- TREE SOUNDS: A new PDX supergroup? Ylang Ylang—named after a tree prized for its perfume—is the new project from former Panther frontman Charlie Salas-Humara, and he’s joined by drummer Jake Morris (the Joggers, the Shaky Hands), bassist Ricci Swift (Patterns) and Caroline Buchalter (Spooky Dance Band) on viola and keyboard. The quartet plays a free show this Saturday, April 17, at the downtown Jackpot Records and on Friday, April 23, at East Portland Eagles Lodge for the Cascade Community Radio launch party.
BRAT TV: The casting crew for the ABC reality-TV series SuperNanny will have producers crawling all over Oregon next month in search of horrible, incorrigible children and their tired, beleaguered parents who want to have all their problems solved by Jo Frost (the SuperNanny) in the show’s sixth season. Do you want help with your brats? Apply by calling 323-904-4680, Ext. 1025, or emailing dtcasting@sbcglobal.net. Think before calling: Being told your family is miserable enough for reality TV might be a crushing experience. Illustration by Adam Krueger.- BOLI BYE: One of the city’s most entrancing and enduring multiculti dance extravaganzas ends April 24 when the Fez Ballroom hosts its final Andaz party. Since 2002, DJ Anjali and the Incredible Kid have spun rare bhangra, Bollywood and Desi beats, often accompanied by video and guest artists. Aficionados of international dance beats can take solace in the pair’s equally vibrant monthly Atlas shows, still going strong at Holocene every second Saturday night. “We have every intention of reviving the night somewhere else, and are in the midst of contacting various venues that we think might be a good fit,” said the Kid.
- FIRE DRILL: Only last month Portland Parks and Recreation closed the Interstate Firehouse Cultural Center in North Portland after years of “financial struggle.” Now it’s looking for some new tenants. One possible renter? North Killingsworth-based nonprofit Ethos Music Center, which has been sharing music with kids and teaching after-school classes for a decade. The nonprofit submitted a proposal to the parks bureau last week that reimagines the Firehouse space as an “arts incubator” complete with theater and dance classes, artists’ spaces, a rental “tool library” for stuff like sound and lighting systems, workshops and a new home for Ethos’ Sound School Assemblies program of multicultural music shows. Plus it wants to install an eco-roof. Why should the parks bureau pick it? Ethos says it made money in 2009 despite the recession and will not request support from the city to operate the building.
CRAIGSLIST JOB POSTING OF THE WEEK: There are still jobs in Portland, some just last longer than others. The Sensory and Consumer Group at the Oregon State University Food Innovation Center is seeking individuals to participate in a series of 15-minute chocolate taste tests on Thursday, April 15. You must complete a survey to be considered for the job. (Hint: answer “YES” to question No. 1—“Do you like and frequently eat chocolate?”).
