THURSDAY 10/9

LIGHTNING BOLT, GET HUSTLE, JAPANESE KARAOKE AFTERLIFE EXPERIMENT, LAZY MAGNET
(Million, 120 N Russell) Lightning Bolt shows are intensely satisfying, like having a rigorous pilates session or getting mad colonics (sorry if that was TMI). The Providence duo actually delivers on its promise--a consistent, physically exhausting, unrelenting barrage of heavy-heavy noise that's played with equal respect for volume, art, and skill. Perhaps this is why they're essentially the flagship band for contemporary avant guitar noise (or whatever you wanna call it), and why, even in the most experimental of genres, artistic maturity super counts. That said, Japanese Karaoke Afterlife Experiment sounds like a robot malfunction, and that's pretty cool, too. JULIANNE SHEPHERD

DUTCH FLAT, RIZZUDO, PLANS VS. THE SEA
(Ash Street, 225 SW Ash) Rizzudo combines a bevy of influences to create intensely varied, intensely played virtually vocal-free rock. Some songs are frantic instrumentals, others use sound effects and shiny happy tunes, ending up sounding like video game pop. So even if you don't like one song, wait for the next. KATIE SHIMER

TIMONIUM, MARS ACCELERATOR,

WOW & FLUTTER
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) For those who like getting lost all up in the gossamer, Timonium has been playing wistful, atmospheric guitar jams since 1993. What separates this California band and all the Mogwai wannabes is their electronic steez and ambient lady vox, to augment the shoegazing. Or is that stargazing? Awww. JS

BENEFIT FOR ALEJANDRO ESCOVEDO
(Aladdin, 3017 SE Milwaukie) A musical bridesmaid, but never a bride, Alejandro Escovedo has done his time in numerous highly influential bands of various genres (punk/rockabilly/country), but never experienced the popularity he so rightly deserves. Now diagnosed with Hepatitis C (which has reached near-plague status among older musicians boasting once-reckless pasts), Escovedo has been unable to stay active with his typical workhorse tour schedule. This leads to a benefit show in his honor, one of about a dozen others going on in various cities at this time. It's touching to see Escovedo's influence, one that has crossed so many musical boundaries, spawn a following that is willing to go the extra mile on his behalf. EZRA ACE CARAEFF

ELECTRIC EEL SHOCK, ARLO, DRESSY BESSY
(Berbati's, 231 SE Ankeny) Dressy Bessy plays smiley-faced, harmony-drenched female-fronted pop, the kind that inspires pseudo-poetic critics to gush, "this sounds like summer." On this bill, however, violent storms appear abruptly, with no rainbow at the end of the torrent. Arlo crafts sharp, shiny hooks, then either polishes them to a melodic shine or uses them to cut its compositions to bloody ribbons. Electric Eel Shock pumps up the volume and voltage, scorching spectators with searing garage-thrash heat. ANDREW MILLER

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE, MILLIONAIRE, THE DISTILLERS
(Crystal, 1332 W Burnside) I ain't no hesher, not fuckin' at all, BUT... I L-O-V-E Kyuss... they sounded EXACTLY like Sabbath circa Masters Of Reality LP! DAMN... ANYWAY, but Queens? I guess I'm still trying to GET them... after all, they DO kinda sound like Kyuss... Iron Maiden, NU-emo, and Alice in Chains. Uh, so...I guess QotSA "rock," but their formula reminds me of those idiot grunge/nu-metal morons who have four-foot-long, braided goatees (like one of them Queens' got!) and STUPID "Jane's Addiction/Mother Love Bone" felt Dr. Seuss hats... and that's just FUCKED! MIKE NIPPER

FRIDAY 10/10

THE EPOXIES, GREEN CIRCLES, LITTLE KILLERS, THE MINDS
(Berbati's) Captain Eno synthesizers and a ruling principle of bouncing pop make the Epoxies seriously retro. They would fit right in on the soundtrack to any number of '80s movies in which punk kids still danced around at the popular kids' parties. It's definitely part of the electro-punk action that's been going around, except thankfully it's driven by guitar-given structure and songwriting instead of gimmicky antics. Roxy Epoxy has that great catch in the back of her throat that makes everything seem passionate, even though they sound like a distillation of so many who have gone before. But they're good at knowing what you want and giving it to you, unlike three quarters of the guys I sleep with. MARJORIE SKINNER

