It's day three of Portland's MusicFest Northwest and we're starting to feel it, though our spirits are high as Zach headed off to the big show at Pioneer Courthouse Square with Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside, Marketa Irglova and Iron and Wine. Sounds incredible right? That's just the beginning, the night of music didn't really start until nine ending whenever we damn well felt like it (which was around 2am). What an incredibly wonderful night of entertainment and, we're pretty sure, one of the best nights of the festival. more ›

Note for any aspiring musicians: if you're going to have a schtick, you'd damn well better pull it off. A few weeks ago we saw Datarock, and while they weren't our thing, the energetic party band vibe was only increased with the matching red custom track suits. Last week we saw The Pipettes, who playfully mimic the girl groups of the sixties with pop songs about love, sex, and boys (the fact that they're all hot helps a bit too). And Wednesday night we saw The Horrors, the UK "it" band more famous for who did their video (Chris Cunningham, creator of those demented Aphex Twin videos) than they are for their music. With shows like this one that's definitely set to change. more ›

The five lads in British goth-garage rock band The Horrors describe their music as "psychotic sounds for freaks and weirdos." So they're a bit dramatic. Check out the creepy cartoon video for their latest single "She is the New Thing" from the band's debut full-length Strange House, distributed in the U.S. by Stolen Transmission. Sez mp3.com: "A raucous mixture of late-60's psychedelia, rockabilly, and malevolent indie splendor, the album is an assured melting pot of influences that proves The Horrors are a band that have so much more going for them than their image alone." more ›

The NME refers to British five-piece The Horrors as "big-haired, squid-flinging art school ghouls causing goth-garage chaos across the UK." Yes indeed. If you're a mite confused by the "squid-flinging" bit, the reference is to the above video, "Sheena is a Parasite," directed by auteur Chris Cunningham (he of Aphex Twin/Bjork/Squarepusher twisted vid fame), and starring Samantha Morton as the titular intestinal-spewing character. The video ended up being banned by MTV UK, not because of the gore (really just pounds and pounds of cephalopod carcasses), but because of the potential for seizures due to all that damn strobe. more ›