NIGHT MECHANIC, THE RARITIES, DJ CHARLES AUSTIN
(Record Room, 8 NE Killingsworth) Read our article on Night Mechanic.

SUN ANGLE, NICE NICE, LIKE A VILLAIN
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Read our article on Sun Angle.

KPSU KRUISE: ONUINU, GRANDPARENTS
(Portland Spirit, SW Salmon & Naito) Slap on a goofy smile and your favorite topsiders to dance the ever-loving poop deck off the Portland Spirit for the KPSU Kruise. Boogie on a BOAT to the infectious groove of Onuinu! At MIDNIGHT! With a FULL BAR! It's part of the college radio station's string of fundraising events to get an FM signal. COURTNEY FERGUSON

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MAKE IT POP!
(The Cleaners at the Ace Hotel, 403 SW 10th) PDX Pop Now!'s annual fundraiser, Make It Pop!, is a great way to support local all-ages music, and it's a terrific concert, this year with Kelli Schaefer, Monarques, Grandparents, Ezza Rose, and DJ Jeremy Petersen. Throw in a raffle, free hors d'oeuvres and desserts, and the announcement of this year's PDX Pop Now! compilation tracklist, this is the feel-good party of the season. NED LANNAMANN

TALKDEMONIC, GRAMMIES, HATS OFF
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Talkdemonic is now a full-fledged four-piece. The duo of drummer Kevin O'Connor and violist Lisa Molinaro have added bassist Jay Winebrenner and multi-instrumentalist Dustin Dybvig to the ranks—we got a sneak peak of the expanded lineup back in February, when they performed under the cryptic name VioHazard at Bunk Bar. Now it's official, and with eight hands on deck, Talkdemonic's twisting, stirring instrumental landscapes are more fluid and dramatic than ever before. NL

THE DANDELYONS, THE LAURELS, MIRACLE FALLS
(Kelly's Olympian, 426 SW Washington) Sydney quartet the Laurels have been making resonant ripples in the psychedelic underground with their Plains album. It's a shiver-inducing blend of trippy shoegaze rock with lysergic-cotton-candy melodies and mellow male/female vocals that sound like extended, distant sighs. The playability factor's sky high. DAVE SEGAL

ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT RETURNS PARTY
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) For the army of Arrested Development fans who made a fourth season happen—this party is for YOU! The Arrested Development Returns Party features musical acts Tango Alpha Tango, Animal Eyes, the We Shared Milk, and DJ Trim Jones, PLUS a chicken dance-off, a Bluth family costume contest, AND banana drink specials! As Gob would say, "C'MON!!" WM.™ STEVEN HUMPHREY

JAVELIN, HELADO NEGRO, JAMAICAN QUEENS
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Brooklyn-based cousins George Langford and Tom Van Buskirk's past releases as Javelin have been quirky blends of bouncing beats and grooves made up of homemade sounds from samplers, thumb pianos, drum machines, and other instruments. For their latest release, Hi Beams, the duo ditch their DIY approach for a more traditional—and, unfortunately, much less interesting—studio-recorded pop sound similar to a sea of other Brooklyn indie acts. The new approach could, however, translate much better to a live setting. South Florida's Helado Negro (AKA Roberto Carlos Lange, who's collaborated with Guillermo Scott Herren—AKA Prefuse 73—as Savath y Savalas) makes his own brand of homegrown tropical pop that soothes rather than bores with its breezy, sun-bleached sound and overdubbed, reverb-tinged, (mostly) Spanish vocals. MIKE RAMOS

ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE, TJUTJUNA, FIST FITE
(Star Theater, 13 NW 6th) With an endless list of releases, Acid Mothers Temple & the Melting Paraiso U.F.O. remain one of the most prolific heavy psych bands in the world. And it goes beyond music. For the past two decades ringleader Kawabata Makoto has created a world beyond most of our understandings, one of decadence fueled by drugs and carnal pleasure and sound. These Japanese trippers are the real deal. Acid Mothers Temple's influence here in the States can't be measured, and you'll hear one of the band's disciples tonight in Tjutjuna. Be prepared to be taken on a trip that will last long after the music has ended. MARK LORE

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CAITLIN ROSE, DANIEL ROMANO
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Read our article on Caitlin Rose.

