They may not be the first name that comes to mind when you think of the local rock scene, but King Black Acid has built some serious Portland street cred over the years. The band has featured ex-members of the Wipers and Pigface, released albums alongside Elliott Smith and Richmond Fontaine for the Cavity Search [...]

It’s rather apropos that the Slaves’ haunting aria “You Could Save Me” is titled as such considering the song sounds like the soundtrack to a plight. Singer Barbara Kinzle’s operatic voice soars over the collage of sounds from Birch Cooper’s oodles of pedals, keyboards and white MacBook. Those samples and scattered electronics, along with [...]

As reported over at the Merc’s End Hits music blog, Power of County percussionist Dan Baldwin was recently struck by a drunk driver while riding his motorcycle in Southeast Portland. He was 43 years old. From the band’s website:
Grief stricken members of Power of County are sad to report the loss of past member.
Early Saturday [...]

Over the course of 22 episodes, the folks behind the video series The Penny Jam have presented some of our favorite local artists playing in all sorts of unusual locations: Starfucker in a barbershop, Mattress on a footbridge, Laura Gibson in front of dinosaur skeletons at OMSI. Still, I doubt anything compares in terms of [...]

Electronica is a cutting edge genre, constantly reinventing itself. In that sense, it has a habit of outdoing itself, stretching itself thin in an effort to sound like the music of 20 years from now.
Four Tet, though shoulder deep in a workspace of cords, dials and laptops, comes off sounding nuanced and natural. Samples from [...]

Mary Dyer was a protestor—a Puritan-turned-Quaker who did not agree with Boston’s law banning Quakers from the colony. Being arrested three times (and narrowly escaping a death sentence) for publicly defying the newly instated law was not enough for Mrs. Dyer, who returned to Massachusetts a fourth time to protest the law. So she was [...]

I’m still on Texas time, so it’s almost beer o’clock. That means you’re getting these updates fast ‘n furious. TECHNOLOGY ENGAGE. Annnnnd BOOM!
1. Merge Records dropping a for-charity covers record, which looks rad. Among the bands doing the covering? Quasi plays the 3Ds’ “Beautiful Things,” and the Shins tackle Tenement Halls’ “Plenty is Never Enough.” [...]

There are so many great songs about Texas. Jimmie Rodgers “‘T’ For Texas” and the great Marty Robbins’ “El Paso” are two that come to mind quickly for me. But three days ago, walking alone waist deep in the gulf waters of post-spring break Port Aransas, I found myself singing another Texas song. Pete Krebs [...]

Of all the things I thought I might wake up to today, a story in my RSS feed with the tags “Alela Diane” and “ESPN.com” is the last thing I ever figured to see. But, alas, it’s not my lack of coffee talking. Over at the Worldwide Leader, columnist Paul Shirley—former professional basketball player for [...]