• What Hearts

Another week, another Portland Mercury music section to pore over as you ignore the silly spat between Jack White and the Guinness Book of World Records. Hey, Jack, here's a record you can break! "Most Pretentious Scene in a Documentary in Which You Jam with a Child Version of Yourself for Some Weird Reason."

Julie Vitells is humbly self-effacing about her musical abilities, but don't let that fool you. She's a terrific songwriter, and What Hearts is a crackerjack band.
LISTEN:

What Hearts - "Do It in the Day"

On the new Ramona Falls record, Brent Knopf deals with cosmic, spiritual, and social quandaries. If that sounds brainy, it is—but Knopf's melodic knack makes it all go down effortlessly.
LISTEN:

Ramona Falls - "Spore"

Doesn't matter that there's not a wave around for miles. Grab your surfboard and party along with Guantanamo Baywatch.
LISTEN:

Guantanamo Baywatch - "Boomerenga"

In which I go out delivering pizzas with Divers. You won't see these heartfelt rockers on any lists of best bands in Portland—yet. But you will.
LISTEN:

Divers - "Montrose"

Plus a teetering stack of Up & Coming shows.

• photo by James Loveday
• The Wave Pictures: What a nice looking bunch of chaps.

With that bit of pomp out of the way, let's check out the Wave Pictures! They're one of the smaller rock stories of the year. Which is a shame, because they're a dynamite band. You deserve to treat yourself to their quality.
LISTEN:

The Wave Pictures - "My Head Gets Screwed on Tighter Every Year"

You might think the Dead Milkmen are well past their sell-by date. Not so! Thanks to their razor sharp wit (and Monsieur Louis Pasteur), these guys aren't going anywhere.
LISTEN:

The Dead Milkmen - "Fauxhemia"

There's no one out there making smoother jams than Cattle Decapitation. Their easy, breezy tones are the very definition of subtlety and refinement.
LISTEN:

Cattle Decapitation - "A Living, Breathing Piece of Defecating Meat"

To be a little bit more serious, the Weeknd makes some pretty smooth jams. The lyrics, however, are pretty royally fucked up. That Abel Tesfaye is a man of mystery.
LISTEN:

The Weeknd - "Montreal"

Plus a big bouncing bunch of Up & Coming shows.

• Jamie-James Medina
• Willis Earl Beal

Another week, another Mercury music section to toss away in disgust as you learn it contains nothing about the news of Lisa Marie Presley's new album. She's decided to title it Storm & Grace, so I can only assume it is a concept album about the wacky adventures of a pair of strippers. Sold!

Willis Earl Beal is tired of people fixated on his backstory. He's ready for his music to stand on its own, and so are we. (Okay, we snuck in a little bit of his backstory for you, too.)
LISTEN:

Willis Earl Beal - "Monotony"

Father John Misty was once J. Tillman, maker of "wound-licking" solo albums and drummy bits for Fleet Foxes. A move to LA and a resultant new outlook on life has resulted in Misty releasing a fine, surprisingly joyous new record.
LISTEN:

Father John Misty - "Hollywood Forever Cemetery Sings"

Fellwoods is a great heavy local band you've never heard of. They're big in Europe. It's time they were big at home.
LISTEN:

Fellwoods - "Crown"

Say what? The Black Keys are playing the freaking Rose Garden? You know who couldn't sell out the Rose Garden? Bruce Springsteen. Just sayin'.
LISTEN:

The Black Keys - "Gold on the Ceiling"

Plus an ample portion of Up & Coming shows.

• Steve Louie
• Psychic Feline

Another week, another Mercury music section to give you inky fingerprints as you learn that even the most famous hunter in America sometimes can't follow the rules. Jeers to you, pesky hunting laws!

Local band Psychic Feline throw a lot of material away. That leaves behind a tightly compact repertoire of excellent, razor-sharp psychedelic garage rock, including their stellar new 7-inch.
LISTEN:

Psychic Feline - "White Walls"

He's only 30, but Ben Kweller's been doing this long enough that he doesn't need to give a shit.
LISTEN:

Ben Kweller - "Jealous Girl"

What do metal bands have in common with nerd-folkers the Doubleclicks? Why, songs about Dungeons & Dragons, of course.
LISTEN:

The Doubleclicks - "This Fantasy World"

It took 10 months, but Washed Out's Within and Without attached itself to our writer like a remora.
LISTEN:

Washed Out - "Amor Fati"

And enough Up & Coming shows to make a sundae.

