Look for more TTM updates coming soon…

Last night, I had a moment that made me remember why music and live performances can’t be contained by a stage or venue. Daniel Buxton is something of a rarity that proves my point. As I was leaving an eatery on Granville, I heard a voice coming from across the street and I thought to myself “Wow, is this guy really singing?” My friend and I ran to see this lone man standing in the light of an Aldo shoe store. With a thin frame and hair that for sure makes women more than a little jealous, stood Daniel Buxton.

He was playing a square guitar and using a wooden foot plank attached to tambourines, belting out a song that I can’t remember the name of, but the title of which was truly irrelevant. This man could sing and play better than most people I’ve ever seen live. Buxton embraced the emotion with his tightly closed eyes and booming voice. The street was empty but for an audience of two and he played like it was two hundred. After a few covers, he took a short break to which I used the opportunity to ask if he had any original stuff. Instantly, he lit up and said “Yeah man, for sure. Here, I’ll play two songs.” I was nervous. I have heard a lot of acts that can cover a song flawlessly but can’t bring to the table stuff of there own making.

To this, Buxton started to play…and play he did. His original work was way better to hear then the covers. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know the covers are a valid addition to a street performers repertoire, but if I had it my way this man would play all original work. Granville St. in Vancouver isn’t the most music appreciative place on earth…the neighborhood mainly consists of Kim Kardashian-esq women and what I would consider ‘roided douche bags. When he was playing large groups of people would walk by and 9 out of 10 wouldn’t hear a lick of what he was playing. The singular guy that knew and appreciated talent that would turn his head, stop and join the audience. This happened at least 3 or4 times while I was watching. He would approach the two audience members, just my friend and I at the beginning, and say “Holy shit, this guy is so good” while frantically searching for a dollar or more to throw into the guitar case. What can be said about Daniel Buxton and his performance in the doorway of that Aldo is that he has the ability to truly pull out the best in people who appreciate music and soul.

Check out the Candice Weapon remix of Daniel Buxton’s ‘Sex With My Ex’:

DB Buxton Revue – Sex With My Ex (Cadence Weapon’s No Sex Mix)

I’m not entirely sure why I like Tokyo Police Club the way I do. The core building blocks of the band are pretty straight forward: metronomic indie rock drumming, jagged, occasionally reverbed guitar and a thin but emotive lead singer. All the elements separately wouldn’t stand a chance , but together they coalesce and creates something that exceeds expectations.

Tokyo Police Club – Your English Is Good

When the tempo is pushed forward, the songs are at their best; propulsive head-nodding pseudo-anthems that catch you in their wake and pull you along. Tracks like ‘Your English Is Good’ stomp along with all the fervor of punkrock’s grandchild, but with an added attention to shifting detail. The song is littered with touches; the keyboard line glues together the clicking of the drums and the steady, fuzzy bass. It’s not repetitive; the riffs concise and incredibly efficient.

Tokyo Police Club – In A Cave

I’m not the type of listener who reacts to the lyrics. I tend to process the minutia of the sound production rather than respond to the worlds described by the singer. Dave Monks is an exception as very early in my discovery of the band I found myself looking up the lyrics and additionally, the meaning behind the words to ‘In A Cave’.

The phrasing isn’t always perfect, but his choices create something that is earnest and visual. The narratives twist throughout the song, fragments of images appear and guide you along. I think the almost awkward positioning of some of his word choices are the things that draw me in. The times my ears get confused cause me to only listen closely and examine the narrative better. Like with The Ghost’s Brian Moss, the things that I initially found offputting about some of his lyric choices evolved into the things that I found most endearing about the band.

The Interface has a few fantastic in-studio acoustic performances up as video and for MP3 download. Plus, Monks has a Maps and Atlases shirt on…you know how I love those guys. Always nice to see people you like have good taste as well.

