AltWeeklies Wire
Busdriver and Hip-hop Nownew
Busdriver is like the physical embodiment of Bob Dylan's lament on "Maggie's Farm": "I've got a head full of ideas that are driving me insane."
The Portland Mercury |
Graham Barey |
11-26-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Busdriver, RoadKillOvercoat
The Velvet Teen's Albatrossnew
Seemingly every review manages to reference the same band (it starts with "radio," ends with "head"), claiming the two are of the exact same ilk, with the Teen aping more than just a similar-sounding lead singer.
The Portland Mercury |
Rob Simonsen |
11-15-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Cum Laude!, The Velvet Teen
Isis Celebrates a Decadenew
Isis began life in Massachusetts; a few years later, Isis packed up and traversed the continent to Los Angeles.
The Portland Mercury |
Tobias Carroll |
11-15-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: In the Absence of Truth, Isis
Dragging an Ox Through Water Navigates Noise and Popnew
Live, Brian Mumford is a mesmerizing performer, able to consistently win over diehard noise aficionados as well as pop purists with a single song.
The Portland Mercury |
Cary Clarke |
11-15-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Music and Mythology of M.I.A.new
It was up to M.I.A. to prove that she wasn't a fluke, and she did just that with Kala, a global journey of underground dance, weaving together samples from the Clash, guest spots from Nigerian rappers, cues from Bollywood soundtracks, seizure-inducing album art, and quasi-political phrases
The Portland Mercury |
Chas Bowie |
11-15-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
This Ain't No String Quintetnew
Hell, Manchester Orchestra aren't even British.
The Portland Mercury |
Tristan Staddon |
11-08-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Sean Hayes' DIY Folk and Unlikely Inspirationnew
Hayes was reading the New York Times a few years ago when he came across the headline: "Music of the Heavens Turns Out to Sound a Lot like a B Flat."
The Portland Mercury |
Jonathan Zwickel |
11-08-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Flowering Spade, Sean Hayes
Saturday Looks Good to Me Has Changednew
For about half his life, Fred Thomas -- mastermind behind SLGTM -- has been doing what Black Crowes' Chris Robinson has only dreamt of: He makes whatever kind of music he wants.
The Portland Mercury |
Jenny Tatone |
11-01-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Imagine Jens Lekman in Vegasnew
Jens Lekman is not the Swedish Tom Jones, or worse, a Nordic Robert Goulet. He is only worthy of Vegas in that his persona is so huge.
The Portland Mercury |
Ezra Ace Caraeff |
11-01-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
The Parson Red Heads: Once More With Feelingnew
Lead Red Head Evan Way takes a few moments to discuss the band leaving Oregon and why they are not a cult.
The Portland Mercury |
Ezra Ace Caraeff |
10-26-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: King Giraffe, The Parson Red Heads
Caribou Whisks Listeners Off to Andorranew
While the record that would eventually be named Andorra was recorded by Dan Snaith alone in the modest confines of his London apartment, the music suggested a sense of grandeur more in line with the "forgotten, romantic mountain land, untouched by time" he expected to find in the tiny country.
The Portland Mercury |
John Motley |
10-26-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Cadence Weapon: The Next Great Canadian Hip-hop Hopenew
The last was either the elastic-but-average K-OS or the embarrassingly famous Snow, depending on whom you ask.
The Portland Mercury |
Tristan Staddon |
10-18-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Cadence Weapon, Breaking Kayfabe
Never Trust Liarsnew
The band that traded Brooklyn for Berlin has made a career of re-imagining itself with every release, but according to guitarist and founding member Aaron Hemphill, what sounds like so many calculated reversals is "not that intentional."
The Portland Mercury |
John Motley |
10-18-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: Liars
Film School's Sense of Placenew
While the Film School sound itself — a brainy My Bloody Valentine-inspired foray into atmospheric post-punk — has not changed all that much, the tendency toward creative expression and experimentation has changed.
The Portland Mercury |
Jenny Tatone |
10-11-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
Tags: film school, Hideout
The Everybodyfields on Delicate Sadnessnew
The duo is part of an exciting new movement in contemporary bluegrass-influenced music (alongside labelmates the Avett Brothers), and its brand-new release, Nothing is Okay, is a gorgeous waltz of swelling country ballads soaked in a river of spilled tears.
The Portland Mercury |
Ezra Ace Caraeff |
10-11-2007 |
Profiles & Interviews
