Music Fest Northwest: September 5 - September 9
So, later this week, I will be in Portland for Music Fest Northwest (MFNW). The festival starts on Wednesday, September 5 and runs through Sunday September 9. I won't be able to get away until Thursday September 6 and, although I'm staying through Sunday, I'll be seeing shows only through Saturday. I figured I might as well leave a free day so I can get lost and do some stupid things since I've never been to Portland before. =] Anyway, today's post will showcase some of my favorite tracks from artists whose performances I will be lucky enough to witness on Thursday. I'll be posting additional picks throughout the week, so be sure to check back!
Palmas @ Holocene
To me, Palmas is like... Caribbean beach music with an electronic twist. Others have described the sound as "ethnowave." I find that Palmas' music has a rather distant feel to it. In that regard, the band is aptly named. After all, "Palmas" is a common city name in Brazil and an essential instrument/mode of expression in Flamenco. It's the kind of music I would hope to hear from a colorful, traveling band of musicians. It's bright, thoughtful and interesting.
Joshua Fulfs of Palmas is a Portland native and first became interested in music with a Spanish/African influence in elementary school where he was introduced to the marimba. Fulfs released his first album in October 2011 entitled "Dead Beat Demos." It's not clear whether Fulfs has another album in the works, but he has been playing shows rather frequently.
I've never heard music quite like this before and I'm excited to see Palmas perform live in just four days. As the track below demonstrates, Fulfs effortlessly creates incredibly danceable electronic tunes with an African/Latin flare.
Joshua Fulfs of Palmas is a Portland native and first became interested in music with a Spanish/African influence in elementary school where he was introduced to the marimba. Fulfs released his first album in October 2011 entitled "Dead Beat Demos." It's not clear whether Fulfs has another album in the works, but he has been playing shows rather frequently.
I've never heard music quite like this before and I'm excited to see Palmas perform live in just four days. As the track below demonstrates, Fulfs effortlessly creates incredibly danceable electronic tunes with an African/Latin flare.
Nosaj Thing @ Wonder Ballroom
Jason Chung of Nosaj Thing has been making music since the late 2000's. He's a Los Angeles native and he was heavily influenced by hip hop at a very young age. Chung learned the basics of turntables at the age of 12. He self-released his debut EP, "Views/Octopus" in 2006 and released his first album entitled, "Drift" in 2009.
Chung has as of yet to release another album, but he has produced a number of remixes of songs by Radiohead, STS9, The XX, Portishead and Flying Lotus. My first introduction to Nosaj Thing was a live DJ set he created for KEXP of the University of Washington in 2010. As soon as I heard his set, I knew I had to see him play at MFNW. Check it out:
Chung has as of yet to release another album, but he has produced a number of remixes of songs by Radiohead, STS9, The XX, Portishead and Flying Lotus. My first introduction to Nosaj Thing was a live DJ set he created for KEXP of the University of Washington in 2010. As soon as I heard his set, I knew I had to see him play at MFNW. Check it out:
As you can see, his music has a palpable hip hop influence. I'm really looking forward to hearing some of his latest creations this week. He goes on just before Flying Lotus at the Wonder Ballroom.
Flying Lotus @ Wonder Ballroom
Flying Lotus is well known for hip hop, after all, Steven Ellison of Flying Lotus produced much of the "bumps" on Adult Swim. However, it should be noted that Ellison does a lot of different genres of music very well. I first became interested in Flying Lotus after hearing the track, "Do The Astral Plane," from the Spring 2010 album, "Cosmogramma." Prior to that, Ellison released two other albums, "1983" (2006) and "Los Angeles" (2008).
Ellison has a new album in the works and it is scheduled for release in October 2012. It is called "Until the Quiet Comes" and I can't wait to give it a listen. I'm assuming (and hoping) that he'll be playing one or two new tracks from that album at the upcoming show at the Wonder Ballroom this Thursday. For now, I'll leave you with the final track (#17) from Cosmogramma.
