Visual Art

THURSDAY, AUG 29 SPEAR–If there is a heaven and hell, Michael Franti of Spearhead is one of those people who is a sure bet on getting into heaven. Having been an activist, cultural critic, and innovative creator of a kind of music that’s a cross between hiphop, R&B, and soul, he’s one of those artists […]

THURSDAY 8/22 THE NUGE–Ted “Cat Scratch Fever” Nugent has little patience for the soft-palmed urban dwellers that shop at New Season’s. Seemingly ironic in P.C. Portland, he reads from his new book, Kill It & Grill It, which offers charming hunting anecdotes, detailed directions on carcass gutting, and tasty recipes. And if, after all that, […]

THURSDAY, AUG. 15 IGLOOS–With marvelous depth, artist Melody Owen takes a theme and makes it deeper, more sensually textured, and way, way more dangerous. Her next installation is titled The Igloo Project, and uses fiberglass, tubing, ivy, and earphones. You can bet it will be an acute and challenging look at how nature and technology […]

THURSDAY, August 8 HIPHOP–The Coup last week, Black Sheep this week… I think Portland may be evolving into an actual city. Thank God. And as a result, tonight you can see hiphop ambassadors whose rhymes range from chill as hell to aggro rap assaults, all with a sense of humor. (Note to OLCC: This does […]

THURSDAY, August 1 POP MUSIC–While the ba-humbugs of the world may find Cyndi Lauper a vacuous has-been, her candy-coated, teeny-bopper version of punk and unsinkable gleefulness is enough to declare the MTV star still at the top of her game. Oh yeah, and she’ll be joined by Cher of “I’ve Got You, Babe,” fame. PB […]

Butters Gallery 520 NW Davis St, 248-9378 Matthew Haggett usually does crazy encaustic/computer installations and “imagery,” but now he’s painting elaborate acrylic patterns. Contrast this with Janet Miltenberger’s vaguely garden-of-eden, yet sorta creepy, neat-looking glass sculptures. Cameron Showroom + Gallery 723 NW 18th Ave, 248-6701 Summer Crush savors the end of the season, with mixed […]

THURSDAY, July 25 BROTHEL–Haven’t you ever wondered what really goes on in those brothels in Nevada? This lady Alexa Albert wondered that as well, so she hung out there for six years, and then wrote a book about it. See her read. KD Powell’s on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd, 7:30, free DJs–Are you potty-trained? […]

THURSDAY, July 18 HIPHOP–Okay, three things I like about LL Cool J: 1) His name stands for Ladies Love Cool James. 2) He decided long ago to forgo gangsta rap in favor of lyrics that would make the ladies juicy. And, 3) he’s the author of “Hey Lover,” which contains one my favorite quotable rap […]

THURSDAY, July 11 J-POP—So how often are you gonna pay 14 bucks to see a legitimate superstar? NEVER! That’s why you should shell out 14 smackers to see Japanese superstars, PuffyAmiYumi. They’ve got their own TV show, line of products, and their J-pop stylings run the gamut from power pop to disco to spacey C&W. […]

THURSDAY, July 4 FIREWORKS—So what if the atheists have taken the Pledge of Allegiance out of our schools? They’ll never take away our fireworks displays! (Two of the best, by the way, will occur tonight at the Waterfront Park Blues Fest, and at Oaks Park in Sellwood. Don’t bother with the one in Vancouver… the […]