Willamette Week's MusicfestNW is excited to announce the lineup for this year's festival (listed below)! Keep checking musicfestnw.com, or follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Myspace, for updates, additional bands, and the final schedule, which will be posted in the next few weeks. For more information, including audio and video of this year's bands, be sure to explore the various links on musicfestnw.com.

Wristbands for this year's MFNW, held September 16th through 19th, are now on sale for $60 and guarantee you no cover admission to all MFNW clubs during the annual 4-day festivity held in Portland, Oregon (age and capacity restrictions may apply). Be sure to check musicfestnw.com/tix for all the details about wristbands, individual tickets, and this year's special VIP pass. For more information about individual tickets to the shows at the Roseland Theater and Crystal Ballroom click here.

* Sunny Day Real Estate
* Explosions in the Sky
* Girl Talk
* Bad Brains
* The Get Up Kids
* Will Sheff (of Okkervil River)
* Dirty Three
* Monotonix
* Mudhoney
* Frightened Rabbit
* The Twilight Sad
* Dillinger Four
* Swollen Members
* Beach House
* John Vanderslice
* The Long Winters
* Viva Voce
* The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
* The Jealous Sound
* Pink Mountaintops
* OM
* Portugal. The Man
* The Builders & The Butchers
* Langhorne Slim
* Chairlift
* Loch Lomond
* Cymbals Eat Guitars
* Team Dresch
* Bobby Bare Jr.
* Erase Errata
* The Zeros
* JD Twitch (Optimo)
* Eluvium
* Youth Group
* Titus Andronicus
* Mount Eerie
* Trash Talk
* Despise You
* Crom
* Japanther
* Mayer Hawthorne & The County
* Despise You
* Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey
* Grouper
* Richard Swift
* Austin Lucas
* Brother Reade
* The Love Language
* Anders Parker
* The Morning Benders
* Miniature Tigers
* Damien Jurado
* Common Market
* Tigercity
* Riverboat Gamblers
* The Arrivals
* We Were Promised Jetpacks
* Rocky Votolato
* Cymbals Eat Guitars
* Copy
* Red Fang
* Saviours
* Norfolk & Western
* Nurses
* Explode Into Colors
* Portland Cello Project
* Guidance Counselor
* Fences
* Cotton Jones
* Weinland
* Panther
* Amazing Baby
* The So So Glos
* The Soft Pack
* Port O'Brien
* Liv Warfield
* Edward Sharp & The Magnetic Zeros
* AND MANY MANY MORE!!!!!!

PDX Pop Now! will be returning to Rotture in Portland, Oregon on July 24th, 25th and 26th for the FREE, all-ages festival that showcases Portland’s diverse musical talent.

And now, without further ado, the 2009 PDX Pop Now! festival lineup!

Ah Holly Fam’ly
Animal Farm
Au
Autistic Youth
Benoît Pioulard
Breakfast Mountain
Chamber of Commerce (Blue Cranes + Paxselin Quartet)
Church
Cull
Daniel Menche
DASH!
Deelay Ceelay
Don Hellions
Explode Into Colors
Fear No Music
Fist Fite
Grouper
Guidance Counselor
Inside Voices
Jeffrey Jerusalem
Laura Gibson
Lightheaded
Luck-One
Magic Johnson
Menomena
Morning Teleportation
MY-G
Nice Nice
Nucular Aminals
Nurses
Peter Broderick
Pierced Arrows
Purple Rhinestone Eagle
Red Fang
Rob Walmart
Sallie Ford and the Sound Outside
Strength
Tara Jane O’Neil
Teeath
The Andrew Oliver Sextet
The Estranged
The Mint Chicks
The Minus 5
The Old Believers
The Quick & Easy Boys
The Shaky Hands
Thrones
White Hinterland

See you at the Fest! For More Details Visit www.pdxpopnow.com

Posted 06/24/09

Following a string of sold out dates in winter 2008 / spring 2009, this summer and fall Ra Ra Riot will once again be touring across North America. This July they’ll be supporting Andrew Bird, Death Cab for Cutie, and The New Pornographers. September and October will find Ra Ra Riot on a run of headline dates, with Maps & Atlases and Princeton as support.

