Norwegian artist and writer Jenny Hval has developed her distinct take on intimate sound since the release of her debut album in 2006. For her last two solo albums, 2013's Innocence Is Kinky and 2015's Apocalypse, girl, Hval's debut for Sacred Bones, she has received thoughtful and widespread international acclaim for her fascinating voice, singular delivery and markedly non-traditional arrangements which incorporate elements of poetry, prose writing, performance art, and film. The New York Times defines her writing as "taking a scalpel to the subjects of gender politics and sexuality." Hval has eloquently brought to light issues of both male and female gaze, which for years had been swept under the rug and/or denied all together.
Hval's conceptual takes on collective and individual gender identities and sociopolitical constructs landed Apocalypse, girl on dozens of year end lists and compelled writers everywhere to grapple with the age-old, yet previously unspoken, question: What is Soft Dick Rock After touring for a year and earning her second Nordic Prize nomination, as any perfectionist would, Hval immediately went back into the studio to continue her work with acumen noise producer Lasse Marhaug, with whom she co-produces here on Blood Bitch. Her new effort is in many respects a complete 180º from her last in subject matter, execution and production. It is her most focused, but the lens is filtered through a gaze which the viewer least expects.
Statement from the artist:
Blood Bitch is an investigation of blood. Blood that is shed naturally. The purest and most powerful, yet most trivial, and most terrifying blood: Menstruation. The white and red toilet roll chain which ties together the virgins, the whores, the mothers, the witches, the dreamers, and the lovers.
Blood Bitch is also a fictitious story, fed by characters and images from horror and exploitation films of the '70s. With that language, rather than smart, modern social commentary, I found I could tell a different story about myself and my own time: a poetic diary of modern transience and transcendence.
There is a character in this story that is a vampire Orlando, traveling through time and space. But there is also a story here of a 35-year old artist stuck in a touring loop, and wearing a black wig. She is always up at night, jet lagged, playing late night shows - and by day she is quietly resting over an Arp Odyssey synthesizer while a black van drives her around Europe and America.
So this is my most fictional and most personal album. It's also the first album where I've started reconnecting with the goth and metal scene I started out playing in many years ago, by remembering the drony qualities of Norwegian Black Metal. It's an album of vampires, lunar cycles, sticky choruses, and the smell of warm leaves and winter.
Beautifully tackling loss and acceptance in a nutshell, WL's newest tune and accompanying visuals have the power to bring on mental calm and necessary contemplation. It's soothing reel of waves pairs perfectly with Misty Mary's ethereal vocals, creating a layers of hazy, intrinsic texture.
"Disintegrate" comes off of WL's sophomore album titled Light Years, due out on the 28th of this month on XRAY Records. The composition of the album is a point of interest, as it was originally intented to be performed live alongside 'Gandahar,' a French surrealist animation by Rene Laloux. WL decided to team up with various local artists in creating their own visual element to Light Years, using stop motion animation, stereoscopic photography and 3D point cloud scanning as some of the mediums and techniques.
A screening of Light Years the film will be at Laurelhurst Theater on October 26th, with their album release show taking place on November 11th at the Spare Room.
Guitarist and keyboardist Michael Yun spoke on "Disintegrate" to the Grey Estates, who premiered the track just last week:
'Disintegrate' is a song about loss. It's a goodbye with no goodbye, it's a possibility that becomes impossible. It's when the weight of the ocean is over you and you give in to it. The video is a simple meditation on the movement of waves. It's a single shot, from a single point with altered time. We filmed hours of footage in both slow motion and time lapse, but this continuous shot just fit the feeling perfectly. Words by The Deli Magazine
$5, 21 and over
1939 Ensemble is an instrumental trio from Portland, OR. With an unusual line-up: drums, vibraphone & noise. Drawing influences from Krautrock, Jazz & No Wave, 1939 Ensemble moves between ominous dissonance noise to sharp bombastic beats. The trio features Jose Medeles, David Conglio, and Josh Thomas.
At the heart of Mothertapes' music lies vivid melodic themes, heavy beats, and lush layers of programmed and live-looped instrumentation wrapped around intense guitar hooks and vocals. A live Mothertapes performance is an impressive show of workmanship in which Pete Bosack and Tommy Franzen build each song from the ground up, creating the sonic footprint of a much larger band. Rather than ceding control to the bloodless clockwork of sequenced loops, the band breathes life into the technology, eliciting an elastic, dynamic quality that has drawn the admiration of critics and earned the band a loyal following.
