The column with music on its mind.

[July 6th, 2005] NO BLUE RADIO: KPSU staff are tired of watching their Ps, Qs and F-words on air. The college station leases evening airtime-1450 AM on the radio dial-from Portland Public Schools, and the contract requires that broadcasts be "K-12 friendly." "Being a college radio station, it's really difficult to explain to people that technically we're a high-school radio station," says KPSU station manager Myron Kingsbury . For its adult listeners, the station plans to launch podcasts of radio shows later this month, including some Web-only content that will include uncensored band interviews and live concerts.

THE AUDIBLE LIFE: New York Times jazz writer Ben Ratliff's description of a recent Pink Martini concert makes the 11-piece band sound more like a niche marketing tool for the new MX-5 Mazda Miata than a musical group. In last week's review of the Portland popsters' Central Park gig (they opened for former Talking Head David Byrne ), Ratliff described the "classically trained version of campy, superstyled bohemia" as a "kind of audible lifestyle choice." Sort of makes you wonder why he couldn't just come out of the closet and say the music sounds, well, gay. Whatever.

BLUES BABY: Here in Portland, local music legends Curtis Salgado , Linda Hornbuckle , Duffy Bishop and Norman Sylvester may have been the heart of the Waterfront Blues Festival's all-star tribute to the late, great Ray Charles . But the soul of the Saturday gig, according to saxophonist Patrick Lamb , who put the show together, was provided by 20-year-old newcomer Kristina Michelle , of Vancouver, who performed a wrenching, Janis Joplin-esque rendition of the Charles classic "Hard Times."

SING WHAT? Not Welsh, but Elvish. Oregon Symphonic Choir members are sounding all Middle-earthy in preparation for their upcoming Lord of the Rings performances Sept. 17-18. Alto Diana deTar has studied Elvish on her own, so she's helping her colleagues master the pronunciation of the language J.R.R. Tolkien invented.

TATTOO YOU: Scoop hears that former b-baller bad boy Dennis Rodman is bringing his tats to town for an Aug. 1 courtyard party at the Jupiter Hotel. Seems he's the celeb spokesperson signed up to market a variety of Captain Morgan's rum, called (what else?) Tattoo.

CHEF DUET: Can we blame Naomi Hebberoy's food for tasting so good it made us a bit forgetful? To clarify: Hebberoy isn't just the co-creator of ripe's Gotham Bldg. Tavern as WW reported last week (See "Table Talk," WW, June 29), but she also heats up the kitchen as co-chef with Tommy Habetz.