I’m pretty picky about my mixes, usually favoring to post individual tracks rather then an hour and a half of bangers. With laptop producing and the insane amount of mixing ability available to everyone, a mix really has to stand out and have some character.
This one does, sent to me a few days ago by CLAKSAARB from the bay area. CLAKSAARB- Step Once, Think Twice (Live In SF 11-07-09)
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When I am socializing with others it is nearly always dubstep playing and when I escape to my room I play fidget. Lately it has been this podcast, sent to me by DJ Keynos from London.
As I mentioned at the start of the week, The legendary Black Heart Procession are playing tonight (!) at the Aladdin Theater with Bellini. In anticipation of the show we asked founding member, and Portland native, Tobias Nathaniel to identify his favorite places to spend time while he’s in town. Check out his appropriately gloomy responses below. Some of these should be pretty familiar to you guys. If not… now you know where to go after the show tonight.
Tobias Nathaniel’s Favorite Places to Hang in Portland.
5. Graveyard in Laurelhurst. Old and dead things are cool. Enough said.
4. Bridgetown Hobbies. Reality is fairly stupid, so to distance myself from it I like to immerse in fantasy games and miniature painting. This place delivers.
3. Dots Cafe. Even better than fantasy gaming, getting drunk is a great way to numb yourself against the idiocy of humanity. Great service and food as well.
2. The Standard. Again, getting drunk is really great. This place makes you really drunk. They have great pours for super cheap. So, even if you are broke and that is bringing you down, go here.
1. My House. Physically being away from humanity is really the best way to shield yourself from it. Therefore, my house wins the # 1 position on this list.
Here is an older mix that my buddy Tyler asked be re-hosted on FBM. I am happy to help with a little bit more exposure as in many ways this is the current sound of Portland. No other shows or genres can keep up with the raw excitement that surrounds dubstep. On Saturday Flux promises to become a packed sweaty mess with local talent like Tyler as well as a slew of headliners like Megasoid and Lazer Sword.
In any given weekend, there’s too much going on to even begin writing about. This weekend in Portland though, there is a particularly unique set of shows going down. Everyone knows the weekend begins on Thursday now-a-days, but for the purposes of this post I’ll start on Friday.
The epic and amazing Black Heart Procession are going to be introducing their doom & gloom atmospherics to the Aladdin Theater this Friday with Bellini. Now into their tenth year as a band (and six albums deep) the places they’ve been and struggles they’ve faced resonate really fucking heavily on their latest record, Six. And hey, as Portlanders we get to take some credit for their masterful malcontent, because founding member Tobais Nathaniel used to call Portland home!
If you’re sick of your typical Friday night (who isn’t?) be sure to check out the Black Heart Procession, I promise they’ll be a pleasurable change of pace. Also, be on the lookout for an upcoming feature on FuckBadMusic in which the aforementioned Tobais Nathaniel shares some of his favorite Portland haunts. Who knows, maybe Aladdin Theater will be one of them after this Friday.
And if Black Heart Procession proves to be a little too traditional for your tastes (you are insane), look forward to Saturday! Julianna Barwick will be playing her subdued experimental songs in a (surprise!) somewhat experimental setting. That’s because the organizers of the event, titled Sonic Celluloid, have asked each act to choose an accompanying film for their set. The film they choose will be playing as they play in a “muted and trippy” format. I’m thinking Psychic Ills, but with a narrative! The event goes down (including Portland’s own White Rainbow) at the Reed College Chapel this Saturday at 9:00pm. Be there or be boring.
The first time I saw Kelli Schaefer play it was at The Know on NE Alberta. It’s rare to see a crowd of people stop talking and just listen to someone they’re not familiar with play music, especially in a town like Portland where it seems like everyone is in a band. But that night everyone stopped what they were doing and took the time to listen. I think everyone one at the show felt a little happier, walked a little lighter, and whistled a little more on the way home. I’ve been to quite a few shows since then and I’ve never been disappointed. Tonight she’s playing at The Woods on SE Milwauki. I wanted to post a song for you to listen to, but I’m having some problems because technology doesn’t seem to like me right now. So you can go here and listen for yourself.
