It’s not just the big name shops getting in on the action on Record Store Day here in Portland. The fine folks who run the Tender Loving Empire label and retail space have announced that they will be cutting the price on their TLE releases by 20% on April 16th! And when you consider the amazing roster of folks signed to the label – Typhoon, Loch Lomond, Jared Mees & The Grown Children, among them – that is one incredibly enticing offer.
The shop (located on 412 SW 10th Ave.) also boasts a sizable selection of vinyl, CDs and cassettes all by local bands or local labels, on top of their vast supplies of homemade jewelry, clothes, and tchotchkes.
More music purveyors are getting in on the Record Store Day fun here in Portland and I will endeavor to bring as much news about what they’re up to as possible, starting with all the events that Everyday Music has lined up for their two locations.
The downtown store (at 1313 W Burnside) has a full day of music planned, starting with an instore performance by Hosannas at 1:30pm. At 2pm Zia McCabe from the Dandy Warhols will spin records, and then will follow that up with a performance by her new side project, Brush Prairie. 4pm brings in Sallie Ford & The Sound Outside for a set, and the day gets wrapped up with DJ sets from Nurses (5pm), White Hinterland (6pm) and Ancient Heat (7pm).
There are only two events planned for the NE Portland shop (at 1931 NE Sandy Blvd.) but they are fantastic ones. Mudhoney’s Steve Turner does his second DJ set of the day there starting at 1pm, and the band Purple & Green will be performing there at 4pm.
To sweeten the deal, they are also having a one day sale on the 16th where all new music is 10% off and all used music is 20% off.
In a town cluttered with singer-songwriters culling from the dense history of folk, blues, and pop, it takes something extra special to get your voice heard above the din. One of the few artists able to reach those heights is Brooke Parrott. This wayward spirit has been stirring up quite a storm throughout the U.S. and U.K. with her poignant storytelling and the rambling lilt of her rich, evocative singing voice.
Parrott is gearing up for a quick NW tour that starts tomorrow, April 13th, in Portland at The Woods and ends with two nights in Port Townsend (check the rest of the tour dates below).
As musicians, we rely on our creative instinct like people with regular jobs rely on their beat-up Subaru (in Portland, anyway) to get them to work. It’s a tool – we don’t understand how it works, and it may falter from time to time, but we know that it will get us there eventually.
But where does that creative instinct come from? We spend an entire music career trying to cultivate it, but I believe it initially comes from what we listened to during our early years.
Incredible to believe that Record Store Day is a mere five days away! Hope you have some cash stashed away for your local vinyl emporium. But before you make that crucial decision on what shop you are going to hit first, the good people of Jackpot Records are ready to sway to you one of their two stores.
According to the press release they sent out late last week, they’ve got some impressive guests lined up for the day, including Mudhoney’s Steve Turner who will be spinning 7″s starting at 10am, a live instore performance from rockers Red Fang, and then a Bollywood heavy set from the great DJ Anjali. All of that is happening at their spacious downtown location, whereas their Hawthorne shop will have a visit from a “vinyl clairvoyant” who will be determining what free record you’ll be taking home. Crazy, yes, but I like it too. Read the full press release after the jump.
Hey vinyl fanatics, you got plans tomorrow night? Well, if they don’t involve the Night Owl Record Show, you’d better rethink your schedule.
Tomorrow night, a gang of record dealers and folks from local labels will be taking over the ballroom at the Hawthorne Eagles Lodge to ply their wares and to enable your dirty, dirty habit of collecting rare wax. The cost to get in is minimal – $2 – and a portion of the proceeds from the event will be donated to Portland’s community radio station KBOO.
I’ll leave the rest of the pertinent details to the folks who run the Night Owl Record Show and I’ll see you there!
Portland’s Night Owl Record Show is the nation’s first night time record show. Twice a year since October of 2003 music fans and record fiends from Portland, the Pacific Northwest and as far away as Florida, New York and Japan, have gathered for a funky time buying, selling and trading records. The Eagles provide food, drink and pool to keep things from getting boring.
The next Night Owl Record Show will be Saturday, April 9th, 2011. Doors open at 5:00 PM. Those who just can’t wait can take advantage of the early entry at 3:00 PM for $15.00. The show will be at the Eagles Aerie at 4904 SE Hawthorne Blvd, Portland OR.
Some music lovers will be selling off their excess vinyl while others will be looking to fill holes in their collections. DJs will be showcasing their favorite vinyl rarities as the friendly Eagles staff provides drinks and food at prices that can’t be beat. The record show is for people of all ages, Eagles lounge is 21 and over.
A portion of the proceeds from The Night Owl Record Show will go to benefit KBOO, Portland’s nonprofit community radio station.
A weekly look at new and notable vinyl releases by local bands and labels.
