Last month, when Ryan Adams passed through town, I got a little misty-eyed for the days when Adams was a force to be reckoned with. Long before the singer/songwriter was known for his hit-or-miss solo work, his artfully disheveled hair, and actress bedding, Adams was the brash frontman for Whiskeytown, the last great crossover hope […]
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
Once More with Feeling
Pine Hill Haints
Deep below the Mason-Dixon Line, where kudzu covers the trees and the rebellious South will supposedly rise again, lies the Pine Hill Cemetery in the city of Auburn, Alabama. It’s been said that the cemetery is haunted by one Jethro Walker, a local resident who was murdered in 1858 while sitting alone in his parlor, […]
Posted inMusic
Picks of the Pickathon
Introducing Indie-Roots
It needs to be said that for a multi-day music event on a sustainable Oregon farm, the lineup for Pickathon 2007 has disproportionately few hippie bands. I know, when you think “Pickathon” you just assume jam bands masquerading as bluegrass acts, a seething mass of overnight-camping hippies, and the haunting sounds of a rambunctious drum […]
Posted inMusic
Once More with Feeling
Jason Isbell
In his six years rounding out the three-guitar attack of the Drive-By Truckers, Jason Isbell wrote all of eight songs. Despite such limited output it came as a shock to fans everywhere when earlier this year Isbell up and left DBT, along with leaving the band’s bassist, Shonna Tucker, his then-wife (the couple has since […]
Posted inMusic
PDX Pop Rocks
PDX Pop Now! Is the People’s Festival
Here is the reason why the rest of the country is envious of Portland: The PDX Pop Now! Festival (PPN!)—and the jealously is understandable. When PPN! set up shop in 2004, it changed our city’s musical landscape, and the city of Portland became known the world over for being the adoptive home to numerous national […]
Posted inMusic
Picks of the Pickathon
Introducing Indie-Roots
It needs to be said that for a multi-day music event on a sustainable Oregon farm, the lineup for Pickathon 2007 has disproportionately few hippie bands. I know, when you think “Pickathon” you just assume jam bands masquerading as bluegrass acts, a seething mass of overnight-camping hippies, and the haunting sounds of a rambunctious drum […]
Posted inMusic
PDX Pop Rocks
PDX Pop Now! Is the People’s Festival
Here is the reason why the rest of the country is envious of Portland: The PDX Pop Now! Festival (PPN!)—and the jealously is understandable. When PPN! set up shop in 2004, it changed our city’s musical landscape, and the city of Portland became known the world over for being the adoptive home to numerous national […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Worst. Movie. Ever.
The Simpsons Movie: Like TV, But it Costs Money!
Chances are if you are reading this paper, you grew up on the The Simpsons. For the past 17 years, the show has completely and totally changed the pop culture landscape—from the way we look at animation, sitcoms, and television to the way our country deals with the classic family dynamic, humor, and politics. (Not […]
Posted inMusic
Crushed Out on Portland
The Cribs Love Our Town
When I reach Gary Jarman, frontman for UK buzz-sensations the Cribs, he’s holed up in a fancy New York hotel and a complete nervous wreck. Is he nervous about the high expectations of Men’s Needs, Women’s Needs, Whatever, the band’s well-hyped major label debut that has them poised to break out in the States? The […]
Posted inMusic
Once More With Feeling
The Last Town Chorus
With the exception of a few well-regarded session musicians (Cindy Cashdollar, for example), very few women are known for playing the lap steel guitar. In an industry already nestled tight in a firm male grip, no instrument can top the male domination of the lap steel. Hoping to shift that balance back toward the fairer […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Backdraft
Chuck and Larry: A Gay Comedy For Homophobes
Despite sounding like the plot to the best gay porn you never rented—two firefighting buddies (one of which is a bear) turn up the heat at the firehouse when they reveal their true feelings for each other—I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is just another in a long line of mainstream comedies that specialize […]
Posted inMusic
Ain’t Quite Right
The Lopsided World of Portugal. The Man
There is something seriously wrong with Portugal. The Man. The trio, which splits time between Portland and Alaska, is frustratingly odd—a perplexing mix of Santana grooves, art-punk restlessness, and the deep-rooted sincerity of a few kids who have yet to snuff out the flickering torch of emo. Of course, that sounds like a complete trainwreck […]