Eleven PDX 3.9

contents

ELEVEN PDX MAGAZINE ISSUE NO. 9

THE USUAL 3 Letter from the Editor 3 Staff Credits Columns

VOLUME 3

FEATURES Local Feature 13 Holiday Friends

Cover Feature 15 Pixies

5 Aural Fix Augustines Courtney Barnett The Casket Girls

FILM Watch Me Now 19 new music 7 Short List

Film Editorial Instant Queue Review February Film Events

7 Album Reviews Aan Xiu Xiu Sun Kil Moon

COMMUNITY Neighborhood of the Month 22 NE Broadway

LIVE MUSIC 9 Musicalendar An encompassing overview of concerts in PDX for the upcoming month. But that’s not all - the Musicalendar is complete with a venue map to help get you around town.

11 Previews

Visual Arts 23 Portland artist Rebekah Long

more online at elevenpdx.com

HELLO PORTLAND! It's my cake month, so I would like to shamelessly plug, *ahem* I mean, courteously invite you all to come party with us at the first official ELEVEN showcase of the year! We have many great events planned for 2014, and this is your opportunity to experience, in person, what ELEVEN is all about.

The date is Wednesday February 12 at Holocene (aka the hotness). We've curated top notch entertainment AND you'll have a chance to win 4-day passes to Treefort Music Fest 2014 in Boise!

Did I mention the showcase is a Treefort kickoff party? Bashtastic.

Of course, there will be a gajillion other awesome shows this month, including our cover feature, the Pixies [p.15], who are playing the Schnitz on February 19. Check out our extensive "Musicalendar" [p.9] for a gently filtered listing of the musical goings-on this month.

Lastly, if you'd like to win tickets to some upcoming music and comedy shows, head over to our website and social media pages. @elevenpdx See you there! Âť

- Ryan Dornfeld, Editor in Chief

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EXECUTIVE STAFF EDITOR IN CHIEF Ryan Dornfeld CREATIVE DIRECTOR Dustin Mills SENIOR STAFF SENIOR WRITER Wendy Worzalla FILM SECTION Bex Silver VISUAL ARTS Mercy McNab graphic DESIGN Dustin Mills Alex Combs COPY EDITING Megan Freshley

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P.O. Box 16488 Portland, OR. 97292 get involved getinvolved@elevenpdx.com

GENERAL INQUIRIES info@elevenpdx.com ADVERTISING sales@elevenpdx.com online www.elevenpdx.com twitter.com/elevenpdx facebook.com/elevenmagpdx

COVER PHOTO Michael Halsband

online editor Kim Lawson kim@elevenpdx.com

CONTRIBUTORS Sean Bailey, Brandy Crowe, Billy Dye, Elizabeth Elder, Eric Evans, Gabriel Granach, Kelly Kovl, Travis Leipzig,Scott McHale, Rachel Milbauer, Aaron Mills, Kela Parker, Rob de la Teja, Morgan Troper, Charles Trowbridge

eleven west media group, llc Ryan Dornfeld Dustin Mills

photographers Justin Cate, Michael Herman, Amy Kettenburg, Mercy McNab, Aa Mills DISTRIBUTION / PROMO The Redcoats

SPECIAL THANKS Kev, Jim, Steph, Matt, Tali, Vargas fam, EastBurn fam, M.W., Tixie fam, Meeses, PLA, Vince, Skot and Karla, Phil and Corrie, PH+BG, Will+Opie, Treefort, our partners, families and friends!

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columns

AURAL FIX

(Every month, our expert team seeks out the newest and most exciting musicians in the world. After searching high and low, we’re proud to bring you the result of our concentrated efforts.)

1

AUGUSTINES

Following their move from Brooklyn to Seattle as well as two name changes, I wouldn’t be terribly surprised if you haven’t heard of Augustines yet. However, if you’re singing the same tune in another year, you must be doing a good job of avoiding your local new rock alternative radio stations and dramatic cinema soundtracks.

Augustines pack an epic sonic punch. They're elementally resemblant to balladic rock classics you might have grown up on, like the sexy slow stylings of U2 or Peter Gabriel. But their sound is far from outdated, offering equal parts of likeness to modern popular favorites such as The National and Arcade Fire.

Leaving behind the moniker of Pela following strife with their record label and the suicide of the brother of a member, Billy McCarthy, Eric Sanderson and Rob Allen released their 2011 album Rise Ye Sunken Ships as We Are Augustines. The boys are back with a new self-titled record out February 4, but have shortened their name to simply Augustines.

The band will be at the Doug Fir Lounge on February 8, and will hopefully understand why they shouldn’t skip playing Portland when on tour like they did last fall. In the meantime, they have a video you can check out for the single "Cruel City" off their upcoming album. » - Travis Leipzig

2

COURTNEY BARNETT

There are worse things than being known for clever lyrics— just ask Isle-of-Wighter-turned-Seattlite Robyn Hitchcock.

One can make a nice career for oneself with some smart words and a guitar. Courtney Barnett is more than a wit, however. By now everyone's heard and marveled at her breakthrough single "Avant Gardener." The storytelling gets all the attention, but listen to the music: a low-mixed echo of a guitar reminiscent of Jesus & Mary Chain or, dare I say, Loaded-era Velvet Underground over a tambourine and bass groove. And her singing. . . it's like Lou Reed and Hope Sandoval had a voice baby without the former's technical limitations or the latter's faux solemnity. She's droll enough to not be too amused by herself, but engaged enough to avoid being a female Momus. This is smart, idiosyncratic music.

Growing up in Melbourne listening to The Triffids and Nirvana, it's no surprise that Barnett's songs showcase smart pop structures as well as a shameless autobiographical streak.

She cites Kurt Cobain as a major influence, and it's easy to hear in the casual references to masturbation ("Lance Jr") or the social lives of high school students ("History Eraser"). Really, you can cue up any track on The Double EP: A Sea of Split Peas and hear it: a combination of passionate inquiry and sardonic reserve over clean, jangly pseudo-psych. Barnett makes a marvelous first impression. » - Eric Evans

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columns

3

THE CASKET GIRLS

The Casket Girls sort of came out of nowhere with their 2012 LP Sleepwalking, which isn't surprising when you consider that the band is, in a sense, a spinoff project of Ryan Graveface's (of Black Moth Super Rainbow)—a group notorious for its self-imposed mystique. Resumés aside, however, the real stars here are and have always been vocalists/sisters Elsa and Phaedra Greene, whose performances elevate Graveface's occasionally pedestrian soundscapes to a significant and

otherworldly plane. The Greene sisters' vocal work also suggests a deep and intuitive appreciation for pop of the past, with musical references that vary from the hip and obvious (girl group stuff, with Graveface playing Spector, naturally) to the uncool and slightly obscure (Around the World in a Day-era Prince).

The first half of the Casket Girls' latest effort, True Love Kills the Fairy Tale, is comprised of immaculate, bullet-proof pop music—the sort that cursively transcends aesthetic fads. Particular standouts are opening cut "Same Side," with its cathartic and surprisingly heavy build-up that lasts the whole song—frustratingly never with completely satisfying discharges. Peerlessly ebullient are "Ashes and Embers" and "True Love Kills the Fairy Tale," the song the record is deservingly named for (gotta love that weird yacht-rock solo at the end). That's why it's doubly disappointing that, towards the end of the record, The Casket Girls compromise an artistic integrity that so obviously exists: the aimless "Perfect Little Soul" features that hackneyed sputtering electro-pop beat (you know the one), and evokes visions of shopping for pants at Urban Outfitters. "The Chase" is an underwhelming top 40-pastiche (although it's still superior to a present-day Weezer top-40 pastiche). All in all, True Love Kills the Fairy Tale might trail off into predictable territory towards the end of its run time, but it's still a pretty damn great pop record.

Besides, it can only get better from here. » - Morgan Troper

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reviews

NEW MUSIC This Month’s best R Reissue

L Local release

L Aan

Short List

Amor Ad Nauseum Party Damage Records

Bombay Bicycle Club So Long, See You Tomorrow Tinariwen Emmaar Cibo Matto Hotel Valentine Guided By Voices Motivational Jumpsuit Phantogram Voices

Some bands have swagger. Some bands have sway. The Portlandbased, experimental pop quartet AAN definitely fall into the latter category.

