09/01/2010

dilly dilly posted the above video last night. According to the youtube page, she won't be doing a whole lot more with it because she feels like it's bitten from something.

HOWEVER, that doesn't change that it's still pretty awesome. It has the exact acoustic moodiness I love.

PLUS, Spose has been having fun with Cee-Lo's awesome "Fuck You." It's worth checking out his version of it.

He's got some dextrous pipes. Raps a mile a minute over that soulful hook. Waxes introspective about how much a year can change things. It's good times!

Spose says on his facebook page that it'll be on the forthcoming mixtape "We Smoked It All Volume 2" due out October 1st.

08/18/2010

Brenda’s Silver Tower is

Sweetly poppy. The songs blend harmony and driving beats. Energetic strumming and dreamlike singing. It calls to mind images of diners, shakes, malts. Driving in cherry cars with no tops. Circuses. Roller skating.

But there’s a certain distortion to it, a certain twistedness. The sugary wholesome pop energy is burnt on the edges, carmelized. It’s rough.

Silver Tower is a top-down summer album. Crank it while cruising along some wooded state route. The album opens on State Lines, the ideal song for shifting into high gear as you hug some twisting road and blast through a curve lit only by your headlights. Stomp down the gas as the song hits that wild instrumental break at the end.

12 hours later you’ll need Intro, though, as your car muscles at top speed over some open, sun-baked landscape. The roads are straighter as the song pounds along with the RPMs. This is music to outrun a police pursuit to. This is the music of adrenaline and white knuckles, ground teeth and relentless bright fun. It’s an unstoppable pop energy.

Blackout is the song you were listening to when you did whatever it is the police want you for. It’s raucous and wild. It’s sweaty and drunk and feels like the sorta thing that you’ll wake up hungover from - but in a joyous way. One of those hangovers that you don’t even mind because you know you earned it. Blackout happily bounces back and forth with dynamic range. The chorus a bouncy fun burn that snaps into an infinitely danceable chorus. It’s driven by Peet Chamberlain’s rubbery bass and DJ Moore’s snappy beats. Carried over that, Josh Loring plays a sparse guitar through some reedy amp.

I’m probably going to dwell on Blackout too long, but I feel it’s a good microcosm of the album. It’s bouncy, fun and distorted. It punches hard and fast and it’s over and you want more. Brenda’s tracks are like crack: they’re short and addictive and the most fun you’ve ever had while you’re listening. And immediately after you want your next hit.

Blackout and Pill Hill do this thing that I really love. The power along and hit this sea shift a little over halfway into the song. It’s like a bridge that just takes you to the end of the song. Or a second movement, I suppose. In the moment it’s all organic but sitting here and jumping 30 seconds back and forth on iTunes it’s remarkable to me that the songs blend so well.

Also: While Blackout is the quintessential drunk song on the album, Pill Hill is druggier. It’s beat is darker and more twisted and the breakdown has this floaty melody over a circular drum beat that’s just mesmerizing.

Let’s talk about Delegator for a moment. It’s perfect for illustrating the powers of a tight three-piece. It starts out sparse and lean, moved primarily by Moore’s drumming and Loring’s singing. And then the bass and guitar kick in full time and suddenly you could make a meal of the song, cut out some substantial bites from it.

Now let’s get to my two favorites.

Ghandi has this wonderful 50s dancehall vibe to it but brings an edge of distortion that’s pretty delightful. It feels like it might be the headlining song for some High School Dance with an Undersea theme. And I love the wordless chorus that hits so hard after the floatier verses.

When I started listening to the album, I didn’t have the context that a lot of listeners did. I am not familiar with Pavement and Guided By Voices, so I couldn’t connect any lines between those bands and Brenda. In fact, it left me pretty stymied. I really enjoyed all the sweet pop fun of Silver Tower but I didn’t really have the vocabulary to contextualize it.

So I wrote to the label.

Graeme K. of Mckeenstreet Music says “The riff in Ghandi, and the verses, take more from Buddy Holly and the Danleers than they do Sonic Youth. Songs like Retina and I’d Be Dead along with Ghandi, sound more at home in the context of a 1959 barn dance, in a way, than they do in the context of 1990s indie rock.”

Which brings me to the other standout for me, Retina. I love a good drone, so I was hooked from that Chamberlain’s cheap Casio tone off the start. But Moore’s drums kick up through the miasmic drone of the organ and Loring’s guitar give you a shore to sit on at the edge of the sea of keyboards.

The chorus is the best on the album, I think, for highlighting Brenda’s finely tuned melodic sensibilities. They stretch words out over a delightful, hooky, rising tune.

It’s just a lovely song for a sunset boatride.

