In a city spoiled for choice in the brewery department, it’s never easy for a new place to distinguish itself from the crowd. There are already more than enough joints in Portland that offer endless taps full of good, small-batch beer, served insanely fresh at inviting locations. You probably have a creeping backlog of spots you’ve been meaning to check out—I certainly do.

Even with all this taken into account, Away Days Brewing Co. stands out. I realize your backlog is looming, but really: Make time for a visit.

Away Days takes over the space just off Southeast Hawthorne that was previously occupied by Scout Brewing (who are still going strong at the Lot at Scout on Southeast Division). The new proprietors are Niki Diamond and Pete Hoppins of the Toffee Club, the British-themed soccer pub next door; their team also includes bar and brewery manager Jack Hoppins, and David Carbo, who runs the kitchen shared by both pubs. The beers are made by Marshall Kunz, who formerly brewed for local stalwart Alameda Brewhouse before it closed in November 2018.

The Toffee Club’s soccer theme has been carried over into Away Days—the name itself refers to when a footy club is scheduled to be on the road—but the traditional English pub vibes have not. Instead, Away Days achieves a more continental feel, echoing soccer’s transglobal appeal with a nonspecific sparseness that could either be Scandinavian or South American. Bright white walls are offset by gentle accents of color. A cartoon mural mapping North America and Europe overlooks a foosball table, and a garage door opens up the west wall so that a nifty little bracket-shaped bar can be wheeled outside onto the sidewalk. There’s also more permanent outdoor seating, lending a streetside café ambience that contrasts with the clear-cut functionality of the taproom inside. It’s an absurdly appealing space, and while the seating—predominantly backless stools—doesn’t necessarily stimulate you into hunkering down for a multi-hour bender, it does effortlessly invite contact and conversation with the pub’s other patrons.

Kunz is making (relatively) low-alcohol beers designed for session drinking. I could not locate a single dud on the tap list, which ran nine beers strong on a recent visit, plus the Liverpudlian-themed (and ingeniously named) Mersey Cider for good measure. Two beer engines dispense cask-conditioned ale—although only one was pouring on a recent visit—and the beers ranged from English-style sippers, hop-forward Northwest ales, and Euro-German lagers.

I was charmed by their Deadline Day Fresh Hop IPA, a lively, complexly herbal beer that didn’t get too bitter; I also loved the cask-conditioned presentation of their bright and smooth Gareth Pale. Their lagers were all keenly on-point for the style and were satisfyingly drinkable, too—particularly their ultra-clean Klassiker Helles and their golden Festbier, which emulates what Germans actually drink during Oktoberfest as opposed to the malty marzens brewed primarily for export. The Post Match Pilsner, meant to evoke everyday beers brewed in Italy, was concise, easygoing, and thirst-quenching, while the Bus Stop Bitter was surprisingly smoky while not being overly astringent (the misleading “bitter” name, of course, comes from the days when an English pub’s primary offerings were named in relation to each other: mild or bitter).

The presence of cask-conditioned beers and an embrace of continental lager styles signify that Away Days is capable of filling a gap in the market—one that extols the virtues of old-world beer styles and their integration into everyday life. While some Northwest hop-forward recipes are present on the beer list, Kunz’s renditions are subtle and subdued; for instance, the Picture Perfect Hazy Refresher tops out at an almost shockingly low 3.7 percent ABV. Fans of high-octane, double, bourbon-barrel-aged, or otherwise behemoth-sized beers may not find what they’re looking for, but virtually everyone else will. Better yet, Kunz has put his own stamp on these styles, none of which mimic existing, better-known beers.

Away Days’ food menu is short but to the point. A variety of sandwiches include a harissa-laden doner kebab wrap ($14); a Scandinavian smørrebrød of brie, vegetables, and either ham or sardines on toasted rye ($12); and Spanish chorizo on a baguette ($14). Snacks include chicharrones ($3), pâté ($7), tinned sardines ($7), and a recent special of Gouda cheese fondue ($9). It’s all meant to line the belly rather than wow the palate.

In all, it’s a fantastic spot. The place feels equally homey during a slow, sunny Friday afternoon and on a crowded Sunday during a Timbers game, with Toffee Club overflow filling the stools. This is a city downright lousy with breweries, and the newest ones often try to make themselves noticed by making the biggest splash possible. Away Days proves that modest charms and well-made beer are all it takes to stand out from the pack.

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I mop as part of my job. I care about my job. I care about the quality of work I do. I care about craft. Most of you have no clue what this means, as my profession is looked on as one that “anyone can do.” Believe me, that is false, and most of you would suck bullshit at doing it. There are those who say they don’t care if you walk on a floor they just mopped. Yeah, some truly don’t care, because they have no aptitude for craft. Others will say, “It’s okay, just don’t fall.” Well, that’s bullshit for some of us, too. We care when your barbarian size 13 muddy shoes walk on our freshly mopped floor. We care. We take pride in our work. And your disrespectful, selfish ass has no second thoughts about walking on it. So I hope you fall and break your hip like my grandma did. Poor grandma, RIP. But you? You, I’ll waterboard with mop water. —Anonymous

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In case you’re wondering, I generally try to avoid using my prestige as the editor-in-chief of a major metropolitan newspaper to benefit myself. (Yes, yes, I know Trump does this sort of thing all the time, but that doesn’t make it right, y’know?) HOWEVER! Today I’m going to use my bully-pulpit to propose something that would greatly benefit myself and the world at large: Burn every grocery store self-checkout lane to the ground and salt the earth.

Never has there been a more insidious invention than the grocery store self-checkout lane. I refuse to identify the store that has caused me the most heartache—okay, fine, it’s QFC... but only because, when it comes to the exquisite Spanish Inquisition-style torture their checkout lanes inflict upon their customers, I’ve found no equal.

On any given day—but usually the busiest times—my local QFC has one... mayyyyyybe two... actual humans working checkout, which results in lines snaking back to the frozen Stouffer’s. So if you’re like me, in possession of three to 12 items, the lure of self-checkout is practically irresistible. Unfortunately it’s an abusive relationship—one that keeps me fruitlessly hoping, “Maybe self-checkout won’t ruin my day this time.”

It’s always the same: After plopping my basket next to the computer screen, I’m beckoned to “start by scanning any item.” I scan a banana... which is clearly too much for this system to handle. The screen informs me it is “Contacting sales associate.” The saddest, most emotionally damaged employee in the world approaches, silently punching buttons and swiping a card to reset the machine. Naturally, this doesn’t work, and the employee heaves a deep sigh from within her tortured, empty soul and tries again. The banana is approved.

“If you have one, scan your shopper’s card now,” the machine beckons. NEVER,EVERDO THIS! I’m a thrifty person who adores shopper cards—but in a self-checkout lane it’s a frustrating one-way trip to “Contacting sales associate.”

The sales associate returns, eyes dead as night. Scans card, doesn’t work. Punches in number, doesn’t work. The rage comes off her in waves, sloshing all over the floor. “Just forget it,” I beg, “it’s not important.”“NO,” she snaps defensively. Sadly, she still has the futile dream that she can beat a machine that has destroyed the lives of so many others. She scans my card again... and it works. God, please. Just get me out of here.

After scanning two more items without incident: “Please put item in bagging area.” Umm... I did. “Please put item in bagging area.” Umm... I did. “Please put item in bagging area.” GODDAMMIT I PUT THE GODDAMN ITEM IN THE GODDAMN BAGGING AREA! “Contacting sales associate.”

The sales associate has so much hatred... for this machine and me. I hate me, too. After two more sales associate visits, I’m finally, FINALLY walking out of the store—bitterly fuming and refusing to EVER shop here again (until next week when I need a single egg for a batch of Mickey Mouse pancakes). And I wonder... what has happened to me?

I thought I was a good person who enjoyed and appreciated what life has given me. I’m not, though. I have become death, the destroyer of worlds. I have tumbled headlong into the darkest, blackest of emotional dimensions, where the destruction of every self-checkout lane in existence is my only goal. Dear readers who hang upon my every word: Will you please join me in my quest?

And don’t say, “Contacting sales associate!”

Yours in equally bitter frustration,
Wm. Steven Humphrey
Editor-in-Chief
Portland Mercury

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It’s never easy to open a restaurant, but the opening of Magna Kusina—the new intensely personal restaurant from Carlo Lamagna celebrating his Filipino heritage—is a particular triumph.

Straight out of culinary school, Lamanga didn’t intend to cook the adobo h’ss father made, or the crab fat noodles his mother perfected. He worked in more traditional American-style Chicago kitchens, before heading to Portland in 2014 to cook at Clyde Common in the Ace Hotel.

But after losing his father, little touches of vinegar and impromptu happy hour orders of lumpia crept onto his menus. Soon the pop-up Twisted Filipino was born, as was the short-lived and ill-fated Honky Tonk Taco restaurant on Southeast Division.

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“It’s been a battle for me and who I am, finding my voice and my identity,” Lamagna told me in 2017. “The biggest lesson I learned from [Honky Tonk] is if I’m not passionate about it, if my heart’s not really there, then don’t do it. Having a connection to the food makes it more interest’sing. Love is just a key element.”

Two years later, Magna finally opened, and the little corner restaurant has been jam-packed ever since.

Focusing on the dishes of his childhood, Lamagna makes art from a plate of raw and roasted farmer’s market vegetables ($11), with bright pops of watermelon radish and charred padrón peppers, coated in a yellow salted egg vinaigrette dressing.

Those crab fat noodles ($19) his mother made are now atop black squid ink noodles and given heat with pepper and texture from corn. They’re the best thing on the menu. A recent addition of lugaw, a vegan rice porridge ($9) with intense flavors infused by garlic chip “chicharron” and chili paprika oil, is an ode to warm bowls of comfort served by moms worldwide.

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Magna’s opening was good timing: Filipino food, long difficult to find outside major cities and often disregarded by mainstream food media, is coming into its own nationwide—as a result, Lamagna’s restaurant was making most-anticipated lists across the country.

As such, I recommend making a reservation; the little spot is overflowing with folks of all stripes, and it’s heartening that there seems to be at least one table with a Filipino family passing around sisig ($13), an unctuous dish of pork bits, peppers, mayonnaise, and a soft boiled egg that is lovely with rice. Right now, there’s no liquor license, so plan on enjoying an RC Cola or a Squirt instead of a cocktail (drinks are on their way).

Plan on ordering about two dishes per person, especially if you do what I recommend: Order liberally from the smaller plates on the left side of the menu, written on a giant chalkboard on the wall, and share. Once you stray into the larger entrees, consistency gets a bit trickier.

A recent pork adobo ($19), named after Lamagna’s father Wilfredo, had soy and vinegar, but not nearly enough to boost the flavor of the meat. The plate had both ribs, which were fatty and good, and a cut of shoulder meat that was tough and dry. Similarly, a gorgeous fried whole red snapper (market price, but we paid $28 that day) was cooked to crispy perfection, but the sweet-and-sour sauce and papaya salad it came with failed to impart enough zing to the fish.

I thought I’d give the pork shoulder another go-round with the dinguan ($21), this time topped with a pork blood jus and pickled piparra peppers, but again it fell just slightly flat. The steamed rice cake was oddly dry and sweet and seemed out of place on the plate.

Often, Filipino food is derided for having too much vinegar or sugar—Lamagna’s restraint so far in that department has me crying out for more. However, it’s early days and Lamagna’s track record as a rising star means that Magna, his literal ark to his former island home, will surely steer straight and true for some time to come.

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For those who thrive on music’s cutting edge, tickets for the Oregon Symphony just might be a necessity. Rarer than a blue moon, our hometown big band is offering a world premiere in the form of a new percussion concerto. “Just like the audience, it will be a surprise to me, too,” says Karen Wagner, Oregon Symphony’s assistant principal oboe. “Is there anything more exciting than a percussion concerto? You never know what you are going to hear.”

Andy Akiho—a native South Carolinian who now calls Portland home—created the five-part, 32-minute composition. A professional musician himself (specializing in the steel pan), Akiho is becoming more widely known for his writing. He was granted this commission by the Oregon Symphony, who wanted to celebrate the culmination of their three-year artistic residency with Colin Currie, a virtuoso percussionist from Scotland.

