2024 is right around the corner and Portland’s stalwart music-makers are still going strong! This week we’re grateful for a new collaborative single from a Portlander who just moved away 😢, and a New Year's Eve show where you might end up on a rooftop. Also, we're not going to sleep in January. We're going out! Portland Music Month's calendar is already filling up, and we have one show you should rally for—it's on January 5 so you'll probably be fine by then. Right? This is what we want you to Hear in Portland!

MUST SEE: 

Upcoming local event(s) featuring local artist(s).        

Reptaliens

Last month we recommended an all-ages benefit show and fundraiser for Friends of Noise, starring the ever-evolving Portland-based band Reptaliens. But as we turn our eyes to towards NYE, we spy an end-of-year closer live show from the high-concept music project, that their fans should not miss—this time, inside Revolution Hall's smaller burger-bar-adjacent venue Show Bar. Those new to Reptaliens will likely start with their most recent full-length, Multiverse, which represented a more down-to-earth, guitar-rock approach than their previously synth-powered sound. We're hoping the group still busts out material from their more surreal, sci-fi, conspiracy-influenced corners. Their 2020 EP Wrestling paired moody songs with invigorating beats on “Listening,” and “Do You Know?” And that's just the vibe to pump up these dreary winter nights, to welcome in January's cold-but-curiously-seasonable reputation. Offering sturdy support to the NYE bill is Portland’s psych and hard pop band Aan, who will slay irresistible bangers like recently released single “Black Hole.” While Rev Hall’s roof deck is typically closed between November and March, the team sometimes opens it up on nice weather nights, so cross your fingers for clear skies! Maybe we'll get a chance to ring in the New Year with that banger view of the city skyline. Show Bar, 1300 SE Stark, Sun Dec 31, 9 pm, $20, tickets here, 21+)

MUST LISTEN: 

New release(s) from a Portland-relevant artist.

“Something Started,” Fountaine and 10thmember

Rapper-producer Michael Fountaine may be moving on from Portland, but we'll still be shouting out his new material when it warrants your notice. On November 26, the artist dropped a new song with rapper 10thmember called “Something Started.” Not surprisingly, the song is produced by Fountaine himself. The lusty, flirtatious track starts out cute and simple—with Fountaine rapping in an almost a capella manner, if it weren’t for some soft, melodic synths in the background. “Woke up late, last night was a show/ Got real fresh, real escargot/ Peep the unseen text sent to my phone/ Must’ve been the girl that I met on the low,” he starts. We follow the bass drop, and the song progresses into an upbeat bopper about new romance, where Fountaine croons the hook: “She tryna get something started.”

ADDED TO THE QUEUE: 

Some upcoming music buzz to add to your radar.

Night Heron and Portland Music Month

In the past we’ve gushed about eclectic Portland-based five-piece Night Heron’s vibey sound, which fuses influences from neo-soul and psychedelic synth pop with rhythm and blues. By January 5 you'll probably be recovered enough from New Year's to catch the group's overall grooves and dreamy vocals at the intimate, aurally-pleasing Mississippi Studios. They'll be supported by noted Leonard Cohen-appreciators Sun Atoms and Lowland Painter, the mysterious collab project of Dustin Scharlach (Landlines, Alternative Milks) and Elaina Tardif (Wet Fruit, Meringue). If reading all those band names in parenthesis EXCITES YOU, bust out your new calendar because as soon as we wash away the amazing shows of 2023, we jump right into the local-focused easygoing fundraiser of Portland Music Month. Yeah, it's counter intuitive to fundraise in January, when our ears are still ringing from the siren call of nonprofit appeals, but Music Portland makes it pretty easy: Just check out any show on their programming calendar, and part of the ticket price goes into the organization's Echo Fund. They actually just awarded $57,000 to local musicians, so for once you can see where your money goes. I know you think you want to spend January in the restful slumber of sober kings, but the fact that there's actually some good shows on the PMM calendar already suggests that this year's slate is going to be stacked. (Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, Fri Jan 5, 8 pm,  $17, tickets here, 21+)