THURSDAY 8/25

OREGON ROCKS: URAL THOMAS, THE KINGSMEN, PIERCED ARROWS, QUASI, DJ HWY 7
(Oregon Historical Society, 1200 SW Park) Read our article on Oregon Rocks.

LUKE SOLOMON, BRYAN ZENTZ, THE PERFECT CYN, CHRIS FIRENZE
(Groove Suite, 440 NW Glisan) Read our article on Luke Solomon.

THE DECEMBERISTS, OKKERVIL RIVER, POINT JUNCTURE WA
(Edgefield, 2126 SW Halsey, Troutdale) Two years. That's the word around the water cooler, at least. The Decemberists, riding high as kites upon the much-deserved success of their masterful The King Is Dead, are on the precipice of a hiatus that is rumored to stretch—Mayan Apocalypse pending—well into 2013. It'll be a lengthy respite, since never in their history have the Decemberists been as relevant—and just plain good—as they are right this very moment. Joining them for this two-night (temporary) farewell are the marvelous Okkervil River, who, despite overreaching on the unnecessarily dense I Am Very Far, are still one of the finest domestic bands of the past decade. Since I'm already making bold claims: Point Juncture, WA's Handsome Orders is the best record of 2011 that you have not heard. EZRA ACE CARAEFF

GRASS WIDOW, BLOOD BEACH, XDS, NATURE
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) The A-side of new single from Bay Area trio Grass Widow is called "Milo Minute" and it's one of those puzzling, intriguing songs that sounds both lush and jagged, both languid and peppy. All three members—guitarist Raven Mahon, bassist Hannah Lew, drummer Lillian Maring—play with speed and intricacy, resulting in a fresh tangle of sound that gets feet quickly tapping. But the sighing, layered vocals soothe rather than agitate, and the end result is a song so interesting that you'll need to listen to it about 10 times in a row before you're able to think about anything else. In the video for "Milo Minute," the trio plays for an audience of gorillas at Boston's Franklin Park Zoo, no doubt atoning for all the terrible atrocities in Kevin James' Zookeeper, which also took place at Franklin Park. "Milo Minute" is the first in a batch of new singles from Grass Widow; an upcoming split with Portland band Nature—also playing tonight—is in the works. NED LANNAMANN

INTUITIVE NAVIGATION: GOLDEN RETRIEVER, SWAHILI, MIDDAY VEIL, BILLIONS AND BILLIONS, BLACK SCIENCE
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Holocene gets dressed up as an empyrean dream world tonight for Redefine magazine's Intuitive Navigation, a cross-disciplinary indulgence of film, music, dance, wearable sculpture, and art installation. Intended to facilitate a self-reflective state of meditation for the attendee, expect ritualistic performance art and hypnotic stimuli galore. The event will be soundtracked by some of the Northwest's most prismatic artists, who will perform in costume along with visual artists and dancers to enhance the immersive experience. Take special note of the evening's headliner, Portland's best bet for trance-induction: the soporifically zonked Golden Retriever. CHRIS CANTINO

GRAVE BABIES, FEVER, PERPETUAL RITUAL
(East End, 203 SE Grand) If the phrase "enthusiastic nihilism" seems contradictory, give a listen to Seattle noisemakers Grave Babies. Building on the blurry appeal established by 2009's Deathface (which continues to make waves in independent markets in Japan and Europe), the quartet, anchored by Danny Wahlfeldt's lyrics and unique aesthetic, are embarking on their first domestic tour in support of their new 7-inch from Hardly Art. Title track "Pleasures" is rooted in a classic pop sensibility almost smothered by gleeful distortion, while the B-side, "Deathwish," takes a spookier turn and a heavier hand with the reverb pedal, showing the gloomy underbelly of a band thoroughly dismayed with the state of affairs, yet still interested, as their new single's title suggests, in pursuing the finer things in life as they drift toward doom. MARANDA BISH

