News So, I always feel a kinship with referees. I was reminded of this a few minutes ago, when one offered a friendly but distant half-hug to Raymond Felton. I know that feeling. I write about music for a living. And you can get close to a band—physically close, until your ears bleed—but you're rarely close to a band. And, of course, if you get too close you've got to stop writing about them. I can...   More

Music Stories It wasn’t headline news when Swervedriver quietly broke up in 1998. The British quartet, often lumped into the “shoegaze” genre but more muscular and freewheeling than most of its contempora   More

Album Reviews [FUTURE POP] I don’t think the members of Radiation City are perfectionists, but together they make some perfect pop music. The Portland quintet’s live shows sound like elaborately produced st   More

Music I often say, without thinking about it too much, that John K Samson is the greatest living songwriter. I really should say he's "my favorite" instead of getting all high and mighty about it, but I suppose that in pushing the issue, I hope to get people to pay attention to his words and the truth that seems inherent in his storytelling. His songs—with the Weakerthans or on his own—always offer ...   More

Music Stories In his 15-year career as frontman for the Weakerthans and as a solo artist, John K. Samson has written dozens of increasingly masterful story songs from the perspectives of bed-ridden hospital p   More

News Hello, Portland. It's me, Casey. I'll be here all week, keeping track of the newly shuffled Blazers, who are 3-and-3 in the post-Nate era. Neither tanking nor embarking on an inspired comeback run, the Blazers are, as they have been for most of the season, stuck in the middle like Jimmy Eat World. The lower middle. Tonight they hope for a small miracle against the Oklahoma City Thunder, whom they...   More

News  So, the Golden State Warriors generally cream the Blazers. This time, I'd say all bets are off. Both teams' lineups look a lot different than they did a couple of weeks ago, due to both injury and trades. There are at least two Warriors on the floor tonight who I'm just gonna have to look up. And I have watched like a dozen Warriors games this year.FIRST QUARTER!10:20
Golden State ...   More

Music Festival season being nearly upon us, we thought we'd talk to one of the folks who makes them happen. The Soul'd Out fest, now in its third year, seems the least likely of all Portland's music festivals. It is focused primarily on black music in a city often lampooned for its whiteness, and—despite highbrow offerings from folks like Portland-raised Esperanza Spalding and jazz legend Dr. Lonnie S...   More

Music Stories Every year I learn a few more what-not-to-dos at Austin’s SXSW music festival: Don’t sleep in too late or you’ll miss the free tacos; RSVP for everything, just in case; don’t make elaborat   More

Music Stories [HIP-HOP] First things first: Beautiful Music Part 2 is the best album Luck-One has recorded to date. It’s a fine mix of the personal, the political and the spiritual. Dekk’s beats stagger d   More