Next week's Live Music suggestions: 29th September to 5th October

Though the rain has visited us already, there's no need to be afraid! Warm up for this hot selection of fine live music, playing throughout Lisbon during next week:

29/09, Sunday
Hypocrisy + Hatesphere + Theriomorphic [metal]
Paradise Garage (near Alcântara) -> location of the venue
20:30 - € 22,00
Ash Is A Robot + The Year + Ella Palmer + Borderlands [punk/post-hardcore]
República da Música (near Alvalade) -> location of the venue
16:00 - € 8,00 including AIAR CD / € 5,00 without CD

01/10, Tuesday
Noiserv [pop/electronica]
Teatro Municipal São Luiz (near Chiado)-> location of the venue
21:00 - Free Entrance

02/10, Wednesday
Roberta Sá [pop/bossa-nova/MPB]
TMN ao Vivo (near Cais do Sodré)-> location of the venue
21:30 - € 15,00

03/10, Thursday
Azevedo Silva [singer-songwriter/rock]
Casa Independente (near Intendente) -> location of the venue
22:00 - € 5,00
Marcin Wasilewski Trio [jazz]
Centro Cultural de Belém -> location of the venue
21:00 - € 11,00 (laterals) / € 13,50 (stalls)

04/10, Friday
The Poppers [pop/rock]
Teatro do Bairro (in Bairro Alto) -> location of the venue
23:00 - € 6,00
Luiz Melodia [MPB/bossa-nova]
TMN ao Vivo (near Cais do Sodré)-> location of the venue
22:00 - from € 10,00 to € 25,00

05/10, Saturday
Peixe : Avião + Long Way to Alaska [alternative rock]
Our Live Spotlight of the week!

Next week's Live Spotlight: PEIXE : AVIÃO + LONG WAY TO ALASKA - October 5th - Centro Cultural de Belém

On the last 10 years, Portugal has witnessed an exponential growth of quality bands. Though popularity only comes for a select few, because of a fluke hit, sudden exposure on media or pure and simple hard work, the majority of the ones who do get public attention have palpable talent. Two examples of the above come from Braga (on the North of Portugal) and are sharing a bill next week in Lisbon.
Peixe : Avião were tagged from the beginning as the "portuguese Radiohead", and anyone who listens to them can spot the influence of the Oxford-bred band, with emphasis on the Hail to the Thief / In Rainbows period (experimental rock with pop leanings). This is not a bad thing, as influence here is works as inspiration, and the band have been able to discover their own voice and develop their style. You can find proof of this on their new self-titled album which they are going to present next saturday in Belém's Cultural Centre. Opening the venue are Long Way To Alaska, one of Portugal's answers to the Summer melodies and harmonies of Beach Boys, filtered through Fleet Foxes. Their lilting and breezy compositions will offer a curious counterpoint to the more dense and complex soundscapes generated by their fellow townsmen.


PEIXE : AVIÃO + LONG WAY TO ALASKA
Centro Cultural de Belém -> location of the venue
October 5th (saturday), 21:00
Entrance: € 11,00 (laterals) / € 13,50 (stalls)

Next week's Live Music suggestions: 23rd to 28th September

Summer's heading to its end, but the nights are still warm in Lisbon. Let us direct you to the best musical offers that Lisbon presents during September's final week:

23/09, Monday
The Winery Dogs + The SixxiS [hard rock]
Paradise Garage (near Alcântara) -> location of the venue
21:00 - € 23,00

24/09, Tuesday
Moon Duo + Jibóia [psych/space rock]
Galeria Zé dos Bois (in Bairro Alto)-> location of the venue
22:00 - € 8,00 pre-sale / € 12,00 on the day of the event

25/09, Wednesday
June Tabor & Iain Ballamy & Huw Warren [folk/jazz]
Teatro Municipal Maria Matos (near Roma)-> location of the venue
22:00 - € 18,00

26/09, Thursday
Go Suck a Fuck [experimental/rock/electronica]
Lounge (near Cais do Sodré) -> location of the venue
22:30 - Free Entrance

27/09, Friday
Filho da Mãe [acoustic guitar]
Our Live Spotlight of the week!
Breed 77 + Wako + The Temple [metal]
República da Música (near Alvalade) -> location of the venue
22:00 - € 8,00

28/09, Saturday
Russ Ballard + Gun + Hot Stuff [rock]
Coliseu dos Recreios (near Rossio) -> location of the venue
20:45 - € 30,00

Next week's Live Spotlight: FILHO DA MÃE - September 27th - Palácio da Independência

Portugal has a history of amazing guitar players; not the electric shredding kind, but mainly acoustic, creative and full of feeling. We've spoken of Carlos Paredes and his portuguese-guitar-playing progeny before, but there are also those that, inspired by the sound and flow of Paredes' style, have mixed it with the folk stylings of John Fahey or Davey Graham, developing an electrifying take on the acoustic guitar. Currently well-known cases of this are Norberto Lobo and FILHO DA MÃE.
Born Rui Carvalho, grown as a guitarist within the hardcore scene, and mostly known for his work on If Lucy Fell, a fleeting though extremely intense and influential mathcore band, he took Filho da Mãe (literally "son of a mother", a portuguese typical expression which meaning is approximate to "son of a gun") as moniker for his acoustic solo project, originally a stop-gap between his work in bands. Having only released the album Palácio in 2011 and a split 7" with Linda Martini (one of the most important bands in the current portuguese alt-rock scene, whose members have worked with Carvalho in other side-projects), we hope that Filho da Mãe keeps weaving his magic for years to come. Don't lose this opportunity to see this marvellous guitarrist in action, courtesy of the Lisbon Week 2013 programme, with the added bonus of getting to visit the beautiful Independence Palace near Rossio.


