Album Reviews [EARLY ELECTRO-POP] I’m not sure how big of a market there really is for I Was the East, a compilation of alternate versions and B-sides from Portland-based Lovers’ masterful 2009 record, I Am the   More

Music You can combine all the CGI technology and special effects in the world for some pretty rad-looking explosions, but for truly trippy visuals, nothing beats good old-fashioned ingenuity. Director Hayley Young proves this on AgesandAges' new video for "Souvenir," a topsy-turvy visual affair at least partially filmed in reverse. Lots of people-power here, but not a lot of special effects budget.
T...   More

Music Bosko, the Portland-bred Cool Nutz cohort who now lives as a "superproducer" in LA. I quote the title only because it's a little silly—Bosko's credentials are super-solid, including his elaborate work with Big Boi and some collabos with Kanye West (and, it should be noted, talkbox and production on J. Cole's new single, "Workout"). But I did not, until today, consider Bosko a political mind (aft...   More

Music Smoking is not cool.

Driving rad cars, stealing and hitting shit with a baseball bat? That is cool. Smoking, though? Not cool. So we're in full support of all the parts of this new Unknown Mortal Orchestra video, which premiered on SPIN Magazine's site yesterday, wherein the vid's sexy protagonist—Liv Taylor is probably too old to keep playing the trouble-making rock video girl, so we're...   More

Music Stories It’s kind of amazing what Death Cab for Cutie—a band often dismissed as kids’ stuff or the mushy embodiment of all things “emo”—gets away with. This year’s Codes and Keys is an ambit   More

Headout The first incarnation of WW’s annual holiday album, Another Gray Christmas, opened with lots of swearing.   More

Gift Guide Pattie’s Home Plate Cafe and Fountain8501 N Lombard St., 289-7285.The sock hop/diner/thrift store/yarn shop/DVD store-hybrid business model never really took off, and for good reason, but that d   More

Music Lovers' I Am the West is one of my all-time favorite Portland albums. If you counted up all my spins on local albums, I'd imagine that one tallies in the top 10. I still remembering popping the disc into my computer when it arrived almost unmarked in the mail: I knew nothing about Lovers, but I was hooked on first listen. When I found out Carolyn Berk was a Portlander (and in the process of puttin...   More

News Ladies and gentlemen, the NBA season just got real for Blazer fans. While many questions remain about this season (deep breath: Is Raymond Felton the PG of the future? Will Portland get Greg Oden back? Will he actually play? Will Brandon Roy be healthy? Will Nic Batum look less boyish? Is the short season good or bad for Portland? What is up with Paul Allen lately? Are beers at the Rose Garden sti...   More

Music Sometimes we like to round-up a few recent Portland music videos. That's what this is. (Sorry for the brevity—been hanging out on Twitter recently.)

YACHT, "I Walked Alone"
Not too many YACHT songs have sweet-ass guitar solos—it's even rarer to see Jona Bechtolt actually PLAYING a guitar—which automatically puts "I Walked Alone" in a league by itself. The rest of the track i...   More