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On Saturday afternoons (4-6PM Pacific Time) Nancy does her DJ magic on Freeform Portland (KFFP-LP 90.3FM and KFFD-LP 98.3FM), and here we see the artist at work in the midst of a broadcast studio that was completely overhauled and rearranged in the past month.

While Nancy did her tuneful thing, I was installing the new streaming source client (i.e., the machine that turns analog output from the mixing board into an MP3 stream which goes to our Icecast server which then goes to the rest of the non-FM-reachable world which is pretty much everywhere). The streaming client is an open source application called Broadcast Using This Tool, or BUTT which has been a goldmine for puerile humor whenever the previous BUTT server kept crapping out (see?).

And with our community radio duties done for the week, we headed to the venue!

Winging It for Dinner

From what I understand the Portland neu-Thai eatery Pok Pok is a world-famous dining destination for tourists (and locals alike), and what I learned this past weekend (and way belatedly so) is that Pok Pok has a satellite location that cranks out its mainstay dishes – spicy chicken wings and papaya salad – with no fuss, less muss, and even less waiting.

Recognizing that I could go into “hangry mode” without nourishment, Nancy bravely held our place in line so that I could go stuff my face.

And Now, On to the Show!

This was the first time I’ve seen Mr. Hitchcock in performance (I did “see” him before, in an upscale vegan restaurant in San Francisco where we were having an anniversary dinner, and I’d mistaken him for Kurt Loder…), and on this particular pass through Portland we were treated to an acoustic solo set and a four-piece electric rock set.

To say that this man has a vivid imagination is a gross understatement. The surreal, yet poetically coherent lyrics of his songs are only the sprinkles on the delicious cupcake that are his between-song monologues, which from I’ve been told, are spontaneous waking-dream expositions. Boy I wish I had a recording of his monologues from that night, as what little I remember is just too damned little (although we’ll be making references to his Queen Victoria on a steam engine busting down folk music peasants’ hovels in Cornwall).

We Often Dream of Trains

With a short interval (i.e., “intermission” for us former Colonials) Mr. Hitchcock (that sounds just so New York Timesy, dunnit?) returned with his backing band, the Nashville Fabs and started the “electric” set with a suitably augmented version of his classic “I Often Dream of Trains.”

I guess when one has about four decades’ of songs to choose from, the set list will consist of the classics, the newer works, as well as the obscure (and beloved) oddballs.

The dedication of the Soft Boys standard “I Wanna Destroy You” to Brett Kavanaugh went off like fireworks with the delighted Portland crowd, and the repeated reference to songs from a “Norwegian album” I took in nodding stride as something else that was made up on the spot (until Nancy looked into it and found that yes, there really is such a thing!).

The very last song of the evening was the fantastic “Airscape,” the “title” track from the equally fantastic Element of Light album. While I’m usually out the door during the cheering for an encore to get a head start on the drive home, thanks to Nancy and her righteous sense of persistence, I got to enjoy that awesome tune.

I found the whole thing extremely inspiring. Mr. Hitchcock remains in top form, playing and singing wonderfully, the backing band was spot on, and the songs were awesome as expected. I’d strongly recommend you catch him, with or without the Nashville Fabs (preferably with), whenever he comes through your neck of the woods.

Completely Unrelated Postscript

The next day, we made our way back to Pok Pok Wing, as the tofu wings that Nancy had bravely foregone to secure a place in line would not be denied. Afterwards was a hop into downtown Portland where I had an appointment with the Geniuses at the Apple Store. Along the way was this bit of signage:

The choice of the bowl icon for the second vowel had me seeing “puke” at first glance. At least it caught my eye? It was kinda like the awning for another Portland eatery, Thai Pod, which used a combination of capital letters and sans serif typeface that made the sign read “Thai Poo” (they’ve since replaced said awning). Evidently my mind churns in childish, scatalogical ways….

For our most recent radio show on Freeform Portland (KFFP-LP 90.3 FM in north Portland, Oregon), DJ Gilliflower and I (Eeronomicon) tag-teamed on alternating sets of tunes.

In order of appearance:

Pye Corner Audio “Into the Maze” [Sleep Games]
The Watersons “Windham” [Sound, Sound Your Instruments of Joy]
Jon Brooks “House Among the Laurels” [Music for Thomas Carnacki]
Eclection “In Her Mind” [Eclection]
Paddy Kingsland “A Special Kind of People” [The Changes (Original Television Soundtrack)]
Selda “Eco’ya Dönder Beni” [Vurulduk Ey Halkım Unutma Bizi]
Beak> “Spinning Top” [>>]
NEU! “Negativland” [NEU!]
Peter Baumann “Phase By Phase” [Romance 76]
Carol Batton “Intro (Bee-ing)” [Folk Is Not a Four Letter Word]
Fotheringay “The Banks of the Nile” [Fotheringay]
Four Tet “Glasshead” [Glasshead / Calamine]
Lilys “The Escape” [Zero Population Growth]
The Trypes “Music for Neighbors” [The Explorers Hold]
Peter Hammill “Happy” [Fool’s Mate]
Mark Raven & Joan Mills “The Captain’s Apprentice” [Death and the Lady]
The Abstract Truth “Original Man” [Silver Trees]
Popol Vuh “Singet, denn der gesang vertreibt die wölfe” [Coeur de verre (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)]
Fridge “Aphelion” [Eph]
Cavern of Anti-Matter “Solarized Sound” [Hormone Lemonade]
Sun Ra “Angels and Demons at Play” [Angels and Demons at Play]

Stay a while and listen!

