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Brown Bird are not a folk band

The Rhode Island duo cranks it up and gets cerebral on 'Fits of Reason'
Brown Bird's David Lamb and MorganEve Swain challenge themselves (and anyone who still insists on calling them a folk band) on their stunning new album, Fits of Reason .

By: CHRIS CONTI | April 17, 2013

The eyes have it

Brenda find their identity on album two
The paradoxes in Brenda, the rock band of three (or sometimes four) members split geographically between Portland and New York, are hard to iron out.

By: NICHOLAS SCHROEDER | April 17, 2013

Bangers and mish-mash

First thing with the English Breakfast
The order of operations used to be you played a bunch of shows, then you released an album. Now it's often the other way around. When the English Breakfast played Slainte last weekend, it was their Portland live debut. Yet their debut album, Shifting Seas , has been marinating on Bandcamp since March 1 — a 15-track affair, no less.

By: SAM PFEIFLE | April 19, 2013

Nigel Hall goes Big Easy to Big Easy

Home and away
Nigel Hall, the pride of Bangor and one of the original Monday night soul players at Portland's Big Easy, was the featured attraction at one of the actual Big Easy's most respected local spots.

By: SAM PFEIFLE | March 27, 2013

As spring arrives, so do the Sun Gods

Returning from Exile
There's something in rock and roll that's tied up with those hetero-stereo male traits of bravado, carnal sexuality, and toughness, from Elvis's hips to Jimmy Page's tight pants to Lemmy Kilmister's grizzled face.

By: SAM PFEIFLE | March 13, 2013

This is why we can have Nice Places

Caught in their traps
Nice Places would have been the perfect local opener for the Minus the Bear/Circa Survive show at the State Theatre coming up on March 16.

By: SAM PFEIFLE | March 06, 2013

Lady Lamb weans a full-length album

Audible emotion
The haunting and quasi-S&M-themed video for her song "The Nothing Part II" (directed by Portland filmmaker David Meiklejohn) premieres on SPIN.com this week.

By: NICHOLAS SCHROEDER | February 27, 2013

Sam Shain and the Scolded Dogs won’t mind

You can dance if you want to
No, seriously, have you been up to Hallowell?

By: SAM PFEIFLE | February 27, 2013

Metal Feathers net their best record yet

Dredging up the low
If you're going to make huge structural changes, before your third record is a fine time to do it.

By: NICHOLAS SCHROEDER | February 20, 2013

A first sampler from the new Lorem Ipsum label

Call it a placeholder
It's been a while since Portland had itself a bona fide new label, something more than just a vanity title for a band's self-released album. It makes sense, considering the fracturing nature of the music industry in general and the ease with which independent artists can record and release music nowadays.

By: SAM PFEIFLE | February 27, 2013

A Beaux across the pond

Intercontinental Collaborations
While many of us simply watched the Grammy Awards broadcast on Sunday night (marveling over the Bruno/Sting/Rihanna/Marley performance, or Carrie Underwood's dress-as-video-screen), for others the Awards show is actually the culmination of something of a Grammy festival, with industry parties and get-togethers sprawling through the week and all over LA.

By: SAM PFEIFLE | February 13, 2013