GHETTO BLASTER
(Icon, 125 NW Davis) See MWBW pg 23

WOKE UP FALLING, OLIVER, DESERT CITY SOUNDTRACK, KISSING TIGERS
(Nocturnal, 1800 E Burnside) While Desert City Sountrack's newest release, Funeral Car (Deep Elm) has some unwelcomingly whiney songs that bring to mind every whiney Portland band I've heard over the last five years, they still manage to kick ass on songs like "Drawn and Quartered," where the screaming levels reach gut wrenching. There is a lot of piano on this new record, which seems fitting considering the title is Funeral Car, and it makes the music feel cathartic, but also in some instances, hyper-dramatic. That's sort of Desert City's thing though, and if you were a fan before, I certainly don't think you'll disown them. KS

DEKE DICKERSON & THE ECCO FONICS, THE ROY KAY TRIO, LISA & HER KIN, REEL DJ MURPHY
(Conan's, 3862 SE Hawthorne) Hmmm, I kinda figger the double Dee might oughta be considered the reigning king of ROCK. Like, if ROCK was dirty, dirty porno, he'd be the money shot, the pay OFF, you know... and who wouldn't want Deke shot across their titties, ass crack or face!?!? Fucking CUM ON, he's gotta be the king! Like, he can do it ALL... country, garage, frat, surf... ROCKABILLY!!! See, keepin' with the porno reference, he's kinda like John Holmes, well... sorta, instead of having a ding ding too big to get fully hard, the double Dee plays guitar and... uh, is still breathing!? Then there's also his trick of drinkin' an entire, full beer without using his hands. Forget about Top Jimmy, the double Dee is KING! MN

MARK FARINA, D-LYTE, MADINA
(Ohm, 31 NW 1st) The much-loved Mark Farina is promoting his quirky Latin/pop/house disc Air Farina (apt title, as he's become a brand name listeners can trust). The linchpin of S.F. dance powerhouse Om Records, Farina has pleasured hundreds of thousands of folks with his buttah-smooth Mushroom Jazz mix series. His bonged-up, feelgood vibes will surely fill the joint with smiling and profiling fans. DAVE SEGAL

GORKY'S ZYGOTIC MYNCI, KINGSBURY MANX, VIVA VOCE
(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) Gorky's Zygotic Mynci's name, in addition to being less than catchy, carries unflattering buyer-beware snake-oil connotations. It boasts several vocalists, none of which sings especially well. And its lyricists produce frighteningly fruity couplets such as Christina/I saw you in a magazine-a. Amazingly, this pop-exotica outfit overcomes these obstacles. Seemingly pieced together from snippets of several gorgeous songs, its elaborate tunes sound like overtures for some pristine piano-pop production. ANDREW MILLER

JUNIOR PRIVATE DETECTIVE, SYSTEM & STATION, RM. 101
(Ash Street) Junior Private Detective reside in a creaky-old house whose walls have absorbed the musical genius of individuals like Elliott Smith and the schizophrenic Cat Power, having been the former home of Laundry Rules Studios. Socks disappear, and random items misplace themselves amongst post-mortem activity in this place. The ghostly presence of their practice space presents itself in their music, combining the edge of calculated riff wattage with the eerie essence of new-wave sadness. Tonight they celebrate the release of their record, Square, alongside the emo-centric System and Station, and Room 101. KEVIN O'CONNOR

SOME GIRLS, THE PIECES, JAKE BRENNEN
(Aladdin) Alright, don't get excited. This isn't the much-discussed hardcore super-group featuring dudes from American Nightmare, The Locust, and Tristeza. Sorry. This Some Girls is Julianna Hatfield's Some Girls, and we all know the best thing JH ever did was guest star on My So-Called Life as a guitar-strumming angel sent from heaven to help poor heathenic Claire Danes be less of a grunge-trainwreck. Yeah, the Christmas episode. Remember that one? She sang a folk song, and brought a little spirituality to the bleak Chase household. Ah, Christmas, time of miracles. ADAM GNADE

SATURDAY 10/11

CAROL'S CHUMP, DEMORALIZER, DEL TOROS
(Twilight, 1420 SE Powell) The Del Toros got rock action. No bull! A solid, punchy rhythm section, some crunchy-ass guitar riffage, and vocals that are sometimes sweet and cute, sometimes shrieking and sinister. These ladies trade the halos for the horns in the blink of an eye, so don't turn your back. Later, if you think haahd coaahh is just for the anal-retentive and the sullen, let the gleefully epileptic jokers of Demoralizer disabuse you of that. And don't miss the semi-annual appearance of Carol's Chump, an off-kilter bunch of hams who like to pour on the honey real thick. ROLAND COUTURE

