RIFF CITY With the Shins' third (huge) release, Wincing the Night Away, on the horizon, a new wife and a baby on the way, frontman James Mercer has plenty to look forward to. He chatted with Riff City the morni ...   More

RIFF CITY By the time you read this, the members of gypsy-folk band Kiss Bank will be en route to the Mississippi River, where they'll rejoin the Miss Rockaway Armada, a 20-foot-long vessel they helped build fr ...   More

RIFF CITY Jon Itkin is a liar—sort of. After a few listens to his self-released debut, Oregon, the newly local singer-songwriter had me convinced that his mother is in prison. He also had me convinced&mda ...   More

RIFF CITY Adrian Orange, Bitches Is Lord (Marriage): For the record, this is a post-deadline reconsideration. My apologies to the Blow (whose Paper Television was heavily considered). Bitches Is Lord is simply ...   More

RIFF CITY This can be a touchy subject, so let's get it out of the way: Cover bands play songs made famous by other bands. Tribute bands are Method actors—they "become" another band. Last week, Portland s ...   More

RIFF CITY Two weeks ago, Seann McKeel announced she would be dropping her role as booker for the increasingly amorphous venue Acme. Her tenure lasted only a year and a half—during which time McKeel also b ...   More

RIFF CITY Portland's prime noise-folk up-and-comers, the crazy-talented kids in Norfolk & Western, are currently touring the States—not by locomotive (as the band's biography once claimed), but in a 15-pe ...   More

RIFF CITY I spent close to five hours this past Saturday watching complete strangers play video games. And it was fun. The event was bar/venue the Red Room's first Guitar Hero tournament, and it brought out a s ...   More

RIFF CITY The first words you'll hear upon a visit to local indie-rock band the Wherewithals' MySpace page are "Pack up your shit/ Pack up your shit and get out of here." It's a fitting introduction to the band ...   More

RIFF CITY Like many pseudo-Portlanders reading this, I am not from here. I am one of the many transplants who made this rainy, wonderful city my own, whether it wanted me or not. And in the three and half years ...   More