THE MUSIC TAPES' TRAVELING IMAGINARY
(Mission Theater, 1624 NW Glisan) Who can resist the calliope call of a traveling circus? The quirky ringleaders of the Music Tapes will set up their imaginarium—a circus tent with carnival games, cartoons, music, storytelling, and surreal theatrics—in the confines of the Mission Theater. They promise a mesmerizing spectacle filled with sweet music and childlike wonder. (Ooooh, wonder!) COURTNEY FERGUSON

OS MUTANTES, CAPSULA, GRANDPARENTS, DJ KAREN ANTUNEZ
(Star Theater, 13 NW 6th) Tropicalismo pioneers Os Mutantes' 1968 self-titled debut and the similarly titled 1969 follow-up are truly timeless psych masterpieces that, perhaps inexplicably, have aged far better than many pop albums from the same period. As the '70s progressed, the group's sonic eccentricities multiplied, culminating with the Tudo Foi Feito Pelo Sol album and the posthumously issued O A e o Z, although the band never totally abandoned the Beatles/bossa nova composite it helped to champion. After a one-off reunion show in 2006, the band formally reunited in 2007, albeit without founding members Rita Lee and Arnaldo Baptista. Their new record, Fool Metal Jack, is the second produced by this new, re-formed incarnation, and it's every bit as weird as the band's earliest material, and occasionally as beautiful. MORGAN TROPER

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RICHMOND FONTAINE
(Al's Den, 303 SW 12th) It's been a long, long while since the members of Richmond Fontaine, all working on other projects, took the stage as Richmond Fontaine. Well, just like that, Richmond Fontaine has declared itself back, playing an entire week at the Crystal Hotel's Al's Den, with all sorts of special guests. Is another hiatus looming? Better not tempt fate and miss out. DENIS C. THERIAULT

THE BABY BLUE BADFINGER TRIBUTE
(Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta) The Raspberries, Big Star, and Badfinger represent the holy trinity of classicist power-pop. Much of the Raspberries post-"Go All the Way" output was marred by Eric Carmen's desperate preoccupation with scoring another giant hit; Big Star (specifically, Alex Chilton) wrote music that was alien and distinctly Southern, with digressions into acoustic vulnerability. Badfinger, meanwhile, were the group every reputable critic of the day speculated would succeed the Beatles in terms of influence and commercial success, and they're the perfect synthesis of the Raspberries and Big Star. "No Matter What" remains the singular power-pop template and ranks up there with the best pre-Sgt. Pepper Lennon/McCartney compositions. "Without You" is the most poignant, twistingly fucked breakup song ever written; even Mariah Carey couldn't ruin it. Tragically, the group's principal songwriters, Pete Ham and Tom Evans, committed suicide (both by hanging themselves, eight years apart), therefore immortalizing the band's legacy. Tonight a host of local musicians pay tribute to Ham and Evans' immortal classics, while raising money for local sound engineer Scott Peterson. MORGAN TROPER

MASAKI BATOH'S BRAIN PULSE MUSIC
(Star Theater, 13 NW 6th) Ghost frontman Masaki Batoh's latest endeavor finds him making music from brain waves in order to heal people from the trauma of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. On Brain Pulse Music, he combines an experimental bio-electric procedure with traditional Japanese instrumentation to create alien zen ambience and Harry Partch-meets-Harry Bertoia sonic sculptures. You may not have suffered directly from that awful quake and the resultant tsunami, but you can still benefit from Batoh's unconventional aural therapy. Expect to be gloriously confused most of the night. DAVE SEGAL

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TENDER LOVING EMPIRE FORT GEORGE BEERTHDAY PARTY
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) Fort George Brewery's new seasonal, Tender Loving Empire, is a solid addition to an already strong lineup. The Astoria brewer could regale you with tales of the Northwest pale ale's citrus and pine notes. We just think it's tasty. Celebrate the brew's "beerthday" along with bands from its name's progenitor, powerhouse Portland indie label Tender Loving Empire. DIRK VANDERHART

