THURSDAY 10/2

GOLDFRAPP, BROOKVILLE
(Aladdin, 3017 SE Milwaukie) Whereas UK duo Goldfrapp's demure debut, Felt Mountain, meticulously crafted single, sparkling grains into lavish, sandcastle soundscapes, this year's Black Cherry kicks them down and throws a rowdy beach bash. Brash beats replace subtle symphonies, and in-your-face numbers, including an oral sex ode, take the place of baroque, lyrically obtuse compositions. During Goldfrapp's sets, these tunes sometimes tussle like a tragicomic odd couple. But the polar extremes lead to a satisfying scorch-and-chill cycle. Though on paper alternating blasts of extreme hot and cold average out, Goldfrapp won't leave listeners lukewarm. ANDREW MILLER

THE BRIEFS, THE SHOCKS, THE MINDS
(Meow Meow, 520 SE Pine) See MWBW pg 13

CROSSTIDE, LOS HALOS, PINE MARTEN, INVISIBLE
(Nocturnal, 1800 W Burnside) Everyone has the band They Can't Believe They Love. For me, it's Crosstide. I mean, these guys are borderline ridiculous. With Bret Vogel's heaving falsetto, swelling guitar crescendos, and lyrics like "I'm only one boy with broken hope and a will to hold you that might never work," they drip with over-the-top emo-feeling that should be nauseating--and yet, it isn't. On the contrary, these guys may very well be my favorite Portland band. They work because they aren't half-assed; they know exactly what they want to be, and they embrace it with every ounce of passion they have. Plus, they're damn good songwriters. Believe me on this one: whether you typically like this kind of stuff or not, you will find something to like in Crosstide. JUSTIN WESCOAT SANDERS

FRIDAY 10/3

LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO
(Aladdin) This is part of a recent conversation I had with my father, who is a big fan of South African music. Me: "How would you describe Ladysmith Black Mambazo's place in the history of South African popular music?" My old man, Ebenezer: "They didn't use instruments, and they're an all-male group. Yes, there were [and still are] many male groups, but the way Mambazo performed was its own thing. It was music that emphasized the male voice [the bass, the tenor], with one person leading the performance, and the dancing they did was closer to traditional [Zulu, I think] dancing. They didn't borrow that much from the West with regard to the music and the way they danced. Now this is my own opinion, but initially I think they were intending to capture traditional dancing as it should be done by the males. That was their approach, and it took off in South Africa, and later the world. It is a credit to Paul Simon that he found the real thing to perform on his record [Graceland]." CHARLES MUDEDE

THE CATHETERS, RIVERBOAT GAMBLERS, LOPEZ, ELECTRIC EYE
(Ash, 225 SW Ash) Hot, hot, hot. This show is a total sausage party. It's wall-to-wall tight boys and rock music, which always gets them so excited. The Catheters are classic NW rock, with a spastic singer and a style that sounds like old school '70s acts like the NY Dolls. The Riverboat Gamblers are Texas punks whose music is quite like running around real fast, piss drunk, and on fire. Lopez and Electric Eye are both local fixtures in the hard rock scene. If you haven't already found them, they will find you. EE especially is on the fast track to ubiquity, running on the steam of their recent record of boogie garage music. MARJORIE SKINNER

MOUNTAIN GOATS, BAPTIST GENERALS, BRONWYN
(Berbati's, 231 SW Ankeny) See Music pg 15

DISCO D
(Ohm, 31 NW 1st, afterhours) Not just hinging his sets around DJ' Assault's ubiquitous "Ass 'n' Titties," Disco D's record collection is straight-select from Detroit (his city of origin, where he has worked with THEE ghettotech ingénue, Mr. De) and New York City (where he spins the successful monthly Booty Bar). Booty, ghettotech, nasty electro jams, lots of creepy guys trying to freak you and chicks shaking their "falsies" onstage characterized his last jaunt through PDX--the expected combo of slutty, raunch, bass throb, and grody creeps. Regardless, the beats are so worth it. JULIANNE SHEPHERD

