The Commercial Underground « Frequency blog: Music news and reviews from Bend and Central Oregon, by Ben Salmon

Posts Tagged ‘The Commercial Underground’

August 28 in GO! Magazine

Friday, August 28th, 2009

Today marks the beginning of a very busy stretch for music fans in Central Oregon. Over the next several weeks, we’ll have four concerts at Bend’s Les Schwab Amphitheater, a few other big names at other venues around Bend, the Sisters Folk Festival and the Bend Roots Revival, plus all the smaller club shows that happen in town every week. The Frequency team has its running shoes on!

Here’s what’s up in today’s GO! Magazine:

-Ween! Ween! Ween! I talked to Dean Ween about shark fishing, hurricanes and beards. Oh, and music.

-Oregon! Oregon! Portland’s little orchestra, Pink Martini, is coming back to town to give Bendites a fun, if not entirely accurate, history lesson.

-Hot Sauce! Philly blues-hop dude G. Love brings his repaired vocal cords and his Special Sauce to Bend. (Also: A fancy new way to get your tickets via cell phone.)

-It’s A Miracle! Portland hip-hop icon Cool Nutz rolls into town ready to celebrate life.

-Don’t Forget! Ghostwriter plays folk-punk at Silver Moon, The Commercial Underground hits The Summit Saloon, and the Terrebonne Depot throws an end-of-summer party.

End of summer!? C’mon now … it’s August!

I do believe everyone can view the Ween story, but the rest of those may be available to subscribers only. Pick up a print version of The Bulletin to see them all.

Tags: Cool Nutz, G. Love & Special Sauce, Ghostwriter, Pink Martini, The Commercial Underground, Ween
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June 26 in GO! Magazine

Friday, June 26th, 2009

Another Friday, another blog post about the music stuff that’s in GO! Magazine. And let me assure you, reader: The articles linked below are the most important music news happening right now. Nothing could possibly be bigger or more important. Nothing! Well … maybe not nothing.

-Tonight, the wonderfully rollicking, hyper-catchy Idaho trio Finn Riggins visits Silver Moon Brewing & Taproom. Opening will be Empty Wotta, a hybrid band that includes Mosley Wotta and half of Empty Space Orchestra, so get there on time.

Oh! I almost forgot: Download some Finn Riggins goodness, won’t you? Here you go:

Download Finn Riggins, “Hraka”

-Local folk duo The Erins perform tonight at The Summit, and then Erin Cole-Baker will play a solo gig Sunday at Les Schwab Amphitheater.

-Lindy Gravelle, a longtime fixture on the local scene, has a new CD out called “One Lucky Lady.” She’ll have it with her when she plays at Bo Restobar tonight.

-Tonight is busy! If you’re in Sisters (or want to be), you can check out the Western swing of Portland’s Lisa and Her Kin at Angeline’s Bakery.

-Two rock bands are teaming up for a Domino Room show on Tuesday night. Local quartet The Commerical Underground will open, and Idaho’s Under Wicked Sky will headline.

-Saturday will mark Deschutes Brewery’s 21st birthday, and they’re throwing a party featuring music by Tuck and Roll, Goodbye Dyna, Blackstrap and Scott Fox.

-You can catch two solid local acts within a few dozen feet of each other on Saturday night. Head to Silver Moon at 8 p.m. for bluesman Eric Tollefson, and then wander next door to the Tulen Center for the Person People show. Tollefson says he’s getting started early so everyone can see the PP set. How considerate of him! (Note: If you click that link, you’ll also see a blurb about David Bowers playing McMenamins on Wednesday. That is not happening. The Bowers Colony canceled, and the Portland-based electro-jam band Alpaca will perform instead.)

So yeah, click the links. If you’re a subscriber, you’ll be able to read them. If you’re not, you’ll either need to subscribe or pick up a print version of The Bulletin.

Rest in peace, Mike.

Tags: Blackstrap, Empty Wotta, Eric Tollefson, Erin Cole-Baker, Finn Riggins, Goodbye Dyna, Lindy Gravelle, Lisa and Her Kin, Person People, Scott Fox, The Commercial Underground, The Erins, Tuck And Roll, Under Wicked Sky
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Lots of new LOCAL music to listen to

Friday, June 5th, 2009

Central Oregon musicians have been incredibly productive this year, releasing a whole bunch of recorded music, with no sign of slowing down any time soon. Just look at all the new stuff you can hear online:

-The Sofa Kings do a bluesy, female-fronted take on straight-up rock ‘n’ roll, a la Heart or Jefferson Airplane/Starship. And, they’ve just posted a few songs from their recorded-but-not-yet-released CD on their MySpace.

-Redmond’s The Roe is known for its pop-infused emo/punk, which is why their new song, “Oh Amelia,” is so startling. It’s got a lo-fi, twangy feel, like a sleepy Social Distortion. Hear it at the band’s MySpace. (“We would like to make it clear that this IS NOT portraying the style of the new CD,” the band writes. “We are keeping our same style and keepin it rock n roll.”

-Warm Gadget is a newish project on the local scene, a creepy, electro-industrial collaboration between electronic-music artist (and former Vihara member) Colten Williams and Tim Vester, formerly of The Kronkmen, with some help from Eric Metzger, Jared Forqueran and Jeff Swearengin. The band recently posted some of its newer music, and it’s great, weird stuff.

-The Commercial Underground has a few new tracks up on their MySpace. These guys do breezy, feel-good, throwback pop-rock that’ll make you long for the ’70s, if you’re old enough to remember the ’70s.

-Since the last time I visited their MySpace, The Space Hoax has posted two new songs — “Aries Day” and “Vintage International” — for our listening pleasure. Both are excellent, and you should go listen to them right now. Seriously.

-Just the other day, Empty Space Orchestra put a live version of “Pandemonium,” recorded early last month, on its MySpace. Go take a listen to hear what everyone’s buzzing about.

-Local hip-hop cat Mosley Wotta has a “ruff edit” of a downcast new song called “Blood Sugar” on his MySpace. There are a couple other newer tracks up there, too. All are worth hearing.

There are probably tons more out there, I just don’t know about them. Say … are you in a band that calls Central Oregon home? Do you have some new music? I’d love to hear it, and maybe post it on Frequency. Give me a shout via e-mail or through MySpace.

Tags: Empty Space Orchestra, Mosley Wotta, The Commercial Underground, The Roe, The Sofa Kings, The Space Hoax, Warm Gadget
Posted in music on the web | No Comments »