THURSDAY 5/26

AINU RECORD RELEASE SHOW FEATURING OBELUS, DEREK FISHER & THE PERFECT CYN (Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) According to the Oregon UFO Review, here have been 214 UFO sightings in Oregon since 2001. Because EVERYTHING IS CONNECTED, we can only imagine the correlation between the fair state as spaceship parking lot, and the wobbly electrical arcing from Ainu's new CD, Octoporn; it's a record of oscillating and ambulating space-junk electro, all weightless darkness on the beat-engine grind. Ainu consists of Senorfrio and Roshi, and they've made sci-fi electro on the quirkier side for five years, so it's weird that Octoporn is their debut; thank Portland label Toast & Jam for its birth. And it's so Portland: only Stumptownies can sound this swampy, radioactive, seasonally affected and still worship at the shrine of a rude dancefloor rhythm. The track "Idosep" offers a minimal take on their stalactite space styles, with beats on a linear uphill build, sounding like a procession of tiny doorbells and laser-guns and a holodeck warning buzz. I mean, why wouldn't aliens want to land? JULIANNE SHEPHERD

BRIDGETOWN BREAKS RECORD RELEASE SHOW FEATURING REV SHINES, THE VILLAGE IDIOTS, DJ KEZ MR. JEIGH (XV, 15 SW 2nd) There are other breaks records--raw beats put down on vinyl for DJs to mix into their set and floss their turntable skills (in between flashy shit like scratching records with their eyeballs or armpits, of course). Yes, but those breaks records do not feature famous Portland drummers like Bridgetown Breaks. A terrific idea imagined by Systemwide's Josh Skins, it's a cross-genre beat record featuring original drum tracks from Skins, Charles Neal from QuiVaH, Josh Skins from Systemwide, Danny Seim from Menomena and Kev from Talkdemonic. Also featuring scratch tones for DJing and sampling, and the best part is that they're encouraging folks to sample it--email bridgetownbreaks@bridgetownbreaks.com and they'll post your track on their website. Witness Breaks breathe utilitarian life tonight, as Lifesavas DJ Rev. Shines, the Village Idiots and DJ Kez blend the beats into their sets. JS

MORGAN GRACE, DIRTY LOWDOWNS, PUMA FRENZY, PRETTY MONSTER (Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) It's a little sexist that every time a girl heads up a band there has to be some reference to "sexy girl vocals" or "hot chick rock," but what are you going to do? Lavishly serenading the audience with catchy rock songs--and not looking too shabby while she's doing it--Morgan Grace pours her voice out for the love of the job. Puma Frenzy gives up a heavy dose of sing-songy '80s-tinged pop, and the Dirty Lowdowns burn through guitar riffs and play rough, like road-traveled veterans. All together, not a bad spread for a show that only costs five bucks! KS

THE PIXIES, THE BELLRAYS (Roseland, 8 NW 6th) See "It's Who You Know," pg 27

FRIDAY 5/27

ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI, STILL FLYIN', THE SNUGGLE UPS, KISSING BOOK (Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside) See "Music," pg 19

BLOC PARTY, KISS ME DEADLY, SHE WANTS REVENGE (Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) See "Once More With Feeling," pg 37

BLOODHAG, JONNY X AND THE GROADIES, BEHALF, THE BETTER TO SEE YOU WITH (Food Hole, 20 NW 3rd) A small, all-ages establishment positioned comfortably beside Tube, the unfortunately named Food Hole has recently begun hosting rock shows of the caustic variety. Tonight welcomes Seattle edu-core stalwarts Bloodhag, whose decade-long dynasty has left a considerable mark on the bank statements of that city's audiological community. Projectile paperbacks, a discography written entirely about sci-fi authors, library tours--can a shtick this all-encompassing ever get old? Probably. The 'Hag are joined by Behalf, the twin quasars of the Better To See You With, popular favorites Jonny X and the Groadies, and a guarantee that the ear-splitting sounds will be simply spattering out of the Food Hole all night. (See what I mean? G-ROSS.) ZAC PENNINGTON