“I had hankered after a concerto from Akiho since as long ago as 2012,” Currie says. “He fits perfectly with the sensibility of the Oregon Symphony and the kind of music their audience reacts strongly to. Expect colors galore, quirky delights, and intense joy through this music.”

I first witnessed Colin Currie as a guest soloist with our symphony back in 2011, and it was my first time seeing a percussionist perform as a solo artist. The unique challenges of a percussion concerto were on full display before a single note was delivered: Unlike most guest musicians who are attached to a single instrument, percussionists are called upon to master a battery of drums, struck keyboards like the vibraphone, and other odd bits designed to be hit. Currie was a lot of things during that performance, but stationary he was not—often sprinting between precisely arranged instruments, deftly utilizing pre-determined mallets and sticks, and quickly navigating to his next note wherever and on whatever that might be. It was mesmerizing.

When I asked Currie to elaborate on the upcoming Akiho composition, his reply evoked laughter.

“There are many notes here!” Currie says. “The sheer volume of licks, runs, and sustained sections of patterns will keep me very focused. Much of the music is groove-based or in the very least rhythmic and dance-like.”

I also found Currie’s take on unplugged classical performances refreshing: “Live music keeps everything real, so we get the thrills, and indeed I hope, some spills too.”

With Currie on the Schnitzer stage, the warmth and positive energy between the soloist and our hometown orchestra should be palpable. Currie has now collaborated with the symphony in five different seasons. “He’s like family to us,” says Nancy Ives, who has has been Oregon Symphony’s principal cellist throughout. “During his three-year residency, in addition to phenomenal percussion concertos with the orchestra, he did many community events with some of our musicians, and he is every bit as friendly and fun a guy as he seems. Not to mention that he’s an impeccable and inspiring musician.”

This program (which will be played at three performances) contains a couple of other stellar works for orchestra that, in combination with Currie’s performance, set the stage for perhaps the most intriguing concert of the symphony’s 2019-20 season. The show kicks off with “Three Places in New England” from the radically unique Charles Ives—an early 20th-century insurance executive whose idiosyncratic musical compositions sound like they were written tomorrow. (And in case eagle-eyed readers are wondering, the composer is indeed related to cellist Nancy Ives—her first cousin thrice removed!) Concluding the setlist is Igor Stravinsky’s The Firebird Suite, which gives every section of the orchestra multiple opportunities to shine brilliantly. Prepare for its glorious finale to smolder in the heart long after the sound waves have extinguished.

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“Absolutely. Once I learned the president tried to coerce Ukraine’s leader for personal gain, I realized he not only broke the law, but had shaken America’s faith in democracy.”

—Toby R. Sorenson, Southeast Portland

“Oh, really, Toby? Now America’s faith in democracy is ‘shaken’? Thanks for the breaking news, fuckface! Toby, if you’re shocked by this—oh, Toby, you naive, insipid fuck!—just wait until you hear about the kids in cages! And you’ll really drop a deuce once you learn about RUSSIA! And when you find out about the Stormy Daniels hush money, maybe you’ll decide to put down your jizz sock and READ THE GODDAMN NEWS more than once every two years! Can’t wait to hear your razor-sharp observations then, you simpering jagoff!”

—Frank Cassano

“It’s a difficult decision. I’m concerned impeachment proceedings will galvanize Trump’s base, and I worry Democrats in red states might be treated poorly by their conservative neighbors.”

—Tessa Weatherly, Beaverton

“Well, maybe they should follow your lead and BAWL LIKE A GODDAMN BABY! Let me get this straight: This senile motherfucker is the most corrupt wannabe dictator of the modern age, but you’re worried about the widdie-bitty feewings of a handful of Democrats? YANK YOUR HEAD OUT OF YOUR ASSHOLE, TESSA! We’re in the midst of a goddamn disaster! Instead of wringing your hands and watching repeats of New Girl, how about you GROW A FUCKING BACKBONE? Then wake up tomorrow, feed the fire in your belly with three shots of Jack Daniels, and kick the ever-loving SHIT out of every ass in sight until this lying sack of puke is behind bars! Oh, is that ‘too radical,’ Tessa? THEN GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY WAY!”

—Frank Cassano

“Are you kidding me? Are you fucking KIDDING me, shit-for-brains? Trump is the worst president in history, and EVERYONE with half a fucking IQ point KNOWS IT, you slack-jawed son of a bitch! Jesus Christ! What kind of asshole excuse for a ‘newspaper columnist’ walks up to people on the goddamn street and stupidly asks such a fucking DUMBSHIT question? Listen, you pube-faced, four-eyed fuck-up who should’ve been aborted: Run back to your little editor and tell him you quit, because you’re an imbecile who’s TOO GODDAMN STUPID to have this job and your brain is A PILE OF WET DONKEY SHIT!”

—Ramona Cassano, Gresham

“Jeez, mom. Why do you have to be so rude?”

—Frank Cassano

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Of the many stars of the Blaxploitation genre of the early ’70s, Rudy Ray Moore may not be the most famous, but he was certainly the most original. An absolutely filthy-mouthed comedian (he labelled himself a “ghetto expressionist”), Moore gained a well-deserved, underground following for his rhyming jokes that usually involved obscene takes on pimps, prostitutes, and hustlers. After recording several comedy albums, he used the money to self-produce his starring vehicle, 1975’s Dolemite—about a rhyming pimp trained in kung fu who takes revenge on the rival who put him in jail. The film went on to make $12 million, securing Moore as one of Blaxploitation’s greatest artists, and one who was later crowned the “godfather” of modern rap.

In the bittersweet comedy Dolemite Is My Name, Eddie Murphy plays Moore from his days as a struggling comedian/singer/dancer who worked as a record store manager, to making comedy albums and eventually willing his cinematic visions to life. The film deftly captures the hardship of inner-urban life in the ’70s, where classism and privilege kept Black entertainers who were unwilling to play the game out of the mainstream. Throughout Dolemite Is My Name, this struggle—and its accompanying frustration and sadness—is constantly reflected in Murphy’s eyes, making this one of the best, most mature performances of his career. Considering the subject matter, it also makes director Craig Brewer’s (Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan) film less laugh-out-loud funny than one might expect.

That’s not to say Dolomite Is My Name isn’t funny—it very much is. While you may not be rolling in the aisles at the antics of Murphy and this very strong cast (which includes Tituss Burgess, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Craig Robinson, Snoop Dogg, and Wesley Snipes), the smile will never leave your face. You’ll be happily marveling at the gorgeous costumes, golden-hued cinematography, banging soundtrack, and the inspiring story of a person who refused to let his struggles limit him. Dolomite Is My Name is a bittersweet, filthy-mouthed comedy that also sneakily educates its audience in the Black experience.

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We brought Savage Love Live to the Music Box Theatre in Chicago, the Barrymore Theatre in Madison, and the Pantages Theatre in Minneapolis over three nights. As is always the case at live shows, the crowd had more questions than I could possibly answer in a single night. So in this week’s column, I’m going to tear through some of the questions I wasn’t able to get to.

If you use food for vaginal play, is there any type you should definitely avoid?

Lasagna makes for a lousy insertion toy. (Food doesn’t belong in vaginas; there could be bacteria on the food, even after washing, that results in a nasty infection. #FuckFirst #EatAfter)

How do you feel about relationships that have a time frame or defined end point? For example, one person is going away for school or a new job?

I’m fine about relationships with seemingly set end points, as relationships don’t have to be open to or become long-term in order to be a success. (Did you meet a nice person? Did you have some good sex? Did you part on good terms? Success!) And the world is filled with couples that met at a time in their lives when school or work commitments meant they couldn’t be together—and yet, years or even decades later, they’re still together. You never know.

Is it okay that I always seem to hate my partners’ mothers? Is this normal?

It isn’t and it’s not. When you’re the common denominator in a lot of high-stress, high-conflict relationships, you’re most likely the problem.

Why do straight guys like anal so much?

Superhero movies, bottled beer, watching sports—there are lots of things straight guys like that I just don’t get. But I get why they like anal: Done right, anal feels amazing. And not just for the person doing the penetrating. When it’s done right, it is also great for the person being penetrated. And sometimes the person being penetrated is a straight guy.

After a year of dating, my boyfriend told me he is polyamorous. I don’t know how to proceed. Any tips?

If he meant, “Polyamory is my sexual orientation, and you have to allow me to date other people, and you can’t break up with me over this because that would amount to discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation,” that’s bullshit and this relationship is over. But if he meant, “Polyamory is a better relationship model for me than monogamy,” that’s not bullshit and the conversation is just getting started. If you prefer monogamy but you’re willing to consider polyamory to be with him, i.e., if that’s a price of admission you’re willing to pay, it could work out. But if you aren’t open to polyamory, and monogamy isn’t a price he’s willing to pay to be with you, it won’t work out.

I work in secondary education and I’m in an open marriage. My job is awesome, but I’m so afraid of a student or a parent seeing me when I’m out with a different partner. What should I do?

You could hope people would mind their own business and continue to make out in public with your other partners—or whatever it is you’re doing in public that makes it clear you’re fucking/dating someone who isn’t your spouse—or you could be discreet. Since antidiscrimination statutes don’t offer protections to people in open relationships, and since people regularly freak out about teachers having sex at all, you really have no other choices besides discretion (when out with others) or shouldering the risk (of losing your job).

My poly friend has started bringing her flavor-of-the-week partners to social events instead of her awesome wife. How do I tell her I’d rather hang out with her and her wife than her and her (usually boring, always temporary) new fling?

Maybe your poly friend’s wife doesn’t want to hang out with you. Wait, I can say that in a nicer way: Maybe your poly friend’s wife is an introvert who would rather stay home and she’s only too delighted that the flavor-of-the-week is willing to escort her wife to the box social. But if you miss your friend’s wife, maybe give her a call and invite her to lunch?

My former lover cheated on his current live-in girlfriend with me. She has no idea. Should I tell her what a narcissistic cheater her boyfriend is?

Vengeful former affair partners don’t have much more credibility than narcissistic cheaters—indeed, people view both with similar contempt. But you do you.

My husband and I are swingers. For him, it’s who he is. For me, it’s something I do (and like!). We argue over how often we go out or have sex with other couples. Any suggestions for finding a happy medium?

More often than you’d like, and less often than he’d like—call it the bittersweet spot.

What tips do you have for lesbians in long-term relationships who want to keep sex fun and interesting?

My advice for lesbians who want to keep their LTRs hot is the same as my advice for gays, straights, bis, etc. who want to keep theirs hot. At the start of the relationship, you were the adventure they were on, and they were the adventure you were on. That’s why it was so effortlessly hot at the start. But once you’re not each other’s sexy new adventure anymore—once you’re an established couple—you have to go find sexy adventures together to keep it hot. And that requires making a conscious effort. Explore your kinks, buy some sex toys, have sex someplace other than your bedroom, invite very special guest stars, etc.

How do I create a sexier bedroom for even better sex?

Bedrooms are overrated, if you ask me (which you did), whereas basements, office stairwells, clean single-seat restrooms in upscale restaurants, dark corners of public parks, the space underneath banquet tables in hotel ballrooms, etc., are all underutilized.

Can you explain why male chastity is such a popular kink? I’m not offended by it, just curious about its sudden widespread popularity.

“I think a big factor is that people are enjoying the heightened mental connections that tend to develop with chastity play,” said Christopher of Steelwerks Extreme, makers of the Rolls-Royce of male chastity devices. “Frequent business travel and long-distance relationships also make chastity an increasingly popular kink as the cage-wearer and key-holder can maintain a playful dynamic without needing to be in the same room.”

I’m 99.975 percent sure I don’t want kids. My boyfriend of almost four years has a vasectomy scheduled for the end of the year. Should we go through with it? My boyfriend is really fucking sexy, hence the .025 percent doubt.

Vasectomies, like pregnancies, are reversible. Your boyfriend could also go to a sperm bank and put a load or three on ice.

