Dragging an Ox through Water and The Vonneguts

One of my favorite acts I've seen at PDX Pop just finished. Dragging an Ox through Water is a one man band who plays intimate freaked-out folk songs on fluent acoustic guitar interspersed with bursts of noise from a rube goldbergian system of pedals and amps, bits of melody played on a recorder, and the occasional pounding tom. Even sweating through the high fever he had today, Brian (Dragging an Ox's secret identity) somehow manages to make it all heartbreakingly intimate and personal and totally unpretentious. Ever since he first submitted his masterpiece, Aces to the comp a couple of years back, I've been dreaming of the day that he'd play the festival and there couldn't have been a better day for it than today:

Before Draggin an Ox, the surf-punk stylings of The Vonneguts finished up the first outside set. Unfortunately, I didn't get to see much of their set, but it seemed like their Venice-beach-by-way-of-DC sound suited the perfect weather out there pretty well.

Corrina Repp is getting started right now, so I'm gonna jet. Be back with a report in a bit...