Album Reviews [ALT-ROCK WILL NEVER DIE] Now that the Decemberists have hit No. 1 on the Billboard charts, the idea that a local group can go from a practice space on East Burnside to    More

Album Reviews [PDX SLUDGE] Scan the liner notes of local metal outfit Rabbits’ new record, Lower Forms, and you’ll find a surprising note: Lower Forms was recorded at Type Foundry studios. For the uninitiated, this is somewhat of    More

Music The secret is out there, if you look hard enough. Ever since the mysterious Portland-based project Unknown Mortal Orchestra debuted last year with the rousing (and oddly spelled) pysch-pop gem "Ffunny Ffrends," the blog-world has been clamoring to put a name and face behind one of the most promising Portland acts to appear in a long time. There has been all sorts of speculation (The band is from N...   More

Music Back in October, local songwriter (and sometime LocalCut contributor) Nick Jaina took to Kickstarter to raise the funds for an album he recorded of his songs by local female artists like Laura Gibson, Jolie Holland, and Corrina Repp. After a month, Jaina raised enough money to release the album, but due to a funny incentive—anyone who donated over $100 received a CD of three cover songs of their...   More

Music The secret of Blouse is no more. Back when I wrote a "Cut of the Day" for my favorite new Portland act, I talked about how the identity of the band wasn't as important as the dreamy, aching nostalgia you could hear in both their tracks. Today Pitchfork offshoot Altered Zones ...   More

Album Reviews [MUSIC FROM BIG GREEN] Brothers Sean and Ryan Spellman grew up in the swamps of New Jersey, just outside of Asbury Park. The story in their byline—and in the songs by their   More

Album Reviews [SALEM ROCK CITY] When people speak about Portland’s vibrant music scene, they talk about community and friendship, house shows and DIY record labels, James Mercer and No. 1 records (congrats, Co   More

Music  Things just keep on getting worse for the all-ages music scene in Portland. Just a few months after Satyricon and Berbati's Pan—two local clubs that catered to the under-21 crowd in town—closed, word from The Artistery's Aaron Shepherd is that the all-ages music and art space will close for good in March. This one hurts. The Artistery has been staging shows in its basement for the last 1...   More

Drink  Everybody has a favorite bar game. And while I understand the allure of a drunken game of pinball or shuffleboard, there’s no thrill quite    More

Music Is it a rule that the best multimedia content always comes in on Tuesday morning? I have to admit, it's nice to wake up and find good stuff like this in my inbox and on the Internet. These two videos are notable for two reasons: 1) Starfucker plays a brand new song (the sugar-coated electropop romp "Mystery Cloud") in its freakin' basement and 2) The Thermals got Lance Bangs to direc...   More