CARIBOU, JUNIOR BOYS, THE RUSSIAN FUTURISTS (Berbati's Pan, 10 SW 3rd) See "Music," pg 19

KIM HIORTHOY, E*ROCK, DJ DANTRONIX (Apotheke, 1314 NW Glisan) Kim Hiorthoy's best known for his striking, minimal cover designs for the outstanding Rune Grammofon label, but the Norwegian also dabbles in sound art. On releases like Hei and Hopeness, Hiorthoy teases out playful, intimate electro-acoustic pop with a deftness that matches his visuals. Some of his output verges on twee, but Hiorthoy's toytown mannerisms always exude originality. Tonight show is also the first for Apotheke, Northwest's fancy new Euro-design-y audio zone. DAVE SEGAL

JEFFREY LEWIS, TONY GREEN (Voodoo Doughnuts, 22 SW 3rd) During the inexplicable Moldy Peaches coup at the early part of this decade--back when that band of oppressively lo-fi misfits somehow elbowed their way on to the same label as the Strokes (and, before them, the Smiths)--the dudes at Rough Trade seemed to be signing anything handed to them by the Casablancas contingent. One person to benefit tremendously was a man by the name of Jeffrey Lewis, an associate of the NYC "anti-folk" scene, and friend of Kimya Dawson and Adam Green who, even more inexplicably than the Moldy Peaches, also scored a record deal with the British heavyweights. Which isn't at all to slight Lewis' earnest, playful folk compositions--they're charming in exactly the same way that Dawson's rambling narratives are--but it's just incredibly bizarre that these records would be released on a major label, even if that label is Rough Trade. ZP

MAHJONGG, THE CELLS, ATOLE (Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) See "My, What a Busy Week!" pg 17

THE PIXIES, THE BELLRAYS (Roseland, 8 NW 6th) See "It's Who You Know," pg 27

SNOOP DOGG, THE GAME, THE YIN YANG TWINS, CIARA, PRETTY RICKY, CASSIDY, MASHONDA (Rose Garden, 1 Winning Way) Snoop Dogg--America's Most Wanted-turned-America's Sweetheart--is a grown-ass man now. He's putting his longtime beefs on the shelf (see: Jay Felony, Suge Knight, etc.), reuniting with old friends (last year's 213 reunion, plus a recent reunion with Kurupt), and coaching his son's football team to victory. He's starring in movies, hocking cell phones, and, occasionally, putting out records. He's also playing Doggfather to The Game on this tour, whose record features more name drops than a Lizzie Grubman press junket, and was still better than The Massacre. The Yin Yang Twins' latest hit--"Wait (The Whisper Song)"--scares the shit out of me in both of it's incarnations, while Jazze Phe protg Ciara seems primed to be R&B's latest and greatest diva. I want tickets to this show, please. ZP

SATURDAY 5/28

KELLY CLARKSON (Arlene Schnitzer, 1037 SW Broadway) Okay, people… so why the embarrassment? Everyone in the world--and by everyone I mean the critics, you and me--agrees that Kelly Clarkson's single "Since U Been Gone" is AWESOME. And yet, because of the stigma of American Idol we can't give this sweet-as-peach-pie Texas gal the props she deserves? Agreed, one should not be rewarded for simply trying to become a more respectable member of pop radio society--but C'MON! Kelly is not only trying, she's actually succeeding! She's put her flailing career back on track, so let's put our biases aside and give the girl what she wants. (And remember: liking Kelly Clarkson does not mean you have to stop hating Justin Guarino and Clay Aiken.) WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY

SASQUATCH FESTIVAL (Columbia Gorge Amphitheater, 754 Silica Road NW,George,WA) For the buzz-music lover, this festival is like the ultimate group orgy. The Pixies, Kanye West, Wilco, Modest Mouse, Arcade Fire, Bloc Party, United States of Electronica, and more. If you can't afford tickets, 94/7 KNRK is giving them away and if you can, they're $55 at ticketmaster.com. But you better get planning 'cuz gates open 11 am on Saturday morning. KS

