Last month, Portland local and friend of the music community, Nic Gordon, fell victim to a random act of violence that left him with head and brain injuries, and is currently going through physical therapy to regain speech.

The music community is responding by throwing a benefit show on Wednesday, Feb 11th at Rontoms (where Nic worked) to raise funds towards Nic’s medical expenses. And it’s a helluva stacked bill, featuring Laura Palmer’s Death Parade, Us Lights, Talkative, The Shivas and headliners Hustle & Drone. Music starts at 8pm and cover is a suggested donation of $5-10. All door proceeds and ten-percent of bar sales go towards the cause. There will also be a raffle held for band merchandise from Wampire, Blouse, Hustle & Drone, as well as live concert photo prints by Todd Walberg of each band on the bill. In addition, there will be 20 limited-run posters designed by Showdeer and hand-printed by Misplaced AK Screen Printing that will go to the first 20 folks to donate $20 or more at the door.

You shouldn’t need a good reason to see any of these bands by themselves, but all on a bill together and for a cause like this, it might be foolish not to be at Rontoms Wednesday night. 

- Travis Leipzig

Deli Nation,

Our Year End Poll for Emerging Portland Artists was - as usual - a painstaking (and somewhat excruciating) process, but we pulled it off with remarkable flair!

A huge congratulations to The Domestics for becoming The Deli Portland's Artist of 2014. For a group who seemed to materialize out of nowhere in early 2014, they recorded easily one of the best albums in recent Portland history. And it hasn't gone unnoticed. Through and through, these guys are pure musicians and true song writers. Here's looking forward to more soul-crushingly beautiful folk-friendly indy rock from them to come in the near future.

Sama Dams were not far behind, securing the Number 2 seat. Their 2014 sophomore release, Comfort in Doubt, underscores Adams ability to craft unique and heartfelt avant indie rock that both gently draws the listener in and challenges them with intelligent rhythms and out-there guitar solos.

It's also no surprise to see Talkative at the top of this list. Their 2014 debut studio lp, Hot Fruit Barbeque, was the culmination of four years of relentless high-energy gigging and self-recorded demos, and is one of the strongest recent contributions to the realm of Pacific NW psych rock. 

Here is how it all went down: first we let the local bands submit their music, and had various Deli editors to pick their favorites as nominees. Then we polled a list of 15+ Portland music scene experts (our jury) asking them each to nominate 3 more bands of their choice. Then we polled our writers. And finally we polled our readers. We tried our damdest to keep things open and inclusive across all genres, from Indie to folk to Hip Hop.

If you care to geek out on all the subtelties of how this poll works, you can check out the rules in depth here (happy reading!). But if all you care about is the awesome new music that Portland produced in 2014, then the following list is all you need. Enjoy!

BEST OF 2014 POLL FOR EMERGING PORTLAND ARTISTS ****** FINAL RESULTS ******

ARTIST J OS W R TOT   1 The Domestics 11   1 0.036 12.036 2 Sama Dams 9   1 0.017 10.017 3 Talkative 7   1 0.027 8.027 4 The Tamed West 6     0.013 6.013 5 Psychomagic 3   3 0.008 6.008 6 Summer Cannibals 6     0.006 6.006 7 The Ghost Ease 4   1 0.033 5.033 8 Grandparents 2   3 0.021 5.021 9 Like A Villain 4   1 0.014 5.014 10 Aan 3   2 0.011 5.011 11 The Lower 48   3 1 0.004 4.004 12 Big Haunt 4     0.002 4.002   Thanks 3   1 0.002 4.002 14 Mermaid in China   1 1 2 4 15 Bubble Cats 3     0.023 3.023 16 Lunch 2   1 0.013 3.013 17 Fanno Creek 2   1 0.006 3.006 18 Swansea 3     0.003 3.003 19 The Shivas 3     0.002 3.002 20 Blesst Chest 3     0.001 3.001   Chanterelles 3     0.001 3.001   Musee Mechanique 3     0.001 3.001 23 And And And 3     0 3   The Woolen Men 3     0 3 25 Kool Stuff Katie   1   1.5 2.5   Jackson Boone   2   0.5 2.5   Just Lions   2   0.5 2.5 28 Fringe Class 2     0.018 2.018 29 Minden 2     0.016 2.016 30 Eidolons 1   1 0.013 2.013 31 Golden Hour 2     0.009 2.009 32 Comm 2     0.007 2.007 33 Bed. 2     0.004 2.004 34 Lost Lander 2     0.001 2.001   Mothertapes   1 1 0.001 2.001   Sons of Huns 2     0.001 2.001 37 Dirty Revival   1   1 2 38 The Fourth Wall 1     0.027 1.027 39 Arlo Indigo 1     0.019 1.019 40 Jeffrey Martin   1   0.004 1.004   Landlines 1     0.004 1.004 42 Anna Tivel   1   0.001 1.001   Renaissance Coalition 1     0.001 1.001   Vinnie Dewayne 1     0.001 1.001 45 Modern Kin 1     0 1   The Binary Marketing Show   1   0 1 Legend: J = Jurors, W = Deli Writers, R = Deli Readers, OS = Open Submissions

