This Week in the Mercury
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
MP3 Fennesz & Sakamoto - "0324"
Posted by Chris Cantino on Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 4:48 PM
Observe your breath and exhale. As you assume your relaxation pose, release the heaviness of your body into the earth below. Absorb its contour, and close your eyes. You are free of temperature. Blood flows evenly through your veins. Relax your jaw, and your ears. Energy is expelling from the top of your spine. You are breathing slowly, fully, deeply. Allow the music to flow into your body and carress your soul. You are one with the universe. Gently massage your eyelids and open them slowly. Observe your breath and exhale.
Japanese electronic music trailblazer Ryuichi Sakamoto recorded 24 improvisational compositions for piano, one in each key of the western tonal system. He then sent them to longtime collaborator and soundscaping guitarist Christian Fennesz, who saturated them heavily with synths, guitars, and digital reverb. Having not seen each other throughout the record's inception, the two finally met in New York to mix and complete the collection.
The resulting double-disc release Flumina is out December 6 on Touch.
LISTEN:
Fennesz & Sakamoto - "0324"
News New Venue Alert! Foster Home Wants Your Input
Posted by Ned Lannamann on Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 1:29 PM
- Image via PdxHistory.com
- Interior of the Bob White Theatre
Well, Foster Home is not precisely a new venue—it's the former Bob White Theatre, at 6423 SE Foster. The theater's been around since at least the '20s, and the building's been purchased by Nick Storie. Inside is a 525-seat theater, and they're hoping to hold music, dance, film, and theater events inside. Also included is an adjacent duplex and warehouse—which could possibly be turned into a black box theater as well.
At any rate, no definite plans are determined as of yet, but what's really exciting is that Storie's team wants to make it very much a community- and neighborhood-oriented space. That's why they're holding an open house/brainstorming session on Saturday, December 10, to allow folks to check out the place and contribute ideas for its use.
Facebook event here; Sat Dec 10, 6423 SE Foster, noon-2 pm
R.I.P. R.I.P. Altered Zones
Posted by Chris Cantino on Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 12:56 PM
Bad news! Pitchfork pulled the plug today on its baby brother site Altered Zones after just 16 months. The site compiled submissions of from 14 different blogs, and was known for publishing the fringe stuff you don't always see on Pitchfork: hypnagogic pop, noise, avant garde, etc. While the site got a lot of shit for essentially just taking the efforts of influential bloggers and putting a Pitchfork stamp on them, the writing was often exceptional, and the content stands as a singular document of the last 16 months of experimental music.
So what will happen to all the bloggers affected? Most of them will continue to operate their own websites and labels, but it's really anyone's guess whether or not they'll survive their sudden loss of audience. There is at least one thing we can look forward to though: the eventual launch of AZ editors Ric Leichtung and Emilie Friedlander's new music and culture website Ad Hoc.
Click on the jump to view AZ's final sign-off.
Tonight! Tonight in Music: Thee Oh Sees
Posted by Ned Lannamann on Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 12:12 PM
THEE OH SEES, TOTAL CONTROL, GRAVE BABIES (EARLY SHOW)
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See our article on Thee Oh Sees.
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News Introducing the Secret Drum Band
Posted by Ned Lannamann on Wed, Nov 30, 2011 at 9:53 AM
- Lisa Schonberg
Drummer Lisa Schonberg (from Explode into Colors as well as STLS and Kickball) is presenting a new composition next week with a new ensemble: the Secret Drum Band. Schonberg actually put together a group by that same name a few years ago at Ladyfest, but this Secret Drum Band is an entirely new project, make up of seven musicians (including Schonberg). They're performing Schonberg's new piece in a couple weeks in two separate performances: an all-ages show at Backspace on Tuesday, December 13, and a show for the 21+ drinking crew at Holocene the following evening, Wednesday, December 14.
So just who is in the Secret Drum Band? We can't tell you. It's a secret.
Okay, FINE. The Secret Drum Band's ranks include Rachel Blumberg, Clea Partridge, plus Schonberg's STLS bandmate sts and her former Explode into Colors bandmate Heather Treadway, who will also be outfitting the ensemble for the two performances. Rounding out the group is Marisa Anderson and Tara Jane Oneil, who will be on guitar and pedal steel lap steel.
Considering who's involved, this sounds entirely amazing. Schonberg elaborates on the piece, for which she received a grant from the Regional Arts and Culture Council:
I have been working on this project in the basement, at the beach, in the van, and in the woods all year long, and it has been a challenging and rewarding departure from my recent work. The rhythms and arrangements were inspired by natural and urban soundscapes, and by transcribing the beats that are stuck in my head onto paper. I presented the compositions to the ensemble, and we together arrived at a final arrangement.w/Golden Retriever, the Bubs, Sad Horse; Backspace, 115 NW 5th, Tues Dec 13, 8 pm, $5, all ages
w/Marisa Anderson, 1939 Ensemble; Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, Wed Dec 14, 8:30 pm, $5, 21 & up
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
News Put the Underbelly Bender into Your Ears
Posted by Ned Lannamann on Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 5:05 PM
The first-ever Underbelly Bender kicked off last Friday—one down, six more to go. There's a full, festive month of shows ahead (remaining schedule after the jump) but in the meantime, Underbelly Bendermeister Bim Ditson (of And And And) has prepared a mix of all the bands that are playing the fest. It's available over at Into the Woods' site, both streaming and available for download as one big ol' MP3. So get on over and start listening.
