AUTECHRE, DANIEL MENCHE, ROB HALL & RUSSELL HASWELL
(B Complex) Daniel Menche creates apocalyptic walls of organic noise that convulse into impossibly intricate sound. And if you're anything like Autechre, you've created a genre of music by making record after record of impossibly intricate sound by harnessing electronic noise. You're also from England, labelmates with the mighty Aphex Twin, and have cred with IDM geeks, indie rockers, and judging from this reviewer's last trip to Ozone, a pair of guys in Deicide T-shirts. You've made the decree that all performances on your current tour will be almost completely absent of light; and although you won't admit it, this could easily be the last time you bring your stuttered, mutant strings and aural schisms to Portland. ELLIOTT ADAMS
THE STORES, ROOM 101, GARMONBOZIA
(Ash Street) See Music Section or pg 19
MUSIC FOR BUILDINGS
(Medicine Hat) I guess the best way to explain this Red76 event would be to call it "interpretive music." Wait--isn't all music interpretive, you ask? The answer is yes, but the inspiration for the music being played is actually derived from blueprints and images of buildings--it's improv with visual aids. So instead of conveying an emotion, these musicians are conveying... architecture. The featured building will be the University of Michigan Archives Building, and the music will be made by members of bands like Hochenkeit, Waterskiing to Canada, Weigh Brown, Umbrella Booth, Momeraths, Bering Sea, Gone Orchestra, Jackie-O Motherfucker, Kerby St. Trio, and Nice Nice. Abstract, yes; but it's a hell of a lot better than watching another Yuppie Ghetto go up downtown. JULIANNE SHEPHERD
ENSIGN, BERZERK
(Pine Street) The throaty hardcore of Ensign has that fast driving sound that, to me, seems impossible to keep up for a show any longer than three songs. I mean, how does Tim Shaw keep his adam's apple from exploding? Berzerk plays Minor Threat-style, old-school hardcore, with one awesome difference--girl vocals. Ah... when women sing hardcore, life takes on new meaning. KATIE SHIMER
FRIDAY 5/18
FLAT MASS MEDIA PRESENTS MUCHO MASQUERADE STARRING STEREOLITH, DAREN.1, IMMIGRANT KANE, SLICKERHAT
(P.S. What?) Welcome Flat Mass Media into the ever-growing roster of Portland art collectives, whose debutante costume party is saucily titled "Mucho Masquerade." Ariba! Stereolith plays some really organic, alternate-universe keyboard music--it's very delicate and pretty, possibly influenced by Japan (the country, not the band), and occasionally has a shimmer-voiced singer whose throat must be coated in The Nectar of The Gods (or maybe just Traditional Medicinals). Daren.1 is a kooky motherfucker by the name of Michael Newman (aka the drummer for Samizdat) who's not afraid to use the pitchshifter on his four-track. The highlight: He sings a song called "Sensible Fishes" in a thick FRUAAAANCH accent, with a creepily simple piano accompaniment. He'll also get slightly ambient at this show, perhaps incorporating the ever-popular genre the younger kids are calling "new wave." Then, Slickerhat will throw down some installations, and show some very funny films that incorporate computer animation, those little plastic military men, and a couple of dudes learning to count in Russian. Isn't it lovely when people want to bring art together? JS
SAUL WILLIAMS, 3 LEG TORSO, THAT 1 GUY
(B Complex) Saul Williams wears so many hats, that to list them all would hinder the necessary realization that it's better to take him as the sum of these parts, as a modern-day renaissance man. Perhaps best known for starring in 1998's Slam and his involvement in Brooklyn's seminal poetry scene, he's taken a detour to Los Angeles to realize his debut hip hop album with producer Rick Rubin (the man who brought the world Licensed to Ill). Bringing the fruits of this project, with septet in tow, this is Saul's attempt to put the lyricism of his poetry to every aspect of hip hop music. Giving Saul a run for his money will be Mike Silverman, aka That One Guy, who extends the borders of what a single person can accomplish in performance. Silverman's live show is based around a Frankenstein of electronic and acoustic instruments that produces as much hip-shaking as head-scratching. 3 Leg Torso's smart compositions hearken back to Eastern Europe, and they're haunting and beautiful. ELLIOTT ADAMS
DEE DEE RAMONE, CITY GIRL'S BOYS, GODDAMN GENTLEMEN
