To celebrate the 500th episode of one of Portland's most beloved radio shows "Hello Cruel World" and its creator and host John Barrington Jones aka JBJ, local musician Ritchie Young (of Loch Lomond) has organized a very special evening of music.
John Barrington Jones' "Hello Cruel World" is known for its unique themes and playlists, interviews and live performances. “Hello Cruel World” is broadcast on the local radio station XRAY.FM which aims to hold a boom mic up to the best and most distinctive of Portland.
Ten plus years of weekly "Hello Cruel World" episodes featuring outstanding playlists, interviews and live performances by local and touring artists can be found in the archives at http://www.hellocruelworld.org/
Ritchie Young & the Dead Lovers (of Loch Lomond)
play selections from Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs
Robin Bacior http://robinbacior.com/
By The Wind Sailor
https://www.bythewindsailormusic.com/
TOC Concert Hall 1422 SW 11th Ave. Portland, OR 97201
theoldchurch.org
All Ages / Bar with ID
All proceeds benefit XRAY.FM radio
Ritchie Young (of Loch Lomond) and his band of Dead Lovers (Emily Overstreet, Kate O'Brien, Carmen Paradise, and Luke Valley) cover a selection of songs from the iconic Magnetic Fields' collection 69 Love Songs.
Multi-talented lead vocalist of Portland's adored Loch Lomond, Ritchie Young is known for his own ambitious production, so assembling a group of excellent musicians to perform a selection of songs from Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs is fitting.
https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5041-69-love-songs/
All things Loch Lomond here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/artists/f89784af-5484-4937-80a1-fa1d9ff001df
Robin Bacior's songs come at you like a Viking ship sliding through a foggy dawn toward the light. Creating movement with her simple yet ballet-like piano, and accentuated by simple orchestral elements, singer/songwriter Bacior sets the pace in these quieter and fiery moments. Then she draws the listener back with soothing and reassuring vocals. JENI WREN STOTTRUP
http://robinbacior.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13ZarUCdnY0
By The Wind Sailor
https://www.bythewindsailormusic.com/
"Nice laidback folky pop. J. Wong’s songs have a nice -sincere sound that is most appealing…and they sound nothing like what you normally hear from your average up-and-coming underground rock band. Wong was a founding member of the band Rand-Univac and is now out on his own writing and recording music in a decidedly different genre. This guy has a great voice and writes what might best be described as classic folky pop. With the right marketing and luck…Wong could very easily find himself hugely famous…"
- LMNOP/BABYSUE
Join us in the upstairs bar at Doug Fir Lounge for XRAY.FM DJs - Mondays in January!
Monday, January 22nd, 6-10pm
DJs Cheyenne & Aaron of Reverse Couple-Skate
Spinning '60s and '70s Northern soul, garage/psych, space funk, sunshine pop!
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Ballet presents a series of FREE PRE-ballet classes for ages 6-9. The series are each four classes held once a week at TPB’s studio, 6250 SW Capitol Highway.
The FREE PRE classes introduce young dancers to the fundamentals of ballet and help them decide if ballet is right for them. TPB welcomes all new dancers in these commitment-free series with the goal of giving students the basic foundations and an appreciation of dance. TPB is devoted to nurturing, student-centered ballet training.
The final class acts as a placement assessment for the Curriculum Ballet program. Students must attend the full series (all four classes) but are not required to pay an audition fee. Parents who wish to enroll their children must complete a Registration Form. Class sizes are limited, and they may be cancelled if they do not meet minimum enrollment.
Dress code: Female dancers should wear pink tights, pink ballet shoes and a leotard of any color. They should not wear skirts or tutus. Male dancers should wear black tights, a white t-shirt and black ballet shoes.
Dates and times:
- July 10, 17, 24, 31 – Mondays 4:30-5:30 p.m.
- July 15, 22, 29, Aug. 5 – Saturdays 10-11 a.m.
