Music Blog

Despite his everyman's name, John Doe's existence has hardly been what one would call common. As one of the founding members of the Los Angeles punk band X, Doe helped pave the way for later acts like Uncle Tupelo with an unlikely riot-meets-roots and populist politics sound, the roots part of which would eventually spill over into a spin-off as The Knitters. In recent years the still occasional X frontman has come into his own as a solo artist, with two solid releases (2005's Forever Hasn't Happened Yet and 2007's A Year In the Wilderness) on the yep roc label. While hinting at X's frayed edges in places, most of the songs suggest an artist who has matured and is still changing with the times. "The Golden State" finds Doe joined by Kathleen Edwards, while "Darling Underdog," although written with X co-conspirator Exene Cervenka, is one of the more tender and subdued moments in the latest collection. Fresh off the rare coastal gig in Yachats last night, Doe plays a bill at Dante's in Portland (also featuring Richmond Fontaine, Mike D & Thee Loyal Bastards, and Miss Derringer) before moving on to Guitar Castle (!) in Salem.

Also, plenty of new and upcoming music to get to, including something from the Helio Sequence's recent Keep Your Eyes Ahead. The Portland-based duo explore unchartered territory this time out, sounding downright Dylanesque in places and rendering that pesky "indie-electronica" label they were slapped with a few years back permanently dead. We'll also get to the first we've heard from the upcoming release from DeVotchka. The Denver-based band never fail to satisfy with their unlikely stew of spaghetti western-Eastern European rhythm-darkly-colored indie rock. A Mad & Faithful Telling is the band's first effort for the Anti label and is due out a bit later in the year.

Speaking of new music, in case you missed it, Chris Walla issued a video for "Sing Again" from his new solo release Field Manual this week. It features a ubiquitous red beanie and rock & roll cameos galore ("hey there's that one dude from what-their-names! and that's that girl from The Decemberists! and...wasn't that Axl Rose?"--actually, an aside to that aside, we're pretty sure it wasn't, but nevertheless). Play name the indie musician, not to mention the Portland landmark, below.

Of course, we'd love to hear from you. Hear something you love/hate? Looking forward to any shows in particular? Enjoying the weather? The thread is open...