HELLA, QUASI, NOTE NOTAS
(Dante's) So I was kinda getting worried about Sacto guitar-drum brain-spinnas Hella, because A. where does a young band progress when they're so amazing out of the gate, and B. how do you refine an already refined sound. Also, are they just technically proficient (which doesn't always equal good musicianship)? But then I heard Total Bugs Bunny on Wild Bass (Narnack), and the answer was revealed. Yes, they're two slabs of manic genius; yes, they can refine (by minimizing) and yes, they can progress (by programming creepy pixel-noises and drum solos to sound like the sproinged guts of Dig Dug). The track "Post-Ivy League Depression" is like, futurist d'n'bÉ man. INSANE. Also with Note Notas--the new project of Sean Croghan--and Quasi, who you know. JS

CORESAMPLE SATELLITE: PORTLAND VAMPIRES, SENSUALISTS, DJ ZAC LOVE, CATCH 22
(Holocene Satellite, 939 SE Alder) Time to take a break from all that art-gazing (see Feature pg 9) with a drink of the sweet soda fizz of the Sensualists electro pop. Or a tug from a flask of Jim Beam, whichever you prefer. And once you're wasted (or high on sugar) show those artys a bit of performance by aerobicizing to DJ Zac Love. KS

DISCO FOR CHOICE STARRING DJ GREGARIOUS
(Melody Ballroom) I don't know how you made it through school, but I'll bet that Planned Parenthood has touched your life with some significance. There are so many things to get huffy over when you realize not only the threat that's being aimed at reproductive rights, but the outright disregard for women's health--but c'mon, it is Saturday night. So DJ Gregarious is going to spin some dance tunes like he does for all the kids at Lola's, and all you have to do is have fun and try not to think about gross injustice. God DAMN IT!!! MS

MY CHEMICAL ROMANCE, A STATIC LULLABY, VAUX, CHRISTIANSEN
(Meow Meow) More proof that everything runs in cycles--Christiansen sounds like Jane's Addiction as interpreted by early Sense Field. AKA emo/grunge. This is nothing surprising; what is surprising is that I am kind of into it. Is Christiansen on some serious zeitgeist shit? Or is it just that their drummer's pretty good, and their awkward yet well intentioned lyrical commentary is charming (i.e. "Bliss ignorance dwells inside the bliss till the sound of a gun, the leg of a duck")? What the hell is going on? JS

HERBIE HANCOCK TRIBUTE
(Fez) While I will fully admit to having listened to Head Hunters about ten times this week ("Vein Melter" is a great rhythm track when mixed with Aesop Rock's "Coma" instrumental on 45, FYI), I do think it is quite a task to take on Herbie's steez, and would require some giant cojones and a whole lot of talent. Luckily, this night is full of both--check out the jazzy funkiness of it all. JS

GET HUSTLE, YOUNG PEOPLE, SILVER PALM
(Million) Some of the most crystalline, sweet music comes from NYC trio Young People, whose second full-length, War Prayers, was just released on Dim Mak. Vocalist Katie Eastburn's incredibly clear, pure melodies and trills set the tone, so drummer Jarrett Silberman and guitarist Jeff Rosenberg can pretty much do whatever they want--get minimal, get maximal, interpret, reinvent, each concise song is a tiny surprise. It's refreshing to hear tunes that are explicitly artistic by nature, but don't work in overtime to express their otherness. (Dude, you can be arty and make pretty music--imagine the possibilities.) JS

BURNING IN WATER, RAILER, RACINE
(Tonic) Michigan's Burning in Water has finished recording their CD in town with Portland's notorious Larry Crane. Here's your chance to see their progressive, wall of sound rock, then compare it to the CD, then decide whether you want to throw down the dough so Larry can record your CD. KS

SUNDAY 10/12

LONGWAVE, CALLA, MU MESON
(Berbati's) One of the side effects to Interpol's popularity/ appeal is that all these really moody, boring indie rock bands have come along, toting all of the ennui but none of the hooks. Longwave and Calla enjoy popularity in the weird ether that is "low-tier, niche-market major label" (yes, Calla's on an indie, but still operates on that level). They are, quite simply, two of the most vampirically boring indie rock guitar acts performing today--bands making rote riffage, whose only clear motivation is their lack of anything better to do. JS

