Buzz about the new songs-in-progress from the influential UK post-punk group Gang of Four has already leaked to the giant online pubs like Rolling Stone and Pitchfork. But what some of these sites fail to mention is that there’s a huge connection to Portland, OR. Dave Allen, the bass player for the band, lives in Portland (and truth be told contributes content to this and other music blogs) and is an established voice in the future of the music industry. Initially posted on his blog, Pampelmoose, Allen has let the public in on the genesis of writing, recording and rehearsing potential new material for an upcoming Gang of Four release. Below are three of the latest demos plus a short video of the band in Istanbul earlier this month.

Gang of Four - “Password” (demo) [MP3]

Gang of Four - Fakin’ It (demo) [MP3]

Gang of Four - American Man (demo) [MP3]

Backstage in Istanbul video

There is something special about Portland. If you live here you already know that. If you don’t you’ll know sometime soon. Commissioner Sam Adams, Portland’s Arts and Culture Czar, drew more than 300 people from the creative community last night to the Gerding Theatre to discuss in person his ideas for unlocking the city’s ‘creative capacity’ as he calls it. What does he mean by creative capacity? Read on…from Sam’s web site -
“What is Creative Capacity? Creativity helps make Portland a better place to live, a stronger competitor in the global marketplace and an incubator of innovation. An individual artist in a studio, a software firm start-up, a theatre company, a research and development arm, a manufacturing company—Creative Capacity is the ability of these endeavors ability to be more innovative, more creative and more successful. Strengthening this capacity to innovate has tremendous potential to contribute more to our community economically, socially and educationally. In the past few years, some have even argued this capacity is fundamental to our success in a globalized marketplace.

The Oregonian jumped on board too.

Benjy drops the basslines.

BEDM’s Jonny Ragel brought by a 14 song CD-R today, the almost complete and upcoming new Boy Eats Drum Machine album. He’s been working hard for some time recording at home even as home moved - he moved house during recording - and the other night I went to the new pad to hear the whole album in various stages of mixing. Anyway, here’s a track from the album, tentatively titled Two Ghosts, and this one’s called From An Oregon Shore featuring the beat box stylings of Fogatron courtesy of Bridgetown Breaks and vocal duties from Laura Gibson.

Click download button to play mp3 directly or right click and select ’save link as’ to save to your hard drive.

Greg Glover and his Arena Rock Recording Co brings us ‘Bridging The Distance’ - it’s a Portland covers compilation that hits stores April 17th but mail order copies are available now for just $10. It features 19 artists including: The Decemberists, Dandy Warhols, Talkdemonic, Viva Voce, Chris Walla and more who lent their efforts to benefit p:ear. Digital purchases with extra tracks will be available through the usual suspects in the coming weeks. Get your copy here.

P:ear P:ear’s mission is to - “Build positive relationships with homeless and transitional youth through education, art, and recreation.”

Click to hear The Decemberists cover of the Fleetwood Mac’s “Think About Me”

Click the image for more pictures.

On Saturday night I had a tour of the Dandy Warhols’ Odditorium, their downtown Portland warehouse that includes a full-blown kitchen, recording studio and rehearsal space. Click here for all the pics.