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

Music I entered Bunk Bar with the expectation of a scattered crowd, a few diehard photographers and the faint smell of pulled pork. I left with the filling knowledge that Motopony is not just another pawn of independent music. The Seattle quartet is, in fact, a smoldering, unapologetic stew of folk, rock ‘n’ roll and new soul. Here are ten thi...   More

Music Writers love to break bands. And while I’m certainly not the first to print the name Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., it sort of felt, Monday night at Mississippi Studios, like I was getting in on the ground floor.
Maybe it’s a collective weariness towards all things Detroit—this proud band’s hometown—a seemingly indomitable city built on blood and sweat that lies awake on life support today...   More

Album Reviews [ROOTS-ROCK COCKTAIL] If opening tracks are meant to forecast an album’s mood, then “Long Fall,” the first cut off Redwood Son’s two-disc debut effort, The Lion’s Inside, signals clear sk   More

Music Is Lykke Li a diva? Because there are several industrial fans blowing stageward, sending the black prop sheets dancing in anticipation of her arrival. The young Scandinavian new-soul singer's entrance music has been blasting for a few minutes now and there's still no sign of her. It’s a question I’m still wrestling with. The rest have been answered. Yes, this is an odd crowd of young, dres...   More

Top 5 Matt and Kim (Saturday, 7:30 pm, Bigfoot Stage) Flexing the likability of the Portland Timbers and the infectious charm of the Muppets, Brooklyn’s dance-rock duo is the band you always wanted to p   More

Music Of Note: Mark Stock submitted the two enclosed pieces of art ("I've been playing around with my girlfriend's iPad," he says) in lieu of live photos. -Ed.
Sink or swim, Thousands’ Kristian Garrard and Luke Bergman will no doubt do so together. They share a super adhesive bond more commonly seen in chess teams, where players are forced to predict strategy five moves into the future.

As ...   More

Music This post is a few days late going up. It's not Mark's fault. -Ed.It’s quite easy to imagine Yuck being forged from the same hot iron that produced indie rock in the late '80s and early '90s. But they band is too young, and too distant, I keep telling myself (to no avail). After all, they’re English.

Truth is, Yuck makes me feel good.  Makes me feel fuzzy and nostalgic.  The b...   More

Music We encourage all our writers to draw cartoons to accomadate their live reviews. These bitchin' drawings come via Mark Stock.
Sometimes three bands play a single show. Other times, three shows play a single evening. Wednesday night at Holocene felt more like a mini-festival than a single ticket, offering bands with certain ties but very distinctive sounds.
“There’s a whole lotta Canada in...   More

Music I love a good Point Break reference and Chicago’s glam rock upstarts Smith Westerns make it all the easier. Frontman Cullen Omori is the personification of the 1991 film, equal parts Keanu Reeves in appearance and Patrick Swayze (RIP) in shear infectious recklessness. For a band that’s comprised of kids, the quintet is truly impressive, incorporating sides of Bowie, The Kinks and—probably mo...   More