01/14/09 Rotture, 315 SE 3rd  9pm

The careful, deliberate rock of Westfold makes full use of an expansively big canvas, like a mural that takes up the entire wall of a room. The band unhurriedly metes out portions of post-rock, indie pop, baroque prog, and radio-friendly metallic fuzzrock to concoct slow potboilers with lots of legroom. Aristeia is similarly ponderous, but instead of painting the wall, they open a window onto a broad vista of instrumental flight through mountains and valleys. Carcrashlander makes darkly melodic pop of the interior variety; pianist/songwriter Cory Gray inhabits a headspace of affecting analysis, and his marvelous songs trudge through the emotional turmoil of everyday life while pinning their hopes on transcendence. NL

* 01/08/09 edition of the Portland Mercury