THE CRYSTAL METHOD (Level, 13 NW 6th) Does anyone still care about the Crystal Method? Apparently so, if sizable joints like Level book 'em. One wonders why. The L.A. duo's last album, 2004's Legion of Boom, was a hollowly bombastic agglutination of Hollywood-thriller trance and sports-highlight-show funky breaks (but it did feature Limp Bizkit guitarist Wes Borland, so it wasn't a total waste, ha ha). The twosome's new mix disc, Community Service II, features their crass remixes of the Doors' hoary "Roadhouse Blues" and New Order's "Bizarre Love Triangle," New Originals' rejigging of Smashing Pumpkins' "1979," and a load of creatively bankrupt breaks merchants. Stick a toe tag on these mugs already. DS

THE FOXX, KRAV MAGA, SPINDRIFT (Towne Lounge, 714 SW 20th Place) When the press release read that Juliet Swango, late of beloved Bubblegum Pop Punkstresses the Rondelles, was in a new band--a band named after the Rondelles' second record (give or take an "X"), no less--needless to say, it was a pretty easy sell. Unfortunately, the band's publicist also sent along a copy of the Foxx's self-titled debut--a record awash in five-years-too-late explorations of Glam's least desirable, coming off sounding like half-napping Mud B-sides, or Slade on a lazy Sunday. Wait, no--that not exactly it. It's sounds more like dudes bonded over a used VHS copy of Velvet Goldmine, and decided to have a go. Worst of all--who the hell is this dude singing? ZP

HUSTLER WHITE, GANG WIZARD, ATOLE, PIEDMONSTER (Hood, 404 SE 10th) During the last Seattle set by revolving door noise terrorists Gang Wizard, one of the band's members--who was, you know, really feelin' it--dropped a kick drum on the head of a good friend of mine, and knocked her out cold. And not in the cool, super punk rock way of dropping a kick drum on someone's head and knocking them out--in the "wow, that was incredibly fucked up of you" kind of way. After leaving the hospital with a concussion and a substantial medical bill, I can happily report that said friend has fully recovered--which is more than can be said for Gang Wizard. Word is that all of the original members of the band have evaporated, and that the band has since devolved beyond everyone's wildest dreams. Oh well, at least Hustler White and Atole are playing. ZP

KING OF PORTLAND FREESTYLE TOURNAMENT (Wax, 510 N Interstate) Local hiphop venue Wax is hosting a real 8 Mile-style emcee battle this Saturday. And while I question whether there are enough emcees in town to make the battle compelling, I'm always surprised by the amount of talent that uncloaks itself at the last minute. For example, when I went to a b-boy battle at Reed College a year or so ago I though it'd be a bunch of hippie kids jumping around like children. Not the case. The b-boy community was huge and amazingly skilled, and even the hippies who were there knew how to do headspins and shit. Anyway, hopefully an equal number of emcees, hippie or no, are lurking around Portland, and will show up at the battle, if for no other reason than to win personalized Adidas merch. and 300 bucks. KS

MESSENGER PROM FEATURING PAULA B, MC SAFETY FIRST, DK AWKWARD, ELVIS (Berbati's Pan, 10 SW 3rd) See "Destination: Fun," pg 15

MT. EERIE, THANKSGIVING, SNEAKY PINES (Artistery, 3769 SE Milwaukie) See "My, What a Busy Week!" pg 17

OF MONTREAL, IQU, KANDA (Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside) See "Music," pg 21

THE SHOUT OUT LOUDS, MARJORIE FAIR, BLITZEN TRAPPER (Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) See "CD Review," pg 19

ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI (Jackpot Records, 203 SW 9th Ave) See "Music," pg 19

SUNDAY 5/29

SCIENCE OF YABRA, MICO DE NOCHE, BLACK ELK (Sabala's, 4811 SE Hawthorne) Two-piece metal outfit Mico de Noche unsurprisingly make loud music for their personnel. It is now officially not hard to be noisy. Theirs is a metal that favors the hellbound biker over the black death-worshipper, as witnessed by songs like "Who's Got The Acid?" Not all thrash and bombast, Mico lets quite a bit of melody into their grimy scene, to the extent that the riffing gets a little post grunge now and again, like on the tender lovers' ballad "In Your Jeans." MARJORIE SKINNER