FUCKING LESBIAN BITCHES, STREET EATERS, THE MISHAPS
(The Saratoga, 6910 N Interstate) Berserkely rock and roll duo Street Eaters are ferocious yet gentle, bringing the best qualities of K Records and the Bay Area together in one compact little package. On their debut full-length Rusty Eyes and Hydrocarbons, Johnny No and Megan March deliver sweet (but not overly precious) boy/girl vocals over ominous, sinewy guitars and clangy drums. Need proof? "Nation Builder" packs four decades of rock music into four moody minutes. Live, these kids have shared the stage with punk bands, metal bands, and every other type of music that lurks on the outskirts. MARK LORE

MARES OF THRACE, SEI HEXE, NATUR
(Plan B, 1305 SE 8th) Thérèse Lanz, guitarist and singer for Mares of Thrace, was featured in the June issue of Revolver as one of "The Hottest Chicks in Metal." While that's all well and good, metal is not a beauty pageant (if it were, Motörhead would've been disqualified decades ago). Western Canada's most ferociously crushing two-piece, Mares of Thrace (Lanz and drummer Stefani MacKichan) utilize abrasive melodies and a somber tone to create a sludgy hardcore death march. Lanz takes her vocals from throat-shredding screams to creepy harmonies, and into guttural chokes with ease. They may look like the girls-next-door, but once they get behind their instruments, Mares of Thrace are snarling and vengeful, not cute and cuddly. ARIS WALES

FRIDAY 8/26

CELILO, SEAN FLINN AND THE ROYAL WE, CARCRASHLANDER
(Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta) See My, What a Busy Week!

THE DECEMBERISTS, OKKERVIL RIVER, AGESANDAGES
(Edgefield, 2126 SW Halsey, Troutdale) See Thursday's preview.

WOODEN SHJIPS, THE NIGHT BEATS
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) My reaction to the droning, groaning psych from San Francisco band Wooden Shjips can run both hot and cold: I've been stirred by their immersive space beats, sucked into their lysergic whorls of guitar and organ, seen red-hot synesthetic flashes behind my eyelids as their fuzzed-out acid rock pulses through my skull. I've also been lightly, casually bored at one of their shows, jangling ice cubes in an empty glass instead of succumbing to their repetitive, somewhat wanky vortex. The Shjips' latest, West, finds them (very slightly) tightening up the sprawling grooves in favor of melody, a trick that worked splendidly for the Black Angels on their last record. Tonight's show is sponsored by Sailor Jerry Rum, not exactly a psychotropic substance, so you may want to do a little prep work before descending to the Doug Fir's underground bunker. Get in for free by RSVPing at tour.sailorjerrypresents.com. NL

BRAILLE, ODD THOMAS, THEORY HAZIT, TXE, DAVE NOTTI, CALVIN VALENTINE, XPERIMENT, TROX
(Branx, 320 SE 2nd) Portland native Braille is already a seasoned hiphop veteran despite the fact that he has yet to celebrate his 30th birthday. Braille's latest solo album, Native Lungs, is his seventh and a welcome return to form. The wish list roster of producers, beat crafters, and record scratchers is reason alone to cop the album. Producer S1 (Kanye, Jay-Z, Beyoncé) lends a track and legendary DJ Rob Swift showcases his scratching abilities on another. Local up-and-coming producers Trox and Calvin Valentine are also featured, proving that Braille is still repping his hometown hard despite his international accolades. Lyrically and thematically the album is a masterful balance between playful and dead serious, broaching serious themes without ever taking itself too seriously. While Braille's Christian faith is one of those themes, it never comes across as preachy. Think "Jesus Walks," not DC Talk—thank God. RYAN FEIGH

CLOUD CULT
(Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan) Take drugs. Before McGruff and the long paw of the law get on my case about that statement, you really should to be in your endorphin-oozing happy place to fully enjoy the audio/visual splendor of Cloud Cult. The Minneapolis act is splitting their sets with new material from their fine Light Chasers LP, plus all the old hits you crave, and they are doing so with a fancy new visual backdrop. Much like that one time you made magic happen with a medicinal brownie, Dark Side of the Moon, and a VHS copy of The Wizard of Oz, the band has created intricate backing visuals that perfectly sync with their vivid and inspiring brand of experimental pop. Just be sure to properly hydrate and find a ride home—remember, stoners, safety first. EAC

SATURDAY 8/27

NORTHWEST LOVE JAM: GINUWINE, DRU HILL, FAITH EVANS, JON B, ANDREW GARCIA
(Memorial Coliseum, 300 Winning Way) See My, What a Busy Week!

