The Days of Lore

The sacrificial Ram

Friday, May 6th, 2011 | musiX, pdX | 1 Comment

Paul McCartney has always been the most polarizing member of that one band from Liverpool for several reasons: a) He’s had the most prolific post-Beatle career, b) Lennon didn’t live long enough to become cheesy, and c) because he’s the cute one.

When McCartney released his second solo record, Ram, in 1971, music critics chewed it up and spat it out and then spat it out again. As Robert Christgau spat it: “… most of the songs are so lightweight they float away even as Paulie layers them down with caprices.” Indeed, it’s far less introspective or serious than All Things Must Pass or John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, and more sparse and raw than the Beatles’ cinematic later work. But that was 1971. Ram has since been embraced as the charming piece of pop that it is.

Portland go-to musician Dave Depper (Loch Lomond, the Decemberists, Norfolk & Western, every band in existence) found it charming enough to re-record the entire album (including the Ram-era B-side “Oh Woman, Oh Why”). The Ram Project is really good. And it plays eerily close to the original, while playing to its own ramshackle charms. Depper recorded the entire thing—playing all the instruments himself—in just 31 days with the help of his wife, local artist Joan Hiller, who ably sings the parts of Linda.

Interestingly, the project was essentially a challenge to himself to see if Depper could deliver the goods (he even kept a blog to document the recording’s progress and hold himself accountable). Now it’s being released on vinyl through Jackpot Records and in Europe on City Slang. Oh, and there’s a big record release show here in Portland at the Doug Fir. All this without really even trying. And with that Depper has just tied Richard Starkey for the number of good solo albums under his belt.

Dave Depper performs Ram in its entirety Saturday, May 7 at the Doug Fir. Lewi Longmire performs Neil Young’s After the Gold Rush and Sean Nelson performs the songs of Harry Nilsson.

“Dear Boy” - Dave Depper

“Oh Woman, Oh Why” - Dave Depper

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Tags: City Slang, Dave Depper, Jackpot Records, Joan Hiller, Paul McCartney, Ram, The Ram Project

Record Store Day is groovy

Saturday, April 18th, 2009 | musiX, pdX | No Comments

Record/music stores are disappearing faster than … hmm … than a plate of donuts in front of a fat kid’s face? Sorry. But there is hope … for record stores, not for my lack of couth … or child obesity in America.

Record Store Day was first observed in 2007 as a way to celebrate the holiest of places for white males ages 25 to 50. Six months ago I moved from a town that was down to its last record store, not counting the one that had a horrible selection of over-priced CDs and sold more dildos and bongs than it did actual music. But Portland—being the mega-hot indie rock mecca of planet Earth—has several fine establishments where one can peruse for hours on end while the rest of the world passes by and your girlfriend finally comes to terms to the fact that you have a problem. I’ve come home.

So. Take your pick. There will be tons of special releases from a laundry list of bands like [inhale] The Thermals, The Decemberists, Blitzen Trapper, Flaming Lips, Elvis Costello, Pavement, Slayer, Queen (!), Bob Dylan, Jesus Lizard, Obits and much, much more [exhale]. More info on releases and participating stores can be found here.

There will also be loads of live performances and special events here in Portland including Langhorne Slim (1 p.m. at Jackpot Records on Hawthorne), and Loch Lomond and Shaky Hands at the downtown location starting at 2 p.m. Queensrÿche (yes, that Queensrÿche) will sign copies of their new record at Music Millennium at noon. And Green Noise Records will be giving away some goodies from its sister label Dirtnap. Oh, and make sure Exiled Records is on your list of stops today. All of this, of course, leads up to the big Night Owl Record Show—a Portland tradition since 2003—where vinyl junkies come together and do what they do ($2; 5-9 p.m).

In honor of Record Store Day I give you a song from the very first 45 rpm I owned that wasn’t associated with Batman or Star Wars (promise, no more KISS-related posts for at least a few months). Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to get into some mischief.

“See You In Your Dreams” - Gene Simmons (1978 solo album)

Tags: Green Noise Records, Jackpot Records, Langhorne Slim, Loch Lomond, Music Millennium, Night Owl Record Show, Queensrÿche, Record Store Day, Shaky Hands