In the last couple years, Sweden’s been popping out pop music as if the music blogosphere was paying them to do so. Miike Snow has the electro-pop playfulness of Jens Lekman and dark techno beats of The Knife. But, to describe them via their national contemporaries is unfair because Miike Snow’s accomplishments are noteworthy in their own right.
Band members Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg were once the production and songwriting team of Bloodshy & Avant. They co-wrote Britney Spears’s Grammy winning song “Toxic,” and they have worked with Madonna and Kylie Minogue.
The duo teamed up with American singer Andrew Wyatt in 2007 to form Miike Snow. They released their self-titled album in September 2009, which was greeted with critical praise and widespread popularity. On April 13th, the album will be re-released as a digital deluxe edition exclusively through iTunes. The re-release has new cover art and five bonus tracks.
Concerts of electronic bands are often known for their less-than-remarkable performances given the nature of a person slouched over a laptop, but Miike Snow typically travels with keyboards, guitars, drum sets, drum machines, vocals, and an out of control lights show.
Miike Snow might be returning to the Northwest for Sasquatch Music Festival, but after Portland, Miike Snow travels to two sold out shows in San Francisco. You better get your tickets fast before you have to wait another month for one of the best international acts to hit Portland this year.
Spanish ex-punk turned house music quartet Delorean will open. Doors at 7 PM, show begins at 8 PM at the Hawthorne Theatre. All ages. $14 in advance, $16 at the door.
Here what’s in the electro-dance-madness forecast starting this weekend and continuing into next week.
Saturday, April 3rd:
NIGHTCLUBBING at Holocene welcomes you into their special club with warm acid-house from Miracles Club, mysteriously cold disco synths from Soft Metals, and mood-modification from Brkfst Sndwch, all ending with hot, hot, hot love rolling from midnight till 3 AM with DJ duo Linger & Quiet.
$3 (free before 11 PM), 9 PM, 21+
Sunday, April 4th:
Back at Holocene for the second night in a row? Why not when local electro-geeks DAT’R hang out with touring NY electro-jokester-art weirdos Terror Pigeon Dance Revolt (there’s gonna be some seriously kooky antics… possibly a stuffed animal suit and bizarre light show–see video below) and get some synthy indie-pop to balance things out (Reverse Dotty) and finally add a little bluesy punk (The Shakes). Like I said, why not? It’s all pure entertainment.
Electro-pop duo (with live drums!) DoublePlusGood bubbles over at The Woods along with one man electronica, laptop show Cars & Trains who melds natural and mechanical beats. DPG is currently recording a new album–their first as a duo. Hear their poppy synth sound and read about how remixes are keeping them busy in the OMN interview.
$5, 9 PM, 21+
Wednesday, April 7th:
Rotture presents happy synthesizers and dance-y electro-pop. Sunny duo Van Go Lion pump out straightforward retro-electro-pop with Amy Paige’s assertive vox flying over the tapping, nimble fingers of Josh Loerzel on the synth and Mac. Electro-psych makers Pegasus Dream blast transforming jams with a pinch of experimentalization while retaining their pop sensibilities–never meandering too far. Keys and drum machines, download their free EP here. Hip-hop wisecrackers Thuggage drop hyphy punch lines on cuts about marshmallow Peeps and “Pimpimagery”–their brand of satirical social commentary. Today’s hip-hop is a joke, so why not laugh at it? But their music is no parody. Electro-beats ring from the NES-sampled “Bomberman” to the bobbing “Buttz.” Don’t take it too seriously, enjoy it.
Good + good = DoublePlusGood. And DoublePlusGood equals glitchy electropop that’s downright danceable.
DPG made their Dancipation Proclamation with their last EP, but the time has come for something fresh as Erik Carlson’s solo act has grown into two with the addition of drummer Andrew Nelson.
Twitching with poppy melodies and a maze of sequencing on the backing tracks, DoublePlusGood’s glistening synths run alongside the over-dubbed vocals and thick analog vibes.
With the simple love songs of The Postal Service plus retro-Erasure synths, DPG complicates with sampled vocals and a bevy of loops creating a cohesive, electronic dance party that kicks it up a frenzied gear with their new drums.
That addition is the biggest adjustment as the duo continues to work on their tentatively titled Here They Come, The Birds of My Youth tentatively out this summer. With The Beach Boys-influenced melodies and sounds, especially in the realm of thumpy, echoey drums, DoublePlusGood is finding that the remix is the best relief to the stressful obsessions that can overwhelm while laboring over a handful of tracks.
OMN spoke with Erik Carlson (beats, keys, electronics, vox) and Andrew Nelson (drums, backup vox) from their studio as they were mixing the backing tracks for their upcoming shows chatting about their next release… but until then there’s always the cathartic process of remixing your own songs with some of your influences.
I picked up Heart Drive Crash Vol. 1 at Jackpot Records downtown. What exactly is this–a mix of stuff that might be on the new album?
Erik: Kind of. We sorta had this idea of when we were promoting shows and passing out handbills and we kinda realized that people would take a look at it and toss it. Most of what we perform is new material–a lot of it’s from the last EP but the EP was only six songs long–so we just kinda wanted a way to introduce who we are to people when we’re walking around and meeting on the street. We don’t want to give everything away so we’ve kinda remixed some of the upcoming tracks and that’s what Heart Drive Crash is… kinda an amalgam of the songs that are going to be [on the album] mixed with the influences that we had on the upcoming record. Andy: Yeah, we kinda took a stab remixing our songs and Erik’s done a bunch of remixes for some cool bands here in town that are in his vault of remixes so we’re sticking one remix from a Portland band [on there as well].
