Little Wings Album Release with White Rainbow and Michael Hurley
Live Music Review: Little Wings Album Release with White Rainbow and Michael Hurley, Portland: Sunday, March 13, 2011
White Rainbow’s hypnotic waves of noise -- buzzing drones laid over undercurrents of shifting harmonics -- were the first sounds to assail the audience at Little Wings’ record release party this past Sunday at Holocene. The alias of Adam Forkner, a prolific artist and collaborator who has played with the likes of the Dirty Projectors, Jackie-O Motherfucker and Yellow Swans, White Rainbow’s live set explored some of the same gorgeous, glacially-modulating territory as Tim Hecker and Growing. Intermittently staring at his gear and then at the audience with equal disinterest while lazily drinking his Bohemia, Forkner seemed to be reenacting his morning routine, putting the focus on the compelling ambient psychedelia coming out of the soundsystem.
Michael Hurley’s performance was solid, but perhaps unsurprisingly came across as dated and conventional after the free-form drone that came before it. Much of the idiosyncrasy of his recordings seemed lost in a live context. Hurley’s warm, gravelly voice was still very much present, along with the subtly blues-inflected folk he’s known for, but the accompaniment could not capture the now-anachronistic aesthetic of his output in the 60s and 70s.
Little Wings’ Kyle Fields wrapped up the night with a sparse set, featuring little more than guitar, his gentle yet commanding voice (which was a bit reminiscent of Will Oldham), and material mostly culled from his recently released Black Grass album. A few beautifully crafted songs anchored the set, which was otherwise fun, carefree and aided by Fields’ unpretentious, eminently likable sense of humor. Unexpected covers of Steely Dan, Bruce Springsteen and Silver Jews capped the night off with a welcome sense of levity. By the end, the audience was reluctant to let him go and appeased by a short encore, including the popular standby “Look at What the Light Did Now”.
Catch the rest of Little Wings' Black Grass release tour in California:
Saturday, March 19th – San Francisco, CA @ Adobe Books
w/ Tara Jane O'neil, Pale Horse 8 pm $5 suggested donationSaturday, March 26th - Bolinas, CA @ Nile’s house
w/ Magic Magic! Roses, Big Eagle, others $5-$10 suggested donation, sleepover possible!Saturday, April 2nd – Santa Cruz, CA Hod Hulpher's movie release party-- e-mail littlewings333@hotmail.com for details
Friday, April 15th – San Francisco, CA @ Great American Music Hall
Blank Tapes album release party w/ Blank Tapes, Kacy JohansingThursday, April 28th – San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
w/ Phosphorescent 9 pm
Little Wings & Feist Video Duet - "Look At What The Light Did Now"