Beats Per Week

In this column, WW music calendar editor and contributing writer Mitch Lillie helps the discerning club-goer put together their weekly calendar by compiling Portland's best dance-music options for the next seven days. Turn up, tune in, drop the bass.

Loop-happy producer Beardyman provided the stoned-out and hilarious vocals on Fatboy Slim’s “Eat, Sleep, Rave, Repeat,” last summer’s massive dancefloor banger when remixed by Calvin Harris. His solo work is less festival-ready but no less wild, his improvised vocal loops assembling to form flavors of reggae, pop and hip-hop, all thanks to a device known as—seriously—Beardytron 5000 MkII. See the mad scientist in action on Friday at Branx. (9 pm, $15, 21+) 

On stage at What the Festival, Trippy Turtle didn’t look like Magnus August Høiberg, aka Cashmere Cat, even somewhat disguised in a turtle hoodie—though internet rumors would have you believe as such. In sparse interviews he avoids discussion of music and brushes identity questions off by claiming to be an actual amicable amphibian. In his trippy Jersey spirit, I won’t completely blow the lid off other than to say he’s definitely a good guy. See for yourself at Holocene on Friday. (9 pm, $10 advance, $12 day of show, 21+)  


Terry Mullan will have no billboards and no Vegas residencies. He’s an underground vinyl DJ par excellence: an encyclopedic record collection, legendary sets at mythical Midwest rave spots and an affinity for acid and Chicago house. What sets him apart is his turntablism, which makes all his transitions as staccato as they are dynamic. That, and the fact that you’ve probably never seen a DJ who’s been at it for over three decades. See him scratch at the Rose on Saturday. (9 pm, $10, 21+)  

Digi-hip hop lovers, rejoice: The fourth installment of the Futro Mag is being released at Valentine’s on Saturday with performances from Grape God, Abyss Infinite and others. The 2.2 edition will probably not look like whatever it is you’re expecting, which is accurate for Futro’s hyped-up and nerded-out sound. (9 pm, free, 21+)   

On Saturday at Holocene, Love in this Club finally gets some overseas, well, love from London’s Vanilla Ace. For the past two years dude has been making uptempo nu-disco beats you can actually jack to—and not only the new, swinging kind! He loves collaborations, which means he’s cut a wide swath across an often too narrowly-perceived genre. (9 pm, $5, 21+)  

Dropping Gems is celebrating their fourth installment of their mix series with a massive day party on Sunday at White Owl. I’m pretty sure the whole damn crew is just doing one big B2B DJ set, which is awesome. (Editor’s note: We’re unsure if DG and Futro are plotting to blow Portland out of the water with two awesome label parties in the same week. We hope so.) (3-10 pm, free, 21+)