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By Hilly Town, on February 27th, 2009% It’s no secret that we’re excited for tonight’s big show at SPACE (PHX preview here). Definitely come out for what’s sure to be a fun night. Pinatas, cupcakes, guest performers that even I don’t know about, and a 99% chance of pantslessness. Sure it’s technically a birthday party (for myself and Jess at SPACE) but everyone is invited and welcome to share in the funtimes. Here we go, ’round and ’round.
Near:
Far:
By Hilly Town, on February 26th, 2009% 
It’s been an eventful week around here (and it all culminates tomorrow with the big party). The fun started on Sunday at Slainte with Poingly, Eric Hnatow, Rotundo Sealeg, and a room full of dancing maniacs who braved a pretty heavy snowstorm to come out and party.
Read on…
By Hilly Town, on February 20th, 2009% As we start to see the end of February in sight, HillyTown.com brings you a string of events sure to keep you toasty. It all starts with a free show this Sunday night at Slainte that will get you dancing. Featuring Poingly (from Brooklyn, electro spazz-dance pop gems and jams), Eric Hnatow (from Northampton, MA, blip blip thwap pop boom – there’s no need to sing when you’ve got old school analog grooves like this), and of course Rotundo Sealeg (Belfast, ME, amazing full-band spazz pop radness, keytar included).
Portlandish:
Away:
By Hilly Town, on February 17th, 2009% House shows are the best. 
Even with a broken leg, the Scrapes brought the dance party to a post-Valentines/DoorYard benefit living room show in Portland on Sunday night. It was actually the quietest dance party I’ve ever been to, and a lot of fun.
Before the Scrapes turned the joint into a shuffle and dance singalong party, Ryan Whelan played some “acoustic freak punk” (according to one Jake Lowry) tunes, getting the crowd all riled up, banging on guords, furniture, and body parts. Good times.
By Hilly Town, on February 13th, 2009% If you turn your eyeballs slightly to the right, you’ll see new flyers for our three upcoming events in Portland. Check them out and come say hi! Ok, on to the Roundup:
Maine!
- The Press Herald published their “10 To Watch” list for 2009, giving their rundown of 10 (newish) Portland bands on the rise this year. I definitely feel like they missed a couple of key acts, but we can debate that in December.
The Bollard reports on how the crowd was totally geeking out (guilty – see photo above) on Brenda and Metal Feathers at Geno’s last week. It’s true, there was something special in the air at that show. Probably beer.- The First batch of performers for this year’s annual Arootsakoustik Music Festival have been announced: Roy Davis & the Dregs, Kelly Ravin Trio, the Hamilton County, Tree By Leaf, Frank Hopkins & Line of Force, Cursillistas, Putnam Smith, Dominic & The Lucid, Jacob Augustine, Chriss Sutherland, John Clavette, Pecos Bill, Tigroid Substance, Travis Cyr, and more are scheduled to appear. Get more info here.
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- Vermont’s tUnE-yArDs. (aka Merrill from Sister Suvi – who will be at SPACE Gallery on March 13 – hence this is in the Maine section!) announced the official release of BiRd-BrAiNs on Marriage Records, March 10th (it’s been available on tape and digitally for some time now). Definitely get out to see her play live, the looping work she does with vocals and percussion is pretty amazing.
- Apparently Portland has learned about “hipster indie disco, blog house.” Find out what that might mean by dancing awkwardly, PBR in hand, upstairs at the Empire for free on Thursdays from now until your spandex wears out. Blog house? Really?
- Maine comic creators went to the New York Comic Con and lived to tell about it. Get ready for when we have our own here in Portland on May 17! Check out the growing list of guests here.
Away!
- Sonic Youth revealed details of their upcoming album (The Eternal, due June 9).
- Need to catch up? The Grammy winners list and a pretty incredible Radiohead performance can be found here.
- Mobius Band released a free ep of covers for Valentine’s Day.
- Times New Viking did the Pitchfork A>D>D thing, getting all analog. I like singing drummers.
- Fulfilling Marge Simpson’s fantasies, Tom Jones followed in the footsteps of Arcade Fire, Liars, Yeasayer, and Bon Iver (ok, and TONS MORE) by doing a Takeaway Show session. It’s actually a little bit amazing.
Still not sure what to do tomorrow to celebrate (or avoid) Valentine’s Day? You could shake it at SPACE, overload on music and films at Empire, do it up 70′s style and hit Bubba’s, or screw it all and have your mind blown by the X-Ecutioners at Asylum.
