We kill a lot of time around these parts partaking in the seedy exposed underbelly of Portland's finest strip clubs. That said, there is no better way to express our deep moral depravity than a week-long series of songs dedicated to such businesses. So every day this week we will post a song in tribute to Portland's nudiest of nude revues.

We have reached the glorious end of our strip club series, and speaking of glorious ends... Three Sisters Tavern. Sadly this SW institution of stiff drinks and stiffer male dancers closed its doors a few years back, but its legacy of jiggling beefcakes will always remain with us.

LISTEN:

Jim Carroll - "Three Sisters"

R.I.P. Jim Carroll
R.I.P. Three Sisters Tavern

• Lapdances are $20, but she'll step in your penne for free.

Perched on the east end of the Ross Island Bridge, 633 SE Powell has seen its share of business turnover the past few years. At one point it was the eastside outpost of the Boom Boom Room, then it was Gata Salvaje, a Mexican-themed strip club. Then I think it became Bent, a gay bar? At any rate, the establishment is now Lucky Devil, a happy return to your normal meat 'n' potatoes strip club, with some extra flair, like red velvet wallpaper and a puma-print carpet.

Our song for today doesn't quite have the same flair, a rockabillyish pop number from 1960, back when hillbilly shared strides with the mainstream. Carl Dobkins, Jr. is best known for "My Heart Is an Open Book," but "Lucky Devil" was a minor hit too, with a bit of Buddy Holly in the jumping beat, and highlighted by some warm backing vocals. It might sound a little innocent for a lap dance, but I bet the right dancer could make it kill.

LISTEN:

Carl Dobkins, Jr. - "Lucky Devil"

We kill a lot of time around these parts partaking in the seedy exposed underbelly of Portland's finest strip clubs. That said, there is no better way to express our deep moral depravity than a week-long series of songs dedicated to such businesses. So every day this week we will post a song in tribute to Portland's nudiest of nude revues.

There are far too many "Mary" songs to dedicate to the local institution that is Mary's Club, but it would be hard not to include Bruce Springsteen's "Mary Queen Of Arkansas" here. (Plus, perhaps it's the poor Confederate exchange rate, but a career as a Portland dancer seems far superior than the Queen of Arkansas.)

It might not be a fitting song for the playlist at Mary's—too many start/stops, no one could dance to this—but the tale of the "lonely acrobat" who pines for a woman to "hold me so tight and love me so damn loose" is a staple of early Springsteen dramatic songwriting. In fact, this song would work better while you dine alone on a sad burrito next door at Santería, loser.

LISTEN:

Bruce Springsteen - "Mary Queen Of Arkansas"

We kill a lot of time around these parts partaking in the seedy exposed underbelly of Portland's finest strip clubs. That said, there is no better way to express our deep moral depravity than a week-long series of songs dedicated to such businesses. So every day this week we will post a song in tribute to Portland's nudiest of nude revues.

I originally was going to pay tribute to East Burnside's Union Jacks with Billy Bragg's "Take Down The Union Jack," but then realized that Bragg might be the least sexy man on the planet. Even his minor hit "Sexuality" ("A nuclear submarine sinks off the coast of Sweden/Headlines give me headaches when I read them"—what?) never quite lived up to its title. Instead I went with the equally British, but far more alluring, "Crack in the Union Jack" from Suede. A change of pace from their usual bombastic androgynous glam-pop, this song is the intimate acoustic closing number to 1999's uneven Head Music. And unlike Bragg, this band has probably had sex in the past decade.

LISTEN:

Suede - "Crack in the Union Jack"

"When I do die I shall be glad to get away from loud pop music." Ivor Cutler

Well, Mr. Cutler is in luck. The Parenthetical Girls' latest is not only a loving tribute to the iconic Scot, but the limited edition 10" recording (a mere 500 copies were made) lacks the volume and dramatics of their previous recordings. They saved that for the release's title: The Scottish Play: Wherein The Group Parenthetical Girls Pay Well-Intentioned (If Occasionally Misguided) Tribute To the Works of Ivor Cutler. (Oh, conflict of interest pony insists we mention that Parenthetical Girls' singer Zac Pennington used to work at this paper over four years ago.)