"Experimental" can sometimes be an intimidating genre for some folks, as there are a lot of bands out there that

Schoolboy Q Oxymoron

back with a catchy riff. This seems to be Jamie Stewart’s M.O., but this time

The Fray Helios

around he may have gone too far.

The album starts with what

The Casket Girls True Love Kills The Fairy Tale

sounds like a mini spacecraft stalling while trying to take off. . . which is

Beck Morning Phase

just the way the album goes. "Black Dick" would be a good song if the

The Glitch Mob Love Death Immortality Steal it

of the content. This contrast makes for a far more listenable sound than I think most bands dealing with this type of subject matter would have the restraint to pull off. What is really great about this album is that it is upbeat enough to hipster dance to, and at the same time chill enough to lounge to. A great album from a great band. » - Aaron Mills

point of pain. Then they bring you

St. Vincent St. Vincent

Buy it

take this distinction a little too close to the edge for the average listener.

On their debut album, AAN has found a way to skirt that edge while remaining grounded in the realm of the real.

As the title may suggest, the themes of this album are based in the poignant realization of the bittersweet qualities of romance and relationships in general. The haunting quavering of frontman Bud Wilson embodies the sense of desperate yearning contained in his lyrics perfectly. In a somewhat ironic contrast, the music has a twinkling, futuristic, velvet loungelike quality to it which takes a little bit of the edge off of the seriousness

lyrics weren't so obnoxious. It’s hard to figure out what Jamie Stewart is

Toss it

trying to convey here besides smut.

Xiu Xiu Angel Guts: Red Classroom Polyvinyl Records

I guess if you listen to it enough, the word “dick” becomes meaningless– just another instrument. "El Naco" shows early promise where there is an intriguing use of church bells behind dark keys on the synthesizer,

If you enjoy discord mixed with

facebook.com/elevenmagpdx @elevenpdx

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but yet again the lyrics are so absurd

your music, you would probably

that it’s distracting. "Botanica de Los

like Xiu Xiu. Similar to avant-garde

Angeles" is actually a beautiful song,

acts like The Residents, they are so

rich with textures and heavy emotion.

out there that it eventually grows

The single, "Stupid in the Dark,"

on you. There are elements of rock

represents what’s good about Xiu Xiu,

deconstructed into strange melodies,

and should stand the test of time. »

and sounds that are abrasive to the

- Scott McHale

reviews

1800 E BURNSIDE 503-236-2876

MUSIC CALENDAR “Eat Off Your Banjo”

Live Bluegrass Every Thursday at 8pm

Sun Kil Moon Benji Caldo Verde Records

The last time Mark Kozelek—Sun Kil Moon—poked his head up in 2012, he released Among the Leaves, a 17-track ramble that is best described as quintessential Sun Kil Moon.

This is not a bad thing, of course. When you know who you are as an artist, you go with it. That said, Benji, due out in February, is about the best case scenario for a “change of pace” album.

Again, as the first track queues, it is clearly a SKM record. But from the opening notes, it is clear that things are going to be a little heavier—and a little darker. And it works.

Yes, it does.

Kozelek has always been a story teller. Benji works because he approaches it almost autobiographically, spinning recurring tones and weaving thematic strings into a loose conceptual sketch. Death by exploding aerosol can pops up more than once—first on “Carissa,” a familial introspection: “an aerosol can exploded in the trash / what were the odds.”

And here it is again on “Truck Driver,” a doleful tale about the death of an uncle: “and onto the fire he threw a can of aerosol spray / and that’s how he died in the fire that day.”

On most tracks, the instrumentation is sparse. But rather than easy, finger picked tones, Kozelek introduces twangy strings and unlimited minor chords, lending everything a dark, pensive timbre. Occasionally he’ll drop in a non-chordal tone that sets everything on edge. “Ben’s My Friend,” by far the most rollicking piece, introduces drums and, weirdly enough, a strumming pattern and vocal echo that is almost Jack Johnson-esque. By the time the saxophone drops in, you’re wondering if you’re still listening to the same album.

When you’ve been around making good music for as long as Kozelek, it isn’t really necessary to take chances. With an established audience that likes what it likes, it’d be easy to sit back, be comfortable, and go with what has always worked. Fortunately, he pushed himself into another space, made the music a little bit more robust, and blew away any previous peak he may have hit. » - Charles Trowbridge

2/1: 10pm – Side Street Reny 2/5: 7pm – Jazz w/ The Bylines 2/7: 10pm – Le Printemps 2/8: 10pm – Eric John Kaiser 2/12: 7pm – Jazz w/ Bodacious 2/14: 10pm – Amorus 2/15: 10pm – Saucytown 2/19: 7pm – Jazz w/ Adlai Alexander Trio feat. Steve Hall & Kenny Morse

2/21: 10pm – White Polar Bear Tundra 2/22: 10pm – Santino Cadiz Band 2/26: 7pm – Jazz w/ Amorus 2/28: 10pm – The Lovely Lost

DJs in the Tap Room 9pm

2/1: DJ Jesse Espinoza 2/7: DJ Dungeon Master 2/8: DJ Jesse Espinoza 2/14: DJ Gregarious 2/15: 80’s new wave w/ DJ Kenny 2/21: Club Crooks w/ DJ IZM & DJ Easter Egg 2/22: Impact Sound! Reggae DJs 2/28: DJ Gregarious

ALL SHOWS ARE FREE

UNLESS OTHERWISE NOTED FOR BOOKING PLEASE CONTACT PLAY@THEEASTBURN.COM Hours: Mon-Fri 4p-2a, Sat-Sun 10a-2a Happy Hr: Mon-Fri 4p-6p, Sat-Sun 3p-6p

www.THEEASTBURN.com

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live FEBRUARY crystal ballroom

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Karl Denson's Tiny Universe | Dirty Dozen Brass Band

Rose Windows The Cool Whips | The Small Arms John Butler Trio | Little Hurricane Papa Dynamite & The Jive Jon McLaughlin Long Knife | Bellicose Minds Walk Off The Earth | Parachute | Camera2 Greensky Bluegrass

The Led Zepplin Experience w/ No Quarter | Fox & The Law

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8 nw 6th

Doug fir

830 e burnside

The Pack A.D. | Divers | The Grizzled Mighty White Denim | Clear Plastic Masks Helio Sequence | Genders | Modern Kin Oneohtrix | Point Never | Dawn Of Midi Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds | Cheap Time Eyelids | 1939 Ensemble | The Verner Pantons Augustines | My Goodness Hospitality | Air Waves Biffy Clyro | Morning Parade Lucius | You Won't Lincoln's Beard | The Lonesome Billies | Jake Ray Swan Sovereign | The Cabin Project Noah Gundersen | Silver Torches R. Stevie Moore | The Memories Royal Teeth | Chappo | The Adam Brock 4 One From Many | Lucy Gray | Mosby Public Service Broadcasting | Kiev We Were Promised Jetpacks | Honeyblood Xiu Xiu | Tearist | Farewell Griffin House | Clarence Bucaro Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers | Polecat Nicki Bluhm & The Gramblers | Carly Ritter

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Roseland Theater

White Lies | Frankie Rose Carnage | Victor NiGlio | Sidestep Karmin | Bryce Vine Datsik | Heroes x Villians | Must Die

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Shadowhouse | Night Wave Q-Dot | Vursatyl The Wood Brothers | Amy Helm Don't | Sex Crimes The Presidents of the USA | Old Light

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Aan | Desert Noises | Boys Beach Sarah Lee Guthry & Johnny Irion Summer Cannibals | Grandhorse Secret Chiefs 3 | Atomic Ape Nicky Croon & The Swinging Richards Incan Abraham | Sama Dams | John Bowers Quilt | Big Haunt | Eternal Tapestry Shearwater | Jesca Hoop Mother Falcon | Radiation City (duo) Bluetech | Subaquerous Greg Laswell Pure Bathing Culture | Marissa Nadler Lawrence Rothman | Mas Ysa Eleni Mandell | Vikesh Kapoor Old Age | Paulo Zappoli & The Break | Nick Delffs Pimps Of Joytime | Myron & E Dead Prez | Vursytyl | 5th & Wyatt | Neahe Dune Rats | Land Lines Langhorne Slim Tom Brosseau | Shelby Earl Lilacs & Champagne | Sun Angle | Hot Victory Parson Red Heads | Norman | Mike Coykendall Bottomless Pit | Kinski

