Halleluwah Festival, Portland, Sept. 1-2 (as co-organized by Mike M. of _Yeti_)

In the basement level, for instance, a selection of music documentaries and videos will play all the time.

Film:
LAND OF LOOK BEHIND (1982)
* Director/ Portland resident Alan Greenberg in attendance *
This documentary feature, made for $9200 (including kidnapping ransom
paid to the crew's Castro-backed captors), is the finest and first
non-fiction film on the subject of Rastafarianism and reggae.
First-time director Alan Greenberg, a Werner Herzog protégé, has
invented an amalgam of dramatic and field technique with breathtaking
results-- in fact Herzog's called it the documentary film that has
influenced him more than any other over the last 20 years, while it's
one of Jim Jarmusch's three favorite films, ever. The images and
characters are unforgettable, the reggae performances by Gregory
Issaacs and Lui Lepki genuinely hypnotic, and the original non-reggae
scoring sublime. Greenberg's written Herzog's next movie, The Cheese &
the Worms, FYI.

THE BALLAD OF RAMBLIN' JACK (2000)
* Director Aiyana Elliott and co-writer (and Portland resident) Dick
Dahl in attendance *
What happens when your dad is a pioneering folksinger who lives up to
his nickname perhaps more than you'd like? In this excellent
"bio-documentary" Aiyana Elliott sets out to tell the story of her
father from myriad perspectives, including her own.

MOUTH FULL OF SWEAT: The Chemical Imbalance Video Compilation (1990)
* Video compiler Mike McGonigal (yes, he lives in Portland too) in attendance *
Rare showing of the two-hour VHS tape (Atavistic) that turned Kurt
Cobain onto Daniel Johnston. Features rare footage and videos from
Galaxie 500, Prong, Jad Fair, Missing Foundation, Elliott Sharp,
Millford Graves, Unsane, William Parker, Reverb Motherfuckers,
Mudhoney, Cop Shoot Cop, Daniel Johnston and more.

***Last but probably not least, there will be a HALLELUWAH vinyl LP
for sale exclusively at the event, for pretty cheap too ($12 or less).
All tracks are unreleased and exclusive, except the Vashti song (which
is just the version from Lookaftering).***

Quiet side:
White Rainbow, "Wind Storm"
Michael Hurley, "Short Green Man"
Vashti Bunyan, "Hidden"
Katharina Tunicata, "Black Letter"
Tara Jane ONeil, "The Partridge Song (live at the Kitchen)"
Holysons, "Torture Chamber"
Alela Diane, "Tatted Lace"

Loud side:
Yacht, "So Post All 'Em"
Deerhoof, "Forbidden Fruits (live)"
Romancing, "Mind Jail"
Valet, "Tame All the Lions"
Nudity, "This Man"
Sir Richard Bishop, "Dhumavati"

They're actually from LA.

it's the same weekend as bumbershoot, obviously, which is why we could get, say, vashti (and we're grateful to that fest in seattle for bringing these people our way, and that portland falls just outside their 100 mile no-play zone).

but the other pdx fests, including the one jona from yacht/ blow is holding the weekend before with phil elvrum/ calvin crew -- catch that beat, that's what it's called -- are the weekend before or after it.

initially i was hoping to somehow raise $$ and get gary panter and josh white to do their light show, build it up around that, until i saw their equipment and realized it would be incredibly expensive to get that stuff out here. still, maybe next year...

Mike, it does not apear that the Disjecta website is actually offering tickets for sale yet. is that where they will be available online? or should I call them?

the lp is good, i think. the hurley track is brand new and phenomenal. so weird that he's now making music as good as his first recordings or "armchair boogie.": ... i just realized i'd never made an lp before, only 7"s. better late than never i guess.

tickets went on sale today, so it's a bit spotty just now, we need to coordinate with disjecta and etc. our own website is woefully out of date and we should really get links to the musicians on there.

anyway, this should work: TWO-DAY PASS TICKET LINK: http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/6076

It's a striking lineup -- I definitely couldn't make it anyway, in that I'd already booked tickets to visit home that weekend, so I must regret it (but hey, I got to Terrastock this year, I'll take one great festival over none!). I'm especially sad to miss both Alela Diane and Ilyas Ahmed, who both rule the roost.

it says
"Presale tickets for this event are not available from Brown Paper Tickets at this time."

I'm sure this will all be worked out soon, thanks for the link.

Also, Ned, thanks for those recommendations, never heard either of those.

http://www.myspace.com/alelamusic

Ilyas and I have been casually chatting a bit via e-mail ever since I snagged some of his CDRs via Time-Lag. Great guy, by his own admission a bit reclusive, but his music has gotten even better with time and I seriously think he'll start making a big mark very soon. He's only just recently moved to Portland, I understand, so this is a good chance to catch him.

Brown Paper link works now!

And yeah, this is an absurdly good deal.

we did try to get damo to play the thing, as he's in the same continent this next week. we just couldn't get the customs stuff worked out to get him out of canada then back in to play up there some more... bummer!

Too many fucknuts talking during Vashti's set, unfortunately, but that's not really the fest's fault. Thanks for putting this fest on! I just moved to Portland and it was a nice way to get welcomed into the city.

so yeah, what everybody else said, Evolutionary Jass Band was the highlight of the ones I hadn't heard. Also really liked Grouper, Plants, Nice Nice, and the Rank Strangers' impromptu concert in the boiler room when confronted with loud band bleedover sound (a recurring issue throughout, but it was an old building). Missed Ilyas due to a late start, bummer. Most of the louder stuff didn't really do it for me. Michael Hurley made me all choked up twice. He did a great (new?) song about working for peace that was funny and sweet and angry all at once. Also another unfamiliar-to-me tune about the fishermen going out to sea that was top notch.

Birch Book struggled valiantly through a disastrously uncooperative soundboard (the sound GUY, on the other hand, was running around tearing his hair out and trying his best). It was weird because nobody else seemed to have the same issues. Anyway, it was really nice to see what Bee has been up to since In Gowan Ring. He told me the collapse of World Serpent only cost him a grand, a lot better than some of the other folks involved.

I loved the piece Sir Richard did with the laptop instrument - was that a vina?

helmut, were you the guy who (justifiably) yelled at the back of the room to shut up during Vashti's set? Yeah, it got a little bit annoying at times but I've sat through worse. She was awesome, really nice to hear those old songs fleshed out with her little chamber orchestra group.

Glad y'all didn't lose your shirts on this, hope it happens again!

Wow, that IS a lucky escape, based on what I know.

other good acts I forgot: the Golden Bears were really cool. I also liked Valet. both Erase Errata and Deerhoof put on excellent live sets that made me finally "get" the bands in a way that their records definitely haven't. so that was cool. also loved the singer of Dengue Fever, she sounded like her voice was coming straight off of a Cambodian jukebox 78 from the 1960's.

Is there a better Mike M. thread to post this too?

Send some help if you can...

https://www.gofundme.com/f/1m3oz2xdc0