Craze...

COMBO a collaborative animation by Blu and David Ellis (2 times loop) from blu on Vimeo.

Reppin Mr. JK

Miranda July Strikes Again...

I am very much in love with the way Miranda July thinks; it's odd, somewhat topsy-turvy, singular while still being accessible and personal, and it's strong enough to carry emotion through and past the initial viewing and/or reading. I've posted in the past about her book, "No One Belongs Here More Than You" and her movie, "Me You And Everyone We Know," but she just keeps bringing the heat, and I'm talking microwave heat, candle heat, oven heat, body temperature heat, all of it.

For example, I was perusing my google reader today during lunch and as always, there were several posts form Jeff Hamada over at BOOOOOOOM!. One of them covered a series of recent photos Miranda art directed, and likely took. In each one she's posing as an extra from a classic American movie. Facial expressions, outfits, props, she gets it all and it's all pretty damn awesome. I've included the photos below but a head nod to boooooom and of course to Miranda herself.

Wee See - A Visual Introduction For All...

A couple of dudes who happen to be dads came together to build the site WEE SEE. "Part art installation, part pacifier, Wee See is a collection of black-and-white animations built from basic shapes to delight both child and parent." Simple in concept, these short, well done and fun animations tease the brain while simultaneously soothing it. Visit their site and decide what mood you're in... RELAX or HURRY.

Poem By Punctuation...

I broke this little dirty out the other week for one Mr. AJH.

PBP -

I’d like to run you over with a semicolon,
I’d like to put my dancing shoes on and tap my way across your apostrophes,
I’d really like to wrap myself in your parentheses, so warm, so seperate,

Can you offer me a hyphen; I have things to bond?
What you’ve done is so very worth an exclamation point.
Your ghost (I still remember you as a childe) will always haunt my use of quotations.

I promise to strike you down with a life-ending period.
I have never been so excited to see your colon!
I doubt your “underground” status with your use of those question marks.

Your Ampersand does not belong here because this is a sentence.
Your reasoning is flawed: you use too many ellipses to be that good of a writer.
Do you really think that simple use of a comma will get you off the hook?

&..., MJ.


In his now apparent absence, this shortness was inspired both by AJH's always considered and thoughtful speech as well as the following poem that I came across years ago. It's a short Poem by Mr. Frederik Pohl and I've included his description (pulled from his blog) of how it came about and how some of his friends were quite fond of it. It is titled "!"

"I wrote '!' for the very first magazine I ever edited (and published, and ran off on the mimeograph machine, and bound), a tiny semi-fanzine called Mind of Man. It is also the very first thing I ever wrote that got favorable comments from people as astute as Cyril Kornbluth and James Blish, who memorized it and was known to recite it at parties."*

!

, , &
! my frand
; $
- - . . . . . . . 

* If you'd like to hear how this is supposed to be read, Frederik provides an example HERE.

Slaying the Dragon...

"Simply 'sharpening the sword.' And the bigger the dragon waiting for me when I return, the better. That's all you need to know. Print it." It was signed, "Positively, RK." ~ Burger King's chief marketing officer Russ Klein, in response to critics questioning the true reason for his leave of absence. As published in Advertising Age; September 21, 2009

Flaming Lips and the Naked Bike Video...

Bare Bone Facts: FL's are shooting a video in Portland this next Wednesday. It will involve naked Bikers. One of those naked bikers could be you.

As stolen from WW's Local Cut:

"The rumor is out! I heard rumblings around our office last week that the Flaming Lips—probably the weirdest rock band to ever have a street named after it—were set to film a video sometime this month in Portland. The details have emerged at BikePortland.org, of all places, and it’s actually even more strange than you can imagine: the clip will feature singer Wayne Coyne rolling around in his giant space bubble, covered in fake fox fur, with a gang of naked bicyclists riding around him.

And that’s where you come in: Coyne and the Lips are looking for extras to ditch their clothes and ride in nothing but their birthday suits. BikePortland’s Elly Blue spoke with Coyne over the phone, and he mentions deciding to stage the shoot in Portland after talking to merchandising manager Jillian Kelsheimer Sevick, a former resident and bike enthusiast, and thinking about the ending of the musical Hair:

You know how it’s a bunch of freaked out naked people climbing some mountain with blood and fire and finding some new civilization there — so I thought of Portland, right?

That’s the first image that pops into your head when you think of our lovely little town, right? I’m sure it’s what Asa Lovejoy and Francis Pettygrove thought before they flipped the coin. The video is for the Lips song “Watching the Planets,” the final track on the band’s new double album opus, Embryonic. The shoot is set for next Wednesday, September 23, from 10 am to 10 pm at the basketball courts near the top of Mount Tabor. Body and face painting are highly encouraged."

