THE SLACKERS, GEORGETOWN ORBITS, RENDERED USELESS
(Plan B, 1305 SE 8th) Read our article on the Slackers.

MUSICFESTNW: MACKLEMORE, RYAN LEWIS, SHABAZZ PALACES, TxE
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) Read our article on Shabazz Palaces.

MUSICFESTNW: GIVERS, AGESANDAGES, LOST LANDER, PICKWICK
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Read our article on Givers.

THIS! FEST: HURTBIRD, PAPER UPPER CUTS, ARCHEOLOGY, PIGEONS, PETOSKEY, IOA, TEAM EVIL, & MORE
(The Woods, 6637 SE Milwaukie) Want a festival experience without the lines, the fatigue, and the empty wallet? This! Fest crams nearly 20 bands and DJs (plus enough writers to fill an entire floor of Powell's) into the Woods and lets them go nuts for two straight days of unscripted and inebriated entertainment. Even better, it's all local and totally free. EZRA ACE CARAEFF

MUSICFESTNW: BLITZEN TRAPPER, SHARON VAN ETTEN, WEINLAND
(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) It's no small thing that the cosmic cowboy rock of Blitzen Trapper is still with us, fully intact. Following the Portland group's 2007 national breakthrough Wild Mountain Nation, they've treated us to an embarrassment of riches—including three more full-length albums and assorted EPs and singles—without breaking up or lapsing into Shins-y commercial-driven stupor. Instead, they've become one of Portland's most consistent and prolific bands, and their latest, American Goldwing, continues their MO of turning FM classic rock on its ear, injecting psychedelic flourishes while donning the dust-covered cowboy boots that lurk at the heart of frontman Eric Earley's songs. "Love the Way You Walk Away" initially sounds like a song you've heard coming out of your dad's radio countless times, but then there are the synth warbles and foggy mountain banjo that come in toward the song's end. Don't miss Sharon Van Etten on tonight's bill; as this paper has said countless times, she is among the very best. NED LANNAMANN

MUSICFESTNW: CENTRO-MATIC, OLD LIGHT, MBILLY, MISSION SPOTLIGHT
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) Adding on to the band's already lengthy discography (not to mention their alter ego as South San Gabriel), this year's Centro-matic outing, Candidate Waltz, is as satisfying and rewarding as any in their history. Songs like "Solid States" find Will Johnson and his gang of longtime stalwarts in genial popster mode, while elsewhere the band finds a darker, noirish edge with plenty of guitar clang and atmospheric echo. The backbeat hymn of "Only in My Double Mind" is the kind of heart-on-sleeve anthem U2 hasn't been able to pull of since The Joshua Tree, and "Estimate x 3" is the type of sumptuous ballad Ryan Adams hasn't been able to put together since Heartbreaker. Perhaps their consistency has been something of a detriment to audiences looking for something flashier, but as time goes by, the plainer it seems that Centro-matic is one of the best American bands currently plying their trade. NL

HOT NIGHTS/WARM COATS 4: YUNG MIL, JERZ 503, LA WHITE, TRAGEDY, THE GOONIEZ, AL-ONE FT DJ SPARK, SOLE PRO
(Bossanova, 722 E Burnside) Tonight kicks off the three-day hiphop festival and coat drive curated by Ozone (AKA Jessie Sponberg). While all three nights are free to attend, Sponberg recommends bringing a gently used winter coat that will go toward outfitting children in need across the Portland area through Impact NW. Tonight is the sole all-ages lineup, headlined by Yung Mil, the Park Rose high-school student who won the Def Jam "Get Schooled" video contest last June that led to a meeting with Russell Simmons and an appearance on BET's 106 & Park. The rest of the weekend is littered with a diverse sampling of local talent, with highlights including the laidback jazz samples, scratches, and breezy lyricism of North Scientifik on Saturday, as well as the manic punk-rock energy of Abadawn backed by his band the Kill Party on Sunday. RYAN FEIGH