The creative collaboration of Pete Bosack and Tommy Franzen is entering its second decade. From the beginning, they recognized in each other an experimental spirit and strong sense of purpose rooted in a commitment to precision and musicianship. Their early garage jams led to the formation of their first band, Wax Fingers, and a debut album soon followed.
When Wax Fingers lost their bassist and, eventually, their second guitarist, Bosack and Franzen were back at a square one. Instead of recruiting new members, they chose to wipe the slate clean and double down on their original partnership, determined to fully realize its promise. They launched a new two-man band, Mothertapes, and began working on all-new material that would push their unique, progressive pop sound to new heights.
Astute listeners will notice the influence of artists as varied as Animal Collective, Radiohead,Matmos, St. Vincent, Battles, and Maps and Atlases. But such comparisons serve only as reference points for this thoroughly original duo. After ten years of collaboration, Bosack and Franzen regard Mothertapes as the culmination of their work together, a breakthrough project resulting in forward-looking music that is both artistically ambitious and highly accessible.
Blesst Chest is a trio playing instrumental, '70s-style prog rock. This band has enough heaviosity and groove to balance the asymmetrical bits. The music is rich and inventive, with the bass and guitar frequently playing synchronized melodic lines.
$8, 21 and over
Tupelo, Mississippi is the home of Elvis Presley, but even for those clued in on that fun fact, it's safe to say that few, if any, know much more about the city. Nestled in the northeast corner of the Magnolia State, and with a population of just over 35,000, indeed, Tupelo, like most small metropolises, is easy to overlook. Rae Sremmurd - pronounced "Ray-Shrim-er," consisting of real life brothers Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee, the first act signed to multi-platinum producer Mike WiLL Made-It's Ear Drummer Records - is out to change that.
Slim Jxmmi and Swae Lee were born in California, but moved to Tupelo at an early age, where they were raised in the notorious Ida Street housing projects, some of the worst, most crime-ridden in the state. Making matters worse, Sremmurd's parents split while the brothers were still young, a devastating turn of events that found the brothers, over multiple stretches, seeking shelter in abandoned homes scattered throughout the area. For a city with little history outside of its musical heritage, and in a state where two young kids short on role models could look up to the growing star power of in-state hero David Banner, music, from a young age, became a way for Jxmmi and Lee to escape the desperation of their surroundings. "When we were growing up, it was just about perseverance," says Slim Jxmmi, before flipping a quote made famous by Stark Trek character Richard Wakinyan. "Regardless of the situation, we couldn't let the haters win."
The movement started locally, with the brothers throwing parties and shows around town, often in the same abandoned buildings where they once stayed. The pair always had larger ambitions, though, and so the brothers, natural performers since elementary school, taught themselves how to record, make beats, and DJ, building enough buzz to earn an appearance on the popular "Wild Out Wednesdays" segment during BET's music video countdown show, 106th & Park. Back home, Lee and Jxmmi earned the attention of fellow Tupelo native P-Nazty, who also happens to be a producer signed to super producer Mike WiLL Made-It's Eardrummers Entertainment production team. P-Nazty introduced Rae Sremmurd to Mike WiLL, and the multi-platinum producer (Rihanna, Jay Z, Kanye West, 2 Chainz, Future, Juicy J) was instantly impressed by the brothers' energy and the quality of their music, signing the duo to his label, Ear Drummer Records. "When I met them," recalls WiLL, "they just had a real young dope energy about them. So me and the Ear Drummer team locked in the studio like we normally do, had a lot of fun, and cooked up some amazing music. This is just the beginning of our working relationship, and they've got a bright future. I believe in them."