• John Clark
• Horse Feathers

This week's super-sized music section is so jam-packed, you won't have time to read about how the Tupac hologram wasn't really a hologram, but actually a completely invented CGI creation (just like Jar Jar!) that was projected using some seriously old-school 19th-century stagecraft trickery. There, now don't you feel better?

With record number four, Horse Feathers have released their best album yet—and they did it without the help of a CGI Tupac.
LISTEN:

Horse Feathers - "Fit Against the Country"

The Mean Jeans make the partiest punk of all timez, grown out of their obsessions with Jägermeister, Applebee's, and Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey.
LISTEN:

Mean Jeans - "Hangin' Tuff"

Those Portland record releases just keep on comin', and Y La Bamba's much-anticipated second record was borne out of a drum lesson that turned into a sake binge.
LISTEN:

Y La Bamba - "Bendito"

Damien Jurado's exquisite new Maraqopa album was based on a dream he had, about a stranger who rolls into a small town in the middle of nowhere. Sounds like the beginning of a great western.
LISTEN:

Damien Jurado - "Museum of Flight"

Satanic Dutch band the Devil's Blood were too busy smearing their walls with their own blood (this is true, they do this) to talk to us for an interview. Priorities, priorities.
LISTEN:

The Devil's Blood - "Die the Death"

Three brothers from the Blue Ridge Mountains make the weird freaky psych that is Pontiak. They're a lot more normal than they sound.
LISTEN:

Pontiak - "Lions of Least"

• Tarina Westlund
• Portland Cello Project

Enough of that! Let's talk about good music. The Portland Cello Project really doesn't need explaining anymore (they're all cellos! They do cool covers! They bridge the gap between classical and popular music!) but they've got a fine new record coming out, and three shows this weekend.
LISTEN:

Portland Cello Project - "H*A*M"

Jeff Mangum is playing two shows next week—yes, really. The reclusive Neutral Milk Hotel frontman is making a very, very long awaited return to the stage, so missing this would be like missing... well, like missing a Neutral Milk Hotel show.
LISTEN:

Neutral Milk Hotel - "Holland 1945"

And the Soul'd Out Music Festival kicked off last night with a couple shows, including one from Maze featuring Frankie Beverly. They've got lots and lots of other shows over the next couple weeks, including two CD release shows from Curtis Salgado tonight and tomorrow.
LISTEN:

Curtis Salgado - "What You Gonna Do?"

Plus a smorgasbord of Up and Coming shows.

• photo: James Bryans
• Gotye

Gotye is huge. The Belgian-Australian producer/musician had the biggest song on 94.7 since Coldplay's "Yellow." Now if only anyone knew how to pronounce his name.
LISTEN:

Gotye - "I Feel Better"

The Barr Brothers are brought to you by the same dudes in the Slip. And they're terrific.
LISTEN:

The Barr Brothers - "Beggar in the Morning"

Ceremony used to make hardcore. Now they don't. They don't really make post-hardcore, either, though. What Ceremony makes can't really be called anything other than Ceremony.
LISTEN:

Ceremony - "Hysteria"

When Chairlift records their music, they call it "doing science." Ah, I have been thinking doing science was something totally different! Good to know.
LISTEN:

Chairlift - "Amanaemonesia"

And the expected heap of Up and Coming shows.

• Hayley Young
• The Lumineers

At first glance, the Lumineers seem like any other trendy, upbeat, huggy folk band. But at second, and third, and fourth glance, it's obvious they've got something special. Seeing 'em live is electrifying—in a year's time they'll have taken over the world, mark my words.
LISTEN:

The Lumineers - "Ho Hey"

With CASH Music and countless other endeavors, Maggie Vail is crazy busy. Thank goodness she set aside some time for some Bangs shows. We missed ya.
LISTEN:

Bangs - "Sweet Revenge"

Portland's own Support Force has a new 7-inch with eight songs on it. No, they're not each under a minute long—they're all in Support Force's expansive, inventive style. How did they do this? Internet magic.
LISTEN:

Support Force - "Tense in the Water"

John K. Samson wrote a song about the love affair between The Simpsons' Seymour Skinner and Edna Krabappel. If you know Samson—or anything from his band the Weakerthans—this won't seem strange at all.
LISTEN:

John K. Samson - "Letter in Icelandic from the Ninette San"

Plus a bunchy bunch of Up and Coming shows, all bunched up in a bunch.