MUSICFESTNW: GLASS CANDY, PURPLE AND GREEN, SUPER MELODY, REPORTER
(Branx, 320 SE 2nd) Glass Candy are the real-deal haute couture of the indie-electronic scene. Singer Ida No and music maker Johnny Jewel make the weirdest, prettiest sounds in the veins of Italo disco and electro pop—perfect for both dance floors and fashion runways; in fact, Karl Lagerfeld and the French label ChloÉ have had their models walk to Glass Candy songs. This is the sort of show at which you almost expect to see the ghosts of Andy Warhol and Nico floating beside you in the audience. Even the most beautiful weirdos like to dance sometimes. KELLY O

MUSICFESTNW: THEE OH SEES, BARE WIRES, BOAT, ARCHERS
(Star Theater, 13 NW 6th) I'm convinced that Jim Dwyer never sleeps. Thee spazzy Oh Sees frontman is set to release his second platter of the year—Carrion Crawler/The Dream—in November. And for those who've seen the band live, you already know that Dwyer is insane. The best part about the San Francisco (now) five-piece is the fact that they're near impossible to peg, playing jagged, unmercifully loud and fast rock and roll that will leave you scratching your head and tapping your feet, but not folding your arms (a true test in coordination). Essentially, Thee Oh Sees is what happens when art rock and punk rock are done right. MARK LORE

MASONIC WEIRD, ERGOT, NEMESIS, JETPACK MISTRESS
(Red Room, 2530 NE 82nd) The music of McMinnville's Masonic Weird hones in on a precise time and place and never lets go. The trio's sludgy take on howling '90s grunge is less Singles soundtrack and more the shadowy backwoods where the Green River Killer (the dude, not the band) lurked. It's an uncompromising direction for a band to take, yet to their credit, they don't use the handy crutch of nostalgia to tidy up what was once—and still should be—a dangerous sound. "Phobic" sounds like Billy Corgan fronting a post-Layne Staley Alice in Chains (actually, that would have been great, and not just because it would have rid the world of Teargarden by Kaleidyscope) and while Masonic Weird are still feeling themselves out as a band, they make a respectable case for the benefits of looking back, and not forward. EAC

MUSICFESTNW: PIG DESTROYER, A STORM OF LIGHT, TRANSIENT, ELITIST
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th) Man, I haven't seen the name Pig Destroyer since the '90s. It's the sort of band name that really sticks to your brain. Guitarist Scott Hull, formerly of Anal Cunt (a name that sticks to something else) once said in an interview that "Cop Killer" or "Cop Destroyer" would be "tactless," so they decided on "pig" instead. Nothing about Pig Destroyer is subtle. They're still the heavyweight champs of American grindcore—extremists in the most extreme of all the metal genres. If you stand too close to the speakers, allegedly your inner ear will melt a little bit. KO

MUSICFESTNW: RHETT MILLER, DAN MANGAN, FERNANDO, CALEB KLAUDER
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Vancouver songwriter Dan Mangan's ear-catching US debut Nice, Nice, Very Nice came out last year, but he's already got a new album to follow up that splendid introduction. Oh Fortune is denser and more tangled, with Mangan's personable voice helming songs that are augmented by orchestral flourishes and production-effect flairs. The result is a record that's not as immediately grabbing as Nice, Nice, Very Nice, but rewards repeat listens as disparate fragments of Mangan's strong songwriting tumble out from previously unnoticed corners. Still, it should be a treat to hear these songs in a relatively unadorned live setting, and he should hold his own with seasoned songwriters like Rhett Miller of Old 97's and longtime Portland mainstays Fernando and Caleb Klauder—the latter of whom is responsible for the finest country music this city has to offer. NL

BURNING LEATHER, DON'T, PROBLEMS
(Tube, 18 NW 3rd) With an affectionate nod to their obvious influences—this band could very well be re-named MotÖramones—Burning Leather are Portland's resident stoner-pop rockers, fusing a glorious union between everyone's favorite pop-punk instigators and gravel-voiced metal-heads. And despite the tough moniker, these dudes are charming as hell. The band has released a handful of albums that screech and scorch in all the right places, the latest being last year's Daylight Nights, a singed homage to the breakneck balladry of Lemmy (via vocals by Jason Roberts) and the melodic riffage of Johnny Ramone (from guitarists Brian Hopper and Scott Goto, with Kelly Halliburton on bass). Joe Schuerger is the heavy metal drummer that brings it all together, with a live show that promises to get your head banging and fist pumping. 
MARANDA BISH