DON'T, LA LUZ, BATH PARTY
(Rontoms, 600 E Burnside) With a new single on Portland-based Water Wing Records (an offshoot of Mississippi Records) and a cover story in Seattle's The Stranger, La Luz is proverbially blowing up. The two tracks on that 7-inch also appear on the band's rippingly good Damp Face EP, recorded in a trailer park in Bothell, Washington—five tracks that stick you in the middle of a surfy, stony, dance-y, girl-group garage party. The all-female foursome's members come from other Seattle area bands like the Curious Mystery and the Pica Beats, and despite not being together a full year yet, La Luz has already mastered a spindly, organ-dipped sound with lots of ghostly backing vocals and tremolo'ed guitar. It's true that there isn't anything trailblazing on Damp Face, but that doesn't keep it from sounding terrific. With a live show that's already sent our neighbors up north into conniptions of praise, it's only a matter of time before Portland sees the light. NED LANNAMANN

HURRY UP, KIM BAXTER, SUMMER CANNIBALS
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Hurry Up is a see-'em-live kind of band. This is partly a matter of logistics—they have yet to release a recording—but mostly, it's because they are tight, fast, and smoking hot. But that's what you'd expect from Maggie Vail of Bangs and Kathy Foster and Westin Glass of the Thermals. They play rock with the conviction of people for whom rock is a lifestyle, which it clearly is: All three members juggle multiple bands, and frontwoman Vail is the label manager at Bikini Kill Records and a founder of Cash Music, an open source web platform for musicians. One of Foster's other bands, All Girl Summer Fun Band, includes Kim Baxter, who is opening. Her first solo album, The Tale of Me and You, is a completely enjoyable and buoyantly eccentric collection of lo-fi vocals set to impeccably produced guitars and synths. REBECCA WILSON

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PORTLAND CELLO PROJECT, SCHOOL OF ROCK
(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) The Portland Cello Project has a well-earned reputation for its mind-blowing, genre-bending arrangements of rock anthems and masterworks. Tonight's show features Bach and Dave Brubeck. And the kids from the Portland School of Rock will help out on some of the selected works of pop genius Beck Hansen. DENIS C. THERIAULT

VIETNAM, GAP DREAM, SMALL ARMS
(Dante's, 350 W Burnside) Michael Gerner leads the New York six-piece VietNam, who sound like they've been putting in long hours preparing to open for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Which means a lot of turmoil-laced blues rock and spectral ballads full of resignation, to temper the tempestuousness. Gerner's no Cave on the mic, though, and his quasi-nerdy tone undercuts the last-days gravity for which he's striving. DAVE SEGAL

MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS, LITTLE DAYLIGHT
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) Marina Diamandis—you can see where she got her band's name from—has been struggling to convince the world of her coolness and emotional depth over the course of two albums, The Family Jewels, and, more recently, Electra Heart, an overwrought album whose high points are obscured by an overwhelming sense of feeling forced. A laundry list of of-the-moment sounds and arbitrary shout-outs to ancient Greek things is not the foundation of a great album. On the upside, it is far less irritating than The Family Jewels—maybe because it feels so irrelevant. REBECCA WILSON

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BLEACHED, EX-COPS, GUANTANAMO BAYWATCH, BIG EYES
(Star Theater, 13 NW 6th) Read our article on Bleached.

KVELERTAK, CANCER BATS, BLACK TUSK, NORSKA
(Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE César E. Chávez) Read our article on Kvelertak.

THE CAVE SINGERS, BLEEDING RAINBOW
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) Read our article on the Cave Singers.

