THURSDAY 9/15

KITCHEN'S FLOOR, FAT HISTORY MONTH, PACIFIC CITY NIGHTLIFE VISION BAND, FUZZY CLOAKS
(East End, 203 SE Grand) Your fridge is empty and leaking, causing the linoleum to curl at the seams of the walls. But you don't have the cash or the willpower to do anything about it. It reeks, and it's depressing, so you wander aimlessly until you pass by Fred Meyer and decide to steal some Mars bars for lunch. They bust you and lock you up for a few, but at least they're feeding you and it doesn't smell like shit. Kitchen's Floor—all the way from Brisbane, Australia—finds a form of justified pleasure in the outcome of every careless mistake. Failure is the point here, but it's not actually bad news; their apathetic downer-pop impressively bridges the distance between loveable indie heroics (Guided by Voices) and hopeless no-wave folk (Pink Reason). And with something inherently relatable in every tuneful misadventure, this is one show you don't want to miss. CHRIS CANTINO

AMY LAVERE, NOAH GUNDERSON
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Amy LaVere's music has steadily divested itself of Nashville's Americana glam and acquired more of the haunting, bluesy desolation of the meaner streets of Memphis. This year's Stranger Me—the result of a four-year whirlwind of loss, including her longtime producer Jim Dickinson—finds the mischievously sweet singer/songwriter/actress mired in recovery from some dark, rambling times. With the help of Arcade Fire's Craig Silvey, the album's soundscape follows suit, and songs like "Red Banks"—wrought with a muffled sax and slide guitar that sound as if they were just unearthed from the Mississippi clay—provide a decent exposure of the album's underbelly. Though, you would almost never know that track was a murder ballad until LaVere coyly sings, "No, I didn't push him in, Lord/He'd a killed me if I did." RAQUEL NASSER

MITTEN, MNEMONIC SOUNDS, NIGHT SURGEON
(Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th) The synth can be the coldest of instruments. It's for those brooding musicians content with erecting a wall between themselves and their respective listeners. Yet for Mitten, there is great warmth in their ambitious synth-heavy sound. The Brooklyn-based pop act debuted See You Bye earlier this year, and while the EP captures a band in its infancy, there is a great deal of texture and personality to this six-song offering. Much like shamefully forgotten New York pop act My Favorite, there is a natural ease to these songs, as the collaborative duo of Joanna Katcher and Maia Macdonald (along with touring member Ryan Fitch) channels the best of synth's storied past (think New Order) with hook-heavy arrangements (think Metric) that will please the kiddies. If See You Bye is any indication, this isn't the last we've heard of Mitten. EZRA ACE CARAEFF

FRIDAY 9/16

DEVO, BOY EATS DRUM MACHINE
(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) Axl Rose's cornrows of shame. Vince Neil's mangled, Botoxed face. Boy George's generously expanded waistline. Artists of the '80s are a walking example of the unforgiving nature of age, yet somehow Devo has found a way to be cooler now than they were when they first introduced de-evolution to the masses. (Although the band took shape in '73 and the excellent Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo! and Duty Now for the Future were released in the '70s, the band will forever be associated with the Reagan years). Credit their unapologetically nerdy exterior for Devo's secret to besting Father Time, as Mark Mothersbaugh & Co. never bought into the shallow rock-star façade, even when their shockingly deep catalog of hits and near-hits ("Whip It," "Through Being Cool," "Girl U Want," "Beautiful World," "Freedom of Choice," "Here to Go," and their best song—I will fight you over this—"Gates of Steel") is stronger than almost any band of that decade. Proof positive that you can never grow old with an energy dome on your head. EAC Also see My, What a Busy Week!