Available from Tomlab, the release features four interpretations of Cutler's songs, and four spoken word poems culled his vast catalog of writing. If you want to learn more about Cutler and all his many accomplishments (from befriending the Beatles to his poetry), this BBC obit is a good jumping off point. But beware, this might lead to obsession, and next thing you know you'll be making your own well-intentioned (if occasionally misguided) tribute to the man.

LISTEN:

Parenthetical Girls - "Doughnut Master"

We kill a lot of time around these parts partaking in the seedy exposed underbelly of Portland's finest strip clubs. That said, there is no better way to express our deep moral depravity than a week-long series of songs dedicated to such businesses. So every day this week we will post a song in tribute to Portland's nudiest of nude revues. We already have music lined up for a few (Mary's, Union Jacks, Dancing Bare), but we welcome your suggestions. Is there a good Jiggles song? If so, we really want to know.

Up first, the gem of China Town, Magic Gardens. Easily the finest musical option—their jukebox is excellent—the Garden is a perfect place to hide during bad opening acts at most any downtown venue.

Written by Jimmy Webb—and definitely not about a downtown strip bar in Portland—Dusty Springfield's bubblegum psych-pop version of "Magic Garden" isn't nearly as soulful as her Dusty in Memphis material, but still sways with her enigmatic delivery. I wonder if it's on the jukebox there?

LISTEN:

Dusty Springfield - "Magic Garden"

• Was this photo taken out in front of the Florida Room?

Tying in nicely with our new Cougar-themed column, here is a new song from Jaguar Love. /cat noise.

LISTEN:

Jaguar Love - "Up All Night"

Yep, still bratty. The band relocated to Portland awhile back and are now whittled down to just a pair of original members, Johnny Whitney and Cody Votolato, both formerly in the Blood Brothers. This new single—which sadly is not a Boomtown Rats cover—is the first song released from their new record out early next year. The band will be in town, performing a week from tonight (November 13th) at Branx. Or as their press release put it, "Brantz."

I like that name better, it sounds like a deli.

This weekend Daytrotter posted a lovely little set from Shelley Short, captured on tape in their Rock Island, Illinois studio. Know what else is from Rock Island? The Rock Island High "Fightin' Rocks," a high school with a macot that is a rock. Exciting!

Anyway, Short performed four songs from her new A Cave A Canoo LP, plus explained how those constantly-flowing Portland water fountains work.

When I visualize this song I think of these little water fountains that are on street corners of Portland, where the water is constantly running, and the waters source is the snow from the top of the mountains.

Well, now we know.

LISTEN:

Shelley Short - "Familiar" (Daytrotter Session)

Oh man, it was so much better living here in Portland back in the day. Hold on a sec, I just spilled something on my first generation Wipers shirt. Sage-dawg gave me this shirt right off his back. Anyway, I was totally at the Pine Street on February 9th, 1990, when Nirvana took the stage a few months after Sub Pop released Bleach. Don't believe me? Take a look at this conveniently archived Twitter post from that night:

See? It's a fact! Twitter does not lie. If you are harsh realming it because you're a cob nobbler who missed the show—or were just born that year—now you can brag to all your friends that you were there, courtesy of the 20th anniversary edition of Bleach, due out on November 3rd. In addition to the original Grohl-free recording, there are eleven live songs (plus the intro) from the Pine Street show. Score!

LISTEN:

Nirvana - "Intro" (live at the Pine Street, 02/09/1990)

Nirvana - "School" (live at the Pine Street, 02/09/1990)

• He probably lies to his dog as well.

For the love of all that is holy, the new Owen record is cripplingly sad. Granted, all recordings from Mike Kinsella (his brother Tim is the frontman of Joan of Arc and the “Hey coffee eyes. You got me coughing up my cookie heart" guy) have been sorrowful and intimate, but the recently-released New Leaves just feels sadder than all the rest. Hide all the sharp objects around you...

"If I lie still long enough for my heart to stop, will I find what I lost?"
Verdict: Sad, albeit quite emo.

"The makeup that you use to catch some eyes and hide your imperfections does little to conceal an ego that's been bruised many times."
Verdict: Sad, and mean, too.

"I always thought I'd end up owning my own boat before a home."
Verdict: I don't even know what that means, but I assume it's probably something pretty sad.