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METZ, WHITE LUNG, WL
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Breakneck rock at thunderous volumes is the name of Metz's game, so prepare to get blown to the back of the room by the sheer weight of the Toronto trio's sound. Also on board are White Lung, the charismatic, whip-smart Vancouver, BC punk band fronted by Mish Way, who's as badass as rock stars come. NED LANNAMANN

WHITEHORSE, SANTI ELIJAH HOLLEY
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) When it comes to rock 'n' roll, Luke Doucet and Melissa McClelland have a commitment problem. They can't come to terms with the fact that they are rockers. This identity crisis should be evident to anybody who has heard Whitehorse's excellent second album, The Fate of the World Depends on This Kiss. The two-thirds of the album that are down 'n' dirty angular blues rock is fantastic, making the remaining one-third devoted to pretty Americana seem extraneous. In their solo work, the married Canadians have shown a fondness for singer/songwriter introspection. But as a duo, they're at their best when they sing against the sad chime of an electric guitar and the rhythm of a saloon piano. Fortunately, even at their most introspective, Doucet and McClelland's vocals sparkle. But when they rock ("Achilles' Desire," "Devil's Got a Gun," "Jane"), their voices sizzle. REBECCA WILSON

MAY DAY MUSIC FEST: SOCIAL STUDIES, HUSTLE AND DRONE, GLASSBONES, PHEASANT, CATHERINE FEENY, SAMA DAMS, SUMMER CANNIBALS, JOLLIFF
(Alhambra Theatre, 4811 SE Hawthorne) Read our article on the opening of Alhambra Theatre.

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MAY DAY MUSIC FEST: RED FANG, DOG SHREDDER, SONS OF HUNS
(Alhambra Theatre, 4811 SE Hawthorne) The Alhambra Theatre (formerly Mt. Tabor Theater) is celebrating Portland's great music scene with their five-day May Day Music Fest. And they're kicking it off tonight with much beloved heavy-duty rockers Red Fang, who may melt your face with awesomeness. Check out the entire fest lineup, which includes such greats as Sage Francis, Y la Bamba, Black Prairie, and more! WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY Also, read our article on the opening of Alhambra Theatre.

RL GRIME, NATHANIEL KNOWS, BENNYROX
(Whiskey Bar, 31 NW 1st) RL Grime is the "future-bass"/"trap"-producing alias of 22-year-old LA resident Henry Steinway, previously best known for his electro/house production as Clockwork. He's one of the pioneers of the "EDM" (ugh) co-opted version of the immensely popular Southern rap production sound marked by pitched 808 bass thumps, aggressive snare rolls/fills, and skittering, ratcheting hi-hats. Along with Wedidit collective partner Salva, RL Grime is responsible for one of the most popular "trap remixes" ever—that ubiquitous club version of Kanye West's "Mercy." While this all might sound unappealing to anyone too old to read R.L. Stine's Goosebumps series, there should be enough '90s kids and #yolo types to pack out the Whiskey for one of this genre's biggest names. MIKE RAMOS

A VOLCANO, AH GOD, YOUNG DAD, MISTER TANG
(Backspace, 115 NW 5th) Young Dad might be the perfect antidote to all the '90s-revival folk and pop music that's in heavy rotation around town (not that it's a problem, there's just a lot of it). This four-piece makes loud, cathartic, noisy music that you'll want to thrash your head along with. Their Bandcamp page is stocked with some new, rowdy recordings that will be exciting to check out live. Meanwhile, Ah God is Chad Davis and Cody Berger of Talkative, and they make explosive, experimental noise rock that spirals into the melodic and makes you feel like you're stoned. Oh wait, you probably are stoned. Paired with A Volcano's fantastic, raging shreddy-metal, this is a lineup of hugely underrated PDX bands. RACHEL MILBAUER

CRYSTAL CASTLES, PICTUREPLANE
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) Bleep, bloop, bleepity. Crystal Castles beckons you to come dance your fool faces off with them. The Toronto band is touring on their 2012 album (III), so get lost in their butt-moving wash of synthy layers, which oscillate from dark and aggressive to warm soundscapes. Wear your party pants. COURTNEY FERGUSON

LILACS AND CHAMPAGNE
(Dig a Pony, 736 SE Grand) When they're not making darker-than-black instrumental music with Portland band Grails, Alex Hall and Emil Amos spin platters as Lilacs and Champagne. Tonight they take the tables at Dig a Pony, and lord knows what sort of uneasy alchemy they'll make. If their new album Danish and Blue, just released on Mexican Summer, is any indication, they'll dig up plenty of old weird samples, haunted exotica, navel-gazing prog, lounge-riffic swank, some dope beats, and unnerving spoken word, tying it all up with audio clips plucked from Scandinavian porn and '60s B movies. The result is startling, intoxicating sound, with hints of terror and beauty in equal measures. NED LANNAMANN