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live FEBRUARY wonder ballroom 128 ne russell

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Mayer Hawthorne | Quadron 4 Falling In Reverse | Escape The Fate | Chelsea Grin

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The English Beat | The Sentiments 22 Cibo Matto | Salt Cathedral 28

holocene

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Maxx Bass | Nathan Detroit | Ryan & Dimitri Baby Ketten Karaoke DJ Honest John | New Dadz DJs | DJ Portia Hustle & Drone | Hosannas | Mothertapes DJ Shiva | Miss Shelrawka | Tracy Why | Scifi Sol DJ Sliink | Gang$ign$ | SPF666 | Commune Peggy Sue | Mandolin Orange | The Mariner's Children

Brainstorm | Thanks | Holiday Friends DJ Beyondadoubt Rev Shines | DJ Nature | Slimkid3 Gaycation w/Mr. Charming | DJ Snowtiger DJ Zimmie | Dev From Above Magic Mouth | Phone Call | IBQT Dam Funk | Rev Shines | Maxx Bass | Gwizski Rockbox w/Matt Nelkin | DJ Kez Club Crooks w/DJ Izm (hosted by Mr. Marcus) Don't | Divers | No Good Lovers Gossip Cat | Pocket Rock-it | Misti Miller Dr. Adam | Colin Jones | Freaky Outty

rontoms

600 e burnside

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Thanks | Big Haunt | Miracle Falls Albatross | Levon's Helmet The Ghost Ease Fanno Creek | Highway

eastburn

1800 e burnside

722 E Burnside

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Eat Off Your Banjo Live Blugrass (Thursdays) Jazz w/The Bylines Le Printempts Eric John Kaiser Jazz w/Bodacious Amorus Saucytown Jazz w/Adlai Alexander Trio White Polar Bear Tundra Santino Cadiz Band Jazz w/Amorus The Lovely Lost

bossanova ballroom

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Covers & Blankets Benefit 1 Portland Lindy Exchange 28

kelly’s olympian 426 sw washington

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Eye Candy VJ’s (every Monday) Cory Tonna | Luke Stanton | Fair Weather Watchers 1 Hideous Racket w/DJ Flight Risk 4 Dream Parade | Sioux Falls 6

7 8 12 14 15 16 18 20 21 22 The Hill Dogs | Terrible Buttons | Jackalope Saints 23 The Rotties 27 Lil Ass Boom Box Festival 28 Dinner For Wolves | Mother's Whiskey | Advisory

Surfs Drugs | Bleach Blonde Dudes NeuroSound Booking Presents Runaway Productions Presents Will Kinky | Joy Pearson | Cody Raymond Baby Ketten Karaoke Life Leone | Whorehound Dirty Looks | Contact Club 100 Watt Mind | A Happy Death Keagan Smith | Aviel | J Burns | BigMo

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live FEBRUARY bunk bar

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1. HOSPITALITY And And And | Brite Lines | Tiburones WITH AIR WAVES Vice Device | Mattress Sylvan Esso FEBRUARY 9 | DOUG FIR Alexander Tragedy | The Lower 48 | Foxy Lemon Cheatahs | Pony Village Please welcome Amber Papini, Together Pangea | Mozes & The Firstborn

the know 12 2026 NE Alberta 3 4 7 9 11 12 13 15 16 18 19 20 21 22 24 25 26 27 28

Mister Tang | The Pro-Teens Here Come Dots | Balms | Black Is Bright Guantanamo Baywatch | Can Of Beans Rye Wolves | Hungers | Lamprey XDS | Nudity | LKN Anti-Valentines Cover Band Benefit Dottie Attie | Dark/Light | The Stops Animal Eyes | Khan Heir | Kyle Craft Vicious Pleasures | Happy Noose | Night Wave The Santoros | Levitation Room | Psychomagic Rabbits | The Great Goddamn | Serpents Caul Tiburones | Houndstooth Soft Shadows | Blackstone Rangers | Jetman Jet Team The We Shared Milk | Bear & Moose | Genders Nomad | Frenzy | Wild Mohicans Diatribe Appendixes | Lures Grammies | Mothertapes | Wishyunu Thrones | Prizehog | Polst

knock back 13 the 2315 ne alberta 8 Lamar Leroy | Rap Class | Ghost Dub

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SHOW PREVIEWS

Open Mic (Mondays) Soft Show Hats Off! | Surfs Drugs | 100 Watt Mind Color-coder | Rosewood Saloon Ensemble | Libertine Belles Amenta Abioto EllaMemories: Pheasant | Cristina Cano A Happy Death | Mad Caps | Mufassa

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MUFASSA, CONTACT CLUB

Emerging from Austin, this band is a showcasing artist of SXSW. Their songs carry hope over antipathy, expressed through citations from classic films and by covering everyone from Neil Young to Beyoncé. They can come across lurid with such a mixture of sounds. These include live brass and bopping hooks within dreamy-pop, but vocals soften edges and provide fresh change-ups on each track between Jared Boulanger and the four female counterparts who currently fill out the quintet. The hefty doses of slow, instrumental vastness full of emotion and wonder are actually pretty sweet. » - Brandy Crowe

3. LITTLE HURRICANE

4. ART ALEXAKIS (UNPLUGGED)

WITH

JOHN BUTLER TRIO

FEBRUARY 18 | CRYSTAL BALLROOM If you hanker for some straightforward, blues-based rock n’ roll, then swiftly get thee to a Little Hurricane show. The already high energy band is sure to bring even more excitement on their Portland tour stop, with their new album Gold Fever on the horizon in March 2014. The band's hallmark boy/girl vocals shout and sing tightly spun lyrics that are as direct as the spare guitar (Anthony Catalano) and drums (Celeste Spina). Make sure to catch them in Portland to see them prove that dancing with the devil can be fun. » - Kela Parker

FEBRUARY 21 | ALHAMBRA THEATRE In 1999, Art Alexakis would have needed zero words to introduce who he is or what he had been up to. It was splattered all across MTV and top 40 radio stations due to the pop-rock success of Everclear’s songs at the time. In Portland, even less would have needed to be said about the band, having found its origins here. A city who is still enamored with things from the '90s (and for good reason), they should be excited about the solo show where the lead singer will be playing his old band’s diddies. » - Billy Dye

WITH VURSYTYL, 5TH & WYATT, JAE LAVA MIC CRENSHAW, NEAHE

6. CIBO MATTO

FEBRUARY 22 | MISSISSIPPI STUDIOS

FEBRUARY 28 | WONDER BALLROOM

If you came up in the '80s or early '90s, you have a different idea of what hip hop is—or can be: a growl of dissent, Thunder Goat | Atlas & The Astronaut | Brother Elf a cry of rage, or a voice for change.

Naomi La Violette | Tiffany Carlson KRS-One, Chuck D, and Schoolly D. . .