Jurors List: Jared Mees (Tender Loving Empire), James Dineen (Portland Media Works, Xray.fm), Papi Fimbres (Revival Drum Shop, drummer in 20+ PDX bands), Rochelle Hunter (booker extraordinaire), Louie Herr (Banana Stand Media), Colette Pomerleau (SSG Music), Matt Singer (Willamette Week), Annie Miranda (PDX Pop Now!), Elizabeth Elder (talent buyer at Union/Pine, Party Boyz), Boone Howard (sound engineer at Mississippi Studios, Rontoms and Bunk Bar), Ryan Dornfeld (Eleven PDX Magazine), Theo Craig (Smoke Signals Music, Xray.fm), Ingrid Renan (Exploding Green), Alexei Shiskin (Noise & Color PDX, Gelatenous Blog), Aaron Colter (Banana Stand Media), Cody Burger (talent buyer at Firkin), Dustin Mills (Eleven PDX Magazine), Chris Young (Vortex Music Magazine), Nalin Silva (Revolver Studios, talent buyer at Kelly's Olympian), and Rachael Milbauer (Tender Loving Empire, She Shreds, Party Boyz).

Hope you'll find some awesome new artists you weren't aware of!

The Deli's Staff

I'd be lying through my teeth if I told you there wasn't much going on this weekend. What I can genuinely state is that the Lose Yr Mind music fest should take highest priority. Over the course of two days, the AudioCinema warehouse located in industrial southeast will host a memorable party with an amazing lineup full of psychedelic, garage, lo-fi, alternative and grunge. 

All you black magic babes with your resurection spells really outdid yourselves this time. SUN ANGLE IS BACK! The Portland Psych trio, once defunkt due to a terrible case of tinnitus in the ears of singer and guitar player, Charlie Salas Humara, are back, after some r&r and equipped with a baller new custom pair of ear plugs, and they're and ready to rage face! Tonight, they'll ride fully torqued onto the battle-stage of Mississippi Studios, accompanied by their psych pop allies Animal Eyes and Talkative. Now I can't say with certainty that this return from the grave is cooler than bringing back your long-lost favorite grandma would be, but lets be honest, it probaly is.

Get a load of the show teaser / new music video for Fox Cool by these undead Sun Gods and get the fuck out to support their comeback tonight. 

- Travis Leipzig

SUN ANGLE - FOX COOL // SEPT 8 SHOW TEASER from Marius Libman on Vimeo.

Despite the arguably volatile conditions that have developed around the Portland music community as of late – hyper increased development in inner urban areas displacing low-income artist types and forcing venues to close; increased noise curfew enforcement; obtusely racist police interference with hip hop shows – there is still one beautiful, unalienable force that is overflowing throughout our tired and artistic collective: FRIENDSHIP.

PALS FEST 2014, taking place August 9th through 15th, is the perfect celebration of the friendship that ties together Portland’s musical community, and back for the festival's third year, the lineup couldn’t include any better best-bud-bands. This year, the celebration offers seven crazy nights of music, each at a different venue across town and curated by different local tastemakers, and all free or $5 entry. However, if you’re like most day-job slaving humanoids and don’t have the stamina to take in seven nights of live music in a row, here is our abridged list of shows you probably don’t want to miss: