God Bless the NorthWest.

So, it’s been some week. For starters, I am now gainfully employed, at least by PDX standards. Woo-Hoo! Now I can start to focus my mental energies on the more fulfilling parts of life. Of course, now I have to start spending time and energy doing stuff, like going to work, but it seems that this will be the least soul-crushing regular work I have had for some time. Plus, I can now afford to go to shows. That is crucial concerning my abilities as an observer of music happening in my town.

But really, let us get on to the music, because I am feeling rather self conscious about the long rant of personal detail I went into not long ago to an audience looking for show reviews and band/venue information. But hey, sometimes you just got to say some shit.

One week ago tonight, I accompanied a friend to a little, unpromoted, house show in a basement in the far West portion of Northeast Portland. I have yet to give the necessary geography breakdown, for those readers who are not familiar with Portland as a city in a practical way. But I am not in that space right now, so I am instead going to just get on with details of the event. The house was small and unassuming, and though the basement was really a remarkable acoustic space for loud music, I definitely got the impression that it is not at all a regularly practicing venue. But there was a keg of beer in an ice filled bathtub in the corner and a surprising amount of talent I’d never really heard of.

The band I was drawn to see was Knox Harrington (no relevant info available, sorry), a band that my friend had recorded the demo for. Knox Harrington is an ironic butt-rock band in terms of sound and homoerotic antics, though not so much in personal appearance. They play loud, cheesy hard rock music through expensive half-stacks, but they play it well and with a great sense of humor and performance. The highlight of their set, to me, was a cover of Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer, to which I believe they paid proper respect. Their act seemed far more suited to a dive bar on SE 170^th (for those not familiar with the location, picture anywhere in America that is not metropolitan or distinctively Northwest), or some such place, than it did to a well lit, unsmokey, carpeted basement in inner-Northeast. The music felt like it should have been accompanied by the drunken cheers and breast baring of aging, All-American women; and the beer should have been cheap, foul smelling domestic instead of a microbrew produced less than two miles away. But outside of the mismatch between setting and set, I enjoyed the band and would highly recommend them to any booking agents at outskirt dive bars, or any group of aging rockers seeking some live entertainment to fuel some good old fashioned beer-guzzling, tit-showing fun.

After Knox Harrington’s set, came a totally different kind of musical entertainment. A rap act/collective (I’m not actually sure what to categorize them as) by the name of Salmon River Project (www.myspace.com/salmonriverproject) teamed up with an unnamed, but very talented jazz-funk quartet. The result was a long running freestyle jam, reminiscent of early and mid 90’s Beastie Boys instrumentals, but with rap styling’s which made me think of Zach de la Rocha. Granted, I was fairly drunk from the potent contents of cooled keg, and stoned from the continuously circulating joints, but I must say that I could not help but get down to this act. When I inquired as to the title of the band, I was informed that it wasn’t really a band. The group had never played together before that very performance. Wow! If they can recreate that energy, refine their sound a bit and perhaps acquire a more enticing name, I think they could totally be one of those bands to ride the party circuit to great deal of notoriety, and possibly even wealth. Hippies and stoners across America would cough back into their bongs if they caught a set like that in their basement, living room or backyard.

Yeah, it was a weirdly paired evening in a most unexpected setting, for sure. But it had been a good long while since I had gone to a show and it was just a jumble of talent ranging through a vast array of taste demographics (if not so much cultural ones). Things get pigeonholed very easily in Portland. Because there are just so many different bands in any given style/genre, it easy to book a whole show for one taste. It’s not to say that in a smaller community, such as Olympia, that you don’t get a lot of hand picked nights with a continuous sound, but you also get a lot of grab bag nights where friends’ bands’ are just called in randomly to fill the bill. You really get exposed to a lot of different shit that way.

The next show I went to was the previously mentioned (see my last two posts) Explodeintocolors show. Dekum Manor, and the show I witnessed inside are the most picturesque Northwest things I could imagine. I was in a house I’d never been to, seeing bands I’d never heard, surrounded, primarily, by people I’d never met. But I can tell you that I’d been there and done that more times than I can count. It was like I had been transported back to my early 20’s. That’s not to say the music inside was all unoriginal and done-before however. Explodeintocolors really surprised me with their set. It was an interesting, well crafted, expertly played set of original music. That didn’t surprise me one bit. What surprised me was the nature of the sound itself. I went in expecting a huge sound, where every beat was filled with more beats and twisting harmonics than a person can really process, though with an uncanny pop-sensibility to match its uber-arty veneer. For that is really the only common ground that I tend to find in the projects and playing of guitarist Claudia Meza and drummer Lisa Schonberg. I don’t know much about the third member, Heather Treadway, except that she is apparently a local fashion designer under the name Paper Doll. The last part of my expectations about the set were definitely fulfilled. However, I was amazed at the relatively stripped down nature of the sound. I say relatively because, don’t get me wrong, it was fairly busy stuff indeed. But in truth, there was an almost garagy touch to the aethstetic. Certainly good stuff, but not at all what I expected. I imagine there was a bit of spill over in influence from some more recent projects these ladies have been involved in.

