Portland

A city where D.I.Y. extends to everything from music to microbrews, the idyllic Oregonian metropolis of Portland has long been fertile ground for those looking to express their individual artistry, whether it’s the art-rock power-trio Thao and the splashy groove of “When We Swam,” the sweetly ambling sounds of M. Ward and “Never Had Nobody Like You (feat. Zooey Deschanel),” or the haunted-coffeehouse kick of Tara Jane O’Neil and “A City In the North.”

If the never-die party rock of the Kingsmen’s “Louie Louie,” and the mid-’60s pop of “Kicks” from Paul Revere & The Raiders seem miles away from the feathery alt shimmer of the Shins and “Caring Is Creepy,” well, just keep listening to the Portland sound, in Next Steps.

Hop on the bus — and by that we mean listen up! — we’re taking a tour, hitting the high points of Portland’s teeming music scene. First stop is the garage, where Team Dresch is getting down and dirty with the post-punk fisticuffs of “Fake Fight.” Next up, it’s down to the organic-atmosphere lab, where Lovers are formulating synthesized balladry for the frosty treat “Igloo for Ojos,” while boy eats drum machine twirl the knobs and set the sequencers to the jazzy skip of “Syncopated.” And up onstage, it’s girl-power indie duo the Softies, presenting their live rendition of “It’s Love.”

Hold tight — we’re diving deep into the Portland scene, in Deep Cuts.

In a place where doing your own thing is a way of life, fame is a relative concept. For every Portland son who’s made it big — think trumpeter Chris Botti and the smooth contemporary jazz of “Drive Time” — there’s a group for whom success means the ability to, say, gather an “indie cello orchestra” and collaborate with local heroes for your own brand of wistful alterna-pop, à la the Portland Cello Project and “Tallymarks (feat. Thao).” So, where Quarterflash found chart success in the early ’80s with the Top 10 smash “Harden My Heart,” here in the 21st century Ohmega Watts is crafting super-tight, homegrown hip-hop on “That Sound (featuring Lightheaded, The Procussions & Noelle)”

With warm, dry summers and rainy winters, Portland, OR, boasts an ideal climate for growing roses. And with its thriving urban culture nestled in the majestic Pacific Northwest, this City of Roses is also perfect for nurturing musical talent. Witness Heatmiser (“Sleeping Pill”) — epic on their own, they’re the trunk of a Portland family tree that branches out to the alt-rock splendor of Quasi (“Bye Bye Blackbird”), the production skills of drummer Tony Lash, who manned the boards for Portland garage-pop trail blazers the Dandy Warhols (“Not If You Were the Last Junkie On Earth”), and the solo work of Elliott Smith (“Rose Parade”). And that’s just one band — with everything from the emo-inflected alt-rock of Stars of Track and Field (“Racing Lights”), to the ambient piano strokes of Eluvium and “In Culmination,” our Portland Essentials proves that great music may reach out to the far corners, but it all starts at home.