WEDNESDAY 7/6
LITTLE TYBEE, THE MONDEGREENS, THE FOURTH WALL
(Doug Fir, 830 E Burnside) Over the past several years, more than enough indie-folk bands have emerged from cozy practice spaces, ready to plink-plunk their way through some winsome tunes and straight into your heart... or at least an inescapable television commercial. It hardly feels like we need another in the mix. To be fair, Little Tybee isn't some Johnny Come Sprightly—the Atlanta band has been around for a while now. But this six-piece brings a little more oomph to the style than many of their contemporaries. Some of that oomph is the result of virtuosic playing (guitarist Josh Martin is one of those eye-poppingly skilled fret-tapping types), while some comes from the band's tendency to veer away from standard string-band sounds into jazz, prog, funk, and classical. Little Tybee's new self-titled album is conspicuously catchy and consistently interesting, and that's a good thing! BEN SALMON
ARROWS IN ORBIT, LINDSAY CLARK, SPLEENS
(Alberta Street Pub, 1036 NE Alberta) Arrows in Orbit is the new project of local songwriter Hunter Paye. The dreadlocked singer and guitar player has been a longtime fixture in the Portland folk scene, first making his mark around 2005 with roots band Folkrum, then continuing on as a solo act. With Arrows in Orbit, Paye has made the leap from acoustic to electric, though it's no 1965 Dylan-at-Newport moment. Instead, the four-piece band—electric guitar, bass, drums, and synth—adds subtle dreamscape textures behind Paye, allowing his voice and lyrics to remain at the forefront. If "prog-folk" isn't yet a thing, Arrows in Orbit might have just invented it. Sharing the bill tonight is the enchanting Lindsay Clark, whose quiet, meditative ballads have much in common with fellow Nevada City, California, transplant Alela Diane. SANTI ELIJAH HOLLEY
THURSDAY 7/7
DEERHOOF, SKATING POLLY, SAVILA
(Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark) The long-running experimental rock quartet bring their unique and edgy blend of off-kilter pop to Revolution Hall in support of their 13th studio album, The Magic. Also read our story on Deerhoof
BIG THIEF, LUKE TEMPLE
(Bunk Bar, 1028 SE Water) Read our story on Big Thief.
YUMI ZOUMA, CALM CANDY
(Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison) Even for those of us too cynical to give ourselves over to genres that contain the words "dream" or "synth," Yumi Zouma is pretty damn charming. After leaving their native New Zealand in 2011, the geographically divided four-piece created music transcontinentally via email. In 2014 and 2015, a pair of short, sweet, and sultry EPs caught the attention of fellow New Zealander Lorde, who offered them a chance to tour with her. Touring with the teen sensation gave Yumi Zouma an opportunity to write a whole album together, in person, in the same time zone. Despite their young fanbase and affinity for 21st century production techniques, the band's music is nostalgic. With a clear fondness for days of disco, Yumi Zouma makes contemporary dance music too pretty to be chopped and screwed. EMMA BURKE
LENA WILLIKENS, ISABELLA LIVE HARDWARE, NATURAL MAGIC
(S1, 4148 NE Hancock) Cologne, Germany's Lena Willikens has a sentimental approach to DJing. Her eclectic style cannot be contained within just a genre or two—Willikens' sets offer a range of tempos and musical flavors, from Afro-pop to electro to no wave to cosmic disco and beyond. Last year's Comeme Records-released EP, Phantom Delia, is a cinematic foray into left-field electronica that showcases a patchwork of broad influences sure to delight diverse audiences. Boston's Isabella (formerly Sitting Adult) plays up-tempo experimental acid techno on an array of electronic instruments. Her recent debut, Viscous Positions, is receiving rave reviews for its dark explorations into the underbelly of hard electronics. CHRISTINA BROUSSARD
FRIDAY 7/8
GATE, GROUPER, GABIE STRONG CHRISTOPHER REID MARTIN
(S1, 4148 NE Hancock) This show at subterranean venue S1 features a truly stacked lineup. There’s the free-flowing guitar work of New Zealander Michael Morley’s solo project Gate, the haunted, whispering ambient sounds of Oregonian Liz Harris as Grouper, the droning experimentalism of Gabie Strong, and the subdued, pulsing soundscapes of Christopher Reid Martin. CIARA DOLAN