The American Analog Set – Magnificent Seventies
Brighter – Inside Out
Blueboy – A Gentle Sigh
The Orchids – Underneath the Window, Underneath the Sink
Aberdeen – Byron
Strawberry Whiplash – Stop, Look And Listen
Camera Obscura – Suspended From Class
The School – And Suddenly
Belle & Sebastian – I’m Waking Up To Us
Voxtrot – Biggest Fan
A Certain Smile – Hold On, Call
The Pastels – Crawl Babies
Action Painting! – These Things Happen
Another Sunny Day – You Should All Be Murdered
St. Christopher – You Deserve More Than A Maybe
Orange Juice – Blue Boy
The Clouds – Get Out Of My Dream
Razorcuts – Sorry To Embarrass You
This Poison! – I’m Not Asking
Black Tambourine – Pack You Up
Comet Gain – Say Yes
Shop Assistants – Safety Net
The Field Mice – Fabulous Friend
The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Jeremy
Heavenly – P.U.N.K. Girl
Allo Darlin’ – My Heart is a Drummer
Boyracer – Naked – Demo Version
The Fireworks – Dream About You
Cavern of Anti-Matter – Phototones

John Foxx and The Belbury Circle – Almost There
Belbury Poly – Farmer’s Angle
Jon Brooks and Sean O’Hagan – Mulcair
Listening Center – Quotidian Forgotten
Broadcast – Inside Out
Pye Corner Audio with The Advisory Circle – Cloud Control
Hintermass – Are You Watching
Cavern of Anti-Matter – Pulsing River Velvet Phase
The Pattern Forms – Flutewege
Belbury Poly and Moon Wiring Club – Moonling (Long Version)
Pye Corner Audio – Machines are Obsolete
Steve Moore – The Moon Occults Saturn at Dawn
Jonny Trunk – Cardboard Boxford
ToiToiToi – Golden Green
Mount Vernon Arts Lab – The Submariner’s Song
Eric Zann – Threshold
The Advisory Circle – Mind How You Go Now
Roj – Attaining the Third State
The Focus Group – Leaving Through
Mordant Music – Inn Ohm the Lake
The Listening Center with Pye Corner Audio – Town of Tomorrow Today
Belbury Poly and Spacedog – Quiet Industry
The Advisory Circle with Hong Kong in the 60’s – Seasons Change

Klaus Schønning – Fragments of Wood
Cluster – Breitengrad 20
Moebius and Plank – Don’t Point the Bone
Ryuichi Sakamoto – Plastic Bamboo
Faust – Why Don’t You Eat Carrots?
Six Organs of Admittance – Taken By Ascent
Grumbling Fur – Suneaters
Unit Wail – Ombos
Elodie – Guidee Par La Rosee
Fille Qui Mousse – Trixie Stapleton 291 Part One
Vangelis – Himalaya
Jon & Vangelis – Horizon
Vangelis – Flamants Roses
Vangelis – 3 + 3
Vangelis – Sunny Earth

The second hour was a Vangelis (see post title for pronunciation guide…) “marathon,” which becomes an immediate tee-up for a “Chariots of Fire” joke for those whose minds navigate on tangents parallel to mine. A truckload of Mr. Papathanassiou’s recordings from 1973-1985 got recently reissued as a box set, and this bit of self-indulgence features a sampling from the baker’s dozen CD’s contained in the aforementioned box. The Jon Anderson collaboration was way better than I’d expected – sort of like what the ‘Blade Runner’ soundtrack might have sounded like with vocals from “That Yes Guy.”