New remixes by Trash Yourself sent to me a few minutes ago. Thanks to being sent direct mp3’s, I can give everyone direct downloads- take note artists who send me emails every day hoping to be featured.
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One of my favorite American Labels, Pottymouth Records out of Chicago just sent me a sample pack of new Magik Johnson clips. You can download them all in one swell swoop by clicking on the following mediafire link:
A record made solely of samples seems an exhausting effort; one hard not to approach with skepticism. Essentially records created using this technique promise no hook, no point of entry. That has certainly been the case with much of Junk Culture’s label mates. Illegal Art is one of those niche labels that many like-minded musicians call home. And while these artists do need and deserve a home, it’s hard to glean too much significance when running through their records. Often times what’s most memorable is a familiar sample, rather than how it is used in a new context.
That being said, I’ve listened to this West Coast EP so many times now, the samples that were once familiar to me, as samples, now sound like they were made organically for this record. In this context the record flows so effortlessly through the brain. The perfect blend of familiarity and potency makes what could be a tiring 19 minutes of very varied soundscapes enjoyable throughout. It’s experimental, and for that reason inaccessible, to be sure. But the blurbs and dirges break up songs like ‘My Two Hands’ and ‘For Elise’, which might have been too somber for a sample based record if placed next to one another; and the vocal samples and repetition create a sort of non-traditional hook, easing the listener through tracks that might otherwise have been too noisy.
I’ve gotta ask… Where the hell was Portland at this Kid Sister show? Was it the Wednesday night? Was it the nearly $20+ price tag?
Whatever it was, the lack of folks in attendance inspired the promoters to section off the two main floors at Holocene for an all ages crowd, leaving the narrow bar the only place to hold a drink. Needless to say, this cut down a major chunk of the dancing that might have been done during Rude Dudes & Flosstrodamus’ set. Commendable effort by those guys though. It was almost depressing watching them attempt to hype a headliner in a relatively empty venue.
D-22 feels a little bit like home for everyone. I walk in and I think Portland, my friend Lisa thinks San Francisco, my German friend thinks Berlin, and the Chinese people I talk to don’t think about any other place because D-22 is home. The last few times I’ve been there I’ve felt like I’m in a womb floating through the crowd listening to music and eaves dropping on conversations on my way to the bathroom. The space is appropriately dark, there’s killer a foosball table and, most importantly, there’s music.
Live music.
Guitars, amps, effects pedals, musicians sweating on stage, bands playing, people listening… not a big deal if you’re in the US, but here in Beijing a venue like this is a fairly new concept and the idea of going out to see a rock/punk show is still catching on.
P.K.14 at D-22 photo by Matthew Niederhauser
Last week I got the opportunity to get together with Nevin Domer, D-22’s bar manager and booking agent to talk about the venue. We went out for lunch and talked while over delicious Korean food. It feels like everyone working with D-22 is doing it out of pure love. Domer is constantly working on something that in one way or another helps build the music/art community here. Michael Pettis, the owner of D-22 opened the venue in 2006 because there was no real place for bands to to play in Beijing at the time. Pettis even covers costs out of his own pocket when funds coming into the venue aren’t enough. Over the years D-22 has seen the rise of China’s most formidable musicians such as Carsick Cars, P.K.-14, and Xiao He. This month D-22’s label, Maybe Mars, is sending their bands on an East Coast tour in the US. The tour starts on November 4th at the Von in Manhattan, check here for a schedule and maybe you’ll be able to catch a show this month.
Carsick Cars at D-22 photo by Matthew Niederhauser
FBM is a blog written about all kinds of music. We often focus on small acts and DJs, promoting and loving what we consider to be the very best in Indy, Dubstep, House and far beyond. We are a collective of (currently) unpaid kids based out of Portland Oregon. We urge you to support this music and hence we will provide the the most accurate show listings and heads up on things to do in Portland.
This is all those things but more then anything else this is about community, about having as many authors contributing as much as possible and promoting all of our friends. I believe in politics as still being important and I believe in this generation still being relevant. Our culture is all we have.
Almost all of this music is sent to us by the creator and is entirely legal to download, if something slips through the cracks and you are the owner of a soundfile you wish removed, simply email us. Thank you.
