THURSDAY 8/11

CROOKED FINGERS, DOLOREAN, MATT BROWN
(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) See My, What a Busy Week! pg 27

DEAD SCIENCE, EMMA ZUNZ
(Towne Lounge, 714 SW 20th Place) See My, What a Busy Week! pg 27

SOPHIE B. HAWKINS, PAT MACDONALD
(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) My friend Marie tells me Sophie's "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover" is her favorite "dyke anthem." My aesthetic sense tells me the video for Sophie's "As I Lay Me Down" is the worst, most laughably faux sexy thing to sweep VH1 since "Livin' La Vida Loca." (Especially when she suddenly appears on camera wearing a cowboy hat and a cattle rancher's coat, puffing a GIANT cigar with an awkward, forced sultry, come hither stare in turn coming off like the fat Robert Plant. In drag. On downers. At a rodeo.) My guilty conscience, however, knows that if either song came on the radio right now, I would sing along and loud. Side-note: Soph wins the GROSSEST ALBUM TITLE EVER award for 1992's Tongues and Tails. Ewww! ADAM GNADE

NO-FI SOUL REBELLION, PANTHER
(Berbati's Pan, 10 SW 3rd) Hailing from Bellingham, WA, the married duo of Mark and Andrea Heimer make up No-Fi Soul Rebellion—an iPod-retrofitted white soul band in the tradition of the Make-Up and Jon Spencer. It breaks down like this: Mark jams out all of the instruments at home, slaps it onto an MP3 player that's embedded into the body of Andrea's otherwise useless guitar, and the two of them use all the time that they would otherwise spend tuning to totally dominate the audience. Sure, it's not high art (we'll leave that to Panther), but the last time that I saw them, they had an audience full of excited teenagers anxiously following them out into the parking lot. That's got to count for something. ZAC PENNINGTON

SKY SAXON & THE SEEDS, WOOLY BANDITS, MONEY CHANGERS, LADY KILLERS
(Sabala's Mt Tabor, 4811 SE Hawthorne) See Music, pg 31

FRIDAY 8/12

RYAN ADAMS & THE CARDINALS, JESSE MALIN
(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) See Music, pg 29

BITE OF OREGON FEATURING VIOLENT FEMMES, DECEMBERISTS, THE KINGDOM, DERBY, AND MANY MORE
(Tom McCall Waterfront Park) See My, What a Busy Week! pg 27

HELSING JUNCTION SLEEPOVER FEATURING CALVIN JOHNSON, MOUNT EERIE, THE BLOW, EMMA ZUNZ, REBECCA PEARCY, AND MANY MORE
(Helsing Junction Farm) See It's Who You Know, page 37

HEAD OF FEMUR, THE SPINTO BAND, DEVIN DAVIS
(Loveland, 320 SE 2nd) For those who've had the good fortune to hear Head of Femur's latest record, Hysterical Stars, you already know that the eight-strong band conjure up some panoramic indierock, with the baroque stylings and multiple harmonies as an added bonus. Not self-consciously quirky, but marked by everything from horns to snippets of antique electronics, the band make for a fine display of how to make chaos work. It's all a huge mishmash of color, urgency, and vibrancy, with some breathless vocals swooping in to offer up the possibility of hope. JON PRUETT

KILLSWITCH ENGAGE, AS I LAY DYING, SOILWORK
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) Killswitch Engage is a double bass drum kicking, nerdo-technical vis-a-vis psycho-brutal, metallic hardcore slug to the skull. Self-described "standard-bearers for generation heavy" (what does that even mean?) are still touring behind last year's The End of Heartache, a tangled mass of speed riffing, Mike Tyson punchout bass (i.e. butta butta butta BAP!) and screamy singy screams. (Say THAT ten times fast.) Part of said tour goes down at this year's Ozzfest. Last time I went to Ozzfest the heshers actually SET THE LAWN SEATING SECTION ON FIRE and danced around it like pagans. And that was BETWEEN SETS. Generation heavy, indeed. AG

MAN OF THE YEAR, VILLAGE GREEN, THE JOLENES
(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) Man Of The Year received such extensive hype for their inconsistent 2000 debut, The Future Is Not Now, that by the time they released the vastly superior A New and Greater Tokyo in 2004, it's understandable why many had dismissed the band as mere teen-dramapop. However, Tokyo is such a brave and beautiful step forward that I would encourage anyone who has yet to hear this golden slice of pop perfection, coupling the buoyant teenage abandon of Ash with the wall of sound guitar heroics of Weezer and Oasis, to please come out and rediscover this band. Not since Nada Surf's Let Go or The Flaming Lips dosed their drum machine on The Soft Bulletin has a band, mid-career, made such a dramatic improvement, crafting a sound that is at once radio-ready and thoroughly un-sucky. KIP BERMAN