Rae Sremmurd's first single under the Ear Drummer Records, "No Flex Zone," was a breakout for the duo, becoming a cultural touchstone throughout 2014 and entering Billboard's Hot 100 and Top 40, peaking at number 36, while earning the brothers a performance on the 2014 BET Hip-Hop Awards, along with a remix from Nicki Minaj and Pusha T, and co-signs from the likes of Kim Kardashian, Justin Timberlake, Juicy J, and plenty more. The follow-up, "No Type," has proved even bigger, peaking at number 16 on Billboard's Top 40 charts and earning the duo their first late night appearance, with a performance (a medley of "No Flex Zone" and "No Type") on The Tonight Show. To start 2015, Rae Sremmurd released their highly anticipated first album, SremmLife, with a top 5 debut on the Billboard Top 200 and a number 1 debut on Billboard Hip-Hop, and have since had "Throw Sum Mo," featuring Nicki Minaj & Young Thug, emerge as their third consecutive single to break into the top 10 at urban radio and second consecutive single, following "No Type," to peak at #1. With each new success, Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi have managed to keep a level head, focused simply on showing the world what two young brothers from Tupelo can achieve. "It's the energy, that's what #SremmLife is all about" says Swae Lee. "We bringing the fun back to music!"
Lil Yachty, from Atlanta, Georgia, gained recognition for his hit singles "1Night" and "Minnesota" from his debut EP Summer Songs in August 2015. He released his debut mixtape Lil Boat in March 2016. He is working on a mixtape with his group of frequent collaborators, the Sailing Team; a mixtape with LoveMakonnen and Pretty Boy Millionaires 2, a collaborative mixtape with Soulja Boy, Lil B, and Rich The Kid.
Harlem Hood Pope A$AP Ferg’s hit single “New Level” ft. Future has been certified Gold by the RIAA. The track has sold over 148,000 singles and has been streamed nearly 52 million times on Apple Music and Spotify. “New Level” ft. Future is off of Ferg’s sophomore album Always Strive And Prosper (A$AP Worldwide/Polo Grounds Music/RCA Records), which entered at #2 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop and Rap charts and #8 on the Billboard 200 chart. The critically acclaimed album received rave reviews from the likes of The New York Times, USA Today, Rolling Stone and more.
Complex calls “New Level” ft. Future a “stormy burner” while Noisey proclaims, “…both of these rappers are known for creating music that makes you want to run through a glass door, it's no surprise that ‘New Level’ is hard as f**k. Over a scathing bass line that'll make your skull rattle, Ferg and Future trade some fierce bars.”
After wrapping two co-headlining tours in early 2016 with G-Eazy and Tory Lanez, along with a series of festival dates, Ferg will bring his high-energy and charismatic set on his “Turnt & Burnt” North American headlining tour this fall. The 27-date tour kicks off on October 30th in Iowa City, IA and will make stops in major cities across the U.S. and Canada including New York, San Francisco, Toronto and more. The tour will feature support from Playboy Carti and Rob $tone. Tickets will be available for purchase via Ticketmaster this Friday, August 26th at 10 am local time.
Ferg is also gearing up to release his second collection through his partnership with Los Angeles denim brand, AGOLDE this fall. Keep an eye out for the collection with Ferg’s unique set of designs launching soon.
All Ages, 8pm
Wordstock: Portland’s Book Festival returns Saturday, November 5 at the Portland Art Museum and surrounding venues in the South Park Blocks in downtown Portland.
ADVANCE TICKETS are $15 ($18 day of), available now. Stay tuned for updates here: http://www.literary-arts.org/what-we-do/wordstock/. Youth 17 and under and/or high school students with ID enjoy FREE admission to the festival.
Join thousands of readers of all ages for a full day of activities featuring more than 100 authors, onstage events, pop-up readings, writing workshops, a book fair with 70 local and national publishing vendors and literary organizations, food carts, and more!
Wordstock is dedicated to bringing readers together to celebrate a shared passion for books. This event is a place to discover new books, to meet your favorite writers, and to be inspired and entertained. We look forward to seeing you all at this year's festival on Saturday, November 5.
The relaunch of the festival has been made possible by the support of the following partners: Meyer Memorial Trust, Miller Foundation, M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, Portland Art Museum, Oregon Public Broadcasting- OPB,Powell's Books, Inc., Multnomah County Library, Willamette Week, National Endowment for the Arts, Cole Haan, McMenamins Pubs, Breweries & Historic Hotels, Oregon Community Foundation, Marylhurst University,Poetry Foundation & Poetry Magazine Travel Portland, and TheStandard.
