Portable Shrines

1/21/2012 -That band of mystic heathens known as Jeffertitti’s Nile return to Seattle. Their future primitive space garage vibes  were one of the highlights of Escalator Fest 2010 so we look forward to seeing them again but this bill also boasts three of the hands down best local acts going right now- Diminished Men, Rose Windows and the Low Hums. With DJ Mamma Casserole.  See you there…

Tuareg guitar phenomena Bombino comes all the way from the edge of the Sahara to Seattle December 11 at the Nectar.

From the Zero Gravity Films website-
“The Tuareg are an ancient Saharan nomadic tribe who, since the 12th century, have linked North Africa and West Africa, guiding their camel caravans across the desert, spreading art and music from Egypt to Mali. The Tuareg guard their independence and personal freedoms fiercely and have taken up arms against the government three times in the past two decades. They are also a very moderate and independent Muslim culture that cherishes the right to worship in their own way, as well as the rights of women. In fact, in Tuareg culture, the men cover their faces, the women do not.”

Another great show at the Comet (Lesbian, La Otracina, Great Society Mind Destroyers, Hypatia Lake show the week before was incredible BTW)
Thanks to Mama Casserole and all the folks who support amazing touring bands like Chicago’s CAVE. Locals Are You a Cat?, Midday Veil and Kinski also tore it up for real.
Here’s a couple videos from the show featuring Portable Shrines light show by Aubrey Nehring and Rena Bussinger.

In past years, we’ve often lamented not being able to make the trip to Austin Psych Fest. (In 2009, Austin transplant Victoria Reynard even wrote a full review of APF2 for Portable Shrines so we could at least experience it vicariously.)

This year, a small group of us made the trip to Austin to observe first hand how our psychedelic brethren do it up down south.

Photo by Clarita Hinojosa

Austin Psych Fest 4 was held at the Seaholm Power Plant, an old art deco landmark that has been retired from producing actual power since the 1950s. The inside of the space was completely transformed for the occasion, with two stages set up to accomodate the 50-some bands who made the trek to Texas for our psychedelic consideration.  (This year’s lineup was truly amazing…so many bands we were excited to see, all in one place!)  We arrived on Friday afternoon just in time to catch Seattle’s own Night Beats deliver an inspired set of rock and roll with the help of special guest Chris Catalena (of The Tunnels and The Ghost Songs).

The Night Beats at Austin Psych Fest 4. Photo by Emily Pothast.

The next day, we caught Night Beats again, this time giving a performance at the Do512 Lounge, a small performance space that hosted small televised shows for several of the Psych Fest Bands (including The Meek, The Black Ryder and The Diamond Center. It was a great chance to see some of these bands in such an intimate setting. We couldn’t stay for long, however, because the afternoon was full of some of the bands we were most excited to catch: Cloudland Canyon, PONTIAK, White Hills, Lumerians, Young Prisms and The Soft Moon all played the second stage on Saturday, before SPECTRUM took to the mainstage for an epic, slow-building performance.

PONTIAK at Austin Psych Fest 4. Photo by Emily Pothast.

White Hills at Austin Psych Fest 4. Photo by Emily Pothast.

Lumerians at Austin Psych Fest 4. Photo by Emily Pothast.

On Day 3, we investigated some of Austin’s more exciting off-site attractions, including the amazing record store End of an Ear and Switched on Austin, an analog synth specialty store featuring immaculate modulars and vintage Farfisas as far as the eye could see. Again, we didn’t have much time because the afternoon was full of more bands we were dying to see: Denver’s Tjutjuna and Minneapolis’s Daughters of the Sun were standouts on the second stage.  By the time Roky Erickson and festival organizers The Black Angels took to the main stage, their audience was completely saturated by the ear-splitting, soul-vibrating good vibes.

Switched On Music and Electronics, Austin's synth mecca.

Tjutjuna at Austin Psych Fest 4. (In Austin, bands can have beer on stage!) Photo by Emily Pothast.