So that’s Vol. 1 but now there’s a Vol. 2?
Andy: Yeah, they’re at the same record stores.
How many will there be?
Andy: As many as it takes till the record’s released [laughs]. Erik: [Laughs] I think when I brought the idea to Andy we didn’t really put any limits on was it was so whatever it becomes… until the record is released. Andy: We’re kinda looking at maybe beginning or mid-summer for the record so we’re gonna try and keep one of these albums coming out every month until that happens. Erik: It’s also been a cool exercise. The thing that is cool about remixing our own music is… right now I think the biggest thing in our spectrum is getting the album finished and those are sort of songs that maybe we’re obsessing over and there’s something almost therapeutic about a less stress sort of remix. Andy: We’re not worried so much about exact sonic quality or… you don’t have to stress over it. It’s just a matter of sitting down and workshopping it during the evening over a beer and see what comes up. So it is kind of therapeutic at the same time.
Where can people find these discs?
Andy: We’ve got them [for free] at Everyday Music (1931 NE Sandy Blvd), Tender Loving Empire (1720 Northwest Lovejoy Street), Jackpot Records Downtown (203 Southwest 9th Avenue), Music Millennium (3158 East Burnside Street), Albina Press (4637 N Albina Ave), and Holocene (1001 Southeast Morrison Street). There are some old ones at Mississippi Records too. Erik: And if you happen to run into us… Andy: That’s gonna be the staple, dropping them off at those places and if anyone wants a copy they can always email us at band@doubleplusgoodnews.com and we can give them digital copies of it.
Do you have them available digitally anywhere?
Andy: Gonna get them up on the website streaming so people can take a listen to it. Erik: Yeah, I think we kind of like the idea that there’s sort of a physical element.
Regardless, here’s a digital version of “Fools Gold Loop Line”from Heart Drive Crash Vol. 2.
Do you have a title for the new album yet?
Erik: Yeah, the working title has been Here They Come, The Birds of My Youth, which is a reference to the Finnish composer Jean Sibelius. I just finished reading this really cool book, The Rest Is Noise by Alex Ross and it’s basically a history of the past 100 years of music and I found it really inspiring. Jean Sibelius had seen birds throughout his entire life and he claims that when he saw these birds they corresponded to really significant [moments of] artistic inspiration. He reportedly saw the birds the day before he died, and he looked at a friend when he saw the birds and said, “Here they come, the birds of my youth.” I thought it was really weird foreshadowing and kind of a cool reminder of what was inspiring to him. I kind of related because a lot of what I’ve been writing about and a lot of the music that’s on the next album is from my childhood influences–a lot of The Beach Boys comes from my parents.
What can we expect from your new stuff musically? How have you’ve changed?
Erik: Andy being on the album is going to be a pretty huge revelation just because the live drums are really awesome [laughs]. They just sound so badass. We’ve been recording some of the drum tracks in the basement of this cool building in Portland–it’s the Ford Building on 12th and Division. There’s this really big concrete space in the basement. Andy: I think the idea behind this one musically is before Erik has been… well, obviously is still the sole creative factor behind what’s going on and there’s still a huge electro element… but basically when I started playing with him it was a matter of me listening to all his sequenced drum parts and trying to figure out how the hell I was going to play them live on the drums. I stressed about that for about four months before I could actually make them passable. As we started to play some new material that he’d been writing that wasn’t recorded yet and [he] kind of mentioned The Beach Boys influence–that kinda Phil Spector-y, kinda big thumpy, echoey drum sound–along with the songs he was writing, it just really made sense. But I think you’ll hear the same electro-inspired stuff, lots of synths, there’s still gonna be lots of percussive tracks going over the top of it, but [how] the songwriting and singing are arranged is sonically just gonna be a bit of a departure. Erik: It’s coming from more of an organic place–coming from synthetic drums and trying to make them sound live, where now most of the songs were conceptualized around live drumming.
DoublePlusGood in three words (besides the three already in your name).
[Loud extended laughter] Andy: Super, fun, neat? Erik: Yeah, you caught two creative-minded people in a completely uninspired moment. Andy: How about just “a lot of fun.” It sounds really cheesy and stupid but when we play live and after the shows and while we’re recording, even though it gets stressful, I think both of us just really enjoy the music and the process of making music and we love seeing people at the shows. We just try and have as much fun as we possibly can.
But that’s gotta be “alot of lot” with “alot” as one word.
Andy: Oh yeah, shit. You could also tell people that I suck at math. How bout “tons-o-fun”? There ya go.
Where’s your name come from?
Erik: It’s from the book 1984–it’s Orwellian. Andy: They have a thing called double speech. So it’s good plus good is DoublePlusGood.
How long have you been around?
Erik: DoublePlusGood has existed for five years now. I was a one-man band for about three of those years and in this current configuration, we’ve been playing together for a year.
How’d that band form?
Erik: When I was in college I had a group of friends that were singer/songwriter, indie rock guys and one night there was a show where someone canceled last minute and so they asked me to do it with like three days to prepare. So I just sorta whipped up a band name, put some tracks on a sampler, and showed up and played [laughs].
How did the latest incarnation begin?