UK SUBS, TOXIC NARCOTICS, THE ESCAPED
(Paris, 6 SW 3rd) You have to admire the UK Subs for their determination. They've been relentlessly touring since the '70s, they have a tribute album, yet they still play small venues. Maybe that's because, although relevant, their music is a little hard to care about if you're not one of their loyals. It's highly doubtful that they're converting anyone anymore, but it's nice that they come and visit. Plus the younger bucks of Toxic Narcotic have a lot more pep with their hardcore punkasses. MS

NWEAMO STARRING UNDER THE RADAR, NOMIG, OSIRIS INDRIYA, MORE
(Disjecta, 116 NE Russell) See MWBW pg 13

DECEMBERISTS VIDEO SCREENING; FAIRCHILD: CHIP MCCLURE, JEFF NIBLER, ROB NELSON
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) House night, preceded by a video screening of local folk-pop superstars the Decemberists? Yes. Perhaps it will tempt you more if you know the video is totally antebellum style; the closest you'll ever get to the Civil War, unless you're Nikolai Tesla. (And if you are: Yo Nikolai, I want my fucking limbs back. ) JS

SATURDAY 10/4

KARLA BONOFF, LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III
(Aladdin) Rufus Wainwright might be big buxx nowadays, but he ain't got nothin' on his poppi. Loudon is the son of Loudon S. Wainwright, Jr., a celebrated Life magazine writer, and he's also a direct descendent of colonial governor Peter Stuyvesant. After starting up a folk career in the folk-friendly '60s, and cutting a slew of brainy, humor-laden records in the '70s, Loudon scored a novelty hit with the song "Dead Skunk" in 1972. But best of all, he was on MASH! Yeah, he played "singing surgeon" Capt. Calvin Spalding on three episodes that went down in cameo history. Rufus, eat yer heart out. ADAM GNADE

JOHNNY CASH TRIBUTE NIGHT
(Ash Street) Johnny Cash had plenty of tribute nights dedicated to him before he even kicked. But there's something about a dead guy that lends more fervor to his songs. One of the awesome things about his catalogue is the diversity of personalities it appeals to (old people, young guns, hayseeds, urban rocker kids, Christians, criminals, farmers, cokeheads, etc.). So hopefully that will come into play tonight, with a healthy mix of styles and reinterpretations. Plus you get to bond with your peers over an old coot, which hasn't really happened since Dr. Atkins slipped and fell. MS

BLACK SHEEP, CLEVELAND STEAMERS, MADGESDIQ, LIBRETTO, DJ AERO
(Berbati's) Cleveland Steamers are pretty much summed up with the chorus of their track "Muse in the Music": "It's the muse in the music/it's a tool so I use it/to bring truth to confusion/some fools abuse it/producing an illusion." Consisting of local hiphop activist Mic Crenshaw (Hungry Mob) and emcee Gen.Erik, their explicit message is to take down those materialistic and community-destructive images built by the media, pop-rap artists, etc., AKA "rap clichés," as it were. DJ Aero guests on a couple of their tracks and will be stopping by after he works the decks at the Boom Boom Huck Jam Tour. JS

BROTHERHOOD OF THE ORANGE CONE, THE RECEDERS, PERFUME
(Conan's) The latest project from some of Portland's all-star weirdos and musicians, The Brotherhood Of The Orange Cone takes the eclecticism of their members' other projects, from the tragically, recently defunct Solo Dos En Tijuana to pirate rock, and extends it into what one of their verses describes as "being cold like an ice cube that tastes like rotting flesh in a glass of Old Crow." Or something like that. Translated, this means that they're acting sleazier now, and have taken on more of a '70s rock noise/Bowie influence. Plus, they're total costume whores. MS

F.S. BLUMM, GREG DAVIS, E*ROCK
(Holocene) This show will be bubblin' with kitten-cute sounds that bridge the ever-shrinking gap between electronica and indie rock. Take Chicago-based producer Greg Davis: His first album, Arbor (2002, Carpark), stands as an indietronica landmark, a swoonful marriage of wood and silicon. Over the disc's nine tracks, Davis weaves nostalgia-triggering snippets of splashing water, children's voices, and birdsong into a Sunday morning bliss-scape of meditative acoustic guitar, delicate digital signal processing, and complex beats. Germany's F. S. Blumm also shows a predilection for folky guitar motifs rambling over minimal electronic blips and clicks and organic percussion. Blumm's cheerfully sad music--all played in real time--inhabits intimate spaces of the heart, and will curl lo-fi indie rockers' toes as well as those of hardened IDMers. Portland multimedia magnate E*Rock (Eric Mast) creates organically grown IDM with guitarist/vocalist/flautist Colleen French. E*Rock's recent debut album, Conscious (Audio Dregs), crams odd and pretty sounds into compact spaces with charm and ingenuity. Like all the artists on this bill, E*Rock's music is more likely to inspire cuddling than dancing. DAVE SEGAL