You can download the full set for download as an single MP3 from The Interface, but I took the liberty of chopping it up into individual tracks. Far more useful that way:

Tokyo Police Club – Live at The Interface (Acoustic)

01. Tokyo Police Club – Tessalate: MP3 – VIDEO
02. Tokyo Police Club – The Harrowing Adventures: MP3 – VIDEO
03. Tokyo Police Club – The Nature of the Experiment – MP3 – VIDEO
04. Tokyo Police Club – Centennial: MP3 – VIDEO

The four songs as a ZIP (Sendspace)

Elephant Shell is a great example of quality from a young band that will only grow as time moves on. The songs they’ve presented us are smartly produced, contemporary indie rock that is driving without being lofty or overly anthemic. The live, acoustic cuts strip away the layers and show something of exceptional craft at the core. What they do next will no doubt be well worth the listen.

Bonus downloads:

2007’s Daytrotter Session

Ra Ra Riot’s stellar remix of Juno

2007 Brooklyn Vegan Interview

Hello! Another Portland Social Scene is here. All via by Leigh Friedman, who keeps you updated on all the fun that Portland, OR has to offer.

Again, I’ll be doing the uncool thing and watching the free screening of Battlestar Galactica at the Baghdad. Maybe there won’t be a line ’cause of the Watchmen opening. Fingers crossed.

I’d like to recommend The Gaslamp Killer at The Crown Room. He’s one of the resident DJ’s at LA’s Low End Theory which I mentioned earlier this week. He always spins a good set.

As well, Foundry Field Recordings will be doing a free show on Sunday at Rontoms will also be a good show.

I’m curious about the 10th Anniversary Tom Waits party, but that could be a little scary for a ton of reasons…

Anyway, remember that this list is a truncated version of the Life Is A Party list, provided weekly

Drop an email here to get the full list!

Enjoy your weekend!

From Leigh:

Friday, March 6th

Hot Mess 2 Year Anniversary @ Tube (hands down PDX’s best dance party – get there early, it fills up before 11)

Ohmega Watts Jeremy Fish @ Kamp Grizzly (dj + live art from a legend)

Japanther, Explode Into Colors, Fist Fite @ Rotture (electro rock)

Tiger Stripes and Bryan Zentz @ 720 (house and electro)

Neon @ Rotture (electro)

Nightclubbing @ Holocene (disco)

Devin Philips @ Cave (jazz)

Melao de Cuba @ Mississippi Pizza (awesome Cuban music)

Fujiya Miyagi @ Doug Fir (lovely electro pop)

STS9, Pnuma, DJ Vadim @ Roseland (this party will show you the difference between hippies and burning man kids)

Gaslamp Killer @ Crown Room (the STS9 after party!)

Blacklight Seduction @ Pala (blacklight body painting and tons of electro music)

East Infection @ East (DJ Izm on the decks – a perfect place to start your night)

First Friday Super Jam @ Goodfoot (funk/soul/hip hop)

Let’s Go Crazy 80’s Dance Party @ Someday Lounge (fun times)

Raphael Saadiq @ Wonder Ballroom (this will surely be an incredible show)

Sat, March 7th

Nonplusultra @ Valentine’s (DJ’s Linoleum and Bonaparte playing nu-wave jams)

Morgan Grace @ Tonic Lounge (indie rock!)

10th Annual Tom Waits Tribute Night @ Secret Society Ballroom (I imagine there will be tons of whisky consumed at this)

Sol Invictus @ 2410 (music, dancing, audio/visual installations … this will go all night)

Various @ Branx (dubstep)

Writers Block: 10 recording artists @ Holocene (a sweet line up of indie rock and indie folk)

Eye Candy Ass Shake @ Fez Ballroom (music video dance party)

STS9, Pnuma, DJ Vadim @ Roseland (this party will show you the difference between hippies and burning man kids)

DJ Wicked @ Crown Room (hip hop)

Paradise Disco @ Saucebox (solid dance grooves that is perfect for this space)

Tom Fodery Beasty Beats @ Mt. Tabor Legacy (electro and breaks)

Purple Rhine Stone Eagle CD Release Show @ Dekum Manor (house party)

Off the Wall @ Pala (80’s vs 90’s party)

Erotic City @ Thirsty Lion (Prince cover band)

Cana Son @ Jimmy Mak’s (fantastic Cuban jazz)