- September 9, 16, 23, 30 – Saturdays 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
- January 6, 13, 20, 27, 2018 – Saturdays 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
To register: theportlandballet.org or 503.452.8448
The Portland Ballet, led by artistic directors Nancy Davis and Anne Mueller, nurtures young dancers from age three to 22. TPB students are trained with professional intent by a faculty that includes some of the nation’s finest dancers and choreographers, with experience at companies such as the National Ballet, the original Los Angeles Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Royal Danish Ballet, Trey McIntyre Project, and BodyVox. Professionally produced performance experience is at the core of TPB training. TPB graduates have gone on to professional dance careers with companies such as Grand Rapids Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Sacramento Ballet, Houston Ballet, St. Louis Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Batsheva, LEV, Ballet Memphis, and Ballet West
Dolly Parton’s turning 72 years young and we’re throwing her a birthday party. Join us for Dolly covers and inspired music by...
DOLL PARTY (Dolly covers by members of Havania Whaal, Melt, Wampire)
+
MATTY CHARLES & KATIE ROSE
+
DEAD LEE (Dolly covers and originals)
KARAOKE AFTERPARTY w/ KJ JESSICON
$7 / 21+
For Advance Tickets: www.eventbrite.com/e/happy-birthday-dolly-a-night-of-dolly-parton-tributes--tickets-42149449137
Join us in the upstairs bar at Doug Fir Lounge for XRAY.FM DJs - Mondays in January!
Monday, January 15th, 6-10pm
DJ Bad Wizard of Inside the Wizard's Hat
Groove out to an eclectic mix of '50s and '60s rock 'n' roll, soul, and psych.
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Ballet presents a series of FREE PRE-ballet classes for ages 6-9. The series are each four classes held once a week at TPB’s studio, 6250 SW Capitol Highway.
The FREE PRE classes introduce young dancers to the fundamentals of ballet and help them decide if ballet is right for them. TPB welcomes all new dancers in these commitment-free series with the goal of giving students the basic foundations and an appreciation of dance. TPB is devoted to nurturing, student-centered ballet training.
The final class acts as a placement assessment for the Curriculum Ballet program. Students must attend the full series (all four classes) but are not required to pay an audition fee. Parents who wish to enroll their children must complete a Registration Form. Class sizes are limited, and they may be cancelled if they do not meet minimum enrollment.
Dress code: Female dancers should wear pink tights, pink ballet shoes and a leotard of any color. They should not wear skirts or tutus. Male dancers should wear black tights, a white t-shirt and black ballet shoes.
Dates and times:
- July 10, 17, 24, 31 – Mondays 4:30-5:30 p.m.
- July 15, 22, 29, Aug. 5 – Saturdays 10-11 a.m.
- September 9, 16, 23, 30 – Saturdays 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
- January 6, 13, 20, 27, 2018 – Saturdays 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
To register: theportlandballet.org or 503.452.8448
The Portland Ballet, led by artistic directors Nancy Davis and Anne Mueller, nurtures young dancers from age three to 22. TPB students are trained with professional intent by a faculty that includes some of the nation’s finest dancers and choreographers, with experience at companies such as the National Ballet, the original Los Angeles Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Royal Danish Ballet, Trey McIntyre Project, and BodyVox. Professionally produced performance experience is at the core of TPB training. TPB graduates have gone on to professional dance careers with companies such as Grand Rapids Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Sacramento Ballet, Houston Ballet, St. Louis Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Batsheva, LEV, Ballet Memphis, and Ballet West
The NW Film Center & XRAY.FM present the 35th annual edition of Reel Music. Whether your passion is jazz, blues, folk, rock, electronic, world, classical—or anything between—we hope you find something to discover and inspire in this eclectic mix of films that celebrate great artists, sound, and image, and connect music and culture.
Find the full schedule of documentaries at https://nwfilm.org/festivals/reel-music-35/
The 4th Annual Girl Fest is coming to Holocene!
Founded in 2013 as an annual live music event, Girl Fest is dedicated to supporting talented women in music! Boasting a "festival style" line-up, bringing together artists of a variety of genres, Girl Fest offers a little something for every musical palate!
FEATURING:
Gifted Gab
Wynne
Paris Alexa
Fritzwa
Sheers
Dreckig
Hosted by Miss Casey Carter
$10 | All Ages
——————————————————————
Live Performances By:
Gifted Gab, Hip Hop (Seattle)
Seattle’s own Gifted Gab has the ability to create complex verses with variety in her sound, ranging from smooth melodies to strong lyrics. She grew up with constant exposure to music. From singing with her mother in the church choir to learning to play the piano at age 6, she quickly developed an affinity for memorizing and reciting rap lyrics.