FALLS OF RAUROS, WAYFARER, BARROWLANDS, IRON SCEPTER
(Panic Room, 3100 NE Sandy) According to Google Maps, the fastest driving route between Portland, Maine, and Portland, Oregon, stretches nearly 3,200 miles and would take around 46 hours to traverse, so let's give it up for Falls of Rauros, a black metal band that'll be far from home when they play Panic Room tonight. To be clear, Falls of Rauros isn't just praiseworthy because they have a working van. The quartet offers an excellent and highly accessible take on black metal, mixing in substantial chunks of post-rock and folk, and recording music in a way that's clear and punchy, not obscured by distortion and lo-fi pretense like so many others in the genre. Touring the west with Falls of Rauros is Wayfarer, a like-minded band from Denver whose take on black metal is progressive and thunderous. BS
TOO $HORT
(Roseland, 8 NW 6th) For decades Too $hort has made his living rhyming about the seedier side of life. Blatant objectification of women characterized much of Too $hort's work, going back to his earliest demos in the mid-'80s. These days most of the 50-year-old East Bay rapper's message comes off as more nonsensical and silly, but his laidback beats and rhymes are still rock solid, if not a little outdated in 2016. Too $hort is a hip-hop legend, no doubt—songs like "Blow the Whistle" and "The Ghetto" are still incredibly important and pioneering pieces of West Coast rap. MARK LORE
SATURDAY 7/9
JUMP JACK SOUND MACHINE
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) We can’t in good conscience recommend you spend your Saturday at the Mississippi Street Fair, which has grown each year to become a ginormous sweaty clusterfuck of waddling families. We can, however, urge you to show up late, just in time for the de facto afterparty at Mississippi Studios, in which the Chanti Darling DJs will make you grind and sweat as part of the brand-new Jump Jack Sound Machine dance night. NED LANNAMANN
DANAVA, THRONES, SUSAN VASLEV, POSSIBLY IRISH
(Enchanted Forest, 8462 Enchanted Way SE, Turner) The legendary Enchanted Forest theme park holds an iconic place in the childhood psyche of many native Oregonians. Its ever-expanding cadre of creepily fantastic sculptures, rides, and attractions stands as a monument to the vision of outsider artist Roger Tofte and his family, who continue to maintain and love the incredibly hallowed piece of fantasy folk art for all to enjoy. So it only makes sense that a place of such quaintly incandescent magic would musically celebrate its 45th anniversary with the blackened, cauldron-crushing meditations of Salem's own Thrones or the highly synchronized guitar wizardry of Portland's mighty Danava. Both bands will no doubt cast their masterfully dark spells upon bewildered eyes and ears. With the first-ever live performance of the Enchanted Forest theme by composer Susan Vaslev augmenting these titanic conjurings, fans old and new are in for an extra special night. CHRIS SUTTON
THE EXQUISITES, NAKED HOUR, MR. BONES
(The Know, 2026 NE Alberta) The Exquisites is the pop-oriented-punk project of Seattle musician Jason Clackley. In 2013, Lauren Records released two Exquisites songs on a split 7-inch with Los Angeles punks Warm Thoughts. The first track, "Setting Sun," is a dense, full-bodied shoegaze gem. Since the split's release they've gone on a mini-hiatus, and though Clackley hasn't released music under the Exquisites moniker, last October he put out a sweet Elvis Costello-esque acoustic EP on Portland's Good Cheer Records. But this summer promises fresh Exquisites material, with a new single and a full-length album already tracked. They'll join fellow Good Cheer affiliates Mr. Bones and Naked Hour to round out a night of some of the catchiest sad tunes in the Pacific Northwest. CAMERON CROWELL
MARK LANEGAN, SEAN WHEELER