But the sadness crown goes to the opening/title track, which is starts with an optimistic outlook, yet is soon swallowed whole by boozing, depression, and cat lying. Yeah, you heard me: "Well I'm tired of sleeping on the couch, like a guest in my own house. Well I'm tired of lying to the cat about if or when i'll be back." I don't care what you do, but don't start lying to the house pets.

LISTEN:

Owen - "New Leaves"

The Scion Garage Fest rolls into town tomorrow, invading all your favorite rock haunts. And there's so much to choose from, including some older models like The Dirtbombs, Roky Erickson, Pierced Arrows and Simply Saucer as well as some younger, sexier ones—Black Lips, Box Elders and Harlem. For my money I'll go with Austin's The Strange Boys, who play at Dante's at 8 p.m. If you can tolerate Ryan Sambol's nasally vocals, the rest will fall into place. Think early Beatles rocking out with later Bob Dylan. Go ahead, try it on... it looks good on you.

LISTEN:

The Strange Boys - "Heard You Wanna Beat Me Up"

• Illustration by Johnnie Cluney

LISTEN:

The Dead Trees - "Unfortunately for Her" (live at Daytrotter)

Check out the whole session here.

If you've ever read the delicious twitter feed of Portlander Casey Dienel (that's White Hinterland to you) it's abundantly clear that music is not her only love:

ok, made this: duck magret w/ sherry glaze, morrocan saffron cauliflower, roasted sweet peppers w/ goat cheese and chicken of woods mushroom

Turns out that Dienel can really cook, which makes the title of White Hinterland's new tour EP quite fitting: Fresh From the Garden. While there is no recipe book in the liner notes, the EP does include a pair of tastefully done covers from the overappreciated Justin Timberlake and the underappreciated Arthur Russell. The Timberlake cover ("My Love") sounds like it was recorded in an abandoned well, complete with Morse code percussion, while her take on "Lucky Cloud" is adorably sweet and sincere, borrowing just enough from the original to make any listener appreciate the genius of Russell.

LISTEN:

White Hinterland - "Lucky Cloud"

White Hinterland - "My Love"

Word is finally trickling out on album number seven from Laura Veirs, entitled July Flame and out in January—not to be confused with the fictional January Flame, out in July—the album will be the first release on her Raven Marching Band label. And now we can get our first listen with "Wide-Eyed, Legless," a shuffling folk-pop number that centers around Veirs' crisp voice. Have a listen.

LISTEN:

Laura Veirs - "Wide-Eyed, Legless"

Link: Stereogum

• Seim picture in jail with a "conjugal pug"

We previously spilled the beans on Danny Seim's (the tallest member of Team Menomena Basketball) Lackthereof compilation: A Lackthereof Retrospective 1998-2008, or I was a Christian Emo Twentysomething , and now here is the first available tack. "Safely In Jail" is more than just a song, it's a concept Seim knows quite well, since he did 12 years in Two Rivers Correctional Institution for knifing a kitten to death in a racially charged assault in 1982*.

The limited edition retrospective will be released on October 13th courtesy of FILMguerrero. That is, if Seim doesn't take another trip to the pokey.

LISTEN:

Lackthereof - "Safely In Jail"

* Note to self: Fact check this before publishing.

Laura Gibson—fresh from prison—is currently across the pond and just recorded a BBC Radio 6 session with DJ Marc Riley. In addition to playing a few songs live, Gibson discusses her exhausting trip to the UK, performing in prison (with a hint that there just might be a live album from that show), and her future plans.

You can listen to the interview, and live performance, right here.

While I know most of our dear readers think of me as the rugged masculine type—basically the Steve McQueen of music bloggers—in fact, like most word drones at the Mercury, I'm a total dork. Well, perhaps I'm not quite as nerdy as the majority of our editorial staff, I do have an extreme soft spot for the musical dorkery of They Might Be Giants, especially on their kid-friendly new release Here Comes Science.

It's definitely the first CD I own released by Disney Sound—I said CD, my Little Mermaid soundtrack is on cassette—but Here Comes Science is wildly appealing even for those of us that do not fit the album's intended demographics: children, and those who have children. The band is currently touring and performing "both kid & adult shows," but their Portland date—November 10th at the Crystal Ballroom—is listed as 21-and-over.

Without their valuable lessons about science, looks like it's creationism for kids in Oregon!

LISTEN:

They Might Be Giants - "Why Does The Sun Shine?"