By Hilly Town, on February 10th, 2009% 
At Sunday night’s show at Meg Perry Center in Portland, Lady Lamb The Beekeeper played what was supposedly their last show for a few months. The Brunwick/Old Orchard Beach duo plan to spend the next two or three months focusing on writing and recording new songs. It’s been a great streak for the band since we first talked about them in November, over which time they played at just about every venue around, packing just about every show. Also of note was Aly Spaltro’s show-stopping performance at the Dead Of Winter show at SPACE. With all they’ve had going on, the band could surely use a bit of a break. One exciting moment in the show came when we were treated to a new solo song by each member of the group (Aly and T.J.) – apparently both were so new that they just hadn’t worked on them enough together to perform them that way. Seeing the way they each approached their songs revealed much about what they both bring to the sound that band’s sound. Read on…
By Hilly Town, on February 9th, 2009% Words by Dylan Martin, photos by Stephanie Elizabeth.
The BUOY Gallery is a relatively new performance venue located in Kittery, Maine. From the moment I stepped inside I noticed how tremendously DIY the venue is, with colored clamp lights from Wal-Mart and Peavey speakers stacked onto milk crates. This made for an immensely warm and intimate setting.
More photos and DP setlist after the jump… Read on…
By Hilly Town, on February 6th, 2009% Happy First Friday, Portland! Did you know that HillyTown has a Facebook group now?
Portland Maine music and internet news:
- After a few false starts and soft openings, the Port City Music Hall is officially holding their grand opening tonight with a sold out show by the Derek Trucks Band. The band has new video for the song “Down Don’t Bother Me” featuring a studio session with muted colors, tasteful closeups, and wailling slide guitar solos here.
- Tonight also marks the public debut of The Pine Haven Collective’s first art event in Portland. From the looks of things they’re up to some pretty cool stuff at Corduroy.
- The Portland Daily Sun made its debut – free on the streets of Portland Tuesday through Saturday. Most notable debut story? Shedding some light on the Shaws trucks and structures being built in the park (see Portland WinteRush and The Downtown Showdown for more).
- Liberation By Sound, the Tuesday afternoon show on WMPG hosted by DJ Roy, finally got a Myspace page! Now all of us faithful listeners can have a heads up about special guests and shows! Make friends. This week marked the debut of a (unofficial) HillyTown-informed concert calendar on the show!
- Details for the 48 Hour Music Festival on February 21st at SPACE Gallery were announced, including a (almost) complete list of the musicians participating. Check out the Myspace page for more.
- Buoy Gallery in Kittery has gotten people talking (a Dirty Projectors show there this weekend put it on a lot of radars) – it’s a new gallery and performance space in what was originally a post office. Every second Friday of the month in 2009 they’ll host the Unique States Series, which combines three experimental musicians: one each from Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.
- Again in the NYC music spotlight, Ocean will be joining Salome, Batillus, and Riff Cannon at Pitchfork’s Show No Mercy event at Public Assembly in Brooklyn on 2/15.
- An update from Peapod Recordings reveals a number of promising releases from the local label to come this year. Chriss Sutherland, Honey Clouds, South China, Company, and more goodness to be expected from Portland’s hardest working label!
Around the internet, musically:
- Sad news in the music world, as The Cramps’ Lux Interior passed away. RIP.
- The Morning Benders released a free album of covers of songs by Paul Simon, Roy Orbison, The Velvet Underground, The Cardigans, Fleetwood Mac, Talking Heads, and more. Get it here!
- Project Jenny, Project Jan have a new ep (The Colors) full of fantastic collaborations coming out on April 14 (get a preview at Stereogum). For a minute they were going to play our big party this month, but plans changed – don’t worry, we’ll get them up to Portland before long.
- Ticketmaster and Live Nation merging?
- The Walkmen released a strangely hypnotic stop-motion style video for the song “Four Provinces”
- Extra special props to my pals in the band The Homosexuals, who also have a video out this week. Watch “3am (Pink Pony)” and be mesmerized.
These weekly roundups are getting a bit long! I’m starting to think these news bites might be better off in some sort of sidebar. What do you say, readers?
By Hilly Town, on February 4th, 2009% 
We had the second official HillyTown.com Presents event at Slainte on Friday, January 30th, 2009, with the help of local party-starter Neon Garden. The show started with a blistering 15-minute set of snotty thrash punk from Ye (listed on the show as Data Entry, but I guess they mutated into a whole new beast on their way to 24 Preble Street), then came two great Brooklyn bands who were actually pretty new to me. Read on…
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Contact us! First time here? Start with the blog for news, mp3s, videos, and photo galleries, then check out our showlist to see what's happening tonight, this weekend, or next month. Keep an eye up top for HillyTown Presents events that we're producing!
Send comments, questions, and feedback to hello@hillytown.com. To submit Maine music news, please write to music@hillytown.com.
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