JAY SOM Mon 4/10 Doug Fir CARA ROBBINS It’s wise to be wary of buzz bands. These days it hardly matters how much time you spend honing your craft—a quick ascent to internet renown typically has more to do with how much you’re paying a publicist. The indie umpires’ new model for achieving critical acclaim […]
Morgan Troper
Posted inMusic
This Month Marks the 20th Anniversary of Portland’s Jackpot! Recording Studio
JACKPOT! Ka-ching. Jackpot! LIKE COUNTLESS studios past and present, Portland’s Jackpot! Recording Studio began in a basement. That, however, changed quickly. Larry Crane founded his home studio (which he originally called Laundry Rules Recording) with the money he got after being doored on his bike. Crane soon began attracting more and more clients—word was getting […]
Posted inMusic
These Hallowed Walls: Celebrating Two Decades of Jackpot!
This Month Marks the 20th Anniversary of Portland’s Premiere Recording Studio
This month marks the 20th anniversary of Jackpot!, Portland’s premiere recording studio.
Posted inMusic
My Body’s Forthcoming EP, Seven Wives, Is Classical Pop
MY BODY From Portland to Brooklyn and back. JEREMY HERNANDEZ BEING CLASSICALLY trained has never exactly been a badge of honor in the world of popular music (unless you’re in an early ’70s prog rock band). The reality that music is ultimately a learned skill—or science, rather—challenges our mythologized perception of the artist as a […]
Posted inMusic
My Body’s Fragmented Identities
The Portland Duo’s Forthcoming EP, Seven Wives, Is Classical Pop
Portland duo My Body’s forthcoming EP, Seven Wives, is classical pop.
Posted inMusic
Record Review: Point Juncture, WA, Me or the Party
“THE DOUBLE ALBUM”—considered by many to be a vestige of rock’s masturbatory past—is an affront to the modern music fan’s stroboscopic attention span. But the medium is experiencing something of a comeback in indie rock circles, from Titus Andronicus’ The Most Lamentable Tragedy and Tenement’s Predatory Headlights to Portland band Strange Ranger’s debut, Rot Forever—just […]
Posted inVideo Games
First Impressions of Final Fantasy XV (Without Any Spoilers) (But With a Lot of Monster Energy Drink)
Samantha Sutcliffe It took slightly longer to build Rome than develop Final Fantasy XV. The game was first unveiled over a decade ago, as a spinoff that was then titled Final Fantasy Versus XIII. After that, we didn’t know much more for years, other than that it would star some brooding dude named Noctis and […]
Posted inMusic
Record Review: Point Juncture, WA, Me or the Party
Point Juncture, WA’s Me or the Party was well worth the wait.
Posted inVideo Games
The Business of Nostalgia
As Digital Downloads Reshape Video Games, Portland’s Indie Game Stores Strive to Satisfy Retro Tastes
As digital downloads reshape video games, Portland’s indie game stores strive to satisfy retro tastes.
Posted inBooks
Death: An Oral History Prepares You for the Inevitable
Pulp/Zest Books Nothing proves human consciousness is an evolutionary blunder more effectively than our innate fear of death. It’s inescapable and feels totally fucking useless biologically. Most of us develop ways to compartmentalize these anxieties, because if we didn’t, we wouldn’t get out of bed in the morning. But for some, obsession only festers and […]
Posted inArts
Casey Jarman Stares Down Death
Death: An Oral History Prepares You for the Inevitable
Death: An Oral History Prepares You for the Inevitable
Posted inMusic
A Ringo Defender Speaks
RINGO STARR Rings? Check. Star? Check. Rob Shanahan SOMETIMES I THINK I’m the biggest Beatles fan in the world, which is probably how most Beatles obsessives feel. At age five, I attended my first Beatles convention; by age six, I could make the distinction between the group’s UK and US discographies. I was a savant […]