THE PORTABLE INFINITE: 12/2020

12/31/2020

PINK MARTINI TO DEBUT TWO NEW VIRTUAL HOLIDAY CONCERTS TODAY

PINK MARTINI

TO DEBUT TWO NEW VIRTUAL HOLIDAY CONCERTS IN DECEMBER

FILMED AT THE BAND’S HQ, THEIR FIRST EVER STREAMING SHOWS WILL BE BROADCAST ONLINE VIA OURCONCERTS.LIVE

TICKETS ON SALE THURSDAY, DEC. 3, 2020

THE NEW YEAR’S EVE SHOW WILL BE ALSO BROADCAST ON TV BY OREGON PUBLIC BROADCASTING, AND ON RADIO NATIONWIDE ON NPR’S “TOAST OF THE NATION”

Pink Martini 2020 Holiday Concerts Official Trailer

Pink Martini, Portland, Oregon’s globetrotting, self-described “little orchestra,” has just announced and put on sale their first ever streaming concerts, “Home for the Holidays,” to debut December 17, and “Good Riddance 2020,” to debut December 31. Both programs were filmed at the band’s World Headquarters in downtown Portland, in front of the band’s 35-foot Christmas tree.

Long associated with the holidays, Pink Martini has toured every December for well over a decade in support of their fifth album, Joy to the World, a non-denominational holiday classic which features music from around the globe. The band also performs two sold out concerts every New Year’s Eve, alternating between Arlene Schnitzer Hall in downtown Portland, and Disney Hall in downtown Los Angeles. And the band’s NPR produced special Joy to the World: A Holiday Spectacular, hosted by All Things Considered host (and frequent Pink Martini collaborator) Ari Shapiro, has been syndicated by public radio stations around the US since its debut in 2015. With the band on long-term hiatus due to the global pandemic, it was important to bandleader Thomas Lauderdale to find a new way to bring some holiday joy to the band’s global fanbase. “I love the holidays and all of the music that goes with the season,” says Lauderdale. “Our goal has always been to make inclusive holiday music that can be played anywhere in the world. And this year we’re bringing that spirit right into your living rooms.”

Pink Martini is partnering with online concert presenter OurConcerts.Live to bring both concerts directly to fans on their TVs, computers and phones. Though the shows are recorded in advance, members of the band will be on hand live for chat and commentary during each concert’s debut broadcast, and the shows will also be available to ticket-buyers to stream for a limited time after each premiere, for those fans who need a more flexible viewing schedule. The concert goes on sale Thursday, Dec. 3, individually and as a two-concert package, at OurConcerts.Live/pinkmartini. Student, Senior, and Fan Club discounts are available.

In addition, the band is thrilled to announce that they are partnering with Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) and NPR to allow even more fans across the US to enjoy their New Year’s concert. OPB will televise an hour-long version of the New Year’s Eve concert— accessible to all in the region — on OPB-TV on Thursday December 31 at 9:30pm PST, and NPR will air a 60-minute audio version of the concert as part of their venerable annual Toast of the Nation broadcast, hosted by Christian McBride and featuring New Year’s Eve concerts from around the country. Pink Martini has had multiple previous New Year’s Eve performances from Disney Hall in Los Angeles aired on Toast of the Nation in the past.

These brand new concerts feature holiday classics new and old, alongside fan favorite Pink Martini songs. Bandleader Thomas Lauderdale will anchor the concerts from the piano, with lead singer China Forbes at the microphone. Additional special guests appearing on one or both concerts include co-lead singer Storm Large, NPR’s Ari Shapiro, regular guest vocalists Edna Vazquez and Jimmie Herrod, and Sofia von Trapp, and Cantor Ida Rae Cahana.

The New York Times has called lead singer China Forbes “an unpretentious, pitch-perfect chanteuse” and Variety states, “impressive at every musician’s station, this ensemble produces music that’s charming and elegant.” The Washington Post notes, "this is rich, hugely approachable music, utterly cosmopolitan yet utterly unpretentious. And it seems to speak to just about everybody.”

