SUPER PICK
STEF CHURA, PRIESTS, MR. WRONG
(Disjecta, 8371 N Interstate) Stef Chura is kind of blowing up right now. Her debut full-length, Messes, just dropped at the end of January, and though it may seem like the Michigan singer/songwriter arrived at the head of grunge rock fully formed, sheâs actually been sitting on a number of Messesâ tracks for years. Chura caught my attention a while back when a Michigan acquaintance shared her slowly insistent (but catchy as hell) ballad âSpeeding Ticket.â Itâs the closing track on Messes, but versions of âSpeeding Ticketâ also appeared on Churaâs 2010 self-titled release and her 2011 demo, so you can hear the song recorded a few different ways. And while the skeleton of âSpeeding Ticketâ remains unchanged, the lo-fi nature of its initial incarnations is uniquely chaotic. I knew I wanted to keep tabs on Chura, so I was excited when her nostalgic, up-tempo track âSlow Motionâ started showing up in places like Pitchfork last year. âSlow Motionâ feels like a complaint you can tap your feet to, and I found myself thinking about it when I was waiting in lines. Churaâs songs exist half the time on my stereo, and the rest of the time in my head. Her sound is like a California surf-rock update on â90s feminist grunge, or a strange marriage between Throwing Muses and early Liz Phair. Messes is a really carefully constructed recordâitâs like one long wave. After the inauguration, my go-to Chura track was âHuman Being,â where she slowly croons, âSomeday/Theyâre gonna know/Youâre a/Real human being.â It always feels weird to talk about an artistâs looks, but Chura definitely has a well-defined aesthetic accompanying Messes. Her sun-faded clothing, large glasses, and pastel palette read strongly as casual and unproduced. Itâs exciting when women artists are allowed to be themselves. SUZETTE SMITH
WEDNESDAY 2/15
CLOUD NOTHINGS, ITASCA
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Read our story on Itasca.
JOJO
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) Surely my fellow millennials remember JoJo, the pop singer discovered as a tween for her mature voice and mind-blowing covers of R&B classics. JoJo signed a record deal at age 12, and released her gold-certified single âGet Out (Leave)â in 2004, followed by âToo Little, Too Lateâ in 2006. Then it got messy: JoJo sued her shady record label, and was eventually released from the contract that had halted her career. For the past six years sheâs been preparing for an epic comeback. Her new album, Mad Love, is quite solid. The 26-year-oldâs new music is extra sultry, sassy, and 4/20-friendly. Highlights include lead single âFuck Apologiesâ featuring Wiz Khalifa; âFABâ (AKA âfake ass bitchesâ) featuring Remy Ma, and the hopeful and poppy love anthem âRise Up.â After seeing her play Bumbershoot last year and an intimate acoustic set at a radio station in the fall, I can attest that the bitch is still a bad one. And sheâs singing with more ferocity, range, and control than evaaa! If you come to the Wonder tonight, JoJo wonât leave you disappointed. JENNI MOORE
THURSDAY 2/16
No disrespect to Chance the Rapper, but last yearâs most anticipated Chicago hip-hop release was not Coloring Book, but Telefone, the full-length debut from the relatively obscure and obscurely named Noname. Hailing from Bronzevilleâthe Southside neighborhood celebrated by poet Gwendolyn BrooksâNoname (born Fatimah Warner) came up in Chicagoâs open mic and slam poetry scene. She applies that same aesthetic to her rap style, a mix of spoken word and offbeat lyrics. Noname made her first official appearance as an emcee in 2013, contributing a verse to the track âLostâ on Chanceâs Acid Rap mixtape, and the following year with a verse on Mick Jenkinsâ The Waters mixtape. After promising to release her own record for the better part of three years, Noname finally dropped Telefone last July. Rather than the big production and tabernacle-sized choruses of Coloring Book, Telefone sounds like a quiet night kicking it with your best homie, smoking weed and talking until sunrise. Her delivery doesnât always fall on time, but jumps around as if playing verbal double dutch. Over jazzy, laidback beats, Noname waxes on topics both serious (identity, black womanhood, violence against African Americans) and light (relationships, ice cream on the front porch, âonly wearing tennis shoes to clubs with dress codes, âcause fuck they clubsâ). While her Windy City contemporaries are falling all over themselves climbing that long ladder to success, Noname has been busy in the kitchen, discreetly cooking up a classic. SANTI ELIJAH HOLLEYNOTS, PATSYâS RATS, PISS TEST
