THURSDAY 8/16

TALIB KWELI, DJ CHAPS, COMMON MARKET

(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!

1984 TRIBUTE: THE HIGH VIOLETS, THE JOLENES, UHF, BLUE SKIES FOR BLACK HEARTS, AND MORE

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!.

THE GO, PURE COUNTRY GOLD, THE ONES, HEY LOVER

(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) See Music Feature

MONTAG, LYMBYC SYSTYM, ONE AM RADIO
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Vancouver's Antoine Bédard makes music under the name Montag. Since 2002, he's released three full-lengths, of which this year's Going Places is the latest. For the album, Bédard enlisted the help of cohorts from the likes of M83, Final Fantasy, and Au Revoir Simone. Even with that in mind, Going Places feels nothing like a collection of guest appearances, and Bédard's own style of deeply subtle electronic pop shines through. "Best Boy Electric" is relentlessly enthusiastic, with orchestral swaths and exuberant vocals, and the title track, which closes things out, is a sparser, sprawling affair, with bittersweet lyrics and electronic tones building throughout. The preferred mood here is hopelessly romantic, and Bédard summons that up in an endearing manner. TOBIAS CARROLL

FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE, SEAN NELSON & HIS MORTAL ENEMIES
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) As much as the MILF-anthem of "Stacy's Mom" will haunt us all for years to come, it's hard to rain down the hate on Fountains of Wayne. It's baffling how a band can drum up such huge pop hooks with such ease, which might explain why bassist Adam Schlesinger has made a pretty penny writing tunes for less-skilled artists (The Click Five, anyone?) and teen movie soundtracks (Josie and the Pussycats). Speaking of intelligent songwriters with a hit song under their belt, opener Sean Nelson is the onetime bespectacled Harvey Danger frontman (and a former writer for our big sis paper, The Stranger) who continues the Elvis Costello tradition of writing clever pop songs for the smartest kids at the punk show. EZRA ACE CARAEFF

FRIDAY 8/17

CLOUD CULT, PELA

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See Music Feature

RISK VS. REWARD: THE INTELLIGENCE, SEXTON BLAKE, DJ TOBIAS, DJ METRONOME
(Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th) There are times when you ask the chef to surprise you, and he comes back with some ridiculous plate full of foie gras and plantains drenched in coconut oil that's absolutely fucking delicious. But sometimes you just want a burger—a good ol' charred, dirty, blaring, garage-rock burger cooked over an open flame, done right—which is exactly what you get with Seattle's the Intelligence. It's something you need from time to time. Because for every nine bat-shit experimental noise projects—the ones with fancy new laptops, no-talent singers, glockenspiels, and no structure—six or seven of them blow. Hard. ANDREW R TONRY Also, See My, What a Busy Week!

AWESOMEFEST: DEAR WHOEVER, THE BURNING ROOM, MIKOTO, AND MORE

(Satyricon, 125 NW 6th) The annual celebration of audio awesomeness returns to the Satyricon this weekend. And while things kick start tonight behind groups like pensive California scream purveyors Mikoto, it's not until Saturday that the outfit most responsible for the Awesome in this year's 'Fest hits the stage. That'd be Look Mexico, the talented Tallahassee quartet whose long-player debut, This Is Animal Music, just dropped in July. Flushed with angular guitar exuberance and gently stuttering pop melodies, it's one of the summer's more colorful, personable albums, easily enjoyed by bipeds and beasts alike. Sunday night, AF2K7 winds down with upstart/hometown hardcore outfit It Prevails, singing its siren song. Loudly. TRISTAN STADDON

GAME OF SKATE AFTER PARTY: THORN CITY IMPROV, SLEEP, DESTRO, SOUL P, SMOKE, AND MORE

(Berbati's Pan, 10 NW 3rd) Just about every time I hear a rapper "freestyle," I want to flee. Immediately. It's a hard skill to practice effectively, and 90% of rappers just can't do it very well—although all of them try, bless their hearts. There are only a few MCs who can spontaneously create interesting raps in Portland, and most of them will be at Berbati's for "The Game of Skate" after party. The night features the Thorn City Improv live band and rappers Sleep (the cousin of death), Smoke, and Destro, among others. The Thorn City gang hasn't thrown a show in a minute so they're bound to be hyper and ready to kill it tonight. Be there or be like every other Portland hip-hop "fan"—at home, since Slug isn't on the bill. GRAHAM BAREY

