Liars – Plaster Casts of Everything

The Liars played last night at the Wonder Ballroom.  It was truly an amazing experience.   They drank lots of Becks, and had lots of fun on stage.

Enjoy one of my favorite tracks:  Plaster Casts of Everything!

You can get a four song EP for free from their website

4.9 Billion euros gone.
Société Générale was warned ahead of time by the derivatives exchange unit of Deutsche Börse and they did question Jerome, but he produces a false document to justify his position.
What an amazing thing. The headquarters of Société Générale sits proud and gleaming in the financial district of Paris. A mirror and glass structure of grand and gleaming opulence. Free of state control since 1986 the bank had out performed Anglo and German competitors by bringing in the smartest graduates, employing the most sophisticated computer modeling. His job was to take positions with minimal risk, large positions and then make money on small price differences. What Société Générale claims he was doing instead, was taking long positions and speculating in one single direction. The payoff is huge if it works, or it is a sharp bit on the ass if you fail.
What the lawyers for the accused claim is that he is being scapegoated for the banks larger losses in regards to the subprime market meltdown in the United States. They claim that as of December 31st he had made the bank over 2 billion in profits on his trading.
Anyway you state it, the bank or the trader, somehow 4.9 billion dollars just got taken away from French investors, and the true story will never be known. It is in a strange way, inspiring. Banking is a conservative business. People are very careful. Safeguards and checks are built into the system. The better banks are accustomed to taking risks, but build in safeguards to minimize losses when things turn south.
Within all of that double checking. Within all of those systems and safeguards and management, a lone figure reached out. A mind reached in and fooled and foiled it all and bent a entire system to do his amazingly risky bidding. Something that is not supposed to happen did indeed happen.
In that I find inspiration. In a world where all risk is minimized. Where the chance to fool and spoof the system seems eliminated, what we find instead is that the human mind can always find a work around. A back door always exists. There is always a work around. The system itself is in the end weakest, when it thinks it is most foolproof.

What a interesting story.

Please enjoy The High Violets – Chinese Letter (Ulrich Schnauss remix) Brought to you by Willamette Weeks Local Cut blog.

The Gentry @ Brainstains

If you haven’t heard The Gentry before, you are seriously missing out on a great up-and-coming band in Portland.  Currently working on releasing a new album The Gentry is a genre-bending glam rock throwback sensation.  Their flawless musical skill combined with the ostentatious dance moves from front man Gino and one of the most talented drummers I have ever heard, make for an amazing show that forces you to throw your head back and clap your hands.  They recently played at Brainstains for a rare, all-ages, free show.  As their set started, the crowd was shivering from the cold weather creeping in from outside, but that was quickly remedied as more and more people piled into the living room to throw fists against a wall of sound and dance their asses off.  Everyone in the room was quickly shedding layers and sweating to the beat.  They started out with a cover of Folk Implosion’s “Natural One,” using a hand made programmable guitar.  It was truly a treat for the hardcore Gentry fans in the crowd.  Go to their website or their myspace page for more information on The Gentry.

Feb 2 2008 8:00P	15th Street Pub	Vancouver, Washington
Feb 8 2008 9:00P	Mt. Tabor Legacy	Portland, Oregon
Feb 16 2008 8:00P	East End	Portland, Oregon
Feb 23 2008 8:00P	The Bitter End	Portland, Oregon
May 3 2008 8:00P	The Ike Box	Salem, Oregon

Pirate Radio, Junkface and Team Evil

Hardcore punk quintet Pirate Radio from Eugene team up with Junkface and Team Evil for a one night engagement at Kelly’s Olympian on Feb 7.

Best of 2007 continues…

The year is over.  You are getting older quickly.  Listen here buckshot.  The time for fucking around is over.  Your death is coming up quickly.  most optimistic speculations have you with around 40-50 more competitive years, with a very liberal estimate.

That’s 2007 that just happened.  In the books.  History.  The past, shitloads of painful mistakes and time you wasted chasing blind alleys and fucking around with bullshit half assed pursuits that left you with nothing but regrets and shame.

Yep.  2007 was pretty much like ever other year that was, or is ever going to be.  Politicians did wildly stupid things. That one sports team got revenge on that other sports team.  Shit happened.  Outrage was even more outrageous than last year.  The crooks got more crooked and you got fucked over, more than ever before.

It’s pretty goddamn funny when you think about it.

More top 10’s

Fanfare top 11

Sunday 4-6pm

(because it goes to 11)

1. Mistaken for Strangers – The National

2. Modern Kicks – Exploding Hearts

3. Cast off Crown – Deerhoof

4. Challengers – New Pornographers

5. Long Distance Runaround – The Joggers

6. Unless it’s Kicks – Okkerville River
7. Amazing Journey/Sparks – The Who
8. All Downhill From Here – Jim O’Rourke

9. Cato as a Pun – Of Montreal

10. Science Fiction Kid – Blitzen Trapper

11. Any Major Dude Will Tell You – Steely Dan

Matthew Neff

—

dj natron’s ten favorite songs of 2007 (keeping in mind that since i spin a lot of older stuff, this isn’t my ten most played songs of the year; but my ten favorite that came out this year.)

