Hey guys,

First off I have to say that I absolutely ADORE your site. I'm so enamored of it, I check it almost as much as I check my e-mail (which is quite often I must admit). Anyhow, I have a few band/artist suggestions for your 3hive Does Portland feature.

Menomena (http://www.menomena.com)
Besides having one of the best (and most polarizing) websites on the net, these guys make some amazingly original music. They're Portland natives and consist of Brent, Danny, and Justin on all kinds of different instruments. Their debut album "I Am The Fun Blame Monster" (which is also an anagram) was one of the best releases of 2003 (and re-releases of 2004). It got great reviews for its mixture of electronic elements, unique and sometimes sparse instrumentation, and often sexy tunes. Anyway, I think they'd be a good addition to your list; they tour with Talkdemonic a fair bit. A bunch of MP3's are available on their site.

YACHT (http://www.teamyacht.com)
More interesting electronic music from the folks at States Rights Records and one Mr. Jona Bechtolt. Not only does he create lap-pop as YACHT, but he's played on records by (or shows with) The Blow, Little Wings, Mirah, The Microphones/Mt. Eerie, and more. Plus he has time to maintain a rather nice blog on his site, complete with little movies and everything. Doesn't hurt that he was on the PDX POP NOW comp, either. A few MP3's are available on the site, I believe.

It's really late right now and I can't think of any other bands to recommend at the moment, so I'll let this be the end of my e-mail. Thanks again for the lovely site, and keep the free music coming!

I moved to Portland from San Diego about 4 years ago and don't have enough good things to say about the music that comes out of here. Just a ton of talent here.

You turned me onto TalkDemonic - only to find out they live right here in my home town!

I don't live in Portland, but I was visiting there a few months ago and was unexpectedly wowed by a kid on the MAX playing his guitar and singing oldies with an incredibly strong and nuanced voice, totally overpowering his simple guitar riffs and the clamor of the train. His name was Christopher Neil Young, and he was advertising for the band Running Blind, which has a website with a handful of mp3s for download at runningblindpdx.com
The site is still under construction, I don't know what he/they're up to around town, and the songs are fairly straightforward pop-rock, but there's nothing wrong with the straightforward at times, and the raw talent of Chris's voice is hard to ignore, so I'm keeping an eye out.