Andy: I was playing in a band that had just recorded a record and right after we got it mastered the lead singer decided he didn’t want to do it anymore. I got a call about three weeks later from the guitar player and he said, “Hey this guy’s looking for a drummer because his drummer split before his CD release show, are you interested?” So I emailed Erik and we ran through some tunes and I ended up actually playing for his CD release show at Rontoms about a year ago. And we’ve been playing ever since.
What’s your sound in your own words?
Erik: Really melodic pop meets dance music. Glitch-pop.
Obviously Andy, you play the drums, but what other instruments do you both use to create your sound?
Erik: The better majority of the stuff is sequenced using synthesizers and stuff, that’s mostly my part of the band, and then I sing too. Andy: As far as the band goes, I just play the drums. Actually the upcoming album is going to be really cool. It’s the first album that Erik has had live drums on so we’ve been working really hard at getting my live tracks to kinda blend with the feel of the electropop stuff. Live it still works out really well and we’ve been trying to capture what the live performance is [like] on the record.
Who are your influences?
Erik: It’s kind of a broad spectrum. When I started I was really into Björk but over the years it’s kinda fluctuated back and forth. I like a lot of indie rock and folk and I kinda rediscovered my love in the last year for The Beach Boys. It’s kind of been our approach to melodic structures in songs–how it’s deceptively simple. Andy: Once you dig into those albums like Pet Sounds, you start to realize the complexity of the production style they were going after and how actually difficult it was to make those sounds back in the day. When you listen to them, they’re really pleasing to the ear and the drums sounds are awesome, the harmonies are great. I remember sitting down with Erik the first time we were talking about recording this and putting live drums in his new songs he was writing, that was one of the big things we talked about… trying to recapture a little bit of that [The Beach Boys sound] in his songs.
Favorite place to play in PDX.
Erik: Rontoms. We’ve played some really badass house houses. Andy: The house shows are so much fun because everyone there shows up, packs the room, and dances and doesn’t give a shit. Sometimes it’s a little harder to get people out to venues but it’s always nice to play those really nice venues with good sound guys.
Favorite bands around town.
Erik: I really like Guidance Counselor and we really like Reporter. Andy:Climber, they’re a great band. And Ape Machine is one of my favorite bands in town. They really just rock your face off.
Where can we see you?
Andy: We’re playing April 6th with Cars & Trains at The Woods and then we’re playing April 16th at The Knife Shop [aka the venue inside Kelly's Olympian] and that’s with a band from out-of-town called Mr. No–they’re kind of electronic rock.
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Get more DoublePlusGood downloads on OMN’s MP3 page.
Fresh on the productive PDX scene, Van Go Lion bounce pure, candied electropop ready-made for immediate dance parties “in your room, in your underwear, in front of the mirror, and on top of the bed.”
With synths that swoon and shiver, Van Go Lion is dancey and frolicking–always looking to the sunny side for some inspiration whether you’re aging (aka 25) and having a mid-mid-life crisis or ready for reckless merrymaking.
On the six tracks recorded for their self-titled demo, singer Amy Paige’s voice is commanding and versatile handling trip-hop ballads and feisty hooks as Josh Loerzel (and Mac) provide the layers, loops, synths, and thwacking beats.
Dirty pop pleasure or not, no one can deny a Kylie Minogue dance number, and while Van Go Lion demonstrates a fundamental first offering, their gratifying range of sounds and emotions are memorable and desirable enough to press repeat when the 20 minutes expires.
Breezy and childish, their moniker is also 80’s inspired–it comes from Zoobilee Zoo. With songwriting as undeniably catchy as Disney themes, these tunes make a great splash… let’s see where the ripples take us.
Van Go Lion makes their live debut on Saturday, February 27th at Ash St. Saloon alongside loop-ninja Tony Smiley and indie darlings Just Lions. Show starts at 9:30 PM, $5.
OMN caught up with Amy Paige to learn about Van Go Lion’s “retro-electropop” and where they’re going as well as the ubiquitous Lady Gaga and six letters from Amy’s home-Motownphilly: ABC, BBD.
Who is Van Go Lion? Where are you from?
Van Go Lion is a male keyboardist and female singer who write and produce electropop music in Portland. Josh is from Oregon, Amy’s from the Philly suburbs.
How’d you guys begin playing music?
Josh: My parents bought a piano when I was 8. I started taking lessons and was composing music in high school. I suffered through lulls in creativity throughout college and military service, but ultimately rediscovered it as a passion.
Amy: I was always a chorus geek and sang Mariah Carey in my room, but I was too shy to get up and sing by myself in front of people. Then in college, I got brave. I tried to do the band thing in New York, but it was way too dark and metal for me. It wasn’t until I moved to Portland about a year and a half ago that I decided to take music really seriously. This city kind of brings it out of you.
How did the collaboration begin? How long have you been playing together?
Craigslist. Isn’t that how everyone finds a band? I put up an ad after I moved to Portland, and Josh was the only guy under the age of 40 who contacted me. It was luck that we vibed so well, musically and as friends. At first we had a full band, but we broke off as a duo about three months ago. From there, we decided to focus more on electronic dance beats, synthesizers and female vocals.
What’s your sound? Who are you influences?
We call it “retro-electropop.” It’s pretty clear we’re a couple of 80’s dorks when you hear our music. It’s quirky, it makes you dance, and if you do it right, there’s nothing better than a good pop song. We listen to a lot of Prince, Tears for Fears, Hall and Oates, Eurythmics and early Madonna.
What are your favorites around Portland?