MFNW - Doug Fir - Thursday, September 17th - Live Music Review...

Venue - Doug Fir: I was told that the box office would open at 7:30. MFNW didn't drop off cash and tickets until 8:15. AWESOME. What's up MFNW? You guys need a project manager? Someone who can get the tickets and cash box to the venue prior to the event weekend? Call me, I'll hook you up. However, there was an upside to waiting in line. The pretty boy behind me, proudly wearing his anarchy patched t-shirt, was talking to another patron, who was posing as a nurse, about the stye on his eye... the entire time. I love listening to self proclaimed, very good looking anarchist talk about heading out to the doctors office to take a look at his blocked tear duct and how nice it is to have insurance. PANSY.

Anyway, the Doug Fir is a nice place to see a show. The acoustics are pretty good, the downstairs is a fun place to hang out, the bar has a mandatory close out rule with each purchase and that helps people like me from getting in trouble.

First Act - The Mint Chicks: Keyboard and synth on stage alongside lead guitar. Drummer was set in the middle of the crowd floor. I think that the idea was for the crowd to gather around him and dance a little bit. However, Portland doesn't dance. At least the kids at this show didn't and I'm guessing it might have been the skin tight pants. Instead, the crowd formed a quasi breakdance circle around him and I had memories of being at a zoo.

As for the actual set, it was great. I felt like the band wanted more audience interaction but they made it happen anyway and it was a good set to see, although it was quick. The ending song was clutch as the drummer took off and went on a slow beat through the crowd.

Second Act - Cymbols Eat Guitars: Highlight of the evening and not really what I was expecting. A 4 piecer, the keyboardist had broken his forearm falling off of a skate board earlier in the week while in Boise. The bassist reminded me of a very stoned flea and the drummer was not really memorable but kept a solid beat. What shone out of this set was the lead guitar. The dude can absolutely shred, and you wouldn't know it to look at him. Also, his facial expressions are off the chart; so fun to watch! About two songs in I decided that this is a band I'd like to play at my funeral, and that's for the facial expressions alone. They'd make people laugh. They were kicking a long set when some guy playing stage manager tried to cut them off. They played another song anyway and rocked it out. It was awesome. This is the text I sent myself mid performance.

"From song to song this is a mix of 50's rock and roll, rocky horror picture show, screaming, punk, and amazing guitar."

Third Act - Depreciation Guild: Went to the upstairs bar. I think most of the crowd did the same. Came back down and caught two songs. Could have stayed upstairs longer.

Fourth Act - The Pains of Being Pure at Heart: I was disappointed in this set. For some reason I kept wanting to call them pansies and I'm thinking that I was still high on the Cymbols set and just wanted to see more of it. Their sounds were really clean and it was obvious that they were really well rehearsed. However, the album outshines this particular live set.

MFNW 2009 - Round II...

Well, Mother F*&king North West just kicked off last night and while there are a great number of shows rotating around various venues in Portland, I’m not really that excited about many of them. The list of headliners plays more like a 90’s high school reunion than a contemporary music fest. However, memories from last summer, of malt liquor infused dance sessions, running from venue to venue and late night debates about which act had the perfect soundtrack to close out our night, still ring true in my head. Therefore, while I’ve been tentative on breaking down for a bracelet ($50) – there’s just not that many bands I want to see – I have been keeping my eyes and ears open for promising events surrounding the mania. If you’re feeling the same way, here are some suggestions on how to enjoy the MFNW weekend, without going full throttle.

1. Tonight, Thursday the 17th, the Doug Fir will be hosting a nice line up of talent. The Mint Chicks, Cymbols Eat Guitars, The Depreciation Guild, and The Pains of Being Pure at Heart will be playing, in that order. Cost is $12.

The Mint Chicks have been making a lot of local noise recently on the heels of their very great successes in New Zealand. If you dig No Age, you might enjoy a set by the Mint chicks. Experimental rock with flavors of noise, poppy loops and live stage antics.

The other three bands are all from the NY area and run the range in terms of music. From the punk ballad stylings of Cymbols Eat Guitars to the defined sonic synthesizer feedback found in almost every song by the Depreciation Guild, there really is a lot of varied talent on this stage. Closing out the night is The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and their offerings of historically constructed layers and a very clean sound.