Wynne, Hip Hop (Eugene)
At first glance, one would not expect this young, blonde to have achieved so much in the rap game. At age 20, Wynne has already garnered attention from a few of the most influential names in the industry, including Snoop Dogg and World Star, and when you hear her rap, it's no wonder why.
Fritzwa, R&B (Portland, by way of NYC)
Fritzwa's music is as unique as it is comfortably familiar. Groovy, funky and full of energy, pairing contemporary R&B beats with the vocalist's deep cutting, classic styling. Not a stranger to the stage, Fritzwa has opened for Ginuwine and Grammy Award Winner Anna Wise.
Paris Alexa, Pop / R&B (Seattle)
Paris Alexa's playful doo-wop pop is masterfully crafted using nothing more than a bit of technology and her voice. Many of her songs are done using no instruments, and indeed Paris Alexa’s strength comes from her complex vocal arrangements, ones with Motown and old-school soulful cues written all over them.
Sheers, Melodic Trip-Hop (Portland)
Melodicism and classical stylings converge in the brooding soundscapes of trip-hop trio Sheers from Portland, OR. Frontwoman Lily Breshears, a classical harpist and pianist, combines honest lyrics with tension-laden composition mixed with the grooves of Daniel Rossi on drums and the atmospheric textures of Aaron Stern on bass.
Dreckig, Kraut / Cumbia (Portland)
What started as drum lessons over ten years ago, between longtime partners Shana Lindbeck & Papi Fimbres, has culminated in this fun, two piece dance/club Cumbia infused, Krautrock band.
PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Ballet presents a series of FREE PRE-ballet classes for ages 6-9. The series are each four classes held once a week at TPB’s studio, 6250 SW Capitol Highway.
The FREE PRE classes introduce young dancers to the fundamentals of ballet and help them decide if ballet is right for them. TPB welcomes all new dancers in these commitment-free series with the goal of giving students the basic foundations and an appreciation of dance. TPB is devoted to nurturing, student-centered ballet training.
The final class acts as a placement assessment for the Curriculum Ballet program. Students must attend the full series (all four classes) but are not required to pay an audition fee. Parents who wish to enroll their children must complete a Registration Form. Class sizes are limited, and they may be cancelled if they do not meet minimum enrollment.
Dress code: Female dancers should wear pink tights, pink ballet shoes and a leotard of any color. They should not wear skirts or tutus. Male dancers should wear black tights, a white t-shirt and black ballet shoes.
Dates and times:
- July 10, 17, 24, 31 – Mondays 4:30-5:30 p.m.
- July 15, 22, 29, Aug. 5 – Saturdays 10-11 a.m.
- September 9, 16, 23, 30 – Saturdays 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
- January 6, 13, 20, 27, 2018 – Saturdays 11:15 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
To register: theportlandballet.org or 503.452.8448
The Portland Ballet, led by artistic directors Nancy Davis and Anne Mueller, nurtures young dancers from age three to 22. TPB students are trained with professional intent by a faculty that includes some of the nation’s finest dancers and choreographers, with experience at companies such as the National Ballet, the original Los Angeles Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Royal Danish Ballet, Trey McIntyre Project, and BodyVox. Professionally produced performance experience is at the core of TPB training. TPB graduates have gone on to professional dance careers with companies such as Grand Rapids Ballet, Pacific Northwest Ballet, Oregon Ballet Theatre, Nevada Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Sacramento Ballet, Houston Ballet, St. Louis Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, Batsheva, LEV, Ballet Memphis, and Ballet West
EXPLODE INTO COLORS W/ MAARQUII + JVNITOR / DJ YOLO BIAFRA
SUN, DECEMBER 31, 2017
DOORS: 8:00 PM / SHOW: 9:00 PM
ABOUT EXPLODE INTO COLORS = three weird aunts + basement party + drawing and sewing till our hands hurt but we keep on keeping on + lost mix tapes + lots and lots of dramedy. One of us currently plays with Kickball and some of us used to play in Thunder!Thunder!Thunder!, Hornet Leg, and Japanther. One of us sometimes dances with Janet Pants. We also make clothes, pictures of all kinds, videos, teach drums, and classify insects.
