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STREAM: Liz Phair: I Was Almost There
Liz Phair has been teasing a new album for over a year now. The tentative summer 2020 release date for the lo-fi legend's first full-length in 10 years came and went, and no new date has been announced. But the fact that Phair recently dropped a new single and is now playing her first livestream show seems to imply it's on the near horizon. At the very least, Phair has promised new music at this show, along with a conversation between Phair and her longtime producer, Brad Wood. 7 pm Wednesday, March 3. $20. Stream at wonderballroom.com.
TUNE IN: Girl Groups à Go Go
Every year, soul DJ Action Slacks hosts Respect, a dance party tribute to '60s girl groups, usually at a club. It's still happening in 2021—sort of. In lieu of an in-person party, Action Slacks will spin a two-hour set of vintage, women-fronted soul on jazz station KMHD. As with any Slacks show, expect classics from the likes of the Shangri-Las and the Supremes, plus plenty of deep cuts from a seriously underappreciated and fun-as-hell genre. 7 pm Thursday, March 4, on KMHD 89.1 FM and kmhd.org.
WATCH: Portland International Film Festival
In 2020, the Portland International Film Festival heralded a new mission: to be "unbound" from traditional cinematic conditions. In 2021, that undertaking is more requirement than choice. The result is a hybrid event, trying to reach audiences (largely) at home. With over 75 films available to stream, the festival still offers diverse international fare. But there's also a physical presence courtesy of its drive-in at Zidell Yards. On March 4, the South Waterfront venue will host PIFF's second-annual Cinema Unbound Awards, which aims to honor boundary-breaking artists, with a 2021 slate that includes Small Axe director Steve McQueen, Time filmmaker Garrett Bradley, Oregon film legend Gus Van Sant, Nomadland producer Mollye Asher, and ShadowMachine studio head Alex Bulkley. What's more, PIFF spotlights a broad spectrum of new work by Northwest artists that should not be overlooked. Streams March 5-14. See cinemaunbound.org for a full schedule and viewing information.
EXPLORE: Bimbo Tok
The TikTok subculture known as Bimbo Tok is for leftists who love performative hyperfeminity and hate respectability politics—it's pro-sex worker, anti-capitalist and all about girls, gays and theys. The trend has begun sparking think pieces about reclaiming misogynistic, heteronormative stereotypes, but it's best experienced for yourself. The account of TikTok's arguably best-known bimbo, Crissy Chlapecka (@chrissychlapecka), is full of timeless self-help advice like, "If anyone makes fun of you, spit on them but charge them first." Chlapecka's frequent collaborator, Griffin Maxwell Brooks (@griffinmaxwellbrooks), extols the benefits of 7-inch heels and being an anti-capitalist shopaholic. If makeup tutorials set to Bauhaus songs and takedowns of glass-ceiling feminism is more your thing, check out goth bimbo pioneer Bam Larotten (@bamlarotten).
WATCH: “Wadjda”
Mark International Women's Day by screening a potentially new-to-you film that examines feminist issues, like this 2012 drama. As the first Saudi Arabian feature to be directed by a woman (Haifaa al-Mansour), and the first to be shot entirely in Saudi Arabia, Wadjda would be groundbreaking even if it weren't critically acclaimed. The story follows a precocious 10-year-old girl who, despite the fact Saudi society frowns upon women riding bicycles, saves money to buy a bike to race against her friend. Streams on Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Netflix and other services.
WATCH: “Figments”
If you missed the drive-in screenings of BodyVox's new dance film, you still have a chance to stream the movie online. Figments combines footage from the company's most acclaimed works, including the whimsical "Urban Meadow." Streams at bodyvox.com. $25.
LISTEN: “Personal Best” by Team Dresch
If you haven't heard Team Dresch's 1995 Portland punk classic Personal Best, the 24 minutes it takes to listen might change your life. Few bands write so astutely about growing up queer: The overwhelming longing and stinging rejection described on "Growing Up in Springfield" should impart a twinge of uncomfortable relatability in anyone who's ever had a same-sex crush on a religious classmate. But the best track is "She's Amazing," a joyful ode to discovering others like yourself. Stream on Spotify.
ORDER: Reel M Inn
Apologies to Portland's many other fried chicken peddlers: Reel M Inn is officially back, which means second place is the best you can hope for. In November, the nautical-themed Southeast Division Street dive announced it was closing "indefinitely," the qualifier leaving the door cracked for a possible revival once the pandemic got somewhere near under control. Given its location at New Portland's ground zero, though, the place seemed to be on borrowed time as it was and felt as if a global health crisis had accomplished what gentrification couldn't. We shouldn't have doubted it: The bar announced on Instagram last week it would officially reopen—exclusively as a to-go operation for now, with limited hours, but still. Ordering instructions are the same as they were for its brief revival on Super Bowl Sunday: Text your order 24 hours in advance, pick up within the operating window, and wonder what crazed alchemy has allowed this weird little bar to fry the best birds in town. 2430 SE Division St., 503-231-3880, instagram.com/reelminnpdx.com.
STREAM: Rebecca Solnit in Conversation With Jia Tolentino
Though she's best known for her book of essays Men Explain Things to Me and for coining the term "mansplaining," Rebecca Solnit has written an exhaustive number of poetic books about everything from Yosemite and the Manhattan Project to the history of walking. Here, she discusses her new memoir with New Yorker writer and beloved cultural commentator Jia Tolentino. 5 pm Tuesday, March 9. Tickets include a $16 preorder of Solnit's book. See powells.com/eventsupdate to register.
