It's lush, vivid, naked, lovely - and, yes - sad. Harris’ work is rarely overtly happy, but it's also so many other beautiful things. A good friend replied, “Grouper is great, but you doing okay?” I impulsively (albeit melodramatically) tweeted out something about only wanting to listen to Grouper and nothing else from now on. I've known about the project from Astoria, Oregon songwriter Liz Harris peripherally for a couple of years, but on this humid summer night, with a lot on my mind, it was finally clicking. Whether it’s a new artist making waves, headlines affecting local talent, or reflecting on some of the music that’s been a foundation in our region this space celebrates everything happening in the Northwest region, every Thursday on the KEXP Blog.Ī few weeks ago I found myself lying in bed with my headphones on, staring at the ceiling,binging through Grouper’s discography. Thank you to Ryan Hall for giving me a platform to put these sounds out into the world and to Randall Taylor for filling the other side of that platform with vast sky noises.Throwaway Style is a weekly column dedicated to examining all aspects of the Northwest music scene.

Sections of field recorded conversations with Andy and Betty Bates were used on “Wind Through the Door” and “A Song I Made In 2001 With My Friend Who is Now Dead (Director’s Cut).”Ĭassette recordings of Miles Avila-Crump can be heard on “A Song I Made In 2001 With My Friend Who is Now Dead (Director’s Cut).”Ī pedal sent as a gift by Tomohide Ishibashi was employed extensively on “Hidden Close.” Thanks to him and the rest of Kelp (Takeshi Yamamoto and Sohta Setoguchi) for friendship and inspiration during a low point in life. “Your Breath is Wind” was written and recorded during the summer of 2019 at home in NE Portland. “Wind Through the Door,” “Hidden Close,” and “A Song a Made in 2001 With My Friend Who is Now Dead (Director’s Cut)” were written and recorded by Kyle Bates at NES artist residency in Skagaströnd, Iceland in April 2018 as part of the Light Mirror sessions and compiled and completed at home in NE Portland in July 2019.

Grouper bandcamp