Top 5 Portland’s many excellent taquerias have been omitted, as everyone there already has their favorites.El Buen Sabor (Mission District, San Francisco)Best chile relleno burrito.Taco Zone Truck (Ec ...   More

Music Stories Mattress Low Blows(Malt Duck Records) [DAMAGED CROON] It’s hard to avoid the dreaded second-album slump, especially when many of the faults often associated with it—added band members, ...   More

Music Stories Incredible Yacht Control(Self-Released Free Download) [LOVINGLY LO-FI] Sometimes a sketch says more than a painting. A friend of mine said that years ago, and the phrase has stuck with me ever sinc ...   More

Music Stories Though Frank Turner is still a young buck in the folk-punk game—he turns 28 in December—he’s accomplished an awful lot in the past few years. The British songwriter forsook a fledgli ...   More

Top 5 Hip-hop can be boastful, loud and self-serving, but we shouldn’t forget it was music born with an inherent social consciousness. The second annual Hot Nights/Warm Coats show taps into that origi ...   More

Music Stories Alan Singley & Pants Machine Feelin’ Citrus(Bladen County Records) [WOWEE ZOWEE] Alan Singley is a uniter, not a divider. More than maybe any musician in Portland, Singley’s giddy, ent ...   More

Music Stories Commotion Self-Titled(Self Released) [GROOVY JAZZ] Pianist Ben Darwish is best known as one of Portland’s brightest straight-ahead jazz players, but his band Commotion’s debut album is ...   More

Music Stories A Day to Remember, “Colder Than My Heart If You Can Imagine”The band name is almost worse than the song title, but they complement one another.A Skylit Drive, “Thank God It’s C ...   More

Music Stories Satan’s Pilgrims Psychsploitation(Self Released) [SURFADELIC] One would expect a 10-year hiatus to take a band off its game a little. But Satan’s Pilgrims—renowned surf-rockers f ...   More

Music Stories Yacht See Mystery Lights(DFA) [MYSTERY BEATS] YACHT has always played with contrasts. Jona Bechtolt was accessible long before his music was, smiling and chatting with fans before, after and somet ...   More