Track six from Friends Family Disease Death by Sistemazione
Towards the end of my Portland reality, I played pretty regularly with Jacob Hall, Matthew Freid and Jeffery Helwig. We had a nifty little combo called Sistemazione.
We had a semi regular thing at a happy and fun little club in Portland Oregon called The Dunes on the inviting and friendly MLK drive. Combine that with zero publicity (not bragging or complaining) and a Monday night and you get a regular, dedicated, guaranteed audience of usually between zero and one.
I liked that aspect of it...the dystopic setting combined with Portland's well disguised yet undeniable apathy toward and disinterest in a realisation of This Music without the central presence of clogs or vaudeville. I really could do what ever I wanted on that saxophone because absolutely no one cared. It was very liberating. I felt comfortable there. Maybe abuse is addictive, but in a way it was ideal.
This track was from the "record" which was stillborn, but still fun to make just the same. It was recorded at Audible Alchemy where Built to Spill eventually took up a multi year residence of extreme thoroughness. It's my favorite building on Mississippi Avenue there in hip, happening North Portland. Full of memories too--like the time I brought a toilet plunger there at 1am during a Wolf Parade recording session. Issac Brock thanked me personally: "That's what I call doing someone a nice" is what he said. When you need a plunger, you need a plunger I guess. The plumbing was brand new. Must have been quite the recording session.
More music to come from the Neve console and Studer deck at Audible Alchemy soon. Stay tuned for the next edition of Many Installments of Me!