STS9 After Party @ Berbati’s (a late night party of beats, bass and dub)

The Zoo @ Dunes (house, electro, techno)

Val the Variety Show @ Twin Americana (gothic Americana music and performances)

Portland Int’l Women’s Day @ Backspace (art and music)

Sunday, March 8th

Joe McMurrian Quartet @ Alberta St. Pub (jazzy times)

Pop Tart @ Holocene (Automaton and Equestrian kill this girls party)

Hip Hop Cabaret @ IFCC (hip hop performers and performances)

Ninja Sundays @ Tube (cheap drinks, good music)

Pendulum @ Roseland (live band drum n bass)

Grey Anne and Pwrfil Power @ Worksound Sudios (indie folk)

Y La Bamba @ Mississippi Studios (sexy gypsy folk)

Return of the Boat Drinks @ East End (yacht rock!)

Atole and Boy Eats Drum Machine @ Someday Lounge (electro rock)

While I had intended for this to just be a blip on the old TTM Twitter, as I made my way through the entire rendition…I realized that this needed to be on the site.

Youtuber & musician Adolfo Baez loves Mario Paint…loves it to a somewhat sick degree.

He loves it enough to take a 17 year old SNES game and program it to perform one of Radiohead’s best and most complex songs. Here it is in all its glory:

Riffs built with dog barks and guitar solos crafted out of what I can only guess are cats meows. As epic as epic can be.

Check out his youtube channel for more classic video game covers as well, Katy Perry’s ‘Hot ‘n’ Cold’.

Well, they can’t all be winners.

Previous love for an odd and interesting Radiohead cover:

60 Belgian Women Sing ‘Creep’ – Scala & Kolacny Brothers

Schneider Tm – Slide

Buy it on

Buy it on

Quite possibly one of the most fun things I did while in LA was to attend Low End Theory, a gathering of local and visiting electro-glitch-hop performers that was worth every penny.

Given the schedule, I held down while in LA I rarely did much of anything, but managed to hit up Low End Theory a few times…which says a lot. I got to see Daedelus do an amazing and varied set on his magical Monome, as well I got to see Jel (a member of both Subtle and Themselves) destroy on the MPC. It’s a chill atmosphere, with the wide back porch stage and additional upstairs DJ space. Plus, the outside sound system is one of the heaviest I’ve ever had the joy to experience. During Jel’s set, I was standing at the center of the stage and the bass dug in deep…every article of clothing I had on was buzzing. One of the friends I was at the show with got quite sick from the vibrations. Serious business.

Just today, they’ve released the first of what will hopefully be many podcasts. They’re waiting for approval from Apple to get the thing listed up on iTunes, but for now you can grab it directly from their site:

Since you just missed the awesomeness of Daedelus & already TTM.com loved Nosaj Thing on the 25th, here’s two upcoming at Low End Theory nights noting:

3/11: DJ NOBODY BIRTHDAY DRINKING CONTEST – with Free The Robots

4/23: LAZER SWORD

I enjoyed both of them alot last year. Santa Ana’s Free The Robots is probably one of the best beat smiths to hit my ears in a long while. He’s got the same brilliant ability to craft real songs, the same that pulled me in when I first heard DJ Shadow all those years ago. His Free The Robots EP (iTunes link) is a fantastic piece of work that easily outshines a lot of his contemporaries. He’ll be hitting Portland on May 1st at the Crown Room

Free The Robots – Diary

Finally, grab this free download of Lazer Sword’s Blap to the Future mix:

Free downloadable mixtapes are my favorite things lately. What mixtape do you love the best?

Another edition of Portland Social Scene, something I’ll try to be putting up on Thursday or Friday, sometime after I get the Lifeisaparty list. Man, coding all the links was a bit task intensive, so this week, I’ll leave it up to you, the good readers of Taking Tiger Mountain to google it yourself…or just know where it is.

As for me, I’ll be doing the uncool thing and watching the free screening of Battlestar Galactica at the Baghdad. Nerdy and free.