Autumn Electric | Those Willows | Adam Brock guys with opinions about more than The Moondoggies | Ark Life The Marvins | Train River | Whitefield Farenheit cars or women or guns. Dead Prez are The Hill Dogs cut from that cloth. Clear, point-driven Jim Creek rhymes characterize their sound, with Ojos Feos mid-tempo beats more Dre than Public Mexican Gunfight | RedRay Frazier Insomniac Folklore | The Big Bad Wolf | Kat Jones Enemy. Touring behind their new record Will West & The Friendly Strangers Information Age, Dead Prez will make Supraphonics | The Brass Roots Movement you move and invite you to think. » Jeffrey Martin | Ray Tarantino The Rainbow Sign | Robert Holladay - Eric Evans

Wildish (every Monday in February) 4 Adam Brock 4 | Swansea | Abioto 6 JoyTribe | Annika Forrest

WITH

FEBRUARY 10 | VALENTINES

Nathan Michel and Brian Betancourt of the Brooklyn-based indie pop band Hospitality to our wonderful city this month. On tour promoting their second album, Trouble, from Merge Records (Arcade Fire, She & Him), you will hear more spaced-out, reflective new wavetype tracks that show a bit of a departure from 2012’s self-titled album. If you like the sounds of Pavement, Feist or The Weepies, you’ll love Hospitality. Papini laments about everyday situations that cause havoc in our lives, but in a very Yale-grad kind of way: smart. » - Kelly Kovl

5. DEAD PREZ

white eagle 15 836 n russell

2. THE SOUR NOTES

WITH

SALT CATHEDRAL

Cibo Matto (“crazy food” in Italian) indulged us with 1996’s Viva! La Woman, a ferocious, opulent Shibuya-kei ode to gastronomy—winning hearts with “Know your Chicken.” The NYC-based Japanese duo is back after a fifteen-year hiatus following the psychedelic hip-hop success Stereo * Type A. On tour now for Hotel Valentine, they’re as charming and phantasmagoric as ever, weaving their bizarre rap ballads and a panoply of genres into high-caliber beats. Check out the new video for “MFN” (mother fucking nature!) to get a taste. » - Megan Freshley

live FEBRUARY SLABTOWN

1033 NW 16TH

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Sundays - 6pm - Grand Style Orchestra (AA) Sundays - 8pm - Portland Poetry Slam Nuggets Night! ft. Sixteen bands 8 A Healthy Dose | Tiny Matters 13 Black Wedding | The Iron Works | No More Parachutes

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Young Dad | Spatia | Coma Serfs | Ghost Frog | False Metal

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Kevn Kinney | Little Sue 19

The Lovely Lost | Grey for Days | Long Hallways 22 Kazumis (Casette Release Show) 24

alhambra theatre 4118 se hawthorne

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Gangstagrass | Device Grips 7 Moonspell | Leaves Eyes | Atrocity 8 Charles Neville | Gent Treadly 13 Particleson | Ghost Motor | Die Robot | Murderbait

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Art Alexakis (Everclear) | Demure 21 NTNT (EP Release) | Rare Monk 28

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Neo Geo | The Maension | Art of Shock | Redcast | Ask You In Gray Zion I | Sol | MK Smith | Aileron | Tope Oracles | A Blinding Silence | Upon A Broken Path | Atmos | Harken TouchA AmorA | mewithoutYou | Seahaven | Drug Church Breath Carolina | Mod Sun | Ghost Town | Lionfight Abigail Williams | Erimha | Assyria | Of Fact And Fiction Winter 2014 Hip Hop Showcase Rehab | ThE RoDeO cLoWnS | Angels Cut | SLOWtheIMPACT Goathead | Damage Overdose | Choke The Silence | Wicked Haven Dark Tranquility | Omnium Gatherum | Exmortus | Southgate Propagandhi | The Flatliners | War On Women Pentagram | Radio Moscow | Kings Destroy T. Mills | Blackbear Death Angel | TYR | Kingdom Under Fire | Gladius Simon Says Die | We Rise The Tides | Above The Broken

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MOLOKO Taste the nightlife of Mississippi. Over 40 house infused liquors. Specialty absinth cocktails. Open until 2am every day.

N PORTLAND 3967 N Mississippi (97227) 503.288.6272 molokopdx.com

19 ALADDIN THEATER 3017 SE MILWAUKIE 20 VALENTINES

232 SW ANKENY

Toad the Wet Sprocket | Jonathan Kingham Fly Fishing Film Tour (2 Shows) Hot Tuna (Acoustic) | David Lindley Ani DiFranco | Jenny Scheinman Sun Kil Moon David Wilcox | Justin Farren Sharon Corr The Moth Grand SLAM Championship New Politics | Magic Man Chris Thile & Mike Marshall The Musical Box: Re-Creation of GENESIS Willy Porter

EAST END

203 SE GRAND

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Towers (Record Release) | Left Blank | DJ Booze Crooze Dart Gun & The Vignettes | ManX | The Last 45's Hounds Beloiw | Neighbor Wave Youthbitch | Zak The Kuntry Wonder Thrones | Vice Device | Hot Victory DVA DAMAS | Warm Hands | Asss | DJ Dan Stalone Red Hot!: DJ Action Slacks | DJ Wildman

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features FEBRUARY THE GOODFOOT

22 2845 SE STARK

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Sonic Forum Open Mic (Mondays) RADULA (Tuesdays, free!)

Shafty: Phish Tribute (Wednesdays) Soul Stew w/ DJ Aquaman (Fridays) Drink & Draw (Sundays) Polyrhythmics | Turkuaz Tropitaal: A Desi Latino Soundclash w/ DJ Anjali Boys II Gentlemen- A Big Party Band Yak Attack | Sexy Offenders | Guda World's Finest | Otis Heat The Modern Grass | Wayward Vessel

bar 23 tiger 317 nw broadway

Groovy Movie Triple Feature (Tuesdays) Karaoke From Hell (Thursdays)

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Gentleman Hall | Basic Vacation | NTNT Savoy | Dotexe | Forever Growing Scott Pemberton Trio | Audios Amigos School of Rock (3pm) | Lady Rizo (9pm) Black Uhuru | Indubious | Rising Buffalo Tribe Mad Caddies | Steady Riot!

Hellfyre Club The Wild Feathers | Saints of Valory The Coup THE FIRKIN TAVERN Located on the west side of Ladd’s, the Firkin Tavern features an astounding selection of craft beers to enjoy inside or on our patio.

Art enthusiasts will enjoy a variety of local artwork on display and sold comission-free!

SE LADD'S 1937 SE 11th Ave (97214) 503.206.7552 | thefirkintavern.com

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Joshua Powell and the Great Train Robbery Panzergod | Aethyrium | Sarcalogos | Grim Ritual

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The Menzingers | Off With Their Heads Trial | The Physical Challenge | Young Turks

This Or The Apocalypse | Sworn In | Shai Hulud

Dalliance | Crnkn | Mantis Stanley and the Search | Tiger Lily Major League | Have Mercy | Seaway | Better Off BLOWPONY Middle Class Rut | Dinosaur Pile-Up | Brick + Mortar MartyParty/Joker

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21 Diego's Umbrella | Device Grips 26 Com Truise 28 The Cockpit | The Perfect Cyn & Team Sexy

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LOCAL FEATURE Holiday Friends ELEVEN: It took nearly 2 ½ years to record Chicks. How has your process changed this time around?

Scott: The process of writing is fairly similar. We have two primary songwriters—Jesse and myself. With this album we spent a lot of time as a band playing the songs together, reworking them, and getting them prepped for a successful studio visit. This is actually the second time we recorded the album. We recorded it once and had a personnel change, which ended up being a really great thing.

11: Did you initially have a theme or concept behind the upcoming album?

Scott: I think it’s more just a body of work that we’ve had for the last year and a half.

Joey: There’s a selection process going into the recording of a record. . . a bulk of work, and

Photo by Mercy McNab

then you just kind of find the songs—not necessarily that were written to be together, but that seem to make the most sense together. So those are the ones you end up focusing on the most.

11: “Astral Observations” was your first single released, and some say it’s the most powerful song on the album. What song on the new album is its equivalent?

ALL: “Astral Observations!” [laughter] 11: Is it? Really? I thought it was on Chicks?!!

Scott: It is! We’re re-recording it.

11: Man, I was gonna say—I thought I did my homework!

Scott: We decided to re-record it because we don’t feel that Chicks has gotten out to as many people as we would have liked.

That song was kind of recorded by

features Jesse in his bedroom with him and a keyboard—which is rad. We all love the way it sounds, but we’ve revamped it into more of a band feel. What’s your guys’ favorite song? Mine, on the new album, is “Spirit Girl.”

Zack: There are two that—at least to me—stand out as singles.

I would say that “Spirit Girl” and “Night Vision Mode” do.

11: At the band’s core, would you say that Holiday Friends is more of a live band or more of a recording band?

Jon: So far, just by default we’re more of a live band.

Scott: With this album, we’re writing and recording to enhance the live performance. We’re not holding anything back in the studio that we don’t think we can do live. We’re pressing ahead— making the best record we can, and planning to work really hard to replicate that sound live.

Zack: The last six months especially, we’ve seen more energy put into both recording and producing our live show than ever before—by a huge margin. It’s kind of exciting. Once this album comes out, we’re going to find which one sort of pushes ahead.