I saw another band’s set that night at Dekum Manor, but honestly, I don’t know who it was. I know it wasn’t Fist Fite (www.myspace.com/fistfitefistfite) because I saw them drinking in the kitchen when the other band was playing. Besides, I am pretty sure I would recognize their sound, even if I’m not that familiar with their music. Whoever they were, they had a tight set and a fairly grooving garage-pop sound. But my partner in misadventure and myself had a set to check out elsewhere that night.

π-Rem (433 NW 4th Avenue*) is a little underground (literally) club in what I guess is Chinatown. Whatever the case, it is by the train station and has gone through a cycle of names of late, coming back eventually to the first name that I knew it by. The ambiance is generally enjoyable, with comfy furniture and well placed lighting of appropriate brightness for such a setting. The music is often pretty good, always at least decent, in my experience. I think that it is perhaps a club specifically for electronic music, for I haven’t seen anything else there ever. π-Rem’s biggest problem, as far as I can tell, is that they rarely, if ever, pack the house with sufficient people to sustain requisite energy for a hot dance floor. There could be numerous reasons for this. One might be the location, it is certainly not the kind of place one is likely to just stumble into. One could be that the electronic music scene in this town is just not big enough to support the amount of venues there are for it. My personal theory has to do more with drink selection. π-Rem, thus far has opted for an extensive selection of high-end, high alcohol content (which is listed on the menu next to price and size of bottle) primarily imported (Belgium, etc.) beers, and a few wines rather than a full liquor bar. A tasteful choice to be sure, and one that almost certainly makes life quite a bit easier for the bar staff, especially in terms of the type of clientele and how drunk they are likely to get. However, I believe it probably hurts their business as a venue. People, in my experience, when going out to see music, tend to want either the non-filling, high alcohol content of liquor drinks, or the cheap, drink all-night eir business as a venue. y are likely to get. asier for ly imported (Belgium, etc.) for itqualities of domestic and lower end microbrew beers. $9 for 12 oz. of 9% beer is not really a shake your shit till the DJ runs out of steam tonic. None the less, on the third Saturday of every month, Zentz (again, I could find no info), one of the better techno DJs to spin regularly in this town, has a set at π-Rem. As is often the case, a quorum was not met on the dance floor, and thus the energy was generally well below the heat of the set. I was turned onto Zentz when he subbed for a sick M-Quiet one night at Kulturszene. However, in spite of the disappointing turnout for his set, there were cues pointing to a possibly brighter future for this talented spinmeister. Several faces, including other prominent local DJs, that I presume to be far more in the know concerning this aspect of Portland culture than myself, made appearances at π-Rem on Saturday. You’d have to be dead to deny the heat of Zentz set, though he does not make himself a slave to the beat. He takes it where ever he feels like taking it, but it seems to work for him. Whatever the case, perhaps these new faces at this site are just the leaders of a new train of fan base. Let’s hope, because I’d hate to see a talented DJ stop spinning his night because no one ever showed.

Last night was a surprise kicker to finish off the long week. I got off work at 11 PM, and saw that I’d missed a call from my social companion extraordinaire. As it turned out, there was a sold out show at Holocene (1001 SE Morrison Street), and my boy had checked out the music, approved and believed that despite the sold out status we could get in, and that due to the sold out status we could do it on the cheap. I guess that’s just how we roll, because we actually run that play fairly often, and it tends to work. The difference this time, was that I’d never heard of the band and had no idea the show was going on. Holocene is not a small place, and selling it out on a Monday night is no small feet. The band we went to see was Phosphorescent (www.myspace.com/phosphorescent), a band from Brooklyn. As it happens, Phosphorescent had a break down of vehicular transport in the distant city of San Francisco, and just the lead singer Matthew Houck was present to perform his set. So I can’t speak to the quality of the band, but for having been stripped of all but the bare essentials, Mr. Houck certainly gave an enthralling performance. His raspy, folky vocals were nothing new to me stylistically, and his songwriting seemed familiar. But he played with a passion and poise that a great deal of like performers lack. I was particularly moved by his rendition of Dire Straits So Far Away From Me, and I was most impressed by his creative use of vocal harmonies and a loop pedal to create a growing chorus of one, which stood as a towering wall of quite musical sound.