(Star Theater, 13 NW 6th) In the '80s and '90s, Mark Lanegan was the Johnny Cash of the grunge scene—a softhearted bad boy who could make even the most banal song haunting and gorgeous. His unlikely career path has led him from fronting Screaming Trees to a series of unpredictable solo albums, vocalist-for-hire for everyone from Mike Watt to Moby, and a seemingly infinite array of collaborative projects (his three albums with former Belle and Sebastian member Isobel Campbell being the most critically adored). Live, Lanegan is an enigmatic force. He can cast a spell over a space with no showmanship, no banter, and barely any movement at all—just a ghostly presence and a voice. Most of the Screaming Trees catalog hasn't aged well, and Lanegan's solo and collaborative catalog is hit and miss. But any slight musical missteps fade away when he steps up to the mic, closes his eyes, and lets his inimitable baritone rumble through a room. JOSHUA JAMES AMBERSON
MISSISSIPPI STREET FAIR: URAL THOMAS AND THE PAIN, ROSELIT BONE, GENDERS, LITTLE STAR, BOONE HOWARD, CANDACE, MY BODY, & MORE
(N Mississippi from Fremont to Skidmore) Oh my god, the time has come! Short shorts are being dusted off, bars have boozy slushies, your new crush finally has some free time! Dog parades! Ice cream novelties! Summer finally feels like it's really heeeeeere! Okay, this year's Mississippi Street Fair might not feature all of those things, but that doesn't mean it won't be a hell of a day. With nearly 250 Portland vendors and five stages (including a kids' stage for your little rascals) featuring a host of local faves, you couldn't possibly go wrong. Sets by sun-drenched and surfy Genders, big-hearted soul slingers Ural Thomas and the Pain, and saucy pop maestros My Body are essential elements to kicking your summer off the right way. JENNA FLETCHER
SUNDAY 7/10
JUDY COLLINS
(Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie) Judy Collins' earliest recordings were either straightforward covers or facsimiles of songs by vastly superior contemporaries like Bob Dylan and Phil Ochs. A collaboration between Collins and famed orchestrator and ragtime enthusiast Joshua Rifkin gave us the songwriter's most enduring work: 1966's In My Life was Collins' first foray into the world of pop music, ditching minimalist folk instrumentation for bombastic string arrangements and featuring cover songs by artists like the Beatles and Randy Newman. Her 1967 follow-up, Wildflowers—which features both original compositions and covers (most notably, a radio-friendly rendition of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides, Now")—is a dense, vaguely trippy folk-pop masterpiece ripe for rediscovery. MORGAN TROPER
DUCKTAILS, THE LAVENDER FLU
(Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi) Have you been looking for a Scrooge McDuck-led cartoon-pop supergroup? The closest you'll get in Portland this week is indie rock favorite Matt Mondanile's Ducktails. The Real Estate guitarist has been making lo-fi, baroque-inspired music since 2006. Joined by bandmates Josh da Costa, Malcolm Perkins, Ross Chait, and experimental hotshot Julia Holter, Mondanile's latest album, St. Catherine, takes Ducktails out of its beloved homemade beginnings. 2013's The Flower Lane—credited as the turning point when Ducktails became more than just a side project—was praised for its balance of simple, hazy production and sophisticated songwriting. Knowing the group's penchant for successfully repurposing cheesy synth-pop clichés, hopefully tonight's show will include more than one enthusiastic sax solo. ANNA McCLAIN
MONDAY 7/11
MITSKI, JAPANESE BREAKFAST, JAY SOM
(Analog Café, 720 SE Hawthorne) “One morning this sadness will fossilize/And I will forget how to cry.” So sings Mitski on Puberty 2, her soul-bearing collection of orchestral indie rock mini-masterpieces that burn with gentle intensity. Don’t skip the openers—Japanese Breakfast’s glittery, effervescent pop and Jay Som’s complex riffs really can’t be missed. CIARA DOLAN Also read our article on Jay Som.
TUESDAY 7/12
TACOCAT
(Jackpot Records, 3574 SE Hawthorne) If you don’t love Tacocat, you might want to have a doctor check on that cold, dead heart of yours. The Seattle punk-pop-party-band-with-a-message (that message? Have fun, and don’t be a dick) is playing a free, intimate, all-ages in-store at the great Jackpot Records on the heels of the release of their splendid new collection of jams, Lost Time. NED LANNAMANN