Music Wednesday, June 19Luciano, Ikronik [REGGAE] The Jamaican singer praises Jah with uniquely infectious joy. Hawthorne Theater, 1507 SE 39th Ave., 233-7100. 8 pm. $20 advance, $25 day of show. Mattress, XDS, Swahili, Grapefruit [BAD SEED] Portland's synth-soul-sermonizer's got a new tape called Fuck the Future, which is appropriate, since fuckin...   More

Music Thursday, June 13 Richmond Fontaine, Ian Moore [LOCAL GOLD] Were there a naturalization test for new Portlanders, at least one Richmond Fontaine question would make the Scantron test. Perhaps: “Is Richmond Fontaine A) One of the tightest and most face-melting groups in Portland, B) Fronted by arguably the best lyricist in the city, C) An alt-country institution coming up on...   More

Music Stories Portland music-scene fixture Joe Haege returns this week to premiere new 31Knots songs—which his own bandmate, Jay Winebrenner, will be hearing for the first time and giving commentary on from   More

Top 5 Iron and Wine (April 2004) This was such a joyous and encouraging night in our early days. A capacity crowd poured in, packed themselves politely into the room, and fell into a perfect hush for t   More

Top 5 2NE1 (pictured) Mysteriously quiet for the bulk of 2012, YG Entertainment’s 2NE1 are one of a thimbleful of Korean groups to have performed in the U.S. The group hopes to reclaim home territory   More

Music Wednesday, May 22 Akron/Family, Avi Buffalo, M. Geddes Gengras [PSYCH YOUR MIND] Akron/Family actually has more ties to Portland than the city in Ohio—drummer Dana Janssen is a Rose City transplant—but no matter: The band's new, senses shredding psychedelic opus Sub Verses, like much of the group's output, doesn't have roots in any particular place oth...   More

Music Stories “This was our ‘farewell’ performance at a truck-stop bar in North Portland. After the band’s five-year run, I was leaving Portland to return to Austin, Texas. The somewhat straight-laced r   More

Music Matthew Singer wasn't the only Willamette Week writer at this year's South By Southwest. Here are how two other contributors, Nathan Carson and Emilee Booher, experienced the festival.Nathan Carson's Top 10 Favorite Moments from SXSW 2013 1. Nik Turner performing Hawkwind's Space Ritual on a four-foot high sta...   More

Music Stories “This is a picture from the end of our first-ever West Coast tour. We were so excited for this one. We had played absolutely empty venues in California prior to this. We drove from San   More

Music Stories The “post-national bass dance party,” founded by Anjali, E3 and the Incredible Kid in 2003, started at Holocene just a few months after the club opened, and over the years has introduced a v   More