth-shattering 12-page essay on the polysemous rhetoric of some old classic text or another?
Forget all of that right now, because none of it is worth it. Or if you’re going to do those things, finish them up before Sunday night, because there is a show that you cannot afford to miss. This Sunday at the Doug Fir is going to be one of the most amazing local shows this month.
With his band Binary Dolls, Nick Jaina plays uncanny, Fender Rhodes-driven indie rock, not unlike Menomena, for whom Binary Dolls are opening in January. But when you take away the unique and powerful talents of the Binary Dolls rhythm section (Paul Alcott and Matt Dabrowiak, who also play as the sublime electronic duo Dat’r), Nick Jaina plays an entirely different kind of fresh, engaging music. It’s essentially classic songwriting, played in the genre of jazzy indie folk inhabited by Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, and Rufus Wainwright (or, more precisely, Rufus Wainwright’s first album). Many of Jaina’s songs are swinging, swaggering old-timey numbers with a healthy variety of orchestral or chamber-pop instruments backing him up.
Nick has a new solo album of his own called The 7 Stations out now, and he has two previous solo albums, The Bluff of All Time (2005) and Snakes & Umbrellas (2000). On a typical song, we hear a splendid mix of violin, accordion, trumpets, and vibraphone, with acoustic guitars, upright bass, and drums to round out the mix. For his live shows, according to his MySpace page, we can expect to find a supergroup of local and fabulously talented musicians: Gavin Bowes (Sounds Like Fun) on drums, Scott Magee (Heroes & Villains) on drums and bass clarinet, Nathan Langston (The Maybe Happening) on violin, Peter Broderick (Horse Feathers, Loch Lomond) on violin, banjo and mandolin, Victor Paul Nash (Point Juncture, WA) on trumpet, Ali Ippolito (Heroes & Villains) on accordion and clarinet, Jonathan Sielaff on clarinet, Wylum Joersz (Run on Sentence) on bass, Amanda Spring (Point Juncture, WA) on vibraphone.
I know what you’re thinking: “Wow, that’s a lot of people from a lot of great bands!” How could anyone say no to so much freaking talent all in one night? But wait, there’s more!
Next up is Loch Lomond, which started as a solo project for indie folk singer/guitarist Ritchie Young. The first Loch Lomond album was When We Were Mountains, released on In Music We Trust Records in 2004. In the three years since then, he’s been performing solo under the Loch Lomond moniker and with a band that’s featured as many as 10 players. He has never stopped recording and earlier this year released the Lament For Children EP. Loch Lomond now has nine regular members in the line-up, with an eclectic mix of instruments: drums, violin, mandolin, saw, theremin, bass, guitar, piano, cello, celeste, banjo, accordion, melodica, trumpet, viola, and of course, everyone in the band helps with vocals.
Loch Lomond are currently preparing their next full-length album, due out early next year. And just in case you thought the night couldn’t get any more awesome, Laura Gibson is one of the most talented local folkstresses in Portland, and she will astound you with her enchanting songwriting. She plays nylon-string guitar and, according to her MySpace page, recent recordings feature the following folks, many of whom you may know from local faves Norfolk & Western: Rachel Blumberg (drums, vocals, vibraphone), Cory Gray (trumpet, piano), Peter Broderick (violin, viola, lap steel, banjo, mandolin, saw, accordion), Adam Selzer (vocals, electric guitar, found sounds), Alex James (vocals) Wayne Miller (upright bass). This evening is actually a record release show for her and her new album, If You Come to Greet Me. Her music is warm and gentle, like M. Ward’s, who recently joined her onstage at one of her concerts. That’s fine company to keep, and it’s a pretty good indicator of what kind of music you can expect from her this Sunday.