singer-songwriter - music art film review

Top Pops! April 2014: Mirah, Wild Ones, Eyelid Kid, Tourist ft. Will Heard, Lianne La Havas

Mirah returns with Changing Light, Portland's Wild Ones pump out their debut album, California's Eyelid Kid is a grower, and Tourist guest-stars Will Heard and Lianne La Havas.

Apr 30

by Vivian Hua

Connan Mockasin Band Interview: Caramel Dreams of an “Oddball”

Like a shiny unicorn of the indie pop world, Connan Mockasin is the type of musician who has earned himself a number of adjectives and associations, often whimsical and colorful in nature. His 2011 record, Forever Dolphin Love, set the precedent for this; it was full of unconventional words, strange voices, and fictional characters, giving...

Feb 13

by Vivian Hua

South African Music: Feel-Good Mixtape (#29) – Curated by Umlilo

As the Northern Hemisphere goes full blast into the wintry days, those in the Southern Hemisphere are in for hotter and sweatier times, perfect for feel-good sounds that scream of sunshine and socialization more than darkness and hermitude. After our experimental foray into South African house music proved to delight audiences domestically and abroad, we’ve...Read...

Dec 18

by Vivian Hua

Crossing Lines: An NX Records Compilation Album Review

There has been much lamentation and gnashing of teeth about the decaying music industry, with many opinions and conversations about what to do about it. If you were to believe the soothsayers, we'll be reduced to a generation of SoundCloud demoes and buskers in 10 years' time. We may not know what will come, but...

Nov 25

by Jason Simpson

Cate Le Bon – Mug Museum Album Review (Wichita Recordings)

Cate Le Bon's Mug Museum, written in the aftermath of the death of Le Bon’s maternal grandmother, are informed by the self-reflection that such shifts in family hierarchies can cause. More expressly, we are told that the album’s themes emerge from and revolve around those maternal familial relationships. These personal and reflective compositions, written in...

Nov 20

by Gregory P. Healey

Jonny Rodgers – Let It Fill Your Whole Heart MP3 Download & Premiere

Music

An occasional touring member of the rambunctious indie band Son Lux, solo musician Jonny Rodgers makes music that seems to echo his idyllic Pacific Northwest lifestyle. Living on a farm in Eugene, Oregon’s hippie capital, one certainly can’t accuse Rodgers of being lyrically cryptic. As though his cheerful swells of indie folk weren’t enough to...Read...

Sep 26

by Vivian Hua

MusicfestNW 2013 Live Show Review: Tobacco, Natasha Kmeto, Royal Canoe (Portland, OR)

MusicfestNW began for me like every other MusicfestNW experience. I consistently respect the festival's curatorial efforts, which always yield at least a handful of acts I am excited about, and an even larger smattering that I don't exactly care for but greatly approve of from an objective standpoint. This year, however, I decided to take...

Sep 10

by Vivian Hua

Forest Swords – Engravings Album Review (Tri Angle Records)

Producer Matthew Barnes' first full-length on Tri Angle Records, Engravings, takes airy vocal samples and spaghetti western guitars and stretches them out over an expansive skyline, evoking an aerial view of monochrome industrial landscapes and overcast rocky beaches long abandoned by human investment or presence.

Sep 1

by Troy Micheau

Pickathon Festival 2013 Live Show Review (w/ Ty Segall, Parquet Courts, The Relatives, JD McPherson, Dale Watson)

A review of the Pickathon Music Festival, located on Pendarvis Farm just a short bike ride away from Portland, Oregon, is a tough thing to approach. An honest review will be one of the most favorable things you will read, because Pickathon is one of the most well-put together, intentional, everything-that-is-right-with-America musical festivals there is....Read...

Aug 7

by Peter Woodburn

Stephen Steinbrink, Filardo, The Ghost Ease, Wizard Apprentice Live Show Review

The lingering spectre of Bohemia is alive and well on this Thursday evening, cloistered in a mysterious pocket of SE Portland. This show is an invite-only occasion in a tiny house venue, lit up and resplendent in candle flame and shadow. Four stellar acts, firmly underground but rising rapidly, quickly and firmly destroy any lingering...

Jul 25

by Jason Simpson