Is it possible that national media conglomerates
are beginning to understand the implications of “the long tail” and the
advantages of community-specific programming? I wouldn’t bet on it, but
the good news locally is that Entercom Communications, our nation’s
fourth largest radio broadcaster and operator of six FM stations in the
Portland area, is giving one of their Rose City holdings some leeway
for regional music programming. Self-described alternative station
KNRK 94.7 FM has launched an HD Radio channel called 94.7
Too, specializing in the sounds of Portland and the greater
Northwest, programmed not by a robot in Texas, but by our city’s own
Jaime Cooley. For the uninitiated, HD Radio is a semi-proprietary
digital transmission standard that allows broadcasters to fit more than
one station in the same frequency band, creating a greater variety of
programming. However, to access the multiple offerings, you need to
pick up an HD radio, which generally costs $200. Thankfully, 94.7
Too is also available streaming over the web round the clock at
947.fm.
Someone over at legendary Olympia-based art-punk label Kill Rock
Stars is certainly keeping a discerning eye on Portland this year! Mere
months after signing the Fryk Beat-oriented, two-man Panther, KRS
has inked a deal with the queens of the PDX house show circuit:
violin-bass-and-drums trio the New Bloods. The scrappy group has
amassed a legion of devotees locally with their buoyant,
Raincoats-by-way-of-Bikini-Kill stomp in the past year. Look for their
first full-length on KRS in spring ’08.
Those of us who have not yet caught the revised two-man Panther
lineup will have a very special opportunity to do so at Holocene on the
first weekend of September, as they have been tapped for the
wonderfully left-of-center lineup for the second annual Halleluwah
Festival. The festival’s organizers, Blackbird Presents maven
Chantelle Hylton and Yeti magazine mastermind Mike McGonigal,
have played their Halleluwah cards close to the chest, but are now
beginning to show their hand. The local contingent of the lineup is
pretty stellar, including Panther, Evolutionary Jass Band, the
Joggers (who, apparently, will be “doing something nutty”), Tara
Jane O’Neil, the Builders & the Butchers, Cexfucx, Modernstate,
and Plants (which now features Modernstate main dude Sam Schauer
on drums). Oh yeah, and Damo Suzuki (frontman for legendary Kraut rock
band, Can, whose song “Halleluhwah” was the source of the festival’s
name) will be playing the fest backed by a band of Portland music
all-stars. One performer rumored to be part of the mystery ensemble is
Adam Forkner, whose psyche-noise-fusion project White Rainbow (also
playing the festival) is quietly releasing a hotly anticipated
new album Prism of Eternal Now on vinyl this week
through Marriage Records, with the CD due out on Kranky in the
fall.