We'll keep this short and sweet: Portland band Celilo is coming up our way this weekend, and if you find yourself in Ballard on Saturday night, you might want to pop into their Conor Byrne show. Bon.

Celilo somehow manages to exist as an amalgamation of familiar, but not too-familiar sounds: they're at times reminiscent of early My Morning Jacket, spliced through with a Band of Horses-y, Pearly Gate Music's set at KEXP-y sounding kind of way; and at other times you'll swear you just saw them open for Nada Surf after a line or four of lyrical prose ripe with indie sensibilities that are backed with just the right amount of jangly guitar. The band manages to merge their decidedly Pacific Northwest sound together effortlessly with something that's all their own, a little pedal steel for the heartbroken, a little campfire reflective-ness as an homage to home. And once our first listen hit lines about the poetry of a rumpled hotel pillow, we were done for.

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My ass is sore from SIFF, damn it! I need to get up and move around a bit! And not just between theaters either. Hmm, maybe I'll go see a show or two this weekend. You know, live music! Cold whiskey in hand and a bunch of ragamuffins caterwauling on the bandstand action. It's been a little while.

Last week, I saw the ecstasy-inducing super-boss musicians for the Winter's Bone OST at the plush Triple Door, and that was regally rustic and rootsy divine. But now I'm hankering on some more contemporary sounds, if you will. Let's check the trusty TIG calendar and-- OH MY GOD! So many great groups are playing this weekend! I am going to list my very favorites and I hope to see 'em all. (Wish me luck.)

Empty Space Orchestra, Gun Runner, Eighteen Individual Eyes, Maps on Fire are playing The Funhouse on Thursday, June 6, starting at 9 p.m., for six bucks. I will be there to see EIE mostly though, as these four women know how to create strong tendrils of sound to drill straight into the nervous system, creating both suspense and pleasure in the way only dangerous, driven rock and roll can. Rumor has it they're recording with Matt ("Botch") Bayles for their next record, and that is gonna be some heavy, beautiful shit.

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I've pretty much been nerding out about Pablo Trucker since the minute I hit the ground in Seattle. Show after show after show, they just won't quit -- and I can't wait to catch more proof tonight when they slay the stage at Conor Byrne. Their sound is inherently simple: big dirty guitar + tortured vocals + jazz-like precision on the drums + just the right amount of bass for good measure (pun intended). But that's where the cut-and-dry stops -- because there's something that comes alive on the stage when these musicians get together that's hard to match.

On the odd chance you're not familiar, you can read a bunch of emo about their live shows (spoiler: the start of every descriptive about them is almost identical to the first sentence of this post) here, here, here, and here.

And if all that adjective isn't enough to get you to Ballard to spend seven bucks on a Friday night, I don't know what is. The show is 21+ / 9pm / $7 at the door. See you there!

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Mirah is like yoga, Italy, and pizza... it's rare to hear an ill word said about any of them. She hardly needs me to list her finest attributes to convince you to go see her tonight at The Vera Project -- except to say that you wont be disappointed. And, who knows who you'll run into at the show? She really attracts the nice folks.

If that's not your style, you can join me at Conor Byrne's (in Ballard) to see the return of the Dexter Street Jug Band. They are back together after a few month's hiatus to celebrate their record release!

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at Conor Byrne

The dreams are deep and the drinks are strong at the Hazelwood Motel.

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