BILLY TALENT, 800 OCTANE, FLASHLIGHT BROWN
(Meow Meow) Even if it's done ironically, you're kinda putting yourself out there by sticking the word "talent" in your name when you're fresh off the shelf. Especially when, as with Billy Talent, at best your band sounds like a second-rate At the Drive-In/pop-punk Faith No More scramble, and at worst your singer sounds like a cat caught in the garbage disposal. JENNIFER MAERZ

CROSS-EYED ROSIE
(Goodfoot, Stark & SE 30th) The allure of CER is...layered. They are a bit like the dorky wallflower in high school who turns out to be really hot at the reunion: you need to look past the surface to get it. At first listen, it's contemporary bluegrass. But do we detect a little bit of folk thrown in? A pinch of jazz? We're not entirely sure what's going on. But we do know that the CD release party for their new album Lookin' Up will be the only one in town featuring a fiddle and a mandolin. And there will be six very talented people up on stage for you to gawk at. So check it out, wallow in the three-part harmonies, take in some completely original tunes, and leave your overalls at home. J.B. RABIN

CHICKEN HAWK, STELLA MARIE, SUSIE BLUE, ROCK N' ROLL SOLDIERS
(Twilight Café, 1120 SE Powell) Houston, TX's Chicken Hawk combines somewhat atonal vocals, a drum machine, incredibly catchy melodies, and brilliant riffage (and it's all riffage) along the lines of M. Bolan's finest work. The math is tricky, but they're able to make it work--and they're only going to get better. LANCE WALKER

LAKE TROUT, HIGH VIOLETS, MELLOWDRONE
(Dante's) On Lake Trout's latest album, Another One Lost, they combine Radiohead's soaring melancholy and expansive guitarscapes with beats chubby 'n' choppy enough to please any Neptunes fan. Savvy bastards! DAVE SEGAL

SUNDAY 10/5

BOUNCING SOULS, TSUNAMI BOMB, STRIKE ANYWHERE, WANTED DEAD
(Crystal) See Music pg 15

TONY HAWK'S BOOM BOOM HUCKJAM TOUR
(Rose Garden) The Tony Hawk Boom Boom Huck Jam is a 12-year-old boy's dream. Extremo crazy skaters and BMXers and motocross dudes blasting over ramps and loop-de-loop flipper-a-rooing while the Anarchy Orchestra plays instrumental versions of "punk classics" in their darting shadows. But one thing them 12-year-olders might fail to notice: the line-up of athletes is a serious boys' club. Like dude, Tony, where are the ladies? When I saw the BBHJ in 2001, the only women in the house were selling beer and hotdogs. Not cool at all. ADAM GNADE

MONDAY 10/6

TURBONEGRO, POISON IDEA, AMULETT
(Aladdin) If it's black and can be easily wiped down with a sponge, wear it! Everyone's bouncing off the walls of town to see Turbonegro, those fruity, Scandinavian, death-obsessed, punk scamps, them. Plus there's the presence of the venerable, pickled Poison Idea, a respected fixture since the term "punk" was still just what the kids were saying those days. Actually, not really, but it sometimes seems like it. MS

MY MORNING JACKET, PATRICK PARK
(Barbati's) Refusing to choose between their personal indulgences (shameless boogie-rock jamming, gluttonous use of reverb) and their efforts at complex songwriting (flawless, Beach Boy sheen; graceful, evocative lyrics), the Kentucky-based band My Morning Jacket have hit the jackpot by infusing classic rock with an oceanic ambiance that seems as naturally progressive as it is startlingly beautiful. Any band that can count indie dorks and countrified hippies in its fan base is clearly doing something unprecedented--and overdue. HANNAH LEVIN

