Win Tickets ($46): The Old Church Concert Hall Presents Golden Retriever, Saariselka | Electronic, Ambient

We are giving away a pair of tickets to Golden Retriever, Saariselka @ The Old Church on September 11. To win, comment on this post why you’d like to attend. Winner will be drawn and emailed September 9.

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From our sponsors:
Golden Retriever, Saariselka (Marielle Jakobsons and Chuck Johnson)
September 11, 2021
Doors 7PM, Show 8PM | $17 ADV, $23 Doors | 12+
More info: eventbrite.com

The Old Church Concert Hall
1422 SW 11th Ave, Portland, OR 97201

PROOF OF COVID VACCINATION REQUIRED AT DOOR FOR ALL ATTENDEES | MASKS ARE REQUIRED INSIDE | Ages 12+ | Bar w/ID

Golden Retriever was formed in Portland, Oregon in 2008 by multi-instrumentalists Jonathan Sielaff and Matt Carlson. Beginning with a focus on the relationship of two primarily monophonic instruments (modular synth and bass clarinet), and utilizing layering with a deft balance of improvisation and composition, the duo has expanded their sound world into ensemble compositions and collaborations with other musicians and artists.

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There is an old Norse myth that says the great northern glaciers stored energy until they burst with fluorescent light, creating the Aurora Borealis. Saariselka is inspired by the meeting of earth and light, where slowly moving land masses merge with enveloping light fields. This sonic collaboration between composers Marielle V Jakobsons (Fender Rhodes, organ, synthesizers) and Chuck Johnson (pedal steel guitar and treatments) is as expressive as it is enigmatic.

On their debut album, The Ground Our Sky, a kind of new ambient Americana is unearthed and explored. The respectively singular artistry of Jakobsons (who previously cofounded the beguiling Date Palms) and Johnson collectively craft a universe of remarkable resonance. It is a vibrant, seemingly infinite sway of sounds that exists unmoored in time and space.

The Ground Our Sky gets its lift by pondering the universe not while staring up at the sky, but rather down at the ground – gazing into the earth, where we are all individually and collectively a meeting of the ground and the sky. This inverted perspective is at the heart of Saariselka’s music. That feeling of becoming ungrounded is universal and inevitable – and increasingly necessary to seize those rare opportunities for meaningful changes in perspective.