Well, that’s about all that I have to report for this week. I can’t think of any must see shows in coming to town, except to say that I’d really LOVE to check out Bruce Springsteen’s set when he come here in the very near future. I don’t know if that is going to be a realistic possibility for me though. Well, until next I have something to report, later.

_{*{I think, their front door has moved, so I don’t know if the address is still accurate, because the entrance is no longer on 4th}}

Gotta love PDX

I know it’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to update this thing, and let me introduce this one with a little explanation of why, for it relates very much to the Portland arts scene. Portland is currently, as you probably know if you’re bothering to read this blog, America’s answer to the artists’ refuge. Rent is still affordable, by West coast standards, and there is an arts’ community which is extremely supportive of their own. It’s also an incredibly beautiful city, with close access to just about any type of natural beauty you can imagine. Though it started as a fairly industrial, with a large emphasis on, as the name implies, shipping (it’s still a major river trade hub as far as I can tell) city, Portland’s economy if recent years has really been a white collar and creative industry driven affair; tech and sporting goods companies have large offices in the area . There is a lot of money in this town, allowing Portland to possess many of the metropolitan amenities that a lot of much larger cities lack. That is compounded by the fact that it is the major city for a very large (geographically if not in terms of population mass) state. But the fact remains, that Portland is really not a very large city. The massive influx of population, largely white and highly educated, can not easily be sustained on the existing economic infrastructure. I read an article not long ago, I believe it was in the Willamette Week (wweek.com), but it might have been the Mercury (www.portlandmercury.com), Tribune (www.portlandtribune.com)or some other local weekly. Anyways, it was on the labor market in Portland. The statistics they gave listed one job for every five people living in Portland, and Portland has large portion of population living well under the radar and off the grid, making them harder to count. Well, according to this article, out of every five of these infrequent jobs, one paid what was referred to as a living wage (I’ve lived for years without ever earning anywhere near the figure). For those not so quick at multiplication, that leaves one living wage job for every twenty-five residents. I’ve come to sum up the socio-economic situation here by saying that Portland is where people come after college to work in food service. And it’s pretty much true. That said, I have been deep into searching for employment which both pays me well enough to live somewhat comfortably, or at least not in constant fear of losing access to my material world, and is tolerable enough that I don’t have to spend all of my mental energies keeping my soul from being crushed by oppressive weight of modern society. I know, I a make it sound dramatic, but I’m a Leo, what can I do(?). However, after weeks of neglect, a particularly rad night last night reminded me how much I love living in Portland, and now I feel compelled to spill about it, and do a bit of back updating as well.

I have seen the future of music, and its name is starfucker. starfucker (www.myspace.com/starfuckerss) is an amazing Portland trio whose music I was introduced to when they played a few shows with one of my favorite favorite favorite Northwest (or anywhere else for that matter) acts to see play, Kickball* (www.myspace.com/kickballl). Anyways, last night an old friend prompted me to meet up with them, and I decided to tag along to a show they had helped arrange, for a bit. Upon arriving, I saw starfucker’s name on the billing (a piece of notebook paper with names in black Sharpie, crossed out as they played), and I knew I’d be staying. The show was at a rather large coffee shop near I-84 called Urban Grind (2214 NE Oregon St). My friend was responsible for providing Rature (www.myspace.com/rature1), an interesting, arty duo from Lyon, France, with the contact information necessary to book their Olympia and Portland dates. Their act was hoppin’ combination of live drums, some sort of sequenced synth parts and spastic (in Jon Spencer sense), dramatic rap styled vocals. Definitely worth seeing. Starfucker, as I understand it, is the side project of one of the members of Sexton Blake (www.myspace.com/sextonblakemusic), whom I’ve been lead to believe is a fairly large, in the sense of popularity and prestige, local act. I honestly can’t comment on their music because, though I’m aware of their existence, I’ve never heard their music or caught their act. It’s possible that they just exist a bit above my radar. Well whatever the case, starfucker is fucking awesome! The trio is comprised of a varying mélange of instruments, with each member playing multiple mediums, sometimes simultaneously. I’d try to explain, but it must be seen to be understood. The result is an amazingly fluid sound which vacillates between jagged, arty noise and throbbing, bouncing melodic dance pop. Fuck! They really bring it. Actually they’re playing again tonight at the Artistery (4315 SE Division St), a cool little art space/venue in Southeast, and I was considering checking them two nights in a row, largely to introduce others to their utter sweetness, but a friend has popped in from Olympia, and I will likely just kick it with him; they do have a lot of Portland shows scheduled in the near future after all. And as it happens, the evening is wearing on, and I’ve yet to take off my house pants or put on a shirt. With that in mind, you’ll have to excuse (or perhaps praise) the brevity with which I attempt to cover the last week and half.

