The only fact we have

One of the sorta surprising charms of living in a single family house is that you can crank your stereo more or less as loud as you want whenever you want (we bought new speakers, too 😬). I’ve lived in a bunch of old apartment buildings, a borderline flophouse in Seattle, classic Boston triple deckers, and yr basic multis, in New Orleans and like the place Clara and I lived in on Mason. Hell, I was a landlord of an old three family Victorian. And every one of those have a common denominator… you have a neighbor (or neighbors), in the building. Keep it down! When the occasion asks for more volume, whether it celebratory or to drown out sorrowful news, that option is now there and it’s very welcomed. The music in here tonight is so loud the mostly deaf, geriatric poodle seems slightly unnerved.

I digress… on the sorrowful news note, Mimi from Low died. I’ve long adored Things We Lost In The Fire and a couple other records, but I can't say I was ever a rabid fan. But, shit. And she was young. This was news that hurt more than I thought it would, and, maybe, like most things, it’s all about timing, but it seems worse every day. So sad. I’ve long claimed (maybe even somewhere a million years ago in this very thread) that I think Low’s “Embrace" might be the saddest song ever. They were gonna be at Wonder in March. Fuck.

I need some good news and I’ll take it even if it comes from a very unexpected place. Y’all been following this Ticketmaster fiasco with Taylor Swift? This could turn into the biggest thing in forever. Like, what if Swifties finally bring down Ticketmaster?!?!? Someone has to topple that bullshit monopoly and maybe, just maybe, she has the power to do it. It could actually happen. Anyway, what’d we see in the month of my birth. Kid Congo Powers at Mississippi. He was exactly what I’d hoped, a helplessly charming character who churned out songs just interesting enough that you left still holding him in high esteem. Now I really wanna read his new book. The surprise of the night was the opener, Roselit Bone. So XDS was supposed to also open, charming old Portland noise two piece, but they had to cancel. Dissapointing, that was kinda the extra bit that got me to buy a ticket. Anyhoo, I knew nothing about other opener Roselit Bone and went in with low expectations. Much like Michael’s response earlier in this chat (sorry I didn't reply to that one, I felt your surprising affection for them too), I was really surprised by how much I liked them. My notes from that night were “what if Devotchka was fr the US/Mex border and listened to a lot of Siouxsie?”. That’s it. Eager to see them again. Went to the Mecnhe/John Wiese show at HWM. Another cancelled opener, Caustic Touch did not play. Headliner, Wiese, was real good, but again, Menche steals the show. How is this dude not more famous outside of the PNW? And Quando Quando Quando and Yuvees at Turn. Sorry, fellas, I really didn’t think you’d start that early, I’ll get there on time next time. There was a middle band that I already forget, but Yuvees was good. The couple songs I’d heard gave me DEVO vibes, but they were more just arty post-punk. I don’t mean that in a bad way, I liked them pretty well. The sorta main guy/primary singer was real short, I dunno if you remember my whining about short front persons (especially relative to Clinic, I’ve told that story before), but, still, it throws me off.

What else. Anybody else seen this guy who reimagines current pop songs as if they were B-52s songs? Some of them are hilarious. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Bbkj86cRw Oh, and a gripe. Post COVID (we’re post COVID, right?!?), a number of venues are a lot worse at keeping their calendars up to date or posting shows ahead of time. I’m looking at you, Black Water! Coming up... The Mountain Goats, Mon, Tues 12/5 & 6, Doug Fir. Well, the first of these shows was tonight (or is right now, whatevs). I actually know nothing about them, but I feel like I’ve heard a lot of friends over the years talk about them. Am I confusing them with someone else? Excited for this show on Friday at Mississippi, I already have a ticket. Thrill Jockey birthday party with Rose City Band (Ripley Johnson's not Mood Duo or Wooden Shjips band), Marisa Anderson (whose magical guitar work I’ve recently gotten super into), and my faves The Body. Among others! Meet me there around 6:30, Bar Bar has a solid house made veggie burger and (more importantly) good onion rings. https://www.instagram.com/p/Cjs6-uturMC/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link X, Fri 12/9, Revolution Hall. With Los Straightjackets. I dunno. I never fully found my way in with X. There are some amazing songs (“Nausea” comes to mind), but on whole, for me, there was always too much ironic hillbilly chaff mixed in with the punk wheat. I know it’s all four original members still (again?), and I know they had a new record a couple years ago, but this still feels very reunion. Did I already say “I dunno”? Los Straightjackets are fun though. Do they still wear the wrestling masks? Maybe that's not cool anymore? (Asking for a friend…) Witch Mountain, Fri 12/9, Lollipop Shoppe. Old school Portland heavy metal. They call themselves doom but I don’t buy it. Crystal Quartez, Sun 12/11, Holocene. Wonderful local electronics gal, I should look up who else is playing, could be one of those sneaky good bills. Cold Cave, Sun 11/11, Hawthorne Theatre. There’s a part of me that wants to say he’s just kinda cheesy, what with the leather jackets and sunglasses and the whole look, but damn, his records are strangely infectious. Like everyone else, I loved 2009’s Love Comes Close, "Life Magazine" is a banger and "Heaven Was Full" is a pitch black slab of dancefloor darkness. The next record, meh. Then not much. But then he finally put out a new record last year, Fate In Seven Lessons, and it’s pretty good. Hawthorne is just the kind of dirty, shitty venue that this lightly glossy darkwave would be enhanced by. Maybe we all just fucking go to this and dance and sweat and pretend that everything isn’t shit?

METZ, Mon 12/12, Doug Fir. Band’s 10th anniversary tour. Neo-grunge kids from Toronto, clearly know the Nirvana catalog inside and out. And somewhow, they make it seem fresh. And they’re a ferociously good live band. OFF!, Wed 12/14, Mississippi Studios. Different bug killer brand, same Keith Morris. Sunbathe, Thurs 12/15, Doug Fir. Local songsters that I think I’ve wanted to see for a while, but I can’t remember why. Will look them up. Rose City Band, Fri 12/16, Lollipop Shoppe. As noted, Ripley Johnson’s other other band. Murder City Devils and Big Business, Sat 12/31, Revolution Hall. Roselit Bone and Yuvees, Sat 12/31, Lollipop Shoppe. I really want to see Roselit Bone again and both this and the Murder City Devils/Big Biz show at Rev Hall would be solid NYE’s shows... if one were inclined to wade into the inky, quicksand sewer that is New Year’s Eve out in public with the amateurs, lost souls, and Long Island Iced Teas. No thanks. K. That’s what I got. Not in the mood for the rah rah rah, let’s go to shows this time, although I will encourage you to join me on Friday. I saw this James Baldwin quote recently and I couldn’t add anything to it if I wanted to. "Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time. Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, the only fact we have. It seems to me that one ought to rejoice in the fact of death--ought to decide, indeed, to earn one's death by confronting with passion the conundrum of life. One is responsible for life: It is the small beacon in that terrifying darkness from which we come and to which we shall return.” As always always, additions, corrections, and/or subtractions welcome. DW https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beIoVxUybvc