LIVE WIRE!: YARD DOGS ROAD SHOW, NICK JAINA, RALPH HUNTLEY & THE MUTTON CHOPS

(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) Dusk was taking over as I trolled up Burnside on a Saturday last summer. Outside Union Jacks I ran into an older cousin I hadn't seen since Wild Turkey in my belly was a fiery needle in the eye of the law. Anyway, he was in town to hit up Doug Fir for something called Yard Dogs. Hot burlesque legs and warm bosoms like gliding flames through the air? Punk jug bands and manic gypsy dragons spewing fire? Of course I went with him. JUSTIN PETERSON

LOS TIGRES DEL NORTE
(Portland Expo Center, 2060 N Marine Dr) There aren't a lot of great things about growing up in the Central Valley of California, but El Cochinito Contento is almost reason enough to live there. It's a restaurant as authentic as a Mexican restaurant in California can be, the kind of place where the waitresses stare blindly if you try to order something without meat, and where the walls are papered with posters of the greatest Norteno/Tejano band that ever lived: Los Tigres Del Norte. Clad in flashy matching outfits, and even flashier moustaches, the Tigers of the North loom over every hangover breakfast, with their decades-long catalog filling the jukebox. Not surprisingly, that's a much cheaper way to hear them than at the Expo Center, where tickets run from $40 to $60. ¡Aye Carumba! SCOTT MOORE

SATURDAY 8/18

FUZZFEST: ELECTRIC PRUNES, STRAWBERRY ALARM CLOCK, CHOCOLATE WATCHBAND, THE SEEDS, AND MORE

(Mt. Tabor Legacy, 4811 SE Hawthorne) See Music Feature

MANDY MOORE, PAULA COLE

(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) See Music Feature

AWESOMEFEST: THE TWITCH, MY LIFE IN BLACK AND WHITE, HERE COMES A BIG BLACK CLOUD, LOOK MEXICO, AND MORE

(Satyricon, 125 NW 6th) See Friday's listing.

YARD DOGS ROADSHOW, GILL LANDRY

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See Friday's listing.

2 MEX, THE SHAPESHIFTERS, PICKSTER ONE, DJ ATM, CLOCKWERK

(Berbati's Pan, 10 NW 3rd) The bulk of the audience who attend the "We Book Our Own Tour" Portland stop at Berbati's will no doubt be present to see underground journeyman 2 Mex and his tourmates from the Shapeshifters. If this were a perfect world, and people actually paid attention to the Portland hip-hop scene, then many more people would be going to see Clockwerk, who appears as special guest on the bill—meaning they'll probably play at 9 PM for the bartender and 2 Mex's girlfriend. Clockwerk (Iame and Gold) are one of the Northwest's most exciting up-and-coming acts, rocking the stage with a pure distillation of boom-bap beats and (actual) poetic lyrics. Gold is big talent in his own right and Iame is Portland's Aesop Rock, interspersing dour doomsaying with prophetic quotes in a clever cadence. Come to Berbati's to see the acts you've heard of, come early to see the act you haven't. GB Also, See My, What a Busy Week!

