Artix is the Dread Pirate Roberts of Portland music events.
Since it was established in 2002 by Pete Swanson (of peace-loving noise
terrorists Yellow Swans), and Josh Blanchard (of drone-folk naturalists
Plants), the annual wintertime mini-festival’s mantle of musical
marginalia—like the black mask of The Princess Bride‘s
infamous buccaneer—has been taken up by a succession of local
experimental music marauders, each curating an installment of the
event, and contributing something unique to the Artix legend. James
Squeaky, the tape-mashing screamer behind Argumentix, recalls previous
Artix Fests: “There have been years that were more arty-punky and
dancey-electronicy, and last year I made it super noise-centered
because that’s what I love.”
This year, Artix will be an all-ages affair at Someday Lounge on
Saturday, December 1, beginning at 4 pm. Someday booker and Artix
originator Blanchard organized this year’s event with Squeaky,
and said of it, “Artix has always had an open-ended arrangement, where
anyone with the skills and interest to put one together can step up to
the plate. The lineup this year is based more on the first Artix, where
we had a really wide swath of noise, jazz, avant rock, and other kinds
of uncategorizable oddities.”
The outstanding, local-heavy, 12-band bill is a horn o’ plenty o’
weirdness, so show up early for the likes of all-lady noise band
Prowls, stick around for the off-the-rails garage punk of Eat
Skull, stay strong for the improv dance skronk of Cex Fucx,
and tap your reserves for end-of-night antics courtesy of post-prog
heroes 31Knots.
If the collegial, genre-defying spirit of Artix leaves you wanting
more, keep the torch lit until Wednesday, December 5 (and
Thursday, December 6) when the spruce-and-maple armada of the Portland
Cello Project descends upon Holocene in collaborative concert
with klezmer hybridizers 3 Leg Torso and local folk favorites Horse
Feathers, who ought to be riding high, having just signed with
venerable Olympia label Kill Rock Stars for their sophomore album, due
late next year. Frontman Justin Ringle reflected on the label
change: “We were seriously considering staying with Lucky Madison which
has been absolutely great… but we couldn’t say no to Kill Rock
Stars. Living in the Northwest my whole life, their reputation
obviously precedes them. I mean, I think about Unwound (not to mention
many, many others) and get excited that our next record will be out on
the same label.” Along with Panther and New Bloods, that’s three
Portland signings to KRS this year!
One last bit of hugely exciting news to make your chest swell with
civic pride: Dirty Projectors are moving to Portland! Given main
Projector Dave Longstreth’s history with Marriage Records, this
relocation seems like a perfect match. Anyone who’s heard the band’s
new melismatic, Mali-tinged, Black Flag-reappropriating album Rise
Above knows that we should welcome them with arms wide open.