Music Day One! As you read this, the number of YouTube hits for Tupac’s “hologram” Coachella performance will likely crest 2.5 million. And while the digital ghost of the late gangster rapper set a new precedent for urging the dead back on stage, 139 other acts performed too. In the flesh, no less. For the first time in its 13-year existence, the Coachella Music Festival experimented with...   More

Music Whether or not the butterflies in the stomach go away after nearly a decade of experience is not the point. More important is what’s done with that pre-show itch, that fluttering mess of nerves and adrenaline. Tired old bands let the gas vent while overzealous newbies often light the spark too early, assuming their hands aren’t shaking uncontrollably to begin with. But bands in their prime�...   More

Music With all the recent buzz enveloping Portland prog-rock act AU, it’s easy to forget that Luke Wyland and Dana Valatka have been doing this for years. But it’s a worthy brand of hype, one rising from a three-year period wherein AU has seemingly mastered its obscure craft. Musically, AU’s ideas have always been lofty. Current acclaim is due, at least in part, to the duo’s newfound ability to ...   More

Music Watching Wax Fingers set up shop is a little like watching a seasoned specialist diffuse a bomb. The trio does it with ease these days, having several years of collective experience under its belt. There is no manual, no sticky notes nor color-coded diagram for their sea-like mess of cords and pedals. Just a time-earned wherewithal. Savvy like this comes from twice weekly practice, all the time. ...   More

Music Thursday evening marked the debut of The Clear Blue Pearl, a 10-song musical epic about the hunt for an aquifer amidst a punishing drought. The highly imaginative piece was scored last winter by Portland jazzsmith Ben Darwis...   More

Music Seeing as how both are built of powerful frontwomen, bandmate husbands and a fondness for key-fueled retro-minimalism, Tennis and Love Inks could have followed identical indie paths. The two trios are built much the same, but function in completely different ways. The two acts did not share a Portland bill in mid-December, nor did they share a single venue. Instead, and fittingly so, the two gli...   More

Music [Whoops, this one got a bit lost in the shuffle. Sorry, y'all. Better late than never.]

Chris Taylor has no reason to be bashful. He’s the bassist for Grizzly Bear and a big part of the Brooklyn band’s mesmerizing songwriting psyche. He’s also human, and he’s fidgeting nervously before an undersized crowd at the Doug Fir.

What I like most about CANT’s debut recording is tha...   More

Music “You guys want us to play," asks Josh Epstein, half of Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. "Or do you want us to keep throwing you popsicles?"
Perhaps it was a mistake to toss frozen treats into the crowd so early in the set, but it is 95 degrees and the masses are desperate for refreshment. It’s a bit like pigeons fighting over bread crumbs. Darwin’s survival of the fittest is on full display, as th...   More

Music Saturday in Texas stands for college football, long lines at the liquor store, and, on this particular Saturday, live music.

The Antlers

What I like most about this dreamy, melancholic Brooklyn band is that its live sets are of a different species than its recorded materia...   More

Music Austin City Limits reached the decade mark this year, celebrating with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Arcade Fire and some band called Coldplay. Somehow, ACL 2011 featured zero Portland acts, a far cry from the usual Rose City respect Zilker Park delivers. But after the bustle and beautiful nativism of MFNW the weekend prior, a festival set in the heart of Texas known for harnessing huge names as ...   More