Tonight! Tonight in Music: Pterodactyl, The Deep Dark Woods, Drainolith
Posted by Ned Lannamann on Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 12:01 PM
PTERODACTYL, PICTORIALS
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) See our article on Pterodactyl.
THE DEEP DARK WOODS
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See our article on the Deep Dark Woods.
DIAMOND CATALOG, REGRESSION, DRAINOLITH, TONING
(Ella Street Social Club, 714 SW 20th Pl) While better known as guitarist for Canadian noise-punk band AIDS Wolf, Alexander Moskos has spent the last decade as an active and pivotal part of the Montreal electronic music scene. Under his moniker Drainolith, he creates textural electronic noise and drone with a wide range of tools, from guitars and synthesizers to consumer electronics. Moskos returns to Portland on his second US tour of 2011 with a new 7-inch, entitled "You Paid for It b/w Deepwater No Cars," out on Psychic Handshake. With an LP coming out on Spectrum Spools in the next few months, expect to be hearing a lot from Moskos in the near future. He is accompanied by Regression, Nate Young of Wolf Eyes' solo project. ARIAN JALALI
Contest Win Tickets to the Kooks at the Crystal Ballroom!
Posted by Ned Lannamann on Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 10:52 AM
- Deirdre O'Callaghan
[UPDATE: This contest is closed and the winner has been notified.]
The Kooks show at the Crystal Ballroom this coming Monday, December 5—which they're playing with Young the Giant and 1776 at part of 94/7's December to Remember week—is super sold out. Bummer.
But bum not! For we have a pair of tickets to give away to a lucky End Hits reader. Hey, that's you! All you need to do is answer this really easy Kooks trivia question:
The Kooks' second album was named for the recording studio of what legendary British band?Piece of cake, right? Email your answer to this address—and please include "Kooks" in the subject of your email, and also be sure include your first and last name. The winner will be selected at random out of the correct responses, and their name will be added to the guest list +1 for Monday's show at the Crystal Ballroom!
So try your luck, you crazy kooks. This contest will close this Friday morning, December 2, at 9 am. If you don't win—or if you just hate contests—the Kooks are also playing a show later that night at the Doug Fir, for which you can still get tickets here. Good luck!
Video Video: Mint Julep - "Why Don't We"
Posted by Ned Lannamann on Tue, Nov 29, 2011 at 9:58 AM
Here's the video for Mint Julep's "Why Don't We," the last track on their brand new album Save Your Season. Directed by Tomas Mankovsky, it's a gripper, with a bunch of costumed, masked figures walking slowly through a darkened landscape. Every now and then, one of them jumps face first into the center of a ring. It's like a masquerade ball that's gone all Lord of the Flies or something, set against a insistent, inviting synth-pop song.
But, more importantly, just who is Mint Julep? It's yet another project from Portlander Keith Kenniff, a composer and musician who records music for film and television and also releases records under the names Helios and, most recently, Goldmund. His Unseen Music site describes all his various projects.
Mint Julep is Kenniff joined by his wife Hollie—that's her singing—and the record, which was released on UK label Village Green is also available at most digital retailers. We're hoping they decide to do a local live show—we'll keep you posted.
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Monday, November 28, 2011
Tonight! / CD Reviews This May Be My Last Time Singing, and Gospel Films Tonight
Posted by Ned Lannamann on Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 12:44 PM
Also unlike its predecessor, this particular compilation feels more personal than scholastic. As McGonigal himself says in the liner notes, "It’s not a clinical sampler; these are the songs I’m most obsessed with, that if you dropped by my house I’d say 'you have to hear this.'" As such, it's a more motley and interesting listen, if also a trifle more inconsistent. These recordings feel particularly homespun, rawer and hoarier than the sometimes breathtaking tracks contain on Fire in My Bones. If there's nothing as joyously stirring, and if the recording quality is even spottier, there's plenty of shadow and mystery and musical left turns to keep things moving along.
What's most impressive to me is the fervor and depth with which McGonigal put the record together. This is someone who knows his shit, but even more importantly, gives a shit. His love of this music is impossible not to absorb after listening to even a few tracks, and the fact that he's sharing so much of it—putting all six discs of both compilations into my shuffle rotation reveals even more unexpected delights, not to mention how perfectly it complements the rest of the 20th-century rock and rhythm & blues that was already in there—makes This May Be My Last Time Singing seem like a near-bottomless bag of goodies.
FURTHERMORE: Mike McGonigal is hosting a program of rare, weird, raw gospel films entitled Shout Troubles Over tonight at the Hollywood Theatre. They are kind to warn us that "quality of some of the sources is funky at best," but there's little doubt there'll be plenty of hair-raising stuff, most of which you'd never see otherwise.
