Music

Björk | Voltaic

Nonesuch (2009)
As befits an artist who doesn't do much in the conventional manner, Voltaic is a live album unlike many you've heard before.

By MIKAEL WOOD | July 07, 2009

Stones Throw (2009)
As Prefuse 73, Guillermo Scott Herren has spent the past decade supplying the ambient scene with his impeccable blend of jazz and folk, a series of gentle psychedelic records that's accorded him a respected place alongside fellow one-man-band conceptualists Kieran Hebden and Ben Chasny.

By GUSTAVO TURNER | July 07, 2009

Japandroids | Post-Nothing

Polyvinyl (2009)
I was tempted to write off Japandroids as just one more lo-fi punk band who've overdosed on fuzz.

By RYAN STEWART | July 07, 2009

Sollilaquists of Sound | No More Heroes

Anti- (2009)
I've heard that the occasional rose is known to grow from concrete, but from tourist-trap strip malls like Orlando?

By CHRIS FARAONE | July 07, 2009

Gossip | Music For Men

Columbia (2009)
Working with master minimalist Rick Rubin, Gossip have lost more than the "The" from their name, as they've pared down their sound while amping up the pop and R&B-isms of their earlier work in this clear and earnest bid for the big kahuna.

By DANIEL BROCKMAN | July 07, 2009

America’s Best New Bands 2009

Our picks for the best new artist from each state in the union
Our picks for the best new artist from each state in the union

By PHOENIX STAFF | July 10, 2009

Working on your heart

Carll Wilkinson starts the whole damn thing all over
With the talent we have in this town, just about anybody can put together a decent-sounding album.

By SAM PFEIFLE | July 01, 2009

Review: Big Meat Hammer at Geno's Rock Club

Music Seen
On my way to the club, I walked hunched in the drizzle behind a fellow in a leather jacket with white paint on the back: "Punks not dead." I pondered this idea and assumed we were heading to the same place, only to watch him pass by Geno's without a glance.

By CHAD CHAMBERLAIN | July 01, 2009

Cambiata, Olivia Cornell and The Precious, Elijah Ocean and more

Sibilance
OLIVIA CORNELL & THE PRECIOUS have released their first CD, available now at Bull Moose and the like. Though they won't be playing out again until fall, have a listen to Filthy Things if you've got a jones on for some girl-rock mixed with some NYC punk flavor.

By PORTLAND PHOENIX STAFF | July 01, 2009

Reaction Jackson

How to mourn a mess
There was Michael the living, breathing, singing performer and Jackson the commercial spectacle. We surrendered to the former, he to the latter.

By MICHAEL BRODEUR | July 06, 2009

Bibio | Ambivalence Avenue

Warp (2009)
Since this new record by Wolverhampton's Stephen James Wilkinson (a/k/a Bibio) has done nothing but delight me, I'm going to honor the sentiments posted to his MySpace blog and spare him the f-word and all variants thereof.

By MICHAEL BRODEUR | July 01, 2009

Iggy Pop | Préliminaires

Astralwerks (2009)
Astralwerks (2009)

By GUSTAVO TURNER | July 06, 2009

The Most Serene Republic | . . . And the Ever Expanding Universe

Arts and Crafts (2009)
The Most Serene Republic were the first group signed to Arts and Crafts that had no relationship to Broken Social Scene.

By JAKE COHEN | July 01, 2009

Bowerbirds | Upper Air

Dead Oceans (2009)
North Carolina's Bowerbirds take the prevailing indie-rock æsthetic — ornate, textured arrangements, clean vocal harmonies — and apply them to Southern gothic, Appalachian bluegrass, and folk.

By RYAN STEWART | July 06, 2009

Future of the Left | Travels With Myself and Another

4D (2009)
There's a fine line between stupid and clever, as Spinal Tap once quipped, and don't these Future of the Left guys just know it.

By ZETH LUNDY | July 01, 2009

Interview: Michael Jackson's autobiographer

Stephen Davis, ghostwriter of Moon Walk, remembers the King of Pop. And his monkey.
"This was still a 30 year old black kid when I was working with him," Davis says, still incredulous at Jackson's death. "And the guy who just died looked kind of like a 60 year old white woman in garish lipstick. Kind of like the Joker."

By CARLY CARIOLI | July 06, 2009

Portland Music News: June 26, 2009

Sibilance
The "Sibilance" staff sat in on DAVE GUTTER's new project, with EVAN CASAS, being mastered by ADAM AYAN at Gateway. The record's called The Key to Adore and is more organic and subdued than what you've heard from Gutter before. Watch out for his cover of "The Man Comes Around." Look for the disc by end of summer.

By PORTLAND PHOENIX MUSIC STAFF | June 24, 2009

In doubt? 'Doo Write'

Dilly dilly sings Of Art and Intention
Dilly dilly was lamenting to me the other day that there's no blueprint for making a living as a musician anymore.

By SAM PFEIFLE | June 25, 2009

Gods of rock

Let the Black Light, White Lines wash over you
SPACE Gallery will be awfully loud Thursday, with the CD release of Sun Gods in Exile's Black Light, White Lines, supported by Ogre and the debut of Murcielago. Last Friday's L'Animaux Tryst showcase and this show are sonic polar opposites on the SPACE spectrum, but good for them for giving some boot-stomping guitar-rock a chance.

By SAM PFEIFLE | June 24, 2009

Music Seen: Gypsy Tailwind at Port City Music Hall

It's a kind of magic
Sometimes "studio magic" doesn't translate well to the stage — especially when 15 musicians perform in a single song. But other times, you wish such large live performances were being recorded for the next album.

By JEFF INGLIS | June 24, 2009