We loved playing Doug Fir last summer–that was awesome. We’re dying to play Holocene and Someday Lounge. And there are lots of great artists here… Mackintosh Braun, Guidance Counselor, Oh Captain, My Captain, Sex Life…
What else are you listening to these days that’s inspiring, enjoyable or a downright dirty pleasure?
Lady Gaga! She’s a dirty pleasure for sure–but she writes killer pop songs. Josh is really into Justice. Queen and Bowie are classic inspirations for us both. And if listening to Boyz II Men is wrong, then I don’t want to be right.
We have about an album’s worth of original material right now, and we’ll have another album’s worth within the next few months.
Where can people find or download it?
It’ll be on CD Baby, Amazon and soon, iTunes. It’ll grow from there.
What instruments do you play? What kind of equipment do you use?
Josh plays the piano and uses three keyboards. He also plays guitar, but stopped incorporating it into the live performance, because he sadly realized guitar solos aren’t actually cool. I back up my vocals with a tambourine and I’m relearning the keyboard. We’ve got MIDI boards, and the Mac has a lot of responsibility. He’s crucial. We love Mac.
How’s the live set up differ? Do you add a drummer? Or does Mac take care of the beats?
Mac takes care of the beats! Because we’re pop, we need the live set to sound as close to the recordings as possible. But we’re a piano player and singer first, and it’s important that we match what we do best when we get up on stage.
Are you nervous for your live debut? Or rearing to go?
We’re so excited. People are really starting to catch on to our sound. And if there are any jitters, that’s what shots are for.
Any chance of feathers, fur and face paint for your debut?
Haha! Honestly, I don’t think we could pull off feathers, fur and face paint. But sneakers, hairspray and glitter, that we can do!
Where else can we see you?
Our new website. And we’ve got a couple more shows lined up, one at Kelly’s Olympian on March 18th and another at Rotture on April 7.
Van Go Lion’s mission statement in one sentence. Go!
To add more substance to pop, and also make pop more…something…in Portland’s indie music scene. More accepted? I don’t know if that’s the right word for it. But we know we may have some convincing to do, and we’re totally okay with that.
Rollicking, all ages dance presents itself on Saturday, January 30th at Backspace with devastating electropop from DoublePlusGood, Jeffrey Jerusalem, and Quiet Countries.
DoublePlusGood made a Dancipation Proclamation on their latest EP and they’re roaring to make another. With sugary nonchalance and Erasure synths, they’ll be starting Saturday night on KLC Radio at Lewis & Clark where DPG’s Erik Carlson says, “We’ll be passing out mix tapes (CDs) on campus a few hours before and have those same CDs available at the show for free.” The tapes, uh CDs, will feature some remixes and music that’s going to be on their upcoming album (out this summer).
With vocal samples stuck on repeat and frisky disco beats, Jeffrey Jerusalem throws back and dances down with humorous entrapment. This one man drops damn good beats that will make you shake your seat, and on Saturday, he’ll be releasing a remix CD featuring recent mixes he’s done for other artists.
Plus, there’s more to celebrate: YACHT just announced that JJ’s Jeff Brodsky (also of Inside Voices) will amplify their new backing band, The Straight Gaze, for their upcoming tour.
Finally, Quiet Countries is an experimental shape-shifter merging IDM and hip-hop, instrumentation and electronics. The solo project of Leb Borgerson (who also plays guitar with Alan Singly & Pants Machine), Quiet Countries is a beat looping lord and a Holocene Beat Off winner. Leb will rock the tenor guitar alongside his loops and sing.
Be ready, it’ll get sweaty so enjoy yourself kids!
The boys from Deerhunter have some steep April 12th indie competition stacked up against them. Other Coachella-attendees Passion Pit and Mayer Hawthorne will be rocking dance-soul at the Roseland while La Roux bring their flaming, UK synthpop to the Wonder.
And just days before Hockey (April 10th) and King Khan & The Shrines (April 11th) destroy the Wonder while Miike Snow romps through the Hawthorne Theatre (April 14th) on their way down south.
But on their way north, Yeasayer stops in at Wonder (April 19th) and you better believe there’s more to come!
The show represented the Portland showcase of Lynn’s already nationally acclaimed fourth album, From Pillar to Post, and the debut of Cars & Trains’ sophomore album, The Roots, The Leaves, which comes out on January 24th. The Gentry, now sharing backup duty for Logan with Cars & Trains, showcased this new synthesis last week as well.
The performance, with Lynn backed by Cars & Trains, was honest and a little gritty but fresh, while at the same time evoking a throwback to Mates of State’s My Solo Project. Lynn’s soulful, slightly melancholy vocals were contrasted with happier, upbeat backup, creating a push-pull phenomenon, which gave the music depth and interest. The sound this duo produces is more than superficial–you have to think deeper to get it as a whole, which is refreshing, and likely why it’s frequently awarded the emotronic title–emotionally open, complexly happy-sad.
At the end of the show The Gentry joined the rest of the musicians on stage for a finale. While The Gentry opened the night with their own set of sucker punching beat-infused rock, they closed by backing Lynn and changing the overall story. The combo of Lynn and Cars & Trains says, “Here are some painful things, but what the fuck, let’s dance it off!” The combo of Lynn and The Gentry says, “Here are some painful things, let’s break a hoe… what?” Exhibit A: What one does. Exhibit B: What one’s Id would do.
The whole experience left the audience eerily aware of Lynn’s inner workings, which I think is why he’s so relatable.
If you’re not sure about this, then you’ll never be sure of anything in your life. You are destined to be a wavering, waffling fool. And not in the Belgian way.
