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Plenty of music on tap

I know what you want, and I’m gonna give it to you. With summer, as they say, rapidly approaching, you need some entertainment. I understand that since you will be deprived of your daily dose of the Vanguard (published only once a week in the summer), you need something to do.

In addition to the hot naked fun we’ve all grown to know and love is lots of live music. What you want is for DJ Miles to recommend some upcoming June shows and say a couple informative words about them so you can start the summer right. Ask and ye shall receive.

I have included somewhat bigger venued, national acts that were confirmed at press time. Please do not forget the many small clubs that have great local and touring bands grace their stages nightly. Check listings for DJ nights too. Many clubs have tight DJs spinning fresh tunes for free. In this list: The Crystal, Roseland and B-Complex are open to all ages, other clubs are not.

June 15 Juno Reactor, Luzon, Medicine Drum. B-Complex.

Goa Trance, breakbeat, live percussion and costumes. Trippy music to dance or space to. Created live and better than going to see some bloke spin records.

June 16 Kool Keith and some award winning turntablists. Crystal.

Kool Keith was kind of boring when I saw him on his Black Elvis tour. His cronies relied way too much on telling the tired crowd to do stuff with their hands. The highlight of this show might be DJ Klever and DJ Spiktacular.

They’ve won titles from DMC and ITF and should be regular little scratch masters, i.e. doing a lot of turntable tricks that sound impossible for two arms to make. If you like that sort of thing you may want to wait for July 6 and go see DJ Qbert, who should impress and will probably have some great visual imagery to go along with his set.

June 18 Beatnuts. Crystal.

The Beatnuts are a good rap duo and producers on record. Live they may be impressive or clich퀌�, I fear the latter but ya never know.

June 21 Mouse On Mars, Vert, Helio Sequence. B-Complex.

Experimental sonically rich electronic composing at its finest. Probably a mix of beats and abstraction. Intelligent, quirky, fun, not necessarily for dancing but ya never know. Local duo Helio Sequence are well loved and actually good too.

June 22 Smog. Berbati’s

Really good songwriter fronting what will likely be a really good band. Quirky, interesting intelligent pop that’s pleasing to the ears and mind. Check out some of the many indie releases on Drag City records and find out why Smog has a large underground fan base.

June 22, 23, 24 Built To Spill. Crystal.

Rock ‘n’ Roll, timeless, somewhat progressive. Built To Spill is a great band that has remained so through five albums and a major label record contract. Good melodies, lyrics and rhythm, lots of guitar, hopefully not a lot of wanking. It’s the long guitar wanking that turns some people, including me, off. It’s awesome they’re playing three nights in a great midsized club as opposed to one in a shitty arena. I wish I knew which night had the wanking so I could stay away and which night had the back-to-back hits.

June 22 Bjorn Again. Roseland.

I just saw a movie called “Muriel’s Wedding.” The protaganist was depressed and pretended she was a character in an ABBA song to cheer up. I get the feeling there are many like her. If this band lives up to its hype: “The best ABBA show in the world,” it should be a fun, guilty, disco pleasure. C’mon, we all danced to “Dancing Queen” and all those other damn catchy ABBA hits at one time or another. The problem is we’re too cool to admit it. So why not go get Bjorn again. I myself would be too embarrassed to go, ain’t life a bitch.

June 27 Brian Setzer’s ’68 Comeback Special. Roseland.

If you like that swing stuff, Setzer’s the man. The ’68 thing might mean he’s changed. Regardless, it’ll be fun and danceable.

June 27 Girlie Freak Show. Berbati’s

Easy there, don’t get too excited. This show should be entertaining, if not shocking. It features Slymenstra Hymen from Gwar and The Torture King from the Jim Rose Circus. I have witnessed neither of these performers. I remember hearing people say how much fun to watch and get splattered at a Gwar show was. The Torture King was definitely one of the most talked-about performers from the Jim Rose camp that toured with one or more of the Lollapalooza festivals.

June 27 DJ Spooky. B-Complex.

There is too much hype around Spooky. I expected great things when I went to see him a year ago and was most disappointed. I even think his albums are a little boring. The thing is, you never know what to expect a year later. I’m curious. He could do boring beats and samples, or really interesting beats and samples.

June 29 Unwound, The EX, guests. Crystal Ballroom.

Olympia’s Unwound have been putting out tight, powerful wall of sound rock since I was in high school. Based on the energy and tightness of their last Portland performance and the new double LP, Unwound is ready to keep kicking ass. The EX , from Holland, have been rocking even longer and should put on a tight show of organized chaos.

June 30 Greyboy, Main Flo, Buck 65.

Made a name for himself mixing funky beats with jazz lines, a style that became known as “acid jazz.” Latest album Mastered The Art is less jazzy and more funky, which is a good thing. Live set may be just a DJ set, or hopefully, a performance with a live band.

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