Meanwhile we’ve just been really digging into both processes and kind of waging war on two fronts.

It’s been really fun—exhausting, but really fun.

11: What’s it like being a musician in Astoria?

Scott: My answer to that is that I don’t really know what it’s like to be a musician in Astoria yet, because we have full-time jobs! We haven’t played since we started recording the album, but we have a good group of friends and good support there.

11: Do you think it’s better to be a little disconnected from a bigger scene like Portland?

Jon: I think it’s easier—I

don’t want to say better. For just practicality and being comfortable—it’s just a lot easier.

I like the smaller atmosphere. It’s cheaper to live there. There’s less going on, and we can rent a big house and practice in it. We don’t have to worry about renting a practice space.

11: What were your New Year’s resolutions, and how are they working out so far?

Jon: I was gonna drink more beer.

Joey: I don’t believe in New Year’s resolutions. There’s no way that I’m actually going to do it, so I don’t even bother thinking about it.

Jon: That’s why I gave myself a realistic one! I thought I was allergic to beer for a while, and I found out that I’m not. . . so I’m gonna drink more!

FEBRUARY tonic lounge 3100 ne sandy

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Beard Night in the Lounge (Mondays) Weekly Humor Night w/ Whitney Streed (Weds) Geeks Who Drink Trivia in the Lounge (Weds) Shotgun Overdose | Feral Pigs | Ruff Hausen 6 World Of Lies | Victims of Internal Decay 7 Michael Schenker Group | Gundriver | Garden of Eden

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Karaoke From Hell (Mondays) Tony Ozier's DOOKIE JAM (Funk) Jennifer Batten with Metts/Ryan/Collins Trio Bollywood Disco Costume Dance Party The Slants | The Shrike | The Punctuals Night Riots | The Epilogues Just People | Otis Heat | Guy Fox Shawn Smith | Hearts of Oak | Stenner Glen Miss Kennedy's Burlesque Red Elvises | Lovebomb Go-Go Marching Band

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Karaoke w/ Suzanne (Mondays) Firkin Funny Stand-Up (Some Tuesdays) Eye Candy VJ's All-Request Videos (Wednesdays) Talkative | Hats Off | Three For Silver 11 HOLLYWOOD THEATRE A not-for-profit organization

whose mission is to entertain, 11: What’s the driving force inspire, educate and connect the that keeps you guys together— community through the art of film while preserving an historic that keeps you plugging away at Portland landmark. your craft?

NE HOLLYWOOD 4122 NE Sandy Blvd (97212) Scott: The great thing about 503.493.1128 | hollywoodtheatre.org Holiday Friends is that I don’t think anyone’s ever felt really up the waypost 2120 n williams against it to try and keep going.

Silent Movie (Mondays) It’s never been something difficult Know & Tell Trivia (Wednesdays) to keep doing. We’ve established Service Industry (Thursdays) Austin Leonard Jones | Jesus Amanda | Graves 14 a great friendship amongst each Jernigan | Cotton | A Thousand Swords 15 other and it’s always been fun.

Caleb Lange | Aimee Wilson | Hosea's Lady 16 Whales Wailing | Johanna Warren | Andrea Tomasi 21 I think the hardest times for us were after college, when we Laurelthirst pub 2958 ne glisan realized we’re not a college band Freak Mountain Ramblers (Sundays) anymore and we’re all in different PortlandCountryUnderground|KungPowChickens(Mondays) parts of the Northwest and Jackstraw (Tuesdays) Lewi & The Left Coast Roasters (Thursdays) beyond. One of our first members Live Music 6-7 Nights a Week! went to San Diego and we had to analog cafe & Theater re-establish ourselves, but we 720 se hawthorne never once thought that we were Gothique Blend Burlesque (Mondays) gonna stop. » - Wendy Worzalla S.Y.N.T. Weekly Dubstep Night (Tuesdays)

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Holiday Friends play live this month Feb 12 @ Holocene for our Treefort Music Fest kick-off party

The Mad Marquis' Sip N Strip Happy Hour (Weds) Cloud City Circus (Thursdays) Musee Mechanique Zora Phoenix: Up & Coming Starlette Cabaret Valentines Day Special - Dinner & Burlesque Ancient Heat Algorythm | The Best Dancers | Loco Potion Rosecity Underground | Serial Sickness

8 13 14 15 21 22 Big O | Uncle Jessie | The Pavelows | Medium Sized Kids 24

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Photo by Michael Halsband

features national scene

W R I T T E N B Y G A B R I E L G R A N AC H

Hindsight is a beautiful and profound part of the human condition. Examining the past helps us learn from our mistakes, and in retrospect events fraught with tension seem placid and reasons for turmoil become clear.

In 1986 Joey Santiago and Black Francis (Charles Thompson) were just two students in Massachusetts who decided to form a band. Kim Deal was just a girl on a train who didn’t know how to play bass and was the only person who responded to an ad requesting a bassist that liked Peter, Paul and Mary and Hüsker Dü.

After the addition of David Lovering, the Pixies were born.

Fast forward to 1993 and five albums later. The Pixies enjoyed critical acclaim but never the major success of Nirvana, Pearl Jam or Radiohead — who all drove the roads paved by the Pixies. Unbeknownst to the band or anyone at the time, the Pixies and their raucous brand of melodic punk rock set the stage for the alternative rock boom of the 1990s. Amidst their importance in the alt-rock scene, internal tensions became too much to deal with (no pun intended). The band split after Thompson called Joey Santiago and notified Deal and Lovering by fax.

By 2003, Kim Deal and Charles Thompson hadn’t spoken in ten years. But the Pixies were reuniting.

What seemed completed by the ink of time was reopened, and for many fans the impossible fantasy of seeing the Pixies became reality. What began as a promise for one tour turned into another ten years, and soon enough the Pixies had been reunited longer than they were originally a band. After multiple soldout world tours, the band was finally ready to re-enter the studio. They exited one bassist short of a full deck and released their first song in 20 years in June 2013—without any warning and weeks after Deal left the band. All of a sudden the Pixies were back. To many the reestablishment of the band felt disjointed and incomplete without Kim Deal.

In the six months that join this brief timeline with the present, the Pixies have released EP1 and EP2, and no one really knows how they feel about it. For the average, sentimental fan it’s a complicated situation.

The original Pixies discography feels so complete, and in some ways sacred to many. Reopening and adding

to it can be construed as defiling the beauty of the primary catalog and insincere. When stacked next to Come On, Pilgrim, Surfer Rosa, Dolittle, Bossanova, and Trompe Le Monde, EP1 and Ep2 are dwarfed in comparison. The EP’s don’t possess the same raw beauty so reflective of the scene and time period in their earlier works, or carry the internal feeling of the edge that Black Francis so clearly dealt with in every moment for many years.

Simply put, EP1 and EP2 feel mature. Not like a coming of age story, but like a full time job. They got the haircut, the suit, and polished shoes to go with the studio-fresh new tracks. The Pixies are all grown up and they have the songs to prove it. Whether or not they stand the test of time the way their preeminent work has already affirmed is not for us to say in this moment, but is reserved for hindsight. Either way, perhaps the most important band of the last twentyfive years has returned, and they don’t plan on breaking up anytime soon.

ELEVEN: The band has been reunited since 2004, so why did you choose to record and release new music this year?

Joey Santiago: We did try this three times and we have been talking about it. I’ll tell you why we hadn’t done it first. Three years ago, into the tour, it wasn’t time yet.

People were still going gaga over the old stuff. We thought they weren’t really ready for anything yet. They were ready after a while but we weren’t. We finally set aside time to do it, and it was finally just time. We started to be a real band again; we got in the studio to record.

David Lovering: It was just the way things were going.

When we originally decided to get back together in 2004, we were only planning on just one tour. It just kept going, and people wanted to see us. After a while we realized that, holy jeez, this is longer than we were initially a band that we’ve been reunited. That was quite surprising. It was almost surreal. Then the Dolittle tour came, and that was going to be just one month abroad. And that turned into two years where everyone wanted to see us all over the world. Around this time, about four years ago, is when we started talking about new material. It took us four years to get to the point where we are right now.

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features national scene 11: How much has the creative process changed?

What’s changed in the studio? How are the dynamics different?