For the second year in a row, in partnership with Literary Arts, Wordstock Edition Back Fence PDX present Russian Roulette.
Featuring returning crowd favorites: Four-Time Winner Shannon Balcom Graves (PDX), Poet/Performer, Comedian, Founder of Write Bloody Publishing Derrick Brown (LA), Author of Turtleface and Beyond: Stories, Emmy-Nominated Filmmaker, Past Winner Arthur Bradford (PDX), and Comedian, Member of Lez Standup, Past Winner Caitlin Weierhouser (PDX) — along with soon-to-be faves: Books Editor at Buzzfeed, Co-Author of Knives & Ink Isaac Fitzgerald (NY), Spoken Word Poet, Visual Artist, Musician Anis Mojgani (PDX), Memoirist, Therapist Specializing in Love & Sex Addiction Kerry Cohen (PDX) and Slam Poet, TEDX Speaker Alex Dang (PDX).
Hosted by B. Frayn Masters & Mindy Nettifee
Music by Bobby D from XRAY
More about Russian Roulette and how it works: Each show begins with a full wheel of juicy story prompts. One of our 8 seasoned storytellers will be randomly drawn. To determine the random prompt for their story, they’ll spin the giant game show wheel. They can play or pass. If they pass another teller can steal their prompt. Then the risky part… each storyteller has only 5 minutes to come up with a true 5-minute story based on that prompt! It’s like we invented a new game called truth and dare.
At the end of the night, the audience will select a winner who will receive 50 bucks and some other cool prizes, like bragging rights for life. The winner will be invited to come back to the next show!
And one lucky audience member will also win prizes.
* Storytellers subject to change without notice
* Stories will quite likely contain explicit language and/or subject matter
21+
Sonic Cinema presents Jim Jarmusch’s new film that chronicles the story of The Stooges, one of the greatest rock bands of all time. Emerging from Ann Arbor Michigan amidst a countercultural revolution, The Stooges’ powerful and aggressive style blew a crater in the musical landscape of the late 1960s. Assaulting audiences with a blend of rock, blues, R&B, and free jazz, the band planted the seeds for what would be called punk and alternative rock in the decades that followed. Gimme Danger presents the context of the Stooges emergence musically, culturally, politically, historically, and relates their adventures and misadventures while charting their inspirations and the reasons behind their initial commercial challenges, as well as their long-lasting legacy.
Part of our Sonic Cinema series which presents the best in new and classic music documentaries on the big screen (with big sound!) A feast for the eyes and ears, the festival explores a wide range of musical artists, genres and styles.
$9
Tony Conrad is one the great American artists of our time, yet to the world at large he remains criminally under appreciated. Since the early 1960s, Conrad’s films and compositions have been the stuff of legend for artists and musicians everywhere. His vast, inter-disciplinary repertoire has single-handedly created and influenced major film and compositional movements. He performed in and recorded the soundtrack to Jack Smith’s legendary Flaming Creatures; he turned the paradigms of cinema upside down with The Flicker, a film composed of only black and white frames; his development and practice of Just Intonation and Minimalism through his work with Stockhausen and La Monte Young still has the music establishment scratching their heads; his pivotal role in the formation of The Velvet Underground has directly or indirectly influenced everyone who has picked up a guitar since; as an early adopter of activist public access television he democratized the emerging medium of portable video. In his later years he has continued to perform and make work that pushes the boundaries of reason for which he has finally begun to receive worldwide attention.
Utilizing intimate footage of Tony and his collaborators shot over the last twenty-two years, as well as his own archive of recordings and films, Tony Conrad: Completely in the Present mirrors Conrad’s own playfully radical approach to art making. The non-linear structure Conrad to wildly free associate his streams of consciousness, revealing an honest and humane way of navigating a remarkable, creative life.
Part of our Sonic Cinema Festival which presents the best in new and classic music documentaries on the big screen (with big sound!) A feast for the eyes and ears, the festival explores a wide range of musical artists, genres and styles.
$10 | Buy advance tickets here
SubSensory presents a night with LA's David Flores aka TRUNCATE, at The Liquor Store! It's Halloween weekend and costumes are encouraged. A night of dark grooves and spooky vibes as we get down with one of the most influential acts in modern techno music.