2. The most bang for your buck happens on Saturday at Rontoms. Stop by here for a $10 ticket and catch 16 bands, many if not all of them local. Sets kick off starting at 2:30 and run until after midnight. Or, you could just find somewhere to watch the Beaver game… I’m just sayin.

3. Saturday night, after most of the hoopla is over, is the event I’m most excited about this MFNW weekend. The WOODS, a new Portland venue will be hosting a midnight dinner and concert event. Cost is $40, almost a wristband in itself, but just take a peek at the description below. Get tickets HERE.

"Caffe Vita and One Pot are taking the midnight supper franchise on the road. For the past three years we have closed out the Capitol Hill Block Party with a completely debaucherous feast of song, heavily laden tables of food, and deep pints of distilled spirit. This year we are honored to head south to invade the halls of Portlands most profoundly beautiful new venue The Woods, a re-claimed funeral parlor and a gorgeous place to spend an evening.

The terribly handsome boys from Throw Me The Statue and the Nick Jaina Band will be offering up some late night music from the table. One Pot is joined in the kitchen by Nick Castleberry (Sitka and Spruce) and our old friend Jason French chef/owner of Ned Ludd. Doors open at 11:00pm parade of food begins at midnight music mixed in here and there. Party goes late*."




Well, that's it, that's all I've got. I would suggest buying tickets for the midnight dinner show early, as that's bound to sell out. I hope that, whatever you do, you enjoy yourselves this MFNW weekend. While it might not be my cup of PBR tall boy this time round, it certainly is something special. I'm simply waiting until next year...



*I hope my soccer coach won't mind...

WK (E?) and the Portland Music Scene...

Evidently Wieden Kennedy has recently launched a multimedia arm of their currently gargantuan empire. Below is a trailer for one of their first projects, a docu-style series entitled Don't Move Here that finds focus on the "underground" music scene here in city of Roses.

It seems that this new arm is a natural evolution from WK Radio, which has been rocking the digital airwaves for a while. One of their first projects is to provide coverage of TBA and give you all the details, as mentioned on their Portland based blog.

Your Week In Music – September 1st…

Perhaps I was too busy this summer to get to many shows. Perhaps it’s just that the majority of the offerings just didn’t peak my interest. I guess, at this point, it doesn’t really matter since summer is coming to a close and fall is just around the corner. During this changing of the seasonal guards, however, there always seems to be a GREAT variety of musical offerings and I, for one, have my eye on several shows this week.

Wednesday:

This Wednesday evening brings you three great options. First off, Anamanaguchi bring the chippy noise at Ground Kontrol and this punk rocked version of chiptune should feel right at home. Sputtering bip and beeps from hacked NES and Gameboy systems, Anamanaguchi rounds out the chiptune sound with strong guitar lines and quick set percussions. They’ll be taking the stage after sets by Operation Mission and Plain Flavored. At a $5 dollar cover, it’s an easy Wednesday night to enjoy. Show starts at 9pm.

Moving up the pay scale, but keeping it on hump-day night, the Doug Fir, just over the Burnside Bridge, will be hosting the internationally renowned turntablist, Kid Koala. This dudes mastery of the 1s and 2s is pretty ridiculous and with such a skilled set of hands, mixing and matching normal beats probably gets to be something of a chore for Kid Koala. In turn, some of his tunes don’t play to the most rhythmic of listeners, however, they are often varied, usually eclectic, and always interesting. Seattle based trip hop artist Anomie Belle will be warming up the crowd. Show starts at 9pm and the going price of tickets is $15.

Last, the Kid Espi is playing in Vancouver at Captain's Sports Bar. Cost is free before 10pm and $3 after.

Thursday:

Yeah, you may have heard, Daniel Johnston is coming to town and, to be completely honest, I’m not sure what to think about it. Sure, he’s a living legend, has influenced a vast number of contemporary musicians, is certifiably looned and has created great music but now he’s old, is likely drugged to the floor and tours with a handler or two, not to mention whoever is making the cash off of this late life enterprise. I guess, just knowing his history, I don’t want to be disappointed.

Still, I think a trip to the Wonder Ballroom will likely be worth it, even if it’s just for bragging rights. Who knows, the show might just surprise me and be, well, wonderful. Cost is $20 day of show and It'll kick off at 8pm. Opening sets provided by Scout Niblett and Gregory Miles Harris (Is it just me or is it annoying that he's on the bill?).


If you're looking for something a little cheaper than Daniel Johnston, but still of legendary status, feel free to head over to Laurelthirst and catch Baby Gramps. He's sure to please and the show should be a really good time. Cost, $5.