JS: It’s changed a little bit. It’s been changing since Trompe Le Monde. We’re geographically and family challenged. It was hard initially for the four of us to get together.

DL: There is no difference in the way that we were writing stuff or in the studio. The main thing was always that Charles would present his songs on acoustic guitar and then we would rehearse the songs. When we were thinking about doing new material, we said let’s go back to Boston. Let’s get a rehearsal space and do it like we did when we were younger. We tried that; it didn’t work.

It was an experience but it didn’t work along those lines.

We stuck with Charles on acoustic guitar and he went and did some demos with Gil Norton. The songs got a little more polished and we were able to work with them. In the studio nothing had changed. It was like riding a bike. The only difference is we use digital recorders now. It was the same atmosphere, the same way we did things. The only difference was on my end. I hated recording. I used to hate recording Pixies albums just because after Come On, Pilgrim, these albums got quicker and quicker as they came out. I like to get my drums perfect. I like them to sound the way I want them to sound, and at least have my parts played out correctly. As the albums came out quicker and quicker, it became very hard and frustrating for me in the

studio to do exactly what I wanted to do with that limited amount of time. It put a bad impression of studios on me.

When we were going to get back together in Wales for this process, we had worked on the demos for such a long time and I felt confident. I had a renewed attitude and another opportunity to do it again, just like this whole reunion. I feel really fortunate and I really appreciate it a lot more.

I went in with a renewed aspect on it. It was wonderful to record and I had a blast doing it.

11: I almost hate to say it but when I listen to EP1 and EP2 I feel like I’m listening to Frank Black material with the Pixies playing it. Do you feel like Charles is drawing from his solo career and bringing that material to the band?

DL: I don’t know how you’d interpret that. I don’t know how anyone would interpret that and apply it to songwriting. I’ve heard those comments, though. People change with their songwriting and stuff like that. A lot of people complain that it’s not traditional Pixies. But then again, Come On, Pilgrim doesn’t sound like Trompe Le Monde, and Tromp Le Monde doesn’t sound like Surfer Rosa. There is a difference in EP1 and EP2. Some people may like it, some people don’t. We’re very happy with it.

11: How do you see this new music fitting into the overall Pixies canon?

DL: Gosh. We still feel like we’re a viable band by playing live and doing new stuff. It’s nonstop. This can go on. There can be more new stuff and we’ll try new stuff. It’s just the Pixies and this is the track that we’re on. We have a lot of fans and hopefully they’ll come see shows. We’re happy with what we’re doing and we’ll continue on.

JS: It’s a linear progression of our career. We took off after Trompe Le Monde and we also took off after every record. Every record has been different anyways. We never copied a record—that’s ludicrous. It’s a natural leap. Time will either prove itself or not. Some fans are stoked, and others are like, “why did you change?” I wonder, did they get every record or just embrace Dolittle the whole time.

11: To me it feels like a new trajectory.

JS: That’s fair enough. In that 20 years between, each of us has grown a little bit I suppose. The sonic signature is still there. At times it’s there but it’s used more sparingly.

We can’t do it every song. I see what people are getting at; the production is a little cleaner, and it’s more polished.

Dolittle is a hodgepodge, too. Older songs like “Anna” and “Havelina” are pretty polished. Here we’ve got “What Goes Boom,” which is not too polished and definitely hardhitting.

11: Joey, you’ve been doing scoring for films and TV shows. Has that changed your approach to guitar and arrangement within the Pixies?

JS: The reason I got into scoring is because people thought I would go into that world easily—because the stuff I did with the Pixies is almost a score. It’s atmospheric

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features national scene and bare at times. I went into that world and I thought it wouldn’t change, but it has. You’re writing to a subject.

Time to get sad, or time to get suspenseful. The moments I’m hitting with the Pixies are the same. It’s changed in the way that Gil has made me approach it. He put it more in the forefront of my mind.

11: Did Kim Deal record on both the new demos?

DL: She recorded five songs with us. After the five songs she decided to leave. It was a tough thing. At that time we enlisted a friend of ours from Manchester and he came down to finish the bass parts with us.

“there is a younger generation of fans, which is cool. But 20 years has passed. There is a demand out there and we are the suppliers.

We can feel the energy.”

11: Can you walk me through that conversation with Kim when she decided to split with the band?

DL: Basically we were all having coffee, and she came and we were talking and all she said was “I’m flying home tomorrow.” It was a shock. Everyone was just like, “what?”

She just said, “I’m done. I’m done with the Pixies.” We couldn’t question it; it was just what she wanted to do. We did beg her later that day. We all called her and pleaded with her to come back. It was a tough night. We didn’t know what to do. Do we break up the band or go forward? But we were at the point where we had a lot of recording done and had a lot of recording booked with the studio. We just took the adversity and turned it around. The three of us bonded and moved forward. I took up double duties on vocals to take up where Kim wasn’t there and we forged ahead on it.

We made it through. We’re lucky we’re still here today.

JS: There is always a void there. I look to stage left and she’s not there. But it’s dissipated over time. It’s just business as usual. I don’t have time to reminisce about it now. Jeez, last night I saw girls in the crowd inspired to be like Paz with the same emotion they got from Kim. These young fans didn’t seem to be attached to the “No Kim No Deal” mantra that I’ve been seeing. Fucking hell, we don’t want to see those banners! It’s hilarious, but it’s like get over it, and let us go on. It’s not like it’s the first time a band member has left. It’s stronger than any random thing though. This is Kim Deal, the darling; the strongest presence on stage has left the building. But at the end of the day it’s about wooing the young fans that don’t necessarily adhere to the original lineup.

11: To my knowledge the Pixies have never been much of a close band. Has this experience of adversity changed the relationship between the remaining three members?

JS: It remained the same. We’ve always had some kind

of weird bond. There is always the bond of music. We didn’t start hanging out like The Monkees. We just went in and did the work. Nothing really has changed.

DL: It’s interesting, people think we’re a noncommunicative and very un-close band. It’s not the case.

We’re all friends, and we hang with each other. We’re all portrayed differently in the ways things have gone down, but we’re not as dark and deep and heavy as far as those aspects. I’ve got to tell you, it did create a stronger bond between Joey, Charles, and I. 11: If the Pixies aren’t that dark image that is consistently portrayed, what are you?

DL: We’re a very boring band. Incredibly boring. We just do our things. We’ve known each other for years.

Nothing goes down really. Of course there is drama and dysfunction, but we’re pretty boring people. When the documentary crew for LoudQuietLoud followed us around for two years, they had nothing because we’re so boring.

With editing and reconstructing and timelines they made it into a drama of something. Otherwise it wouldn’t have been a film.

JS: We’re socially retarded. We can’t even make a restaurant reservation correctly. We’re just a fucking basket case. We can’t help it. Sue us. Our families still love us.

11: Charles is quoted as saying, “The only honest way to continue and make new music was to do it under a new name and start fresh.” Why continue as the Pixies?

DL: We did talk about using a different name or something like that. We stuck with it because we are 3/4ths of the band. We are the Pixies. Charles is primarily the songwriter and stuff like that, so it’s us. We have a different flavoring on bass now, and that’s it.

JS: Charles is very bravado. He shoots from the hip sometimes. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t.

That idea was not going to fly with anyone anyway. It wouldn’t fly with him either. That’s more representative of the time and place that he said it than anything. Why copy ourselves? When we get together we can’t help but sound like the Pixies. People would have said, “why the fuck did you change your name? You still sound like the Pixies.”

That name, whatever it was—people would have said it sounds like the Pixies.

11: David, you gave up drums after the initial breakup, correct?

DL: Yeah. I completely stopped drumming. When the Pixies broke up I did some session work and played with other bands, but I gave it up completely because I really loved the Pixies and it was the highlight of everything I had done with drums. Back in ’93, just before we broke up, I bought a new drum set for the Pixies. It was a gorgeous set. I never played it. It was in its case waiting for the next tour, and then the band broke up. It sat in storage until 2004. I used those drums for the reunion. It’s the same kit I’m using now. When I initially sat down to rehearse, it was

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features national scene really sad for me because I had given up something I love so much and have a lot of respect for. It was kinda tough.

