Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Canyon de Chelly

Another stop on our 4 corners trip in October. Our favorite place. (click to enlarge)


Chinle Wash near Spider Rock


Chinle Wash




Antelope Cliffs Site


Canyon del Muerte




Mummy Cave Site



Autumn Cottonwoods in Canyon de Chelly


Hogan through Tunnel

Sunday, December 16, 2012

5 songs this week 12/17/12


All over the map this week, and so has been the week. ~ enjoy 

Young Marble Giants - N.I.T.A 

Sonic Youth - Schizophrenia 



Radiohead - House of Cards 

Broadcast - Man Is Not A Bird 

Tamaryn - Afterlight  



Thursday, December 13, 2012

Chaco Canyon, New Mexico

Last October Beth and I journeyed down a dusty dirt road in the northwest New Mexico countryside towards Chaco Culture Site. A set of puebloan ruins dating to around a thousand years ago. I had been trying to get to this place for many years and finally got the chance. We enjoyed the hikes around the various pueblos and the sunny pleasant weather after spending the previous days in higher and colder altitudes. These are a few of the things we saw. I will have to venture back to get more photos another time. (click to enlarge) Enjoy ~ 



Pueblo at Sunset


Fajada Butte


Doors in Pueblo Bonita


Stone Craft


Petroglyphs on Wall


Supernova Petroglyph near Penasco Blanca


Full Moon from our Camp

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

5 songs this week (12/2/12)

Some songs Portopia is diggin right now:


Tamaryn - While You're Sleeping, I'm Dreaming 







Slowdive - Souvlaki Space Station 






Slowdive - 40 Days 




Broadcast - The book lovers 




Flying Lotus - Getting There 



Recording in Philadelphia

We are working with our old friend Kyle again on our new material, which should be available soon. Over thanksgiving week in Philly, we went to Surreal Studios and recorded several new songs. Some were also made in Charlie's basement. We are hoping this is the beginning of a new era and sound for us. The plan is to play some live shows in a few months once we've played these songs enough. Some photos of our recording session: (click to enlarge) 








Monday, November 19, 2012

5 songs this week 11/18/12

Pierre Raph - Generique





Lis Rhodes - Dresden Dynamo  





Delia Derbyshire - Depression 






Cluster - Rosa





boards of canada - roygbiv 




More out of the trash heep

Ahead of Portopia's giant jam and new recording flurry this week and next, thought i'd unload some old stuff. 

circumambulator


pattern on mountain.

redlands


echoes inside

aqua marine

moon radio

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Songs this week (11/10/12)

Skipped a few weeks of this due to recent road trip. Returned to Pittsburghfrom Arizona for the winter. In an electronic mood - 


Boards of Canada - Melissa Juice



Autechre - Lowride



Loess - Sofar




Prefuse 73 - Choking You



Caribou - Cherrybomb (Part II)



Thursday, October 11, 2012

5 songs this week (10/11/12)

Douglas Wood - Moon Nightclub


Death & Vanilla - Ghosts in the Machine


Death & Vanilla - Vampyr Intro


Stefano Torossi - Running Fast


Castello Stregato - Oronzo De Filippi

Toroweap & Nampaweap

Trekked out to the Toroweap Valley for the final time this season last week. Toroweap means "barren valley" and Nampaweap means "foot canyon" in Paiute. Nampaweap is located about 11 miles from the Toroweap overlook area and contains a vast number of petroglyphs left by people from 400 to 3000 years ago. Hence the name "foot canyon" as many people over a long time have traveled through this area and left their marks. (click to enlarge images)


Angel's Window, seen the day before the Toroweap trek on the North Rim


Antelope by the roadside 


Sunset at Toroweap, Lava Falls area




Petroglyph possibly showing corn











Rabbit Brush blooms near camp


Clouds at sunrise



Thursday, September 27, 2012

Quitoboquito/Harp Articulate

Some old stuff again. 

In November '12 Portopia is headed to the studio for a new recording project. 