36 CRAZYFISTS, FALLING CLOSER, NURAL

(Rock n Roll Pizza, 11140 SE Powell) Most bands with names as lousy as 36 Crazyfists actually make music worse than their monikers, which, really, is something of an achievement. Think about it. Cute Is What We Aim For surely qualify, and convincing arguments can be made for Hoobastank and Alabama Thunderpussy as well. The transplanted Alaskans, now residing in Portland, in this particular 3-6 mafia continue to fist, er, persist. Most recently, they're re-posturing their post-hardcore shtick with the assistance of Taking Back Sunday producer Sal Villanueva, who recorded last year's Rest Inside The Flames. TS

CHARMPARTICLES, WE'RE FROM JAPAN, THE STOPS

(Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th) When longtime collaborators Adam Wayne and Pamela Rooney went their separate ways in 2005, everything could've gone a lot differently for the Charmparticles. Rooney, bereft of her eight-year musical counterpart, could've packed up her shit and moved on, but lucky for many, she not only stayed—she expanded. The band's newest album, Alive In The Hot Spell, ventures past the space rock that former frontman Wayne leaned so heavily upon. In its place, Rooney has stepped forward, adding epic ballads, a taste of churning rock and roll, and even a little jangly pop. Best of all, without the tepid, often times boring vocal work by Wayne dominating the proceedings, Rooney has the opportunity to show off her own soaring holler. And show off she does, belting out tune after tune over a wash of sound, assuring us that with or without Wayne, Charmparticles are still well worth the price of admission. NOAH SANDERS

SUNDAY 8/19

BENEFIT FOR KITTY: MIRAH, ANNA OXYGEN, JANET PANTS(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) See My, What a Busy Week!

WARPED TOUR 2007: BAD RELIGION, HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS, FLOGGING MOLLY, AND MORE

(Columbia Meadows, 63701 Columbia River Hwy, St. Helens, OR) See My, What a Busy Week!

AWESOMEFEST: BRUTAL FIGHT, COUNTDOWN TO LIFE, IT PREVAILS, LIFE AND LIMB, ALL TEETH, AND MORE

(Satyricon, 125 NW 6th) See Friday's listing.

YARD DOGS ROAD SHOW, GILL LANDRY

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See Friday's listing.

SHELLEY SHORT, DIRTY MITTENS, ESKIMO & SONS, THE GOLDEN HOURS

(Slabtown, 1033 NW 16th) Dirty Mittens frontwoman Chelsea "Pants" (her nickname, not ours) has this high-pitched squeal of a voice that seemed so familiar, yet still unlike anything else at the same time... Then it hit me—Shelley Duvall! She sounds like Duvall, as Olive Oyl, from the brilliant, and baffling, Harry Nilsson-written Popeye soundtrack. And please do not read this the wrong way: I mean that as the most sincere compliment I can muster, as the playful howl of Olive Oyl was enough to land "the sailor man with the spinach can," who's quite the catch, or so I hear. The Mittens have just released a new EP, recorded with Point Juncture, WA's Skyler Norwood, which they'll be slinging for a low price at the show. EAC

FALL OF SNOW, ARI & UZI, MEYERCORD

(Towne Lounge, 714 SW 20th Pl) Stephanie Casey's Fall of Snow makes good on the promise that eventually (finally!) more talented women will dive headlong into making electronic music. Granted, Fall of Snow has an organic, dreamy, sometimes acoustic feel, but Casey brings her fair share of pedals, knobs, bells, and whistles to both her shows and her recordings. Opener Uzi and Ari are a more popped-up one man show, bringing easy comparisons to the Postal Service and Her Space Holiday without ever sounding too derivative. Meyercord posses a fuller sound which, while largely acoustic, brings enough countrified wistful hooks and tilt-your-head-and-sigh lyrics (think Conor Oberst or Ben Gibbard unplugged) to stay just as engaging as tonight's other performers. HANNAH CARLEN

MONDAY 8/20

THE DETROIT COBRAS, DAN SARTAIN, THE WILLOWZ

(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!