Dog Shredder – Boss Rhino EP (Made In China) This two track, limited edition behemoth (out on Portland’s Made In China label) finds this Bellingham trio flying the prog metal flag proudly and loudly. The a-side is an almost 10 minute long original that puts the spotlight on guitarist Josh Holland’s epic double-tracked solos and the unholy drumming of Noah Burns. The band takes up the entire b-side taking on a loving, note-for-note rendition of the Yes classic “Heart Of The Sunrise”. A daring choice but one that the band takes to with aplomb, and with plenty of additional volume and attitude.
Parenthetical Girls – Privilege Pt. III: Mend & Make Do (Slender Means Society) How about this for a collector’s item? The third volume of this 12″ single series by one of Portland’s most adventurous and talented pop acts not only features four brand new songs that range from woozy blues to glittery electro pop, but if you pick up one of the 500 physical copies available, yours will be hand-numbered in the blood of band member Jherek Bischoff (his face also adorns the cover of the single).
Reading this My First Record post from Chris Cantino of the band Archers, I wasn’t terribly surprised to find it had a deeply nostalgic bent to it. The fantastic five-piece that Cantino co-leads with his brother Mike has a similarly wistfulness that resides under layers of frenzied guitar playing and aggressive rhythms. The band has been slowly and steadily building up a healthy foundation of buzz in Portland thanks to their airtight live shows and their debut 7″ which finds them mining the rich vein of mid-’90s indie rock.
Thinking back on my favorite first records, I now realize that I never discovered any of them myself. These cherished albums all have a special connection to the family and friends that exposed me to them. The more I think about it, the more apparent it is that my musical taste was imminent and driven by fate. Growing up, records were not chosen by me but instead penetrated my subconscious through pronounced memories of joy and sentiment in the company of people I have loved.
Music Millennium‘s fearless leader Terry Currier was kind enough to pass on a bit of information about what the shop has in store for Record Store Day 2011.
Not only will they be offering up plenty of exclusive vinyl for sale, but they will be welcoming the members of the hard rock outfit Deftones into the store to sign copies of the band’s Record Store Day release Covers. Pressed on limited edition vinyl, the LP is a collection of cover songs done by the band, including tracks by The Cars, Drive Like Jehu, and Lynyrd Skynyrd.
It’s a mere 16 days until Record Store Day 2011, and the savvy collectors among you probably have a plan of attack already in place for which shops you’re going to pilfer on April 16th. But, if you are still figuring out where to go, allow us to make a small suggestion.
Record Room – the vinyl/cassette-only shop in North Portland that features live music, DJs almost every night, pinball machines, and a selection of tasty microbrews and wine to enjoy as you crate dig – has a smashing looking lineup for their Record Store Day celebration.
They’ll have two bands performing, DJs spinning wax all day long, and – perhaps best of all – food carts that will be parked outside the shop and filling up hungry shoppers with BBQ and cupcakes. I’ll definitely be stopping by…will you?
Here’s the full schedule and information from the fine folks at Record Room:
Come celebrate independent Record Store Day with us! Tons of limited vinyl releases, free prizes, food carts and live music all day!
Portland’s favorite gospel/blues/folk/country/punk collective The Builders & The Butchers sent out a missive today that features a fine opportunity for the artistically inclined among you. They and their friends in the band Murder By Death are looking for someone to create some artwork for their upcoming split 7″ single (to be released on MBD’s label Tent Show Records. Not only will your design be the envy of music fans and artists the world over but, according to the band, you will win a batch of free vinyl from both bands.
Don’t just take my word for it: read the e-mail from The Builders & The Butchers camp after the jump.
Isaac Slusarenko is a name that should be quite familiar to the vinyl collectors and music aficionados of Portland. For the past 14 years, he has been in charge of Jackpot Records, a store that caters to the discerning listener thanks to their knowledgeable staff, and reputation for bringing in amazing bands for in-store performances or meet-and-greets. In 2004, Slusarenko also began a record label using the same name as his shop, reprinting local and international albums of note, and cultivating relationships with The Wipers’ leader Greg Sage and the enigmatic Jandek, both of whom have allowed Jackpot to reissue their work on vinyl. This year will see one of the first original recordings released by the label, Dave Depper’s song-by-song recreation of the Paul McCartney album Ram (out on May 3rd), and reissues of the last two Wipers albums Silver Sail and The Herd.
The first record I purchased happened when I was in 3rd grade at my elementary school evening carnival. Each year our school had a carnival with the usual activities: bingo, cakewalk, moonwalk, etc. You had to purchase tickets in order to play the games. I think it was 25 cents a ticket.
One of the school classrooms had been converted into a garage sale. Tables were set up with the usual late ’70s items: candles, ceramic owls, and macramé. But I was drawn towards a table with a small box of records. I browsed through the box and found it – the object of my desire…a copy of The Beatles’ Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (a first pressing, as I found out later in life).
I paid for it with my red ticket and walked home happy. I felt like a grown up making a big purchase. I remember the feeling so vividly. I had played my parents’ copy constantly with my older brothers. Now it would be mine and so there in that moment started my hobby/habit of collecting of records. I still have the LP in my collection.
