Accelerating the Funk in PDX

The occasional road trip is fun. Finding a reason to go somewhere (or not), and enjoying a short time away from home helps to keep a fresh perspective. Sure, you miss some familiar things for a short time, but you know they'll be there when you get back. And some things are definitely trip-worthy when there's no Seattle equivalent.

That said, plan on making a trip to Portland tomorrow night. Sure, there are plenty of notable events happening in Seattle for just about any taste, but since there's no Portlandist, we're willing to pick up the slack. Seattle has the deep house sounds of Rick Wade at the Baltic Room, which should live up to the rest of the series. There's Good Foot at the Lo-fi, featuring a gaggle of DJs from the SunTzu Sound and fourthcity camps, for those into beats of a more broken variety. There's also Plan B opening for Seattlest-approved Awesome at the Mercir CD release party at Chop Suey. And then there are the weeklies and monthlies...

How could Seattlest recommend a road trip with all of those events going on here at home? Two Words: DJ Assault. No, this isn't some weird Celebrity Boxing thing where drum and bass DJs pummel the trance DJs. Detroit's DJ Assault is one of the biggest names in ghettotech (or as he calls it, accelerated funk). He's best known as the genius behind such classics as "Ass and Titties" and "Yo Relatives" (neither link is quite work-safe), the former of which has garnered fame even outside of its genre trappings. A prolific producer, his name is synonymous with ghettotech and its hypersexualized mix of electro and techno production techniques and hip-hop swagger. The recent attention on Baltimore's club music has brought ghettotech back into the spotlight, since the two urban genres play well together. DJ Assault is not on a full tour, so this stop in Portland is his only in the Northwest. It's definitely worth a short drive to see a master at work.

DJ Assault w/Copy, DJ Magneto, Jon Al Dente
Saturday, March 4
Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, Portland OR
9pm-2am, 21+
$7