FILHO DA MÃE
Palácio da Independência (near Rossio) -> location of the venue
September 27th (friday), 19:00
Entrance: € 7,00

Next week's Live Music suggestions: 15th to 21th September

Here's our selection of musical events for the upcoming week in Lisbon, capital city of Portugal:

15/09, Sunday
Lokomotiv & Switchst (D)ance [jazz + electronica]
Jardim da Tapada das Necessidades (near Alcântara) -> location of the venue
17:00 - Free Entrance

16/09, Monday
Nicole Eitner & Miguel Menezes [jazzy pop]
Duetos da Sé (near Sé de Lisboa) -> location of the venue
23:00 - € 5,00

17/09, Tuesday
Sei Miguel Unit Core & Aki Onda [avant-garde jazz]
Teatro Municipal Maria Matos -> location of the venue
22:00 - € 12,00

18/09, Wednesday
Mário Laginha Trio [jazz]
Our Live Spotlight of the week!

19/09, Thursday
Asimov [psych/space rock]
Lounge (near Cais do Sodré) -> location of the venue
22:30 - Free Entrance
Nicotine's Orchestra [rock n'roll]
Sabotage Club (near Cais do Sodré) -> location of the venue
22:00 - € 5,00 (includes new CD)

20/09, Friday
Festival Caixa Alfama w/ Camané + Ana Moura + Gisela João + Luísa Rocha + Rodrigo Costa Félix + Marta Pereira da Costa + Rodrigo + Diamantina + Hélder Moutinho + Artur Batalha + Liana + Miguel Capucho + Maria da Fé & Rita Gordo + Kiko + Cidália Moreira + Luís Caeiro + Aldina Duarte + Teresa Lopes Alves + Alexandra + Miguel Ramos [fado]
throughout Alfama neighbourhood -> more information here
20:00 - € 35,00 (both days)

21/09, Saturday
Festival Caixa Alfama w/ António Zambujo + Raquel Tavares + Cuca Roseta + Carmo Moniz Pereira + Teresa Tapadas + Luis Matos + Marco Rodrigues + Yola Dinis + Ricardo Ribeiro + Joana Amendoeira + Ana Laíns + Carlos Leitão + Filipa Cardoso + José Gonçalez + Pedro Calado + Joana Veiga + António Pinto Basto + Ana Sofia Varela + Jorge Fernando & Fábia Rebordão [fado]
throughout Alfama neighbourhood -> more information here
20:00 - € 35,00 (both days)
Katabatic + Before and After Science [post-rock/metal]
Funky Bar (H 0.09) - LX Factory (near Alcântara) -> location of the venue
22:00 - € 5,00

Next week's Live Spotlight: MÁRIO LAGINHA TRIO - September 18th - Culturgest

Mário Laginha is one of the greatest portuguese jazz musicians, period. With the piano as his instrument of choice (he let go of the guitar in his youth after listening to Keith Jarrett), he made his name on a long-lasting collaboration with Maria João, a versatile and wide-range singer whose vocal fireworks married perfectly the melodic and floaty arrangements of Laginha's piano work.
Not a stranger to leading his own groups, this trio presentation brings a novelty to Laginha's work: he discarded the drums and added a portuguese guitar, instrument seldom used in jazz environments. Inspired by portuguese guitar masters like Carlos Paredes, Pedro Caldeira Cabral and Ricardo Rocha, which expanded the instrument's use outside its fado tradition, Mário Laginha will try to broaden it a bit more, and probably expand jazz's own limits.

Mário Laginha with Carlos Paredes, the greatest portuguese guitar player of all time

MÁRIO LAGINHA TRIO
Culturgest (near Campo Pequeno) -> location of the venue
September 18th (wednesday), 21:30
Entrance: € 15,00

Collector's Corner: Paulo Coelho (More República Masónica)

Paulo Coelho, former guitarist/vocalist of the now extinct, portuguese alt.rock legends More República Masónica and eager record collector, has accepted our invitation to answer some questions for this first edition of Collector's Corner.
What led you to become interested in music and records?
What made me interested in music and records in particular was the fact that my father worked in Rádio Clube Português [one of the most important non state-owned radio stations in Portugal] and brought home hundreds of records. I was 4 years old when my father gave me a key to a locker where he kept promotional singles and ep's that I took out, stacked, unstacked and stacked again. Those platters were magic, especially when my dad put them playing on the turntable. I especially liked the golden promo stickers that said "Gift".