GHOSTS I'VE MET, SILVERHAWK

(Towne Lounge, 714 SW 20th Pl) See Once More With Feeling

BURN IN SILENCE, LEGACY OF PAIN, BETTER LEFT UNSAID

(Rock n Roll Pizza, 11140 SE Powell) Massachusetts' Burn In Silence play the sort of metalcore that New England's (in)famous for, and the band is currently touring on a debut album called Angel Maker that was produced by Ken Susi (who your mechanic might recognize as one of the guitarists in Unearth). They have a keyboardist (of course, this being 2007), their songs pack plenty of clean-sung "emotional" parts and cute chugga-chugga riffs—and, chances are, there'll be both boys and girls at this show who'd take pleasure in beating up your mother. Intense, we know. But not quite so unrelenting as a song title like "Watching Dead Leaves Fall." That's just brutal, brahs. TS

WHITE SAVAGE, BOUQUET, THE DRUNK LADIES, THE LIMBS

(Slabtown, 1033 NW 16th) White Savage is a supergroup side-project of sorts. They don't want you to know that, though, and why should they? Then the weight of expectations and comparisons would bear down on members who want nothing more than to get shithoused on watery beer and rock the fuck out. That's why the band's debut—and perhaps only—7", which reportedly sold out in a matter of hours, was printed without credits. Too bad for them, the word got out. The band includes Ponys singer/guitarist Jered Gummere, Chin Up Chin Up's Greg Sharp, and the Tyrades Jim McCann, plus others. They sound sort of like the Minutemen if they had six members, drank more, and played four-minute songs. Joining them are Bouquet, a Portland group captained by Hunches singer Hart Gledhill. And though it's only their first show, smart money already has them down as the most crass act in town. ANDREW R TONRY

KELE GOODWIN, DOUGLAS SHEPHERD, WILLIAM HOLLEY

(Valentine's, 232 SW Ankeny) It takes stones to enter the territory of jerks and release an album five years after you record the songs. Doug Shepherd, thankfully, proves his un-jerkiness throughout 2007's Wavelab Sessions EP, because these acoustic-songwriter ditties certainly needed to be heard, even if they were recorded way back in 2002. He's got a decent range of styles and instrumentation, from the Uncle Tupelo-esque "This World is Not For Me," to the more orchestral (and cleverly named) "Bleaker Street." Even better, the trumpet-laden light pop on "Liquid Gold," the opening track, fills my twee-hole in a way that the last few Belle and Sebastian discs couldn't manage. JIM WITHINGTON

TUESDAY 8/21

RED PONY CLOCK, THE ONLINE ROMANCE, GINGERBREAD PATRIOTS

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison)

Like a rogue marching band straight out of Twee Pop High School, Red Pony Clock are an adorable ensemble of San Diego kids who bang the drum of all things well and good in the world of indierock. Years ahead of the curve, these kids combine their Elephant Six influence with the sunny pop stylings of a band who grew up in a city with the best weather on the planet. Lucky bastards. EAC

WEDNESDAY 8/22

MONSTERS OF THE ACCORDION

(Kennedy School, 5736 NE 33rd) See My, What a Busy Week!

WILCO, RICHARD SWIFT

(McMenamin's Edgefield, 2126 SW Halsey) See Music Feature

JOSH GROBAN

(Rose Garden, One Center Court) I read something startling about frightening-looking adult-contemporary popstar Josh Groban the other day; that, as a child, he was wrongly prescribed to take Ritalin. He remembered that its effects were "just like speed." How crazy is that, right? I've watched the entire Lord Of The Rings trilogy, and even some of the commentary, and never once did the poor little hobbit complain about being hepped up. OK, I'm exaggerating slightly. I've never seen Lord Of The Rings, though I do know a hobbit when I see one, and Groban belongs on the shire. As for any trauma he suffered because of the stimulants, we're betting that with floor seats going for $95 a pop, he's pretty much over it. TS

STARFUCKER, AAN, PLEASE STEP OUT OF THE VEHICLE, SUKEY TAWDRY

(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) I'm going on the record and saying that I think Starfucker are going to be big. They were my vote for the band most likely to blow up after PDX Pop, and with a slew of upcoming Portland dates, it looks as if I could be proven correct. The new outfit for Sexton Blake's Josh Hodges, Starfucker is lo-fi bedroom indie pop at its finest and most ambitious. Hodges's voice is a delicate mix of saccharine sweet and heartbreakingly sad, expertly counterbalanced with loop-ridden, hook-driven pop that will drive itself inside your head and stay there for days. ROB SIMONSEN