PDX Pop Now! CD Release Show and Track Listings Announced

The Taxpayers and the Cysts for the win!

Out of forty tracks there looks like maybe five I could get down to. But I'll have to give it a listen before I dismiss it.

I definitely don't think its worth dismissing at all.

12.5%+ approval by a single person on a as-genre-encompassing-as-possible 2XCD comp is pretty fucking good.

Yea. PDX Pop Now is pretty cool because it at least tries to encompass all genres, and hell the festival is free. How they can put on such a big festival for free is beyond me and I totally support it.

Looks like nepotism and hipster politics round out this years lineup. BOO! Snoozefest. I will be avoiding this years free jazz thanks.

I'm one of the organizers of PDX Pop Now! and I wanted to make a few points relatively briefly:

Bad Times: Thanks for being so open-minded. As far as how we are able to put on the free festival, we do it by raising funds with an awesome pool of volunteers working towards grants from organizations like the Regional Arts & Culture Council, sponsorships from local businesses, compilation sales, and people coming out to fundraising events like the release show at Holocene on June 4 where admission gets you a copy of the PPN! 09 compilation hot off the presses.

Boo Radley: While you are more than entitled to your opinion regarding the PDX Pop Now! 2009 compilation - or anything else, for that matter - it's not very fair for you to jump to the conclusion that because the tracklist is one that you don't like, the reason must be politics and nepotism. These are things that PDX Pop Now! goes to great lengths to avoid. In deference to everyone's time I won't go into too much detail here (shotbox me if you want me to email you more), but this is basically how the tracklist of the compilation is determind every year:

PDX Pop Now!'s curatorial process for the compilation involves a large pool of volunteers (60ish this year) who have disclose their conflicts of interest and listen to an anonymized pool of submissions (620ish this year) adjusted to nullify those conflicts. The most vote-getting tracks then go to the volunteer PPN! board of directors and go through another round of anonymized voting, again with conflicts of interest and abstentions accounted for. Lastly, we include somewhere between 7-10 tracks from more well-known, likewise outstanding artists from a variety of genres that bypass the voting process, as their presence on the comp will help bring listeners to the comp and, thus, the other bands. Lastly, before the tracklist is finalized, we look at the genre balance and try to make inclusions from extreme or otherwise unrepresented genres that fundamentally don't do as well in an "average" voter pool (e.g. noise, metal). Sure, people are bringing their own aesthetic judgement to the table, but that's sort of the point. Plus, anyone who signs up and is willing to put in the time can be involved. Meanwhile, there is an almost entirely separate system for curating the festival, stewarded by an almost entirely separate group of pool.

Also, you are in luck, because the only track on the compilation this year that could conceivably be characterized as free jazz is the one by Blue Cranes. So there are 39 other tracks you might enjoy!

Lastly, I just want to remind everyone that PDX Pop Now! is an open, all-volunteer organization. If you think we should be doing something different or better, get in touch or, better yet, get involved. PDX Pop Now! belongs to the community.

I have the last 4 ppn cd's and they are always amazing. They help to restocks my ipod for the summer, and It feels good to know that I'm supporting local musicians and a great festival in the process. And to Boo Radley, do you really know all these bands? You must be very active in the Portland music scene to read over the the obscure list and conclude that ppn is going to be a Jazz festival this year. Maybe you should host a festival, it sounds like you know what is going on in this city.

I heard Cary talk at the OLCC meetings and you do NOT wanna get in a war of words with that guy; his verbal karate is strong, like UFC!

Check out Cary's reviews in the Mercury; you WILL believe.

I'm not really sure I understand the free jazz comment. Granted I've not been to every hour of every PDX Pop Now festival, but I don't ever remember hearing any free jazz troupes perform. In fact I think if there was some free jazz at PDX Pop Now that would be kinda cool.

hipster pop is like free jazz in it's lack of real direction. seems like a pack of wolves running rampant. some decent bands, couple of snoozers. some gaps, not horrible though, save a few

Voting comes from NW and Pearl. More metal would be cool, but it is a pop fest. Portland has so many scenes. I've never seen a flier for half of these bands. I'll be in SE.

ezekial: "voting comes from nw and pearl!"

ha.

Are you really going to say that Explode Into Colors or The Thermals are snooze worthy? That Grouper and Bird Announced Land are boring, sound too similar? C'mon, this compilation is awesome and PDX Pop Now! does fantastic stuff.