So splash cold water on your chops, slap your cheeks, and squirm into some skinny jeans. This is Friday and it’s NIGHTCLUBBING at Holocene with moody, rainy dance from Reporter, electro-acid-trash with Miracles Club, and opener Brkfst Sndwch getting weird, psych-y, rock-y, and disco-y alongside hosts Linger & Quiet who’ll slather and sauce the party all night long.
Need I say more? Okay. Reporter is like a cone from Potato Champion (which I might mention is nearby Holocene). They can never pick a dipping sauce so they choose to blend rosemary truffle ketchup with satay sauce and rémoulade. Really, it’s not as bad as it sounds… talking about Reporter here, and not the actual sauce combination. They are a blending, bending electro-rock, dance party with pearly vocals and smacking guitar riffs.
What else? Miracles Club: the chromatic, house-a-licious duo with “a new 12″ in the works that will have all the Scandinavian bloggers crawling all over themselves to first ring in this NEW PORTLAND PSYCHEDELIC HOUSE MUSIC PHENOMENON!!!”
The last time these two shared a bill, it was in a sweaty Green House basement where Hush Puppy stuffed animals hung from the rafters and jugs of Rossi were sloshed about as euphoric dancers jostled in the cramped space.
These boys can make you move.
Electric pulsations and poppy melodies define DoublePlusGood’s carefree style. DPG shows signs of The Postal Service but with stronger vocals and their fast cohesion of layered synths and effects. Circuit bent synths and glittering xylophones produce suspended love songs that need no lyrics to relay the message.
Very International Love hits you like an invisible wall with a barrage of BPM’s that’ll make you blink and flinch like staring into a strobe. Rub your eyes or ears, regain your senses, and let their waves of electro-dance toss your body around the dance floor. It’s an electronic romp punctuated by damnable beats, ravaging riffs, and knockabout synths. If you’re not palpitating, you’re doing something wrong.
Megan Danielle’s affected voice has a magnetic quality that draws you to Mnemonic’s calm electro-indie. As the drums chatter like stifled murmurs and the synths moan, Danielle’s vocals recall Emily Haines and fall like a drizzle rippling the unbroken surface of a placid lake.
Come to Rotture for pop-ecstasy, all-out-dance, and mellow sweetness on Thursday night.
As Strength took the stage, party poppers were handed out to celebrate the culmination of Superfresh Day 2 at Rotture.
But the kids couldn’t wait for the climax of Strength’s set. The poppers blew prematurely as the band got down on the slow, “love jams,” “Let’s Cruise (In A Non-Cruisin’ Zone),” and the super-sexy “Brandy.”
Flashing signs of a less abrasive, more melodic Ghostland Observatory infused with the delicacy, dance and soul of Prince, Strength radiated their endearing, warm presence across the all ages crowd.
Strength slathered on the disco dance grooves like early MJ, and their cover of The Romantics’ “Talking In Your Sleep” fell seamlessly into their set as if were written just last night.
Vocalist Bailey Winters sported translucent pink glasses that belonged in an X-Men comic book, and the trio poured out some burly funk and soul from the heart of skinny white boys. Their new 7-inch single “Metal” was gloriously repetitive and segued into 2 minutes of spasming punk rock. The much-too-short set closed with the suspender-shaking “Blood.”
DC stands for Detective Comics, District of Columbia, dream catchers, and Deelay Ceelay. Delaney and Chris of Deelay Ceelay take artistically rendered film, synch it with ambient soundscapes, and add drums, drums, drums.
Two guys on two drum kits backed by an empty, colorless sheet, DC brings blooming life with their projections, making the seasons change, twigs break, and fingers paint. A kaleidoscope of images rushed towards the audience as DC rose to blinding pinnacles and fell to hushed abysses full of forest nymphs in Alice’s Wonderland, waving Chinese fans daubed in electric pigment.
Lost in the fog at times, Deelay Ceelay showed why a simple, white strobe will never lose its cool factor. Watching the sticks jerk in shattered slow motion, dreamcatchers twirled and melted and melded to the mind-bending journey on screen as organic ambience gave way to brash hip-hop breaks.
Sampling Jay-Z and The Knife, the boys thumped so hard that Glass Candy’s lone balloon (still stuck in the rafters from last night) fell and flew around the room. Deelay Ceelay present the perfect solution to boring club nights. Any banging track becomes more banging with live drums, so add Deelay or Ceelay to your next DJ set for a fury unattainable with only speakers and subs.
Dat’r navigated a sea of electro-geek gadgets, laptops, and joysticks strewn across their table top while blasting bouncy, percussion-heavy loops. It was digitalized collision, noise overindulgence, and shouted, repetitive lyrics in front of live video with looped hand claps to intriguing effect. Basically, I’ve never seen a duo with so much gear, including globose lightbulbs that flickered with the musical current.
Like all great nerd-electro-rock, Hooliganship generated stares and smirks, yawns and chatter, and most importantly, manic dancing. On synths and guitars, Hooliganship exhibited their video production where digital confetti snowed inside your AutoCAD application on a space station. With synchronized creeping and flailing of rubber bodies, Hooliganship was like a Devo arcade game, either addictive or annoying according to your individual tastes.
The boys from Starfucker/Pyramiddd and Guidance Counselor flexed their Fake Drugs with simplistic drumming, big synths, and Keil Corcoran’s wild, screaming antics on the mic, jumping into the audience and rustling some tail feathers. Making music for race car drivers on speed, Fake Drugs were loud, fast and heavy with Keil’s screeching vox barely squelched by the raging electro-lore.
