2009 PDX Pop Now! Report, Day 2: No Vex (Updated) -- Local Cut

2009 PDX Pop Now! Report, Day 2: No Vex (Updated)

July 26th, 2009 [11:23AM] Posted by: Local Cut | 4 COMMENTS

Oh man, what a day. It’s hard to pick highlights when the entire day is so overwhelmingly awesome, and I don’t say that lightly. The stretch from Nucular Aminals set at 5:30 pm to Strength’s triumphant closing dance party well past 1 am was probably the strongest run of music I’ve ever seen at PDX Pop. From Luck-One’s nimble flow—which included a couple jaw-dropping freestyles—to the massive Neu! style krautrock of Nice Nice, nearly everything went off without a hitch. Just like on Friday, I tweeted the whole night (and afternoon), but to be honest many texts were lost because I was too caught up in the moment to try to type out something clever on my old cell phone. PDX Pop Now! isn’t about trying to impress someone with 140 characters—it’s about losing yourself in the music and just going for it. I’m just glad I knew this going in. -MM

Photos by Clara Ridabock. More to come later.

Michael Mannheimer’s Day 2 Top 5:

The inside one-two-three punch of Church, Tara Jane O’Neil, and Deelay Ceelay. I saw something like 51 bands play the fest last year, and most of this year’s lineup as well, and this was by far the strongest clump of acts to play in a row. I’ve been saying this for a while now, but Church is probably my favorite band in Portland, and last night they put on a tight, beautiful, and hopefully breakout set just as most of the crowd was starting to trickle in for the evening’s big hitters. Church, more than just about any band not named Grizzly Bear, know how to work with dynamics; its songs are filled with melody and harmony and analog keyboards, but the band always knows when to back away, exposing the bare skeleton of its songwriting and embracing quiet, empty space. Church also debuted a horn section, and in my favorite moment of the first two days, absolutely killed a newly reworked version of “Cloud,” the best song from the excellent Gold EP. Church’s new full-length is out next week, and you’ll be hearing a lot more about these boys from me in the near future. A serious Best New Band contender, for sure.

Tara Jane O’Neil came next, and her hypnotic, spiraling songs were a nice break from the loud and shifting bombast of Church’s set. TJO’s latest album—the gorgeous and sparse A Ways Away—is one of my favorites of the year, and her simple setup (just guitar, drums, and her fedora) was just right for songs like “Dig In” and “New Binding.” For the last song, a few friends came out and handed various percussion instruments into the crowd, creating a mini-orchestra of tambourines and shakers and bells. TJO’s music isn’t the type of thing that usually wins over a mass crowd (especially one eagerly anticipating the oncoming dance party) but her tunes—steeped and ’60s folk and chiming, meditative guitar playing—kept everyone in total rapture.

You know a dance party is a good one when you blow a fuse, stop for well over five minutes, and then start again to even more dancing. But that’s just how Deelay Ceelay roll. I’ve been calling them as the potential breakout act of the fest, and their set didn’t disappoint. Despite the hiccup and some trouble soundchecking, Chris Lael Larson and Deelaney Kelly brought out all the stops, fusing their Ratatat-esque electro pop with homeade visuals, ridiculous drum breaks, a Beach Boys cover, confetti, and a “Whatever You Like” mashup finale. Watching Deelay Ceelay peform is a lot to take in—the backing video is colorful and ever-moving, plus it’s fun to watch two dudes just wail away on their drum kits—but in the end it’s just too hard not to fuck it all and just let loose. About half way in, they played the potential summer anthem “No Vex,” and it might have gotten the best cheer of anything all day. These guys only have good things in store for ‘em.

Watching Pierced Arrows from the side of the stage, it was easy to marvel at how PDX Pop spans so many different genres, styles, and generations. The front was littered with kids, dancing and moshing and worshiping at the throne of Fred and Toody Cole, two of PDX’s most legendary rockers. It’s obvious that they’ve played together for quite a while, and the whole set was just total evil garage-rock bliss, with songs like “Paranoia” sounding great after Nice Nice’s ambitious krautrock and Laura Gibson’s hushed folk. A lot of people cleared out after Pierced Arrows’ set, and for good reason: it’s hard to top something like that.

My favorite moment from earlier in the day came from a band I’d never seen before: Nucular Aminals. I’ve heard good things from the right people (Cary Clarke, Matt King) and I wasn’t let down. The quartet is equal parts indie pop and psych rock, with a nice old organ and some really strong bass playing thrown in. As I’ve said before, one of the best parts about PDX Pop is seeing a band that is completely new to you, and I’m glad that Nucular Aminals are now on my radar. Not sure what this song is called, but here’s a video I took:

Nucular Aminals @ PPN Day 2 from localcut on Vimeo.

Arya Imig’s Day 2 Highlights:

You can already assume I enjoyed Deelay Ceelay and Strength’s performances from Saturday as much as I predicted I would. Deelay Ceelay’s set was a triumph. And Strength? Fuggedaboutit. It’s like the song says, “Summer’s here and the time is right/For dancin’ in the streets.” On a day packed to the gills with highlights, here’s three more sets that stood out, all from artists I was eager to see for the first time.

When I arrived mid afternoon the festival was, believe it or not, ahead of schedule. What to do with the extra time? “Maybe we should have a group meditation, ” suggested PPN! board member Nick Johnson. Performing inside after louder sets from the bands who preceded him, Benoît Pioulard’s compelling and dreamy set would have been the perfect soundtrack. “I got your group meditation set right here, ” I texted to Nick. “No doubt, ” he replied.

I don’t see nearly as much hip-hop as I’d like to but the early evening set by Luck-One was among been the best hip-hop performances I’ve ever seen. Seriously. He’s that good. Great flow, great tracks, great presence, great PDX pride. The whole package. And his EP Beautiful Music is real good, too.

Do you remember where you were when you found out Dead Moon was breaking up? I do. It was December 7, 2006, and I was on the porch of a house in Northeast (go figure) waiting around for Ample Sample (Noah Jay-Bonn from Dirty Mittens’ old band) to play when a friend got the call. I never got to see the legendary and hugely influential Dead Moon and it wasn’t until Saturday night that I finally got to see Fred and Toody Cole’s post-Dead Moon project Pierced Arrows tear it up. Wow. Totally worth the wait.

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Photos by Clara Ridabock. Video by Michael Mannheimer.

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