Female, 32, straight, and very pregnant. I’m about to pop! Do you have any postpartum sex advice?

Explore outercourse for a while and try to have (or try to fake) a positive attitude about it.

Your thoughts on transmasculine folks who don’t necessarily identify as men using the word “faggot”?

Fine, so long as they put the emphasis on the second syllable.

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Cannabis tinctures are a great delivery system. Cannabis and hemp are soaked in either high-proof alcohol or a fat such as coconut oil, and the result offers a whole profile of the extracted plant, including a full range of THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids and terpenes. It’s an ancient way of delivering the active ingredients in the plants, as well as being portable, discreet, fast-acting, and easy to use.

Numerous companies produce tinctures for the Oregon marketplace, and their products have varying ratios and amounts of THC and CBD. One company, Protanicals, takes a unique approach by offering four distinct THC/CBD ratios and adding additional botanicals. Their work is overseen by two naturopathic physicians, with the goal of engaging the endocannabinoid system (or ECS) and using the “entourage” effect, i.e., when the cannabinoids work together for increased results.

Dr. Shena Vander Ploeg and her business partner Dr. Glen Nagel have more than 50 years of collective botanical medicine work between them. Vander Ploeg began formulating cannabis and botanical products in 2008, born out of her desire to use cannabis plant medicine to address the stress-induced anxiety she developed in medical school. That’s when her interest began in establishing cannabis as an ingredient in products made with other plants.

“We start with the scientific evidence when creating these botanical elements of these formulas,” says Vander Ploeg. “The ECS within us directly responds to endocannabinoids [molecules our bodies produce] and cannabinoids [cannabis-derived compounds]. The ECS is involved in governing homeostasis in the body, meaning it restores and maintains human health. It regulates function of things like: eating, sleeping, relaxing, forgetting, and protecting [e.g., our immune function]. The science so far supports that the ECS is the most important homeostatic body system.”

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The “entourage” effect, says Vander Ploeg, “demonstrates superior desired effects when using full-spectrum cannabis extracts that have phytoconstituents present, beyond the isolation/use of primary cannabinoids or synthetically created ones. Cannabis has over 454 active constituents, [so] it is easy to imagine the potential synergy of the other supportive botanicals.”

Protanicals’ tinctures—for which they have partnered with Portland cannabis producer Müru—have various ratios of THC to CBD, but they all feature more than 0.3 percent THC, and are thus only available in dispensaries. Protanicals’“Universal” tincture is 1:1 CBD/THC, while the “Relief” is 2:1, “Digest” is 5:1, and “Emerge” is 7:1. Each product is designed to support specific goals, addressing stress, pain, digestion, and general health maintenance. And the tinctures include additional botanicals that are complementary to each formula, such as skullcap, passionflower, gentian root, and others found in many over-the-counter herbal supplements.

When I saw the products at a dispensary, I asked my budtender if he had used them, or had feedback from those who had. “Both!” he replied, and began enthusiastically sharing his experiences. Soon two other budtenders crowded around sharing similar stories. Budtenders are an understandably fussy lot, but the whole shop was down with Protanicals.

The Emerge tincture has 21 milligrams of CBD to 3 milligrams of THC per serving. It also contains Ashwagandha, an adaptogen herb believed to help your body counter stress—I already take it as a daily supplement, even though everything is fine, thanks. The tincture’s other botanicals are also used to counter stress, and after taking some, I was less tense while still fully engaged. The low level of THC did not offer any impairment and made for a great daytime option.

Meanwhile, the Relief tincture (with 8 milligrams of CBD to 4 milligrams of THC per serving) was a great downshift option. It includes kava, another daily supplement I also take to help me sleep (I’m fine, really).

All of Protanicals’ ingredients are certified organic or are organically grown, and their website offers impressive “research source” links. With different levels of CBD and THC plus the added botanicals, their careful crafting helps users achieve the specific desired effect.

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Hello, bats and ghouls! It’s only been autumn for two weeks, and I’ve gotta tell you: everybody looks fantastic. We are not a warm weather people, and everyone tromping around in boots and flannels and hats and sweaters has got me feeling all kinds of ways. What’s that? You’ve got complimentary earth tones on your backpack, stocking cap, and scarf? Unf, take it off, but only if you promise to put it back on again, because you’re hot when you’re warm. What am I wearing, you ask? At least 20 different things, and they’re all cable knit. (Wow, that got steamy. Let’s cool our bits, eh? I know what will do the trick!)

We’re a few weeks into the impeachment inquiry against Donald Trump and my god, do I freaking LOVE the news. It’s exhausting and appalling, sure, but all these piles of shit are making some real choice diamonds. So apparently this whole Joe Biden/Ukraine scandal stems from a few confused old men haphazardly believing memes. An unnamed former administration official pointed out that it’s all due to former national hero and current Trump lapdog Rudy Giuliani“putting shit in Trump’s head.” This same source also called him a “moron.” Giuliani came out swinging with a swift rebuttal of “I know you are but what am I?” I paraphrase—the exact quote, according to The Atlantic, is: “These morons—when this is over, I will be the hero.” Whatever you say, moron.

Despite Giuliani being one of Trump’s most faithful fumbling old hacks, Trump privately bullies the hell out of him. According to New York Magazine, even back in 2016, when Giuliani was the first ally to jump to Trump’s defense when the Access Hollywood pussy-grabbing tape was leaked, Trump reportedly told him, “Man, Rudy, you sucked. You were weak. Low energy.” Trump is also known to ridicule Giuliani for falling asleep on long flights. Writer Irin Carmon summarized this very 2019 mood: “My theory of Trump’s relative appeal is no matter who you are, eventually he gets around to bullying someone you secretly think deserves it.”

All of us ’80s and ’90s bitches are overjoyed by the release of Demi Moore’s memoir, Inside Out. As you suspected, Moore is bursting with tea to spill, since she’s been linked to some of the biggest stars of the last four decades, including Bruce Willis, Emilio Estevez (Google him, children! The Mighty Ducks!), and Ashton Kutcher. Also apparently Jon Cryer? As in Duckie from Pretty in Pink? Oookay. Moore shared in her book that while the two were playing lovers in the ’80s comedy No Small Affair, “Jon fell for me in real life, too, and lost his virginity to me while we were making that movie.” Instead of living the rest of his life having people think he lost his virginity to Demi Moore, thus being a freaking ICON, Cryer tweeted an ill-advised correction: “While I’m sure she was totally justified making that assumption based on my skill level (and the stunned look on my face at the time), I had actually lost my virginity in high school.” DUDE. What is the matter with you?! You were just gifted an amazing first-time story. You could have said nothing. You wanna only be remembered for being Duckie? Or worse, the lamer of all the lame dudes on Two and a Half Men??

Speaking of Two and a Half Men (which I will never do again): Cryer’s costar was also mentioned in Moore’s book, because he is her ex-husband Ashton Kutcher. Moore wrote that when they were married, she tried things like threesomes to keep him interested, but he cheated on her anyway. Again, saying nothing was an option, but instead Kutcher tweeted: “I was about to push the button on a really snarky tweet. Then I saw my son, daughter, and wife and I deleted it.” Okay, that is still definitely a snarky tweet, so I’m curious what he deleted! Wait, no—I’m not. The most interesting thing about either one of those dudes is that they hooked up with Demi Moore. I don’t want to hear anything else from them.

The company behind the wildly popular video game Halo posted on the ’gram that the only creature mysterious and unnatural enough to provide alien slobbers and snorts for an upcoming game is a PUG. The creators wrote that “his grunts, breaths, and excitement are sure to make for some... interesting sounds in #HaloInfinite.” I am a pug mom and can confirm that this is brilliant casting—these little fuckers sound like frightened or dying aliens most of the time. And if there’s ever a Smell-O-Vision component to the game, pugs could help out again, as their farts definitely smell like decaying alien corpses.

In other dog news, the creator of the labradoodle recently announced that creating this hypoallergenic crossbreed was his greatest mistake in life. He said that the dog’s popularity has inspired other unhealthy genetic freak dogs. “I released a Frankenstein,” he said. Of course, we know that Frankenstein was the doctor and not the monster, but the guy made a labradoodle: he makes mistakes. My pug—a breed that was literally bred to sit on laps and needs a prescription ointment to clean his wrinkles—relished in the news that he only voices monsters in video games but is not one in real life.

I am contractually required to mention that Justin Bieber and Hailey Baldwin recently had their wedding celebration, a year after their courthouse vows. Mazel! I was sincerely rooting for them UNTIL I learned that Bieber’s wedding gift to Baldwin was two Savannah kitties—a new kind of designer cat crossed from a housecat and a serval, which is a wild animal. The cats are named Sushi and Tuna, and while both are very cute and have their own Instagram and I would die for them, Bieber is not a good pet owner (remember the monkey he abandoned in Germany?) and these cats are clearly the labradoodles of cats, but with sharper claws. Good luck, kids!

Researchers at Oregon State University recently concluded that your cat *probably* loves you. The lead author of the study said: “Attachment is a biologically relevant behavior. Our study indicates that when cats live in a state of dependency with a human, that attachment behavior is flexible and the majority of cats use humans as a source of comfort.” Any cat owner knows that of course cats use us as sources of comfort, like comfortable warm meat pads, and can openers, and back scritchers. According to science, that counts as love!

I couldn’t not write about our progressive smart aunt Elizabeth Warren this week! Not only is she killing it in the polls and in fundraising, but she was also the victim of a comically bad attempted takedown by child grifter Jacob Wohl. Wohl had a press conference in front of a sign calling Warren a cougar, alleging that senator had a steamy affair with a 24-year-old body builder. The claim was immediately refuted, but not before everybody agreed that the whole stunt made Warren even more likable. And THEN she tweeted: “It’s always a good day to be reminded that I got where I am because a great education was available for $50 a semester at the University of Houston (go Cougars!). We need to cancel student debt and make college free for everyone who wants it.” The woman can simultaneously talk policy while engaging in next-level trolling. Me-freaking-OW.

This was a very pet-heavy column. What can I say—it’s cuddle weather. I hope that you enjoyed our time and that you’re carried through the next two weeks in the warm embrace of layered clothing, impeachment updates, and soft animals. Ciao.

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Portland has a Trump problem.

No, it’s not another symbolic lawsuit filed against the Trump administration by the City of Portland. It’s the fact that a US ambassador who played a key role in Trump’s potentially impeachable negotiations with the Ukrainian government also happens to be one of Portland’s most generous campaign donors.

While there have been no formal charges filed against Gordon Sondland, the founder of Portland’s Provenance Hotels, his involvement in Trump’s dirty work has local politicos scrambling to distance themselves from their longtime benefactor.

Here’s what we know: Sondland, who donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee, was made a US ambassador for the EU in June 2018. A year later, Sondland allegedly met with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky to advise how to “navigate” Trump’s brazen request to have the Ukrainian government investigate his political rival, Joe Biden.

In recently released text messages to another US diplomat, Sondland dismissed the idea that the White House was withholding $400 million in military aid from Ukraine until Trump got his Biden investigation. These conversations are now a central part of the impeachment inquiry against Trump. While Sondland agreed to answer questions about his actions before Congress, the White House blocked him from testifying hours before the scheduled meeting.

Sondland’s influence in Portland isn’t as easy to obfuscate.

Arguably Portland’s most powerful Republican, Sondland’s impact is everywhere: in Portland’s swankiest galas, its most upscale hotels, its trendiest bars, and its politics. Campaign filings show that since 2010, Sondland and his associated LLCs have dumped a total of $16,500 into Mayor Ted Wheeler’s campaign fund. Sondland’s wife and business partner, Katherine Durant, has added $6,500 to Wheeler’s campaign coffers.

Sondland’s also been generous to Commissioner Nick Fish. Since 2008, Fish has received a total of $3,000 from Sondland and his LLCs; in 2009, after Sondland donated $50,000 to keep an annual Washington Park festival afloat, Fish awarded Sondland the “Spirit of Portland” award.

Fish says he hasn’t spoken with Sondland since 2013.

