3 Leg Torso
Sunlight and Shadows
Sometimes a record sounds exactly like
what it is. (Sometimes, of course, it does-
n’t. At all.) Plastic Bag in the Tree, a brand-
spankin’ new album from Flash Hawk
Parlor Ensemble, sounds like a bunch of
pals sitting around playing all kinds of
things: delicate Massive Attack and
Radiohead
covers
(“Teardrop,”
“Amnesiac/Morning Bell”), meandering
instrumentals, quirky originals and seem-
ingly whatever comes into their collective
head. Even when what comes into that
head is “Chris Walla: Duet for Moog and
Hurdy Gurdy in G Major-ish.” Many of the
songs have great titles, but this name-
check of the Death Cab for Cutie gui-
tarist/producer might take the cake.
As it turns out, FHPE pretty much is a
bunch of pals sitting around — or at least
neighbors. It’s an accidental group that was
born when Chris Funk (of The
Decemberists) moved into a new house in
Portland and sat around on his porch on
summer evenings, playing various things.
“He soon found out,” the press release
explains, “there was in fact an unusual
amount of musical activity on his block.”
Funk enlisted his neighbors, “closet folks-
men and recovering band geeks,” and is
now bringing them to town (or maybe just
some of them; there are 14 players listed in
the credits for Plastic Bag). This is music
utterly perfect for Sam Bond’s: playful, flex-
ible, moody, classic and timely at once, set-
ting things like banjos and Moogs side by
THE
side in a way that’s almost giggle-inducing.
But you wouldn’t be laughing at Flash Hawk
Parlor Ensemble; this is a good-natured,
good-times joke they’re sharing with us.
Sharing the bill with FHPE is another
Portland act, Horse Feathers. Justin
Ringle and Peter Broderick’s duo recently
came in second in Willamette Week’s “Best
New Band 2007” poll of Stumptown music
insiders. Horse Feathers’ quiet, intimate,
singer-songwriter-esque melodies imme-
diately bring to mind Iron & Wine and
Bonnie “Prince” Billy, among others. These
are songs that feel like listening to some-
one tell you a secret you can’t quite under-
stand; underneath beautiful phrases, both
lyrical and instrumental (like the perfect
strings on “Hardwood Pews” and “Blood
on the Snow” from Words Are Dead), are
dark thoughts and crisp musical richness.
Ringle’s versatile voice breaks words at
just the right points, half disguising tales
of violence and bitterness that are still
hinted at by a throbbing cello or melan-
choly violin.
Flash Hawk Parlor Ensemble, Horse
Feathers and Tom Heinl play at 9:30 pm
Saturday, June 9, at Sam Bond’s Garage.
21+ show. $5. — Molly Templeton
Tango, Torso Style
Portland’s 3 Leg Torso formed in 1996
as a three-piece that featured violin, cello
and accordion. Noticing their lack of per-
cussion, they added a few more members
and proceeded forward with their musical
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future. The quintet, like many fledgling
bands, had a mission: to create “original
modern chamber music for their unique
instrumentation.”
Not only have the boys successfully
reached their goal, they’ve gone far
beyond what they set out to do.
The quintet plays instrumental music
that dabbles in Latin and European flavor.
European influence gives the band a heavy
accordion sound that recalls composer Yann
Tiersen’s work on the Amelie soundtrack.
While a track featuring their accordion
motif may inspire you to find the closest
Parisian coffee spot in town for a quick
European-culture fix, other songs will make
you dance. If “Zemer Attic” on Astor in
Paris doesn’t get your hips moving, nothing
will. Maybe it’s the dancer in me, but every
song inspires choreography in my head.
Because there are no lyrics or vocals to dic-
tate the direction or feel of the song, you’re
allowed to interpret it any way you please.
There’s no denying the dance-ability
factor in 3 Leg Torso’s music, but some
songs are so hurried that any attempts at
dancing would just look silly and spastic.
“Giant Stomp,” with its bouncy xylophone,
is so fast and furious that it’s better suited
for a Warner Bros. cartoon than the dance
floor. “Flight of the Bumblebee,” anyone?
To its credit, 3 Leg Torso has been
described as “cinematic” and has found
places on the big screen to showcase its
music. The band has worked with independ-
ent filmmakers and scored The Dowager’s
Feast and The Dowager’s Idyll. (Not to men-
tion their contributions to a United Nations
documentary in Thailand and a Bosnian tel-
evision series.) Well, at least they aren’t fea-
tured in car commercials yet. 3 Leg Torso
plays with Bright Red Paper at 8:30 pm
Sunday, June 10, at Sam Bond’s Garage. 21+
show. $5. — Amanda Burhop
struggling musicians had no option but to
resort to the humble four-track.
In the ’00s, more than ever before, tech-
nology has been dropped into the hands of
the people, and now anyone with a little
knowhow and a hand-me-down computer
can churn out a pristine-sounding album.
That being said, you might say that a mod-
ern musician who consciously chooses to
produce coarse, low fidelity records is a lit-
tle bit off his rocker, and in the case of Ariel
Pink, you’d probably be right.
Like Captain Beefheart or Daniel
Johnston, Los Angeles-born Ariel Pink is a
quintessential outsider artist, but a closer
inspection of his catalog reveals that he is
also one of the true pop geniuses of our
time. Spellbinding albums like The
Doldrums and House Arrest display an
uncanny knack for songwriting as Pink
melts down sweeping ’80s synths, broken
’60s harmonies and murky psych freak-
outs into a gratifying pop stew. There are
beautiful melodies and universal hooks at
play within Ariel Pink’s music, though
sometimes you have to dig a little to dis-
cover these diamonds in the rough.
Ariel Pink plays with Ghostleaf and
DoublePlusGood at 9 pm Wednesday, June
13, at the WOW Hall. $7 adv., $8 door. —
Josh Blanchard
Diamonds in the Rough
The low-fi movement was one of the
musical watersheds of the ’90s, not only
because it helped redefine the rules of
what records were “allowed” to sound like,
but also for introducing us to some of the
era’s most influential artists, such as
Sebadoh, Guided By Voices and Palace.
Still, it was largely an aesthetic born out of
necessity; as technology tried to catch up
with an accelerating DIY culture, many
Horse Feathers
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JUNE 7, 2007 33