Remember, his list is a truncated version of the Life Is A Party list, provided weekly by Leigh Friedman, which keeps you updated on all the weekend madness that Portland, OR has to offer.

Drop an email here to get the full list!

Enjoy your weekend!

From Leigh:

Friday

Townbombing w/ Dr. Adam & Automaton @ Tube

Ludachrist w/ Tyler Tastemaker and J Roby @ Crown Room (mashup, bass and live electro party)

Decadence Debauchery @ Hawthorne Theater (burlesque dancers and cabaret show)

Rock Box @ Holocene (dance party!)

East Infection @ East (a great place to start or end the night)

Fuckbadmusic Party @ Branx (tech house dance party)

R9 @ Groove Suite (minimal techno and electro with a live visual artist)

Visions of Venice Masquerade Ball @ Rose Room in the Rose Garden (cocktails, costumes, dancing and a Frank Sinatra tribute group)

Fall of the House @ Theater! Theater! (it’s theater!)

Padam Padam @ Dharma Rain Center (cabaret of Edith Piaf and Tom Waits songs)

Hard Times @ Rotture (a dance party for the working stiff)

Ben Darwish Album Release Party @ Jimmy Mak’s (awesome jazz and recreations of popular songs)

Portland Int’l Film Fest @ NW Film Center (movies!)

Mt. Hood Ski Bowl 80’s Party @ Mt. Hood (free gifts for people on the mountain in 80’s outfits)

Me, Chi & Bruce Lee @ Powell’s on Hawthorne (a book reading about martial arts and then a viewing of Kung Fu Panda)

Roots Reggae Dancehall @ Calabash (roots, reggae and dancehall – the title kinda says it all)

Panther @ Backspace (electro dance funk)

Ralphie May @ Crystal Ballroom (holy shit this dude is hilarious – you’ve probably seen him on Comedy Central)

Hip Hop Fest w/ Cool Nutz, Mikey Vegaz and Luck1 @ Ash Street (local hip hop)

Melao de Cuba @ Mississippi Pizza (cool Cuban jazz)

Jackie-O Mutherfucker and E*Rock @ Slabtown (this will be a party rock show)

Saturday

Andrew Bird @ The Roseland

PDX Jazz Fest @ Crystal Ballroom (Afro Cuban All-stars, Lou Donaldson and Bobby Hutcherson… bring a date and impress her/him with your seductive dance moves)

Sweet FA Rock & Roll Fashion Show @ Fez (awesome event with some awesome local designers)

Electric Feel @ Fez (a fun dance party immediately after the fashion show)

Kool Keith @ Berbati’s (I am 100% sure that this will be an interesting show)

DJ Wicked @ Bar XV (this place always gets crowded on Saturday’s)

Tin House Book Event @ Disjecta (live bands and books! … that actually doesn’t sound anywhere near as fun as this will actually be)

Nicolle Shops PDX Party @ NW 21st & Wilson (for the uber fashionable of PDX)

Harlem Globetrotters @ Rose Garden (ahh, such memories of being a kid and wishing I could dunk)

Love Sick @ Branx (a crazy costume party with dancing)

Broadway Affair Party @ Escape (live cabaret show)

Saturday Night Heat @ Crown Room (hip hop, dub, dancehall and funk dj’s)

Polar Bear Plunge @ Clumbia River (you’re kidding right? You want me to jump in the river?)

Dinocore Dance Party @ Lucky’s on 28th and Glisan (a dinosaur themed electro dance party .. only in PDX, or ok, maybe in Brooklyn too)

Erotic City @ Tiger Bar (Prince cover band)

Drum Club @ Dunes (cool minimal electro in this cool little space)

White Light Dance Party @ Valentines (fun dance party with brother/sister dj duo)

Icarus Comedy Group @ Brody Theater (live improv comedy)

Fall of the House @ Theater! Theater! (it’s theater!)

Roots Reggae Dancehall @ Calabash (roots, reggae and dancehall – the title kinda says it all)

Night of 1000 Masks @ Rotture (one big Mardi Gras party)

Portland Int’l Film Fest @ NW Film Center (movies!)

