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Nolan Parker

Nolan Parker is the Mercury’s music and Blazers editor. They also run the Portland-area community resource, Government Palace. Follow them on Instagram and Letterboxd. Send pitches, releases, and collaboration ideas here.
Posted inMercury Music Picks

Mercury Music Picks: Black Water’s Back, These Fucking Hands Last Show, and a New Performance by Yelling Choir

Plus reunited slowcore bands, Extradition’s spring concert, and Portland music news!
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

Remember when I called last week the busiest week in Portland music of the year? Well, that was last week and this is this week, hunnies! The next seven days are beyond packed with potential gigs to see, and we’ve got the cream of Portland’s crop laid out for you below. Don’t forget: Just as […]

Posted inMusic

Gang of Four Bassist Dave Allen Has Died

The Portland music juggernaut was 69, and had struggled with dementia. 
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

On April 5, Portland lost another champion of music with the passing of Dave Allen at 69. Allen was an early member of influential post-punk band Gang of Four, writing and recording their first two albums—Entertainment! and Solid Gold—in 1979 and 1981 respectively. Along with their contemporaries, like Talking Heads and ESG, Gang of Four […]

Posted inMusic

The Top 10 Releases to Seek Out on Record Store Day 2025!

Pharoah Sanders, Charli xcx, Sunn O))), and more to throw on your turntable!
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

Record Store Day (RSD)—the Black Friday for music nerds—started out in 2008 as a way to revitalize interest in vinyl and physical record stores. Initially it was a pretty rad yearly event, and an excuse to issue rereleases of out-of-print albums, along with special editions of newer records on vinyl. Some of these could only […]

Posted inMercury Music Picks

Mercury Music Picks: Etran de L’Aïr Lights Up Wonder Ballroom, An Oregon Music Hall of Fame Benefit Show, and Roseblood’s Record Release Party

Plus two American Sign Language performances, some Cali hardcore, and vaporwave is back??
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

It’s really starting to feel like Portland spring up in here: One day you’re hiking Dog Mountain in short shorts, hitting Sugar Pine and the Sandy River on the way back into town. The next day, it’s head-to-toe rain gear hustling yourself down to Holocene to catch Crystal Quartez’s record release show after Kraftwerk at […]

Posted inFood and Drink

Keeper Coffee Opens Its Second Location in Milwaukie

The two-story beauty is about to be your new favorite destination cafe.
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

There’s been a tectonic shift in the world of cafe build-outs the last few years that, in my opinion, is an extremely welcome change. It seems as though we’ve moved away from the sterile, almost lab-like cafes back to the more comfortable, welcoming atmosphere of ’90s coffee houses—all without taking a hit to coffee or […]

Posted inMusic

The Apple of Portland’s Eye, Michael Hurley Passes Away at 83

Listen to the outsider folk hero’s songs today and always. 
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

One of the brightest lights in Portland’s music constellation has gone out. It was announced this past Thursday that Michael Hurley, aka Doc Snock, passed from this temporal plane suddenly and peacefully on April 1, 2025 at the age of 83. Hurley wove his incomparable simplistic genius deeply into the fabric of Portland’s folk and […]

Posted inMercury Music Picks

Mercury Music Picks: Kraftwerk Techno Daddies, Crystal Quartez’s Record Release Party, and the Launch of the Crush On Everyone Emo Party

Plus transcendent classical, Bay Area noise, and more! 
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

Two days ago, as I was hauling the last loads out of the charred remains of my old, burnt out apartment building, a stranger who had been watching me from the bar next door came out to offer condolences for my having lost my home. Giving me a hug, they said they had put $10 […]

Posted inMercury Music Picks

Mercury Music Picks: MSC, James K., and Frank La Rocca’s Requiem for the Forgotten

Plus local album releases, a major punk venue relocation, and the Reed Zine Fest!
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

It should come as no surprise that as the weather gets better, our calendars become more full. If there wasn’t so much to be done here at the Mercury, this round-up would be double what you see here before you today! That said, these shows are the cream of the absolute crop this week, trust. […]

Posted inMercury Music Picks

Mercury Music Picks: Mother Danzig, Amyl & the Sniffers, and the Linda Lindas

Plus Portland music news!
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

This Mercury Music Picks goes out to all the soggy ladies, all the soggy ladies! It’s been wet out there lately and yet, I keep going to all these shows and they keep getting packed out—y’all do be making this music editor emotional. But wait, there’s more! More shows to go check out, more sights […]

Posted inMusic

Northwest Hardcore Fest, the PNW’s Hardest-Hitting Festival, Is Back

The freshly announced line-up is a biggie!
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

Ok ok ok, not everyone is aware of this, but Portland has a thriving hardcore punk scene—and it’s (finally) getting the national attention it deserves. Not for lack of punks, the city’s scene saw touring bands, large and small, skip us again and again because our hardcore scene here was extremely diffused. A bunch of […]

Posted inSpring Arts 2025

Can Portland Be a Music Capital Again?

City Councilor Jamie Dunphy thinks it’s possible.
Avatar photo Nolan Parker

The Mercury covers culture & art because we think all its various forms are—quite plainly—how people understand one another. Conversations about food, music, performance, and “weird” installation art provide touchstones to deepen friendships, create new connections, and better understand our world. If you appreciate the Mercury’s interesting and useful news & culture reporting, consider making a small monthly contribution […]

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