Photo credit: Megan Holmes
SAT 12/30
EXPLODE INTO COLORS / SAVILA / DANIELA KARINA
SAVILA
DANIELA KARINA
Renegade is a celebration of creative spirit and for each Fair gathers emergent and seasoned independent makers alike.
Renegade celebrates the holidays in Portland for the first time ever at Pure Space! Find one-of-a-kind gifts for friends and family, discover top independent maker talent from around the country, and enjoy a memorable Holiday weekend of local food vendors, seasonal cocktails, music, DIY workshops, photo ops, and more.
Renegade is proud to partner with CERF+ during our 2017 Winter Tour to help raise funds for their Disaster Relief Fund, providing aid to affected makers and artists from the recent devastating disasters from Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria and the wildfires in Northern California.
XRAY DJs will be curating your holiday playlist throughout the event, stop by the XRAY table to say hello!
Chances With Wolves are an American treasure. They host a weekly two hour radio broadcast on East Village Radio and Portlands own XRAYFM. Every show is amazing and they never play the same song twice.
DJs Kenan Juska, Kray La Soul and Mikey Palms are obsessive music miners who specialize in artfully arranging rare and unusual tracks. Their tag-line sums it up nicely: “Repping hard for haunting beauty, magic, and the weird.”
This is their first time DJing in Portland in forever and it's guaranteed to be magic.
21+ // no cover // no static
The Savage Lovecast returns to Revolution Hall for Dan Savage's popular sex-and-relationship-advice podcast! Join Dan Savage for another special holiday hole-aday extravaganza with Santa’s Pain-deer, Toys for Tits, A Gay in a Manger, Silver Balls, The Little Hummer Boy, Dirty Carols, Comedian Caitlin Weierhauser, Special Musical Guest, and More. Plus, get all your sex-and-relationship questions answered before the holidays!
XRAY is hosting a holiday extravaganza at The Spare Room with bands and DJs, encouraging attendees to glam or goth it up for the holidays. Or break out that ugly holiday sweater and pair it with some thigh high boots and eyeliner. Festivity will ensue, XRAY style!
Boys Keep Swinging (Bowie cover band), Vice Device, DJ Tobias Berblinger, and DDDJJJ666 of Hipsters Suck.
$10 for tickets pre-sale! (tickets may go up at the door.)
https://impactflow.com/event/xray-holiday-goth-glam-ball-6280
Half off for XRAY members--check your email for the secret code!
On Friday, December 15th XRAY and The Fixin’ To are proud to present a night of melodic indie rock from Portland’s very own Souvenir Driver, joined by openers Hawkeye and Mere Mention.
"Gooey reverb and dreamy vocals, making the listener feel like they're floating on a cloud." - IMPOSE MAGAZINE on Souvenir Driver
SOUVENIR DRIVER
souvenirdriver.com/
+
HAWKEYE
hawkeye1.bandcamp.com/
+
MERE MENTION
meremention.bandcamp.com/
$5 / 21+
When Grizzly Bear came to the end of the road with their fourth album, 2012’s ‘Shields’, the future was unclear. No dramatic decisions were made, no arguments were had, but there was a feeling as there always is with the foursome that a breather was required. The band who emerged in 2004 in Brooklyn, New York, have forever functioned as a self-described “democracy”. It’s equal and it’s fair but it can also take a lot of out of them. And so they went their separate ways and bedded down in different corners. Vocalist and songwriter Ed Droste adapted back to life in Los Angeles, his new adopted home and decided to distance himself from music and the industry, vocalist, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Daniel Rossen moved to a remote area of upstate New York and continued to write and record on his own, drummer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Christopher Bear continued playing with various projects and worked on scoring a TV series, and vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, and producer Chris Taylor decided to go West to LA after a one year stint in Berlin. He produced for other artists and made a solo record under the moniker CANT. Taylor, however, got restless. The band’s mediator since the beginning, his feet started to itch after the usual six months of downtime. “I kinda kept writing everyone,” he says. “Telling them that we should start making a record. I wanted to be making music with my band again. I stayed busy, I wrote a cook book, produced other people, but my favorite thing to do was work with my band. I was getting bored over here.” He laughs. While all four members were strewn across their various corners, he took it upon himself to start a cloud account – essentially a dropbox. The intention was to allow the band a gentler entry point for starting to think about coming together again. It was new for them, less pressurized, far more relaxed and a guaranteed prevention measure against creative stalemate. The dropbox