There was hardly a soul that Jeffrey Jerusalem didn’t know how to make dance as he opened with smashing dance hall hooks over his booming Falco voice and awkward Prince yips. Wildly high-stepping while rattling his red LED-rigged tambourine, JJ was riotous and playful like a basket of kittens. After a pounding tin can, afro beat breakdown, the one man crowd packed his gear as “Like A Prayer” kept the dancers from wandering as his set ended.
Hoots and applause from all the bands went out to Atole’s Manny Reyes for making Superfresh a triumphant success for Portland electro-dance-noise-rock-glory.
Santa obviously didn’t check his list twice if you didn’t get these in your stockings, clogs, or near your radiator.
There’s already too much out there written about these 5 albums and rightfully so. Whether they be low-fi-electro-newcomer dreamboats, hardened indie popsters drenched in French flavors, or my favorite indie folker taking a symphonic approach in his artistic adoration of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, these 5 made my year. In no particular order, I bless the following 5 :
Sufjan Stevens — The BQE : This man is my love. He amazes and stuns every time–this time with a mixed-medium artistic exploration about a stretch of concrete that included an orchestral performance and film. And rumors still roam that Oregon tops the list of the next great state he’ll document in song (although those rumors are almost 5 years old… but we can still wish, can’t we?).
Metric — Fantasies : Lovely Miss Emily Haines and company released another devastatingly poppy effort. Nothing new, nothing groundbreaking from the Toronto crew, but damn it’s catchy and they showed PDX a few weeks ago at the Crystal.
And since I can’t resist adding a sixth… it goes to Rodrigo y Gabriela — 11:11. Although not as stunning as their debut, 11:11 holds its own and if you’d seen them live at the Schnitz this fall, then you’d understand why lightning strikes every time speed metal touches classical Spanish guitars.
More importantly, what happened in Oregon this last year?
Hockey — Mind Chaos : Oh-so-hip dance rock from these awesome new wavers. They’re finally getting some recognition and gaining steam worldwide nominated for a MTV Europe video award this year. And they just opened for Passion Pit here in PDX.
Starfucker — Jupiter : Even though it was just an EP, none of us could just wait while the boys meddled around changing names and touring Amsterdam.
YACHT — See Mystery Lights : Jona Bechtolt picked up Claire Evans and released their glitch-pop, electro heart attack on disc for DFA Records, remixed Wolfmother, and then took Japan by storm. Bam! Not bad for a couple of triangles.
Stephanie Schneiderman — Dangerous Fruit : She hooked up with Keith Schreiner (Auditory Sculpture) and made some sexy, sultry, soothing trip-hop tinging with poised ambiance to make aural moods in my mind and body. Relaxed and delectable, Stephanie is a long way from her female pop rock with Dirty Martini and she’s unclasping cocktail hours at Jimmy Mak’s starting in February.
Logan Lynn — From Pillar To Post : A Midwest to PDX transplant, this emotronic man got scooped up by the Dandys’ Beat The World Records and made some sweet electropop. Sad lyrics married with happy beats, Logan will be around the Doug Fir on January 7th and told OMN his story before his November album release party.
May Ling at the Old Town Block Party with Lee's Association Lion Dance Team. Photo by Mallory Freed.
But who cares? This is all old news. Here’s what’s happening in 2010.
In ORE : May Ling are already blazing through their second recording and you can expect a spectacularly colorful music video for “New Year” featuring Portland Lee’s Association Lion Dance Team (and they’re on tap January 2nd for Rotture’s Superfresh) while teammates Explode Into Colors are working on a full length after releasing a trio of 7 inches this year and gearing up for SXSW. Get the lowdown on both when OMN interviewed ‘em in November.
And there’s material to be expected from the recently christened PYRAMIDDD (ex-Starfucker) as well as something magnificently electro-dancey from Very International Love, also available in a live format on January 7th at Rotture.
In the rest-o-the-world : We have the debut from the electro-icy Parallels from Toronto, a new LCD Soundsystem, and after 7 years of hibernation, more Massive Attack!
Radiohead just announced they’re entering the studio and The Strokes already did that studio thing, so when’s the new album out?
Happy Holidays. It’s just a shame Arctic Blast didn’t make an appearance this year.
– Chris Young : Associate Editor // DJ/Electro Editor
Logan Lynn makes emotronic, electropop. A gay man from America’s heartland, raised in a family of cult-like, born-again Christians, he’s found a way out of some dark, lost days.
Influenced by folk music growing up and DJs in Chicago, Logan’s demo was titled This Is Folk Techno. Sentimental lyrics paired with capricious electro-beats, Logan’s sound ranges from dejected to dancey, creating moods that resemble The Postal Service.
Relishing in Portland’s creativity, Logan is signed to The Dandy Warhols’ label Beat The World and is becoming a people person.
He celebrates his new album From Pillar To Post with a listening party on Sunday, November 22nd at Jinx Bar with The Dandy’s Zia McCabe spinning records as DJ Rescue, but before the drinks, Logan chats about being emo, hiding under the sheets, and grandma’s adages.
Listen to “Feed Me To The Wolves” from the new album.
Are you emo? What’s wrong with that word? Or is it just right?
