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Listen: Soundwalk by Amenta Abioto
At the end of last year, Third Angle music began releasing "soundwalks"—compositions by Portland musicians designed to be listened to while exploring specific parts of the city. Sonically, the series is all over the map, from serene piano and bubbling synths, to soundscapes and interviews recorded at Mt. Tabor Park. But so far, every piece has been supremely meditative. The newest edition is by Amenta Abioto, whose layered electronic music always sounds gorgeous, and is meant to be played while walking around North Portland's Whitaker Ponds Natural Area. Available for streaming and download starting Jan. 15 on thirdangle.org. Free, donations accepted.
Watch: Promising Young Woman
Carey Mulligan often delivers her best work in unexpected places. But Promising Young Woman, the debut feature by Killing Eve scribe Emerald Fennell, feels designed as a showcase. Mulligan plays Cassie, a mysteriously reclusive barista who exposes men's sex crimes by night. She is as malleable as this tone-shifting movie, seemingly flicking the light in her eyes on and off at will. Distracting though the leaps from gonzo thriller to credible rom-com to edgy character study may be, the ambition of Promising Young Woman is impressive. Available On Demand.
Watch: Blazers vs. Hawks
With the Brooklyn Nets moving up to the big leagues in terms of free agent signings—and jettisoning all the ex-Portland role players it was hoarding—the Atlanta Hawks have emerged this season as the Blazers' unofficial Eastern Conference sister team. Both have thrilling backcourt players and disappointing big men, both made significant if not particularly splashy offseason moves to legitimize themselves, and both are playing inconsistently to start the year. Should be an illuminating game for both sides—unless, of course, the NBA season gets COVIDed again. 7 pm Saturday, Jan. 16.
Stream: Mike Hsu
Acro-PDX founder and violinist Mike Hsu is leading a night of solo classical music to raise money for the Oregon Food Bank. The concert will stream live from Holocene and include everything from Italian baroque to modern minimalism and even some originals. Though most of us have been missing Holocene for its dance nights, some soothing classical music sounds pretty good right now. 7:30 pm Saturday, Jan. 16. Stream on twitch.tv/holoceneportland. Pay what you will.
Watch: Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom
A number of remarkable movies premiered on streaming services in the waning weeks of 2020 yet flew under the radar. One of them is this Netflix adaptation of August Wilson's 1982 play that was part of his series of scripts about the African American experience throughout the 20th century. Based on the life of legendary singer Ma "The Mother of Blues" Rainey (Viola Davis), it chronicles a tumultuous recording session in 1927 Chicago. The late Chadwick Boseman, in his final film role, plays Levee Green, a headstrong trumpeter who clashes with the equally strong-willed Rainey. Streaming on Netflix.
Hear: Theo Parrish’s Wuddaji
Techno was invented in Detroit, and Theo Parrish is its stern dean, demanding you see it as a great American contribution to the arts as much as something to get down to. But he's so good that his music can't help but come across as playful and free-flowing. His new album, Wuddaji, is formidable in size and scope but ultimately comes across as a five-finger exercise, its bustling organs and electric pianos brushing up against spidery drums that splinter and snap all over the place. Streaming on Spotify.
Catch Up On: Below Deck
Keeping up with prestige TV is exhausting. In this era when there's always time to be watching something, everyone needs some multiseason trash they can throw on in the background while noodling around on their phones, and this Bravo reality series about a rotating cast of beautiful idiots working aboard a superyacht is ideal. Every episode is exactly the same, down to tan and grizzled Captain Lee's aphorisms ("You couldn't drive a straight pin up my ass with a 10-pound sledgehammer" gets a surprising amount of play), but whenever it gets to the part where the crew goes out on the town between charters, you'll always stop doom-scrolling long enough to see if they get into a sloppy-drunk fight over nothing then try to bone. Spoiler alert: Yes, they will. Streaming on Hulu, Peacock and YouTube TV.
Attend: Dan Halsted’s Roger Corman Master Class
Roger Corman's singular film career is often preceded by his reputation. Corman's nicknames include "the Pope of Pop Cinema" and the tag "schlockmeister," which he always detested. Overshadowed in all this are the films themselves. In turn, Hollywood Theatre head programmer Dan Halsted began his online Roger Corman Master Class on Jan. 5 with a firm conviction: Corman is one of America's great filmmakers and grossly underrated. Tickets are still available for this month's live online discussions with directors John Sayles (Matewan, Eight Men Out) and Joe Dante (Gremlins, The 'Burbs), each discussing one of his own Corman-produced films, conversing with Halsted and answering audience questions. 7 pm Tuesday, Jan. 19 and 26. $12. See hollywoodtheatre.com for tickets. See feature, page 27.
Bake: Anything from 100 Cookies
At this point in quarantine, most bored home chefs have moved on to perfecting the casual weeknight steak tartare, but if you want get back in touch with your first-wave pandemic baking skills, the recipes in Sarah Kieffer's 100 Cookies offer 100 reasons to keep pushing through at least the next 100 days of this bullshit. After that, you're on your own, but a big enough batch of brown butter brownies should get most of us through the summer. $10.97 at Amazon.