Featuring:
Truncate - 50 Weapons / Droid / CLR
Dmux - SubSensory/Translucent
Carly Barton - Blankstairs
About Truncate:
Los Angeles native David Flores is a man with many aliases, but his Truncate project has steadily become one of the most talked-about in techno. There's a classic feel to the simplicity and rawness of his releases, which have appeared on his own Truncate imprint, Luke Slater’s Mote Evolver label and 50 Weapons, alongside remixes for the likes of KiNK, Trus’ Me, Surgeon and many more.
Following on from last year’s deluxe reissue of Partisan Records’ very first release, Decline of The West, Emil Amos is back for his 13th record as Holy Sons. Also a member of seminal west coast experimental rockers Om and Grails, Amos has has teamed up with the perfect producer, John Agnello (Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile, Phosphorescent, Sonic Youth), to steer the ship toward a purity of sound and vision that has eluded him in the past.
In Emil’s own words:
“In The Garden is essentially John Agnello and I out at Water Music in Hoboken, New Jersey carving out the sound of a classic 70’s record if it had been made by a band with all its players being very focused in the hey-day of their career… but we ‘faked’ that vibe using one player. That’s basically what I learned 4-tracking in the 90’s… how to replicate live-sounding recordings where a band is reacting and playing off of each other in real-time.”
“This album was originally aesthetically based on the joy of pulling out old 70’s American & British songwriting LPs at night while you’re pounding whiskeys by the fireplace. The way those albums look and feel like a lost pillar of classicism. The drums are so round and close they sound like you could eat them …and there’s that feeling of pure pleasure you get from hearing guitar solos that were done in one take and slightly flawed vocal harmonies recorded on the fly before Pro Tools existed. It came from a lust after that time when mixes and the relationship between all the instruments breathed beautifully at the height of analog equipment.”
In The Garden is Holy Sons in its most potent, crystalline form. It is Amos’ statement album thus far, his flawless song cycle. Once it sees the light of day, it seems an impossibility that he will continue to have the luxury of hanging out on the fringe.
The music is rich and inventive, with the bass and guitar frequently playing synchronized melodic lines.
Mic Check is a Hip Hop Showcase every last Thursday of the month at White Eagle, with Live performances, drink specials, and good vibes.
w/
ILLMAC, THEORY HAZIT & LANDON LARSON
and a very special, first ever Team Backpack Portland Cypher W/ ILLMAC, MIC CAPES & JON BELZ
Hosted by StarChile
Music by Trox
21 and over, Tickets: $7 @ the Door
Mic Check is a Hip Hop Showcase every last Thursday of the month at White Eagle, with Live performances, drink specials, and good vibes.
w/
ILLMAC, THEORY HAZIT & LANDON LARSON
and a very special, first ever Team Backpack Portland Cypher W/ ILLMAC, MIC CAPES & JON BELZ
Hosted by StarChile
Music by Trox
21 and over, Tickets: $7 @ the Door
Sub Rosa Curation and Boys & Girls Clubs of Portland Metropolitan Area announce "Rock For Rockwood," a fundraiser one day music festival featuring musical talents from Portland, featuring M. Ward, The Thermals, The Helio Sequence (Official), and Emily Wells.
All profits are going to the new Boys & Girls Club facility in Rockwood, OR.
This show is general admission & fully seated.
Brian Mumform's Dragging an Ox through Water perform songs rooted in folk and country traditions, though ruptured, complicated, and complimented with broken textures of feedback, drones, tape hiss, and homemade oscillators. Chance elements and candlelight sensitive instruments destabilize customary electro-amplified-tightness & introduce improvisation to the recitation of these songs. Dragging an Ox through Water has releases out on Mississippi Records, Awesome Vistas, Sweet Dreams Press, Stank House, Musical Impressions, & more. Brian also plays in Sun Foot, Deep Fried Boogie Band, Jewelry Rash, & sometimes Jackie-O Motherfucker. He runs a small cassette & CDR label called Musical Impressions (or muim000).
Blesst Chest is a Portland, Oregon based trio playing instrumental, ‘70s-style prog rock. This band has enough heaviosity and groove to balance the asymmetrical bits. The music is rich and inventive, with the bass and guitar frequently playing synchronized melodic lines. Members are: Jake Morris, Jay Winebrenner, and Darrell Bourque.