I say to myself I’ll never give it up again. I appreciate and love drums a lot more now. I never thought of myself as an expert player, but now I love it so much more. I’ve also finally figured out ergonomics. It took me 40 years to learn how to set up my drums correctly.

11: How have the shows been so far?

JS: The first official one was last night. We did a warmup in North Hampton. Last night was Toronto. It was good to be back on stage. It was nerve-wracking for me as always. So it’s been the same in that aspect. I missed it, so it’s good to be back. It’s pretty overwhelming. I try to play each show perfectly, but there are always a few songs on the set I get nervous about. Most of them make me nervous.

11: What are some of your favorite songs to play live on tour?

DL: I always like playing “Tame” and “Vamos.” The new songs I like are “Magdelena” and “Indie Cindy.” Those are the high points. Maybe “Wave of Mutilation” as well. I like all the Pixies songs, but these are the fun ones to play live.

“Vamos” has a nice steady groove going ahead and then it rocks out. The only thing about it that makes it hard is either Charles doesn’t start the vocals for a while or Joey does a guitar solo that is ten minutes long. Then I start panting a bit.

JS: “Blue-Eyed Hexe” comes around really good, and so do “Boom” and “Indie Cindy.” “Indie Cindy” is my favorite new one to play. “Vamos” is a beast. Some nights I like it and some nights it’s tough. I’ve just got to commit to it. It depends on how I did on the rest of the set. If I do badly on the rest of the set, I get to prove myself on that one. And if I did great, “Vamos” is a no-brainer. It’s got to be genuine.

People can feel it. If I don’t feel it then neither will they.

11: That’s great. You still have the genuine aspect of spontaneity in each show. It’s not just a reunion playing the songs straight through.

JS: Exactly. We know the material so well. When I hit a different note on the old stuff, and I do it on purpose sometimes, Charles will look over and be like “yeah!” That’s always fun.

11: What are you most proud of since the Pixies reunion?

JS: That we still have fans. That’s really it. And there is a younger generation of fans, which is cool. But 20 years has passed. There is a demand out there and we are the suppliers. We can feel the energy. People are saying, “oh my god I’m finally going to see them!” Another thing that I see at the shows in the front of the crowd are a father and a son. The question that pops into my mind is, “who decided to take who?”»

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film

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who he claimed was parroting everything he said from an offcamera producer. Even among the minority of queens daring enough to be publicly critical of the show, it is rare for anyone to be directly critical of RuPaul. Despite participants being in on the secret that RuPaul's quick wit and sense of humor on

EDITORIAL: MY FAVORITE TV SHOW IS AN ENORMOUS LIE AND I DONT CARE

the show are largely manufactured, it remains one of the bestkept secrets about the show. Those in the know are aware that RuPaul hasn't dressed in drag without a paycheck to motivate him in decades. Perhaps queens are motivated to keep their mouths shut because of their contracts, maybe it's for fear of being excluded from future high-paying events and cruises, or maybe they just have too much respect for RuPaul's role in the

There comes a time in every TV fanatic's life when they have to separate reality from fiction and accept that their favorite program falls into the latter category. As intense as fandom worship can get, and as strongly as the bond between a show and its audience is forged, there is nothing real on TV. This can get confusing when your favorite show is a reality TV competition.

For the most die-hard fans of RuPaul's Drag Race, the sense of cognitive dissonance grows with each passing season. For the most part, the past contestants have done a good job of selling the fiction of the show: that they were all a bunch of drag queens judged on merit and eliminated accordingly. It is important for them to eschew the pervasive influence of producers and editors in the final product because selling that fantasy helps them get bookings.

No queen's career has been weakened by the show—on the

drag world to shatter that fantasy for the fans.

None of this has changed my mind about RuPaul's Drag Race. It is still my favorite TV show. I can acknowledge the fiction of the show, because the lie helps heighten the entertainment value. I know that every season, someone will be edited into the role of villain, regardless of the actual nature of their relationships with fellow contestants. I know the weekly catfights on supplemental “behind the scenes” series Untucked are goaded on by a bloodthirsty producer seeking to squeeze every last ounce of conflict out of the queens that remain. The art of drag has always been about illusion, and RuPaul's Drag Race is the greatest illusion to come out of the drag community yet. Thankfully, its presentation as a “reality” television program will never fail to suspend the disbelief of viewers—at least not until the formula gets old, by which time drag culture will have further pervaded the mainstream. » - Rob de la Teja

contrary, an appearance on Drag Race is a golden ticket for all queens. While most drag queens across the country work for (relatively miniscule) tips, the past queens of Drag Race

The sixth season of Rupaul's Drag Race airs February 24 on Logo

can earn anywhere between $1,000 and $10,000 just to put on their makeup and lip-sync a song or two for a nightclub full of

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intoxicated fans. There are innumerable drag queens on the club circuit with comparable talent to the Drag Race royalty,

The Portland International Film Festival is here this month, but if you don't

but what audiences are paying their cover charge for isn't the

want to leave the couch to catch some international fare, here are some

lip-sync itself–it's the backstory.

streaming options. » - Bex Silver

Some queens have come out as particularly vocal against what Drag Race has done for the drag community. India Ferrah famously tried to sell off her wardrobe and notorious fake breasts, lamenting that young queens were becoming too focused on making it onto the show, and not focused enough on honing their craft. Despite her protestations that Drag Race was ruining the art form, her retirement was shortlived. Willam Belli, who was already successful by drag queen standards before the show aired, has become its most vocal critic (in spite of an exponential boost in fame brought on by his controversial elimination). Belli has publicly dismissed Drag Race as a “game show” and refuses to discuss it with fans or the press.

I once spoke with a military veteran who received a drag

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(FRANCE, 1993)

A French farce where a medieval nobleman and his squire are transported to modern day France by a senile sorcerer.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD (KOREA, 2008) A story of a bounty hunter and two outlaws in 1940s Manchuria and their rivalry to possess a treasure map while being pursued by the Japanese army and Chinese bandits.

TOGETHER

(SWEDEN, 2000)

A Mother relocates herself and her children from an abusive husband to a commune called ‘Together’ in 1975 Sweden.

SOUND OF NOISE

(SWEDEN, 2010)

A tone deaf detective must stop a renegade percussion group that is terrorizing Sweden in this absurdist comedy.

makeover on season five. He was quick to dismiss the majority

THE HISTORY OF FUTURE FOLK

of his experience, lamenting the way the editing differed from

Is this guy really from another planet, because his banjo playing is out of this world!

the reality of being on set. He was especially critical of RuPaul,

(UNITED STATES, 2012)

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film

FEBRUARY FILM EVENTS RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE: BATTLE OF THE SEASONS FEBRUARY 5 | CRYSTAL BALLROOM

The crowning glory of seasons past: Sharon Needles, Alaska ThunderF**k, Willam, Ivy Winters, Manila Luzon, Pandora Boxx, Detox, and Carmen Carrera will be led in a three-ring circus of comedy and lip sync by none other than RuPaul's Drag Race co-host, Michelle Visage. For the full royal treatment consider a VIP Ticket (limited quantity @ $50 a head) to get you into the pre-show meet and greet where you can fulfill your fantasy of being gal pals with the likes of Drag Royalty.

PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL FEBRUARY 6-22 | VARIOUS LOCATIONS

FEBRUARY 2014

2.2 • SUPER BOWL SUNDAY 2.3 • “AVA HELEN PAULING: PARTNER, ACTIVIST, VISIONARY” OREGON ENCYCLOPEDIA HISTORY NIGHT

2.6 • “LONDON TO LONDON VIA THE WORLD A GLOBAL MISSION BY BIKE, BOAT, AND KAYAK

2.11 • SAY ANYTHING 2.12 • PLANNED PARENTHOOD ADVOCATES OF OREGON PRESENTS “IT’S NOT ME, IT’S YOU: STORIES FROM THE DARK SIDE OF DATING”

For the 37th annual PIFF, The NW Film Center has once again programmed an amazing lineup of international cinema in genres ranging from documentary to animation.

The spotlight of the February 6 opening party will be shown on legendary Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki. The highly anticipated final film from the visionary, The Wind Rises, will be shown at Cinema 21 and the new Empirical Theater at OMSI. This is a fantastic chance to get see The Wind Rises before it's general US release on February 21. Full festival listings as well as pass information can be found at nwfilm.org.