(High Water Mark, 6800 NE MLK) The first album by Memphis four-piece Nots was the sound of a group trying to coalesce. Founding members Natalie Hoffmann and then-bassist Charlotte Watson hit the studio soon after, adding keyboardist Alexandra Eastburn and new bassist Meredith Lones (Watson became the groupâs drummer) to the mix. The album that came out of those sessions, 2014âs We Are Nots, was still great, an appropriately agitated fusion of riotous punk and new wave angularity. After a healthy amount of touring and working together, Nots has found its collective center, and the latest full-length, Cosmetic (released last year via Goner Records), feels much more lived-in and steady as a result. The quartet mess with slower tempos, more atmospheric touches, and songs that stretch out and ride a rhythm straight at the molten-hot core of what we call post-punk. ROBERT HAM
THUNDERCAT
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) Stephen Bruner is the audacious hero the modern generation of minority music needs. Bruner knows nothing of the categorical bounds of genre, and has done everything from playing bass with crossover thrash act Suicidal Tendencies to collaborating with queen of everything Erykah Badu. But itâs his solo jazz and R&B project Thundercat that calls for the most attention. His third full-length in this electrifying feline form, Drunk, demonstrates Brunerâs keen ability to tackle anything, including yacht rock. The albumâs first single, âShow You the Way,â even features Michael McDonald and Kenny Loggins. CERVANTE POPE
FRIDAY 2/17
ANGEL OLSEN, CHRIS COHEN
(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) On the track âHigh & Wildâ from her 2014 album Burn Your Fire for No Witness, Angel Olsen sings, âIâm neither innocent or wise when you look me in the eyes/You might as well be blind/You might as well be blind/âCause you donât see me anymore.â Throughout her catalog, Olsen embodies this lyric; sheâs intentionally difficult to nail down, and defies easy categorization. Listening to the echoing folk of her 2011 LP debut, Strange Cacti, feels voyeuristic, like hearing your neighbor sing an entire opera in their shower. 2012âs Half Way Home sounds like the neighbor realized youâd been eavesdropping, with these wild but secret aquatic arias reforming as sparse acoustic numbers. 2014âs Burn Your Fire for No Witness plugs in for blowout guitar-rock thatâs bruised but biting with lyrics like âWill you ever forgive me/A thousand times through/For loving you?â 2016âs My Woman is full of anti-love songs, and finds Olsen soaking in the spotlight of pristine production without ever letting you close enough to truly know her: âInternâ opens the record with spacy synth-pop, but the twangy âShut Up Kiss Meâ centers on Olsenâs guttural Roy Orbison-inspired crooning, with guitar riffs that rush into the chorus like a nosebleed. The albumâs second half is entirely different, and sprawls into the white-light horizon of seven-minute ballads. On My Woman, Olsen doesnât linger on any one genre or subject long enough for you to make any assumptions about her. Anything that seems certainâother than her stunning capacity as an artistâis just a trick of light. CIARA DOLAN
DAVID DUCHOVNY
(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) REJOICE: The one and only David Duchovnyâactor, writer, director, and the FBI special agent of our heartsâis coming to Portland... because he's also a musician, and he wants to play us some of his alt-country rock 'n' roll! Alas, IT'S SOLD OUT, because DAVID DUCHOVNY. But if you can't beg, borrow, or steal a ticket, join the screaming hordes outside the Aladdin, where we shall chant His name into the starry heavens for hours on end: DU-CHOV-NY. DU-CHOV-NY. DU! CHOV! NEEEEEEEEEEEE!!! ERIK HENRIKSEN Read our story on David Duchovny.
DRAB MAJESTY, SOFT METALS, TENDER AGE
(The Lovecraft, 421 SE Grand) Like messages transmitted from a distant galaxy, the music of Drab Majesty descends in a cloud of digital haze, leaving the spirit in a state of frigid weightlessness. Each isolationist musing from LA personality Deb DeMureâs nom de sound is seemingly birthed in a bucket of dry ice and frosted with a melancholy sheen of guitars, synths, and depressed drum patterns. Though the word âgothâ instantly comes to mind, this highly inspired project serves as a conceptually charged evolution of the genre. By combining Robert Smithâs mopey operatics, David Bowieâs dystopian androgyny, and â80s cold wave minimalism, Drab Majesty creates an excitingly macabre futurism. CHRIS SUTTON
SATURDAY 2/18
THE CRAZY WORLD OF ARTHUR BROWN, DANAVA, ELECTRIC CITIZEN, DJ JD STAR
(Star Theater, 13 NW 6th) Read our story on Arthur Brown.
