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.

Wow!

OK, so last night I opted out of the world, excepting old friends and classic films on VHS. The night before, however, I spent on the outskirts of a foreign land. And on this particular night, it was a populated place indeed.

I don’t know anything about electronic music. Well, that’s not entirely true; I have a vague knowledge as to how it is produced, the slightest notion what constitutes markers in the gradation between its various genres and subcategories and have amassed a short list of names which I associate with it. Locally, the name that tops that list is M. Quiet.

2½ years ago, if you told me I would actually start going to clubs and paying to hear DJs’ sets, I would have laughed at you. As a man who just finished a several year stretch as an unpaid radio DJ and recording engineer, who saw live music at least once week and rarely paid for it, the concept of paying to get into a loud room to hear someone spin records was just absurd. If you’d told me a year ago, I would not have been so quick to judge, but I still would have had a hard time realistically picturing it. About six months ago, I found myself trying to climb my way out of some dark and disappointing times, and realized that I needed some manner of visceral diversion from certain habits which I found to be weighing me down. A good friend of mine was an old fan of electronic music, having been party to the Northwest rave scene in the early 90’s. He had decided to reacquaint with the genre and scene after a long hiatus. Being Aquarian of age, if nothing else, I possess the foresight to know that much of the future of the arts will exist primarily in the digital realm, and one must grasp the fundamentals of what these changes will mean, if one hopes to maintain cultural and artistic relevance. Music has been at the forefront of this wave of change. It occurred to me that the fortuitousness of my being around when my friend decided to plunge back into a world I was intrigued by but knew little about was perhaps just the opportunity to educate myself and simultaneously end a long stint of self imposed isolation. Quickly I learned that when the undeniable dance-ability of a good set met with the heat and energy produced once critical mass was achieved on the dance floor, I had the very visceral distraction I was much in need of; need is not a word I like to use lightly. Well that is plenty about my little journey of self discovery, let us examine how the places it has led me affect my ability to “report” on the state of the arts in Portland.

Kulturszene (www.myspace.com/kulturszene) is, as far as I can tell, a semi-regularly occurring showcase of talent, hosted by 31 Avas (www.myspace.com/31avas) and M. Quiet (www.myspace.com/matthewquiet) at Branx (320 SE 2^nd Avenue). In the six months or so that I have been patronizing clubs for the purpose of hearing electronic music and DJs of electronic music I would say the single most regularly attended night or event for me has been Kulterszene. The music, I am told, can generally be classified as “minimal”; that’s not the first adjective I’d use to describe it, but as I said, I know very little about electronic music. However, I have been around music for the whole of my adult life, and I can tell when something is picking up momentum. Last night’s headline DJ was Arohan (www.myspace.com/arohanpdx), a local face I certainly recognize, but whose set I had only heard once before. Well I don’t know if it was his personal fan base, or just the word getting out about Kulturszene, but Friday, February 8^th, 2008 was hot. Just about any face I could recognize from this pocket of culture was present, and many, many more. Branx is not a big club; being the back entrance/downstairs of Rotture (315 SE 3^rd Avenue), or maybe vice-versa. It was all Loveland when I moved to this town. Anyways, the stripped down interior and no frills furnishing tend to blend easily with the jeans and hoodie aesthetic so popular in the Portland arts culture. Friday, however, I thought I saw a hint of glamour standing out against the bare brick walls and steel support beams. It’s possible that this was just an influx of whatever is fashionable in more glamorous places, but something tells me that maybe Portland is starting find a polished finish to accompany the matte one on its underground.

The opening set, five record tradeoffs between 31 Avas and M. Quiet, which I believe is a fairly common Kulturszene practice, warmed up the dance floor and built the tension necessary for the climax to come. Curiosity about another facet of Portland lead my companion in potential mischief, mayhem and other forms of cultural interloping and I to depart briefly from the affair. A free show at Someday Lounge (125 NW 5^th Avenue) drew our attention because: a.) we had yet to check out the venue, & b.) it was free, which does not seem to be SOP at this establishment. We caught about 3 full songs by a band called Chores (www.myspace.com/choresmusic), a rock quartet in the psychedelic/garage tradition. I’d never heard of them, but they were a tight ensemble who clearly took their art seriously, but without an air of pretense. It seemed that with steady gigging and properly focused marketing, they could probably build a solid fan base. My companion and I concurred that they would be excellently matched for a show with Glass Elevator. The venue itself felt to me like an Old Town answer to the Doug Fir (830 E Burnside St), only with the focus being on the venue and no isolated bar section. I lacked the funds for proper patronization, and thus cannot comment on the drinks’ price or quality nor really report on the service of the staff. I’ll say it was a comfy joint, and if the right act came and the cover was one I could afford, I see no hard/fast reason to object to attending events there.

Upon returning to Branx, Arohan was spinning his set, and the place was throbbing. The dance floor was well beyond the quorum of active bodies for an energetic set, people were generally getting down and more were arriving by the minute. I’d say the peak of the night was around the end of Arohan’s set and the beginning of the solo M. Quiet set which followed. The crowd was in deep in thrall to the DJs’ whim, and the field of energy created by the unified throng of dancers was absolutely rhapsodic. Though, as the night waned, so did the population of the dance floor, M. Quiet kept bumping out hot beats, and people kept grooving till the club staff made the universally acknowledged sign of “get the fuck out, we want to go home”, which is the turning on of bright, overhead (in the case of Branx, fluorescent) lights.

I may not know much about this slice of culture, but I tend to be able to intuitively track trends, and I definitely have watched little things grow and explode a time or two in Northwest music. It looks like something might actually be taking shape to hold down a newly established scene in PDX. The influx of people to Kulturszene and other clearly related events over the last several months, and even weeks, certainly does point towards exponential growth. Well, we shall see. My readers shall accompany me on my own explorations of new territory. It’s fun actually, in both an exciting and disconcerting way. I can’t recall the last time I was regularly exposed to some subcultural movement, but still remained almost entirely outside on a social level.

Anyways, soon I must away, for several older strains of Olympia and Portland music culture have converged, and tonight they are playing at my favorite Westside venue: Valentines (232 SW Ankeny St). A cute, intimate little art bar with tasty, original drink items, good taste in music for both playing and booking (from what I’ve heard), and some incredibly enchanting bar staff. Dim Rocket Delta (www.myspace.com/dimrocketdelta) a Portland band, in the punk tradition as far as I can tell, comprised of longtime contributors to the Olympia music scene, is kicking off their West coast tour with Olympia act GoGo Simba (www.myspace.com/gogosimba) tonight. I can’t claim to be particularly familiar with either act, but I have heard some recordings of DRD, and was a well versed fan of previous work by some of its members. Whatever the case, it should be educational. I will go into more detail on the matter with my next post. Until then…