WW CULTURE MUSIC

BY RICHARD MARTIN • M B R E r«.i. k. com COLUMN

Whaf s in a Name?: Somebody and perhaps magazines like Rolling should teach KNRK 94.7 FM a les- Stone and Spin. As such, festivals son about public relations. like the Big Stink can further a On its current tour, Intending to be cheeky, the station band's reputation, giving an enor- Gu$ Gus is donating calls its annual music festival "The mous push to largely unknown acts 50 cents from each Big Stink"—a name that lends itself such as the Vents, Artificial Joy ticket it sells to to the type of mockery that makes Portland's Artists for Club and the Cunninghams, all of a Hate-Free America. my job easy. As in, "Oh, you're which performed on the "B" stage. hosting a lineup of bands that In 1996, Beck and Everclear kicked includes Candlebox, Meredith their popularity into overdrive after Brooks and Matchbox 20 and you're electrifying audiences at radio- telling listeners to associate it with sponsored summer concerts, includ- a foul aroma? Fair enough." ing the first Big Stink. Unfortunately, the tag masks the This year's beneficiaries included positive aspects of the festival, Pond, whose members were hound- which took place Sunday at ed for autographs after a set high- Featuring The Air That I Breathe >1 ITill The Heart Cav«» In • The Joker| Estacada lighting tracks from their latest Ifs a lush, luminous album, A groundbreaking soundtrack of I 4 Timber Bowl record, Rock Collection; Folk delivered with an appropriately brations by cutting edge (so named, Implosion, the day's sole indie- vocol passion. rock and electronic artist apparently, label act, which won over a crowd because the that filtered in after Radiohead large space concluded on the main stage; and PANTERA in front of Gus Gus, the Icelandic music and the stage is art collective that performed the covered in pulsating, breakbeat-enhanced wood chips). songs from its 4AD album, It also sug- Polyesterday, while projecting stark gests that images on screens behind the play- the memo- ers. In one of the festival's more ries one poignant moments, during a back- should come stage party hosted by Doc Martens away with and Artists for a Hate-Free America, loud, fast, & relentless, Official Guest artists indude Chef Atkins, Mark are not ones the members of Gus Gus were intro- Live captures Pantero in its Knopfler, Steve Wanner, and Alison like that of duced to one of the inspirations for metal essence. Krauss and Union Station Radiohead their band's name, Portland film- performing maker Gus Van Sant (who, inciden- a stellar tally, had soundtrack composer version of Danny Elfman in tow). GOOD BURGER SDTK "Paranoid The music itself didn't emit Android" as enough of a stench to live up fo the sun set the festival's moniker. Matchbox over the 20, Artificial Joy Club and the A member of Iceland's Gus Gus surrounding trees, but of seeing a Cunninghams were generic at models his Artists half-dozen or so concertgoers leav- worst, while the melodic metal of for a Hate-Free ing the Timber Bowl in an ambu- Candlebox was even palatable—from America T-shirt. lance, having sustained injuries a distance—on a sunny, warm from errant attempts at crowd surf- afternoon. Odelay incorporates rock punk, I Features George Clinton, Pharcyde, ing. Radiohead alone made the half- funk, folk, country, blues, nip hop ® Less Than Jake, Trocie Spencer, Warren G. and more!!! This radio festival and others like hour trip from Portland worthwhile. and disco. it do have a noble purpose. Yes, it Riding on the success of its third generates publicity for KNRK, but it album for Capitol, OK Computer, the also provides music fans a chance English quintet performed its stately Spins of the Week: to see, listen to and get autographs rock songs with elegance and refine- O ON SALE Creeper Lagoon, from some up-and-coming and pop- ment, occasionally giving way to Creeper Lagoon ular bands. The musicians, in turn, noisy outbursts. Lead singer Thorn • Blue Moon Swamp 11.99 CD (Doqday)—The benefit from the exposure of play- Yorke pulled off the comedic coup of San Francisco • |rown Album 11.99 CD quartet played a ing to a wildly supportive audience. the day, at one point leaning into his mike and mimicking Brooks in spirited show at Despite its malodorous implica- • O.K. Computer EJ's on Sunday tions, the Big Stink delivered in singing, "I'm a bitch." Meanwhile, night that included these respects. Evidently, several Folk Implosion's Lou Barlow looked iY • Floored 12.1 this ECs tuneful thousand youth enjoy Meredith out at an initially sparse audience as songs, which recall Brooks and the Offspring, both of Radiohead's music echoed from the Pavement's melodi- CLAN • Wy-Tang F which played on the main stage main stage and mused wryly, "We're cism and Built to 21.99 2GD along with Buck-O-Nine. the competing with the world's hottest Spill's virtuosity. Refreshments, Matchbox 20, Cake. band right now." WYCLEF JEAN • Radiohead and Candlebox. The "B" As one concertgoer put it, there 12.99 CD stage, located a short walk and was a really good vibe to this year's

Mogwai, Ten Rapid not-quite-out-of-earshot from the Big Stink. Now if only KNRK would I (Jetset)—This main one, allowed Pond and the reconsider its name, it might even Scottish indie band Dandy Warhols to build on their be a festival that music fans would MUENMIHW local fan base, playing to kids who J veers between be proud to attend. If the station BEAVERTON ; dense sonic might not take a chance on seeing 1171 • W C.tm Ml Mm h«M« Mel insists on being clever, perhaps it R£CO«OSUOJIUHMO VtOCO («03| III! freak-outs and a Portland band at LaLuna. could replace the smelly sobriquet GATEWAY iongs with gently with a symbol like Prince's, and call 102nd and Hal My Gateway Shopping Cantor Modern-rock radio stations like WCOWWtOCO (MS) 7*11114 BOOKS <*»> »3 111« meandering rhythms KNRK are arguably among the pre- it "The Festival Formerly Known as VIOCO SALES « RENTALS' and guitar lines. TQUIER mier tastemakers in non-main- the Big Stink." m stream rock-the others being MTV RECORDS •VIQIQ-BQQHS h • BOO . ASK . tower

AUGUST 6. 199 7 WW CULTURE Ji