(Satyricon) Okay, so it's just Dee Dee, and not the rest of the Ramones--but sometimes that's a good thing. Once I saw Ace Frehley play alone, and it was a goddam horror show. Seriously, he looked awful! Now, Dee Dee looks awful too, but he always looked awful, even when he was hiding behind the mop-top. Anyway. The good news is that he will be performing tons of ye olde tunes from the Ramones, with the same kind of lyric-forgetting urgency of the late, great Joey. Along for the ride is City Girls' Boys, the Riffs, and the Goddamn Gentlemen, who play hot rod punk like their freakin' pants are on fire. WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY
SATURDAY 5/19
THE DAVE BROCKIE EXPERIENCE, THE HELL CANDIDATES, THE VILES, DIE JOBS
(Satyricon) Why, oh why, oh why would a band like GWAR change their name to the Dave Brockie Experience? That's like the world's dorkiest band name ever. I don't care if they don't have one original band member, if someone uses the guitar pick from an original band member, they should keep the stinking name GWAR. Anyway, with that said, you should really go see these guys--they have original GWAR members. I can't tell you what to expect, I mean will they still wear costumes, will they still throw blood, will they still play thrash metal that makes the crowd go wild? I dunno, but curiosity alone should be reason enough to go. KS
SIL2K ENSEMBLE, BILL HORIST, FIGHTING AND BREEDING QUARTET
(Disjecta, 116 NE Russell) Seattle's Sil2K Ensemble consists of several rotating members, and this edition features some of improv's finest (including ambient guitarist Bill Horist and Eveline Muller-Graf). They'll be performing pieces by Sil2k members Stuart McLeod, Robert Henson, and Jesse Canterbury, plus a version of John Zorn's 1985 Cobra piece. As with all this stuff, it's not for the faint of heart (or the concrete in mind), but these musicians know what they're doing, which makes ALL the difference in improv. Plus, everyone should be at least somewhat aware of the world of contemporary composers, be it John Zorn or Iannis Xenakis--the shit is too visionary to ignore--and this is a good start into that long, obscured road. JS
SUMERLAND CD RELEASE
(Dante's) You know, there are people out there who won't go to goth shows simply because they are "goth." And there are goth kids out there who won't go to non-goth shows, simply because they are "not goth." And those people can go fight to the blist'ry, pox-ed grave, but as long as bands like Sumerland exist, there will be a common ground. Sumerland has a vocalist with the resonance of mahogany-colored blood, his lyrics and delivery soaked in honest misery. Indie kids might like him because he's equally as depressed as Bright Eyes. Yet Sumerland has this sneaky way of using chords that resolve themselves; in other words, their piano and guitar sound melancholy... yet strangely uplifting. Perhaps it is this universality that got a label in NYC to put out Sumerland's record, for which this is the release party. Either way, they're a really neat band that creates drama pretty adeptly. JS
SUNDAY 5/20
PICA'S SIXTH BIRTHDAY PARTY
(Ohm) Portland Institute for Contemporary Art (PICA) started to fill a void left by Portland Art Museum (read: the establishment), who only wanted to show Monet and shit--you know, artists immortalized by the sands of time. PICA was all, "Where are the new and ground-breaking artists?" So they rose up and started showing innovative stuff, like wacky installations and performance art. Six years later, PICA still shows wacky installations and performance art, only it is a common assumption that to be helped by PICA these days, you have to have gotten a grant somewhere down the line, or have otherwise been recognized by some national society of contemporary artists (read: the establishment). You also know because they are charging $20 to get in to their party to see Aquaman, an incredible DJ who plays for free at bars pretty much weekly. Now, grassroots, groundbreaking artists in Portland show at coffee shops and house-galleries, and they're all like, "We are the new and groundbreaking artists," and PICA might as well be PAM. And so history goes on like that. JS
HISTORY ADVENTURE DAY: MUSIC FOR ALL AGES
(Oregon History Center) Though this free event is geared towards families, there are lots of reasons for everybody to go. Like the fact that, at noon, this guy is going to show everybody how to create their own musical instruments using household objects. As we all know, musical equipment is expensive, so if you can make your own orchestra out of like, I dunno, eggbeaters, all the better. Later, this other guy--a "guitar master"--will be performing Mexican folk songs on a five-string. And you can hear an old radio broadcast from a concert performed in 1944. But most importantly, everyone who goes gets a free kazoo. Yes, that's right. I said "free kazoo." JS