In 1994 Lauderdale had finished college and returned to his hometown of Portland, OR. He was working at City Hall with an eye towards running for office. Being a classically trained pianist, music was always in the background, and he formed his “little orchestra” Pink Martini as a means to provide music for political fundraisers for progressive causes near to his heart - including civil rights, affordable housing, the environment, and public broadcasting. China Forbes, Lauderdale’s friend from their college days at Harvard, joined the group the following year, and the first song they wrote together, “Sympathique” (Je ne veus pas travailler), became an overnight sensation in France, where it remains a mantra (“Je ne veux pas travailler” translates to “I don’t want to work”) for striking French workers. Politics continues to be a focal point for the band, as both Lauderdale and Pink Martini lend their voice to progressive causes.

Throughout their history, on record and live in concert, Pink Martini has featured a dozen musicians with songs in 25 languages, and they perform their multilingual repertoire on concert stages and with symphony orchestras throughout the world. Pink Martini’s albums have collectively sold over 3 million copies worldwide, all on the band’s own label, Heinz Records.

Follow Pink Martini:

Website * Instagram * Twitter * Facebook

12/30/2020

NEW NOISE 2020 + PORTABLE INFINITE BEST MUSIC of 2020

BEST MUSIC of 2020

Listen to the COUNTDOWN this friday on RADIO KAJW

Coming this FRIDAY January 1st / 3pm PST

NEW NOISE w/ Alexander Laurence (The Portable Infinite)

ONE HOUR ALL NEW MUSIC SHOW

The best of 2020: PART FOUR final countdown

This coming Friday at 3pm Pacific Time, Alexander Laurence’s cutting edge 1-hour radio show, New Noise will broadcast on RadioKAJW on Live365.

1. Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters

2. The Strokes - The New Abnormal

3. Khruangbin – Mordechai

4. Thundercat – It Is What It Is

5. King Krule – ‘Man Alive!’

6. Perfume Genius – Set My Heart on Fire Immediately

7. Bob Dylan – Rough and Rowdy Ways

8. Destroyer – Have We Met?

9. Wire — 10:20

10. Fontaines D.C. — A Hero's Death

11. Hamilton Leithauser – The Loves Of Your Life

12. Poppy – I Disagree

13. Phoebe Bridgers – Punisher

14. Jehnny Beth – To Love Is To Live

15. Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – Viscerals

16. Wire – Mind Hive

17. Laura Marling – Song for Our Daughter

18. Dua Lipa – Future Nostalgia

19. Waxahatchee – Saint Cloud

20. Four Tet – Sixteen Oceans

21. The Psychedelic Furs - Made of Rain

22. U.S. Girls – Heavy Light

23. Rolling Blackout Coastal Fever – Sideways To New Italy

24. Run The Jewels – RTJ4

25. Sault – Untitled (Black Is)

26. Fleet Foxes - Shore

27. A Certain Ratio – ACR Loco

28. Khruangbin and Leon Bridges – Texas Sun EP

29. Porridge Radio – Every Bad

30. Rina Sawayama – Sawayama

31. Soccer Mommy – Color Theory

32. Sparks - A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip

33. Charli XCX - how i'm feeling now

34. Chicano Batman – Invisible People

35. Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith - The Mosaic Of Transformation

36. The Dream Syndicate – The Universe Inside

37. Soho Rezanejad -- Perform and Surrender

38. X – Alphabetland

39. The Chats – High Risk Behaviour

40. Half Waif – The Caretaker

41. Hinds – The Prettiest Curse

42. Tennis – Swimmer

43. Luke Haines – Beat Poetry for Survivalists

44. Tame Impala - The Slow Rush

45. Squarepusher – Be Up a Hello

46. Agnes Obel – Myopia

47. Hazel English – Wake Up!

48. Purity Ring – Womb

49. Yumi Zouma – Truth or Consequences

50. Public Practice – Gentle Grip

all live photos by Bradley Dupray

12/29/2020

THE BESNARD LAKES - Share new single "Feuds With Guns" via 'Under The Radar' premiere. New album out 1/29/21!