When last I wrote, I was about to head off to see Loch Lomond at the Funky Church. In short, it was awesome. The crowd there seems to consistently be the most respectful sort, and the natural ambiance of the old church hall was perfect for soft lushness of the largely acoustic act. If I hear about that pairing of people and place occurring again, take my word that I will try to be there. Before Loch Lomond went on, Brooklyn, NY singer/songwriter Paleo (www.myspace.com/paleo) performed. I’d never heard of him, but apparently he’s of some renown on the national DIY circuit. I understand he has a bit more reputation even than that actually; I’m told they did a spot on him on NPR because of a songwriting experiment he did. Apparently he wrote a song a day for an entire year, while traveling constantly. He has released the entire collection as an audio diary of sorts. It’s seventeen and a half hours of MP3s collected on one DVD. As my oftentimes companion in socialization commented, “Now that’s progressive.” His set was soft and sentimental, expressive and entrancing. Not the most original style I’ve ever encountered, but totally proficient in its field, and creative in its own right.

The next night was of course Valentine’s Day, the night where commerce and romance attempt to intertwine. I bid a new friend farewell as she prepared to leave to garner a higher income in a less favorable place. The night after, however, was a Friday, and in the spirit of holiday, Holocene (1001 SE Morrison St) played home to dance showcase NIGHTCLUBBING (www.myspace.com/nightclubbingparty). NIGHTCLUBBING is another night hosted by DJ M. Quiet, or actually his alter ego Quiet, of DJ’ing duo Linger & Quiet (I believe they both actually act as hosts). Whereas M. Quiet’s set, as I understand it, consists of the arty and cutting edge of techno music (I’ve been corrected, I guess Minimal is not a label applied to the music) as do the sets of those performing at Kulturszene, Linger & Quiet, and Nightclubbing, are more heavy into disco and other dance pop influences. Occurring at the more upscale and established location, this night draws very different elements to join its crowd. I primarily caught the Linger & Quiet set, and thus cannot really comment on the sets of the other DJs, but what I experienced of L&Q kept the dance floor bumping the whole time I heard it.

I’m not sure, but can’t presently recall checking any local entertainment between Friday and the following Thursday, two nights ago, when I went to check out the comedy showcase at Holman’s (15 SE 28th Avenue). It seems that those responsible for hosting comedy at the Hungry Tiger Too, have added another night to their little circuit one night later and sixteen blocks to the East. Holman’s, the Burnside bastion of late night food on the weekends, and home of the famous Food Wheel (like the wheel of fortune, but you spin to get your food free), is located, ironically enough, right across the street from the construction site which was once the original Hungry Tiger, and as I understand it, might eventually be home to an all new Hungry Tiger. The side room was filled by spectators of the comics, and though many of the local showcase talent is out of town on tour, some of those remaining were in peak form, or at least comedicaly. Some new faces (at least to me) appeared in the open mic portion of the evening as well.

I think that brings us up to date on my recent explorations of art and music in Portland, OR. Spring is coming, so I can’t imagine it will be too long before I get back out there, but more activity means less time to blog. Well, I hope you’ll wish this stranger luck on his quest for more satisfactory employment, for more money and mental energy means more prolific explorations, or at least more opportunity for them, in my case. Until the next time…

* A note on Kickball: This Olympia born, but now one third migrated to Portland, trio is a true gem of the Northwest DIY scene. If you are interested in what is happening in this part of the world, they are it. Do it themselves to very core, and all the way back out, Kickball is the picture of what everything in these weird little freak/artist enclaves like Olympia and Portland are really supposed to be. I’d try to go into a description of the magic and ecstatic sets or their long standing tradition of uber-artistic integrity, but I’ve read too many great one’s in other places, many of which are posted on their MySpace page. Besides, when they play near me again, I’ll be there, and I’ll write about it. Their most recent album, Everything is a Miracle Nothing is a Miracle Everything is, is one of the best attempts I’ve seen yet to capture the magic of a great band in the studio on a DIY budget. If you are interested in the current Northwest music scene and you haven’t heard of Kickball, you need to start from scratch. The wave of arty, independent pop that has grown in their wake over the last half decade will largely shape what is to become of music in this place; or so I predict.