was a home for inspiration, mood boards, ideas for music, demos, even songs. It was, however, quite a slow process, starting in March 2015. “Painfully slow,” chuckles Taylor. They did have one song – ‘Losing All Sense’ – that made it to the record, but Rossen was reticent to call this the beginning of something. The word ‘album’ was a forbidden utterance at this point in time. “We got into the water with one toe at a time to avoid freaking everyone out,” recalls Taylor. “Yeah this time around we came to it slowly,” agrees Rossen. “Tip-toeing towards a conversation.” “Chris Taylor started this motherfucker,” adds Droste. “I’m so grateful to him because I don’t know whether it would have organically happened otherwise.” Taylor even bought a guitar after five months of little progress and wrote in Big Sur. The song ‘Sky Took Hold’ got its start in one of those sessions. Taylor wrote the song ‘Systole’ during his time in Berlin, and it is his first lead vocal for the band. “I learned guitar so I could write songs for the band,” he says, as eager as he was then to be in conversation about Grizzly Bear. Once that catalyst came, there was still the question of whether or not it was going to work. “I’m of the mindset that I never know if we’ll make another album, no matter how good or bad things are,” says Droste. “In a way it’s a miracle this album happened because for a while it was to be decided. When it started to come together there were a lot of ideas. Some didn’t work. Eventually when things started to work we were like, ‘Oh my god it’s happening.’” That relief, that momentum, that sense of a band really relishing the chance to relocate their mojo is apparent on the album, which wound up taking two years to make, via remote writing trips taken variously by Taylor and Droste, and Bear and Rossen, then a retreat to Allaire Studios in New York in June 2016 once there was more of a cohesive collection of songs. That’s where they recorded a lot of 2009’s ‘Veckatimest’. In addition to Allaire, they recorded in Vox Studios in Hollywood and at Taylor’s LA studio in Echo Park. Rossen also continued to track parts for the record at his home upstate. “It was so exciting when it was starting to work,” says Droste. Perhaps what was different this time around was the communication barriers were set free. There was a nakedness to receiving each other’s ideas and a lack of tying expectations to particular results. The whole affair was positively zen. “I was coming at it like – I have to be open with everything,” says Droste. “Let’s try anything and let it go. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. Don’t be precious or get upset when other bandmates don’t like it. Keep trying.” The resulting fifth Grizzly Bear album ‘Painted Ruins’ benefits from having the songs develop in a completely organic way. “We had a lot of fun making the record,” says Rossen. “Even though there are serious themes we tried to keep the sound as light as possible. Maybe it’s a matter of being a little older and not assuming that there should be so much wrapped up in what we were doing.” That’s what immediately bleeds forth when you listen through to the eleven tracks. “Does it sound totally different?” asks Droste, champing at the bit to get the juggernaut started again. “More inviting?” Indeed there’s a deep warmth, a flirtatiousness to the sonic ideas, and a sense of playfulness that’s perhaps the most surprising of all. It’s a direct reflection of the joy they experienced while making it. It chimes with collective exhales, and the genuine love that came from reuniting with old friends. “You forget that you have this great thing going on with us, even though it can be really difficult,” says Droste. “When we finally got together it felt like there was a musical chemistry that was as real as it was when we were kids. That was thrilling in a way that was still the case,” adds Rossen. You could almost say that the band’s propensity to chuck lots of ideas at the wall to see which ones stuck was the closest an established act can get to tapping into that energy that exists while recording a debut. For all four members the results of the sessions were unexpected. Droste points to ‘Mourning Sound’ and closing track ‘Sky Took Hold’. “That song was fleshed out in a very different way, then one day they added an ominous horn section that repeats and it changed the whole thing for me,” says Droste. “That’s what I love about working with them. They just have ideas I would never have, and vice versa. It’s a challenge to be in a democratic band with strong opinions but I also thank god because we get all these different creative ideas that don’t come naturally. It’s very much four people. It always has been. It always will for as long as we continue on. These are the three people who continually surprise me.” Rossen came up with the title ‘Painted Ruins’. As usual, the band are more