THE BESNARD LAKES

SHARE NEW SINGLE “FEUDS WITH GUNS”

https://youtu.be/QRGqsPBu73I

NEW ALBUM THE BESNARD LAKES ARE THE LAST OF THE GREAT THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS OUT JANUARY 29 VIA FAT CAT RECORDS (USA) AND FLEMISH EYE (CANADA)

Photo Credit: Joseph Yarmush

The Besnard Lakes will release their new album, The Besnard Lakes Are The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings on January 29. Today the magisterial Montreal psych rock band offers fans a holiday treat by way of new single “Feuds With Guns.” The track arrives with a whimsical animated video directed by Dr. Cool who said, “I rotoscoped a couple of the big dives from a video of an extreme high-diving contest that took place in the 80s. About a week after I had animated the first guy's big jump, I returned to the video to check out some other usable clips. I realized I had never watched the full clip of the first jump - I had just stopped once he hit the water. I found out that after he lands in the water he floats back up unconscious and then gets taken away on a stretcher. So now what was I supposed to do? People in the comments were asking what had happened but no one knew the answer. After a bunch of snooping around the internet I found the guy’s Facebook and he’s TOTALLY alive. His name is Pat and he lives in Florida. I messaged him but he hasn’t answered.” The track premiered via Under The Radar and the band told them, “‘Feuds With Guns’ is one of the first songs written from our upcoming LP. This one is a good slow-dancer! Written almost entirely in the Cabanon at The Rigaud Ranch, this one started out as an organ and drum idea that morphed into a little OMD-style pop song.” Under The Radar share, “'Feuds With Guns' invites listeners back into The Besnard Lakes’ dreamy landscapes, swept along by the tide of the band’s hazy psychedelic style....(and) delivers one of their most intoxicating pop songs yet."

Watch “Feuds With Guns” here:

Today’s single is the follow up to “Raindrops” which was picked up by, among others, Brooklyn Vegan, Exclaim!, Northern Transmissions, and Under The Radar. Stereogum noted, "’Raindrops is right in that dreamy, hazy sweet spot this band has.”

The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings marks The Besnard Lakes’ first release via their new labels —Fat Cat Records in the US, Flemish Eye in Canada - and is the group’s 6th album. For its creation, The Besnard Lakes dispensed with a timeline and instead took all the time they needed to conceive, compose, record and mix the album. Some of its songs are old, resurrected from demos cast aside years ago. Others were literally woodshedded in the cabin behind Lasek and Goreas's "Rigaud Ranch" - invented and reinvented, relishing this rougher sound. Some of that distortion makes its way into the final mix: an incandescent crackle that had receded from the Besnards' more recent output.

Contemplating the darkness of dying and the light on the other side, The Besnard Lakes Are The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings is a double LP. "Near Death" is the title of the first side. "Death," "After Death," and "Life" follow next. It's a journey into (and back from) the brink: the story of the Besnard Lakes' own odyssey but also a remembrance of others', especially the death of Lasek's father in 2019. Being on your deathbed is perhaps the most psychedelic trip you can go on: in Lasek's father's case, he surfaced from a morphine dream to talk about "a window" on his blanket, with "a carpenter inside, making intricate objects." That experience pervades the album.

In late 2020, as the world burns, there might be nothing less trendy than an hour-long psych-rock epic by a band of Canadian grandmasters. Then again, there might be nothing we need more.

Pre-order The Besnard Lakes Are The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings here (Canadian fans can mailorder the LP via Flemish Eye here).