BOB LOG III, MR. FREE AND THE SATELLITE FREAKOUT
(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) Bob Log III is one of the all-time American weirdos. He performs with a helmet on (there's a mic inside) and he wears an Evel Knievel-style daredevil suit, strumming a disastrously fuzzed-out guitar while kicking at drums with his feet. His music is Delta blues with dirty lyrics (song titles include "Clap Your Tits," "I Want Your Shit on My Leg," and the infamous "Boob Scotch," in which Messr. Log invites a willing female member of the audience onstage to insert her breast into his glass of scotch). Without the filthy humor there's not much to Log's gutbucket blues schtick, but I suppose with the proper mindset—and the proper number of drinks—a good time will present itself. NED LANNAMANN

THE GROWLERS, FIDLAR, NIGHTMOVES
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) When coming of age in Orange County you either adapt or die. The members of Costa Mesa's Growlers chose a third path: They dropped the fuck out. In lieu of sporting Avenged Sevenfold (or Lit, or the Offspring, or...) T-shirts and bro-ing down with the masses, this quintet created a world entirely their own, a freaky little existence carved from Nuggets compilations and off-kilter garage pop. While the Growlers' slapdash Are You in or Out? felt incomplete, their follow-up Hot Tropics is quite the opposite. The hallucinatory and vivid Tropics is loaded with reverb-soaked songs that make a valid argument against the destruction of their coastal hometown, which really says something. To gain admittance to this sponsored free show, hand over all your personal information (free rum trumps privacy every time) to the suits at Sailor Jerry: growlpdx.sailorjerrypresents.com. EAC

KINKS TRIBUTE & PUNK COVERS NIGHT: THE CARNABETIAN ARMY, THE JIM JAMS, DJ CHRIS O'CONNOR
(East End, 203 SE Grand) It's tribute night at East End, with the Jim Jams offering a set of punk covers and the Carnabetian Army performing their immaculately detailed Kinks tribute, right down to the frilly cravats. With a repertoire that spans the power chords of "You Really Got Me" to the delicately nuanced splendor of "Waterloo Sunset" to the pub sing-along of "Lola," the Carnabetian Army—who take their name from a line in "Dedicated Follower of Fashion," referring to the crowds on Carnaby Street during the Swinging London era—has their work cut out for them, but any set that includes songs like "Victoria," "Till the End of the Day," and "David Watts" really can't go wrong. NL

SATURDAY 9/17

LOW, BACHELORETTE
(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) See My, What a Busy Week!

THE ALBUM LEAF, SISTER CRAYON
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) There are very few things in life that you can set your watch to, yet one of those is the Album Leaf. Every handful of years Jimmy LaValle will surface, team with some gifted Icelander (like Sigur Rós' Jónsi), release a recording of delicately assembled music that'll soundtrack your dreams, disappear for a while, and then do it all again a few years down the road. Last year's A Chorus of Storytellers follows that same path, although LaValle loosened his grip on the reins some, and assembled this complex musical ship in a bottle with the assistance of a full band for the first time. Of course, it's absolutely stunning, the sort of meticulous recording that evolves and expands in countless directions upon each and every listen. To depend on a musician is to set yourself up for disappointment, but the Album Leaf is the exception to that rule. EAC

WHITE ORANGE, ANCIENT WARLOCKS, BROKAW
(Ash Street Saloon, 225 SW Ash) White Orange deserves credit for the best-looking releases of the year. Their 12-inch single "And This Is Why I Speak to You in Parables" came on a gorgeous picture disc with stunning cover artwork, an incredibly lavish package for what was essentially one monster riff repeated for 13 minutes (the B-side was a five-minute edit of the track). Now here's their self-titled debut, which contains a lot more musical content, and is just as visually appealing, with cover art that goes beyond Axis: Bold as Love-style trippy into the realm of mindfuck. The album contains rock of the most gigantic kind, with huge guitar riffs doubled, tripled, quadrupled into oblivion, and a drum sound that's truly volcanic. This enormity of sound works in favor of White Orange's woozily stoned, far-out rawk, but there's even room for a twinge of pop in the Mascis-y riff to "Dinosaur Bones." NL

ARTICHOKE MUSIC'S 40TH ANNIVERSARY: RICHARD COLOMBO, KATE POWER, STEVE EINHORN, ANNE WEISS, LEELA GRACE, MATT MEIGHAN, DAN'L, DONNALYNN, SKY IN THE ROAD, BITTEROOT
(Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta) Artichoke Music swung open their doors 40 years ago—for context, it was the same month that John Lennon released Imagine—which is a lifetime in music years. While the scenery outside their SE Hawthorne location has changed drastically over the years (hippies have been replaced by... uh, never mind, it's exactly the same), the music industry has evolved and Artichoke Music found itself on the ropes a few years back, unsure if they'd be able to stay open. But they rallied, thanks to donations to their nonprofit music school and acoustic venue, and now the destination for all things wooden and stringed celebrates their 40-year anniversary with this festive lineup of mostly acoustic performers. EAC

SUNDAY 9/18

Happy birthday, Ricky Bell of Bell Biv DeVoe.