• Dusdin Condren
• Sharon Van Etten & Band (including Heather Woods Broderick, second from left)

In which I get sort of weirdly emo about Sharon Van Etten. She's enlisted Heather Woods Broderick, a former Portlander and outstanding songwriter in her own right, to be in her live band. We'd be angry with Van Etten poaching our best talent if we weren't so happy to see them performing together.
LISTEN:

Sharon Van Etten - "Serpents"

Grooving rockers Plants and Animals decided Quebec wasn't French enough for them, so they went to the source of all that is Gallic (i.e. France) to record their latest record. The results? Comme ci, comme ça!
LISTEN:

Plants and Animals - "Lightshow"

Don't let his recent SXSW appearance, a brand-new album, and his upcoming show fool you: Luck-One has retired. No, really. Dude's spending the rest of his days clipping coupons and watching Matlock.
LISTEN:

Luck-One & Dekk ft. Dizz - "Black Seed"

Now a full-fledged band, Yellow Ostrich enlisted Portland producer Beau Sorenson to work on their new record, and they came to Portland to mix it.
LISTEN:

Yellow Ostrich - "The Shakedown"

Plus a big ol' batch of Up & Coming shows.

• Parker Fitzgerald
• Anya Marina

Anya Marina's terrific new record was originally a concept album about a stack of criminal pancakes. Thankfully she tweaked the title of Felony Flapjacks to name it after a neighborhood in her new hometown of Portland instead. Whoop whoop!
LISTEN:

Anya Marina - "Notice Me"

They'll deny it, of course, but the Alialujah Choir met on JuggaloSpace. The bulletin read, "Musicians of other, non-ICP-affiliated bands looking to put together a mellow folk side project for our more reflective sides, ninja. [whispered] Whoop whoop. (Sssh.)"
LISTEN:

The Alialujah Choir - "A House A Home"

And Paddy Considine joins the ranks of actors-turned-musicians like... uh... Russell Crowe... and Bruce Willis. Actually, Considine's band Riding the Low is nothing like those other bands at all. It's actually good. Whoop whoop!
LISTEN:

Riding the Low - "Easy on Our Own"

Plus a dose of Up and Coming shows. (Sorry about all the ICP/Juggalo jokes this week, but Wm. Steven Humphrey LOVES them.)

• Sara Padgett
• AU

Another week, another Mercury music section to cling on to for dear life, as you drown in the abject terror/sorrow/disgust that comes from learning the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's only chance for fiscal survival is this guy.

AU's new record Both Lights is perhaps the closest the Portland group has come to their ecstatic, transcendent live shows. It didn't come easy, though, and it required bandleader Luke Wyland building a tiny room inside of drummer Dana Valatka's garage.
LISTEN:

AU - "Solid Gold"

Wait, the dude from Cloud Nothings is only 20? And the magnificent Attack on Memory is the group's third record? Ugh. When I was 20 I still thought Twisted Tea was a classy beverage.
LISTEN:

Cloud Nothings - "No Future/No Past"

PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY ANDREW W.K. PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY PARTY
LISTEN:

Andrew W.K. - "Party Hard"

Plus a party-hearty stack of Up and Coming shows.

• from left to right: Cate Le Bon; Cate Le Bon

Another week, another Mercury music section to ignore as you get excited for P. Diddy's new cable-TV music channel. Wait... He's calling it "Revolt"? Is it a music channel or a Calvin Klein cologne?

Welsh musician Cate Le Bon's new album, Cyrk, is positively excellent. And if you think Cyrk is a weird album title, you should see the Welsh-language titles she rejected: Mwynhewch Eich Bwyd (translation: Bon Appetit). Y Ddraig Goch Ddyry Gychwyn (translation: The Red Dragon Shows the Way). Ble Nae'r Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch? (translation: Where Is the Village of Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch?—yes, this is the actual name of a village in Wales.)
LISTEN:

Cate Le Bon - "Cyrk"

In the most conflict-of-interest-y piece we've ever published, former Mercury music editor Ezra Caraeff waxes rhapsodic about the band he used to tour manage: the Jealous Sound. Caraeff's next contribution to the paper will be a 10,000-word rave review of something marginally cute his pug once did.
LISTEN:

The Jealous Sound - "Your Eyes Were Shining"

Local guitarist Ilyas Ahmed makes nomadic, mystic psych-folk with little pretense.
LISTEN:

Ilyas Ahmed - "Skin in Circles"

Look out, cancer. Because industrial art-noise bands Gashdig and Threscher have reunited for the sole purpose of destroying you. Their show this weekend benefits longtime friend Jen McCargar and Gashdig drummer Kenny Zimmerman, both of whom have suffered from cancer.
Listen to Gashdig here.