1. brainy – the national
2. missing you – a place to bury strangers
3. house of cards – radiohead
4. the dress – blonde redhead
5. in this twilight – nine inch nails
6. bookshop cassanova – the clientele
7. +81 – deerhoof
8. stronger – kanye west
9. melody day – caribou
10. pace or the patience – love of diagrams

for those curious … favorite albums of 07

1. the national – boxer
2. radiohead – in rainbows
3. a place to bury strangers – s/t
4. deerhunter – cryptograms
5. caribou – andorra
6. nine inch nails – year zero
7. liars – s/t
8. blonde redhead – 23
9. love of diagrams – mosaic
10. deerhoof – friend oppurtunity

i can’t say enough good things about the national. or about pra.

another sunday

Dear PRA,

I thought that this was just going to be a sunday much like any other. 2007 was a year just like any other, so why shouldn’t the last sunday of 2007 be just like that. As it turns out, It’s been a good night at PRA. I’ve run into two good friends, got the refrigerator refrigerating, and added something to the calendar. I guess it’s been a good day. Thanks for listening to a sunday night special edition of No Hit Hero Radio. Oh, and I played some good music.

Love,

Saffron

The Hand That Bleeds

The Hand That Bleeds have an unreleased demo that I got my hands on a few months ago. Its an excellent preview of what to expect from them in early 2008. Self-titled and self-released, the road for this new album has been paved with outstanding live performances, comedy, tragedy, broken equipment and great food. Brainstains has been one of the places that THTB has called home. This Art-space / community center in North Portland, founded by the one and only Johnny Brains, has seen about a dozen THTB performances this year. They have also played Satyricon, the Chaos Cafe and numerous house shows. They play out almost every weekend. Their music really is just something you have to hear for yourself. I could tell you that they sound like Tool and Evanescence had a punk rock bastard child, but every one interprets their music in a different way. You can see for yourself on their Myspace Page. It doesn’t matter who you ask, they put on a good show and I can’t wait to hear their new album.

The Hand That Bleeds is:
Orion: Guitar, vocals
Sarrah: Bass, guitar, vocals
Damon: Drums, vocals

The best of 2007 lists

No Hit Hero’s top ten songs of 2007.  Friday night, Midnight -2am

The Gits:  Spear and Magic Helmet
The Taxpayers:  Everybody Does a Little Cocksucking
The Hand That Bleeds:  Who Are You?
Hey Lover: Hey TB
Dirty Mittens:  Our Last Days on 14th St.
Swim Swam Swum:  Is Life
The Notwist:  This Room
The Shiny Things:  Bigger Bomb
David Evan:  Stare Decisis
Bjork:  Immature

Full Frotage w/Fawn Saturday 12 noon – 2pm

1. believe esp – deerhoof
2. wolf like me – tv on the radio
3. big sky – the kinks
4. hadd mondjam el- sarolta zalatnay
5. black grease – the black angels
6. in my mind – yoyodyne
7. dj wicked vs napoleon dynamite – dj wicked
8. in my mind – wooden nickel
9. bones – john carpenter
10. baby let me take you (in my arms) – the detroit emeralds

Jeff Ross

1. Cheekbone hollows- The Child ballads
2. Seven empty days- The Dead 60s
3. The world was a mess but his hair was perfect- The Rakes
4. Technical difficulties- Sugar & Gold
5. You are the space invader- Prinzhorn Dance School
6. Direct hit- Art Brut
7. Terra Firma- Young Knives
8. Northern Whale- The Good the Bad & the Queen
9. Atom- British Sea Power
10. Whatever happened- Glenn Mercer

Favorite reissues

1. Polyrock “Polyrock”
2. Fire engines “Hungry beat”
3. Pere Ubu “The Tenement year”
4. The Fall “The Fall Boxset 1976-2007″
5. The Bongos “Drums along the hudson”
6. Magazine “Secondhand daylight”
7. Translator “Heartbeats & triggers”
8. The Teardrop explodes “Peel sessions plus”
9. The Move “The Move”
10. Joy Division “Unknown pleasures”

listerine-Favorite bands that are heard favorably on Reverb Lounge by the DJs involved (in no ‘articular order) -

1. Glass Candy and the shattered theatre

2. Primal Scream

3. Name Drop and the Pine Scones

4. King Tubby

5. the Charlatans (UK)

6. Black Lips

7. Los Straitjackets

8. Melt Banana

9. RL Burnside

10. Pocky Rocky and the Cheese Balladeers

Favorite record stores in Portland, Oregon. (in no particular order)1. Mississippi Records

Jeff Simmons.  Country Feedback

1.deerhoof – friend opportunity
2.david bazan – fewer moving parts
3.gregory + the hawk – your dreams
4.gouseion – puisne
5.the builders and the butchers – the builders and the butchers

DJ Hedda

Sunday 2-4PM

Yay!