Austin Psych Fest is a very special event. People were there to hang out and network as much as they were there to listen to (and play) music, and so in many ways, it seems like the fine folks at the Reverberation Appreciation Society have put together a spectacular alternative to SXSW for those most interested in music on the heady end of the spectrum. If I were to issue any criticism at all of this near-perfect event, it would be that the sound on the mainstage was a little thin compared to the second stage, which was like a full-body vibratory chamber. That and maybe the Pacific Northwest felt a tiny bit underrepresented. (Aside from Night Beats, were there any Northwest bands on the bill? Maybe it’s just their proximity to us, but I thought Eternal Tapestry felt conspicuously absent. Purple Rhinestone Eagle, Kinski, AFCGT and [ahem] Midday Veil would have also fit seamlessly into the lineup, and Master Musicians of Bukkake would have warped it, in a good way.)

Dan Brinner from Skully'z Recordz at Austin Psych Fest 4.

But Northwest psych fans may rest assured that our humble Portable Shrines Magic Sound Theatre Vol. I compilation was all over the fest, from the Night Beats’s merch table to the record booth provided by Skully’z Recordz from New Orleans. It will be exciting to see which psychedelic sounds bubble up from the Northwest underground in time for APF5.

For those of you who didn’t make it to Austin this year, we’ve got a couple of delectable local events in store this week featuring APF4 bands: Cloudland Canyon is playing on Monday, May 9 at the Comet (with Midday Veil, Magnog and Brain Fruit) and Daughters of the Sun are playing next Saturday, May 14 at the Josephine (with Ayahuasca Travellers, Magnog, and This Blinding Light). We’ve also been talking to some of the other APF4 bands who are planning to come up in late summer, more details soon.

(Cuz in Seattle, it’s Psych Fest all year loooooong!)

In Austin, they have this weird ball of light in the sky. They call it "The Sun."

Last Thursday night, The Comet Tavern was packed to the gills for one of the month’s most anticipated local psych shows. Openers Wah Wah Exit Wound delivered a heavy dose of shreddy prog, and Hypatia Lake played some delightfully Sabbathy cuts from their upcoming album, while DJ Veins and DJ Gel-Sol kept the energy high between sets.

Next up was Portland’s Datura Blues, which seems like an entirely different band every time I see them.  Once they wore cowboy hats and played a set of countryfied jam rock, complete with an adept fiddler.  Another time they riffed on Faust’s Picnic on a Frozen River for some 15 minutes.  Their set at the Comet the other night skirted into jazz fusion territory, with a baritone sax and two drummers.

Midday Veil ended the night, playing a set of mostly new material including a cover of Broadcast’s Pendulum and a number of songs destined for the band’s second studio album.  The general consensus was that MV groove quite a bit harder these days, what with the recent addition of Jayson Kochan (solo project: Airport) on bass guitar to the lineup.  Here’s a video of MV’s debut performance of “Pavamana”…

…plus an audio bootleg of “Shahrazad” from the show.
Midday Veil – Song 2, live at The Comet 03 10 11 by disconnected bootlegs

Midday Veil at the Comet. Photo by Clarita Hinojosa.

Midday Veil at the Comet. Photo by Clarita Hinojosa

Midday Veil at the Comet. Photo by Clarita Hinojosa.

More photos from Midday Veil’s set after the jump.

Read more…

A&R guys take note: since their performances at last year’s inaugural Portable Shrines Escalator Fest, Portland’s Eternal Tapestry signed to Thrill Jockey Records, Brooklyn’s Prince Rama signed to Animal Collective’s Paw Tracks label, and Bay Area-based Lumerians signed to Knitting Factory Records.  So if you’re wondering which underground psych acts are on the edge of breaking out this year, you might be well advised to take a gander at our lineup for Escalator II…

Friday, Oct. 22

(Jump to Saturday, Oct. 23)

Kicking off Night 1 of this year’s fest are trance-rock shamans This Blinding Light.  Inspired by magick, alchemy, and finding a surprisingly vast number of ways to use two chords to unite heaven and earth, This Blinding Light have quickly risen to prominence within Seattle’s underground psych scene over the past couple years.  TBL’s ritualistic jams are the perfect way to leave the earth behind, so make sure you get there in time to achieve proper liftoff.