And it has heaviness to it, it’s not just some weakwristed track that’s out of place on an album of balls to the wall energy. There’s an impressive breakdown with wild drums and a throbbing bass line that hooks on just the perfect pregnant note.

It’s delightful.

Silver Tower isn’t perfect. I think the drums, especially, could use a little higher production. They sometimes sound lost or too thin.

But if you’re looking for a wildly poppy, fun and twisted way to spend your summer, put Silver Tower on, turn up the volume and let it carry you through. And when the last wavering chord of I’d Be Dead is cut, hit play and do it again.

Posted by Krister

07/05/2010

Eminent Portland Hip-Hop Queen Sontiago's talents go well beyond spittin'. Her acapella version of Samuel James' Wooden Tombstone was a show stopper at his epic release party. Now, out of the same field comes this no-longer acapella song Like Love.

It's a collaboration between Sontiago and Darien Brahms. Feature's Sontiago's lyrics, vox and Xylophone; Brahms' instrumentation and Ric Loyd's drumming.

Sontiago says Brahms approached her after hearing it acapella and asked to get involved. And the collaboration really speaks to the inspiration she must've felt when she first heard it. It really builds into something incredibly cool.

The track speaks not only to Sontiago's concrete lyricism and excellent voice, but to the ineffable "it" that some artists have. To be able to hear a song once and develop such a clear vision for it.

Anyway, it's totally worth checking out.

06/27/2010

O.V. Wright - That's How Strong My Love Is

For your consideration.

06/21/2010

Samuel James has been workshopping his cover of 'Billie Jean" since Michael Jackson's death. It gets better every time I hear it (you can catch it at Blue pretty regularly, he plays the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of the month).

This version at the One Longfellow solstice celebration takes the cake so far. It's musically interesting, plus it taps into something James shares with Jackson: Showmanship and Panache.

Via HillyTown:

"local blues guitarist Samuel James played a pretty riveting cover of Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” and even managed to show off some slick dance moves at the same time."

06/20/2010

Syl Johnson - I'm Talkin' About Freedom.

For your consideration.

06/18/2010

Good friends and collaborators Tasty Dude Films have gotten mighty tasty as of late. They've invested money in the right places and the quality of their videos prove it. Here is their latest music video featuring Grand Hotel. Check out that mighty jibness.

The Tasty Dudes are currently working on their first feature film. Can't wait to see more from this filmmaking collective in the months to come.

The Water In The Bay Feature Film

Posted by Nick

06/11/2010

Crank this album. Really twist the volume knob beyond your comfort level.

Trust me.

Marie Stella's six song Trust is meant to be played loud. It starts with a distorted guitar creeping around and ends with a decaying synth line and in between is 20 minutes of joyful reverie in different ways to make a song build and crash.

There's a 90's alternative feel to the album, but I feel like that's a disservice. The twisting warp and weft of Bryan Bruchman and Matthew Erickson's zipping guitars, the interplay of female vocals (courtesy lead singer Sidney Bourke and back-up Katherine Hulit), Derek Gierhan's crashing drums (he sat in on the recording, the drumming is now in the hands of Max Heinz)... they create a sound that's both familiar and unique. They weave a powerful tapestry.

Marie Stella is fluent in dynamic range. Blue Blood, for instance, starts off simply with Sidney singing over all-or-nothing instrumentation. Guitars, bass and drums kick in and then die out. 15 seconds in she sings "I don't need a lover to bring me down" and the song changes moods, increasing the energy with a steady beat and by 25 seconds, she's affirming that her identity doesn't hinge on someone else' validation and the song kicks into high gear, it's become a thumping, driven machine.

Songs like 1985 and Never are fast on the attack. Each features a guitar intro - the hook on Never is particularly grabbing - that builds into a energetic melee. Never crashes around in its newfound place and then pulls it back... creating a quiet place for Sidney to sing the verse. That segues into a building prechorus that hitches and carries into a catchy, wordless chorus. Never takes it for another go around, but by the time it reaches the chorus again, Katherine has joined in. She echoes Sidney's "ohs" while Sidney adds a suicidal line to the chorus, turning it's catchy funness on its ear.

Ron Harrity recorded, mixed and mastered Trust at Forest City. His production is clear and listening on headphones provides a lot of localization that adds to the tracks. Bryan's mean guitar cuts a wandering scar on Taken, which builds itself out of an atmospheric soup into a sinister cacophony of frenzied drums and adrenaline bass. Guitars and synth bounce off each other in a sonic mosh pit... finally resolving itself into sincere vocals declaring, "No more shenanigans." The track then takes a turn for the chaotic as Sidney and Katherine belt out a punchy chorus.

