Thao with the Get Down Stay Down, The Portland Cello Project, and David Shultz and the Skyline
Thao Nguyen and the ever-versatile Get Down Stay Down (Adam Thompson on bass, keys and additional guitar, and Willis Thompson on drums and percussion) make their first trek to The Cedar in the wake of Know Better Learn Faster, the follow up to their critically lauded album, We Brave Bee Stings and All (it was described by Pitchfork as "galloping indie pop with sugar-coated hooks, a frosting of horns, and a considerable dark streak." and as "a coming-of-age album, as serious themes underscore her jaunty melodies and adult concerns encroach on her summery youthfulness"). With super-producer and friend Tucker Martine (The Decemberists, Bill Frisell, Spoon) again at the helm, Know Better Learn Faster perfectly captures the band as their more mature, tastefully raucous, tastefully subdued and musically adventurous selves. Honed, trimmed and tightened over the last year and a half of constant touring, the now-trio delivers Thao’s cleverly crafted and emotionally evocative songs with vibrant, innovative instrumentation, incredible energy and a still-acutely-solid sense of what sounds good. The new batch of songs spans all genres and influences, all the while staying faithful to their distinct style, sharp wit, and the infectious and enamoring exuberance of their renowned live shows.
“The album is named Know Better Learn Faster because you can’t,” explains Thao. “By the time you realize you should, it’s too late. And I enjoy the predicament and the totally devastating, unfunny humor of that.”
But the band can be serious too. Know Better Learn Faster is in many ways a boisterous, frenzied, and resigned break-up record, and with that territory comes a few songs wherein Thao does not employ her trademark method of juxtaposing brighter melodies with melancholic content. “A few of these are just straightforwardly sad. Sometimes there’s not much room to mince words and music when you feel like shit,” she says.
The diverse and wide-ranging songwriting only helps to showcase the trio’s formidable musicianship: all members have stepped up and expanded their repertoires to fill out the trio’s sound. To further help the cause, the band was thrilled and humbled to enlist album guests Andrew Bird, Eric Earley of Blitzen Trapper, Laura Veirs, Horse Feathers, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, Jenny Conlee of The Decemberists, and close friend and new 4AD artist Tune-Yards.
Know Better Learn Faster is a deeply felt, honestly rendered audit of the end of one or any number of relationships. Thao says: “We are thankful for the opportunity to have explored and then purged all crippling tensions and anxiety inherent in such dramas and hope you enjoy the scrappy by-product.”
The first time you see the Portland Cello Project perform you might be perplexed when you hear affectionate fans shouting "We Love PCP!" In spite of a barrage of musical and visual sensory overload, you’ll figure out that you aren’t in a crowd of horse-tranquilizer-snorting maniacs, and that “PCP” is the tongue-in-cheek acronym of this group of classically trained cellists.
But you’ll wonder what kind of a crowd this is…? In the course of one of PCP’s epic shows – (the format of which is always a one-time affair – the group writes almost entirely new arrangements for every performance cycle) – you’ll see such sights as: old ladies, straight out of the symphony hall nodding their head to cello hip-hop; young children playing air cello while dancing to massed cellos accompanying The Builders and The Butchers; hipsters too-cool-for-school mesmerized by Arvo Pärt; members of the Decemberists playing late 19th century Russian compositions transcribed for Hammond Organ, a 40-piece choir, and of course: a symphony of cellos. Since the group’s inception in late 2007, they have performed with a veritable “Who’s Who?” list of Portland musicians, from Laura Gibson to The Dandy Warhols, Horse Feathers, Mirah and Loch Lomond, just to name a few. Most recently, they collaborated with Thao and Portland ukelele/singer-songwriter Justin Power to produce their second album (and first for Kill Rock Stars): The Thao and Justin Power Sessions.
And rounding out a stellar triple line-up, David Shultz and the Skyline open, featuring songs from their brand new release Rain in to the Sea.
Tickets are on sale now from the Cedar Ticketline (612-338-2674 ext 2), Cedar outlets, and online at Ticketweb.
David Shultz and The Skyline steadily craft songs of both undeniable immediacy, and curious timelessness. Rather than writing a steady flow of songs – night and day, good and bad – the Richmond Va songwriter and his band are content to move at their own pace...
Thao with The Get Down Stay Down consists of Thao Nguyen or just simply Thao (vocals, guitar), Frank Stewart (lead guitar, producer), Adam Thompson (bassist), and Willis Thompson (drummer) based in San Francisco, United States. After picking up her guitar at...
The somewhat intimidating 8-16 cello ensemble, The Portland Cello Project (or, PCP, as their fans affectionately call them), has had a meteoric rise in the vibrant Portland music scene. The group has a deep-rooted philosophy of building a stronger music...
