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Well, hey there, PDX Pop Now lineup. Fancy seeing you here.
Now in its 12th year, the annual local music festival is, as always, a snapshot of the Portland music scene at this moment. It's hard to identify the headliners among this group, but it speaks to how wide-open the landscape is right now: Every act has a chance to rule the weekend.
Stylistically, there's a little bit of everything, from outre-jazz vets Blue Cranes to the doomy dirges of Muscle and Marrow to longtime rap ambassadors Cool Nutz and Mic Crenshaw. Here's a quick rundown of who I'm most excited for myself:
— Blossom: A rising R&B singer in a city in which straight-up R&B singers are scarce.
— Chanti Darling: A new boogie-focused supergroup fronted by Magic Mouth's Chanticleer Tru and featuring contributions from Natasha Kmeto and members of the Gossip.
— Coco Columbia: Levitating, jazz-inflected soul that sounds like little else happening around here.
— Dylan Stark: One of Portland's breakout electronic artists making literal jungle music drawn from left-field samples.
— Hands In: Dreamy one-man psych-pop that was the talk of the early risers who caught his noon set last year. Expect him to play for a much bigger audience this time around.
— Hot Victory: Double-drum heavy-hitters looking to pulverize your ears.
— Jackson Boone: Celestial, immaculately arranged, Unknown Mortal Orchestra-approved psychedelia. Put him on the must-see list.
— The Last Artful, Dodgr: An utterly unique voice in the Portland hip-hop scene that you can pencil in now for being one of the breakout artists of the festival. In fact, use a pen.
— Marriage + Cancer: The band formerly known as Nucular Aminals brings intense Northwest bummer vibes that hurt so good.
— Nurses: The avant-pop outfit, who've put out some of the best and most idiosyncratic Portland albums of the last decade, are back and apparently revitalized.
— Phone Call: Former Strength dudes go full Prince.
— Rap Class: Lush sampleladelica from the Dropping Gems crew.
— Roselit Bone: Self-described "psychotic cowboy music" who've been one of the past year's overlooked gems.
— Talkative: Infectious, kaleidoscopic post-Animal Collective psych-pop.
— The Domestics: Our No. 2 Best New Band with a raft of great, classic pop songs at their disposal and album coming on Tender Loving Empire.
— Vinnie Dewayne: Introspective St. Johns MC who ruled last year's festival, and wasn't even officially on the bill. His long-awaited St. Johns Scholar mixtape should be out by then…emphasis on "should."
— White Glove: Lo-fi Punk mischief-makers behind "Division Street," the anthem for our current times here in Portland.
You can peruse the full-lineup below, on the poster and/or the promo video, or right here. PDX Pop Now is July 24-26 at Audiocinema. As usual, it's free and all-ages.
WWeek 2015