Harrity captures the interplay of voices and the interplay of guitars with aplomb. What could be noisy and muddy is instead a beautifully crafted and wonderfully dense soundscape. The interweaving vocals and guitars create two strong cords that Marie Stella climbs and builds on.

These elements are, for me, at least, the heart and soul of the band. Marie Stella's fabric of being, if you will.

It's woven with deft complexity and it's worth losing your hearing for.

Marie Stella's release party for Trust is Saturday, June 12th at Bayside Bowl at 8:00 PM. 21+, $5 (cheap!) with Dead Man's Clothes and The Art of Shooting (from Brooklyn).

You can check out Trust streaming on their bandcamp page.

Posted by Krister

06/10/2010

Patrick Sweany is a man of fearsome talent. I wish this recording were of a little higher quality.

Sweany wails with such passionate, soulful panache. He broadcasts emotion like radiating light. His fingers nimbly play over the guitar neck. He showcases intimate knowledge of every note and subtle tone his axe can make.

And the tone he gets is pure and sweet. A soulful late 50s barroom romp.

I highly recommend the album Every Hour Is A Dollar Gone. Particular favorites are "Them Shoes," "From Orange to Pink" and "Hotel Women."

It's simple and it's driven and it's drenched with sweet soul.

Posted by Krister

06/04/2010

Two listens and I'm hooked.

Lately I've been listening to a lot of simple acoustic music. Lots of old country, old folk. So when you put Cover the Forest in your CD player and Fever Rabbit kicks in with this loopy, demented circus music... and then a heavily distorted guitar starts to climb up over it... it's breaking up because of the excessive fuzz... then there's this jangly twang and Honey Clouds collect themselves and crash all over the circus music... it lingers in the background for a moment and then a bird call spirits it away.

And you're left with a buzzy energetic frenzy.

It was a change of pace for my ears, but man was it a good choice. That's all I'm trying to say.

The album is high energy. 12 tracks and clocks in at just under 40 minutes. It bounces from track to track and tempo to tempo with focused intensity. Creates a diverse landscape of sonic fun.

The jump kick of Fever Rabbit gives way to a soupier Kites and Balloons. It pulses and sways on a dreamy organ while Trey Hughes recounts a winter evening in his unpolished, high-in-the-throat voice.

And then it's back to a twangy mesh of twisted poppy goodness with Nester. The album travels over a wide range of tempos and sensibilities with a sort of organic suddenness. Often in the same song.

It was around the point that the horns kick in on Crumble On the Shore that I realize this is a giddy beach-pop album twisted in a funhouse mirror. In songs like Still As You, what could be a ho-hum post-punk anthem is made compelling and sticky by these crazy lead guitar riffs that stretch over the chord progression like stringy cobwebs.

Ron Harrity starts off Lazy Smoke with simple noodling on his trebled up guitar, Trey steps in with his voice but it's not until Mandy Wheeler's bass and Sean Wilkinson's drums hit your ears that you realize this could be a 60s soul number. There's something about the way songs like this explore dynamic range that sends chills down my spines. I love when the chorus hits and you want to swell up along with the band.

Harrity produced Cover the Forest with wonderful clarity. The tracks are all distinct and easily identifiable but each song is greater than the sum of its parts. I especially love the tone he gets in his guitar. It's bright with a (forgive me) peapod snap to it.

Honey Clouds songs seem to have movements to them. Take Sugar, for instance, it bounces along like some saccharine cartoon and then you hit a - it's not a slump - but there're repeated moments in the song when it feels like those butterfly moments as you're driving a car, when you go over a hill with too much speed. And the second movement, a chorus, I suppose, moves along dreamily and then the song struts back up to the uptempo bounce-along of the verse.

It's fun stuff.

Stormy Roux was instantly one of my favorite tracks. There's this hooky trampoline bounce between the chords that leads to a tremendously danceable - or at least get-down-toable - chorus. The song feels like a top-down convertible ride and the final minute is full of the kind of wonderful, infectious energy that makes me want to stomp on the gas and blast off.

Despite the overwhelming good, there are two flaws for me. One is that, at less than 40 minutes, it's too short. That's not a huge problem, and easily fixed by just listening to it again.

And the track Even In A Scrawl doesn't do much for me. While most of the album feels like it's saying something about fun poppy music with a twisted, post-punk production, Even In A Scrawl just feels flat. It's still got a lot of energy and I'm sure that to see it live would still get me rocking along with the band, but I think it lives in the shadow of the clever and towering tracks around it.

Cover the Forest is a great way to get psyched up for summer. Take it to the beach, frolic on the prom with it. Dose yourself with some Honey Clouds verve.

Posted by Krister