“One of my roles as a City Commissioner is to ask wealthy people and public-spirited businesses to support good causes,” Fish writes in an email to the Mercury. Fish, who supports the impeachment inquiry, says, “If it is determined that [Sondland] participated in illegal conduct, he should be held accountable.”

Wheeler, whose job is up for grabs in 2020, has said little about the Sondland dilemma. Perhaps that’s because Wheeler could credit Sondland for jump-starting his political career. According to former Gov. Ted Kulongoski (another beneficiary of Sondland’s deep pockets), it was Sondland who suggested Kulongoski make Wheeler, a then-county commissioner, Oregon’s state treasurer in 2010. (He did.)

In an October 4 email to the Mercury, Wheeler spokesperson Timothy Becker said Sondland is an “integral part of our business community.” A day later, mayoral candidate Sarah Iannarone demanded Wheeler return Sondland’s past campaign donations. In a statement shared with OPB, Wheeler said, “We will be making a decision once we learn more about the nature of his role.”

With Sondland’s deposition delayed by an administration eager to conceal its alleged wrongdoings, it’s not clear when—or if—the “nature of his role” will come to light.

On January 15, 2017, two weeks into his term as mayor and five days before Trump’s inauguration, Wheeler tweeted:“We will protect American values and the values of our great city, Portland, Oregon, from Donald Trump.”

Does that still count when one’s career has been bankrolled by a key player in Trump’s latest clusterfuck? 

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What’s wavy in the Portland hip-hop scene right now? Short answer: a lot. Let’s talk about it!

Myke Bogan,Cult Beauty

I got some great news this weekend that our beloved Portland import, Myke Bogan, is dropping a new 14-track album on October 18. Cult Beauty is the title of the rapper’s third full-length, and to whet our whistles, the rapper’s released one eye-popping visual for two very different songs in “Jolly” and “No Peace.” Bogan also announced a tour, but strangely, I don’t see a tour date for Portland....

Wynne, “The Thesis” and “Handle iT”

Lake O’s standout rapper Wynne has been dropping drip for the last month or so. Between her two new singles “The Thesis” (featuring Dame D.O.L.L.A., Vursatyl, KayelaJ, and Illmac) and “Handle iT,” the young MC has been tallying hundreds of thousands of plays and views. So when her debut mixtape If I May.. drops on October 25, expect the city to explode with pride.

The Palmer Squares, Stevie Ray, RyanVan Haygan, Sqvtch, Simone French

Chicago-based hip-hop group the Palmer Squares is swinging by Kelly's Olympian on October 10, as part of the West Coast leg of their "All My Demons Tour." Now I'm not usually on the lookout for hipster rap duos from Chicago—just not really my thing, no judgies!—but the addition of proven locals Sqvtch and Simone French definitely got my attention. If you're looking to feel something, this might be the concert for you. (Thurs Oct 10, 9 pm, Kelly’s Olympian, 426 SW Washington, $12-15)

Umbrellaslang

At Marmoset Music on October 11, live performances and conversation coalesce for their featured event, Umbrellaslang. Hosts Daren Todd and Meron Medhanie will hold space for up-and-coming Portland stars Veana Baby, Donte Thomas, and Blon, while a panel of guests facilitates conversation with the crowd. It’s worth noting that Donte Thomas released the monster project Colors earlier this year, and Veana—after going buckwild at a recent sold-out Thesis—announced that her album drops this November. So both should have some things to prove. Poet/muse/model Janae Ball and—full disclosure—myself are among the panelists at this month’s event. (Fri Oct 11, 6 pm, Marmoset Music, 2105 SE 7th, $5)

Free Tillman, Bird Bennett, Micah theRapper, Surebert

Zero Wave is quietly doing their own thing on Saturday, October 12, bringing Santa Ana producer Free Tillman back to Portland to rock with Bird Bennett, Micah the Rapper, and Surebert for a free, all-ages event. And the 6 pm start time means you can still turn up like an adult once it’s over! If you miss this show (or just can’t get enough of the guy), you’ll have another chance to see him play on Sunday, October 13 at Future Shock where he’ll be playing a brunch-time beat party with Luv Jonez, Shaheed, and a few other producers about town. (Sat Oct 12, 6 pm, Zero Wave, 720 N Killingsworth, all ages, FREE)

TrapKitchenBrunch with E-40

Saturday, October 19 should be a fun day with the daytime event Brunch with E-40 x Trap Kitchen going down at an undisclosed location. That’s right, for a mere $100, you can enjoy lunch and chop game with a West Coast rap legend (and get a photo or signed item from the star). Later that evening of course is the JAM’N 107.5 Boo Bomb, the annual October concert where legends of yore descend on Portland so that those of us old enough to remember the ’90s may reminisce. (Sat Oct 19, brunch at 1 pm, location TBA, $100)

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One time I was talking to a guy who’d been married to one of my friends. This was after he lost his grip on reality and started dressing up like Batman. He told me about being on the MAX and seeing a bunch of bikers harassing an old lady. “And everyone’s looking at me,” he said, “because I’m the guy dressed up like Batman.”

It’s doubtful that anyone on the MAX train actually expected a man dressed like Batman to behave as a Batman would, but the conversation compounded my anxiety about men who lose sight of the tremendously important line where fiction ends and reality begins. That same anxiety popped up in advance of Joker, The Hangover director Todd Phillips’ gritty look at Batman’s arch-nemesis, which seeks to both paint a serious portrait of mental illness AND ALSO revel in the glory that awaits those who just want to watch the world burn.

Strangely, Joker succeeds at both attempts. If you’re a dude who believes in chaos for the sake of chaos, this film was made for you. If you think society should do more to support people with mental illness so they don’t live lives of misery in which they’re victims and—very rarely—perpetrators of violence, this movie is also singing your song.

Joker isn’t really the story of a good man gone bad; clown-for-hire Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) is troubled from the outset. He’s barely scraping by, living with his mother (Frances Conroy) and coming undone due to cuts in social services. Sure, Phillips overdoes it with long, panning explorations of Fleck’s bruised, skinny ribs, but then again, men with insecurities about being skinny are presumably the film’s target audience.

The first half hour unfolds like a dog-whistle symphony for insecure guys who think they have it bad. Fleck berates his Black social worker (Sharon Washington) for not listening to him when she’s obviously doing her best. He fixates on a Black single mother (Zazie Beetz) after the briefest sign of camaraderie. He’s beaten by a gang of teenagers shouting unimaginative barbs: “Hurt him! Hurt him! Take his stuff!”

Yet there are a series of trap doors throughout Joker that unexpectedly drop its audience into new perspectives. Early on, an obvious foreshadow shifts Fleck onto a new path, and as that plotline plays out, Joker offers some surprisingly rewarding reflections on the relationship between the villain and Batman. (Oh yeah! This is a Batman movie, remember?) Both men, Joker suggests, might be equally deranged, making sweeping moves against the world without regard for those who become collateral damage for their respective manias.

This made me wonder if Joker is a bait-and-switch. Was this movie made to lure in creepy guys who identify with the Joker, then show them what crazy really looks like? Are Phillips’ recent comments about comedy being ruined by “woke culture” part of a long con? Both possibilities seem unlikely. But can an asshole make a good movie? Ugh. Probably.

I’m not ready to label Joker something as simple as “good.”Joker is problematic, transgressive, insulting, and it’s also probably art. At the risk of hyperbole, Joker might represent a new approach to popular cinema: This is a movie that works both for people who see it to luxuriate in the fearsome power of the Joker’s violence, and those who will instead see the character as pitiable. The fact that Joker works for both has me wondering if, going forward, more films will abandon a singular viewpoint. Phillips’ approach feels like a perfect fit for our current polarized culture.

Does Fleck laugh at Gary (Leigh Gill), his coworker with dwarfism, because Fleck has a nervous tic, or is he laughing because he wants his clown colleague Randall (Glenn Fleshler) to like him? Were the terrible things that happened to Fleck due to the actions of his mother, or were both of them victims of domestic violence? In many of its plot points, Joker leaves room for alternate interpretations, allowing viewers to make up their own minds or—most interesting of all—recognize that both versions can be true.

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For Portland rapper/singer Dodgr (AKA Alana Chenevert, and FKA the Last Artful, Dodgr), the road to success may have been strewn with some personal heartbreak, but it’s also characterized by an increasingly positive reception from listeners, industry players, and hip-hop concertgoers—and for damn good reason. Having parted ways with record label EYRST in 2016 and shelving the “Last Artful” moniker that was tied to her joint project with producer Neill Von Tally, Dodgr has embarked on a new and notable era that’s seen her confidently hitting her stride and collaborating with high-profile, even legendary artists. With two new singles out (“Hot” and “Wrong Way”), and Dodgr’s first headlining show at the Roseland approaching, I sat down with the artist at Kopi Coffee on East Burnside to discuss her forthcoming solo debut and whatever else she’s manifesting.

MERCURY: What sparked the minor name change?

DODGR: Honestly, this was always a part of the evolution. If we wanna go back to 2010 when I decided to go by Dodgr just in my normal life, because I never really related to the name Alana. I didn’t feel like it was my name. I knew that I couldn’t just be like “Dodgr,” I had to be the Last Artful, Dodgr and explain that I am my mother’s last child, I’m the artful of the two, and the whole literary meaning behind the name... At the end of the day I realized they’re all the same and I wanted Dodgr—that’s who I am, that’s how I’ve been introducing myself for almost a decade now.

Would you say that the themes from the Fractures EP and Bone Music are concluded?

It’s definitely done. Because that was a whole different era. I can’t really continue with something that I didn’t create by myself. And that was never a part of the just Dodgr evolution. Another reason I have to just be Dodgr is because the Last Artful, Dodgr is connected to this experimental world which I very much live in always, but I do not just reside there. I have to move about the country and feel free. That is definitely in its own universe, and this universe is its own thing too. And whatever I make next won’t be anything like this.

Cool! I’m so excited for the new era.

I’m so happy. I cannot wait. And half of these songs I feel like I’m gonna play at the show are from the new project. So that’s another reason to come to the show. Portland will be the first place that I ever perform “Hot.” It will be the first place that I perform “Wrong Way.” It will be the first place that I perform so many songs that will eventually make the biggest impact. I’m not just assuming or just hoping, I just know. I know it. I feel it.

How did you write the Pomeranian verse in “Hot”?

It's definitely based on a true story and I pulled from a conversation that I actually had with my ex, about me being a dog... and how I used to poke my chest out, and just be pompous and grandiloquent for no reason. She didn't necessarily call me a Pomeranian, you know, just like doggish. And I just pulled from that experience and knowing that yeah, I'm a dog, but I've been so loyal to you. I've never strayed, I've never cheated, I've never done anything to go against this relationship, yet you've done all these things to me. But I’m the dog. Anyway, it came out so easy. One of my favorite verses for sure.

As a dog lover, I love it.

I want a dog so bad you have no idea. I just don’t have the time.

When the time is right, it’ll happen.

I seen Megan THEE Stallion with four all the time and I’m like, “How? Oh, you got a whole team.”

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It takes a village sometimes. What inspired “Wrong Way?” I’m guessing it was another personal relationship thing.

“Wrong Way” was just me getting broken up with again.’Cause let’s just be clear: I’m not out here like “Big Pimpin’” or anything, and breaking bitches’ hearts left and right. That’s not who I am. I get my heart broken. So, with “Wrong Way,” it was just that. I had been treated... this person who I loved so much and who claimed to love me so much had just fucked with me the wrong way completely, every way, every time. And it just wasn’t fair. And I wrote “Wrong Way” before I was done with that person. And every song that I write is a manifestation, I swear to god. Everything comes to fruition. If it wasn’t happening in my real life at that moment, oh my Jesus, it’s gonna happen to you, homie. So these days I’m way, way, way more hesitant about writing about some fuckshit.

Well, I guess it’s a good time to ask you about your solo debut. What can you tell me about it?

