The parade of new music radio programs marches on, and this week it’s “In House with Jeremy Peterson,” the new music broadcast on OPB radio. The show features a varied playlist, plenty of in-studio performances, and while it plays its fair share of local bands, its content extends beyond Portland city limits. Peterson chats with […]
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
Pleasure Vessel
BOAT Is a Little Too Fun
Without fail, your elementary school teacher had a desk drawer that was always sealed with a lock and key, a glorious treasure trove of seized good-time contraband that was only cracked open when new booty was captured, or, on the last day of the year, when—good behavior pending—all your Super Balls, wind-up chattering teeth, Micro […]
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Once More with Feeling
Viva La Luna
Seattle transplant, and former DJ at KEXP, Lisa Wood is the host of a new local music show, on hard rock mainstay KUFO. Viva La Luna, named after the legendary club formerly on SE Pine, will air every Sunday evening at 9 pm. Wood takes a minute to talk about the format, and what to […]
Posted inMusic
The Comfort of Being Sad
Adam Franklin in Leonard Cohen Land
Once the dust had settled from the brief, sonic explosion of the shoegaze movement, it seems that everyone involved unceremoniously went their separate ways. My Bloody Valentine hid under a rock somewhere, Ride was canonized by Anglophiles (the type who would feverishly collect the flexi discs that came inside Melody Maker), and the music of […]
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The New Bird in Town
With Blübird, There Is Hope
The much-storied Rock ‘n’ Roll Camp for Girls has been doing the world a favor since 2001. By attempting to level a musical landscape that is run by men, for men, the camp is clearly a sign of all things good in this world. While their camp showcases are an absolute blast, and totally inspiring […]
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Once More with Feeling
Mt. Tabor Legacy
Ever since that Jerry Garcia piñata was demolished on the opening night of Sabala’s Mt. Tabor in 2004, it’s all been downhill for the property at 4811 SE Hawthorne. Granted, Sabala’s reign was one of some pretty stellar dirty punk shows, but the final year or so found the venue languishing with internal woes and […]
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Look Out! It’s the Mercury‘s Summer DANGER Guide!
There’s no getting around it—summer makes people stupid. And stupid people quickly become dead people. Do you want to be both stupid AND dead? We didn’t think so. That’s why you’re going to be SMART, and read the Mercury‘s Summer Danger Guide: the city’s only complete compilation of EVERYTHING that will cause or contribute to […]
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Jailbreak!
Two Gallants Against the World
At a time when image trumps substance (see the above article for proof of this), there are few things more refreshing than the dirt-poor, rambling dusty railcar Americana of Two Gallants. The San Francisco duo of Adam Stephens and Tyson Vogel have been friends going back to their kindergarten days, and shared the stage together […]
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Once More with Feeling
Larry Crane
A legend in the recording world, Larry Crane pulled up stakes and left Portland last year for the dusty thrills of Arizona. While our city has so much going for it, how can we compete with the excitement of living sandwiched between Tucson and the Mexico border? “For me, there were a handful of reasons […]
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Our Town Could be Your Life
Local News Roundup
While Cary Clarke takes a week off from the tough local music beat, I’ll be doing my best to fill his shoes. First off, fringe-folkstress and Holocene recording artist, Alela Diane is splitting town and heading to Nevada City, which, despite its name, is not a city in Nevada. It’s in California. Whatever, I’m moving […]
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To Cure and to Kill
Two Sides of the Veils
Not long after the ghost of Jeff Buckley floated down the mighty Mississippi River, people were anxious to crown a new alt-rock falsetto’d frontman to take his place. It’s just another cruel aspect of the music industry, refusing to let a deceased musician’s body grow cold before thrusting a newer/younger artist into their old boots. […]
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Ride On
Even if you don’t drive drunk, you probably have, or you at least know somebody who does. Considering the amount of time music fans spend lingering in venues and bars watching bands perform, drunk driving is an unfortunate, yet omnipresent, factor of the music scene. That being said, I think Joshua Bernard and Scott Conger […]