So this is what I was fascinated by this year:

*the Necks, “Townsville.” Not an adventurous record, but entirely up to
their standards and still fully captivating. At fifty-three minutes for a
single piece of music, it is an example of why they are the best artists
working in cutting edge jazz right now.
*”Boxer” by the National. This made lots of top-ten lists for the year,
with good reason.
*Electro, Quirky’s PRA show on Sat nites. Go to itunes and hit up the
podcast for this show. He’s brilliant.
*”River Beneath the River,” Lois Vierk. This actually came out in 93, but
I just found it recently. Marvelous compositions by a composer who
deserves all the attention we have to devote to her.
*After Dark, various artists. The comp put out by the label “Italians Do
It Better,” and featuring locals like the Chromatics and Glass Candy. Some
have criticized this record as being lifeless, but I think it is a perfect
encapsulation of despair, aimless gloom, and low-fi brilliance.
*John Vanderslice, “Emerald city.” Kookaburra is easily the year’s best
song. The rest of the record holds up, too.
*In Our time with Melvyn Bragg. This BBC Radio 4 podcast features experts
on various arcane subjects and it is almost always a fascinating listen.
With weekly shows on topics from the Sassanids to the Opium Wars, from the
Dicsovery of Oxygen to Renaissance Astrology, you should be listening to
this to find out what strange things interest other people enough for them
to spend their lives studying them.
*Black Kids, “The Wizard of Ahhs.” A perfect, perfect emo-dance-pop record
with enough juice to merit many plays.

Dunno how many that is. But that’s what I got!

Classwarnow!’s 2007 – A year like every other.

PRA DJ’s talk about the best songs/albums of 2007

Classwarnow! Wednesday nights. 8pm-10 pm, Friday nights 10pm-12a.

In no particular order, all of these songs are great. You can listen to classwarnow’s top ten songs through seeqpod. Put your dirty little mouse on this and click. Not all songs are from 2007. These are just my personal 10 for the year. Song’s that made the year a damn sight better.

1. Bon Iver – Skinny love

This guys voice is something else. In case you have been living in a cave and have not heard it yet, make the time. Check out Bon Iver over on myspace if you should so desire. Thanks to ‘pop headwound‘ for the link

2. Animal Collective – Fireworks/Essplode

This is a live version that Animal Collective was playing for a while, starting off with Fireworks and leading into Essplode. I have played this about 10 times on my show this year. Fireworks is a great song, and they just push it a little bit farther in this version.

3. The Blake – Two times

Dirty. Getting Iggy Pops attention. Playing in Chinese resturants. Whatever else The Blakes are, they just get it. Thanks to Sonic Itch Music for the link.
4. The Teenagers – Homecoming

I am hooked on this song. It’s not healthy. It is addictive however. The best things in the world are simple, and man is this song simple. They sing with attractive apathy, not that I give a shit.

5. Lo Fi Fnk – The City (teenagers remix)

Yes. The Teenagers again. I had to include this song however. The Teenagers let everyone else in the world do as many remixes as they wanted, and they also did quite a few themselves. Taking this great Lo-Fi-Fnk song to a even more new wave hit. This song has not been heard by enough people yet. That bass line grabs me every damn time.
6. The Strange boys – All kings are the same.

Look at these guys. You will like them soon.

7. Young Dudes – (Doin’) Crimes

From Minnesota, Finally releasing a album after playing together for four years. Rock and Roll this good just warms me up. Thanks to Covert Curiosity for the link.

8. Devo – Gut Feeling

Not a song that was released in 2007, or in this decade, or in this century. I defy you not to love this song. When you are going to start something big. When you are finishing something big. When you need to tie it all together, when you need to tear it all down. Right before you blow yourself into space. This song right here. This is what you need. This is what you will always need. Thank to Covert Curiosity for the link.

Something bout the way you taste

makes me clear my throat

there’s a method to your movement

that really gets my goat

i look for stiffy linings

but your rotten to the core

i had about all i can take

you know i cant take anymore

i got a gut feeling

On your ability to torment

Then you took your tongs of love

And stripped away my garment

Got a gut feeling

9. Casiotone For The Painfully Alone – Graceland

Every single time I play this song for someone that has not heard it yet, they instantly are hooked. It’s just that good. Paul Simon needs to thank Mr Owen. Paul, I’m talking to you. Thanks to Pop Tarts Suck Toasted for the link.

10. Nick Jania – Maybe Cocaine

Once again, not a song from 2007, except in my mind. This is just a great song.

“Maybe Cocaine cleans the weary voices in my brain”

Thank you Nick, for this great song. Now onto many other lists.

Quiet armies have plans

I am currently writing up many different top lists for a bunch of the DJ’s at the station.  Watch this space, as the posts are going to be coming very fast over the next 24 hours.  2007 is toast.  So now I will start releasing the lists, from all of us, to all of you.

Matt

Classwarnow!

Wednesday Nights 8-10PM

Friday Nights 10pm-12 am