I came up with the concept for this project in May of 2013, during an acid trip, on my birthday [May 26]. I had this acid trip and I knew that I wanted to make songs that were short. Songs that hit in every single way, meaning they hit you in the gut, they hit a soft spot. They bang, a hit. And I knew I wanted them to ultimately be this sensational collection of songs. And then I started meeting random people, and working with new people, and getting sidetracked with this project, and then releasing another project with someone else, and stopped focusing on myself. But because of that, I was able to meet Mark Ronson and all of those people.

You talkin’ about Bone Music?

Well, after Bone Music. So Bone Music lowkey got in the way of me making Hits of Today. This project, if it were up to me, it would’ve been out in 2015. I’m so grateful that it never saw the light of day back then, because the music that I had in 2015, you can’t call that Hits of Today. You can’t call any of those “hits” in the sense of something that’ll resonate.... It wasn’t until 2017 that I actually got my head wrapped around it, and what it actually was, and what it meant, and the kind of music that I could produce. I wasn’t ready back then. And then I met Johnny, and we made it happen. And I knew that I was ready. “Hot” is Hits of Today. Like that’s lowkey what it stands for, too.

Very nice! I did not know that.

This project, which is called Hits of Today, I don’t have a release date for it. Just know that it’s been the name for six years. And shout out to Tierra Whack doing short songs, and all of that stuff. I’ve been on it for six years, but just trying to find a way to perfect it. And so now, I have songs on the project that won’t be longer than three minutes. There are some that are straight-up full smashes and won’t be longer than two minutes. And I’m there. I figured out how to simplify my process.

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How do you simplify your process?

It’s so easy to be wordy, so it’s that editing process. So if there’s a song and a producer gives me a beat that’s a minute and 50 seconds, and I know that there’s only so many things that I can say, so many points I can get across in that amount of time, and I need to make every single goal in that amount of time and make it feel full. I treat it like a research paper. I come up with the hook first... the hook is the thesis. (Oh my god, there are so many puns that could be done. [LAUGHS]) But yeah, the hook is the thesis so you want to come up with the thesis first, and then you have your body paragraphs, you have to have a conclusion and all of that shit.

That’s adorable. Genius, actually. Are there going to be any features on the album?

I don’t necessarily want any features. ’Cause it’s like Dodgr featuring Dodgr, so you can see I can do everything. I do have a few folks on backing vocals and like, Mark [Ronson] has produced a joint or two. You know, I have friends who’ve helped. But, as far as like the voice goes, most likely you’ll just hear my voice. Unless a feature makes sense. I never wanna force a feature.

You have such a distinct voice, which I think is one of the things that draws so many people to your music, because you sound so different than everyone else. Did you ever used to try to sing like anybody else? How did you develop your voice?

I think that that’s how I developed my voice: by mimicking everyone. And trying to see where my voice fit, and it never fit. Anywhere. Because that wasn’t my voice. So, I can walk around and sound like Cher, or do a Christina like fake little [vocalization], but eventually I just found my voice from being me, and my mom telling me I couldn’t sing. But that’s how I knew, because it wasn’t anything that sounded like anyone else. My voice sits here naturally, so when I sing it’s like nasally and raspy, and a little ambiguous. You have no idea if it’s a man, female, nonbinary human. Are they 15? Are they 40? And if it weren’t for, you know, me having the closest person to me not necessarily big me up for it at the beginning, I don’t think I would have gotten here. And people telling me, “Oh you sound like this person, you sound like that person,” and being compared to Yukimi from Little Dragon, to T-Boz from TLC... But if it weren’t for me having people who kind of sounded different enough, I don’t think I would have been able to get to this level of confidence with it either. It’s like “Oh, okay, my shit’s weird—but it’s just weird enough.”

Are you still independent?

I haven’t signed a record deal, baby.

Any offers?

Oh yeah. Tons. Tons.

How do you feel about the idea of signing?

I love the idea of getting help from people who can... help me get into a position that I’ve never been in before. Let’s be real: Everyone’s not Chance the Rapper. Everyone can’t just wave the independent flag and make it, actually make it. I know I need help. I know that. I just read something the other day about it costing $200,000 for a record to even reach radio and try to get to number one. Just, the breakdown of it: cost of travel, radio, promo, all of that for your team—200 racks, okay? If I have a hit song, which I know I have like 11, how am I gonna get them heard? “Hot” has over a million plays, yeah. That’s a hit song. That’s not enough. Over a million plays is not enough. I need help. I need the people’s help—and if they’re not spreading it as fast, I need a corporation’s help. And that’s real. I can’t sit here and be like “No, no label ever.” When I sign a deal it’ll be done my way, trust me. ’Cause I’ve held out for long enough.

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Has fame/success impacted... you don’t think you’re famous?

[LAUGHS COYLY] I think I’m a little known. A few people know me. A few more people know me than I... I don’t know how to put it.

Ok, I won’t call you famous. I’ll call you successful. How do you think success has impacted your relationships or has it?

Oooh. So you remember earlier when I was telling you about manifesting via writing? “Better Safe than Social” was a big manifest. I knew that was my life, but it’s more so of my life now than anything because I don’t know who to trust. I don’t know who’s actually in it for me. I don’t know who’s my enemy, or who’s just smiling in my face and talking mad whatever behind my back. And being [in Portland], I’ve seen it firsthand how people treat someone who gains a little bit of success. I saw that happen to Aminé and what people had to say about him. And I feel it. And it’s not just me hearing what people say but it’s me feeling that energy, and I’m an empath above anything else. But the flip side of the negativity is the positivity. Like, I’m plugged with beautiful humans who I would’ve never met had it not been for this success....If it weren’t for my manager walking down the street in New York one day, I wouldn’t have been able to meet Mark Ronson’s ass. Stuff like that that like I can’t even be mad at my success because it got me here, and I get to perform at the Roseland.

Who is someone you’ve learned a lot from in the Portland scene?

Tron/Old Grape God... because he’s taught me how to let go and just let art live. And to release your inhibitions when it comes to your art too. He’s one of the most prolific artists I’ve ever met in my whole life. Just being around Tron and his energy, I don’t know. It’s something that I can’t even explain with words. So yeah, I have to put him above everybody to be honest. Shout out Tron. He would sit in the Bone Music sessions and just sit there. Even though he didn’t say anything, it was his energy.

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You’ve had so many big looks, opportunities, and appearances. What accomplishment are you most proud of, and you’re like, “Damn, I did that”?

Oh wow. There [are] a few things honestly. It’s like, “Damn, I did that: I just reached a million streams on my own. Like, by myself. Just my voice. Damn, I did that.” Or “Oh, I played at Moda Center halftime show for a Blazer game? Damn, I did that. Oh shit, I sold out Doug Fir, had people chanting my name, singin’ words to my songs. I did that. I have a song [“Truth”] with Alicia Keys that I wrote the majority of. I have a song that I co-wrote with Anderson .Paak [“Make It Better”], that lowkey is about to be Grammy-nominated, featuring Smokey Robinson. Like, we did that.” I’m so grateful for every moment. I get looks all the time and they’re getting bigger because I haven’t stopped working.

For your upcoming headlining show at Roseland... you said you were gonna perform a lot of songs from Hits of Today?

I’m gonna do like a little transitionary piece, so for old fans, the Last Artful fans, you’re gonna be stoked. New Dodgr fans are gonna be so stoked. You’re gonna hear stuff you’ve never heard before. You’re gonna see some of the dopest performances you’ve ever seen in your life hopefully. Maarquii is performing, Blimes and Gabs, a duo from the Bay and Seattle; Falcons is performing... this is just gonna be a look, something that Portland’s never had before, and I get to headline for the first time ever at the Roseland. And last time I played at the Roseland, I wasn’t able to have my dancers or my set the way that I wanted them to be. And so, I get to do it now.

I hope that when everybody walks into the Roseland on October 19, they feel like it’s not the Roseland. That’s the goal. I mean, I’m a Black queer woman headlining the Roseland, living in Portland right now. I need people to show up and show out. And prove that, like, we can do this.

Do you have anything cooking on the backburner?

Yes. I don’t know how much I can talk about things, but just expect to hear my voice in a lot of places. You know, I worked on the Spies in Disguise soundtrack for the Will Smith movie that’s coming out on Christmas. My song is in the trailer. I got some things brewing.

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What changes happened for you in 2019? Any transitions or things you changed about yourself, your approach...?

I think that I’ve become even more open to help. Letting my guard down and letting people in. And that’s really hard for me because I’ve been through a lot. We all go through a lot. And we all lose people to death, and we lose people from death of relationships. So if anything I’ve just opened my heart more and I’m more willing to be vulnerable and expose that part of me.

Is there anything you wanna tell me about that I didn’t ask you about?

I wanna tell you that this is the last show that I’m gonna be doing here for a while, so it’s super important. ’Cause I need to go home, I need to be home. I miss my family.

You’re gonna move back to LA?

I mean, I’m there most of the time now [but] I pay rent here. I wanna own a home [in Portland and LA] eventually, but I’ve gotta start somewhere.... I’ve been dodging LA for a very long time, and I also feel like Portland takes it for granted when people are living in the town. And I really don’t want them to take the opportunity to see me perform this music on the 19th for granted. Because this is the most important show of my life.

That’s cool that you want to own in both places.

Definitely, yeah. I think it’s important for Portland to develop an industry here, and the only way to do that is to have artists who were successful here want to come back and still help build somehow. And I’m from LA, born and raised. I need to get back to my roots before I can worry about somebody else’s roots. So as grateful as I am for this city, I still have to go home because my family misses me. It’s a real thing. And if I’m not being loved or cared for the way that my family would love and care for me at home, why would I stay? ’Cause I love this city and I saw so much potential—and I still see tons of potential, don’t get me wrong—but I think it also has more to do with me having to be at home. I would love to go home and have people love and accept me at home, too. I miss my family, my blood family. I’ve been dodging LA for the last decade. Why not just go back to the root of it all? I feel like in trauma situations, when you go to therapy, they bring up your family life, the beginning, they go back to the beginning. I can’t heal if I don’t go back.

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Joan Shelley
If you only have room in your life for one folk singer, make it Joan Shelley. The Louisville, Kentucky-based artist’s music overflows with alluring melodies, gentle arrangements, and simple-yet-powerful ruminations on the human condition and how we fit into the big picture. Live, Shelley is faithfully accompanied by world-class acoustic guitar player Nathan Salsburg. Together, they’ve consecutively recorded three near-perfect albums, and this year’s Like the River Loves the Sea might be the best of the bunch. If you’re not yet convinced, know this: Joan Shelley’s music will provide you with a safe place to hide from the real world. All you have to do is let it in. (Thurs Oct 10, 8 pm, Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, $15-17)BEN SALMON

Clairo, Baebadoobee, Hello Yello
Little known fact: I have a team of music-savvy youths that keep me informed of what “the now generation” is listening to... and Clairo’s name has been popping up with increased regularity. I first heard this 21-year-old’s astute, bedroom pop live when she opened for Khalid earlier this year, and it’s pretty easy to see why he chose her as a touring partner. Most famous for her sardonic AF viral 2017 hit “Pretty Girl,” Clairo has traded in her lo-fi sound for more lush, practiced production in her latest album, Immunity. As shiny as this new product is, it doesn’t overwhelm the warm, vibrant tone of her voice or her smart, wise-to-the-world lyrics. (Thurs Oct 10, 8 pm, Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W Burnside, all ages, $22.50-27.50)WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY

Oh Rose, Plastic Cactus, No Aloha
Rock band Oh, Rose is really from Olympia, Washington, but I’d like to claim them as one of my favorite local bands anyway. I do what I want. Led by Olivia Rose’s often-dulcet-sometimes-rough vocals, this four-piece absolutely slays live. Their upcoming show in Portland gives audiences a chance to see them perform tracks from their 2019 album While My Father Sleeps, and also catch a set from Plastic Cactus, a Portland-based band that makes a cool, harmony-forward brand of desert-inspired surf-rock. Indie rock/synth pop trio No Aloha round out the bill for an unforgettable night of female-fronted guitar rock. (Thurs Oct 10, 8:30 pm, Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, $8-10)JENNI MOORE