DOUBLEPLUSGOOD, XDS, WILD ONES
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) DoublePlusGood, the duo of Andy Nelson and Erik Carlson, have released a series of lovely EPs in the past couple years, and now they've got a full-length called Here They Come, the Birds of My Youth. It's a terrific album, a sweet and infectious synth-pop record that isn't afraid to sound ecstatic. With trilling, buzzing synths forming day-glo walls around Carlson's anchored drums, DoublePlusGood has quite simply found an untouched corner of the pop pasture and harvested it for all it's worth—quick-clip dance beats, wistfully familiar synth patches, layered Beach Boy harmonies, and a tweeful, gleeful energy that's impossible to manufacture. The album, out on Carlson's SoHiTek label, is destined to pack dance floors across Portland, but it sounds just as good on headphones. NL

DEAD PREZ, THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GZ, TOPE
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Of course it's still bigger than hiphop. Even if those who coined this now omnipresent call-to-arms haven't actually made a whole lotta, you know, hiphop in recent years. Dead Prez forever altered the political hiphop landscape with Let's Get Free, but that was 11 years ago (your president at the time: Bill Clinton) and their sporadic output since (2004's disappointing Revolutionary But Gangsta, and a handful of hit-or-miss mixtapes and solo releases) hasn't exactly set the world aflame for stic.man and M1. That's not to say that the sharply penned militant anthems of Dead Prez still can't raise a crowd of balled fists to the heavens—they surely can—but it might be nice to hear some fresh marching orders from these two distinguished emcees. EAC

JIM WARD, LUSITANIA
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) No, not the afro'd guy from Mars Volta, the other guitarist. You know, the dude from Sparta. So begins every conversation about Jim Ward, the talented-yet-overshadowed former At the Drive-In guitar player whose post-band career has been as functional as a one-legged scissor. Ward now goes it alone, releasing the double-disc mouthful Quiet in the Valley, On the Shores the End Begins & the Electric Six, which is a collection of three EPs (2007's Quiet, 2009's In the Valley, On the Shores, and this year's The End Begins) in addition to some amplified material that is thankfully not composed of Electric Six covers. As a solo artist Ward masters the subtle balance that made Sparta's Wiretap Scars work so well, and while the material here isn't paving any new ground, there is a familiar warmth to Ward's solo work. Enough to hopefully make him a household name, for real this time. EAC

HUEY LEWIS AND THE NEWS
(Oregon Zoo, 4001 SW Canyon) There were nine songs on Sports; five landed in the Billboard top 20. Huey Lewis and the News' 1983 masterwork of hit-song-after-goddamn-hit-song might sound a bit stale today, but upon its release Sports was pure universal appeal in cassette form, and it launched their well-hung (oh come on, everyone knows this) namesake into the pop music stratosphere. It doesn't really matter what Huey has done since his mid-'80s peak—not much, outside of touring the casino/fair/zoo circuit and occasionally showing up in Portland (rumor has it his ladyfriend lives here). Despite all this, I still fell asleep during Huey Lewis and the News' December 28, 1986 show at the Oakland Coliseum (it was my first concert ever, sorry). But tonight I'm prepared to make things right: I will make it through the entirety of his Zoo performance—unless he plays new songs, then I am so out of there. EAC

SUNDAY 8/28

DENVER, KYLE MORTON
(Doug Fir Patio, 830 E Burnside) See My, What a Busy Week!