ENON, MENOMENA, VIVA VOCE, IRVING
(Crystal) Viva Voce's Lovers, Lead the Way! is a sweetly sung album that fronts with a big Oasis sound before revealing a shimmery, pop heart flecked with banjo, organ, and dulcimer, among other instruments. (Imagine a less sarcastic Quasi.) Even if I hadn't noticed Dave Trumfio's credit in Pine Marten's Beautifulstakesandpowerpoles notes, I would have liked it anyway; it's just that the former Pulsars leader's touch is golden when it comes to pop albums. (Think how Built to Spill's There's Nothing Wrong with Love might sound like if you left it in the sun for a couple of years.) KATHLEEN WILSON

THE SCARIES, A SMALL VICTORY
(Solid State) Bad pop-punk is running rampant; you can't even throw a brick into a Hot Topic these days without hitting a member of Good Charlotte. (By the way, I've actually tried this and found it to be true.) So, other than combating pop-punk overload with bricks in hand, the only solution to this audio plague is to support the few smart pop-punk bands that are out there. Take, for instance, Chapel Hill's The Scaries, a band who avoids the mall-punk genre by steering clear of the typical lyrical clichés, pick slides, and all those other Warped Tour stage maneuvers you've seen all too often. EZRA ACE CARAEFF

TUESDAY 10/7

RAEKWON, C-RAYZ WALZ, COOL NUTZ, LIBRETTO
(Aladdin) "My lines get all up in your ass/like your uncle's dick/Your chick said you're a little piece of wood stuck in her fingertip/little prick" has to be one of the cleverest brag/disses I've heard in awhile. It comes from C-Rayz Walz's "Guns and Butter," off his record Ravipops (Def Jux), a slab of expertly edited, near-minimal tracks. As a lyricist, C-Rayz (say, "See Raise Walls") is at that Zen point where his mastery of language makes his rhymes concise and, thusly, sick. Headlining is Raekwon, of Wu-Tang; Opening are Portland's own Cool Nutz and Libretto. JS

MIRA AROYO (LADYTRON), SAMUEL KIRKLAND, SUPPOZ
(Holocene) Mira Aroyo, singer from hyped electro-popsters Ladytron, spins a DJ set. While I'm not crazy about her band, Ladytron seems to be well versed in the history of new wave, so Aroyo could be pretty good. JS

MATES OF STATE, I AM THE WORLD TRADE CENTER, THE THERMALS
(Meow Meow) Aside from boasting the single most barftastic album title in the HISTORY OF MUSIC (Team Boo? Jesus H. Christ), married, sticky-sweet cutesters Mates of State have managed to improve upon the mess that was their second album, taking it back to the baroque organ, uber-catchy harmonic stuff that made My Solo Project such a fun album. Sorry for all the haterade, but it's fucking annoying when married people are shoving their awesome relationship in your face all the time. All I'm saying is, if you buy Team Boo, just black out all the artwork with a Sharpie before you even look at it. Trust me. JS

BILLY IDOL
(Roseland) Usually the sex-symbol-pop-star-turned-credible-rock-genius metamorphosis unfolds in that very order. But not for Billy Idol. Billy's first successful band, Generation X, made intelligent, amazingly well crafted punk rock. But then, in 1981, he consulted with some suits (namely KISS manager Bill Aucoin) and, under their guidance, created the Billy Idol character and sound. At least he's doing something in proper order, though: Billy's now playing the washed-up-stiff-from-hard-living-rockstar-riding-on-his-past-glories bit. But goddamn, there was some white-hot glory in said past. Underground hero, cash-in popstar or has-been, his hits are still hits, and mega ones at that. ADAM GNADE

WEDNESDAY 10/8

DJ VADIM STARRING EMCEE BLURUM 13 & DJ FIRST RATE, DIVERSE
(Holocene) Go early to check out Chicago emcee Diverse, whose 12" with Mos Def and Prefuse 73, "Wylin Out," showed him to be a skilled lyricist with a lot of promise. JS

QUEST, DJ T-ROCK, SHORTFUSE, DAVE PAUL, BILLY JAM, BAVU BLAKES
(Berbati's) The Netherlands-residing DJ Quest plays high-energy house music that will truly get your booty-thang shakin', girlfriend. Hosted by Austin superstar emcee Bavu Blakes. Peace. JWS