The fundamental element of Björk: when she gets an emotion, she leaps into it, breathlessly, without fear. She lets herself burn raw, living her life as completely as possible. But she also lets herself dream–about snow, lights, or swans. Björk is complicated and not naive; she simply chooses her innocence. Best of all, her hope […]
Julianne Shepherd
Posted inMovies & TV
Put ‘Em in Your Pocket
Super 8 Films for the Light of Heart
Tiny Picture Club presents Fairy Tales Wed Sept 12 Mission Theatre Like keepsakes, the Tiny Picture Club makes Super 8 films so precocious you want to put them in your pocket. There is an energy that generates from the group of friends/Super 8 aficionados, and every film they show glows from the inside, even if […]
Posted inNews
Mercury’s Rock Star Cribs
Yo yo yo! Where do Portland musicians go to chizzity-chill? Why their CRIBS, of course! Some of P-town’s best musicians let us into their homes, just so YOU, the fans, can see how REAL RAPPERS AND ROCK STARS live when they’re not in the studio, on tour, or filming commercials for their corporate sponsors! In […]
Posted inMovies & TV
The Best and the Freakiest
Dan Clowes’ Ghost World: A Lesson in Self-Worth
Ghost World dir. Zwigoff Now Playing Various When I was living out my depression like a sullen teen, I wrote comic artist Dan Clowes a half-joking letter asking him for his hand in marriage. He wrote back. He said something akin to, “My wife wouldn’t like that so much.” Thinking about it now, I don’t […]
Posted inMusic
A Vulnerable Genius
Shannon Wright and the Pain in Human Connection
Shannon Wright Dyed in the Wool (Quarterstick) Being an honest person–in music and in daily life–takes an incredible amount of bravery. Total honesty requires total vulnerability, and vulnerability always has the potential to shove its dull knife straight through your heart. But, despite the pain, there’s an inevitable payoff and eventual redemption. Honesty is beautiful, […]
Posted inUncategorized
DRUNK AGAIN!
Get Liquored Up With Our Second Annual Drinking Issue
• BAR-CHETYPES! A Sociological Overview of Barflys, Lotharios, the Unemployed, and Other Fine Folks Who Frequent Our Favorite Place in the World–the Bar by John Dooley, Katia Dunn, Wm. Steven Humphrey, Julianne Shepherd and Katie Shimer • ONE NIGHT DRINKING The winning entry in our "Crap, I’m a Drunk!" essay contest. by Christiaan Taylor • […]
Posted inMusic
Oh, Beautiful Massacre
The Friction in Dilute
Dilute w/ Caesura, The Owners Fri Aug 17 Blackbird One of the better themes in music, and all art, is the friction between lyrical beauty and lyrical massacre. It’s a dichotomy, and nothing’s better than the rush that comes when musicians stab a sudden crash of instruments in the middle of a pretty melody. Dilute, […]
Posted inUncategorized
Bar-chetypes!
A Sociological Overview of Barflys, Lotharios, the Unemployed, and Other Fine Folks Who Frequent Our Favorite Place in the World–the Bar
A ponderous question: Why are “bars” so unlike other business establishments? And why are the people you see in “bars” so very frightening and unlike anyone you’ve seen anywhere else (save the Greyhound bus station)? In order to rub salve on these concerns, the Mercury has set out to document and classify several bar archetypes–or […]
Posted inMusic
RADICALISM YOU CAN LIVE WITH
Jello Biafra on the Greens, Free Speech, and Staying True to the Game
“Well, you’ll work harder with a gun in your back / For a bowl of rice a day / Slave for soldiers ’til you starve / Then your head skewered on a stake / Now you can go where people are one / Now you can go where they get things done / What you […]
Posted inArt
Art Bubble
Art Review
Art Bubble Brian Borrello Last Thursday “Is there a place to throw my garbage?” someone asked. The response: “Yeah, right behind you.” From the outside, Brian Borrello’s Last Thursday “art bubble” looked a lot like a giant, oblong trash bag. Or a gargantuan womb, with the umbilical cord represented by a generator inflating it with […]
Posted inMusic
Crimso, My Dear
Prog Rock 4 Now, Prog Rock 4-Eva!
King Crimson Wed Aug 8 Schnitzer Hall I predict that in the next year or so, progressive rock music is going to experience a huge comeback. Guffaw if you must, my friends, but we’ll see who’s scoffing when you’re frantically downloading MP3s from Peter Gabriel-era Genesis records. Think about it: the math rockers already primed […]
Posted inMusic
Half-Assed is Not Allowed
A Brief Synopsis of the Label Situation
Independent record labels have evolved so much that early mainstays, like Matador, Touch and Go, Merge, Kill Rock Stars, Sub Pop, Dischord, Teen Beat, and K, have reached near-mainstream popularity. (Or at least, they seem near-mainstream to those who don’t pay a lot of attention to the real mainstream.) Where shows and record sales used […]