Hello Dear Readers,
Last Night I practiced and then was not in the mood to see any music. Tonight I practice and then practice again. I will see if I am able to bring myself to see any of the awesome looking shows:
Holocene is having it's annual Minigolf Art Invitational. This year, the music will be provided by Rafter and May Ling. Holocene is really good at describing their special events and this sounds like a very special event: "Willkommen zu Zukünftspielplatz, crazy golfers! For those of you who don't sprechen sie Deutsch, "Zukünftspielplatz" is German for "future playground", and it's the inspiring and resplendent theme of this year's Minigolf Art Invitational! That's right Portland, Holocene's beloved annual event is back for a fifth year of synthetic microcosms, boundless artistic imagination, and putt-putt mayhem. Though it may seem hard to imagine what could top last year's Minigolf festivities, where holes encompassed Heaven, Hell, the Willamette River, and just about everything in between (cf: Pancakes!), just wait til you see what we have in store for you this time around!
Some of Portland's most talented visual artists have set their minds and hands to work on the subject of next-dimensional, intergalactic, avant-recreation, and the results range from defying convention to challenging the laws of physics! You and your besties will have to navigate your way through hungry robots, a forest towering at 15 feet, and even a black hole! You might sink an ace in the hole alongside live dancers, or go all MJ (R.I.P.) and moonwalk around some celestial bodies.
On this playground of the future, anything and everything is possible -- time, space, perception, gravity, light, and movement all become objects of fancy, malleable instruments in a universe bent to the weird and wonderful will of the artist. Yet just as in any other kind of play, there's nothing like some healthy competition: so you--yes, YOU, the putt-putters--will be voting on the best holes, and the winning artists will go home with cash prizes! Speaking of prizes: look sharp, folks, as the best-dressed future-golfers among you will be showered with gifts! Also, for the snacky golfers, we'll have munchies galore! Spudnik, Potato Champion's new mobile french fry cart, will be rolling up streetside for your poutine fix. Inside the club, Lisa of Lulu's Confections will be walking around the course peddling some absolutely divine homemade cookies.
And if all this isn't tantalizing enough, we at Holocene also did a lil' bit of what we do best -- we booked some bands. April 13 will feature the clamoring mosaic-pop of Rafter, the Asthmatic Kitty signees and San Diego natives whose utter joviality and onstage antics put them right at home on the playground. The local love will be provided by May Ling, the sexy side project of Reporter's Alberta Poon and Dan Grazzini, whose breathy, pulsing synth pop gems are sure to have you tearin' up the astroturf. Both nights will also be graced with the dj stylings of many of Portland's finest, providing you the ultimate soundtrack for your golfing whimsy. All told, you've got no excuse for missing the aesthetic euphoria which will abound on this course!" The show is $5 before 7 PM and $8 after. The whole thing starts at 5 PM.
Doug Fir is having a show with Horse Feathers, Justin Power, and Dan Mangan (Vancouver, BC). Horse Feathers is a great band. There is no getting around it. Justin Ringle's voice is at the center of it all. It is at once rugged and raspy and beautiful. It is strong when it needs to be but also very delicate when the song requires it. You can make the same observation of the music that his band creates. He has hand picked a very good band consisting of Nathan Crockett on Violin, Catherine O'Dell on Cello, and Sam Cooper on all other instruments (banjo, glockenspiel, drums, violin, etc...). I have not heard the whole album yet, but I you can get your hands on a copy tonight at the show as it is a release show for the album "Thistle Spring". Justin Power makes pretty great indie folk pop . He has been doing so for a while now. I remember when I first heard him, I could not stop listening to his songs. Which was frustrating because at the time I did not know of anyway to listen to them other than myspace. Now you can listen to some songs that he has on a CD with The Portland Cello Project (Thao Nguyen of Thao and the Get Down Stay Down also is on that CD). Check him out for sure. I am not really familiar with Dan Mangan. But he's Canadian and they are a nice enough group of people. I know of several bands from Canada that are pretty good. Remember Sloan? He doesn't at all sound like Sloan. The show is $10-$12 and starts at 9 PM.
Valentine's is having a show with Holy Tentacles, Gavin Castleton, and Arman Bohn. I could not find anything in the way of an audio recording, but they describe their sound as "catchy math rock". I love catchy math rock. But the real reason The show is Gavin Castleton. I really dig what he does. What he does is combine many elements of various forms of pop music with a mastery of several instruments. His last full length "Home" is pretty good. His track "Coffeelocks" (hands down ine of my favorite jams of last year). Arman Bohn used to live in Bellingham and play in bands with members of Death Cab For Cutie. But then he stopped and they got famous and he moved to Portland. The show is FREE and starts at 9 PM.
If you see me at a show tonight, you must be mistaken. But if you really do think it is me, then please say "Hi".
-Ben
This was off the old album. You can look forward to the new stuff tonight.
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