From the beginning and until the end, Elliott smith, born Steven Paul Smith in 1969, was an icon in the indie scene. Adopted and idolized by Portland residents, Elliott Smith was a musician that brought simplicity, haunting lyrics, and a style all his own with his self-described Pop/Lo-Fi sound and innovative experimental recording style.   Going through his music is very much like taking a personal look into someone’s journal. At times the lyrics are difficult to read as they describe the abuse he suffered from his Stepfather, his insurmountable trouble with love and his long-term affair with drug and alcohol abuse, which is clearly witnessed throughout numerous interviews and reflected in his writing. Lyrics from his song needle in the hay openly talks about his struggle with heroine and how lost he felt … Read entire article »

The Busy Land of Shadows is the kind of record you would hear in an opium den that is also a preschool. Portland’s Buzzyshyface serve up a tasty morsel of psychedelicfolkbootgazercloudstarerafternoonnap rock. (Yeah I made that up myself, so what.) Of course, when Jason Lytle, the brain behind Modesto California’s Grandaddy, is in the producer’s chair I wouldn’t expect anything less. The Busy Land of Shadows is full of Jolly’s catchy pop hooks. Frank Black ain’t got shit on Herman. I only say that because I find myself humming guitar parts to myself like I do with Frank Black songs. Herman’s guitar parts drive the songs providing a mellow non-aggressive yet solid and reliable foundation for Megan to lyrically frolic over. Her lyrical prowess is displayed in her signature sing songy innocence … Read entire article »

Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra launched their Kickstarter page on April 30th—also Amanda’s 36th birthday—setting a site record upon raising $250,000 in the first 24 hours. Amanda F. Palmer, for those who don’t know, is one half of the Punk Cabaret duo the Dresden Doll with Brian Viglione, one half of the conjoined twin duo Evelyn Evelyn with Jason Webley, wife of Author Neil Gaiman and 100% DIY badass. She is also a brilliant songwriter, pianist and wonderful person. Her first solo record Who Killed Amanda Palmer is life changing. The first time I heard it I was working in the subbasement of an insurance company as a file clerk. I spent most of my days wondering which of my many missteps had led to such a horrible … Read entire article »

Police Teeth are awesomer than the devil and their latest LP is ironically titled Awesomer Than The Devil, which was released last year on Latest Flame Records out of Chicago.. It really made me sick to my stomach, but in a good way. Like when you discover something so good that it resonates with a dark heaviness in you, or maybe it was the burrito I had for lunch.   Regardless, it reminded me of the gnawing I felt in the pit of my stomach when I first discovered Amphetamine Reptile Records and listened to my first Halo of Flies song. It was the same gut wrench I had experienced when I heard the Necros and later jumped headfirst into the Touch & Go catalog. In fact Tom Hazelmyer of AmRep … Read entire article »

Last night I finished Stephen King’s new book 11/22/63. If you haven’t checked it out you should. It’s easily one of King’s best. Sadie Dunhill alone is worth the 900 pages. The story about Kennedy, time travel and scumbag extraordinaire, Lee Harvey Oswald is just frosting. Anyway, in the book King devotes a lot of time illustrating the harmonies between the past and the future. It’s tough to explain this in a few sentences, but the gist of it is you can find echoes of your past throughout the present. The protagonist, Jake Epping, encounters similar names, faces, and evils wherever he goes. The harmonies cast a shadow over his entire life. Reading about such things before bed ensures that these themes burrow into your subconscious. You’ll wake the next … Read entire article »

In recent years the music scene of the Pacific Northwest has seen an increase in bands whose styles can’t be fit into a specific category. In most every side of the spectrum you’re seeing bands experimenting with different styles, taking bits and pieces from a wide variety of influences and rearranging them to create their own unique sound. New genres are taking shape, and one of the bands that are starting to get attention for their originality and unfiltered style is Seattle’s Absolute Monarchs.   If you’ve been following the music scene in Seattle in recent years it’s hard not to take notice of the Monarchs. They’ve been sharing the stage with acts such as Red Fang and Cold Cave and were even mentioned in Spin magazine as one of the … Read entire article »

I’m a little annoyed with Dog Shredder right now. Why? First, I don’t really like the name and when I emailed the band (or thought I did) questioning the origin and meaning of the moniker I never got a response. Second because I just wasted an hour on a sort of surreal scavenger hunt that gave me the willies and I hadn’t even listened to their record yet. I opened my file to look at the Dog Shredder one-sheet and there I see the cover to their forth-coming release called “Brass Tactics” and it strikes a chord of familiarity tinged with fear. I know I have seen this cover before but why the reaction. I thought maybe it was the Grateful Deadesque skeleton that subconsciously freaked me out due to my dismissive dislike … Read entire article »

What do you get when you take a couple of teachers, a few architects and some micro-brews? Well in this case you get the beautiful accident called The Waxwings, Portland’s latest addition to the new generation of bluegrass and folk inspired songsmiths. What sets the Waxwings apart from the other bands that play Americana roots music is that they inject an historical and rather cerebral element to their music. This added dimension deepens the relevance of the songs and causes them to resonate in varied ways with the listener. Age and Wonder is the debut long player from the Waxwings. These 14 toe-tappers transport you to the front porch on a warm August evening surrounded by talented troubadours that play a distinctive brand of satisfied melancholy tunes. Pass me the … Read entire article »

From the moment I first heard the casual, trill based call and response of “Sweet Sour” on the radio, I knew Band of Skulls was a band to look into. After about two weeks of anxious anticipation, the full album, also called Sweet Sour, was finally released and made it’s way into my eager hands. It was everything I had hoped for.   Making use of ultra fuzzy guitars, rock n’ roll song structures and almost psychedelic production values, Band of Skulls joins bands like Portugal the Man and Cage the Elephant to mix acid rock, rock n’ roll and modern indie music into a new retro sound. The album title, Sweet Sour serves not only to introduce the most radio friendly track on the album, but also to foreshadow the … Read entire article »