Africa High-Tech

Christopher Kirkley went into the Sahara in search of an unheard musical tradition. He found it—but it wasn’t what he expected.

Music Stories In 2008, Christopher Kirkley went to Africa in hopes of capturing sounds rarely heard by the rest of the world. Traveling southwest from Morocco...   More

 

Wednesday, October 24, 2012 MATTHEW SINGER

Primer: Waka Flocka Flame

Music Stories Born: 1986 in Queens, N.Y. Sounds like: Club-destroying Southern hip-hop from a streetwise kid smart enough to know deep thoughts just slow down a good party. For fans of: Lil Jon, Ludacris, Young J   More

 

Wednesday, October 24, 2012 MATTHEW SINGER

Cadence Weapon: Sunday, Oct. 28

How a cerebral Canadian MC evolved from an introverted philosopher into “a traveling fun machine.”

Music Stories [ECLECTIC HIP-HOP] Expectations are high for 26-year-old Canadian rapper Rollie Pemberton, also known as Cadence Weapon. He was a poet laureate for his hometown of Edmonton, Alberta, so people e   More

 

Wednesday, October 24, 2012 REED JACKSON

Make Love, Not Sense

It’s the David Byrne Dating Game!

Music Stories Will David Byrne ever find a nice girl to settle down with? Ever since Talking Heads broke up in 1991, the restless 60-year-old musician-author-etc. has been playing the field—musically speaki   More

 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 MATTHEW SINGER

Primer: Omar Rodriguez-Lopez

Music Stories Born: In Bayamón, Puerto Rico, in 1975. Sounds like: A prolific experimentalist now financially secure enough to operate without any semblance of a creative filter. For fans of: The Mars Volta, Joh   More

 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 MATTHEW SINGER

Spirit Lake: Friday, Oct. 19

Taking the Oregon Trail to blues-rock nirvana.

Music Stories [PSYCHEDELIC BLUES ROCK] Uncle Walker’s Amber Restorative, the debut LP from Portland quartet Spirit Lake, has a history far grander than that suggested by the group’s slight résumé. The band    More

 

Wednesday, October 17, 2012 SHANE DANAHER

From Obscuro to Hero

Sixto Rodriguez rises from the record bin of history.

Music Stories Sixto Rodriguez is having his moment in the limelight. Finally.  The 70-year-old singer-songwriter from Detroit has been touring regularly since the beginning of the year, playing festivals   More

 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 ROBERT HAM

Primer: Billy Joe Shaver

Music Stories Born: 1939 in Corsicana, Texas. Sounds like: Everything that’s grizzled and red-blooded—and, conversely, good and Christian—about country music, condensed into the body and voice of a man w   More

 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 MATTHEW SINGER

Brownish Black: Friday, Oct. 12

A Detroit native finds his soul in the heart of the Rose City.

Music Stories [GARAGE SOUL] Soul doesn’t come naturally to the lily-white Northwest. In the case of Brownish Black’s M.D. Sharbatz, though, it wasn’t until he moved to Portland, oddly enough, that the s   More

 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012 MATTHEW SINGER

Stripes vs. Soul Patches

Comparing the careers of the Oregon Music Hall of Fame’s marquee inductees.

Music Stories YEARS ACTIVE U-Krew: 1984-1993 Everclear: 1992-“present” SOUND U-Krew: An early hybrid of R&B and hip-hop...   More

 

Wednesday, October 3, 2012 MATTHEW SINGER