And a heaping heap of Up and Coming shows.

• RaphaËl Ouellet
• Grimes

Another week, another Mercury music section to ignore as you respond to this Craigslist ad for the GREATEST BASS PLAYER EVER. Seriously, this guy is a catch. You need him in your band. He could really turn things around for you.

Grimes is one Claire Boucher, and her breakthrough album Visions comes out on February 21, the very day she plays here in Portland. (It can be pre-ordered here.) Grimes makes an amazing blend of dance beats, noise art, squiggle synths, and sugar-sweet melodies that get all tangled up in your cranium. It's fantastic.
LISTEN:

Grimes - "Genesis"

Zef ravers Die Antwoord believe in documentary fiction—"when you inject your imagination into reality." If that all sounds a bit Joaquin Phoenix, it's resulted in the South Africans making some of the most arresting visuals since Lady Gaga wore a baloney sandwich or whatever she did.
LISTEN:

Die Antwoord - "Fok Julle Naaiers"

Cursive letters are the fancypants of handwriting, and concept albums are the fancypants of music. Looks like Omaha's fancypants purveyors Cursive have another concept album for you, making those pants just as fancy as can be.
LISTEN:

Cursive - "Wowowow"

Jazz! Jazzity-jazz-jazz-a-roo. Ja-jazz, daddy-o! Jazzin' jazz-areeny jazzamatazz! Jazz.
LISTEN:

Charles McPherson - "Hot House"

Also, a brimming cornucopia of Up and Coming shows.

• Adarsha Benjamin
• The Pharmacy

Another week, another Mercury music section to wad up in fury as you read the profoundly irritating news that Portlandia is publishing its own travel guide to Portland.

Two friends growing up on Vashon Island start a band. That band becomes the Pharmacy, and the Pharmacy is here to disprove any rumors about rock and roll's supposed demise.
LISTEN:

The Pharmacy - "Dig Your Grave"

Our metal writer proclaims that Arizona's Vektor is the most legit metal band in the US. He obviously hasn't heard my metal band, LEGÏTIMATÖR—we do a mean metal cover of "2 Legit 2 Quit."
LISTEN:

Plus, we also have a special Valentine's Day playlist of the creepiest love songs of all time, with the Crystals, Roxy Music, Kenny Rogers, and more. These are the songs that you don't want to put on that Valentine's mixtape for your sweetie.

And a whole candy box full of Up and Comings.

• Ben Moon
• Lost Lander

Lost Lander's debut DRRT comes with a fold-out planetarium. We fully expect that future releases from this great new Portland band will include a lodestone, a zoetrope, signal flares, a Swiss army knife, and an ocarina.
LISTEN:

Lost Lander - "Afraid of Summer"

We assume Laura Gibson wanted to name her excellent new album after a town that shares her initials. And the lucky winner in this selective process turned out to be La Grande, Oregon. (Better luck next time, Los Gangeles.)
LISTEN:

Laura Gibson - "La Grande"

The Golden Bears' second record, Write It Like You Find It, is just as good as their first (which was terrific). Recorded at home in their basement, it's a 12-song ode to domesticity and rock and roll—and it turns out those two flavors go together extraordinarily well.
LISTEN:

The Golden Bears - "Come to Be"

Neal Morgan is a singing drummer. But his intriguing new album In the Yard sounds nothing like "In the Air Tonight."
LISTEN:

Neal Morgan - "Fathers Day"

Welsh band Los Campesinos! have grown from precocious youngsters into a grownup band. Don't worry: Their diary-like songs are still as heart-on-the-sleeve as ever.
LISTEN:

Los Campesinos! - "Hello Sadness"

And a lapful of Up & Comings as well.