Process is electro-ruckus Dylan White and Jeremy Hooton based in Portland, OR.
$5/21+
The Extradition Series presents fall concert, featuring works by Alvin Lucier, Michael Pisaro, Antoine Beuger, and Derek Ecklund
Alvin Lucier, I Remember — Jesse Mejia & CHOIR (voices & resonant objects)
Michael Pisaro, Six Stones — Loren Chasse & Matt Hannafin (stones), Branic Howard (stones & electronics)
Antoine Beuger, Three Drops of Rain / East Wind / Ocean — Doug Theriault (guitar & electronics), Pauline Theriault (piano)
Derek Ecklund, Columbia River Sound Map — Derek Ecklund (electronics)
$5–$15, SS
Please join us as we light up WareHouse ’23 for one fabulous day on October 22! This entire Saturday expo is open to the public and free to attend so invite your family members, friends and colleagues! Be there at 11am so you can meet Mayor Leavitt at 12 noon!
The Ultimate Community Business Expo brings together our community members and dozens of business owners and professionals from the Portland/Vancouver area, all in one place, for a full day of shopping, sales and business exposure. Come see all the wonderful deals, incentives, giveaways, products and packages that local businesses offer.
Shop local small businesses for exclusive offers
Discover exciting products and valuable services
Network, build connections and stay informed
Support local non-profits
Our community members and business professionals are going to make this an extraordinary expo! Invite your friends, colleagues & bring the family.
Don't Forget the Kids! Lots of Fun Activities!
Kids will have tons of fun with balloon art, face painting and glitter tattoos sponsored by Joy Entertainers. Plus, Parties Inc. has something exciting planned just for this event. So bring the kids and enjoy a fun-filled special day of shopping, connecting and spending quality time together.
Sun Angle can be interpreted as tropical psych phase punk. Diamond Junk – the debut full-length from Sun Angle –creates, as the title suggests, exhilarating tension between beauty and chaos, propelled by artful, animalistic urgency.
The synergistic three-piece consists of Charlie Salas Humara on vocals & guitar (Panther), Marius Libman on bass (Copy) and Papi Fimbres on drums (Paper/Upper/Cuts). Central and South American footsteps traverse through Sun Angle's veins, blending SST punk, Cumbia, and pop in a wash of psychedelic filth. Sun Angle ride the line between chaos and pop, making music all its own.
Heavy Duty By Josiah Hughes/Exclaim Magazine (Canada) Portland's Mattress centres on the claustrophobic bedroom soul of weirdo Rex Marshall and his synthesiser. But on Heavy Duty, his debut full-length for Edmonton's Reluctant Recordings, his minimal, dark electro beats take a backseat to his sinister songwriting. Opener "Pollution" sets the tone with its eerie sounds and hopeless lyrics, while "Go Ahead and Litter" almost gets dance-y, with its dead funk guitar drone. The real gem is closing track "Bring It Down," with its heavy synths and melodic singing, showing a little heart amidst the creepiness. Limited to 300 and featuring shiny artwork courtesy of the Doers' Sean Maxey, this is a rare treat in outsider pop.
On this evening at the recently opened tap room for Royale Brewing, The Garrison Tap Room, will be hosting a night that will feature some rare kegs form eight outstanding breweries.
Located in the St. Johns neighborhood of Portland, The Garrison will be pouring exclusive offerings from Royale Brewing, Hair of the Dog, Melvin Brewing, Burnside Brewing, Gigantic Brewing, Alesong Brewing, Upright Brewing, and Cascade Brewing.
All proceeds from the evening’s generously donated beer will go to Brewpublic co-founder Angelo De Ieso who continues to battle his brain tumor.
Debates! Debates! Join XRAY.FM, the Bus Project and Dig a Pony to laugh, gasp, point, cheer, or sit back in silence during all four of the 2016 Presidential Debates on the big screen. XRAY DJs will spin records before and after the debates and also during commercial breaks. Dig a Pony will offer drink specials, helping to keep spirits high during what is sure to be a very historic series of debates.
Join us for the following three debates, co-hosted by XRAY.FM, Dig a Pony and The Bus Project.
Tuesday, October 4th (Vice-President)
Sunday, October 9th (Pres)
Wednesday, October 19th (Pres)