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Kokoko!, Brown Calculus
Alternative indie band Kokoko!, a staple in Kinshasa’s DIY scene in the Democratic Republic of Congo, makes a lively fusion of electronic, punk, and experimental music using upcycled guitars and other instruments made from junk. The Congolese band’s songs—like the mesmerizing “Tongos’a” and “Kitoko” from their new album Fongola—are designed for the dancefloor, and create an up-tempo pulse fit for a never-ending block party. Their Portland tour stop includes a stellar local opener: intergalactic soul and jazz duo Brown Calculus. This little venue oughta be packed. (Fri Oct 11, 9 pm, Jack London Revue, 529 SW 4th, $20)JENNI MOORE

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CRITIC’S PICK: Big K.R.I.T., Rapsody, Domani Harris
For decades, rap music in the American South has been dominated by the big cities of Atlanta and, to a lesser extent, New Orleans, with a special nod to Houston and Miami. But as hip-hop has aged, its footprint has grown into the suburbs and also small towns like Meridian, Mississippi, and Snow Hill, North Carolina. The former is the hometown of Southern rap’s current symbol of consistency, Big K.R.I.T., who has spent the past decade grinding like an independent artist (despite a Def Jam deal) and cranking out music that set his thoughtful, drawled rhymes against beats as durable and dependable as the mighty Mississippi River. If you made a list of 2019’s best hip-hop albums, K.R.I.T.’s newest effort K.R.I.T. Iz Here would be on it, and right near the top would be Eve, the stunning new work from Rapsody, K.R.I.T.’s opener on tour. A no-nonsense MC from the aforementioned Snow Hill, North Carolina, Rapsody’s follow-up to 2017’s Grammy-nominated album Laila’s Wisdom is a 16-track celebration of iconic Black women, with songs named after Nina Simone, Oprah Winfrey, Whoopi Goldberg, Serena Williams, Myrlie Evers-Williams, Sojourner Truth, and Afeni Shakur, among others. It’s a cool concept, but it wouldn’t work without the skill and vision of Rapsody, who raps with incredible force and precision as beats built from old soul samples boom in the background. Simply put, Eve is a masterful reminder that Southern rap does not belong to any particular city or scene. It is every bit as richly varied as the South itself. (Fri Oct 11, 9 pm, Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell, all ages, $25-150) BEN SALMON

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Oregon Symphony Presents: Stravinsky’s Firebird with Colin Currie
Read our story and interview with soloist Colin Currie and Oregon Symphony musicians. (Sat Oct 12 & Mon Oct 14, 7:30 pm; Sun Oct 13, 2 pm, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, all ages, $24-125)

Steve Hackett
Guitarist Steve Hackett has become the de facto keeper of the flame for Genesis’ hallowed golden age. While the other members of the band, including singers Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins, never deign to revisit the band’s magnificent early prog period, Hackett has, over the years, devoted setlists and live albums to his tenure with the group. On this tour, Hackett and his band will play Genesis’ 1973 album Selling England by the Pound in its entirety; it’s always been Hackett’s favorite, and considered by many to be their finest hour. While it lacks anything as powerful as their youthful magnum opuses “Supper’s Ready” and “The Musical Box,”Selling England remains their most technically accomplished and confident work, featuring four solid epics, including the tricky, slithering “Dancing with the Moonlit Knight,” the soaring “Firth of Fifth,” and the wonderful two-part “The Cinema Show,” which pivots from a gorgeous, 12-string-guitar-laden folk song to a hard-driving synthesizer solo over an ecstatic 7/8 beat. And with Hackett at the helm, tonight’s show is the best chance we’ll have to witness this material performed by one of its original creators. (Sat Oct 12, 8 pm, Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark, $45-69.50)NED LANNAMANN

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Stereolab, Wand
Throughout the band’s initial 18-year run, Stereolab felt like an underground music lover’s dream. Led by guitarist Tim Gane and vocalist Laetitia Sadier, the self-styled “groop” flooded their discography with motorik Krautrock, lush exotica, drum ’n’ bass, Tropicália, and baroque pop. And their subsequent influence has been felt throughout the indie universe and even into hip-hop (Pharrell says the band’s “Flower Called Nowhere” is his favorite song to get sucked off to). The ’Lab has returned to the stage after a 10-year hiatus, coaxed by a recent reissue campaign that has brought five of their ’90s albums back into circulation. (Sun Oct 13, 8:30 pm, Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell, all ages, sold out)ROBERT HAM

White Reaper, the Dirty Nil, Criminal Hygiene
On their 2017 breakthrough, The World’s Best American Band, White Reaper shed the grit and grime of their previous releases and stepped into their destiny as pop-rock crowd-pleasers. The Kentucky band’s major-label debut, You Deserve Love, is an even shinier bauble, a slick and glittering collection that imagines an alternate version of the 1980s, one in which Sammy Hagar or Rick Springfield made an entire album that matched the ecstatic bliss of “I’ve Done Everything for You.” It is an unabashedly big and bright record, and few albums since One Direction’s Midnight Memories have so expertly demonstrated the power of pure pop. (Sun Oct 13, 8 pm, Doug Fir Lounge, 830 E Burnside, $15-17)CHRIS STAMM

Aldous Harding, Hand Habits
Aldous Harding’s odd brand of uneasy listening is unpindownable. Simultaneously familiar and alien, like a childhood home remembered in a dream, the New Zealand folk singer/songwriter seems to be sending dispatches from a sideways world, one where Nick Drake’s lilt and Marlene Dietrich’s growl live in glorious accord. Her latest album, Designer, doesn’t contain anything as immediately thrilling as “Blend” or “Living the Classics”—both of which appeared on 2017’s Party—but a slow reveal suits Harding. When she clobbers you with the stark and stunning penultimate track, “Heaven Is Empty,” you’ll be too turned around by her strange magic to see it coming. (Mon Oct 14, 8 pm, Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie, all ages, $20-24)CHRIS STAMM

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CRITIC’S PICK: Tyler, the Creator, Blood Orange, Goldlink
While Veterans Memorial Coliseum isn’t exactly my favorite live-music setting in town, this lineup is stacked enough to make it worth a visit. The show’s opener is DC rapper GoldLink, who garnered critical acclaim for his debut mixtape The God Complex. He and Tyler, the Creator have a new song together (“U Say”) from GoldLink’s Diaspora project, so maybe they’ll perform it live? In any case, a live rendition of GoldLink’s hit single “Crew” (from 2017’s At What Cost) is definitely mandatory. But perhaps the most exciting-yet-understated part of this show will be the vocal prowess of English singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Blood Orange (AKA Dev Hynes). The artist has played, written, or produced for artists like Solange, FKA Twigs, Haim, Mariah Carey, and the late Mac Miller. Last year’s Negro Swan offers lots of great setlist options, like “Jewelry,”“Charcoal Baby,” and “Out of Your League” featuring the Internet’s Steve Lacy.

As for the headliner, Tyler, the Creator’s debut album Goblin definitely wasn’t for everyone, but luckily, the artist’s career trajectory shows he’s not afraid to evolve. Personally, I enjoy that the rapper/singer/producer/director has been making pretty, sonically profound hip-hop (with wayyyyyy fewer instances of anti-gay slurs) as of late. For his most recent album Igor, the follow-up to 2017’s Grammy-nominated Flower Boy, the artist dons a whole new aesthetic for his titular alter ego: a blond bob wig, multicolor suit, and sunglasses. From album opener “Igor’s Theme,” to “Earfquake,”“A Boy Is a Gun*,” and the emotionally charged “Are We Still Friends?”Igor packs in a lot of highlights that deal with the theme of relationships that exist in limbo, with straightforward lyrical references to his apparently fluid sexuality. With all its sonic and thematic genius, it’s no wonder Igor is Tyler, the Creator’s first number-one album on the Billboard 200. Having seen Tyler, the Creator at Memorial Coliseum for his “Flower Boy” tour, I can confirm he’s quite the entertainer. During Tyler’s set, the all-ages audience will be subjected to an energetic, vulnerable, at-times-theatrical display. (Mon Oct 14, 7 pm, Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 300 N Winning, all ages, $36.50-250)JENNI MOORE

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Babymetal, the Hu
The creation of kawaii metal, a Japanese genre that features adorable pop moppets fronting power metal bands, felt downright inevitable. Especially after being confronted with Babymetal, the most popular group to emerge from this subgenre. Watching the trio of young women throwing down synchronized dance moves in matching goth schoolgirl outfits as they sing about chocolate, karate, and female foxes, the whole thing still feels wholly market-tested and manufactured. Which would be obnoxious if it weren’t so damn fun. (Tues Oct 15, 8 pm, Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th, all ages, $49-300)ROBERT HAM

Altin Gün
Few bands were as blindsiding during this year’s Pickathon as Holland’s Altin Gün, and the resonance of their groovy, psych maelstrom still lingers. On the band’s sophomore record, Gece, they splice funky rhythmic witchery with squalling guitar fuzz and Anatolian melodic flourishes. It’s a recipe for introspective meditation or a no-one’s-watching dance fit, or maybe both at once. Funktastic tunes like “Anlatmam Derdimi” or “Yolcu” pop in and out of twisted sonic territory, invoking a hypnotic realm of exotic psych-rock that is extremely welcome. Continuing their stateside invasion following their triumphant Pendarvis Farm appearances, Altin Gün in the relatively intimate confines of Mississippi Studios will be something else. (Tues Oct 15, 10:30 pm, Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, $18-20)RYAN J. PRADO

Bush, Live, Our Lady Peace
Bush were probably always going to be dismissed as grunge carpetbaggers, but cosplaying as Nirvana on the Steve Albini-produced Razorblade Suitcase sealed the deal. Gavin Rossdale and company were straight-up shameless. They also utterly misunderstood their own strength: writing huge, dumb anthems with the sharp edges of a milkshake. The band’s debut, Sixteen Stone, is a pop monolith that reaches stratospheric heights on “Glycerine,” which might be an even better power ballad than Candlebox’s “Far Behind.” That’s about as good as radio-friendly unit-shifters got in the mid-’90s, and we can never take that away from them. (Tues Oct 15, 7 pm, Veterans Memorial Coliseum, 300 N Winning, all ages, $23-171)CHRIS STAMM

Ural Thomas & the Pain, Tribe Mars
Led by Ural Thomas (a seasoned soul singer from Portland’s Albina district) and including local drummer/producer Scott Magee, Ural Thomas & the Pain formed in 2013 and have rightly been rising in popularity ever since. Their aptly named 2018 LP, The Right Time, is a collection of timeless R&B and soul. Much of the album’s track list pulls from material that’s decades old (some are from 1968’s Can You Dig It... Live!), but the vast majority feels relevant and in tune with the current vintage-soul renaissance being embraced by newer, younger artists à la Black Pumas and the War and Treaty. The show’s trusty openers are interstellar hip-hop/jazz fusion band Tribe Mars, another locally based, magical unicorn of a band the city shan’t take for granted. (Thurs Oct 17, 8 pm, Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, $20-24)JENNI MOORE

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Nuggets Night Farewell Freaker: Streetcar Conductors, Creature Party, the Shriekers, the Cool Whips, Batmoth, the Poorest of People, DJ HWY, DJ Rema Rema, the Pynnacles, Dartgun and the Vignettes, the Hauer Things, Panthervision, the Mean Reds, the Sequels, Pharaoh a Go Go, DJ Major Sean
For 12 years, Nuggets Nights have featured Portland bands performing the garage-rock classics from the ’60s that appeared on Lenny Kaye’s legendary Nuggets compilation album and its countless sequels. Raise a glass, for this weekend is the Farewell Freaker—the final Nuggets Night celebration ever, with proceeds going to House of Sound. For two nights, local bands like the Pynnacles, Matt Rogers’ Miracle Workers, Dartgun and the Vignettes, and tons of others will play those loud, legendary, rude, rockin’ tunes that have made garage rock one of the most undying genres ever. (Fri Oct 18 & Sat Oct 19, 8:30 pm, Kenton Club, 2025 N Kilpatrick, $5, see nuggetsnight.com for complete two-day schedule)NED LANNAMANN