MEGA-FEST FEATURING MISS PUSSYCAT, FLOSSIE & THE UNICORNS, VLADIMIR, OVAL LAVO, DJ WHITESHEIK
(Dunes, 1905 NE MLK) It can be barf-inducing when indie kids cop to a kitschy talent they don't actually possess (Double Duchess anyone? Can we sic some nine-year-old Brooklyn-ite jump ropers on these klutzes?), and market it as the indie/alt version, further cheapening whatever quality control is associated with that bumbling culture. Miss Pussycat at least did not pick up puppetry at the age of 22 because she thought it would go with her collection of vintage aprons, but has been studying it for years, melding her colorful interpretations with minimalist electro music (and most famously collaborating with Quintron, though she's solo tonight). Also playing is her creepy, cracked out kiddy pop band Flossie & The Unicorns and the event features the breathtaking ViewMaster art of Vladimir. At the very least, this fest should be mega amusing. MARJORIE SKINNER

PICKATHON FEATURING HACIENDA BROTHERS, TRACY GRAMMER, JACKSTRAW, DICKEL BROTHERS, AND MORE
(Pudding River, Woodburn) The annual Pickathon has a dozen-plus bands filling the stage with the region's best fiddlers, steel guitar players, and banjo pickers. If you always thought that Pickathon is a bunch of hippies foot stomping to toothless single-string wash-drum players, well... um... well, you're not completely wrong! That's only one subset of the two-day festival: The Hacienda Brothers are tie-me-up, tie-me-down cowboys that sing with Johnny Cash's plaintive growls; Be Good Tonyas are an adorable trio that spins a backdrop of old time jazz; and, of course, there are the trustworthy standbys, from Jolie Holland, Jackstraw, and Dirty Martini to the fun-time Foghorn Stringband. This is the weekend to pack up your sleeping bag, your tent, and head south. PHIL BUSSE

STRENGTH, DEAD HENSONS, NIGHT AFTER NIGHT
(Berbati's Pan, 10 SW 3rd) See My, What a Busy Week! pg 27

SATURDAY 8/13

BITE OF OREGON FEATURING LITTLE RICHARD, THE DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND, AND MANY MORE
(Tom McCall Waterfront Park) See My, What a Busy Week! pg 27

GET HUSTLE, THE BETTER TO SEE YOU WITH, ATHLETIC AUTOMATON
(Hotel, 503 W Burnside) Longstanding party favorites Get Hustle tend to excel in cramped, crowded environments, so the seedy upstairs flophouse scene of the mysteriously proprietored Hotel space is an ideal situation in which to take a look see. Expect chaotic, crumbling music that oscillates between punk and lounge, overlain with coolly tossed off vocals via drama princess singer Valentine. Joining them are pals Athletic Automaton, who pair their proficient middleweight guitar driven rock wanking with athletic tube socks. MS

THE FUTURE IS DUST, PULSE EMITTER, THE SUNKEN, BROKEN WARNING MACHINE, CORE OF THE COALMAN 
(Slabtown, 1033 NW 16th) For noise artists, arranging particular sounds in a thematic, emotive order is not as easy a task as one may think. In this case,  the Future is Dust excels—with varied chords, insect-like pretty banging sounds, sparse spaces, and ambient garbled pitches. He's not necessarily loud for loud's-sake—concentrating more on his gorgeous and textured dream like songs. Pulse Emitter produces ambient songs using his modular synth, field recordings, and circuitry he knows so well that he can explain exactly which soldering connections are loose. AMY VECCHIONE 

ALISON KRAUSS & UNION STATION
(Les Schwab Amphitheater, Bend) Word on the street (AKA: me lying) is Sufjan Stevens' song "Alison Krauss Totally Fuggin' OWNS Illinois" just barely missed the cut for his NPR/Pitchforkmedia.com acclaimed Illinois. But no matter; ever since Alison won the illustrious Illinois State Fiddle Championship at the age of 12 she's been bluegrass' untouchable, unsinkable, golden child. While Alison may not play as dirty as purists might like, she's done more for the genre (I almost typed "sport." Ha!) than just about anybody—and brought it further into the mainstream by lending her dewy, fresh-picked, farm-ripe voice to the Cold Mountain soundtrack. Union Station is her tight, albeit anonymous backing band. Think they ever get jealous? AG

ODDISEE, MEDIAN, THE FABULOUS SATURDAYS
(Berbati's Pan, 10 SW 3rd) Furthering its status as Portland's place for arty hiphop, Berbati's presents soul-jazzy up-and-comer Oddisee, who's produced tracks with the likes of Talib Kweli, Gary Shider of Parliament, and best of all, DJ Jazzy Jeff. His new album with New York's Halftooth Records (home to artists Wordsworth and Kenn Starr), Oddisee Instrumental Mixtape—Volume 1, appears to be his debut. Not a lot of info is available on the guy, but the tracks we've heard sound mellow and groovy. JUSTIN WESCOAT SANDERS

PELICAN, BIG BUSINESS, RED SPAROWES
(Sabala's Mt Tabor, 4811 SE Hawthorne) See Music, pg 31

PICKATHON FEATURING BE GOOD TANYAS, JOLIE HOLLAND, CROOKED JADES, AND MORE
(Pudding River, Woodburn) See Friday's Listing.

