Months ago, an acquaintance mentioned that his new favorite band was Cotton Jones. Lo and behold, we already had the album and immediately gave it a much-appreciated listen, before passing the word on to others, all of whom had the same reaction: "Who is this?!?" That's to be expected with Cotton Jones--they're low-key but instantly gratifying, with lazy melodies that are part psychedelic pop, part backwoods country. Originally known as "Cotton Jones Basket Ride," the new project from Michael Nau and Whitney McGraw, formerly of Page France, has their debut full-length, Paranoid Cocoon, on local label Suicide Squeeze. more ›

Portland's alt-country meets indie-electro sextet Blitzen Trapper has been hyped up the wazoo lately. They'll be playing a free show at the Croc tonight with Jennifer Gentle and Hypatia Lake. more ›