Christopher Keith Garcia Christopher Keith Garcia Saturday night at Dante’s, Mega Bog opened with an unpredictable set of hypnotic and strange avant-pop. On tracks like like “Aurora/99,” the band’s hushed vocals, twangy guitar, jazzy percussion, unhinged, wailing clarinet, and constant tempo changes sounded like floating around the cosmos dodging asteroids. Mega Bog’s live set is […]
CK Dolan
Formerly a senior editor and the music editor at the Mercury, CK Dolan writes about music, movies, TV, the death industry, and pickles.
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The Truth About Blowout’s “Indiana”
Blowout with Indiana the cat. Portland’s Blowout recently released the loud, sweet emo-punk lead single “Indiana” from their forthcoming debut full-length, No Beer, No Dad. It feels nostalgically giddy, like being in middle school science lab and getting partnered with your crush. Drums sound like love-drunk heartbeats while Laken Wright longingly sings, “Just wanna be […]
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Cate Le Bon Exalts Absurdity on Crab Day
CATE LE BON The Mary Poppins of pop. IVANA KLIฤKOVIฤ LIKE THE MARY POPPINS of experimental guitar pop, Cate Le Bon becomes a fantastic arbiter of the surreal on her newest record, Crab Day. While Mug Museum, the Welsh singer’s nostalgia-hued, psych-folk album from 2013, felt grounded in retrospective thought, Crab Day cuts the gravity […]
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OPB Releases Gorgeous Video of Laura Gibson Playing on a Train in the Columbia Gorge
Today OPB Music released a video of Portland’s own Laura Gibson and Sean Ogilvie playing songs from her new album, Empire Builder, while traveling on a train through the Columbia Gorge. We recently interviewed Gibson about her record, which takes its name from the Amtrak train that brought her from Portland to the East Coast […]
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Photos from Santigold at Crystal Ballroom, Tues May 10
Christopher Keith Garcia Christopher Keith Garcia After a rain check and a venue change, last night Santigold finally performed at the Crystal Ballroom. Check out photos and gifs of her sold-out show with Kilo Kish after the jump! SANTIGOLD Christopher Keith Garcia Christopher Keith Garcia Christopher Keith Garcia Christopher Keith Garcia Christopher Keith Garcia Christopher […]
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YACHT Releases Real Apology
The Windish Agency Following yesterday’s shitstorm surrounding YACHT’s botched publicity stuntโwherein they faked a sex tape scandal to promote their new music videoโthis morning the former Portland/now LA-based indie-pop duo/romantic couple released an apology. It’s their second attemptโyesterday they issued a statement claiming that they’d expected their stunt would stir “interest, skepticism, and laughter”โbut this […]
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The Uncomfortable Beauty of Cate Le Bon’s Crab Day
The Welsh Musician Exalts Absurdity on Her New Album
The Welsh musician exalts absurdity on her new album.
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UPDATED: Yacht Pulls Worst Publicity Stunt Ever with Fake Leaked Sex Tape
Not cool, you two. Bec Lorrimer UPDATE 5/11: This morning, YACHT offered a thoughtful apology about the incident. Read it here. UPDATE 5/10: Jona Bechtold of YACHT responded to the Mercury‘s request for comment with a link to the band’s statement about the incident, which you can read here. “We expected interest, skepticism, and laughter,” […]
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The Sci-Fi Proggery of Dream Theater
DREAM THEATER Long Islandโs most ridiculous progressive metal band. CHAD GRIFFITH ON TUESDAY, MAY 10, Long Island, New York’s most ridiculous progressive metal band, Dream Theater, brings its latest work to Portland’s Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The Astonishing is a two-hour-and-10-minute concept album (or rock opera, or whatever the fuck) that tells the story of […]
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Premiere: Old Grape God’s “Candlelit Vandal” Video for Banana Stand’s Unpeeled Series
Behold the exclusive premiere of Old Grape God’s “Candlelit Vandal” video for Banana Stand’s Unpeeled Series. It’s the second installment of Unpeeled, following last month’s debut of Laura Palmer’s Death Parade’s “Salty Arms” video. Old Grape God released Still Alive! back in January. Here he sits in front of a blank canvas before picking up […]
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Hey Lover’s Sinking Ships Is Uplifting, Sweet, and Explosive
HEY LOVER Like Pop Rocks for your ears. EVAN REEVES TERAH BETH BALTZER VARGA and Justin Varga played their debut show as Hey Lover on their wedding night. In a serendipitous twist of fate, the duoโwho moved to Portland from Tennessee in 2004โwere given all of their first equipment. “We had no gear or anything, […]
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Hey Lover Releases Bizarre Sinking Ships Infomercial
Portland’s Hey Lover made an awkward, borderline frightening Wayne’s World-like infomercial for their new album, Sinking Ships (out tomorrow on Hovercraft Records). The video is narrated by Terah Beth’s (drums/vocals) uncle and professional voiceover artist Marcus Wendell Thompson. Tune in for uncomfortable eye contact, sick breakdance moves, dizzying word art, and don’t forget to read […]