MONDAY 9/19

COLOUR REVOLT, COLOURMUSIC, PRIORY (Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) See My, What a Busy Week!

TUESDAY 9/20

THE FLAMING LIPS, LE BUTCHERETTES
(Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay) Read our article on the Flaming Lips.

SIMS, LAZERBEAK, CECIL OTTER, PAPER TIGER, SPEAKER MINDS, CLOUDY OCTOBER
(Branx, 320 SE 2nd) Minneapolis emcee Sims is touring with his latest full-length, Bad Time Zoo, a wildly energetic recording full of introspection projected upon a dystopian version of the present. The disconnection between our virtual selves and those we interact with on a personal level is a recurring theme, a world where full inboxes collide with emptiness and where "you're buying all organic/screaming 'save the planet'/But you won't even save your neighbor, damn it." The production of tight snares, spacey synths, screaming guitars, and full horn section is courtesy of Doomtree collective member Lazerbeak, who joins Sims tonight alongside fellow members Cecil Otter (Wugazi) and Paper Tiger. While the different solo projects and collaborations vary thematically, they all share the Midwestern trait of championing underdogs, outsiders, and vagabonds on the fringes of their brave new world. RYAN FEIGH

DOUBLEPLUSGOOD, YOUTH
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) With plenty of fine dance tracks and remixes scattered throughout a bevy of EPs over the past couple years, I shouldn't have been surprised that DoublePlusGood's second full-length, Here They Come, the Birds of My Youth, is a good as it is. But upon its August release it hit me as a welcome surprise: Chirpy, buzzing synths provide the backdrop for a string of succulent pop melodies that provide the effect of a candy binge without the sugar crash. The duo of Erik Carlson and Andrew Nelson recorded Here They Come, the Birds of My Youth at a former Ford Model-T factory and made full use of the acoustic space, resulting in a record that contains the intimacy of a bedroom jam, the energy of a club banger, and the indefinable mystery of a beguiling Wall of Sound production. NL

WEDNESDAY 9/21

SAGE FRANCIS, THE METERMAIDS, SADISTIK
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) See My, What a Busy Week!

JUNIOR BOYS, YOUNG GALAXY
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Read our article on Young Galaxy.

BLUE SCHOLARS, BAMBU, THE PHYSICS, SERGE SEVERE
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) I'm not saying Macklemore ate Blue Scholars' lunch, but the fresh-faced Seattle emcee certainly robbed Sabzi and Geologic of some of their momentum. Then again, the Emerald City is big enough for plenty of rhymers—Blue Scholars have been holding it down as beacons of positive hiphop since 2004 and they haven't slowed their roll since. Breaking ties with Rawkus (who released 2007's Bayani) the band used their loyal fanbase to fund this year's Cinemetropolis, which is worth your hard-earned coin solely for "Slick Watts," a Seattle-centric ode to the long lost SuperSonics franchise. I'm not saying it's better than "Bust a Bucket" (or "Can I Get a Headband?"), but it when it comes to hiphop songs that namedrop Dale Ellis, it's absolutely untouchable. EAC

KARL BLAU, OHIOAN, MANXES, RAFFA DE ALASKA Y SUS CAMPAS
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Ryne Warner of Ohioan has been holed up in Anacortes, Washington, at Karl Blau's Unknown Studio, working on what is reported to be Ohioan's last physical album. It's called Balls Deep in Babylon, and after tonight's release show, Warner has vowed that his band will no longer be playing any bars or traditional venues—he moves back to Arizona at the beginning of October and states that he's going to literally wire his band into a school bus. I'm not quite sure what that means, but the incredible Karl Blau collaborating with anyone is reason enough to pique my curiosity, and if Warner's shape-shifting Ohioan ensemble is involved, it's bound to be a stunner. In the studio, "there is a gong as big as a wall, and it vibrates your bowels," Warner reports, suggesting that Balls Deep in Babylon will continue Ohioan's tradition of offbeat, sumptuously transcendent recordings. NL