Primer: Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra

Music Stories Formed: 1999 in Montreal.  Sounds like: Orchestral punk epics drawn from sorrow, desolation and unease.  For fans of: Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Mount Eeri   More

 

Wednesday, February 1, 2012 SHANE DANAHER

Neal Morgan: Sunday, Feb. 5

All Neal Morgan wants to do is play drums and sing. Good thing he sounds amazing doing just that.

Music Stories [DRUM-’N’-VOICE] When Neal Morgan walks into Stepping Stone Cafe for our interview, his body freezes and his face tightens with puzzlement. Then he points a finger into the air and his face    More

 

Wednesday, February 1, 2012 CASEY JARMAN

Giving Up the Ghost

Don’t fear the Reaper—even if it’s a really convincing-looking Reaper.

Music Stories “A lot of black-metal bands have an agenda where they actually say, ‘We want you to kill yourself,’” bemoans Ghost’s frontman. “We don’t have an agenda. Our uppermost goal is not t   More

 

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 NATHAN CARSON

Primer: Voodoo Glow Skulls

Music Stories Formed: 1988 in Riverside, Calif. Sounds like: Cheech and Chong’s horn-metal novelty classic “Earache My Eye” sped up until the music almost can’t keep up with itself, overlaid with shout   More

 

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 MATTHEW SINGER

The Suicide Notes: Friday, Jan. 27

They’re ready for their close-up.

Music Stories [GIRL-GROUP PUNK] Before the band even truly existed, the Suicide Notes staged a photo shoot. It was the idea of Jessi Garver, one of the group’s three female singers and, other than fellow voca   More

 

Wednesday, January 25, 2012 MATTHEW SINGER

Youth Lagoon: Saturday, Jan. 21

There’s a whole lot to love behind Youth Lagoon’s wall of sound.

Music Stories [BOISE BEDROOM POP] Boise native Trevor Powers is not scared of blending in with the crowd. At first listen, his debut album as Youth Lagoon, drenched in damping effect and reverb, sounds like a   More

 

Wednesday, January 18, 2012 REED JACKSON

Ben Darwish and Shook Twins: Thursday, Jan. 19

Jazz meets rock meets folk meets...dubstep?

Music Stories  [FOLK-STEP] It’s an unseasonably bright January day; sunlight pours through the windows of Caffe Vita and backlights Ben Darwish’s ’fro. The local keyboardist-composer, 27, has a cerebral...   More

 

Wednesday, January 18, 2012 JONATHAN FROCHTZWAJG

Spectral Tombs: Thursday, Jan. 19

If you’re going to be a nihilist, be an all-the-way nihilist.

Music Stories [METAL] Spectral Tombs don’t look much like they enjoy being interviewed.  Though three-fourths of the black-metal band—bassist-vocalist Chris Carter, guitarist-vocalist John Edwards an   More

 

Wednesday, January 18, 2012 ROBERT HAM

Behind the Buzz

Blouse is a real band.

Music Stories At the North Portland warehouse where Blouse rehearses and records—a local ad firm’s outpost occupied by commercial props and a half-pipe—singer-guitarist Charlie Hilton, bassist Patrick Ada   More

 

Wednesday, January 11, 2012 JONATHAN FROCHTZWAJG

David Ornette Cherry: Saturday, Jan. 14

What’s in a name? Well, in this case, quite a lot.

Music Stories [ADVENTURES IN JAZZ] As it has been on previous albums, the cover of David Ornette Cherry’s most recent solo disc, Eternal Monologue, shows the keyboardist’s last name in capital letters and color   More

 

Wednesday, January 11, 2012 ROBERT HAM