Retsin, K. w/ Rollerball’s CD Release Fri June 1 Cobalt Lounge We’re all looking for something. Of course we are. Everybody knows that. It doesn’t matter what it is, and honestly, whether you get what you’re looking for is inconsequential. What matters is how you get there, how interesting you make the search, and most […]
Julianne Shepherd
Posted inMusic
Emergency: Pro or Con?
I am so Pro-Emergency!
Emergency is a dangerous band, because they subvert in the most subtle manner. Their lyrics are sung, spoken, and bleated in fresh, chickadee voices (by Ethan Swan and Amy Suzanne Heneveld) that don’t sound ominous in the least. But if you read the lyric booklet they hand out at shows (or get one in their […]
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And God Created Garmonbozia
Divine Intervention Helps Space Jam Band to Rock
Garmonbozia w/ The Stores, Room 101 Thurs May 17 Ash Street Here are some key elements that define the music of Garmonbozia (generalized version): Extended, spacy jams. Groovy Moog keyboard and Rhodes piano. Psychedelic harmonies that fill up a room like smoke in space. Ten- and 20-minute songs. On paper, that sounds like my own […]
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Time to Party
Shake a Tail Feather–er, Antenna–with The Bugs
The cover of my copy of The Bugs’ new 7-inch record has a picture of a weird whale with big eyes, and a dead bug floating in the water next to it. It’s done in magic marker–still smells like it, even–and looks like a drawing by a demented five-year-old. In fact, I want to hang […]
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LISTEN TO MY WIDE-EYED WONDER
Todd Fadel’s Vision for a Better Club and a Better World
Meow-A-Thon 3 days, 51 Portland bands Fri-Sat, April 27-30 Meow Meow A few weeks ago, it was freezing. I stood outside the Meow Meow smoking cigarettes with the all-ages club’s director, Todd Fadel. An incoherent homeless man wandered up to us, mumbling through his long, grimy beard. He said something like, “I just want somewhere […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Like a Pavlovian Response
Small-Town DIY Makes a Magic City
Charm Bracelet Presents: PunkNotRock Tour 2001 Featuring Magic City dir. Wilson Thurs April 26 Meow Meow I’ve lived in a lot of small towns. All of them were shitholes, or at least I thought they were at the time, but all of them had something in common: a desperately thriving, do-it-yourself punk subculture. And something […]
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Quiet Riot Fans Speak
Quiet Riot Fans WHY: Quiet Riot, in its original incarnation, will play Mt. Tabor Theater on Thursday, April 26. WHAT: Since I haven’t seen Quiet Riot in awhile, I thought I’d get the opinions of the people who know best: The Fans. So, I transcribed some posted conversations from their Message Board (www.quietriotonline.com). No grammar […]
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Goodfoot
Venue Bio
Goodfoot 284 SE Stark 239-9292 I never went to Choices, the queer bar that used to live in the building that now houses the Goodfoot, but I heard it used to be full of rainbows. Painted rainbows–queer pride rainbows. If you hate those ugly-ass rainbows as much as I do, you’ll be glad to know […]
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Ladies of Future; Ladies of Space
New Wave, Sharp Edges, and Sweatbands
Performance art. Music. The future. When musicians use their noggins (and slide projectors, televisions, dance dramatics, and blow-up dolls) to give us a little performance-art atmosphere while still making neat music, it’s extra fun for both the performer and the audience. This Tuesday, Olympians Space Ballerinas and Tracy & the Plastics will be utilizing the […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Beware the Poet
Gay Shorts that Ain’t All Bad
One of the most annoying factions of experimental cinema includes films that mimic bad coffee shop poetry readings. They’re the ones in which the filmmaker narrates the story in an Allen Ginsberg monotone, instead of letting the images speak for themselves and the viewer come to his or her own conclusion about the film’s objective. […]
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Rock ‘n’ Roll High School
“1–2–MELTDOWN!”
What were you doing in high school? I was making a horrible cut-and-paste skateboarding zine and smoking a truly embarrassing amount of dope. You know, a “creative underachiever”– smart and pissed off, but too solipsistic to know what to do about it. I think a lot of alienated youths are like that, especially if they’re […]
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Across a Keyboard Darkly
Amoree Lovell’s Smoky Piano
Amoree Lovell Sat March 10, 8 pm Groundswell Cafe 1800 NE Alberta Theatrics are far too rare in music these days. Not over-the-top rock theatrics, or densely choreographed, Britney-scale Musical Productions for Stadiums and Arenas–there are actually too many of those. But the kind of subtle drama that’s found in well-written murder mysteries or dark […]