Electronics Unite!

Another week has gone by.

Another song is ready for you. Actually, there are a few, but this one is the shortest, and it's a break from the norm. It's kinda disturbing.

Get Out of My Head

I'm getting all Demented Charles Ives on your asses! (Ok, i appologize, that's probably only amusing to other musicians who know who Charles Ives is)

We're compiling a list of electronic musicians and producers here in greater Portlandia. It's in response to a local 'Music Media Filter' claiming to give fair coverage. In a snide response, this Filter wanted some numbers. Along with a breakdown of the coverage with respect to genre, we're sending them a list of electronic acts that are actually electronic acts, not just Starfucker or Talkdemonic, who seem to be all the local media listens to. Ok, they cover Copy and DAT'R as electronic acts. Politically speaking, I'm not a fan. We'll leave it at that.

Rule of thumb: Sounding 'cutting edge' in Portland means sounding like you're from 1977-83.

So, if you or anyone you know makes electronic music, send me your music name and link. We'll show these uber-hip, anti-hipster-hipsters that there's something out there aside from Indie rock/pop & alt-folk. I recommend some musicians from the other genres of music that get severely overlooked by the pdx media do the same for their respective sounds.

Also, i realized that indie rock/pop is mostly just adult contemporary music made for younger people by younger people. Really, listen to it. Listen to some adult contemporary music. Listen to the indie shit again. They're the same brand of non-offensive safe music. The best of both of them are well written... but there's nothing beyond simple, safe, straightforward songs. Nothing dangerous or progressive about it.

Hell, even Britney Spears (the pop commercially manufactured production team, with Britney Spears the person as the image) pushed limits by using quarter-tones in a commercial pop song. Go listen to “I'm a Slave 4 U.” That's right. Britney Spears pushed musical limits and boundaries and defied convention more than safe Indie Rock/Pop.

And no, not being able to sing in key does not mean you're experimenting with quarter-tones. It means you never bothered to learn how to sing in key.

<3 Noise!

Prophetnoise full length: Godless Music for a Free Mind CDBaby and iTunes.
Prophetnoise EP Orange & Silver on CDBaby and iTunes
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Prophetnoise on Myspace

Turning Nocturnal

Thanks to everyone who showed up to the PRA Benefit on Sunday.

This week you get the song 4 AM.

It's a time i've been starting to call “mid-day” because my sleep schedule is slowly transforming to nocturnal again. If i couldn't tell by the shrinking daylight and return of the perpetual-overcast, my warping sleep schedule will let me know that fall is here.

I have something on my mind, but i want to hold off before i start talking about it. Hopefully you'll get a mid-week blog update when i find out more. Until then, go out and start some trouble. It's a lifestyle.

<3 Noise!

Prophetnoise full length: Godless Music for a Free Mind CDBaby and iTunes.
Prophetnoise EP Orange & Silver on CDBaby and iTunes
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Last holdout of beautiful before 9+ months of overcast

Not a complaint: The beautiful weather is killing my productivity.

I'm down from 3 complete (fully mixed – final product) songs a week, to just the one that you cats wind up hearing, maybe a second. I started about 10-15 new ones this week. Only this one came to fruition. There will be 9+ months of overcast drear where i can easily catch up, and probably surpass myself.

My ears thirst for something new:

Tell me of an artist/band/etc that might possibly change the way i listen to music... that you think i probably haven't heard yet.

Be careful, if you suggest something awful i might judge you. Or maybe i won't. You'll just have to take that chance.

I've been thinking of this: A mixed media scavenger hunt. Not to sound like a puss, but nothing has to get stolen. Armed with our vast array of personal media devices (laptop, camera-phone, digital photo & video cameras, etc) venture out on the town to not only find the classics like a Speed Limit sign not ending in a 5 or 0, but also sounds, abstracts, and physically impossibles. A train going by backwards, negative space, an orange tree, or something sad; ugly; smelly; a rhyming hobo... well, that's the gist of it. Not going to go into all the convoluted details. Points not only for getting the 'item', but also for your creativity in how you display it. Let me know what you think, who'd be interested, other ideas, or negative comments.

I'm playing Sunday at the Someday Lounge here in PDX. It's a benefit for Portland Radio Authority. Mike Jedlicka, Freaky Outty, and freshly transplanted from England, Moss from Pork Records. Good times. Go. Now! Ok, not now, Sunday the 21st.

That is all for today. I was going to say something that would probably piss someone off again, but i'm hungry, and the world stops until i eat.

This week's song:

Bitch!

(you gotta say it with a smile on your face)

<3 Noise!

Prophetnoise full length: Godless Music for a Free Mind CDBaby and iTunes.
Prophetnoise EP Orange & Silver on CDBaby and iTunes
Prophetnoise on iLike
Prophetnoise on Facebook
Prophetnoise on Myspace

They're Joking, right?

