Music The first four lines that Colin Meloy released as a Decemberist, on 2002's Castaways and Cutouts, are perhaps his most powerful. "My name is Leslie Ann Levine," he sang over a simple guitar strum. "My mother birthed me down a dry ravine/ My mother birthed me far too soon/ Born at nine and dead at noon."

While the words "whimsical" and "literary" have been the adjectives of ch...   More

RIFF CITY The first four lines that Colin Meloy released as a Decemberist, on 2002's Castaways and Cutouts, are perhaps his most powerful. "My name is Leslie Ann Levine," he sang over a simple guitar strum. "My ...   More

Music Spawning enough alliteration to keep the powers that be at this publication sated for the next two weeks, former Sleater-Kinney drummer Janet Weiss has joined Stephen Malkmus's band, the Jicks. This, we must tell you, is awesome. But first we must tell you that this story originally broke over on the Portla...   More

Music You know when you start a band (and I know you have) and the guitarist always starts out by playing the "Crazy Train" riff over and over again? First you laugh and then you humor your guitarist's obsession and then you say "stop!" Well, the ladies in Swan Island did not say "stop," in fact they "ei ei ei"-ed t...   More

Music Apparently the Transportation Security Administration is not only allowing some liquids back on flights, but they have also cleared "minimal gothic junkbox blues," an unstable substance that has been known to blow away entire clubs full of innocent Americans.

Now that I've made light of terroris...   More

Music In honor of the release of its debut LP, K1, the Kingdom got all dressed up. The boys were all outfitted in respectable button-up shirts and Jenna Roadman was outfitted in a very tasteful frock with a pink scarf. It was all very respectful. The audience was too, for the most part. On a Thursday night th...   More

Music I know, I know. The mash-up is so 2004. But Portland mash-ups? Totally 2006. And mash-ups by Cosmos Corbin? Well, as you can hear for yourself at his MySpace, this guy's marriages of Portland indie rock hits and Top 40 R&B hits are timeless. Up on his page right now are mash-ups of Elliott Smith and Kelis, the...   More

Music My philosophy on drinks for bands is this: Buy them. When a band requests a round of whiskeys from the stage, they are making a promise. They are saying, "We would liked to get ripped up tonight so that we can play a fun, long, drunken set. We would like to exorcise some demons. If you help us, we will take yo...   More

Music “The Setup,” the first track on Heroes and Villains' debut, Turn Your Swords, introduces the listener to a character by way of the midrange harmonies of vocalists Adam Raitano and Maranda Dabel. “He's a man/ He's a man/ And he seems to understand what it's for/ All is fair in love and war....   More

RIFF CITY "The Setup," the first track on Heroes and Villains' debut, Turn Your Swords, introduces the listener to a character by way of the midrange harmonies of vocalists Adam Raitano and Maranda Dabel. "He's ...   More