A couple weeks back we shared the first details on Blitzen Trapper‘s Furry-themed rock opera new album, Furr. Now thanks to Urban Outfitters (huh?), you can listen to the title track of the album. “Furr” is a wonderful little song, which makes the wait until the album’s September 23rd release all that more challenging. How […]
Ezra Ace Caraeff
Ezra Ace Caraeff is the former Music Editor for the Mercury, and spent nearly a third of his life working at the paper. More importantly, he is the owner of Olive, the Mercury’s unofficial office dog. His writing has appeared in The Fader, The Stranger, The Onion's A.V. Club, ESPN's TrueHoop network, and countless fanzines that are thankfully long out of print. He makes a mean tofu scramble and yes, Ace is really his middle name.
Posted inMusic
Up the Punx
Resist Raise a Fist for Portland’s Old Guard
Resist: Portland punk the way it used to be.
Posted inMusic
Our Town Could Be Your Life
Local Music News
We gave Our Town Could Be Your Life columnist Cary Clarke the week off to recover from PDX Pop Now! Filling in for him is Music Editor Ezra Ace Caraeff. You were there, right? I’d surely hope so. The fifth year of PDX Pop Now! was a grand affair that seized a few Southeast industrial […]
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“What Do They See That I Can’t Feel?”
The Prids Crash. The Prids Survive.
The Prids narrowly avoid tragedy.
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The Penny Jam Takes Laura Gibson to the Museum
The one thing I know about fans of Laura Gibson is that they love Chinese Dinosaur bones. Sort of like how Jimmy Buffet fans like Hawaiian shirts and spending my inheritance on overpriced margaritas and cheap weed (Mom, this means you). Anyway, Gibson followers are now in luck since the awesome crew at The Penny […]
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MFNW Announces Nike Shows
MusicFest NW has announced the lineup for their super secret somewhat exclusive Nike daytime shows: Thursday September 4th – No Age, BattlesFriday September 5th – Britt Daniel, Built to Spill (performing Perfect From Now On)Saturday September 6th – Ratatat, Les Savy Fav OMG! MFNW! LS SVY FV! NOAGE! RATATAT! All performances take place at the […]
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Girls Rock! The Soundtrack
Last year’s Girls Rock! documentary was a blast. The locally-produced film offered up an inspiring glimpse at the power of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls as seen through the eyes of the campers, their parents, and the patient camp staff. You can view the trailer here, our kind review here, and a ridiculously […]
Posted inVideo
Blind Pilot – “Go On, Say It” Video
Of the many stellar acts at PDX Pop Now!, the one band that stood out the most was Blind Pilot. Their Saturday evening outdoors set triggered a jittery energy in the crowd, unlike anything else I experienced at the festival. It felt like we are all witnessing something extremely special. But we were not alone. […]
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PDX Pop Now! – Tonight!
After a year of waiting, it’s here. Tonight is the start of PDX Pop Now!. It’s sort of like Christmas morning for followers of local music, except there isn’t the soul-smothering disappointment of discovering that Santa got you a graphing calculator instead of that NES Power Glove you specifically asked for. What’s a matter old […]
Posted inSports
Want to Become a BlazerDancer? Of Course You Do!
Dust of them pom poms, because the Trail Blazers are looking for a few good BlazerDancers to dance during timeouts, grind during on-court injuries, and probably attend car shows or something. Isn’t that what BlazerDancers do? Oh, and make a bikini calendar. There is always a bikini calendar. Open auditions will be this Sunday at […]
Posted inMusic
Prids Update
Yesterday I spoke with David Frederickson of the Prids. Following their horrific van accident, and extended hospitalization, the band was preparing to depart Fresno, CA, and finally return home. Understandably the band is quite shaken up, but for a guy with a broken collar bone, four broken ribs, and a half-dozen staples in his head, […]
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This Week’s Mercury Music Section
Another week, another Mercury music section to read while you save your Zimbabwean 100 billion dollar bills. Sadly, this is how much a loaf of bread costs in Zimbabwe. But to be fair, it’s pretty great bread. We talk PDX Pop Now! with local musicians who went from the crowd to the stage. Consider this […]