This Blinding Light. Photo by Kelly O for The Stranger

Next up is Topanga, CA’s Jeffertitti’s Nile, whose music has been described as a “hypnotic river of sound” that transports the listener to “timeless dimensions.”  Believe the hype.  As soon as we saw this video for S L E E P T O N I G H T, we knew we had to get these guys to Seattle.

Jeffertitti’s Nile will be a tough act to follow, but if anyone can be confidently trusted with that task, it’s Seattle’s Night Beats.  Coming off a spring and summer of almost nonstop touring that included a performance at Austin Psych Fest as well as a number of other notable bills, plus a scorching 7″ on Chicago’s Trouble in Mind Records, Night Beats will bring it all back home with a set of dirty, drunken old-school psych.  Bring your dancing shoes.

Next up is Fullerton, CA’s Dahga Bloom, who have been touring like crazy on the west coast this fall despite having a van’s worth of gear stolen on Sept. 30th. (For a full list of the gear they’re missing, check their MySpace.)  Dahga Bloom’s debut studio LP fuses a stoney desert sensibility with krautrock rhythms and fragments of long lost carnival jams, perfect for carrying you into the evening’s climax.

Closing out the night will be Seattle’s Blood Red Dancers, who have been described by at least one concertgoer as “like The Doors, except good.”  Now, I like The Doors as much as the next head, but I gotta admit, that’s a pretty apt comparison.  It’s all about the Manzarek-esque organ, maaan, which tempers BRD’s balls-out rock-and-roll and gritty Tom Waitsish vocals with a loungey vibe that makes you feel like maybe you were knocked out in a beer brawl in 1972 and you’re just now coming to.

Saturday, Oct. 23

Saturday night promises a lineup of non-stop massive jams and epic drones, beginning with a “special transcontinental experience” with your friendly neighborhood experimental sound gurus Climax Golden Twins.  Expect the unexpected.

Next up is the first Seattle appearance by Edibles, Portland’s new “kosmische dub” project featuring Dewey Mahood from Eternal Tapestry.  Since issuing two extremely limited cassettes this year on Not Not Fun and Stunned Records, Edibles have built a cult following for their dank, sun-soaked jams.  Be the first on your block to know why!

Third on the evening’s agenda is a set of supreme grooves and glorious climaxes from Seattle’s shapeshifting psychonauts Midday Veil, hand-selected to send you “tumbling endorphin over endorphin into higher consciousness,” as The Stranger’s Dave Segal wrote in a recent review of the video Dumb Eyes directed for MV’s Asymptote II.  Rumor has it that the band will be in possession of advance copies of Eyes All Around, their debut studio full-length on the new Shrines-affiliated Translinguistic Other imprint (which you’ll be hearing a lot more about very soon…)

Are you exhausted yet?  Stay with us, because next up is Moon Duo, the side-project-turned-center-project of Wooden Shjips frontman (and perennial Shrines favorite) Erik “Ripley” Johnson and his partner Sanae Yamada.  Fresh from a year of US and European touring and wielding a widely heralded full-length on Woodsist,  Moon Duo promises to deliver a dronerific set of motorik grooves and synth ecstacy laced with hypnotic guitar washes and spaced out vocals.

Closing out the weekend’s festivities are local faves The Curious Mystery, who “blend Sixties-style psychedelia with American country-blues and garage experimentalism” to gorgeous, dreamy ends to help you come down easy.  If you listen closely, you might hear some fresh new tracks from We Creeling, The Mystery’s upcoming follow-up to 2009′s Rotting Slowly on K Records.

On top of the bands, there will be DJs in the lounge both nights (DJs Mamma Casserole and Papa Yod, DJ Mood Organ, Darwin Rodriguez, Clarita Hinojosa, Jermaine Blair and Garek Druss), plus phantasmagoric projections from Portable Shrines, Dumb Eyes, Darlene Nordyke, Ellie DiCola and David Golightly.  What more could you possibly want in a party?!  Advance passes to Escalator are a recession-friendly $18 (cover will be $12 each night at the door). Get yours now via escalatorfest.com.

See y’all this weekend!

Another portableshrines sound ritual…

AFCGT

Arbitron

Treetarantula

oKo yOnO

thursday 8/6 @ the Comet Seattle 9pm $6, $4 with a sunn o))) stamp (thanks Darwin for the amazing poster)