Well, that depends. If “emo” is short for “emotional” and you are asking if I think my music is that, I would answer “yes.” If you mean “emo” in the traditional sense of the word (aka 18-year-old high school kids wearing shit tons of eyeliner and whining about their girlfriends and parents), then the answer is “no.” I’m fine with the word having been slowly attached to me over the years… I think that, as the definition changes with the addition of “emotronic” and other sub-categories within the genre, it makes more sense. I have made peace with the fact that I am hard to categorize at times, both in music and in life.
Who is Logan Lynn personally? Musically?
Well, I’ve spent years trying to make those two match up. I think I am finally there these days, or at least on my way to being there. My main goal for myself both musically and personally is to exist in a place of transparency and truth. I believe that the only way we can ever really be free is to look at ourselves honestly and project that truth into the world, however ugly or beautiful it might be looking or sounding at any given moment.
Similarly, musically, I am an open book. I want people to either connect to me and my tunes with the full story or decide that it’s not their bag, having heard me as I really am. I’m pretty sure that the day I start candy-coating my lyrics will be the day I stop caring about music and having listeners. Bottom line: I’m an imperfect work in progress and am fine just being that during my time here… so long as I am always learning, always growing, and doing my best to not repeat the same mistakes over and over, I’m into it.
What kinda music do you make? How did you develop your sound?
I have always fallen into the electropop category, though I tend to move around within that genre quite a bit. By 1996 I had DJ’d other people’s music in the Midwest party scene for years and always listened to folk music and sensitive female vocalists growing up, so when I started writing songs of my own there were elements of both worlds of inspiration brought into the mix.
I hooked up with a Portland producer named Pfog in 1998 who had gotten his hands on a demo I had self-released called This Is Folk Techno. We spent a year or so working on GLEE, which was released in 2000, and I have since worked with a bunch of producers, each time changing the sound of the music a bit.
The instrumental side of my sound develops as I get the opportunity to work with other talented folks who know how to do and play things which don’t fall under my expertise. My lyrics and vocal work tend to grow sonically as I push myself out of my comfort zone, let go of my deep-seeded fears about being exposed or rejected, and grow personally.
There’s a bit of a dichotomy to your music. Uppy beats paired with sad lyrics.
Yeah, I’m guessing that is partially about my dance music influences creeping in and partially a protective mechanism for myself. I write about my feelings as they are (as opposed to how I wish they would be) and it’s scary to put that out there with people you know, much less the world at large. With my songs, I tend to dive headfirst into my darker parts at times and let people just crawl into my head with me to check things out for themselves. The idea that people can go there in an enjoyable way makes it easier for me to put my words onto paper or into the air in the first place.
I like that I can have more than one type of listener and that the songs themselves can be absorbed in different ways by the same listener, depending on the day. If you feel like dancing or if you feel like going fetal in your bed under the blanket with headphones, it can work for both.
I make music to clear my head, to shrink my world to a manageable size, to not feel so fucking all alone all the time. It’s nice to know that other people are finding a home with my songs and feeling these same sorts of feelings. The connection that is made there goes both ways and has been really life-changing on this end.
How does your music help you release and express yourself?
It used to be that the only time I was able to be truthful about how I felt was through my songs and writing. That’s not the case anymore, but I started making records for that reason alone, never really thinking anyone would ever hear them aside from my friends, family, and people who I could not otherwise communicate with. It started as a safe way for me to get the shit that was literally killing me out of my skull so I could move past it, and has continued to be that sort of outlet for me. Once I have turned my broken feelings into a story or a physical product of some sort, they tend to start to fix themselves. It’s like therapy, only super public.
Tell me about Portland. We all love it here. Why do you?
Yeah! I love it here too. I moved here in ‘96 back when what is now The Pearl looked like an abandoned railway system and the air smelled like rotten Spaghetti-O’s from all the breweries. I got here just as the current music scene was really starting to form and got to watch it grow into what it is today and be a part of it as it formed. I’ve moved away a couple of times since for brief stints in bigger cities, but I always come back. It’s clean, beautiful, quiet, inexpensive, you don’t have to pump your own gas, and there’s tons of stuff going on. How could I ever move?
How did you end up in Portland?
I moved here from Kansas City to go to school. My parents lived out here and I had come out to visit. It took one magical night at The City nightclub during that trip and I had decided that PNCA was the only school in the entire world. I ended up moving here shortly after.
How did your upbringing influence your music?
I was raised the son of a preacher in the Church of Christ, which was a very cult-like section of the born-again world… at least where I was in rural Nebraska. Most of the fears and difficulties I have faced as I have tried to move into adulthood were adopted back then. I grew up feeling alone, hidden in plain sight. I could not be myself in that environment so I had to lie about who I was, which led me down a really dark path for many years. That darkness and those feelings of isolation and regret all play into my writing now and always have. I think, in general, it’s unsettling to turn your back on everything you’ve ever known and break out on your own. It certainly was for me.
What’s the connection to the Dandys? How’d that happen?
In 2007 I was working with a company in Portland that was designing and building stores for American Apparel. I was in Los Angeles on business for a photo shoot with photographer Ray Gordon and gave him my CD. He liked it and it just happened to turn out that he was good friends with Courtney (Taylor-Taylor) from The Dandy Warhols. Ray ended up passing the CD along to him and, from there, they came to my show for MusicfestNW and we set up a meeting. I came by The Odditorium later that week and Courtney told me about the record label they were starting and asked if I’d be interested in making my record there and releasing it on Beat The World. I think I said “Hell Yes” or something and the rest is totally awesome history.
I’m confused. Why have I read things about From Pillar To Post being slated for release in 2007? In any case, tell us about the new record and how it came to be.
