Love Our Arts & Culture Coverage?
You can help fund it!

Posted inHorrors

Mercury Tales of Terror: Dissolving the Dead with Portlandโ€™s First Aqua Cremation Machine

HANNAH TURNER-HARTS [Happy Halloween! All week long the Mercury has been publishing classic tales of local Halloween horror from our archives, as well as brand spankin’ new (and creeeeepy) pieces… in this one from 2019, writer Ciara Dolan inspects Portland’s first water cremation machine.โ€”eds] In Oregon, there are five legal ways to lay the dead […]

Posted inMusic

The Four Best Concerts to See This Weekend

Chromatics Tobias Gruber FRI JUNE 7 Farnell NewtonEvery first and third Friday of the month, local trumpeter Farnell Newton and friends bring the sweet, life-affirming sounds of swing, soul, and booty-shaking funk to the intimate stage of the 1905, a casual Boise haunt. Without question, this brilliant horn god and composer is a premium example […]

Posted inMovies & TV

The Portland Horror Film Fest Returns with Killer Emojis and Exploding Brains

The horror genre is dominated by clichรฉs: abandoned houses, flickering lights, creaking floorboards, jump scares, cell phones with no reception, cars that wonโ€™t start, invincible killers, ghost children, and final girls. Many of the movies included in this yearโ€™s Portland Horror Film Festival either completely invert these tropes or use them as stepping stones to […]

Posted inMovies & TV

The Best Movies at the Portland Horror Film Fest Contort Clichรฉs Like Disfigured Balloon Animals

Creaker The horror genre is dominated by clichรฉs: abandoned houses, flickering lights, creaking floorboards, jump scares, cell phones with no reception, cars that wonโ€™t start, invincible killers, ghost children, and final girls. Many of the movies included in this yearโ€™s Portland Horror Film Festival either completely invert these tropes or use them as stepping stones […]

Posted inMusic

These 9 Songs by Portland Artists Should Already Be On Your Sunny-Day Playlist

Amy Liss Although weโ€™ve yet to see what summer โ€™19 will bring in terms of Portland-made tunes, hereโ€™s some great summer-vibed songs that should already be on your sunny-day playlist. Reptaliens, โ€œVenetian Blindsโ€โ€œEasy, breezy, beautifulโ€ is the slogan of a popular cosmetics brand, but also the vibe of Reptaliensโ€™ new record, Valis. Standout track โ€œVenetian […]

Posted inMusic

These 9 Songs by Portland Artists Should Already Be On Your Sunny-Day Playlist

Although weโ€™ve yet to see what summer โ€™19 will bring in terms of Portland-made tunes, hereโ€™s some great summer-vibed songs that should already be on your sunny-day playlist. Reptaliens, โ€œVenetian Blindsโ€ โ€œEasy, breezy, beautifulโ€ is the slogan of a popular cosmetics brand, but also the vibe of Reptaliensโ€™ new record,ย Valis. Standout track โ€œVenetian Blindsโ€ is […]

Posted inMusic

Searching for Something to Believe with Weyes Blood

WEYES BLOOD Sat 5/18 Doug Fir BRETT STANLEY As Weyes Blood, Natalie Meringโ€™s music has evolved from medieval psychedelia (2011โ€™s The Outside Room) to disenfranchised Americana (2014โ€™s The Innocents) to doomsday folk (2016โ€™s Front Row Seat to Earth). Her latest and best record yet, Titanic Risingโ€”which she has described as โ€œthe Kinks meet WWII or […]

Gift this article