WHITE FANG, THE SHIVAS, BOOM!
(Burgerville, 1122 SE Hawthorne) What better place for a Burger Records showcase than Burgerville? Three of the city's finest, sickest bands will pack your buns with meaty music, including the Shivas, Boom!, and party kings White Fang. It's all part of KPSU's Radio Revival series of shows and events to raise funds for a bona fide FM signal. Yes, you want fries with that. NED LANNAMANN

DAWES, DR. DOG
(Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside) Dr. Dog (neither doctors nor dogs) is back in Portland for the first time since co-headlining Pickathon last summer. Vocalists Toby Leaman and Scott McMicken collaborate on lead vocals, creating Beatles-derived harmonies that scream for simpler times and summer barbeques. Their recent album, 2012's Be the Void, is their most clean cut to date, but still retains the lo-fi fuzzy charm that attracted us in the first place. It's been exciting to hear their sound evolve between albums, from homemade garage project to creamy, polished rock. While the recordings are a good place to start, their gritty, dynamic performances are the best way to experience their inventive and vibrant sound. RACHEL MILBAUER

DROPPING GEMS: WIRES FOR SALU, GHOST FEET, DJAO, CITYMOUTH AND BONE ROCK, PHILIP GRASS
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) The six tracks on Dropping Gems' latest compilation, Gem Drops Three, provide a glimpse at the state of electronic music, from the Northwest and beyond. All but one of the contributors (the Boston-based M. Constant) will be on hand for tonight's release celebration, including Portland duo Philip Grass, Portland/Olympia duo Ghost Feet, and visitors from Seattle and San Francisco. The music contained on Gem Drops Three is uniformly lovely and runs quite the gamut—Dropping Gems has provided some handy genre descriptors, like "maximalist shuttle launch," "emo-juke," and "underground lake narrative"—but what's remarkable is how well Gem Drops Three works as a whole. All these contributors complement each other rather than drown each other out, and the same should prove true for tonight's bill. NL

BLIND PILOT, OREGON SYMPHONY
(Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway) The Schnitz and backing from the Oregon Symphony seem like some pretty fancy trappings for a band as gentle and homespun as Blind Pilot. Watching the folk act overcome and transcend those cushy surroundings might be part of the magic. Besides, any band good enough for Ellen DeGeneres is probably good enough for you. DENIS C. THERIAULT

RODRIGUEZ, JENNY O
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) For a musician whose most recent studio album came out 42 years ago, Detroiter Sixto Rodriguez is doing okay for himself. Now at age 70, after riding the waves of what has to be the most capricious music career ever, he's finally achieved stardom in his home country. This isn't his first brush with fame—he became wildly popular in Australia in the 1970s, and his fanbase has always leaned heavily, and surprisingly, South African. His first album, Cold Fact, was released in 1970; it's a masterpiece of baroque, drugged-out folk rock, clearly influenced by the British invasion and Bob Dylan. Along with 1971's Coming from Reality, Cold Fact was re-released last year, with the soundtrack to Searching for Sugar Man, the excellent Oscar-winning documentary detailing the efforts of two Cape Town fans in the late 1990s to find out what had become of him. REBECCA WILSON

INDUSTRIAL PARK, HAUSU, WARM
(Recess Gallery, 1127 SE 10th) Industrial Park's hot-off-the-presses 7-inch isn't technically new—it contains the group's two best cuts off their Cold White EP, released last year—but it's certainly good, regardless of how current the material is. Industrial Park shamelessly flaunt their influences, equal parts post-punk (specifically Bauhaus) and shoegaze pioneers like Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine, with maybe a pinch of the Vaselines thrown in for good measure. But they manage to be as stirring and melodic as they are atmospheric, a crucial part of the admixture that remains foreign to many art-punk fetishists (exemplified particularly well on the B-side "May"). Their label assures us this single is just a "tease of what's to come." You have my attention. MORGAN TROPER

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