Wednesday, September 26, 2012

5 songs this week (9/27/12)

The time hath come again....













Play This Now

3 online "albums" that i've been playing a lot lately 



 1. 

New Ghost Box Study Series. Music by Dave Mason's Listening Center "Example One." If you like Advisory Circle, old Broadcast Eps, and old Boards of Canada, this you'll like: 
Speaking of Broadcast, James of Broadcast sent this mix to Outer Church. Can't stop playing it: 


2. 

Track list: 

Ennio Morricone -Adonai 
Ottawa 76 International Animation Festival
Henry Mancini -Salem Came to Dinner
‘Watch’ 
Bernard Parmegiani- Suns of Easter Island
Lawrence Crosley -The Music Machine
Alessandro Alessandroni -Dialogues
Ennio Morricone -L’uccello Dalle Piume Di Cristallo
Mikre Isha
TV Ontario Ident
University of the Air - CTV  
Nicola Pivani -Le Orme
Utbildingsradion Ident
Ennio Morricone -Canto della Campana Stonata
Eugen Thomass -Magic World of the Sea
Ontario Educational Communications Authority
Eugen Thomass -Frühling
Angus Maclise -Humming in the Night Skull

Interview with James Cargill in Outer Church about his soundtrack for the Peter Strickland film "Berberian Sound Studio": 



3.

"Journey Through a Magic Yard" mix by user "PatternandShape" on Soundcloud: 




Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Dutton Point

Hiked to Dutton Point on Monday for an overnight backpacking trip with a friend. The trail begins on Swamp Point,

Click Images To Enlarge 





Swamp Point is accessed by a long dirt road through the forests of the North Rim. Many turning points, each road rockier than the last, until finally we reached the rim after sunset. Dutton Point is the prominent edge in the sunlight in the photo above seen from Swamp Point when we departed at dawn. We loaded up our heavy backpacks and went down the Muav Saddle trail about 1,000ft and rested at Roosevelt Cabin:


Some items inside Roosevelt Cabin: 







Nothing i love more than a can of loganberry preserves. 

Next, there is a sharp incline up switchbacks another 1,000ft to the top of Powell Plateau. Here we rested again and stashed some water in the shade for the trip back the next day. We thought the next part of the hike would be easy, but the trail is very overgrown in parts and we were bushwhacking a lot of the time while atop Powell Plateau. Here is Jeremy wading through one of the many flowery meadows we traversed: 



After 5.5 miles of this trudging and constant steep hills, we finally reached Dutton Point, exhausted. But the view was worth the work: 


Probably the most expansive view of the canyon i have seen



At sunset



To the left (north) of Dutton Point



A small (relatively) butte seen from Dutton Point



A crinoid fossil found in the Kaibab Limestone at Dutton Point

That night at Dutton Point we camped under the stars and ponderosa limbs. A new fingernail moon hugged the horizon and allowed for the milky way to be strongly visible. I was satisfied with the hike and view, but the haze in the canyon did not lend itself to the creation of great photography. We talked at length that night in camp about the increasingly hazy skies in the canyon this year compared to previous years. When T.R. said "man can only mar it" he was right. However, i think we've marred it in a way he didn't imagine. i wish i could have seen the canyon in Powell & Dutton's day. At the rate of air pollution today, someone 100 years from now will probably be saying they wished they could have seen the canyon in mine. 

Tuesday Morning we did the hike in reverse. 


5 songs this week (9/20/12)












Thursday, September 13, 2012

5 songs this week 9/13/12

Hope to make this a weekly thing here. 5 songs a week. Stuff i'm playing a lot. 





Broadcast were magical. 







And of course something Italian.

Bon Voyage belles & hommes. Til next week.  

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Roosevelt Point

Got outside into the cool crisp autumn air at roosevelt point today. (Click to enbiggen) 



If you follow the trail far enough you get under this overhanging cliff with a great view.





You'll find these along the rim at all the major viewpoints ^


self portrait


strange twisted burned old ponderosa