Todd Snider, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott
It’s not as tough to find pure storytelling songwriters as it used to be, but with the proliferation of Nashville romanticism, it’s tougher to find good ones. Todd Snider is one of the good ones, a hilarious bard weaned on ’70s country and raised in the punk-rock ’80s and early ’90s, who on his 17th album, Cash Cabin Sessions, Vol. 3, furthers his own trippy, down-home reputation. Snider is capable of both sincere folk balladry (“Like a Force of Nature,” which features Jason Isbell) and super meta spoofs like album opener “Workin’ on a Song.” Paired with the legendary country icon Ramblin’ Jack Elliott tonight, this show is practically mandatory. (Fri Oct 18, 8 pm, Revolution Hall, 1300 SE Stark, sold out)RYAN J. PRADO

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Boo Bomb: Ice Cube, E-40, Ginuwine, Baby Bash, Zapp
If you love your throwbacks—and you better believe we do—the annual Jam’n 107.5 Boo Bomb is ready to throw you back to exactly where you want to be. This year’s festivities celebrating ’90s and ’00s R&B and rap is a certified banger that includes, but is not limited to, Ice Cube, Ginuwine (“Pony”), Baby Bash (“Suga Suga”), and ’70s electro funk outfit Zapp (“More Bounce to the Ounce”). No female-fronted acts have been announced yet, which gives me pause—but don’t be surprised if this lineup expands to include the ladies and even more of the acts you remember and adore. (Sat Oct 19, 7 pm, Moda Center, 1 N Winning, all ages, $45-75)WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY

Dodgr, Falcons, Blimes & Gab, MAARQUII
Read our story and interview with Dodgr. (Sat Oct 19, 8:30 pm, Roseland Theater, 8 NW 6th, all ages, $5-20)

Black Pumas
Fans of ’70s soul—hey, that’s me!—will rejoice over the sounds of Black Pumas, an Austin duo who reach deep into one of the genre’s greatest decades to mine the particular, rhythmic mood of this music. Expect brooding, fuzzy-buzzy guitars from Adrian Quesada, paired with staccato horns and organ, and fronted by the soulful vocals of lead singer Eric Burton who sounds like a 2019 version of Wilson Pickett. It’s like stumbling upon a missing Curtis Mayfield soundtrack of a lost Richard Roundtree film—with a decidedly modern touch. (Sat Oct 19, 9 pm, Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell, all ages, $20)WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY

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Black Belt Eagle Scout, Hikes
Raised on Swinomish Indian Reservation in Washington State, Katherine Paul AKA Black Belt Eagle Scout’s new album At the Party with My Brown Friends sees the artist channeling her community through music, with many songs inspired by her indigenous culture. “Going to the Beach with Haley,” for example, is powered by a melody that reminds now-Portland resident Paul of the traditional powwows from back home. Her intimate show in the laidback Mississippi Studios showroom seems like the perfect opportunity for people of color to take up space, and revel in the creativity of one of the region’s most notable queer and indigenous artists. (Mon Oct 21, 8 pm, Mississippi Studios, 3939 N Mississippi, $15-18)JENNI MOORE

Thom Yorke
This has been a plentiful year for fans of Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke’s wobbly falsetto, around which he builds the majority of his ethereal, noise-touched pop ballads. Last fall he waltzed in with his first feature score, for Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria remake, which was terrific if overpowered by the titular “Suspirium” track. (Keep it on the record; just, for god’s sake, get it out of the movie.) In June, hackers stole more than 16 hours of Radiohead’s MiniDisc recordings with the notion of ransoming them and—being truly unmoved by this threat—they offered them up to fans, donating the profits to environmentalist group Extinction Rebellion. (I bought it.) Weeks later, Yorke’s third solo album Anima hit number one on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart, his first record ever to do so. You can expect a night of quiet, delicate musical majesties, so no talking, and no shouting for “Creep.”(Tues Oct 22, 8 pm, Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway, $59.50)SUZETTE SMITH

Saintseneca, Nick Delffs
Everything is cooler than nasal, refined indie-folk-rock these days. Bands like the Decemberists are doing fine, no doubt, but their sound isn’t exactly in vogue, pushed from the public sphere by pop and hip-hop. Which means excellent albums like Saintseneca’s 2018 effort Pillar of Na fly even further under the radar. The veteran Ohio band has been cranking out fuzzy, buzzy acoustic stomp-pop for several years, with a handful of solid records on its résumé. But Pillar of Na brought Saintseneca’s strengths—elegant arrangements, lovely vocal harmonies, Zac Little’s winsome melodies—into crystal-clear focus. It’s a terrific work that deserves to reach more ears. (Tues Oct 22, 8 pm, Polaris Hall, 635 N Killingsworth Ct, $12-14)BEN SALMON

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Lucy Dacus, Liza Anne, Sun June
It makes sense that Lucy Dacus has catapulted to such high acclaim; the directness of her writing, and the subdued music she drives it with, is a great study in earnest songwriting. Following Dacus’ 2016 debut, No Burden, she hit the road and seems like she’s hardly been off it, what with her immediate post-“No Burden” tour forming of Boygenius with Phoebe Bridgers and Julien Baker. 2018 was even more a stepping-out party for Dacus, as her follow-up LP, Historian, basically floored everyone who heard it and landed at or near the top of numerous best-of-2018 lists. If you haven’t invested any time listening to Dacus yet, what the fuck are you waiting for? (Wed Oct 23, 8 pm, Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie, all ages, $18-20)RYAN J. PRADO

Amulets, Derek Hunter Wilson, Hugo Ra Paris
Three artists on local record label Beacon Sound will celebrate the release of new works at this show. All are worth investigating, but for now let’s focus on Amulets, a project of Portland-based audio/visual artist Randall Taylor, who combines tape loops, field recordings, and processed live guitar to create dynamic, layered drones. The resulting music sounds like it’s living and breathing and sad and hopeful and slowly growing more beautiful by the moment. Tonight, Taylor will celebrate not only his new album Between Distant and Remote but also joining the Beacon Sound roster after moving to Portland from Austin, Texas, last year. (Wed Oct 23, 8 pm, Holocene, 1001 SE Morrison, $8-10)BEN SALMON

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One of the reasons this “street style” page focuses on events rather than the street is because photos can be your eye into a scene you may know nothing about. That’s why I’m always happy when you guys offer suggestions about where I should be showing up to take pics. I hope to look back at these photos in 30 years and smile in the same way as when I look at what my parents wore on their honeymoon. Style is a time and place that gets stamped. And hopefully, by the time my time is up, Portland’s Pretty will have stamped every scene in the city.

This week’s scene report comes from Lose Yr Mind—a great festival in its sixth year, which is always getting better. The bands included local heroes Lavender Flu, Oakland’s finest Shannon Shaw (of Shannon and the Clams), Surfbort—whose lead singer is Gucci’s newest star ;)—and the ever-popular Guantanamo Baywatch. (Portland misses you guys!) Continue killing it, Lose Yr Mind! Portland’s music scene wouldn’t be the same without you!—xo, PP 

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★ means we recommend it.

Abbas Kiarostami: A Retrospective
A sprawling survey of the Iranian filmmaker’s work. Current screenings include Taste of Cherry; Close-Up; Ten; and Shirin. (Through Mon Oct 28, Northwest Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium)

Basket Case
Ah, the ’80s. When the coke flowed like wine, the electronics were still wood-paneled, and you could pay a couple bucks to catch movies like Basket Case at the local theater and nobody would stop you, or really even question the idea that such a repugnant nug of shit could just splatter itself all over a theater screen like that. “Oh, you mean that nasty little movie about the murderous backwoods idiot hauling his hawked loogie of a little brother around in a giant picnic basket? Sure! I’ll sell you a ticket!”(Fri Oct 11-Thurs Oct 17, Academy Theater)BOBBY ROBERTS

The Blair Witch Project
As a theatrical experience, Blair Witch is as close as any movie’s ever gotten to the elemental fear mined from a perfectly told campfire story at the most impressionable age. Those giggling children. The snapping twigs. The tent assault—Jesus, people still can’t agree, after 20 years, on just what the fuck is in that swaddled bundle of blood and hair. (Fri Oct 18, Hollywood Theatre)BOBBY ROBERTS

Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Despite the fact that writer and creator Joss Whedon practically disowned this movie the second it was finished, even die-hard Whedonites (if such a thing still exists) have to admit the movie is worth a watch or two. It’s better than that “Beer Bad” episode, at least. (Sun Oct 13, Northwest Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium) BOBBY ROBERTS

★Candyman
Slashers aren’t particularly known for things like nuance, or thoughtfulness, or tendencies towards social progressivism and empathy—so seeing all those elements foregrounded in Bernard Rose’s adaptation of horror master Clive Barker’s short story is startling—and that’s before you get to the macabre artistry lent to the numerous (and harrowing) kills, perfectly underscored by the stark compositions of Philip Glass. (Fri Oct 18-Thurs Oct 24, Academy Theater)BOBBY ROBERTS

★Carrie
Horror movies, even the most transgressive ones, tend to mellow a little as time and norms progress. Yet Brian De Palma’s adaptation of Stephen King’s debut novel is, somehow, even more disturbing now than it was upon release. (Fri Oct 11-Thurs Oct 17, Academy Theater)BOBBY ROBERTS

★Dolemite Is My Name
Of the many stars of the Blaxploitation genre of the early ’70s, Rudy Ray Moore may not be the most famous, but he was certainly the most original. After recording several comedy albums, he used the money to self-produce his starring vehicle, 1975’s Dolemite—about a rhyming pimp trained in kung fu who takes revenge on the rival who put him in jail. In Dolemite Is My Name, Eddie Murphy plays Moore from his days as a struggling comedian/singer/dancer who worked as a record store manager, to making comedy albums and eventually willing his cinematic visions to life. The film deftly captures the hardship of inner-urban life in the ’70s, where classism and privilege kept Black entertainers who were unwilling to play the game out of the mainstream. Dolemite Is My Name is a bittersweet, filthy-mouthed comedy that also sneakily educates its audience in the Black experience. See full review, this issue. (Opens Fri Oct 18, Hollywood Theatre; streams Fri Oct 25, Netflix)WM. STEVEN HUMPHREY

El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie
I don't know what writer/director Vince Gillgan is planning on doing with this movie, but I do know one thing: Jesse Pinkman better get a happy fucking ending. Bitch. (Opens Fri Oct 11, Cinema 21; streams Fri Oct 11, Netflix)

★The Evil Dead
The first Evil Dead is a film that’s been a little misunderstood over the years. Its sequels veered strongly towards black comedy and splatstick, so people would go back to that first movie and not quite get it—why isn’t it funny? It’s supposed to be funny, right? No. Sam Raimi wasn’t trying to do anything but scar you with that first film, and once you stop looking for all the winks and nods that aren’t there, The Evil Dead reveals itself as the irresponsible and mean-spirited little poison pill it is. That pill will go down a little smoother tonight, thanks to a new restoration that makes all Raimi’s inventive gore look brand new, while giving composer Joe LoDuca 5.1 channels of sound to play in as opposed to squishing his music into a single mono channel. (Sun Oct 20, Hollywood Theatre)BOBBY ROBERTS

Gemini Man
There used to be a time when even a bad Will Smith movie was a good movie because it had Will Smith in it, but not even two Will Smiths can save this one. (Opens Thurs Oct 10, various theaters)BEN COLEMAN

The I Never Trilogy
Oregon filmmakers Mig Windows and Rory Owens’ anthology horror film, “exploring themes of heartbreak, infidelity, suicide, and the supernatural.”Director Mig Windows in attendance. (Thurs Oct 24, Northwest Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium)

Isn’t She Great: Hocus Pocus
The 1993 Disney family comedy that starts at “sugar high” and ends somewhere past “diabetic shock” on the saccharine scale. Hey, at least it’s not Teen Witch. (Fri Oct 11, Hollywood Theatre)