HOLLYWOOD THEATER RESIDENCY THE RE-DO SERIES: I'M YOUR DENSITY FEBRUARY 11 | HOLOCENE

HOSTED BY MOVIEBOOZER AT THE MISSION

2.13 - 2.15 • MORTIFIED PORTLAND! 2.16 • LUNASA KATHRYN CLAIRE 2.26 • MOONFACE 2.28 • PDX JAZZ See mcmenamins.com for complete schedule of events

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What is a redo series? In a word: fan-fiction (of the film variety). I'm Your Density is artists Dave Ewing and Robbie Augspurger's labor of love: a full re-editing of Back to the Future I, II & III, in chronological order. Taking years to meticulously put these films through the proverbial splicer, Ewing and Augspurger have reinvented a classic series with a whole new story arc that must be seen to comprehend. » - Bex Silver

community

NEIGHBORHOOD OF THE MONTH:

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Location photos by Mercy McNab

3. PATTIES STACKED HIGH

1. BUZZING COCKTAILS

Skyline Burgers - 2200 NE Broadway

2. ONE INK AT A TIME

Black List Tattoo - 2307 NE Broadway

BEST OF NE BROADWAY

Swift - 1832 NE Broadway

4. TOTES TAQUERIA

Aztec Willies -1501 NE Broadway

5. SCOTTISH PUB'N

Rose and Thistle - 2314 NE Broadway

6. ARTISANAL COFFEE

Cafe Darte - 1615 NE 15TH

7. TIME FOR THAI

Chai Yo - 1411 NE Broadway

8. HAPPY HOUR HUNGER CURE

Broadway Brew Pub - 1700 NE Broadway

9. RAW VEGAN REVIVAL

Blossoming Lotus - 1713 NE 15TH

10. TREAT YO-SELF!

Massage Envy - 1517 NE Broadway

11. LITERARY LOCALE

Broadway Books - 1714 NE Broadway

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community visual arts your trash and someone loved this.” I remember thinking, oh my god I am never throwing art away again, which is funny because I still do it.

Photo by Mercy McNab

11: If you knew you could only paint one more thing, then never create another piece of art again, what would you paint?

RL: Blue. I would paint every shade of blue imaginable.

11: Is that your favorite color?

RL: Right now, yeah. It wouldn’t be anything then. It would just be blue, as many ways as I could make it.

VISUAL ARTS Portland artist Rebekah Long

ELEVEN: Does all art have meaning?

Rebekah Long: I can answer that from the viewpoint of how I feel. I can’t obviously speak for anybody else. I feel like all of the good art I have made has had meaning, but I have made a lot of art that has meant nothing to me. At least nothing good [laughs]. I suppose all art means something.

It’s a hard one. How could you sit down and put any amount of energy into something and it have zero meaning? For me, when I am inspired is the only time I create anything worthwhile—worth keeping for me.

11: What about for the observer? Or can art have a pure aesthetic value?

RL: It is so hard to say. I remember when I was little, I would create art and throw it away, like, “I don’t want to see this, I don’t want to see this.” Then my mom would go through the trash and take out all my art. And it's funny because I remember she did it one time without me knowing, then came up to me later and handed me an envelope. I asked, “What is this?” I opened it and it was like four hundred bucks—and I was fourteen! She said one of the pieces of art I threw away, she sold for me. She said, “This is

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11: What has it been like balancing work and being an artist?

RL: Oh god. I work always. It is really hard. It is the deepest struggle I have, I think. I am not the type of person who wants to live the starving artist life. I like nice things.

I do. So I work my ass off. This is the first time in six years I haven’t worked two jobs, and I am still working 50 hours a week. So it is a struggle, but I have been really good at creating during that time. Then there will be months where I will go without feeling like I even have time to start something. And I am not the type of person that is good at sitting down and then leaving a piece. I have sat down and started a piece at like seven in the morning and haven’t finished until four the next morning. I won’t stop. So, it is hard knowing that I have to be at work at three, and granted its only 11:00 a.m., but the last thing I am going to want to do is have to get up and walk away from it and walk to work.

11: Do you think you spend so much time sitting with one piece because you appreciate that time more from working so much?

RL: I think more for me it is because I am so obsessive over color. Like, I make all my colors and I spend a lot of time making that perfect color. I know when I sit down that I need this much of this color and this much of that color, but if I walk away from it for a couple days or so I won’t be able to recreate that exact color. That’s the hardest part for me.

11: What role does creating art play in your life?

RL: For me, I have never created art for money. I have usually always created art to give away to people. I feel like a lot of artists are influenced by other artists, or are influenced by other things. But for me, I am influenced by people more than anything else. I meet someone, I spend time around them, and that is what inspires me to create.

I am thinking. I am thinking about a person. By the time I finish a piece of art, I usually know exactly who I want to have it go to. I love giving art away. I don’t need it anymore, and there is something about giving art away—in that moment—that is the reason why I create it.

11: What’s your creative process like, and where do your images originate from?

community visual arts RL: I have two very different styles of art. Sometimes I am really, really abstract and put zero thought into what I am going to paint. I’ll create a color and build from there; I’m rarely ever painting something specific. I also do artwork that has tons of tape work—so I will lay down sheets of tape then go over it with an Exacto knife to carve out the images.

From there I will paint over it—let the paint dry and peel off the tape. When I do that, a lot of it is really geometric. That takes a significant amount of timing to plan out. So I guess there are two types of methods I really use in creating my art.

11: Are the white lines—the tape—symbolic, or for purely aesthetic reasons?

RL: Aesthetic reasons.

11: When manipulating water and paint, is it difficult to manage so many strong colors?

RL: No. I love it. It’s my favorite thing.

11: How do you do it?

RL: I am color crazy. When I go on walks, I will pick up leaves or sticks and I will be like, “I love this color. I am going to create this color.” I will geek out for hours trying to create the exact same color. I find it interesting when people are afraid of color. To me, I love big and bright things and am not afraid to put a billion of them in the same piece.

11: It seems to me that would take a lot of bravery.

RL: Yeah, I don’t know. I am not afraid of art—of just doing whatever I want because I am not afraid of things being too bold.

11: What’s the process like for you when collaborating with other artists? For instance, the pieces you created with Eatcho?

RL: It’s really great actually. Eatcho is one of the most brilliant people I have ever met. [He has] a very different process. It’s really interesting actually working with someone who is an illustrator because I suck so much [laughs] at illustrating. Man, I can’t draw for the life of me.

It’s cool. Especially with Eatcho, because we had a really good way of communicating. We gave each other space to work on things separate, too. We have a couple pieces together. I would start the first section, then he would do the next section, then I would do a section and kind of go like that. There were instances where he would create a whole half of a piece of art, then give it to me and say, “Do what you do.” He’s the only person in Portland I have ever collaborated with on a piece of art, actually.

11: Did you ever find that you had competing visions when working with another artist?

RL: Not really. Honestly, the first piece we did together I am dying to show. It was six feet by five feet; it was huge.

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community visual arts I said I wanted to collaborate with him and he said, “Okay you tell me what to do. This is your piece.” For that one, I felt like I had more control of how I wanted it to go. Then he would start pieces and tell me what he wanted me to do as far as what colors to use and stuff.

11: Some of your paintings seem to take on a nebulous shape and have astronomical names—is there a connection?

RL: I don’t think there is a connection per se. One of the beautiful things about working with water colors is it is so hard to contain, and does whatever it wants. Sometimes I feel like I am only picking the color and it is doing all of the magic. I think those nebulas you speak of have nothing to do with me. I think it is just the magic of water color.

11: Do you have any shout-outs to other artists?

RL: Yes! I have been so about this one artist that I found at the Pie Spot—I think at 28th and Glisan. I believe her name is Laura Jane Walker. She does these—oh my god, I am infatuated with this woman—pieces on wood. She uses all these tiny little nails to make shapes, then uses string and different pieces of thread. I don’t know. Google her. I would love to do something with this woman. I don’t know how, but it would be amazing. » - Billy Dye Please enjoy Rebekah's piece entitled "Mr. Lonely" (watercolor, 2013) decorating our back inside cover this month

"Untitled" (watercolor, 2013)

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