Yeah, it’s confusing. I was about to release the record on my own in 2007 right when I got signed with Beat The World. Courtney’s advice was that I “shut it down” and re-make the thing properly in their studio with their engineers, which I did. It had the same title and a few of the same songs, but it ultimately turned out completely different than it was before. Listening to Mr. Taylor-Taylor in 2007 was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Anyway, it got pushed back and we ended up taking our time with it. From there, the release has changed, bigger players have come on board for distribution and such, dates have changed, etc… but the end result is light years beyond what it would have been and I’m really glad it has worked out the way it did… confusing pushbacks and all.
Listen to “Write It On My Left Arm” from the new album.
What’s the significance of the album title?
My grandma used to say the term From Pillar To Post when describing her busy day, or someone whose life had run amuck at church or in the family or whatever. It stuck with me through the years and it took on some personal meaning as I started to run amuck in my own life, burning bridges as I crossed them, hurting everyone in my path. The record is about my journey through the ending of my relationship, my struggles with addiction, and my determination to find truth and light amidst lies and darkness, both internal and external. The record is all one story broken up into segments with song beginnings and endings, but is a snapshot of my life from that time.
What instruments do you play? How did other artists help you on your new album?
I fancy myself a singer/songwriter and I can play very basic keys and guitar, mostly from having lessons when I was a kid… just enough to build the framework. I played most all the instruments on my records before 2007 rolled around and I started working with Carlos Cortes from Portland-to-Brooklyn DJ Collective Assemble The Empire. Our connection was fast and he was on-point with what I was wanting to see happen with my music.
We worked well together and, through our network and The Dandys’ network, we were able to work with TONS of people on the record and even more people after the fact with the remix project. I got loads of help this time around. That’s why it sounds so much better than the old stuff. I stopped being a control freak and let other people do what they are good at. It worked out.
What about online collaboration? What role has MySpace and the internet played in your career?
MySpace basically lit the fire for what is happening in my world now. I was super behind the times until 2006 when my friend forced me to get a MySpace page going. Within a few weeks I had started building up an online group of listeners and started booking shows… the first of which was at the Folsom Street Fair in San Francisco. There were over 400,000 people in attendance and it was wild but turned some key people onto my music. Things snowballed from there. I have, since then, been building relationships with fans and listeners and the sea of people has grown quite large at this point. I owe a lot to that direct connection with the people and tend to put most of my non-musical energy into that side of things these days.
Who are your influences? Where does your sound come from?
I’m influenced by all sorts of stuff. I’m obviously influenced directly by the bands around me these days. Aside from the other bands on my label (The Dandy Warhols, The Upsidedown, Spindrift, and 1776) I’m surrounded by other artists in town who are doing their thing authentically, getting noticed, and making it happen. I’m lucky that I am in such close proximity to them. I get to learn their music industry lessons vicariously.
At the root, much of my writing influence stems from years and years of listening to bands like The Innocence Mission, The Sundays, and whatever folksy stuff my parents had playing in the car while I was a kid. Blend in the early years of singing a capella in the church and the wild partying techno days which followed and you get my sound. I spent a lot of time listening to solo artists like Tori Amos, Elliott Smith, and Liz Phair as I was growing up, and I’m sure that being drawn into their heads during my formative years influenced what it means to me to be a songwriter in many ways. I was like a sponge back then, and I still feel a deep connection with many of their songs.
What are you listening to right now?
Emily Haines…always.
Describe Logan Lynn in three words.
Grateful, Hopeful, Irrepressibly Optimistic…. wait, that was 4. Sorry.
Now Logan Lynn’s music in three.
Atmospheric, Moody, Electro-pop. Whoopsies… that was kinda 4 too.
What’s your live performance like?
It’s similar to what you would see if you went to see a singer-songwriter, only instead of guitars and pianos accompanying my voice, I have someone running computers, drumpads, loopers, and gadgets.
Where can we see you?
I have PDX show with Cars & Trains and The Gentry at the Doug Fir on January 7th.
Any awkward moments on stage?
I exist in a place of supreme awkwardness in my life lately as I’ve been doing things on the sober tip and sorta re-learning how to be, but my shows have actually gotten less awkward as a result. I think the strangest show we had was in New York City in 2007. We played a Dlist.com party called Cornhole County and there was a drag queen running a petting zoo as the opening act. It was bizarre, to say the least. This baby goat kept chewing on our cords and we spent most of the night trying not to sneeze and picking tiny pieces of straw off our clothes.
—
Sunday, November 22, 2009 Logan Lynn : Listening Party From Pillar To Post
Featuring DJ Rescue (Zia McCabe from The Dandy Warhols) Jinx Bar
8 PM
Free
21+
In the last couple years, Sweden’s been popping out pop music as if the music blogosphere was paying them to do so. Miike Snow has the electro-pop playfulness of Jens Lekman and dark techno beats of The Knife. But, to describe them via their national contemporaries is unfair because Miike Snow’s accomplishments are noteworthy in their own right.
NIGHTCLUBBING at 
What can we expect from your new stuff musically? How have you’ve changed?
Rollicking, all ages dance presents itself on Saturday, January 30th at 
The combination of 
Lost in the fog at times, Deelay Ceelay showed why a simple, white strobe will never lose its cool factor. Watching the sticks jerk in shattered slow motion, dreamcatchers twirled and melted and melded to the mind-bending journey on screen as organic ambience gave way to brash hip-hop breaks.
Sufjan Stevens
What’s the connection to the Dandys? How’d that happen?
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