The Besnard Lakes Are The Last of the Great Thunderstorm Warnings tracklisting:

1. Blackstrap

2. Raindrops

3. Christmas Can Wait

4. Our Heads, Our Hearts On Fire Again

5. Feuds With Guns

6. The Dark Side Of Paradise

7. New Revolution

8. The Father Of Time Wakes Up

9. The Last Of The Great Thunderstorm Warnings

Find The Besnard Lakes here:

12/28/2020

NEW NOISE 2020 show 27: the best music of 2020

Coming this FRIDAY January 1st / 3pm PST

NEW NOISE w/ Alexander Laurence (The Portable Infinite)

ONE HOUR ALL NEW MUSIC SHOW

The best of 2020: PART FOUR final countdown

This coming Friday at 3pm Pacific Time, Alexander Laurence’s cutting edge 1-hour radio show, New Noise will broadcast on RadioKAJW on Live365.

January 1st 2021, Friday at 3pm PST. All new music and some old favorites for a great electronic disco party.

Live Streaming: https://live365. com/station/RadioKAJW-a51134

Listen to previous shows: https://www.mixcloud.com/infinitealexander/

PORTABLE INFINITE LINKS:

Website: http://portable- infinite.blogspot.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ portinfinite

Instagram: https://www. instagram.com/portable_ infinite/

RADIO KAJW Twitter: https://twitter.com/ radiokajw

12/27/2020

Run The Jewels release video for "walking in the snow"

Run The Jewels, the duo of Killer Mike and El-P, have released a video for "walking in the snow" (watch here) from their milestone 2020 album RTJ4. Directed by Chris Hopewell, who also directed the music video for RTJ3's "Don't Get Captured," the stop motion visual stars action figure versions of Mike and El, who have been thrust into a toy-populated bedroom city where authoritarian forces have seized power and routinely use violence to quell revolt. But it doesn't take long for our heroes to discover and link up with a secret rebel force intent on overthrowing their frosty overlords. The treatment is a perfect thematic fit for the song, which was hailed upon its release as one of the most lyrically prescient and relevant songs of the era, and its tightrope walk between scathing political commentary and good humored fun is a perfect reflection of the band itself.

Watch "walking in the snow" video

https://youtu.be/6-M15L4BTqI

"It was great to work with the RTJ guys again," states Hopewell. "Everyone was very aware of the gravity of the subject matter and RTJ didn't want to be too obvious or on the nail with the visuals, so we went with an 80's style fantasy look with evil snow warriors and their icy king oppressing the bedroom toys. It was great to be involved with a project with a positive vibe to end a pretty fucked up year. Big thanks to the RTJ crew for their truth and for letting us work with their amazing music once again."

The video release caps a banner year for the monolithic rap duo. Unable to tour due to the ongoing pandemic, the group have kept busy by rolling out one inventive initiative after another: launching their album campaign in April with an epic music video for their hit single "ooh la la" (followed by a partnership with COOKIES on their own cannabis strain of the same name); dropping an exclusive new song & music video for the year's most anticipated video game Cyberpunk 2077 (also accompanied by a wildly ambitious beer collaboration with thirteen celebrated craft breweries around the globe); plus the brilliant marketing crossover for their music video "out of sight", featuring the rapper 2 Chainz and starring the lead characters from Amazon Studios' indie thriller, Get Duked!, which was directed by another previous RTJ collaborator, Ninian Doff. And prior to the recent presidential election, the duo unveiled the brilliant televised concert film Holy Calamavote, performing a blistering rendition of RTJ4 front-to-back, joined by the same cadre of all-star guests from their award-winning album, including Pharrell Williams, Mavis Staples, 2 Chainz, Zack de la Rocha, Josh Homme, Gangsta Boo, and Greg Nice. Most recently the duo were named Artist of the Year by SPIN and RTJ4 was named album of the year by NME.

"walking in the snow" video credits

Director: Chris Hopewell of Jacknife Films & Black Dog Films

Executive Producers: Will Bronson & Amaechi Uzoigwe, Rosie Brind, Dilara Cagal, Courtney Marr, Naomi Zeichner, David Krinsky, and Gianfranco Cuoco

Produced By: YouTube Music, Unreasonable Studios, Jacknife Studios & Black Dog Films