portland neighborhood + event + business blurbs

Ringlers Annex and the Crystal Hotel on West Burnside with the Zoobomb Pyle in the foreground

I finished 2013 contributing some neighborhood, event and business blurbs to Neighborhood Notes, helping supplement our updated neighborhood and business district guides for West End, Mississippi, Alberta, Sellwood-Moreland, and the Pearl District. I wrote the main 'hood descriptions for all of the aforementioned (except the Pearl) and highlighted shops like Tender Loving Empire (West End) and Powell's (Pearl), Mississippi Ave. events like the summer street fair, 2nd Thursdays and Cirque du Cycling, music venues like the Crystal Ballroom and Al's Den in the Crystal Hotel (West End), and Pearl places and happenings like First Thursday, the Museum of Contemporary Craft, and Portland Center Stage and The Armory.

rejuvenating piano pieces on radiation city's 'cool nightmare'

Fresh off of their first appearance at SXSW, Portland's Radiation City have been working their way back home up the West Coast since departing the anointed indie fest in mid-March. Down in Austin, Rad City played seven shows in four days, including The Portland Party (which we threw for ourselves, damn it!), and, although they just released their debut LP in September, they've been playing plenty of new material from their new EP, Cool Nightmare, which will be released on April 10th via Tender Loving Empire.

The full-length, The Hands That Take You, was largely the efforts of Rad City creators and couple Cameron Spies and Lizzy Ellison, but the latest seven-track EP sees contributions from three additional members: Matt Rafferty, Randy Bemrose, and the newest addition, Patti King.

With Cool Nightmare, there's an intriguing story of finding inspiration in a decrepit piano before destroying it, documenting the whole process audibly and visually, and sharing some mementos of this exercise with fans.

To understand the ideas and muse behind this eerily bewitching EP, which is also full of "dream-like ambience and warmth," OMN spoke to Cameron Spies before the band returns to the NW in the beginning of April for two Oregon shows: Sunday, April 1st at Sam Bonds in Eugene and a free EP release party at Rontoms in Portland on Sunday, April 8th with Seattle's Legendary Oaks.

But first, listen to the spectral power of the latest single "Eye of Yours":

Two months ago, you released a music video for "Find it of Use" (below), which featured the destruction of a piano. Tell me the story behind your new EP and that piano's role.

The imagery for this record involves this piano that lived in Randy's basement. We recorded a lot of the piano tracks for the album [using this piano], and by the completion of the record, the piano was essentially useless—a ragged heap wasting away in the dark. We decided it would be best to give it new life through its destruction. We captured audio of a decent amount of the moving/smashing part of the process for use as samples on the record or for use in later recordings (hence the title "Find it of Use," I guess, although the song title came first). That imagery is not an accident though. The record evokes the idea of destruction and rebirth through a gentle tug of war between darkness and levity.

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Read the rest on OMN.

the priceless music project : tender loving empire's revolutionary pay-what-you-want music model

"Pay what you want for the music you love. Even $0."

Did you ever think a record label would tell you that?

Tender Loving Empire founder Jared Mees isn't sure if his "priceless music" model will work, but he still believes the concept is worth exploring.

"It's definitely not rooted in traditional capitalist commerce ideas," Mees admits. "It's rooted way more in how a relationship works. If I give you something for free, you're going to do something for me later." Acknowledging his own potential naivety, Mees maintains, "You have to do something risky if you want to get extraordinary returns."

Enter The Priceless Music Project, Mees' innovative, game-changing endeavor that aims to implement a new form of e-commerce where audiophiles can purchase music direct from indie record labels and bands, paying whatever they want while also gaining some insight into the music-making process and even being rewarded for spending above average to support the music they love.

So, is The Priceless Music Project the future of buying and sharing music online? Mees doesn't know, but he's willing to find out. And, if you build it, they will come. But will they buy? Or just download for free?

"A lot of this is just us hoping and praying but ultimately we don't have anything to lose. We're already in that situation," Mees laughs.

"That situation" is the current state of the music industry, and the fact that, according to Mees, it can't get any worse. Mees has always had a unique, hands-on approach to his work in the music world. In building his multidimensional, hybrid business—Tender Loving Empire is a retail store, custom screen printing shop, and a record label—Mees has always tried to create community first and foremost, establishing relationships and educating along the way.