And, in honor of these new tour dates being announced today, we're happy to send you a link to Ra Ra Riot's Take Away Show performance of "Oh, La". This beautiful version didn't make the original cut, so we're happy to send it along today for your enjoyment.

Share Ra Ra Riot "Oh La" (Live from Take Away Show):
http://www.vimeo.com/groups/6659/videos/3383617


Ra Ra Riot Summer 2009 Tour Dates

July:

8 - Interlochen, MI - Interlochen Center For The Arts
10 - Los Angeles, CA - Greek Theatre @
11 - Berkeley, CA - Greek Theatre Berkeley #
12 - Reno, NV - Grand Sierra Resort & Casino $
13 - Salt Lake City, UT - Red Butte Garden Amphitheatre #
14 - Morrison, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre #
16 - Vancouver, BC - Pacific Coliseum %
17 - Troutdale, OR - Edgefield Amphitheater %
18 - Redmond, WA - Marymoor Park %
19 - Redmond, WA - Marymoor Park %
25 - Tulsa, OK - D Fest
31 - Liberty State Park, NJ - All Points West Festival

August:

9 - Chicago, IL - Lollapalooza
29 - San Diego, CA - San Diego Street Scene

September:

10 - Ithaca, NY - Castaways *
11 - Toronto, ON - Lee's Palace * -
12 - Pittsburgh, PA - WYEP's Rock The Block -
13 - Cleveland, OH - Grog Shop *
14 - Columbus, OH - The Basement *
17 - Minneapolis, MN - Varsity Theater *
18 - Madison, WI - High Noon Saloon (Forward Music Festival)!
19 - Urbana, IL - Krannert Center ^
20 - St. Louis, MO - Firebird *
21 - Lawrence, KS - The Bottleneck *
23 - Dallas, TX - Granada Theater *
24 - Austin, TX - Emo’s *
25 - Houston, TX - Warehouse Live *
26 - Baton Rouge, LA - Spanish Moon *
27 - Birmingham, AL - Bottle Tree *
29 - Atlanta, GA - The Masquerade *
30 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle*

October:

1 - Washington, DC - 9:30 Club *
2 - Philadelphia, PA - Trocadero *

@ w/ Andrew Bird
# w/ DCfC, Andrew Bird
$ w/ DCfC
% w/ DCfC, The New Pornographers
* w/ Maps & Atlases, Princeton
! w/ Margot & The Nuclear So and So’s, Maps & Atlases, Solid Gold, Princeton
^ w/ Princeton

Esser is coming on tour to the U.S for the very first time..

Here are the dates!

June 15th
New York
Le Royale
21 7th Ave, New York
Flyer: http://tinyurl.com/mnvz4q

June 17th
Toronto
Wrongbar
NXNE showcase
1279 Queen St. West, Toronto ON

June 18th
San Francisco
Popscene
330 Ritch Street
San Francisco, CA
Flyer:http://tinyurl.com/nyvasv

June 19th
Los Angeles
Echoplex
1154 Glendale blvd L.A CA
Flyer:
http://tinyurl.com/n9qmhy

June 20th
Chicago
Sonotheque
1444 west Chicago Ave
Chicago IL
Flyer: http://tinyurl.com/ljs89d

Braveface album coming later this summer!!!!

http://twitter.com/esserhq
http://www.myspace.com/esserhq
http://www.chocolateindustries.com

This is an 8 minute mix by DJ JS-1 of a few of his favorite verses from his new album, "NO SELLOUT" that is in-stores on June 23rd on Fat Beats While the mix plays, JS thinks back to the good ole days when he was wishing he could one day record songs with his favorite mcees....