GILLIAN WELCH
(Crystal) "You wanna do right, just not right now," Gillian Welch sings on the opening song, "Look at Miss Ohio," from her latest, Soul Journey. It sounds like her--the melancholic molasses delivery, the acoustic-guitar shuffle, a sorrowful undertow to well-turned words. But unlike the bare-bones approach of two guitars and occasional banjo on Time (The Revelator), drums kick in a quarter of the way into the song. It hints at the departures she takes on the record. Soul Journey adds not only drums but also organ, fiddle, bass, and Dobro to a handful of its songs. The rhythm section harks back to mid-'70s Dylan like Blood on the Tracks and Desire, with a shambling live feel. NATE LIPPENS

SHADOWS FALL, HIMSA, THESE ARMS ARE SNAKES, THIS DAY FORWARD
(Meow Meow) On their recent killer, Courting Tragedy and Disaster, Himsa's dark metal instrumentation is ribbed with jagged spikes and rusted edges, and their sharp, thrashing guitar riffs are enough to draw blood. The Seattle band's dense sound is coupled with gruff, demonic vocals that reign over the chaos like a human thunderstorm breaking over a hurricane, pulling you into the eye of their stormy sound and then pummeling you with the beats. Overall, a very intense affair, tightly packaged to knock you on your ass. JENNIFER MAERZ

BANDS AGAINST BUSH
(Liberty Hall) See Music pg 25

MONDAY 10/13 "The doo rags are back/ fitted hats/ snorkels and furs/ Riker's Island busses still packed, what's the word/ the drinkers stay drinkin', and puffin' they herb and I'm/still enjoying life's ride/ride."

TUESDAY 10/14

SICK OF IT ALL, THE UNSEEN, AVENGED SEVENFOLD, WESTERN WASTE, GLASSEATER
(Roseland) Sick of it All shows prove that even in the anti-everything world of hardcore punk, odes to unassailable virtues such as friendship, brotherhood and unity have a place. The musical equivalent of a tearjerker about a dying football player, these concerts inevitably becoming hearty-hug-filled big-guy-bonding rallies. The New York crew tackles weighty issues--racism, sexual assault, and the criminal justice system, to name a few--but it also crafts enough inspirational slogans to stock a self-help shelf. ANDREW MILLER

EDWARD KA-SPEL, COVEN OF ONE
(Berbati's) Having won the lifelong devotion of seemingly every boot-clad college kid who ever sat cross-legged in a giant waft of pot smoke while a Legendary Pink Dots record span, Edward Ka-Spel is practically a deity. And a poet, a monster, and one of the most prolific musicians of our time. His music is full of intelligent, experimental machinations and inky darkness, but it's beautiful and complex and the man is almost certainly a genius, if a demented, unhappy one. This show is going to be heavy. MS

WEDNESDAY 10/15

SAVES THE DAY, TAKING BACK SUNDAY,

MONEEN
(Crystal) Saves the Day has changed. A lot. No longer that lil' Lifetime cover band, or the emo-pop crossover band de jour, now STD (ouch--not the kindest abbreviation for a band that writes all its songs about girls) has reinvented itself in a huge way for their Dreamworks debut, In Reverie. They sound like a bunch of kids who, after a youth of punk rock, discovered pot and SuperSaver™-priced Beatles CDs. The results are not too impressive. While I want to give them a hearty pat on the back for outgrowing the emo gutter, I also want to box their ears for making such a over-polished and shallow record. In Reverie is a cry for help from a directionless band--one that's willing to change, but not sure how to actually go about doing it. EAC

PHOENECIA, RICHARD DEVINE, OTTO VON SCHIRACH, NICK FORTE, DJ AURA
(Holocene) At Otto Von Schirach's last Portland performance, he flashed a nasty gold tooth, inexplicably removed only one of his checkered Vans and, over a spread of massacred beats, chanted "IDM." "IDM" are three of the most innocuously paired letters in the English language, but when Otto said them in his creepily ornery Florida brogue, they sounded like a threat. The man is amazing--Miami embodied in a single human being. JS See Music pg 27

LUV JONZ
(Ohm) See Music pg 27