Because of this, Tender Loving Empire is "an actual viable business" now. "If we weren't doing something that reflected the community, I don't think we would be doing as well as we are," Mees says.

And Mees intends for same mentality and principles to guide The Priceless Music Project.

"The goal of The Priceless Music Project is to allow music fans to get the music that they want to listen to for the price that they see is fair," Mees explains. "Also, to allow musicians and labels a different type of relationship with their customers and fans."

His outlook involves more than a little bit of faith in humanity, trusting that dedicated music fans truly respect the independent artists who are making music and will pay for it.

Watch Mees give a demonstation of the project here:

TLE first announced the project in early December along with a fundraising campaign, which expires in just under a week. Currently seeking $48,000 on IndieGoGo to fund the idea, The Priceless Music Project is not remotely close to that goal, but "this fundraising campaign is just one of the many ways to raise money," Mees says.

"Our next move is going to be to basically bootstrap the development of this project so it works with our own website, let folks test it out, and see what it needs. And then, hopefully, use that momentum to help drum up some more investment to take it wide," Mees explains.

At the end of the day, this is a huge project that already has, and will have many more, advocates and critics as everyone from musicians to fans to industry people each have their own opinion on the concept of pay-what-you-want music. The current idea is completely in-house but it will need much more than just TLE behind it to get it off the ground, and Mees is definitely seeking input from parties that would like to get involved.

"We know that we have to branch out," Mees recognizes. "We are not the experts on how this should all work. We just know that something different needs to happen."

As far as the current progress of the project: "In the scheme of things it's still early," Mees says. "Twelve months from now, I expect the platform to be at least a functional part of..."

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Read the rest including an interview with Mees on OMN.

tender loving empire helps radiation city raise ‘the hands that take you’

Cameron Spies and Lizzy Ellison craft a nice press release. In what was likely the first one ever sent out (last February) for their latest project, Radiation City, the two declare to have

“cooked up yet another darling sound to tear you away from your TV dinner. The calmed echoes of amplifier tubes and secret gramophones, the soothing, sonic smile of a warbling Wurlitzer, and precisely sparse heart-throbbing drums bounce from the analogue souls of our newest musical Ozzy & Harriet.”

But the duo, who are also responsible for the electronic-psychosis of Spesus Christ, the minimalist ambience of Soap Collectors, the tape label Apes Tapes, and are a couple, have been more than able to back up their enchanting descriptions with bona fide recordings and live performances. What is heard on “The Color Of Industry” (below) holds fast when the quartet plays out–the warm, fuzzy effect the record has on your ears only heats up your body in person making the vinyl-pop nostalgia a living, breathing reality.

The (again) self-described “soothing siren-lullaby” of Ellison is contrasted by the once-in-a-while coarse vivacity of Spies in a perfect blend of guy/girl vocals that are further complemented, while the emotion is complicated, by the chemistry of bassist Matt Rafferty and drummer Randy Bemrose–who both supply additional harmonies. But it’s not all dreamy prose–unadulterated passion rears it’s head as formidable synths and guitar mix Brazilian jazz and ’50 melodies with modern dance and indie rock as vocals wail over bossa nova rhythms, from the rim-clicking clave combined with electronic touches on the album opener “Babies” (watch a home-baked chicken ‘n waffles edition via Into The Woods below) to digging in deeper on the heavy-soft undulations of ”Park”–their newest single, which you can listen to as the final cut on this Baeble mixtape. (Spies explains “Park “was conceived just after I first met Lizzy. I was still living down in San Francisco, and she was living in Portland. The song was simultaneously a lament about the distance between us and excitement about knowing her.”) With so many other hazy contemporaries around town, Radiation City may just float to the top based on their synchronous spark and the elegance of Lizzy Ellison’s voice in the live arena.

After a few tape releases on their own Apes Tapes, Tender Loving Empire quickly snatched up Radiation City and will re-release the once tape-only debut The Hands That Take You (stream the entire album here) on September 27th on CD, vinyl and as a digital download. Just returning from a comprehensive, 25-date national tour, the band will wrap it up with one final date: a proper release party this Saturday, September 24th at the Doug Fir with dream-pop pals Blouse and moody, avant-popsters Aan.

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Read the rest and watch a video interview on OMN.