Fujinami-Kai Dance Performance @ NW Library (a performance of the traditional dance Buyo)

Balkan Mardi Gras @ Paradise (Eastern European folk music and vodka!)

Pop Rocks: A Bite Sized Festival @ Someday (5 awesome bands, 1 awesome venue)

The Music Tapes w/ Julian from Neutral Milk Hotel @ Backspace (indie rock madness)

Antiques Improv Show @ Brody Theater (bring in an antique, they will make up a funny story)

80’s vs 90’s Party @ Pala (4 dj’s playing classics from both decades)

Beaux Arts Ball @ Portland Art Museum (dinner, dancing and costumes)

Johnny Cash Tribute Band @ Ash St. (I imagine 90% of the people here will be drinking whiskey)

Twilight Rummage Sale @ Eagles Lodge (tons of goods!)

Hillsdale Brew Fest @ Hillsdale Public House (20 brewers, 20 new beers)

Sunday

Sapient of Sandpeople, Illmaculate, Diezel P, Dain and DJ Flip Flop @ Berbati’s (local hip hop showcase and freestyle battle)

Nealie Neal @ Moloko Plus (rare funk and soul)

Fall of the House @ Theater! Theater! (it’s theater!)

Local 4 @ Secret Society (poetry)

Sinferno Cabaret @ Dante’s (fire dancing!)

Bryan Wolfe Photo Exhibit @ Blue Sky Gallery (a showcase of each piece the artist made each day for a full year)

Virginia Café 95th Anniversary Party @ Virginia Café (beer prices from the ’80’s!!)

Dent May @ Doug Fir (this guy is awesome, really fun and creative songs … oh, and there is a guy from the New Pornographers)

Cuba Ache @ Mississippi Pizza (Cuban jazz)

Broken Spindles @ Rotture (hey, it’s the dude from The Faint making cool music)

Jules Boykoff Poetry Reading @ Powell’s on Hawthorne (poetry in big in Portland)

Autopilot is For Lovers @ Valentines (sweet and soft folk, a good way to prepare for Monday)

Dub & Doom @ Tube (ridiculous drink specials and two ridiculous dj’s)

PDX Poetry Slam @ Hawthorne Theater (poems and maybe people snapping after other people’s poems)

The Chicago Tribune reports today that Chicago’s 28 year-old distributor/label Touch And Go is cutting both their staff and distribution. The move will see the distributor ceasing manufacturing for 20 smaller labels including: Kill Rock Stars, Chicago locals Flameshovel, and Merge.

Touch and Go will lay off an unspecified number of workers and continue on functioning as a label.

The statement from Touch and Go founder Corey Rusk:

“It is with great sadness that we are reporting some major changes here at Touch and Go Records. Many of you may not be aware, but for nearly 2 decades, Touch and Go has provided manufacturing and distribution services for a select yet diverse group of other important independent record labels. Titles from these other labels populate the shelves of our warehouse alongside the titles on our own two labels, Touch and Go Records, and Quarterstick Records.

“Touch and Go will be returning to its roots and focusing solely on being an independent record label. We’ll be busy for a few months working closely with the departing labels and scaling our company to an appropriate smaller size after their departure. It is the end of a grand chapter in Touch and Go’s history, but we also know that good things can come from new beginnings.”

On a personal note, I’ve worked in the warehouses of two indie distributors over the years and been laid off from both of them. Both of those jobs were held in far less wobbly economic times (2001 & 2006) and the struggles of this of business model were evident then. It’s a transitive time for the industry, hell…most industries that ship a physical product, and it’s even tougher to continue to while the economic rug is being yanked out from beneath you.

It’s tough, because on one hand Taking Tiger Mountain is an MP3 blog and admittedly, I consume much of my music in the gray market, digital way. Everyone’s pockets are getting smaller by the day, but we should do what we can to support this industry. Click the iTunes & Insound links on the posts here. Try to go see a show and pick up a shirt or print.

And most of all, good luck to those who found themselves without a job today…

UPDATE – The Daily Swarm reports that the David Byrne’s Survival Strategies for the changing industry.