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Bim Ditson goes to more shows than you. Don't feel bad: He goes to more shows than just about anyone. And sometimes, he takes pictures with his cell phone. In this new column, we're letting Bim—who you might know as the drummer for garage-pop misfits And And And—show you where he's been and who he's seen this week, and tell you where to go and who to see in the week ahead. You should take his advice. After all, he goes to more shows than you.
WHAT DID BIM SEE LAST WEEK?
The Van Allen Belt @ Bunk Bar
Bim says: "I generally try to listen without judgement—make sure my ears don't have any preexisting conditions. I do however have at least one pet-peeve: Say music is a time based art-form. Then maybe you can ask that if a band's recordings stray too far from their live show. Isn't that possibly akin to a painter using too small a frame for a great piece?"
Ohioan @ Valentine's
Bim says: "They moved to the desert a while back. It seems to have permeated as much as inspired. On this return Ohioan brought four Shape Note singers to emphasize what sounds a lot like an intense tumbleweed encounter that makes your acid trip seem unsafe for the first time."
Minden @ Backspace
Bim says: "Casey leads the Minden sound-parade: beards, shirtlessness, a fair amount of male sexuality! That's all for the masses and you can test their glitter; there's real depth and honesty hiding behind all this dancing."
Glass Knees @ Valentine's
Bim says: "I know that Papi Fimbres just had a big piece on him in print, but… PAPI FUCKING FIMBRES! Watching Papi drum makes you think to yourself, 'Self, don't blink, you'll miss something from outer space that is very important.' At least that's what I can't stop thinking each time I see him play, with any one of his 47 bands."
WHAT'S BIM SEEING THIS WEEK?
1/18 @ Bunk Bar: Parquet Courts, Nucular Aminals, Naomi Punk
Somehow I've managed to only catch Naomi Punk play in weird art spaces and beer-houses thus far—also how I first heard/came to love Nucular Aminals, though years ago—and they've always killed it in those difficult spaces. So how stoppable are either of these bands? The least amount you know of.
1/19 @ Mississippi Studios: Themes, Hearts and Minutes, the Castle, Grammies
I don't know a huge amount about all these bands. There's this "About" on GRAMMIES' Bandcamp: "…saxophones and synths through various effects. …Drums and pads through various effects." I've got $5 to throw at that.
1/20 @ Boom Bap!: Mufassa, The We Shared Milk, Old Age, Ah God
Old Age is easily in my top ten Portland area bands. The We Shared Milk is in my top three. Boom Bap! is what I wish Backspace would be, only Boom Bap! is closing because no one donated to pay their rent. I'll bet I can get more sloppy than Boone (of The We Shared Milk) even though this is also his B-Day show.
1/22 @ Bunk Bar: Violet Isle, Just Lions (EP release), Sama Dams
I'm going to get voyeur on Sama Dams doing some dirty live math. Anything else ripping will be a free bonus.
1/23 @ Doug Fir: Pierced Arrows, Wooden Indian Burial Ground, Dont
I know it's skipping and cracked and dusty but Pierced Arrows really is the closest I'll get, in 2013, to seeing Dead Moon. Plus that's just the jump-off point for me wanting to go to this show. I've only seen Wooden Indian Burial Ground once and I liked it but had some mixed moments: I gotta sort things out between their wah pedal and my earholes. Dont just plain rips, nuff-said.
1/24 @ Holocene: Grandparents (Live Album Release), Paper Brain, Still Caves
You know how if you've got a tape-deck in your car, and you live in Portland, you get this grand idea about having a pristinely kept and inarguably handsome collection of local bands' tapes at your fingertips, at every moment of automatic locomotion? No? Well, for me, the realistic incarnation of that fantasy was a glorious year (2009-2010) of having a Grandparents tape stuck in my Aerostar van while the four or five Queen tapes rotted under the passenger seat.
1/25 @ Habesha: Old Light, Au Dunes
Previously known as Mudai, Habesha is the new name of this Ethiopian restaurant with a tiny bar-hat plopped on the building's head. For a reckless year or so it had these killer shows in that living-room sized bar-hat, called Mudai Lounge. I like Old Light and Au Dunes but as it is, I'm sort of more interested to see the ghost of Mudai Lounge's past is back in town. That would rip.
FOLLOW: Bim is on Twitter at @bimditson.
WWeek 2015