Here’s a truncated version of the show’s contents:

In order of appearance:

Game Theory – Erica’s Word
The Jazz Butcher – Next Move Sideways
Lilys – Shovel into Spade Kit
Richard Barone – Where The Truth Lies
The Auteurs – How Could I Be Wrong
The Teardrop Explodes – Seven Views Of Jerusalem
Colin Newman – Lorries
The Church – Myrrh
The House of Love – Marble
The Pearlfishers – Banana Sandwich
Stephen Duffy – Mr 20th Century Man
Velvet Crush – Ash & Earth
The New Pornographers – Letter from an Occupant
The Clean – I Wait Around
The Dentists – Just Like Oliver Reed
The Three O’Clock – Sorry
The Nazz – Forget All About It
Orange Juice – Rip It Up
The Pastels – Baby Honey
The Jean Paul Sartre Experience – Flex
Bike – Save My Life
Birdie – Folk Singer
Stereolab – Cybele’s Reverie
Broadcast – Message from Home
Saint Etienne – London Belongs To Me
They Go Boom – Overseas
Belle & Sebastian – The Fox in the Snow
The Steinbecks – Smoking and Driving
The Orchids – Me And The Black And White Dream
Pernice Brothers – Working Girls
Eric Matthews – Angels For Crime
Pete Astor – Submarine
King Crimson – The King Crimson Barber Shop / Larks Tongues in Aspic, Part III
Shirley & Dolly Collins – Beggar’s Opera Medley – Can Love Be Control’d by Advice? / O Polly You Might Have Toy’d and Kist / Oh What Pain It Is to Part / The Miser Thus a Shilling Sees / Youth’s the Season Made for Joys / Hith
K. Leimer – The Cockpit (Extended)
Global Communication – 14:31
Rolf Trostel – Two Faces

The Residents “Infant Tango” (Meet the Residents)
Renaldo & The Loaf “Asper Dorsalis” (Gurdy Hurding)
Coil “I Don’t Get It” (The Ape of Naples)
Daevid Allen “Euterpe Gratitude Piece” (Good Morning)
Brian Lavelle “Canaan Lane” (Canaan Lane)
Kitaro “Milky Way” (Tenku)
Suzanne Doucet & Christian Buehner “Shivas Dance” (The Microcosm: Visionary Music of Continental Europe, 1970-1986)
Peter Michael Hamel “Fire of Holy Eyes” (Hamel)
Causa Sui “Eternal Flow” (Euporie Tide)
Rolf Trostel “Two Faces” (Two Faces)
Space Art “Folkstone Hovercraft” (Play Back)
K. Leimer “The Cockpit (Extended)” (Land of Look Behind)
Holger Czukay “Der Osten Ist Rot” (Der Osten Ist Rot)
Shirley and Dolly Collins “Beggar’s Opera Medley” (For as Many as Will)
King Crimson “The King Crimson Barber Shop + Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, Part III” (Three of a Perfect Pair)

Hawkwind “You Shouldn’t Do That”
Hawkwind “Time We Left This World Today”
Hawkwind “D-Rider”
Hawkwind “Magnu”
Colin Andrew Sheffield and James Eck Rippie “Essential Anatomies 4”
Ulver “Riverhead”
Grouper “Headache”
Tears Run Rings “Destroyer”
Andrew Chalk “Spiritual Lanterns”
Slowdive “Star Roving”
Dungen “Kalifen”
J.D. Emmanuel “March of the Colossus”
Zanov “Zephyr”
Gong “A Sprinkling Of Clouds”
Cavern Of Anti-Matter “Acid Death Picnic”
Beak “Backwell”

Robert Rich “Corvid Collections” (What We Left Behind)
David Newlyn “Chemical” (Linen)
Olivia Block “Dissolution B” (Dissolution)
Wanda Group “The Storm Car Vat” (Ornate Circular)
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Suzanne Ciani “Closed Circuit” (FRKWYS Vol. 13: Sunergy)
Stephen O’Malley “Side A” (Dread Live)
Masami Akita and Eiko Ishibashi “Junglegym” (Kouen Kyoudai)
Lustmord “Subspace” (Dark Matter)
Thomas Koner “Tiento de la Luz 3” (Tiento de la Luz)
Mika Vainio “I could be an old man in front of a service station” (Mannerlaatta)
Nurse With Wound “Astrophytum 7” (Astrophytum)
Svarte Greiner “The Marble” (Moss Garden)
Vril Jäger “Maw Of Kalki” (Vril Jäger)
Teleplasmiste “Radioclast” (Frequency Is The New Ecstasy)

Marielle V Jakobsons “Undone”
Aidan Baker / N / Dirk Serries “Ritual III”
Urfaust “Meditatum I”
Johann Johannsson “Non-Zero-Sum Game”
Buddha on the Moon “Clockwork Hearts”
Moss Covered Technology “Homeward Shine”
Lustmord “Black Static (Excerpt)”
Continuum “The Continuum Recyclings IV (Excerpt)”
Delia Derbyshire and Elsa Stansfield “Circle of Light, Pt. 2 (Excerpt)”
Bethan Kellough “Canopy”
Aethenor “Anais”
Roy Montgomery “Another David Lynch thanks, no ice”
Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Suzanne Ciani “Closed Circuit (Edit)”
Sabled Sun “Project Locus Arcadia”
Jonathan Fitoussi and Clemens Hourriere “Moonish Landscapes”
Kemper Norton “Agnes and Louisa”
Conrad Schnitzler “Oct-80”
Coil “Pre-Original Chaostrophy”
Loscil “Deceiver”
Dreamboat “Aftershock Face To Face”