It’s become a yearly tradition: A massive David Bowie box has been released every fall since 2015, the first appearing a few months before his death in January 2016. Each one has comprehensively covered excerpts of his long career, and 2018’s installment tackles perhaps the most controversial period of all: Bowie’s glossy ’80s records, when […]
Ned Lannamann
Ned Lannamann is a writer and editor in Portland, Oregon. He writes about film, music, TV, books, travel, tech, food, drink, outdoors, and other things.
Posted inPickathon
Pickathon Starlight Series, Episode 1: Shinyribs
Tim LaBarge Every month we host a clip from the previous summer’s Pickathon as part of the ongoing Starlight Series, showcasing the performances that took place on the nocturnal Starlight Stage. And today we kick off a new season of Starlight vids with this rambunctious performance from Pickathon this last August. It’s an odd juxtaposition […]
Posted inMusic
A New Box Preserves and Expands the Kinks’ The Village Green Preservation Society
A giant, multi-disc edition of the Kinks’ The Village Green Preservation Society has hit store shelves. Very few bands of the 1960s saw their fortunes wax and wane as much as the Kinks did. The English group came snarling out of the gate with massive hits in the form of the jagged-edged “You Really Got […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Hunter Killer Review: The Hunt for Red Schlock-tober
Hunter Killer isn’t smart enough to know that it needs to be dumb. The submarine thriller—starring Gerard Butler, Gary Oldman, and their iffy American accents—seems to be aiming for verisimilitude: Its wall-to-wall dialogue is a mixture of imposingly nonsensical military jargon and casually delivered tough-guy soldier banter, and its visual look is pure, gleaming weapon-porn, […]
Posted inMusic
Barry White’s ’70s Albums Are Back in Print and Better Than Ever
Barry White’s classic ’70s albums have been reissued, both individually and as a box set. Universal It’s unfortunate that the works of soul-disco maestro Barry White have become shorthand for swanky, horny love-jams. When your unfunny office mate makes that lame “wah chicka wah-wahhh” porn-music sound-effect, it’s White’s sound that he’s aping. Barry White’s immensely […]
Posted inMusic
Debut Album from Led Zeppelin Knockoff Band Greta Van Fleet Gets Scathing Review… Just Like Led Zeppelin!
Slightly better than Metallica/Lou Reed’s Lulu, according to Pitchfork’s numerical rating system. Michigan retro hard-rock band Greta Van Fleet have become a flashpoint of sorts, a referendum on guitar-driven rock music and its waning relevance in today’s culture. The conversation reached a fever pitch today, when Pitchfork posted its front-page review of the band’s debut […]
Posted inEat and Drink
Six Oregon-Made Canned Beers for a Never-Ending Summer
Light, refreshing summer seasonals have already made their debuts, while heartier fall beers are now arriving. But what should one drink when summer refuses to die, and the sun’s still being a giant jerk? Here’s a six-pack of (un)seasonally appropriate Oregon beers that made their debut in cans or have reappeared after a short absence. […]
Posted inMusic
Jeff Lynne’s ELO Is Coming to Portland
Jeff Lynne’s ELO is coming to Portland in 2019. ELO, of course, stands for Electric Light Orchestra, and is the poppy, proggy, strings-tinged band Lynne fronted during the 1970s and early ’80s; the band was originally formed by members of Birmingham, England psychedelic band the Move—which included Lynne, songwriter/sonic architect Roy Wood, and drummer Bev […]
Posted inMusic
A New Collection Contains Every A-Side and B-Side Stax Records Released in 1968
A new compilation came out today, collecting all of Stax Records’ singles from the year 1968, and it’s both an uncannily visceral time capsule and a timeless collection of some of the finest sounds ever recorded. Stax ’68: A Memphis Story is packaged across five CDs and a 60-page book, and can be purchased here, […]
Posted inMovies & TV
Beautiful Boy Review: Father, Son, Addiction and Compassion
I’ve never been a parent or a junkie (yet!), but I found a lot that resonated in Beautiful Boy, a low-key film based on a pair of interconnected memoirs from father and son David and Nicolas Sheff. It’s a narrative that could have easily been filled with blame and recrimination—not to mention a lot of […]
Posted inSports
Comedian Ian Karmel on Paul Allen (and Portland)
Win McNamee / Getty Images Comedian, writer, former Mercury columnist, and all-around great guy Ian Karmel has written a hilarious and heartfelt essay for the Ringer about Microsoft co-founder and multibillionaire Paul Allen, who died yesterday. Allen owned the Portland Trail Blazers, and Karmel eloquently writes about both being a massive Blazers fan and how […]
Posted inSports
Trail Blazers Owner Paul Allen Has Died
Ezra Shaw / Staff / Getty Images Sports News has just broken that Microsoft co-founder and Portland Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen has died. He was 65. Early reports say that Allen died from complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. His sister, Jody Allen, released a statement that can be viewed in the tweet below. Statement from […]