MONDAY 8/29

POCKETKNIFE, CHARTS
(Beauty Bar, 111 SW Ash) Charts give it away for free, and you'd be a fool not to take them up on it. Their Birds and Bees EP, a six-song hit parade of junky pop 'n' roll, is available on their Bandcamp page for the totally achievable cost of nothing. As soon as you download it—which you are doing right now, yes?—you'll discover that its songs are brash and exuberant basement jams, with twinges of Kinksy British Invasion and choruses that you'll memorize upon first listen. Tonight's show with Pocketknife—who just released their own fun EP, Tough as Snails—is also free, which means that you can take in the entire Charts experience without spending a measly cent. NL

SHEARING PINX, ASSS, VICE DEVICE, SICK JAGGERS
(Tube, 18 NW 3rd) Canadians Shearing Pinx are legends in their own right, having released over 50 records since 2005. One of the most unconventional bands of our era, the Pinx have no shame in stripping rock music naked and leaving it exposed and embarrassed. While their earlier efforts were so absonant they were barely listenable, in recent years they have focused their misadventures into no-wave and decimated blues. The guitars are still beaten out of tune, but the band has developed a tactical rein on the madness. The result is a rat's nest of blister-popping noise-punk, the kind of no-bullshit remedy you've earned after a long Monday. CC

TUESDAY 8/30

LIBRARY VOICES, BIRD COSTUMES, GREAT WILDERNESS
(Rotture, 315 SE 3rd) Read our article on Library Voices.

JANET JACKSON
(Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay) See My, What a Busy Week!

SONS OF HUNS, MONOPLANE
Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) See My, What a Busy Week!

STILL FLYIN', HELLO MTN
(The Woods, 6637 SE Milwaukie) Still Flyin' are an unabashed party band. And at 15 members, these San Francisco indie-rock all-stars (members drop in from the likes of the Aislers Set, Track Star and Je Suis France) are a party in and of themselves. Fronted by Sean Rawls, this musical army leans heavily on '80s feel-good sounds—think yacht rock, blue-eyed reggae, Huey Lewis—and mash it all into extended pop jams that have been dubbed "hammjamm." And while "party" bands typically err on the side of cheesy (I'm talking Easy Cheese between two slices of Velveeta sprinkled with Cheetos), it's nice to know there's at least one out there that still knows how to party responsibly. ML

WEDNESDAY 8/31

JAPANDROIDS
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) See My, What a Busy Week!

R. STEVIE MOORE, TROPICAL OOZE, LAKE, THE NIGHT GAME CULT
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Read our article on R. Stevie Moore.

DFRNT, GULLS
(The Goodfoot, 2845 SE Stark) Scotland based DFRNT (Alex Cowles) has created a little dub empire that is quickly gaining size and international respect. It includes the Echodub record label, his online imprint Cut, SittingOvation blog, Insight podcast, and a newly launched print magazine entitled Modus. These various strands explore and advance the deeper, swankier side of dubstep/dub techno and, as a network, rise way above the pack in terms of quality content and design. Of course, DFRNT makes his own dub music as well, and Portland is on a very short list of US cities he'll visit on tour this week. Also playing is local producer Gulls, whose inventive tampering with self-generated samples and freaky rhythms is one of the more original things happening in Portland electronic music right now. AVA HEGEDUS

KAYLEE COLE, SUN ANGLE, LEMOLO
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Perhaps you've been lucky enough to catch one of Kaylee Cole's performances scattered throughout the Rose City in the past couple years. Surely it was an intimate experience, the Seattle chanteuse leaving you rapt with her ivory confessionals and thick, tempered vocals that simmer and soar to a boil in no time at all. With the recent help of TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek, though, Cole's new songs are better suited for the dance floor than the buffed marble of a hotel lobby, her lonely waltzes transposed into more dynamic, synth-drenched soundscapes. This show will be her very first with her new band (including past members of Hockey and local jazz cat Ben Darwish), and all will be working to recreate much of the album that Cole and Sitek have been dreaming up out in the Los Angeles canyon lands. You won't be able to own a physical copy until early 2012, so allow this amuse-bouche to prepare you for the exciting sounds to come. RAQUEL NASSER