It's 12:27 AM, which technically makes this Wednesday morning, but i made an executive decision to hold off a few hours until after i met with Bubbles to discuss the state of affairs in Portland Music.

The other day i searched for electronic music in Portland. I know it's out there. But, it sure as hell isn't in the public eye. What the media filters consider electronic music, and what's happening in the rest of the world electronically are... well, lets just be polite and say that Portland has no fucking idea what electronic music is. (And no, pdx isn't that progressively different. It's years behind.)

Electronic music is NOT:

Starfucker. I don't know what these people are listening to when they call a straight-ahead indie rock band electronic music. Is it because they use a keyboard? They don't even list themselves as electronic on their myspace page. They list themselves as straight up Pop. Yet, they keep getting reviewed as one of the greatest electronic acts around town. Guh?

I could go on and list all the bands i found searching through myspace and cdbaby, or from wweek, mercury and vanguard reviews, etc., that claim to be the best thing that's happened to electronic music since the invention of the computer. But, i won't because this blog would be 100 pages long, and none of those bands would be electronic music; an indie rock band with a drum machine and a looper is not electronic music. But, according to Portland, it is.

Another thing that i'm getting sick of, that's probably going to offend every american who listens to music... what the fuck is with Guitar, Bass, Drums, VX, and sometimes Keys. Still? Really? Is that the extent of our musical prowess?

Rock and Roll was 'invented' circa 1950. It's 2008. Rock and Roll is 58 years old. We've been listening to Guitar, Bass, Drums, VX and sometimes Keys for 58 years. Rock and Roll can join AARP. Rock and Roll can start making plans to retire and collect Social Security. I know people keep bitching that rock is dead. I think the problem is that it's not.

One thing that rock has going for it is that it's name is self promoting. A rock show can rock. A fast car can rock. Anything cool, “rocks.” If you go to an electronic show and it's really good, you still say it rocks. I think we need a specific slang for electronic music, having to do with electronic music, meaning 'awesome,' to be memed into general speech.

“Yo, how was the Prophetnoise show you went to?”
“Oh, that shit was fuckin' Binary! Bleepin' Binary!”

Ok, i don't know if calling things 'binary' or 'bleeping' will actually happen.

Either way, here's a bleepin binary song for you:

It's Coming

And one more thing before i go. There really are a lot of great local electronic musicians in this town. I don't want it to seem like i'm saying all the electronic musicians in Portland suck. Just the ones you hear and read about do.

<3 Noise!

Prophetnoise full length: Godless Music for a Free Mind CDBaby and iTunes.
Prophetnoise EP Orange & Silver on CDBaby and iTunes
Prophetnoise on iLike
Prophetnoise on Facebook
Prophetnoise on Myspace

AudioCinema Visual Collective Recovery

I'm pretty well recovered from Saturday. I was running sound & stage managing AC/VC (AudioCinema Visual Collective), their annual event featuring the art of 50 Portland artists, readings from writers, dancers, a fashion show, and bands. From 5PM-3AM, i was keeping 2 stages + the floor in order, plus playing a set of my own music. One stage was lofted upstairs with the board on the floor. The other stage was ground level with the mixing booth up a different set of stairs in a room fondly called 'the Bunker.' I was running up and down stairs all night. Yay exercise!

The night did go smoothly and was a success. We stayed on time, for the most part, even though there was no downtime between sets. The two-edged sword of having two+ stages i suppose. That, plus i'm completely awesome and wouldn't expect anything less. Or so i think...

I can't take all the credit. I have to commend the bands as well. Save one act, they all showed up on time, set up in a timely manner while the other stage was performing, ran either a quick sound-check, or we just jumped into the set and it was worked out by the end of the first song. No prima donnas, no drama. Just great acts to work with.

Note to musicians: Be nice to the sound-person. If i need to explain why, you're going to have a 'frustrating' career.

Also, i'm pretty sure most of the art will be on display until friday. AudioCinema will be open from 12-4PM daily (ring doorbell), and will be open all day for first friday. I suggest stopping in and taking a look.

In other news, Digital Organics on Portland Radio Authority is up and running.
That's:
Mike Jedlicka with Optic Echo Presents: Mondays 6-8PM playing Downtempo, Ambient, & Experimental music.
-and-
Ana & X24 with Digital Organics: Mondays 10PM-Midnight playing Electronic music including many local (PDX area) artists.

You can listen online from anywhere on the world on P.R.A.'s site or streaming on iTunes. Good times.

This week, a song aptly named. I don't know where this came from, but i guess it was sitting inside my brain somewhere:

Curiously Peculiar

<3 Noise!

Prophetnoise full length: Godless Music for a Free Mind CDBaby and iTunes.
Prophetnoise EP Orange & Silver on CDBaby and iTunes
Prophetnoise on iLike
Prophetnoise on Facebook
Prophetnoise on Myspace