MONDAY 5/30

BOOM BIP, THE FOG, DINO FELIPE, FINESSE AND RUNWAY, SAMOS (Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) You don't have to be crazy to get signed to Schematic Records, but it helps. The Miami-based label is mostly home to producers mapping out electronic music's most insanely chaotic and cerebral parameters (Otto Von Schirach, Richard Devine, etc.). By comparison, Dino Felipe comes across as Schematic's cool-headed, subliminal charmer. His three releases for the esteemed imprint have established Felipe as one of the most skilled American practitioners of the maligned, expansive genre known as IDM. In a radical departure from his past, Felipe recently formed Finesse & Runway with vocalist Melba Libia. Their self-titled CD for Schematic is clearly meant to be a more blatantly party-centric endeavor (the duo don costumes for live shows), as it features coke-rush booty/disco with tense, broken-beat techno. The record could be the soundtrack for that inevitable remake of Liquid Sky. DAVE SEGAL See Also "Music," pg 21

THE PEASANTS, CICADA OMEGA, HILLSTOMP (Berbati's Pan, 10 SW 3rd) Hillstomp once told the Portland Tribune they wanted to be "the Ramones of the blues," which means something like Delta slide guitar with rickety clickedy-clacking homemade drums (BBQ grill covers, plastic buckets, etc). It's not necessarily a coupla po' boys bringing back credible blues guitarist/singer Henry Kammerer admits to being born in Salt Lake City to rich parents but it's a helluva lot more believable than most blues out there. Which, on the Great American Whiteness scale, is somewhere near Clay Aiken. ADAM GNADE

TUESDAY 5/31

VENDETTA RED, FINCH, NURSES, REEVE OLIVER (Loveland, 320 SE 2nd Ave) Muscular, butt-rocky drums pair with theatrical vocals on Vendetta Red's forthcoming album Sisters of the Red Death, lending them a slightly retro MTV-ready sound, albeit MTV circa mid-'90s. The earnest, torching climaxes of these gently rocking moments get shot every once in a while with hardcore rasping urgency, then lulled back into the earlier tradition of tight-panted crooning. It's a little ADD, but you have to give them credit for having a flair for drama and a talent for seamlessly switching tacks. MS

WEDNESDAY 6/1

DEF LEPPARD, BRYAN ADAMS (PGE Park, NW 18th & Morrison) Let's start with the important information: So that you can stop referring to him as "that one-armed drummer from Def Leppard," his name is Rick Allen. When the band burst onto the scene in 1983, Allen had both of his arms--the better to hug groupies with. At that time, Def Leppard was the perfect synthesis of musical genres, drawing together the previous decade's glam rock and heavy metal with MTV's burgeoning new wave fascination. But, whoops, that New Year's Eve, Allen was in a car crash and ripped off his arm. (Yes, they re-attached it, but gangrene set in and doctors yanked it back off.) What did Def Leppard do? Fire him? No! Unlike like the Beatles, who tossed out their original drummer Pete Best so that their buddy could join the band, Def Leppard built Allen a custom drum. And that's what makes Def Leppard better than the Beatles: Loyalty! And what better way to kick off summer than with an outdoor concert at PGE? PHIL BUSSE

HOUSEWARMING FEATURING PHARRAH PHOSPHATE, THE VALEDICTION, SOURCECODE, DJ GREGARIOUS (Berbati's Pan, 10 SW 3rd) The really good idea for a monthly event known as Housewarming continues. For each installment Berbati's gives one "member of the Portland music community" the chance to "curate" an evening of music--basically, that lucky person gets a free, huge space to throw a party in, and gets to invite whoever they want to play at it. This month's curator is ubiquitous local turntablist DJ Gregarious, whose penchant for upbeat '80s pop and punk manifests tonight in local new wavers Pharrah Phosphate and the jangly psychedelia of the Valediction. JWS

SLEATER-KINNEY, MARY TIMONY, SWAN ISLAND (Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) See feature story, pg 11