Music Stories Prefuse 73, Sunday, Jan. 31 @ HoloceneTwisted producer Guillermo Scott Heron is back as Prefuse 73, busting some of the most chopped ’n’ screwed instrumental hip-hop jams you’ve ever ...   More

Music Stories Loch Lomond Night Bats(Hush) [FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION] If local chamber-folk outfit Loch Lomond can be accused of anything, it’s being too nice. The band’s songs, which take singer ...   More

Top 5 Electric Light Orchestra, “Last Train to London”What’s not to like?Harry Belafonte, “Jump in the Line (Shake, Senora)”A wonderfully energetic and rhythmic calypso jam abo ...   More

Music Stories Drats!!! Too Entertaining???(Self-Released) [FUNNY/FRENZY] Though we enjoyed the first album by Drats!!! immensely, there was reason for concern with a follow-up. 2006’s Welcome to New Granad ...   More

Top 5 Portland’s many excellent taquerias have been omitted, as everyone there already has their favorites.El Buen Sabor (Mission District, San Francisco)Best chile relleno burrito.Taco Zone Truck (Ec ...   More

Music Stories Mattress Low Blows(Malt Duck Records) [DAMAGED CROON] It’s hard to avoid the dreaded second-album slump, especially when many of the faults often associated with it—added band members, ...   More

Music Stories Incredible Yacht Control(Self-Released Free Download) [LOVINGLY LO-FI] Sometimes a sketch says more than a painting. A friend of mine said that years ago, and the phrase has stuck with me ever sinc ...   More

Music Stories Though Frank Turner is still a young buck in the folk-punk game—he turns 28 in December—he’s accomplished an awful lot in the past few years. The British songwriter forsook a fledgli ...   More

Top 5 Hip-hop can be boastful, loud and self-serving, but we shouldn’t forget it was music born with an inherent social consciousness. The second annual Hot Nights/Warm Coats show taps into that origi ...   More

Music Stories Alan Singley & Pants Machine Feelin’ Citrus(Bladen County Records) [WOWEE ZOWEE] Alan Singley is a uniter, not a divider. More than maybe any musician in Portland, Singley’s giddy, ent ...   More