Portland’s Johnny Ragel brings the term “One Man Show” to a whole new level. His might play electronica with sampled beats laid over instrumental tracks but Ragel who performs under the name Boy Eats Drum Machine isn’t the sort of DJ who sits idly behind his turntables, occasionally touching his hand to his headphones. Instead, he bounces around an elaborate musical set-up, banging on a drum, shaking a tambourine and even playing his saxophone. The result: BEDM sounds like a jazz-electronic fusion on record and looks like a well-synchronized dance on stage. Watching him carefully time his every movement from carefully dropping the needle on a records’ track to effortlessly beating a drum with only drumstick provides insight into how artfully crafted Ragel’s music is. He does just create beats and lay tracks; this man feels every note.
Fri., Jan. 2, 9 p.m., 2009