JIM WHITE, JOHN VECCHIARELLI
(Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside) See Music, pg 29

SUNDAY 8/14

CKY, FIREBALL MINISTRY, THE KNIVES
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) Leave it to a hard rock band to realize the religious power of rock 'n' roll and name themselves thusly. Fireball Ministry play a feverous mix of heavy metal and stoner rock that lands somewhere between early Queens of the Stone Age and Sabbath's more straightforward moments. They nicknamed their singer "the Reverend" for a reason. JENNIFER MAERZ

MONDAY 8/15

BETH DITTO BENEFIT FEATURING SARAH DOUGHER, DIE MONITR BATSS, SELECTOR DUB NARCOTIC, MORE
(Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week! pg 27

SKELETONS & THE GIRL-FACED BOYS, FA SHE MELLO, THE GENTRY
(Berbati's Pan, 10 SW 3rd) Skeletons is one man: Matt Mehlan, an electronically oriented bloop-bleeper capable of making pretty damn soulful beats out of digital nothingness. Now he has a backup band, the Girl-Faced Boys, who flesh his sound out with stunning success on the new album Git—out on the similarly spook-themed Ghostly International. Their weird, airy avant-pop sounds simultaneously like a throwback to finger-snapping '70s funk and a garbled attempt at communication from aliens on Pluto. JWS

STATIC-X, AMERICAN HEAD CHARGE, BLOOD SIMPLE, 10 YEARS
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) In January of this year, now-former Static-X guitarist Tripp Eisen (born with the equally ridiculous name Tod Rex Salvador) was arrested for the kidnapping and statutory rape of a 14-year-old Pennsylvania girl he met over the internet. A month later, dude gets arrested again in Orange County, were he was found sleeping in a parked car with another 14-year-old, with whom he also reportedly had sex. More bizarre still, Tripp (who recently turned 40) was reportedly trolling for teenage girls under the guise that he was a Tripp Eisen impersonator—a ridiculous charade even a 14-year-old Static-X fan could see through. Not that this has anything really to do with Static-X directly, of course—the aging Nu-Metalists have enough problems, what with no one giving a shit about their band for the better part of a decade—but you sorta have to question the character of a band who can spend years on a tour bus with an alleged pedophile and not notice that the guy's groupies are all wearing footie pajamas. ZP

THE UNDOING OF DAVID WRIGHT,EMPTY ROOM, HUMAN GENOME PROJECT
(Sabala's Mt Tabor, 4811 SE Hawthorne) Hailing from Denton, TX, the Undoing of David Wright name-check the Birthday Party, Oingo Boingo, and Bauhaus as specific reference points—ensuring that their influences span "several decades of musical history," and thus making the band "impossible" to pin down. Add to that a theatrical flair lifted directly for "several decades" of glam and goths alike, and you've got a pretty clear idea just how pretentious the David Wright shtick is. The sound is something of a post-industrial stab at dance punk—the sort of thing that wouldn't have felt too out of place opening for Nine Inch Nails in the early '90s. Oh, and did I mention that it's actually pretty good? ZP

TUESDAY 8/16

KID 606, KNIFEHAND CHOP, EATS TAPES, E*ROCK
(Loveland, 320 SE 2nd) Another year, another manic Tigerbeat6 Paws Across America tour. New T6 beat-manglers Eats Tapes' Sticky Buttons sounds like a 1995 rave as heard through an acid-saturated sensorium—all mad squelches, equilibrium-subverting bleeps, and pupil-dilating 4/4 beats. Toronto's Knifehand chop applies a candied glaze on early-'90s hardcore breakbeat (the raw, wild precursor to jungle) and ragga on his 2004 debut album How I Left You. Like some of µ-Ziq's work, Knifehand chop's tracks often zip around like a sugared-up kid and sometimes leave your teeth aching. DAVE SEGAL

SKELETON KEY, DEGENERATE ART ENSEMBLE, ROARING LIONS
(Dante's, 1 SW 3rd) A rare treat from oft-incredible Degenerate Art Ensemble—a Seattle jazz-punk band that seems to play more often in Europe than they do in our own country. Relatively fresh off of another recent, paired-down Euro romp, the band visits for a show with beloved New York "junk rock" quartet Skeleton Key. ZP

THE PLANET THE, BAD DUDES, HUSTLER WHITE
(Towne Lounge, 714 SW 20th Place) The Los Angeles band Bad Dudes are some pretty goddamn badass dudes, making zany, layered schizo stop-and-start songs that command your attention. They use spacey computer noises, mathy song constructions, a vocoder, and tons of that thing called ingenuity—much unlike a lot of bands from LA. This show is an awesome line-up with the keyboard-backed screams of Hustler White, and the wily, sweaty theatrics of The Planet The. Don't miss the show everybody will be talking about on Wednesday. KATIE SHIMER

WEDNESDAY 8/17

COLDPLAY, BLACK MOUNTAIN
(Clark County Amphitheater, Ridgefield, WA) See My, What a Busy Week! pg 27

LIZ PHAIR, MAT KEARNEY
(Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside) See Music, pg 29