Fans of classic punk rock have plenty to celebrate this coming April 9th. Lansing, Michigan’s finest sons The Meatmen will be descending upon Portland on that date as part of their “What Could Possibly Go Wrong?” tour. They’ll be playing the fine punk/metal venue Plan B alongside local outfits Therapists and Belligerents, as well Mr. Plow from Canada and Against The Grain.
If that weren’t enough, if you visit Jackpot Records‘ Hawthorne location that day, you’ll have a chance to meet Meatmen front man Tesco Vee. He’ll be visiting the shop to sign copies of the recently released Touch And Go: The Complete Hardcore Punk Zine ’79-‘83, a collection of the Midwest punk ‘zine that helped spawn the record label of the same name.
Here are all the details from Jackpot:
Saturday, April 9th, Meatmen singer/raconteur Tesco Vee will be stopping into Jackpot Records on Hawthorne to sign and read from his new book ‘Touch And Go: The Complete Hardcore Punk Zine ’79-‘83’.
Before finding universal praise and love for his band The Meatmen, Mr. Vee started Touch And Go ‘zine along with Dave Stimson. Legendary in underground punk and ‘zine circles, T&G chronicled, catapulted and crucified the country-wide wave of hardcore and punk that was bubbling under as the ‘70’s became the ‘80’s. Bands like Black Flag, Poison Idea, Minor Threat and The Misfits among scores of others were profiled in print, many of them for the first time. Now, all issues of that galvanizing ‘zine have been folded into this massive volume that deserves shelf space in the home of anyone even vaguely interested in punk, hardcore or music history in general, really.
For this date, the notoriously entertaining Tesco Vee will be reading from, selling and signing copies of this massive chronicle.
He will also be doing whatever else he wants. If you’re familiar with the scene that birthed him, this isn’t exactly going to be Robert Waller reading from Madison County.
THEY’RE HERE! The thing a lot of you are looking forward to, of course, are the special pieces coming to your favorite record store on April 16. Here’s a list of them, one you can print out, check off and take to your local record store. We’re doing things a little differently this year, so you’ll see a few different categories here:
RECORD STORE DAY RELEASES: These are titles that are only being released for this day. These are true Record Store Day Exclusives.
“WINDOWED” RELEASES: These are titles that will only be available in record stores on Record Store Day, but will someday be available to other retailers down the line.
REGIONAL/SMALL RUN RELEASES: These are titles that are being released only to a certain region of stores, or have such a small run or distribution that the majority of participating stores will not have access to them. We feel it’s important to include these releases and celebrate the spirit in which they are released.
And remember: LIMITED EDITION, BABY. A lot of these titles have limited runs. You may not get your hands on all the pieces you want. Your STORE may not get their hands on all the pieces they want. That’s the nature of limited releases. But that’s what makes them so exciting!
I was the kind of kid growing up that was always scheming, stealing, wheeling & dealing. I was a conniving little devil and if you had old collectibles I was going to find a way to charm the sense out of you and jack your shit. It didn’t matter if it was a Civil War sword, Soupy Sales trading cards, or a Dick Nixon bobble head. If it was old and dusty it was about to be mine.
None of it was ever mine for long however. The novelty of ownership typically wore off quickly. Being the snot-nosed little entrepreneur I was I started setting up shop at community yard sales to make room for more useless collectibles. People seemed rather entertained to do business with a six year old and I was always happy to take their money.
Somewhere amidst my prepubescent capitalist ventures I discovered records. I’d see ’em around at yard sales and was fascinated with the idea of there being so many of them to collect and listen to. We had a couple lying around the house, but they were all poor examples of what music should be. My grandparents’ place wasn’t much better, but there were always lots of other interesting things lying around to get my filthy mitts on. We had a medium-sized family on that side and when siblings would fly the coop they would leave their relics behind and forget about them for the decades to come. This is where I acquired what I hazily might consider one of my favorite first records.
The look and sound of this new single by Portland’s stoner rock titans is appropriately epic. The weighty picture disc 12″ features two versions of the same song; one that stretches on for just over 13 minutes, the other clocking in at a tidy five minutes. If you haven’t already gotten yourself lost in the dense artwork that is laid on either side of this slab of wax, wander into the maze that is the long-form version. It weaves in samples, lost in space guitar wanderings, and droning before it gets weighted back to the planet by the band’s massive rhythm section. The short version wastes no time in getting you to the sludgy riffs and meaty singing, but your patience will be well rewarded if you take the scenic route.
Derby is one of those bands that has been quietly chugging away in the background of the Portland music scene while their peers have moved on to higher levels of success and unbecoming attitudes. I have been happy to keep them as my little secret but with the release of this single, I’m ready to shout their name from the virtual rooftops of the blogosphere. The a-side, “Don’t Believe In You” is a crystalline example of pop songwriting at its very best. The guitar lines are clean and untroubled, the vocal melody is catchy without being cloying, and the whole thing moves and swells neatly in just over three minutes. As much as I champion acts that are breaking the molds of the music world, there is something to be said for those groups that no how to use the templates to their advantage. Derby is one of those groups. Derby is playing an in-store at Music Millennium on March 22nd at 6 p.m.
