MITTENS OFF:
Sorta a big week in local music. Portland soul/dance/electro/pop outfit
Dirty Mittens has called it quits...sorta. Most of the band’s members
are returning as the guitar-less Artifice, a more dance-centric
endeavor. Artifice will premiere on New Year’s Eve at Dig a Pony
alongside the similarly dance-tastic Purple N Green. >> Lauded Portland MC Luck-One—Hanif
Collins to his folks—is also calling it quits...sorta. Last week he
premiered a new track, “Farewell,” which outlines Luck’s plan to drop
out of Portland’s hip-hop scene and music-making in general. Before
disappearing to travel the globe, Luck says, he will drop another album
next year. >>Starfucker is releasing a new album...sorta. The band is releasing a remastered, expanded version of its 2009 Jupiter mini-LP on vinyl Jan. 10. A digital version is already available on iTunes.
RELAPSE: Fans of Portland’s unorthodox Fever Theater,
which faded away a couple years ago, can rest easy. Company members
Kate Sanderson Holly, Amber Whitehall and Jacob Coleman have formed a
new company, Portland Experimental Theatre Ensemble, with local
actress Cristi Miles and Rebecca Lingafelter, a recent arrival from New
York’s Performance Lab 115. PETE is holding a debut party and fundraiser
for its upcoming production, Summerland, at 6:30 pm Wednesday, Dec. 7, on the roof of the Indigo building at 430 SW 12th Ave.
BEER HERE: Another
brewery is taking up residence in the railyard warehouse district south
of Southeast Powell Boulevard, where Alameda Brewing recently
inaugurated a 20-barrel production facility. Gigantic Brewing, a
partnership between Hopworks vet Ben Love and former Rock Bottom brewer
Van Havig, has applied for a license at 5224 SE 26th Ave. >>
Element Restaurant and Lounge, the downtown spot that famously closed
less than a month after opening in the summer of 2010, then reopened in
September, has changed hands again. The new owner, Bonnie Rundell, goes
by the nom de business of Clear Vision LLC. Let’s hope the name is
accurate—the place needs it. >> Kenton’s Stone Pickle Deli & Pub has closed.James Miller has applied to open an Italian restaurant named La Vita Bella in the building. >>Tabla Mediterranean Bistro
has applied for a license modification to allow off-premises sales—so
that you can take home a bottle or two of that great Loire Valley rosé. >> Finally, in Oregon’s ongoing efforts to start a brewery in every tiny town in the state, Dragon’s Gate Brewery has applied for a license in Milton-Freewater, pop. 2,000.
Ca-CLUNK: Cackalack’s Hot Chicken Shack
at the Good Food Here pod on Southeast Belmont Street and 43rd Avenue
is soon to be under new ownership or closed. Per a Craigslist posting,
“business is great,” but the owners are “moving back east.” The sale is
turnkey and includes the recipe for their spicy chicken.
SWITCH: Dirty Mittens lose the guitar. - IMAGE: dirtymittensmusic.com