SALLIE FORD, JENN CHAMPION, WEEZY FORD
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Sallie Fordâs second solo record, Soul Sick, arrives at a crossroads of her rockabilly yesteryear and a newly refined focus on rollicking rock ânâ roll. Youâll still find the playful, secretly sneering Ford that was present on 2014âs Slap Back, her first record without backing band the Sound Outside. Yet Soul Sick, as the name implies, is a decidedly different beast. Born from a therapeutic period in the songwriterâs life, the recordâs â60s-rock edges lay bare Fordâs insecurities, wrapped up with tales of waking up sour on sweet summer days, being misunderstood, and screwing up. Speaking of, âScrew Upâ opens with a Ronettes drum intro, blooming into Fordâs fluttery lamentations. Tonightâs release show includes guest musicians from the Soul Sick sessions, including producer Mike Coykendall and saxophonist Ralph Carney. RYAN J. PRADO
SUNDAY 2/19
UNIFORM, KING WOMAN, VICE DEVICE
(Analog CafĂ©, 720 SE Hawthorne) Bay Area doom metal outfit King Woman began as Kristina Esfandiariâs solo project, with 2014âs Doubt EP, a four-song statement of intent that earned instant fans, propelling her alto forward on a tidal wave of down-tuned guitar sludge. Doom fans will feel at home in King Womanâs familiar cocoon of dense distortion, yet the bandâs sound supports Esfandiariâs anthems of feminine empowerment, a subversive move in a genre not exactly known for progressive gender politics. Having briefly been part of the thankfully now-defunct transphobic shitstain that was Bay Area shoegaze band Whirr, Esfandiari clearly no longer has patience for oppressive men: King Woman left a tour with doom legends Pentagram last summer, citing âdisrespectful and grossâ treatment. They donât have time for that bullshit anywayâtheir Relapse debut, Created in the Image of Suffering, comes out later this month. NATHAN TUCKER
POST MOVES, PHILIP GRASS, EMILIE WEIBEL
(Rontoms, 600 E Burnside) Portland multi-instrumentalist Sam Wenc has quietly amassed a prolific back catalog under the Post Moves moniker, putting out an album a year (2014âs Little Jews, 2015âs Reset Father Time) in addition to multiple EPs. However, 2016âs Mystery World Science Show found Wenc fleshing out his pedal steel-heavy indie rock, with drummer Julian Morris (Lay Person, Little Star), bass player Nathan Kornet, and Nathan Tucker (Cool American, Snow Roller) adding lounge lizard saxophone on a of couple tracks. The album plays out like Wencâs funhouse dreamâthe walls could close in or elongate, giving an air thatâs gentle but surreal. His lyrics are consistently imaginative and playful, with song topics covering rhinestone-adorned country stars, graveyard undertakers, and âToothpaste.â CAMERON CROWELL
MONDAY 2/20
SOUND + VISION: COOL AMERICAN, BOREEN, PERFUME V
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Sound + Vision, the Mercury and Banana Stand Mediaâs free monthly showcase, is the kind of gift that keeps on giving. Hearing Boreenâs whispered, yet vivid blend of kaleidoscopic bedroom pop will whet your appetite just in time for the release of their forthcoming full-length, Friends, while Cool Americanâs thoughtful indie rock contains more than enough sharp melodic hooks to stick with you until we do the whole thing again next month. CHIPP TERWILLIGER
TUESDAY 2/21
HURRY UP, SPLIT SINGLE
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) They say itâs not about what you know but who you know, and thatâs probably true. I donât know if itâs true for rock ânâ roll, but if it is, then Jason Narducyâs gonna be the next Bruce Springsteen. Thatâs because the veteran Chicago-based musician has played bass with basically everyone, most notably Bob Mould, Superchunk, and Robert âGuided by Voicesâ Pollardâa hot-damned holy triumvirate of indie rock right there. But Narducy knows what heâs doing, too. When he makes his own music, he does it under the name Split Single, which just released its second album, Metal Frames, last fall. It features the rhythms of indie-rock super-drummer (and top-notch Tweeter) Jon Wurster, the bass lines of Wilcoâs John Stirratt, and the scruffy, soaring songs of Narducy, who ably blends anthemic choruses with a perfectly sandpapered voice. The results sound very Mould-y, or like an amped-up version of the great Texas band Centro-matic. Simply put: This is pure, fist-pumpinâ, flannel-flyinâ roots-rock ânâ roll done right. BEN SALMON
TENNYSON
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) At first blush, the electro-pop of Canadian brother/sister duo Tennyson sounds playful and pleasant. But this initial assessment simplifies whatâs actually quite sophisticated work for two musicians still on the edge of their teens. With a sound that lends itself to dreamy jazz electronica, theyâve been compared to seminal electronic band Boards of Canadaâa mighty accolade. But the siblingsâ natural-feeling collaboration makes sense, given the fact that they were playing Weezer covers together before they hit double digits. Their live shows feature Tess on drums and Luke, the primary composer, holding down synths and samples. With an already massive online following, it seems theyâve tapped into a refreshing sound that speaks right to the heart of electronic music lovers. CHRISTINA BROUSSARD