Taking Stock

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 <a href="http://www.wordstockfestival.com/#/page_id=110/">4th Annual Wordstock Festival</a> 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. <img width="285" height="205" align="right" class="right-img" title="John Roderick's Long Winters are in town for Wordstock tonight." src="/uploads/longwinters2.jpg" alt="" /> Case in point: <a href="http://www.thelongwinters.com">The Long Winters</a>. 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 <a href="http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/IMG00238.jpg">the look</a> and <a href="http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/reverb/john_roderick_reverb_residency/">the chops</a> 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 <a href="http://www.barsuk.com">Barsuk</a>, most recently on 2006's Putting the Days to Bed. The Long Winters play as part of <a href="http://www.livewireradio.org">LiveWire!</a>'s Wordstock Extravaganza tonight at the Aladdin Theater. MP3s: The Long Winters- <a href="http://tlw.merlinmann.com/The_Long_Winters_-_Stupid.mp3">"Stupid"</a> and <a href="http://tlw.merlinmann.com/The_Long_Winters_-_Carparts.mp3">"Carparts"</a> <img width="229" height="231" align="left" src="/uploads/sirennation.jpg" title="The 2nd Annual Siren Nation Festival runs through the weekend." class="left-img" alt="" />It seems it's one of those weekends where everything happens at once: also underway is the <a href="http://sirennation.org/faq.html">2nd Annual Siren Nation Festival</a>, 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 (<a href="http://www.lauraveirs.com">Veirs</a> and <a href="http://www.lauragibson.net">Gibson</a>), but <a href="http://www.ameliaband.com">Amelia</a>, <a href="http://www.scoutniblett.com">Scout Niblett</a> and <a href="http://www.myspace.com/felinasarrow">Felina's Arrow</a> as well. MP3: Laura Veirs, from Year of Meteors- <a href="http://audio.sxsw.com/2006/mp3_audio/Laura_Veirs-Galaxies.mp3">"Galaxies"</a> Video: Scout Niblett- <a href="http://www.scoutniblett.info/videos/99/httpwwwblogothequenet">"Nevada (Live on La Blogotheque)"</a> <img width="240" height="269" align="right" src="/uploads/dungen.jpg" title="Dungen are a Swedish blast from the past." class="right-img" alt="" /> As for non-festival options tonight, there are plenty: from the dirty retro soul of <a href="http://www.myspace.com/thekingkhanbbqshow">The King Khan & BBQ Show</a> at Dante's to Swedish neo-psychedelics <a href="http://www.dungen-music.com">Dungen</a> 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. <a href="http://www.myspace.com/womenmusic">Women</a> (the band) open. MP3: Dungen, from 4- <a href="http://kemado.com/_files/audio/dungen/satt_att_se.mp3">"Sat Att Se"</a>   Have a comment or a request? Want to react to tonight's <a href="http://www.opbmusic.org/performances/66-Jolie-Holland">in-studio</a> with Jolie Holland? The Saturday night thread is open... true

2008-11-22T14:55:00-08:00

2008-11-08T12:32:39-08:00

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2008-11-08T14:55:17-08:00

The 4th Annual Wordstock Festival is underway, and it ain't just about books. Plus, the Siren Nation Festival sees night #2 at the Wonder Ballroom, Sweden's Dungen play the Doug Fir, and we feature an in-studio session with Jolie Holland.

Taking Stock

2008-11-12T17:32:13-08:00