MONDAY 5/21
PAN TOURISMOS, IS THIS OK?, THE SOFT 70, THE PSEUDO SIX
(Meow Meow) Last time I saw Pan Tourismos play, I was sitting at the back of the room working the money table, and all these dumbfounded show-goers kept coming up and saying, "Dude! Who is that band playing now?!" Now's your chance to appreciate this gem of a band--a sweet, passionate kind of Bruce Springsteen meets post-punk--by saying something more intelligent about them after you see them. Also playing will be The Soft 70. Though the name of this band is kind of yucky and reminds me of some cheap porn gone awry, the music is actually supposedly great, and kind of sounds like "early Talking Heads." You can also hear the band of my friend/coworker/editor Julianne Shepherd here at the Mercury. I know I'm biased and all, but she really does have a fantastic voice, even when she's yelling at me in the office like a goddamn prima donna--I mean, sometimes she just won't shut the fuck up: "Oooh, have you heard this album? It is soooo gooooood." Jesus Christ! KATIA DUNN
TUESDAY 5/22
THE YEAR OF THE SPIDER, THE STRANGE
(Ash Street) These are two bands from Santa Cruz, CA. Year of the Spider's demo CD is pretty mixed--they've got some neat, hard rockin' stuff with power guitars and fills in weird places, and then they've got some bad pop riffs going with cheesy metal guitar solos. They could be one of those bands that just blows your shit out of the water, though. The Strange, alternately, has some kind of hokey lyrics, but you have to give them credit for being political ("Walking Zombies/Trained to feel right... Wage slaves calling/Fallen Dead Rise"). However, The Strange's riffs get kind of old-school Metallica, which of course garners them infinite points. In conclusion: The Fucking Champs are playing across the river with the legendary, amazing metal band Lachrymator (!), but if you can't afford to go, this show may offer a similar experience. JS
THE BANGS, GUESTS
(Meow Meow) See My, What a Busy Week or pg 17
FUCKING CHAMPS, DRUNK HORSE, LACHRYMATOR
(Pine Street) The Fucking Champs (or c4am95 as they sometimes call themselves) are a full-on hard metal band without the bad haircuts. In fact, because the members have been in various punk or "alternative rock" bands, they still attract a mostly indie kind of crowd. But if you put on their latest album, IV (Drag City), at a party out in Gresham, you can bet that the stoners and grease monkeys would be straining their brains trying to remember which Judas Priest or Slayer album it was. Most of the music is instrumental--two guitars, and huge drums--with former Nation of Ulysses and SWA guitarist Tim Green leading the way. The band's mission statement says, "The solitary aim of the c4am95 is to destroy weak music and its purveyors by simultaneously rejecting and exalting the tenets of the classic rock idiom." KEVIN SAMPSELL
STEVE DIGGLE, BRIAN JAMES GANG, SLUDGE, HOT RODS
(Satyricon) I used to think the Satyricon scoured the earth for the most obscure old school punk rockers. Now, I know that it is true. I also have a hunch there's a covert network going on, where guys who were in British punk bands in the '70s email each other to plan reunion tours based entirely around the existence of Satyricon. It has become a Jerusalem for old punk rock--everybody wants a piece--and this show proves it: it stars Steve Diggle from The Buzzcocks--Brian James from the Damned--and Sludge, featuring members of UK Subs. Okay, remember how cheesy Neil Young looked when he was like, 80 and singing "Rockin' in the Free World" on MTV? Sometimes, it's therapeutic to let go of the past. JS
GOING TO SEATTLE?
Thurs 5/17: Andy Smith (Baltic Room)
Fri 5/18: Ike Turner & the Kings of Rhythm, Tony Coleman (EMP); Burning Cindys, The A-Frames, Bastinado, Lopez (Gibson's); Doc Martin (Nation)
Mon 5/21: The Fucking Champs, Drunk Horse, Last of the Juanitas, C Average (Graceland)
Tues 5/22: EC8OR (Graceland)
Wed 5/23: Pedro the Lion (Crocodile)
For more info, visit www.thestranger.com
New Releases May 22: 59 Times the Pain, Album Leaf, Bablicon, The Briefs, Bouncing Souls, Business, Cadillac Blindside, Calexico*, Andrew Coleman, Dickies, Dirty Three w/ Low*, Echo & the Bunnymen, Freaky Flow, Inspection 12, Jersey, Jet Set Satellite, Ladybug Transistor*, Laptop, Left Over Crack, Mauro, N.E.R.D, No Innocent Victim, Oval, Per Mission*, Portastatic, Rae & Christian, Rapture, Rob Reddy's Sleeping Dogs, Shantel, The Shins, Starflyer 59, Svek, Nobukazu Takemura*, Third Eye Foundation
