Music  There are days...and there are days. Days like this one where I spend a good 45 minutes putting together a new Video Roundup and then close the browser window on accident and lose everything I've done. It's enough to drive a man to bite a pillow, I'll tell you what. Anyway...Just like the holiday we just celebrated, let's resurrect this sumbitch and move on forward. Starting with Ms. Ka...   More

Music  You want a quick litmus test to see how long someone has lived in Portland: ask them how they feel about a new Rebecca Gates album finally coming out. If they furrow their brows trying to place the name, you know that they're recent imports from some other far flung place. If their eyes light up and an excited grin comes across their face, they've been here for a stretch. Because for us...   More

Music  There's something poetic about the fact that Maze Featuring Frankie Beverly is known as a "quiet storm" band. The genre designation has to do with radio stations that would give over their late night programming to silky DJs playing smooth R&B and soul jams to help you relax and/or make your bedroom activities a little sexier. Maze has been providing such a soundtrack for over 40 ye...   More

Music Stories [ECLECTIC, SPIRITUAL POP] Here’s a poorly kept secret all music fans should know: As excited as we get about a band’s CD-release parties, by the time said group gets to the point of releasing    More

Music  Hearing The Black Keys and seeing their massive rise of success has been, well, kind of cute. What more can you say about a pair of dudes playing watered down blues-rock meant for Victoria's Secret ads and shitty frat parties? It's cute. Me, I prefer a shot of the pure stuff. The raw, unfiltered skronk that burst from the deep South and has been echoing through the world for 70+ years. ...   More

Music You lucky, lucky people. TWO video roundups in one week?! It's like Hanukkah up in here. (A quick shout out to our Jewish readers in hopes that you have a lovely Passover.) But don't thank us; thank all the musicians who are taking up video camera, iPhone, and iMovie to make promotional clips for your edutainment. People like Bim Ditson, the punktastic drummer for the poptastic And And And who put...   More

Music  If you've been following the music blogs of late, you've likely run across the band Ceremony in some way, shape, or form. One would hope that the discussion has been in praise of the group's recently released album Zoo because this California-based post-punk outfit has concocted probably as strong a statement as you're li...   More

Music Stories Simon Reynolds, the music and culture critic, put it best in his book Retromania: “When a band has been around long enough, there is always going to be more demand from the fan base for a career   More

Music  Another gloomy rainy day. Another perfect excuse to stay indoors and watch video clips on your computer. Start with this track from the post-Dirty Mittens disco pop project Artifice, performed live by the band at Holocene. Artifice "Ritual Dance" from Aubree Bernier-Clarke on Vim...   More

Music  Life sometimes drops the most unusual opportunities in your lap. Just last week, an e-mail popped up in my inbox offering me the chance to sit down with Claire Evans and Jona Bechtolt, the creative forces behind the group YACHT, before their show at Mississippi Studios last week. The catch was, I had to be prepared to be caught on camera doing th...   More