comfortable leaving the visuals, the lyrics, the themes to the listener’s imagination, so you can take from their art what you will. “I don’t relate to a lot of explicit storytelling music,” explains Droste, before making up something on the spot. “’Her name was Jenny and she broke my heart and then I went on a cruise…’ Ok, don’t know Jenny, haven’t been on a cruise!” Instead ‘Painted Ruins’ has a different meaning to each member of the band. “It’s the idea of dressing up something that’s falling apart and making something out of a situation that’s crumbling,” says Rossen. “In a way that’s how a lot of this music came together. Some of it was a pastiche and it found its way into a cohesive form.” There’s also clearly a connotation with the general breakdown that’s happening in the wider world, which can also be mirrored in the band’s lives as they reached their late thirties. “We all were hoping to achieve a sense of personal decay or breakdown representing a larger whole or situation, not necessarily writing topical music but writing personal music that could represent larger strife,” adds Rossen. For Bear, the album is about personal reflection. “Observing yourself,” he explains. “Seeing how you’re interacting when you’re going through change. It’s not a breakup record or a social commentary record, there’s a lot of sides to the human experience.” ‘Painted Ruins’ isn’t a passing pleasure, it’s a body of work intended to be lived in. Its psychedelic grooves, challenging composition and pensive lyrics require repeated listens and develop significance, attachment and deep-rooted appreciation over time. That said it strays from getting too intense or introspective. Some of the tracks take on a more personal bent. The likes of ‘Wasted Acres’ and ‘Neighbors’, the former of which is about Rossen’s life in upstate New York. “That tune started as a simple and direct lyric about collecting firewood with my dog,” says Rossen. ‘Four Cypresses’, on the other hand, with its refrain of “it’s chaos but it works” is more political, though the band would prefer to keep the overtones less explicit. Droste has been a staunch advocate for politics online via social media these past few years. The band recognize the importance of that but don’t feel that it necessarily needs to be written into the music. “As soon as the Election was over I thought about how valuable it is to be able to connect with other people through music,” says Rossen, who’s anticipating touring this record more than anything. “It’s even more valuable in this political climate, where you can impart a sense of shared experience, compassion, empathy or just humanity. You look at the news every day and it feels overwhelming and truly bleak, you feel like giving up. There’s a huge value in the ability to make something that connects with other people.” Having met with so many accolades that would have been deemed unfathomable to them in the early days, you wonder what Grizzly Bear set out to achieve with another album. They opened for Radiohead on their debut (“a total mindfuck” according to Droste). They played Radio City Music Hall on their last record ‘Shields’. Are there any tangibles they’d love to chase? “I’d just like to reach new people,” says Droste, simply. “I want to grow. A lot of writing has to do with selfish reasons. Getting shit out of your system, self-therapy. My favorite thing of all is the performing and the connection.” For Rossen, it’s all about the music. “If we can continue working together and enjoy what we’re making and feel that it’s vital to us, if we can do that in a sustained way that’s about as much as I can hope for.” Taylor, on the other hand, wears his heart firmly on his sleeve. “I’m excited that I’m better friends with everyone in the band than ever,” he says. “Life is too short not to enjoy what you’re doing. We’re in a lucky situation.
Chickfactor 25: a celebration of 25 years of music, friendship & community
with Rocketship, Kites At Night, and Lida Husik
Rocketship
Originally from Sacramento, Rocketship has been beloved among indie kids ever since releasing some early singles and A Certain Smile, A Certain Sadness LP back in the early-mid-’90s. Currently based in Portland, Oregon, singer-guitarist-keyboardist Dusty Reske is still making music these days along with Ellen Osborn (vocals, keyboards). The lineup tonight also includes Adam Bayer (drums), Angie Fritz (bass) and John Jessee (keyboards). They will be playing a mixture of old and new songs from their new/forthcoming album, Thanks to You. Two of the songs, “Outer Otherness” and “I Just Can’t Get Enough of You“, from the new record have been released, with more to follow. The album is being mixed right now. This will be Rocketship’s first live show in Portland since 1996 (which Dusty thinks was with Boyracer, Henry’s Dress & the Softies), so it’s a huge deal and honor that they’re playing tonight.
