Plus transcendent classical, Bay Area noise, and more!  by Nolan Parker Two days ago, as I was hauling the last loads out of the charred remains of my old, burnt out apartment building, a stranger who had been watching me from the bar next door came out to offer condolences for my having lost my home. Giving me a hug, they said they had put $10 on their tab for me at the bar. This simple, profound act moved me to the point of tears, allowing me to truly let go of so much grief I had been holding in for almost a year at that point. Their act of deep care and compassion will reverberate out, effecting an infinite amount of situations, instances, and people. One of the takeaways I’ve gotten from this is that now more than ever we need to support our friends, family, struggling strangers, businesses, and artists who have their heads screwed on right. We need to be creating networks of care that allow us to show up for one another as we are continually being abandoned by governments and corporations who do not give a shit about us.  GO TO SHOWS! MAKE ART! BUY ART! BUY A STRANGER A DRINK! SIT IN THE SUN! FIND JOY! Thursday, April 3 & Saturday, April 5 Soovin Kim plays Bach’s Complete Solo Sonatas and Partitas  For fans of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig Van Beethoven, Bridgerton  Completed in 1720, this set of Bach’s works is one of the most herculean compositions penned by the famed German composer, stretching to almost two and a half hours, depending on the performer. Today considered canonical, the works will be performed by Soovin Kim, the Artistic Director of Chamber Music Northwest, over the course of two evenings. Each of the respective nights will see Kim performing different selections of Bach’s sonatas and partitas so, if you’re not a classical music buff, this is the perfect opportunity to dip a toe in a test the waters. (The Old Church, 1422 SW 11th, Thurs April 3 & Sat April 5, 7:30 pm, $5+, tickets here, all ages) Saturday, April 5  Prism Bitch / Dog Daughter / Melanie Radford For fans of Nonbinary Girlfriend, Disq, PJ Harvey  You best believe I’m looking for fun, F-U-N! But really, we can all use some feel-good music in our lives right now, and Prism Bitch delivers. The Albuquerque-based art-project-turned-indie-band is guaranteed to make you sing along to their infectious brand of pop music and get stuck in your head for days. Portland’s own Dog Daughter wants to be stuck in the middle (of the lineup) with you, while Melanie Radford—bassist of Built To Spill— gets the night going. (Swan Dive, 727 SE Grand, Sat April 5, 8 pm, $12+, tickets here, 21+) Kowloon Walled City / Ex Everything / Molt / Inny For fans of Botch, Neurosis, Help The anger, despair, and calls to action pulsing through Kowloon Walled City’s music are palpable, even moving. This Oakland quartet descends upon their listeners, pummeling us with doomed out noise and math rock that makes a body move. On tour with KWC are fellow Bay Area purveyors of heavy music, Ex Everything. They’re on that posthardcore tip, bringing a higher energy that perfectly couples with the headliner’s slower grooves. Portland’s Molt will be celebrating the release of their new self-titled album with fellow 503ers, Inny, tearin’ it up in the opening slot. (High Water Mark, 6800 NE Martin Luther King Jr., Sat April 5, 8:30 pm, $20, tickets here, 21+) Sunday, April 6  Crystal Quartez featuring Qu Metcalf / Dim Wit / Yawa For fans of Grouper, Ann Annie, Stereolab With their new album Erospace comes a foundational shift in Crystal Quartez’s aesthetics and approach taken in their sonic world-building. Everything we’ve come to love about the Portland electronic experimentalist's ethereal releases are still present on Erospace: layers upon layers of atmosphere, deep dialogue with nature, and a sense of sacred queerness. What’s been nourished and brought to the fore on the new release is a more structured backbone, a pop sensibility making the entire record infectious in ways we’ve not yet heard from Quartez. Another special note on Erospace is that it’s completely self-released—Quartez has built this singular universe as a place for them to exist as a whole being—their sharing it with us is special beyond comprehension. Joining them on stage (and on the record) is Qu Metcalf, the creative mind behind the album’s art direction and the Portland band Wet Dream. Not surprisingly, Quartez has curated the perfect openers for their record release party: Portland’s Dim Wit and Yawa. (Holocene, 1001 Southeast Morrison, Sun April 5, 9 pm, $13, tickets here, 21+) Kraftwerk For fans of Cluster, Brian Eno, Ritter Sport Techno is deeply rooted in African tribal music dating back well before recorded sound, likely even before recorded history. Jumping forward a millennia or two, we find ourselves in the sleepy West German town of Düssledorf—the incubator of krautrock and German electronic  experimentalism. Kraftwerk, formed in 1970 and deeply embedded in the Düssledorf scene, have continually pushed the boundaries of electronic music. A much discussed claim says they were the first to use the term “techno” in reference to the use of synthesized beats to create repetitive, driving electronic music capturing the essence of the rapidly industrializing post-war world. Everyone, literally every single artist in music today, can trace a direct line of influence back to Kraftwerk—fight me. This tour is celebrating the 50th anniversary of their seminal album, Autobahn, and will feature 3D visuals during the performance. Acid not included in ticket price. (Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay, Sun April 5, 8 pm, $39+, tickets here, all ages) Wednesday, April 9  Crush On Everyone featuring One Line Drawing For fans of Sparta, Everyone Asked About You, Vendetta Red There has been an explosion of interest in all the waves of emo the last few years that has included the trend of emo dance parties. The big travelling parties based in LA and New York are pretty mid IMO, lacking the energy we all love about emo bands performing live. Enter Crush on Everyone, the brand new, Portland-based emo party that has big plans for itself. The heads behind the new shindig grew up listening to the best wave of emo: the second wave—high energy, guttingly emotional stuff hurdling out of the mid-west in the ’90s. They also saw what those big emo parties were missing—live music—and are filling that need. The first Crush On Everyone will feature a live set by One Line Drawing (the solo project by Jonah Matranga, founding member of cult bands, Far, New End Original, and Gratitude) before locking in for an all-emo dance party. This is the inaugural run for Crush On Everyone… if we show the fuck up who knows, they might be able to start pulling bigger and bigger names to Portland. (Turn! Turn! Turn!, 8 Northeast Killingsworth, Wed April 9, 9 pm, $15, tickets here, 21+) Also very worth it… The Okmoniks / the Gutters / Scorch at Turn! Turn! Turn! - April 4, tickets at the door Gabriel Kahane at Alberta Abbey - April 4, tickets here Hey, Nothing / Worry Club at Holocene - April 5, SOLD OUT Beak> / Litronix at Polaris Hall - April 5, SOLD OUT Weatherday / the Names of Our Friends / Conspire at Polaris Hall - April 8, tickets here Refused / Quicksand / Help at Revolution Hall - April 8, SOLD OUT Prison Affair, D.O. and the Bytes, Nick Normal, Maniac on the Beach at Polaris Hall - April 9, tickets here Portland Music News: Our music columnist, Jenni Moore does it again in her round-up of Portland-area music happenings to take note of, Hear in Portland. This one has a breakdown of the hip-hop event of the summer, Wu-Tang’s appearance at Moda Center in June. Do not miss the scoop! Sad news! Future Shock, the long-lived, much loved record store at 1914 E Burnside is closing its doors on April 6. Most of the farewell gatherings seem to have transpired already but that shouldn’t stop you from heading to the shop another time or two to say goodbye to the space. The store is also having a closing sale featuring 25-75 percent off their entire stock.  ...read more read less