I've often wondered just how much the literary world has suffered at the hands of pop music and its arrival over the past half-century or so. It's not exactly a stretch to claim that the lure of rock n' roll has been robbing the talent base of would-be poets for decades now (then again, let's face it, the mundane and inane sounds just fine with a decent melody backing it, so maybe we're not being so much robbed as spared). Anyway, the 4th Annual Wordstock Festival is underway this weekend, and although it's billed as "Portland's Book & Literary Festival," there's still a bit of music to be had.
Case in point: The Long Winters. Truth is, the Seattle band is a natural fit for the occasion-- if frontman John Roderick wasn't writing whip-smart pop songs he'd undoubtedly be holed up creating epic and sprawling novels of great wit and existential debate, and he has the look and the chops to back it up (rendering the rest of us "bloggers" dunces in the process). Lucky for us, music is his poison and he's been perfecting it over the course of three full-lengths and an EP on Barsuk, most recently on 2006's Putting the Days to Bed. The Long Winters play as part of LiveWire!'s Wordstock Extravaganza tonight at the Aladdin Theater.
MP3s: The Long Winters- "Stupid" and "Carparts"
It seems it's one of those weekends where everything happens at once: also underway is the 2nd Annual Siren Nation Festival, among many other things featuring a second night of live music tonight at the Wonder Ballroom. Workshops, visual art exhibits, film screenings, and arts & crafts are all on the schedule through the end of the weekend, as the organization more than makes good on its stated goal of "showcas(ing) and creat(ing) performance and exhibition opportunities for women." Tonight's musical line-up is impressive, boasting not only Portland's Lauras (Veirs and Gibson), but Amelia, Scout Niblett and Felina's Arrow as well.
MP3: Laura Veirs, from Year of Meteors- "Galaxies"
Video: Scout Niblett- "Nevada (Live on La Blogotheque)"
As for non-festival options tonight, there are plenty: from the dirty retro soul of The King Khan & BBQ Show at Dante's to Swedish neo-psychedelics Dungen at the Doug Fir. Speaking of Dungen (pronounced DOON-gun), they released what is technically their sixth full-length effort (despite the title) since 2001 with 4 in September. Once again, but also probably more so than ever before, their mix is a decidedly retro blend (truly a surprise given the photo) of free jazz, psychedelic rock, and the occasional tinge of AM gold. It's warm, it's fuzzy, it's feathered-- one might even say a bit cheesy....but it just sounds so good. Women (the band) open.
MP3: Dungen, from 4- "Sat Att Se"
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