Joker
I’m not ready to label Joker, The Hangover director Todd Phillips’ gritty look at Batman’s arch-nemesis, something as simple as “good.”Joker is problematic, transgressive, insulting, and it’s also probably art. At the risk of hyperbole, Joker might represent a new approach to popular cinema: This is a movie that works both for people who see it to luxuriate in the fearsome power of the Joker’s violence, and those who will instead see the character as pitiable. The fact that Joker works for both has me wondering if, going forward, more films will abandon a singular viewpoint. Phillips’ approach feels like a perfect fit for our current, polarized culture. See full review, this issue. (Now playing, various theaters)SUZETTE SMITH

The Laundromat
See review at portlandmercury.com/film. (Opens Fri Oct 11, Hollywood Theatre; streams Fri Oct 18, Netflix)

Lucy in the Sky
Lucy in the Sky is not good, but it’s a little hard to pinpoint why. It’s based on the story of Lisa Nowak, the astronaut who, in 2007, drove from Houston to Orlando wearing a diaper, chased down the guy she had an extramarital affair with, and attempted to kidnap his new girlfriend. Sounds like it should make for a pretty good movie, right? The diaper’s not in the movie, and Nowak here is called Lucy Cola; she’s played by Natalie Portman in a Dorothy Hamill bob and a stretchy Southern accent. Lucy drives to the San Diego airport, not Orlando’s, and there are other changes, too—rather than rehashing a tabloid scandal, Lucy in the Sky would rather use it as a jumping-off point to explore character and interiority. In the right hands, this would be a good sign for a smart movie. And the hands seem to be right. Lucy’s directed by Noah Hawley, whose track record on television has some exceptional high notes (Fargo), and even his lower ones (Legion) are usually because of an excess of ambition—too many good ideas rather than a lack of them. Hawley’s a terrific writer and a remarkable visual stylist; his debut feature film should be something worth leaving the house for. And yet. Lucy in the Sky is flat and cold and terribly dull. (Opens Fri Oct 11, various theaters)NED LANNAMANN

Maleficent: Mistress of Evil
See review at portlandmercury.com/film(Opens Thurs Oct 17, various theaters)

Monos
Monos follows a team of teenaged guerrilla soldiers somewhere in South America, but we’re told nothing about them. Instead, we’re embedded with them—we watch them squabble and laugh and wrestle in the dirt; we see them try to keep warm at night; we see them fire off their rifles in the morning. Directed by Colombian-Ecuadorian filmmaker Alejandro Landes, the movie is split in two halves. The first takes place on top of a cloud-shrouded mountain, amid abandoned structures of concrete and rebar. It’s a gorgeous, forbidding place, and most of the film’s pleasures come from the lustrous scenery paired with the minimal power of composer Mica Levi’s score. The second half of Monos is a descent into the jungle, a claustrophobically verdant maze of mud, leaves, and rivers swollen with rain. By now the team has begun to fray, although their mission and their individual desires are never fully articulated. That lack of specificity hurts Monos: The hypnotic first half simply doesn’t give the audience enough to latch onto. (Opens Fri Oct 11, Cinema 21)NED LANNAMANN

★OMSI’s 2019 Sci-Fi Film Fest
OMSI’s annual collection of science-fiction classics and favorites is coming out strong this year, with a phenomenal lineup that includes two from Stanley Kubrick (2001 and A Clockwork Orange), two from Denis Villeneuve (Arrival and Blade Runner 2049) and a slew of other must-sees like Under the Skin, Children of Men, and Fantastic Planet. More at omsi.edu. (Through Wed Nov 6, Empirical Theatre at OMSI)ERIK HENRIKSEN

Portland Latin American Film Festival: The Good Girls
Director Alejandra Márquez Abella’s study of a very affluent woman at the dawn of the ’80s in Mexico City and how she copes with an economic crash. (Wed Oct 16, Hollywood Theatre)

Portland Unknown Film Festival
A fest that shines the spotlight on low-budget and analog filmmaking, bringing you a full weekend of curated works. More at portlandunknown.com. (Fri Oct 11-Sun Oct 13, Disjecta)

Psycho
Of all the things this Hitchcock classic is often championed for, maybe the most notable achievement is how completely it manipulates an audience’s empathy. Hitchcock has made better films, but never any as sneaky as Psycho. (Fri Oct 18-Thurs Oct 24, Academy Theater)BOBBY ROBERTS

Re-Run Theater: Wes Craven’s Summer of Fear
The Hollywood Theatre’s monthly TV party screens Wes Craven’s TV movie Stranger in Our House, an adaptation of Lois Duncan’s novel Summer of Fear. It premiered on Halloween night, 1978, and stars Linda Blair as a high school girl whose weird cousin moves into her house and is immediately suspected of being a goddamn witch. (Wed Oct 23, Hollywood Theatre)

★Slumber Party Massacre
Slumber Party Massacre is queer activist Rita Mae Brown’s subversive, satirical, and yes, inspirational feminist revenge story about a party full of high-school girls fighting off a homicidal maniac whose (Freudian) weapon of choice is a power drill. (Sun Oct 20, Northwest Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium)BOBBY ROBERTS

★They Live
There are more than a few theaters across the country that semi-regularly screen 1984 as a response to the continued tenure of our corrupt, racist, slumlord sex offender of a president. But John Carpenter’s last bona fide classic—1989’s paranoid, left-wing, grindhouse sci-fi satire They Live—is a much more appropriate film for the strange, bewildering time we occupy. (Sun Oct 13, Northwest Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium)BOBBY ROBERTS

Where’s My Roy Cohn?
The once-famous Roy Cohn has faded from the public consciousness, but the lawyer had a hell of a career, beginning with doing his part to destroy America alongside Joseph McCarthy and ending with doing his part to destroy America by representing a young Donald Trump. The documentary Where’s My Roy Cohn? spends much of its runtime examining Cohn’s arrogant, confrontational, and self-promoting public image, making a strong case that Cohn’s shiftiness and shittiness paved the way for today’s political belligerence. Cohn was also gay, though he never came out (he died from AIDS-related causes in 1986, shortly after being disbarred for unethical conduct), and his relationship with Ronald Reagan, even as Reagan ignored the AIDS crisis, is just one of a dozen eye-widening, stomach-sinking elements in director Matt Tyrnauer’s film. But by the time Cohn’s crazy, furious tale ends, one’s feeling isn’t of enlightenment so much as weary resignation: Terrible people have always existed, and they’ve always helped other terrible people be terrible, and a whole lot of these terrible people are also very powerful. Ugh. Sigh. Fuck all these motherfuckers. (Opens Fri Oct 18, Regal Fox Tower 10)ERIK HENRIKSEN 

Wrinkles the Clown
Director Michael Beach Nichols’ documentary about the internet’s favorite creepy clown has a few tricks up its polka-dotted sleeve. According to Wrinkles the Clown, the man beneath the Wrinkles mask is a 65-year-old retiree who lives in a van; enjoys fishing, Natty Ice, and strip clubs; and occasionally terrorizes both random Floridians and naughty kids whose parents hire him to provide “behavioral services.” (Those services, a developmental psychologist says in Wrinkles, are “really misguided,” while another interviewee, the very earnest Funky the Clown, mourns that thanks in part to Wrinkles, “there’s a whole generation growing up with no positive image of a clown whatsoever.”) “You gotta problem with it, you can take it up with mom and dad, ’cause I’m just doin’ my job!” Wrinkles growls from behind the wheel of his van. But a little more than midway through, Wrinkles takes a turn and starts digging into the shakiness of online celebrity and the spread of digital folklore; while everyone can agree Wrinkles is creepy as fuck, opinions will differ about the effectiveness of his movie. (Opens Fri Oct 11, Cinema 21)ERIK HENRIKSEN 

Zombieland: Double Tap
The original had no right being anywhere near as entertaining as it ended up, so hopefully the sequel can follow in those footsteps? Maybe? Is that too much to hope for? Probably! It’s 2019 and everything is flaming trash and shitty embers. (Opens Thurs Oct 17, various theaters)

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Stay up to date on Portland news and politics. Looking for fun? Here are the best Things to Do in Portland today.

Ted Wheeler's BFF, Gordon Sondland.

Here are the headlines.

Resist: Surprising absolutely no one except for the people who still refer to him as "Mr. President, good sir," Donald Trump is resisting the congressional impeachment inquiry, refusing to hand over documents or allow his cronies to testify before the House. Trump's legal argument for doing this is basically nonexistent, but he so clearly does not care about that—hello, constitutional crisis!

All Politics Are Local: Bringing this constitutional crisis a little closer to home, Rep. Earl Blumenauer is calling for a boycott of all hotels owned by Portland hotelier Gordon Sondland, the Trump European Union ambassador who played a central role in the Ukraine scandal. (In case you were wondering, Mayor Ted Wheeler has taken a... different approach to the Sondland situation.)

Betrayal: After Trump turned his back on the Kurds, one of the US' key allies in the Middle East, Turkey's military has essentially taken over Northern Syria. The Iraqi government is warning that this will "directly impact security in Iraq"—you know, the country that was decimated by Ellen DeGeneres' BFF in the early 2000s.

Hey, Read This!

I've heard the phrase "community policing" thrown around in City Hall budget talks & stump speeches, but never truly understood what it meant.

To change that, I spent some time w/ officers who exemplify that work & folks who question its purpose:https://t.co/0FykS0EL85
— Alex Zielinski (@alex_zee) October 9, 2019

Bye-Bye, Boys: Two close associates of Rudy Giuliani were arrested last night on campaign finance violations. The two men are also linked to the Ukraine debacle—could ole' Rudy be next?

Confirmation (of) Bias: We already know Trump is a steaming pile of racist dog shit, but sometimes it's nice to have the cold, hard confirmation that data can provide. An NPR analysis shows that Trump's tweets about white and non-white lawmakers are quite different—and The Squad gets the worst of it.

Man of God: Joey Gibson, leader of depressing far-right fraternity Patriot Prayer, has been kicked off just about every online fundraising platform there is. The Oregonian reports that Gibson has now resorted to using an untraceable church to keep the cash coming in. It's called the Church of Faith and Freedom (LOL).

Pay Up: A Black hotel guest who was kicked out of the Portland Doubletree last year under suspiciously racist circumstances is now suing the hotel for $10 million.

Hey, Listen to This!

Confused about yesterday’s whole Supreme Court + LGBTQ rights situation? We made a short podcast to hopefully clear things up and give you a single molecule of hope. Let us know what you think! #RiseUpOct8https://t.co/JNdy0e7SGt
—🏳️‍🌈 Gender Reveal (@gendereveal) October 9, 2019

ARE YOU HUNGRY? Then may I interest you in the Portland Mercury's upcoming Nacho Week? OH! AND YES, YOU DO LOOK SEXY!Tickets for HUMP! 2019 are right here. (Oh, and psst! Check out the new, very sexy, and decidedly NSFW HUMP! trailer here.)

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Monos

The movie, directed by Colombian-Ecuadorian filmmaker Alejandro Landes, is split in two halves. The first takes place on top of a cloud-shrouded mountain, amid abandoned structures of concrete and rebar. It’s a gorgeous, forbidding place, and most of the film’s pleasures come from the lustrous scenery paired with the minimal power of composer Mica Levi’s score. The second half of Monos is a descent into the jungle, a claustrophobically verdant maze of mud, leaves, and rivers swollen with rain. By now the team has begun to fray apart, although their mission and their individual desires are never fully articulated.

That lack of specificity ultimate hurts the movie. The hypnotic first half simply doesn’t give the audience enough to latch onto, and the abstraction of the plot doesn’t propel one’s interest toward the finish line. There is a story, sure—much of it is focused around an American woman (Julianne Nicholson) the kids are holding prisoner. The woman’s dynamic with her captors is fascinating, at times maternal and other times utterly hostile. But she ultimately feels like something imported from a more conventional, more genre-focused movie.

There’s much to be awed at in Monos. Scene by scene, it’s positively scintillating, and the performances are very good (special shout-out to former Disney Channel standby Moisés Arias as one of the team’s more bloodthirsty members). But the plot points never accumulate, and the story fails to build to anything profound. Instead, like its subjects, Monos gets lost in the jungle.

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