You want to Keep Portland Weird? You got it, buddy.

Fresh on the heels of E*Rock and White Rainbow’s 24-hour Vibe Zone party, the St. Johns No.Fest sent out a press release earlier this week that—while somewhat difficult to navigate—got our experimental music motors running and our experimental music tastebuds tingling, as well as our experimental music eyes rolling. Why all the ultra-poor metaphor excitement?

On June 21st, scattered throughout the St. Johns neighborhood, No.Fest organizers will hold twelve straight hours of crazy experimental music. It begins with a free-jam at 10 am at Proper Eats (8638 N. Lombard St). There will also be music at Legong Gelato Shoppe (8712 N. Lombard—have I ever told you I hate gelato? Never tried it, but I hate it.), the “historic Towne Square” and “St. Johns.” By “St. Johns” I think they mean under the bridge at Cathedral park, but because I don’t visit that neck of the woods very often I’m not quite sure. But this seems like as good a way as any to discover the neighborhood.

The point is that there will be tons of strange musical stuff going on in St. Johns on June 21, and you best mark your calendar now. Just the first three names mentioned below—Evolutionary Jass Band, White Rainbow and Eternal Tapestry—were enough to convince us that this thing is both legit and probably a fantastic opportunity to eat whatever drugs are left in your couch cushions from those long-gone college days. And while I may not be totally experimental savvy, I do recognize the name Steven W. Lobdell from the weird-and-revered Holy Mountain roster.

Here, just try to figure this thing out for yourself. We’ll ask for a more complete schedule and keep you updated upon hearing more information:

Event: No.Fest : Nu.Music.Arts St. Johns 2008, to happen June 21st.
The first “ST.JOHNS NO.FEST” is happening this June to expose artists who push the boundaries in innovative art and music. Using 4 alternative venues, entirely localized (hence”No”), free, and all ages, we are determined to push the music back to the community. The festival kicks off at Noon on Saturday June 21st, the entire program shall run from Noon to 10pm, however with a an open improvisation morning “Free Jam & Toast” hosted by Sean Ongley at Proper Eats, from 10am-Noon. The venues are 4: Historic Towne Square (outdoors), Proper Eats, Legong Gelato Shoppe, and St. Johns and the entire program shall run from Noon to 10pm.

The venues are 4: Historic Towne Square (outdoors), Proper Eats, Legong Gelato Shoppe, and St. Johns Booksellers. And by dialing in to 90.7 fm KBOO, you can hear portions of the performances broadcast throughout the day.

The 28 artists listed below are a combination of new jazz, rock, electronic, acoustic, composed, improvised, spoken word arts and more.

And they are: Evolutionary Jass Band, White Rainbow, Eternal Tapestry, 20 Foot Man and Dr. Id, PDX New Music Society Presents: Branic Howard Jay Deridian and Matt Marble, Jennifer Robin and friends: Mykle Hanson Spirit Duplicator and Jason Plumb’s Circuit Bending Workshop, a Doug Haning band, Fly Fly Fly Fly Fly, a Death Worth Living band, Exit Collapse, Pixie Storm (Shane Schneider), Boyd Anderson Method, EcoMorti, Brizbomb, Million Brazillians, Dead Air Fresheners, Montana Sacra (Steven W. Lobdell and Josh Hanson), G.M. Holder, Shurpa, Someone, Stepmother, Interstices. *Note the performance times are yet to be determined.

Some Links for info include: www.myspace.com/stjohnsnofest, www.propereats.org, www.kboo.fm
We hope to compile additional links and info on the artists over time for reference on the front page of the myspace site. For now, use the google.

Don’t be scared…open your mind to their freakout.

Photo: A “rough promotional flier” for the event.