Music Stories Marv Ellis Mental Picture Machine(Self-Released) [VIBE MUSIC] Positive, laid-back hip-hop isn’t any less palatable or critically acceptable than the hardcore rap that takes up most of the spa ...   More

Top 5 Breakfast tacosHave two more beautiful words ever been stuck together?BatsThousands of them! They hang out under a bridge, then fly around at dusk. Whee!SwagWe’re trying to find day parties spo ...   More

Music Stories Mimicking Birds Self-Titled(Glacial Pace) [SOFT PSYCH POP] I don’t envy the task of transforming Nate Lacy’s spiraling, naturalist and homemade acoustic pop songs into fully produced al ...   More

Top 5 Duke Ellington, Money JungleDuke Ellington, Charles Mingus and Max Roach having one of the most powerful musical conversations ever. It’s a very powerful trio.Charles Mingus, Mingus Ah UmFor me ...   More

Top 5 PDX Speedwagon (Charmparticles and Jonah), “More Than a Feeling”Boston’s coke-and-backseat-sex anthem gets the local treatment. Love it.Gentlemen, “Power of Love”Huey Lew ...   More

Music Stories Emancipator Safe In The Steep Cliffs(1320) [ELECTRORGANIC] If you turned on the radio in 1939 and heard the Ink Spots’ “If I Didn’t Care,” you’d be able to easily iden ...   More

Top 5 Kava, for general anxiety and insomnia. This stuff works on the same receptors as classical benzodiazepines (Valium, Xanax, etc.) but is more anxiolytic than hypnotic in effect, so you won’t wak ...   More

Music Stories We asked the folks behind Rontoms’ ongoing Sunday series (Joe Bowden, Hannah Carlen, Matt King, Ron Toms) for their favorite gigs thus far.Red Fang, Black Elk, Black Eyes and Neckties(2/1/09) On ...   More

Music Stories Ohioan High Country EP(Infinite Front) [FUCKED-UP AMERICANA] At the heart of Ohioan’s sound is a conflict between the embrace of tradition and the refusal of it. Ohioan godhead Ryne Warner se ...   More

Top 5 5. “I’ll Stay,” ParliamentShows the bluesier side of P-Funk. Love the haunting vibe on this. Plus, it’s sampled by the greatest group of all time, De La Soul.4. “Atomic D ...   More