Kites at Night
Formerly known as Imaginary Pants, the Vancouver, BC–based Kites at Night feature Rose Melberg of Tiger Trap & Softies fame and Lost Sound Tapes label boss Jon Manning, who have released an EP together already under the original name and played at some chickfactor parties. This will be their first official show in Portland. They’ll be joined by Jen Sbragia on bass. You guys know that everything Rose does is golden so do not miss this one!
Lida Husik
Originally from Washington, D.C., Lida has released eight full-length albums, and other EPs, singles, remixes and collaborations since the late 1980s. Her most recent release was an EP called Future Ghosts of America (2016), a collaboration with Danish cellist-vocalist-composer Soma Allpass. Lida was on the cover of chickfactor 9 back in the day and we can't wait to see her play! She currently lives in Portland, Oregon.
BACK FENCE PDX: RUSSIAN ROULETTE
WED DEC 6 | 21+
DOORS 6:30PM | SHOW 7:30PM
CURIOUS COMEDY THEATER |
5225 NE MLK Blvd
FEATURING* 3-Time Winner from our July show, Works at Portland Public Schools, Broke Gravy Improv, Ghost Made Him Sick in the Most Haunted Castle in Ireland, Rode a Train in N. Korea CHRIS WILLIAMS, High School Teacher, Camp Director, Camouflage Expert RENEE JENKINSON, Two-Time Winner, Chef at Noble Rot, Can Sing the Shit out of Bad Company, Dad Swam Against and Defeated JFK LEATHER STORRS, January Winner, Veterinary Technician KAHLIE TOWLE, going up against formidable new challengers: Finalist in Portland’s Funniest Person Competition, Founder of Lez Stand Up, Extreme Jigsaw Puzzler KIRSTEN KUPPENBENDER and Member of That’s What She Said Queer Comedy Collective, Seasoned Performance Artist + Grandma in Training KATIE PIATT.
Produced and Hosted by B. FRAYN MASTERS & MINDY NETTIFEE
Music by DJ BOBBY D from XRAY
***
Laurel Halo has developed a unique take on electronic music, combining the machine pulse of hardware and software instruments (synthesizers, samplers, drum machines) with her own voice to address physical process, liminality and virtual violence.
Taking influence from the techno of her Midwest roots, Halo has developed a unique take on electronic music, combining the machine pulse of hardware and software instruments (synthesizers, samplers, drum machines) with her own voice to address physical process, liminality and virtual violence. Halo has also released more rhythm-focused music under the alias King Felix, also with clear lineage to the machine soul and dub techno sounds of the Motor City. Halo’s debut album “Quarantine”, was released on Hyperdub to critical acclaim in 2012, receiving such accolades as #10 Album of the Year in The Washington Post, and the #1 Album of the Year in The Wire Magazine.
Golden Retriever:
As the duo Golden Retriever, Matt Carlson and Jonathan Sielaff have explored an ocean’s worth of sound. Primarily working with the intersection of modular synthesis and amplified/effected bass clarinet, the duo has done eight releases for labels like Thrill Jockey, Root Strata, and NNA Tapes. Their music combines an intense emotional immediacy and meditative focus with strong melodicism and an organic, naturalistic approach to experimental electronic sound. Rotations features the duo expanding their sonic palette to incorporate a full chamber ensemble. The results of this stunning collaboration are meditative, lush, and emotionally arresting.
Strategy:
Multi-instrumentalist and programmer Paul Dickow has been making music as Strategy since 1999. From a musical family, as a youth he was exposed to everything from academic computer music to the synth pop and rap filling the airwaves at the time. A longtime participant in Portland's strange underground music community, (where it's not atypical for people to be participating in 3 or more projects which bear little resemblance to one another) he went on to play in a number of groups, most notably as drummer for agit-art-punk outfit Emergency and as keyboardist in Fontanelle. Currently, he is a member of Nudge and several other collaborative projects.