As previously mentioned, Monday at Bumbershoot was heavily skewed towards the alt-country side of things. We're not sure if that's good programming or bad programming. On the one hand, if you're way into alt-country, just attend that one day of the festival and you're all set; on the other hand, you've got some tough choices to make among Blitzen Trapper, Langhorne Slim, Two Gallants, the Maldives, and Old 97s. We managed to catch some of all of the above, which ranged from alt-country to straight-up country to country-twinged blues rock. The diversity of sound was overwhelming. more ›

On Monday Bumbershoot was a smoldering guyville. And we have the photos to prove it. Who knows why the festival was so testosterone heavy, but if boys were your thing, you had a grab bag to choose from. more ›

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Last year's Sasquatch line up was good, but not good enough to get us to spend three days at the Gorge. We still prefer the festival in its one-day, all-in-one-fell-swoop form, but with the lineup that's been announced for this year's two-day fest, we may just have to make the trip. Out of the two days, it was Saturday that really made us coo. Bjork *and* Arcade Fire? Consider us sold. There are still bands to be announced, but here's how things stand as of right now: more ›

MUSIC: Normally, we try to avoid El Corazon at all costs, but there’s an early show there today for a very good cause. During last week’s storm, Kate Fleming, a talented voice-over artist, died while attempting to save the audio gear in her home studio. Tonight’s show—featuring Speaker Speaker, Patience Please, Megasapian, In the Empty City, and more—is in Kate’s memory, with the money benefitting her family. more ›

As unlikely as it may seem, it is the truth. Qingzhao Su of Guiyang, China more ›

Actually, we heard Murder by Death (myspace) first, then Two Gallants (myspace). Both are remarkable for what we're going to inventively call "the new lyricism" -- a two-fisted Carver-esque stylistic concern for narrative produced by a mutant strain of whisky-slugging Decemberists from the wrong side of the tracks. more ›