Author: Jake Stevens

On May 10, The Sea and Cake will unleash their highly anticipated, ninth studio album “Moonlight Butterfly.”

This Sunday at the Tonic Lounge there is going to be quite an interesting collective that includes some of Portland’s more unique musicians.

Don’t let their rather unusual moniker fool you: This band is not from Finland, nor are they anywhere near being architects for that matter.

Many music savvy critics claim to have foreseen the utterly inevitable alliance between two of today’s most recognized and exciting psychedelic rock bands: The Flaming Lips and Neon Indian.

Quickly climbing the ranks of indie notoriety, three bands that are meandering through Portland next week are going to be putting on a show that will undoubtedly be worth your time.

Bringing the ’90s back with a rather valiant effort, Water & Bodies, which is mostly made up of members from the previously established band Kaddisfly, has come back onto the map with a new moniker and full-length debut album “Light Year.”

Having become yet another pop icon to come out of Toronto and join the elite ranks of Drake and Justin Bieber, Crystal Castles and their eight-bit machine gun are coming into town to put on quite a show this week.

At the Fifth Avenue Cinema, located across the street from hotel Ondine, there is going to be a performance by a local folk group Fanno Creek along with a screening of a Regina Spektor DVD of one her performances in London afterwards.

Tomorrow night at the Hawthorne Theater is a collection of some serious shoegaze rock that should attract all kinds of indie enthusiasts.

We all know that Conor Oberst, lead singer-songwriter of the acclaimed group Bright Eyes, loves whine, which has been his shtick for so long.

Straying away from the normally unspoken guidelines that many songwriters follow and seem to understand these days, The Bumpin Nastys brings new light to the way in which a band can push the boundaries of lyrics.