The album has 20 new songs produced by JS-1 featuring KRS, Pharoahe Monch, Large Professor, Canibus, Aesop Rock, Ultramagnetic, Sadat X, Termanology, CL Smooth, ILL BILL, Masta Ace, Rahzel,
OC, Vinnie Paz, Rakaa, Krondon, Vast Aire, PMD, Dj Premier, Big Noyd, Craig G, Edo G, and more...

PJ Harvey has a relatively new album out with John Parish and this coming Wednesday (6/17) the pair will grace the stage at the Roseland Theater and it’s shaping up to be nothing short of awesome.

Spectre is proud to be hosting the Official PJ Harvey after party at EAST Chinatown Lounge freaturing obscure and not-so-obscure tunes from DJ Santo and DJ Who?

This joyous event is totally free, swing by solo style or roll deep, either way, the choice is yours and yours alone. The bar is open all night but the event should get started around 10p.m. Who knows, maybe Ms. Harvey or Mr. Parish will show up and toss a few back with you!

More Details? Here you go:

Last year, we at SPECTRE had the absolute pleasure of promoting 'Madam Owl' by Jeff Hanson. We are saddened to inform you that Jeff has passed away. His originality and tremendous talent in song-writing and his unique falsetto singing voice will carry on forever in his recordings available on Kill Rock Stars.

Remember him through his music today and our thoughts are with his family and friends.

St. Paul singer-songwriter Jeff Hanson, 31, found dead

By CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER, Star Tribune

His voice was sweet enough to often be mistaken for a woman's, and his songwriting was strong enough to earn him a deal with one of the country's most influential indie-rock record labels.

Jeff Hanson's rising career came to a sudden end on Friday, when he was found dead at his apartment in St. Paul.

Hanson, 31, likely died from a fall or other accident at the concrete-floored apartment, which he had just moved into days earlier, said his sister, Sara Hanson. He was found by his parents.

"He was very excited to show off his new place to my parents and show how well he was doing," Sara Hanson said.

Jeff Hanson rose to underground fame in 2003, when he was signed to Kill Rock Stars, the Olympia, Wash.-based label that launched Sleater-Kinney and Elliott Smith. His soft, effeminate voice caught the attention of the label's staff, which then flew him out for a test gig, he said in 2005.

"I think they wanted to see if I sang like that for real," Hanson quipped.

He released three records for the label, including last year's "Madam Owl" and an eponymous 2005 album that earned a 7.8 rating out of 10 from trendsetting music blog PitchforkMedia.com.

Around the Twin Cities, Hanson frequently headlined the Triple Rock, Turf Club or 7th Street Entry. He toured the West Coast and Scandinavia this spring with fellow songwriter Chris Koza.

Hanson, who grew up in Waukesha, Wis., divorced last year and did not have any children -- "besides his two dogs," said Sara Hanson, who emphasized that her brother never had any trouble with substance abuse.

Funeral arrangements have not been made pending the medical examiner's investigation.

From Brian Williams--

Okay, so I didn't name this thing, but I did come up with the idea. I have always loved identifying good music and good groups -- discovering them early (bar bands are best) and following them through their journey. While we'll interview some established musicians, mostly I'd like this to be a place where people can sample some of the great music being created every day, by talented musicians who wouldn't dream of doing anything else.

Click Here to watch!!

Causes 2 is the second album from Waxploitation’s ongoing benefit series for Darfur. 100% of the profits from the album go to Human Rights Watch, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) and Oxfam America.

The album includes rare and exclusive songs from some of the most compelling artists in the indie and alternative worlds: Black Moth Super Rainbow, The Decemberists, Devendra Banhart, Diplo, Federico Aubele, Gnarls Barkley, LCD Soundsystem, Matthew Dear, Mum, My Morning Jacket, Neon Neon, Richard Swift, RJD2, and Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings, as well as a contribution from Adult Swim’s Tim & Eric.