Ezra Ace Caraeff

When dealing with Improv Everywhere, the first rule is that it’s not a prank, it’s a “mission.” The devoted faithful of this New York based improv/acting/mayhem ensemble have been pulling missions all over their city and gaining a pretty sizable following in the process. So when the biggest band in the world, U2, came to […]

If most books penned by music critics are little more than self-congratulatory intellectualism that robs all emotion and creativity from said genre of music, Can’t Stop Won’t Stop–a remarkable documentation of hiphop and all its many facets–might be the lone exception. More than just a history lesson, CSWS author Jeff Chang (also one of the […]

I feel the need to get this out of the way in the first sentence, just to clear the air: Bloc Party are not a terrible band. That said, Bloc Party are also not a particularly great band. And while it may initially seem superfluous to address these facts in print, it’s becoming a necessary […]

A longtime fixture in Portland’s music scene, Angelo De Ieso II is the host of KPSU’s “Hooray for Tuesday” and “Live Friday” radio programs, which have become a beacon on the radio dial for quality music and live performances. In addition to his on-air contributions, De Ieso is one of the more outspoken members of […]

Now approaching their 50th release, Portland’s Hush Records has spent the past seven years establishing themselves as one of the more consistent and charming indie labels around. Known as the launching point for Kind of Like Spitting, the Decemberists, and tons more, Hush hits release number 50 with the beautifully assembled compilation MILE. Owner Chad […]

Bobby Bare Jr. Fri April 29 Dante’s 1 SW 3rd Way back in 2002 Bobby Bare Jr. wrote one of the single greatest songs ever, but odds are you’ve never heard it. Buried a half-dozen tracks deep into his Young Criminals’ Starvation League album, “Dig Down” is the sort of planet-aligning moment in which everything […]

If a world of disinterested music consumers and seedy record labels isn’t bad enough, touring musicians now have another problem to deal with: Theft. Sure, it was always an issue, but never as much as it has become in the past year. Engine Down, Pretty Girls Make Graves, and a about a hundred other mid-to-low […]

In a handful of years working at Sub Pop, and fine-art poster printers Patent Pending, Jesse LeDoux is at the forefront of a new movement of artists whose work has thrived in today’s design-friendly indierock scene. Relying on more than just fonts and photos, LeDoux’s work (for bands like Pedro the Lion, Minmae, and tons […]

I’m sure you saw the ads–full page pitches in some of indie rock’s most appealing magazines advertising something called Ouch. Cute Ron Rege Jr. figures, free sampler CDs with American Analog Set and White Magic, all of which advertise a website (http://www.ouchthewebsite.com) and a curious mission statement: “Ouch is a program brought to you by […]

Founded by Asian Man Records’ Mike Park in 1999, the Plea for Peace tour is a non-profit traveling indie/punk all-star tour that “promotes the ideas of peace through the power of music.” Previous tour lineups have featured everyone from Dillinger Escape Plan, Cursive, The (International) Noise Conspiracy and even Park himself. This year, the typically […]

A onetime participant in the competitive freestyle circuit, Dallas MC, Astronautalis, bowed out in favor of a new musical direction: indierock. He lost the hiphop bravado, but not the rhyming skills, and with his debut You and Yer Good Ideas Astronautalis meshes introspective indierock with a gamut of beat-driven rhymes and vocal whispers. Like a […]