Bladen Country showcase at MFNW!

I love Bladen County. They put out good music by good people like Y La Bamba and Alan Singley. For this reason, I am pretty excited for their ginormous showcase at Musicfest NW this Saturday. It's taking place at Rontom's at 2:30 and won't be over till late into the night. Sixteen bands, zines, and a whole lot of love. In preparation for the showcase, Bladen County has put together this dandy little compilation album for free. I suggest you go here and download it immediately.

Biking and beer? Yup, welcome to Portland...

In typical fashion for a city filled with bike enthusiasts and brewers, Hopworks Urban Brewery is hosting a free, all-day bike-in Oktoberfest on September 19. The March Fourth Marching band will be playing some sick jams and the Sprockettes, a bike dance troupe, will be there too. I have no idea what a bike dance troupe is, but it sounds both entertaining and dangerous (two things that generally make for a good performance).There will also be a plethora of other bike related activities for the whole family, some more live bands on a "keg-supported stage" and two new organic beers being unveiled. It's a little overwhelming just typing all of that. Bring your bike, grab a beer and try not to crash on your way home.

Ride Oregon has more information here.

Yacht rock (and other types of rock as well)

This Thursday, July 16 from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. to , there's going to be a pretty rad FREE concert outside city hall featuring YACHT, Point Juncture, WA and Y La Bamba. I'm fairly new to all of these bands, but I am currently in love with YACHT after seeing them live at Superfest a few weeks ago. Y La Bamba and PJW are pretty boss as well. The event is in connection to the up coming PDX Pop Now! festival, which will soon be upon us. Let's hope the weather stays lovely.

YACHT - Summer Song from Jona Bechtolt on Vimeo.

Name your price: Cadence Weapon's new album

The most recent artist to jump onboard the digital music release with a "name your price" style of purchase is Cadence Weapon. His new album is more of a mixtape but it features, according to Cadence Weapon's website "exclusive new Cadence Weapon tracks, remixes and collaborations." And yes that means you can pay nothing.

The album is 20 tracks, and is called Separation Anxiety. Previous bands to have used the "name your price" purchase method have been Radiohead (for In Rainbows) and Nine Inch Nails (for The Slip). And while Separation Anxiety isn't exactly an album, hell, at least it's free (if you so choose) and since when do you pass up free music?

Download Separation Anxiety here.