Hollywood Theatre, 4122 NE Sandy, tonight, 7:30 pm, $7
Tonight! Tonight in Music: Girl in a Coma, Fake Hospital
Posted by Ned Lannamann on Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 11:55 AM
GIRL IN A COMA, FENCES, THE BLACK BOX REVELATION
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Girl in a Coma features three badass women from San Antonio with a clear and present Morrissey fixation, producing Smiths-influenced jangle pop so convincing that the Great Moz tapped them to open his 2007 tour. Fences features three guys from Seattle led by one Christopher Mansfield, producing strummy, punchy, old-fashioned indie rock that has thus far escaped the notice of Morrissey. Tonight, both bands light up the stage at the Doug Fir. DAVID SCHMADER
FAKE HOSPITAL, MONOPOLY CHILD STAR SEARCHERS, WHITE GOURD, TENSES
(Ella Street Social Club, 714 SW 20th Pl) Occult magick, sequential art, books on tape, and cut-up literature—Fake Hospital, the mixed-media experiment of Portlander Grant Corum, is at the intersection of all these and more. Evoking images of ancient ceremony, spectral phenomena, and early dungeon-crawling RPGs, Fake Hospital Book I was designed as a "reality hacking" operation in which Corum attempts "to forge spirits within experimental arts and performance." Essentially a story told through music, projection, and narrated dream states, Corum bewitches the senses and guides the listener through an adventure unlike any other. CHRIS CANTINO
Video Sean Flinn & the Royal We, Live in England (Video)
Posted by Charlie Swanson on Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 10:48 AM
Recently, across the pond, Sean Flinn & the Royal We toured extensively along with French rock duo Herman Dune in support of their debut album, Write Me a Novel. In between the dozen or so dates around the UK, Flinn and company stopped by the Hand and Heart pub in Nottingham and played a few songs for video group Wowsers Trousers.
Above is the group performing the intimately driving "Salt That's in Our Blood," and after the jump, watch the hauntingly harmonious "After the Wall." Currently, Flinn is back in town, performing at Al's Den the week of December 10-17. Check out the dates here.
Photography Imaginary Cities and Brave Chandeliers at Mississippi Studios, Wed Nov 23
Posted by Ned Lannamann on Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 9:43 AM
On Thanksgiving Eve, Winnipeg's Imaginary Cities came through town to play a show with young Portland band Brave Chandeliers. But you don't need me to blab about it—you can see for yourself: The talented Rachel Bowman was on hand to get pictures of it all. Rachel reports that despite a small crowd, it was a great show. Take a look!
- Rachel Bowman
- Imaginary Cities
- Rachel Bowman
- Brave Chandeliers
News / Tonight! Free Music, Free Beer: The Blast Majesty Tonight
Posted by Ned Lannamann on Mon, Nov 28, 2011 at 8:36 AM
We don't often pimp shows that require an RSVP, but for tonight's Blast Majesty at the Bing Lounge, we'll make an exception. Why? Free beer.
That's right: Lagunitas will be providing free beer at the show tonight (there will be free food too), which raises the question: How do I get in? You need to be one of the first 150 people to RSVP to this address, and they'll let you in.
Which raises another question: Just what the heck is the Bing Lounge anyway? It's a private pseudo-venue that's part of Alpha Broadcasting, the corporation that owns a number of local radio stations, including KINK. But this show is hosted by the fine folks at college radio station KPSU, making this a very weird marriage of the underground and the corporate. Still! The Blast Majesty for free! A comfy venue that you probably otherwise wouldn't get the chance to see! And... free beer!
The Blast Majesty, Bing Lounge, 1210 SW 6th, tonight, 9 pm, FREE w/RSVP
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Sunday, November 27, 2011
Tonight! Today/Tonight in Music: Portland Drum Fair, Into the Woods Quarterly
Posted by Ned Lannamann on Sun, Nov 27, 2011 at 9:50 AM
PORTLAND DRUM FAIR
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) The second Portland Drum Fair, brought to you by the fine folks at Revival Drum Shop and Rhythm Traders, is a celebration of all things drummy. Builders and vendors hawk their wares, rare instruments are on display, local percussionists give clinics and performances all day long, plus lots more! And we promise: No drum circles. NED LANNAMANN
INTO THE WOODS QUARTERLY: HOSANNAS, SUN ANGLE, LOG ACROSS THE WASHER, SUPPORT FORCE
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) It's funny about word associations. Before last year, if confronted with the term "hosanna" (which, believe me, didn't happen often), I would be overcome by queasy memories of itchy tights and the Catholic school chants I had to recite while wearing them. Then this band came along and forever rescued my brain from such unsettling connotations. It took a while for me to get over their name, but I'm happy I did, because Hosannas are exhilarating, even when they are at their most familiar sounding: You never know what's coming next. Just when they start to seem spacey and psychedelic, you think, "I could seriously get down to this." And then the next song has gorgeous harmonies and sounds like it was recorded at the O.K. Corral. An extra dose of weirdness for this show: The world premiere of Hosannas' "ape cave adventure video" with Into the Woods. REBECCA WILSON
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