Do you miss playing in More República Masónica?
Yes, I do miss More República Masónica, especially because it helped opening some doors. You can't erase twenty years of your life in a flash. I'm constantly thinking about returning and constantly postponing the return, but that day will come!

What is the size of your collection?
About 5000 titles - 3500 CDs and 1500 vinyls.

Format of choice: vinyl or CD?
At the moment, I prefer CD for the space it occupies and also the lower price. Vinyl suffered and still suffers from a certain amount of speculation, people tend to overvalue all vinyl because it has become a fashionable item. But now things are getting back to normal.

Do you have any favorite or prevalent music genre in your collection?
I grew up listening to rock music but I ended up searching other genres, because rock comprises a whole lot of different things. I think it's getting harder and harder to label any kind of music.

What is the most important album of your life?
I think I bought my first record at 13 or 14 years old, I don't remember exactly what that was. But the one that struck me the most and which is perhaps the album of my life was Evol, from Sonic Youth, the original SST edition, which I still own.

What was the last record that amazed you?
"Thy Kingdom Scum", by Church of Misery; it's a concept album about serial killers. Each song tells a story about a violent psychopath. Passionate as I am about these issues, this album has really aroused my attention.

What is the one record that you don't have and you're most looking for?
The records that I don't have and I'm really looking for are all those that give me enormous joy when they show up, not so much for their commercial value but for the thrill of the chase, and finally finding them!

Tell us an interesting story about buying records, either because of the purchase process itself, or for the importance (commercial or emotional) of the records in question.
The funniest story I have with records is not that funny, more like bizarre.
As you can imagine, buying an album in a record shop is not exactly the same thing than going to someone's house to buy a batch of records. One day I answered an ad for someone who had thousands of records to sell, especially singles and EPs. We set a meeting at Damaia train station and at the scheduled time this guy was there. He said to me, "these are not my records, I'm just trying to find buyers for them". It was only when I got to the seller's home that I realized the situation: there was this man, the owner of the records, lying ill, bedridden for years, over all these boxes of records stuffed under his bed! I thought about leaving, but the boxes have already started to be removed and placed geometrically beside the owner's bed, until he was surrounded by boxes. "Choose at will, they're one euro each!", said the man. I rummaged for 3 to 4 hours through the boxes and ended up ignoring the whole scenario. I chose the records I wanted, paid up and was getting ready to leave, when the man said "There are more records in the living room, you just have to wait for my wife to be removed from the couch!". I didn't take one record from that lot, don't ask me why!

Next week's Live Music suggestions: 9th to 14th September

Here comes another week full of live music throughout Lisbon and its outskirts, from metal to flamenco, including jazz and electropop. Check out our selection:

09/09, Monday
Moonspell [metal] @ Moita municipality Festivities
Intermarché stage - Av. Marginal (Moita) -> location of the venue
23:00 - Free Entrance

10/09, Tuesday
Thiago Vásquez [flamenco guitar] w/ guests Mª Fatima Fernández (dancer) & Romí (singer/dancer)
Duetos da Sé (near Sé de Lisboa) -> location of the venue
22:00 - € 5,00

11/09, Wednesday
As They Burn + Stab + Above The Hate + Borderlands + Your Day to Pray [metal]
Associação Fantasma Lusitano (at Bairro Alto) -> location of the venue
20:00 - € 7,00

12/09, Thursday
Hot Club de Portugal Jazz Orchestra [jazz]
Largo de São Carlos (near Chiado) -> location of the venue
19:00 - Free Entrance
Sequin [electro-pop]
Lounge (near Cais do Sodré) -> location of the venue
22:30 - Free Entrance

13/09, Friday
The Quartet of Woah! [heavy prog/stoner rock]
Our Live Spotlight of the week!

14/09, Saturday
Deolinda + Virgem Suta [folk-pop] @ Amadora municipality Anniversary
Parque Central (Amadora) -> location of the venue
21:00 - Free Entrance
Capital Cities [electro-pop]
Santiago Alquimista (near Castelo de São Jorge) -> location of the venue
21:30 - € 20,00

Next week's Live Spotlight: THE QUARTET OF WOAH! - September 13th - MusicBox

Judging from the last Spotlight choices, you would think that Portugal's musical hopes lie exclusively on the singer-songwriting camp. Well, absolutely not so. A good example (and many other bands could apply) is The Quartet Of Woah!, whose moniker interjection is completely justified by the explosive delivery of their music and live performances.
A mixture of heavy prog and stoner rock, with added Ray Manzarek-style organ and classic blues bellowing (courtesy of keyboardist Rui Guerra and guitarist Gonçalo Kotowicz), the sound of the Quartet is well represented on their debut album, Ultrabomb, but make sure you catch them live. Next Friday the 13th will be a lucky omen for rockers, as The Quartet Of Woah! takes the stage at the MusicBox near Cais do Sodré. Don't you dare miss it!


THE QUARTET OF WOAH!
MusicBox (near Cais do Sodré) -> location of the venue
September 13th (friday), 24:00
Entrance: € 8,00 (includes free drink)