Franklin Bruno

Superchunk‘s 12th album features appearances by Sharon Van Etten, Teenage Fanclub’s Norman Blake and Raymond McGinley, R.E.M.’s Mike Mills, Wye Oak’s Andy Stack, Camera Obscura's Tracyanne Campbell, Owen Pallett, and more.

Dennis Callaci, of band Refrigerator and Shrimper Records, will release his third solo album, The Dead of the Day, on February 14...

William Tyler, who played in the mid-'90s lineup of Silver Jews, hosted a tribute to the late David Berman in Nashville over Thanksgiving weekend, and he'll be part of another one at Portland Bunk Bar on January 4, which would've been Berman's 53rd birthday...

Tonight's shows include Panda Bear, Thundercat, Joji, "Van Helentine's Day", the 20th annual Love Hangover duets show, Smerz, Kool & The Gang, Andy Shauf and more.

Wand, The Mermaid Parade, King Gizzard, Shopping/Priests, Magnetic Fields, Kool and the Gang, Eartheater, Jayhawks, Kurt Vile, are among Saturday's highlights

The schedule includes a Prefab Sprout tribute with Sondre Lerche, Jen Goma (A Sunny Day In Glasgow), Skylar Spence and more; a Small Faces tribute with Richie Birkenhead (Underdog/Into Another), Paul Bearer (Sheer Terror); Marty Wilson-Piper (ex-The Church) and more; plus others.

Jenny Toomey has a great indie rock CV -- she cofounded influential label Simple Machines Records (which led to writing a guide on how to do it yourself), and has played in such bands as Tsunami, Grenadine and Liquorice...

Belle & Sebastian's Stevie Jackson is a genuine charmer. Headlining the final night of Chickfactor 20: For the Love of Pop at The Bell House, he did much of the set solo (and with a scraggly beard and a bushy head of hair, Jackson looked a lot like Angel from The Rockford Files) and held the crowd's attention the whole time, performing a mix of Belle & Sebastian songs (not necesarilly his own), songs from his new solo album (I Can't Get No) Stevie Jackson, and covers (including a surprisingly great take on Elton John's "Rocket Man"). He's ...

DOWNLOAD: The Limiñanas - Down Underground (MP3) DOWNLOAD: The Gytters - Divebombers (MP3) DOWNLOAD: The Wrong Words - Summer's Gone (MP3) DOWNLOAD: Figurines "New Colors" (MP3) DOWNLOAD: The War On Drugs - "Baby Missiles" (MP3) Band of the week is most certainly The Limiñanas (mainly because they haven't played here before) who are from France and play Death By Audio tonight (8/17) and Cake Shop tomorrow (8/18)...

DOWNLOAD: The Extra Lens - Only Existing Footage (MP3) Comprised of John Darnielle (the Mountain Goats) and Franklin Bruno (Nothing Painted Blue, the Human Hearts) and formed in the Inland Empire during the region's brief next-Seattle shortlist period, the project began as a potential home for any song John wrote that had a) more than three chords or b) a bridge...