Monthly Archives: August 2013
VARIOUS ARTISTS – PDX POP NOW! 2013
10TH ANNUAL COMPILATION BY PORTLAND MUSICIANS. INCLUDING CHROMATICS, RADIATION CITY, WAMPIRE, Y LA BAMBA, NICK JAINA, ZOOEY DESCHANEL, BEN GIBBARD PLAY:D1: 1, 2, 5, 7, 15, 18, 20 D2: 1, 3, 7, 214, 15, 16 FCC:D1: 8, 9, 16 D2: 2, 8, 10, 21
BELLE AND SEBASTIAN – “THE THIRD EYE CENTRE”
A Collection of B-sides, rarities, remixes and non-LP tracks from the last decade. Classic Belle & Sebastian soft twee-pop with male/female vocals. Adds country, northern soul, baroque psych, 70’s easy listening, glam. PLAY: 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 15 RIYL: CAMERA OBSCURA, JENS LEKMAN, MAGNETIC FIELDS
OKKERVIL RIVER – “THE SILVER GYMNASIUM”
The Silver Gymnasium, a nostalgic album about frontman Will Sheff’s hometown of Meriden, New Hampshire, circa 1986. Americana-Rock with a Bruce Springsteen feel and adding synthesizers from a New Order influence. PLAY: 1, 2, 5, 6, 11 FCC: 3, 8, 10 RIYL: Dr. Dog, Wilco, Decemberists, Shins, Wolf Parade
JOHN WIZARDS – “SELF-TITLED”
Hailing from Cape Town, South Africa, 25-year-old John Withers draws influence from a diverse range of global styles — dub reggae, R&B, classical, jazz, African dance music — and combines them into his self-titled debut album as John Wizards. Armed with a guitar, a microphone, and a few computer programs, Withers composed and recorded the […]
JOANNA GRUESOME – “WEIRD SISTER”
Hailing from Cardiff, Wales, Joanna Gruesome make a pretty racket, bouncing between manic shout-a-longs and tuneful pop. Taking inspiration from the Riot Grrrl and K-Records scenes as well as post hardcore like Converge and the art rock of The Velvet Underground. Thrilling noise-pop with dissonant fuzzy jangle, loud discordant feedback, super-fast hardcore punk drumbeats. PLAY: […]
THIS FRONTIER NEEDS HEROES – “HOOKY”
Indie-folk duo adds a full band to fill out their intimate, heartfelt chamber-folk sound with male/female harmonies, distorted guitar solos. Includes members of O’Death, Blank Tapes, Golden Boots. PLAY: 1, 2, 4 RIYL: Bowerbirds, Buxton, Phosphorescent
STILL LIFE STILL – “MOURNING TRACE”
Toronto-based band atmospheric, shoegaze-infused, weird & beautiful pop-rock. Group-singing, soaring choruses & electronics. PLAY: 2, 3, 4, 6, 8 RIYL: Bombay Bicycle Club, Local Natives & Yeasayer
HOLOGRAMS – “FOREVER”
Swedish band 2nd album. Snarling urgent post-punk guitars, relentless drumming, vocal yelps. Youthful and energetic with anthemic choruses. PLAY: 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 9 RIYL: ICE AGE, NO AGE, METZ
CAGED ANIMALS – “IN THE LAND OF GIANTS”
Caged Animals is Vincent Cacchione, a New Jersey-born Italian living in Brooklyn. Known previously for the nearly noir folk-rock of former band, Soft Black, Cacchione carries a strong songwriting gene in his Caged Animals brand of glitch-friendly pop; he’s equally inspired by the classicism of John Lennon’s solo material, as he is by the melancholic […]
GHOST WAVE – “Ages”
Ghost Wave’s sound sits perfectly between the Flying Nun bands of the ‘80s, the British explosion of the ‘60s and the wayfaring dubs of Lee “Scratch” Perry. New Zealand guitar-pop with free-fall solos, driven basslines, hazy summer jams and jangly guitars. PLAY: 2, 4, 5, 6, 10 RIYL: THE WAR ON DRUGS, SPOON, SLOAN
DIARRHEA PLANET – “I’M RICH BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS”
Nashville garagey power-pop with crunchy, noisy guitar hooks, pulverizing drums, shouty vocals. PLAY: 5, 6, 8, 9, 11 FCC: 2 RIYL: Titus Andronicus, JEFF The Brotherhood, Jacuzzi Boys, Wavves, Weezer & Free Energy
Nuda Veritas – “Meaty Hooks”
Burlington experimental singer-songwriter who creates all of her music by looping and distorting vocals to create a mix of meditative repetition and tense cacophony. Clattering electronic percussion and distorted guitar accompany the lush, layed-back and choral vocals. Tense, gentle, intelligent and disorienting all at once. Listen, and get enveloped. RIYL: Grimes, Braids Play: 3, 2, […]
Elephants – “Elephants”
Elephants are an indie rock quartet from Boston, who’s music ranges from fuzzed-out –> dream rock –> bright pop. They use a punk delivery but the edges are soft, the guitar lines are simple, the drums punch and a haze of guitar riffs hovers at the back. RIYL: Speedy Ortiz, The Breeders, Superchunk Play: 1,5,2,11,13 […]
Dent May – “Warm Blanket”
‘Warm Blaket’ is a sonic warm blanket. Pop rock with a bit of country stumble, psychadelic funk, and smart melody. Dent May puts an weird and academic edge onto pop music, pulling aspects from 60’s soul and mushing them with strange synth warbles, and Brian Wilson-esque vocals. RIYL: Ariel Pink, Crocodiles, The Beach Boys Play: […]
Jacuzzi Boys – “Jacuzzi Boys”
On their third full length Jacuzzi Boys mellow out, clean up their sonics, and deliver another round of catchy garage rock tracks. Without diving as far into pop as many of this year’s garage rockers, they retain plenty of searing guitar, airy vocals, and hollered choruses. Slow-burning tracks such as ‘Dust’ and ‘Domino Moon’ equalize […]
COCK & SWAN – “Secret Angles”
Seattle’s dreamy synth duo making music since 2003. Intricate, darkly-lit experimental vocal-laced pop with layered production, tape loops, jazzy Krautrock, loose basslines, ethereal female vocals. PLAY: 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 11 RIYL: PHANTOGRAM, STEREOLAB, BROADCAST, BEACH HOUSE, STILL CORNERS
CALIFONE – “STITCHES”
Chicago roots-rock with intimate timbres–garage sale drum machines, slack guitar strings, hushed vocals, brass, pedal steel, and strings. Gritty electronics and eerie keyboards also pepper these ten new selections. PLAY: 2, 3, 4 FCC: 6, 7 RIYL: Nightlands, Smog, Wooden Wand
VOLCANO CHOIR – ” REPAVE”
BON IVER FRONTMAN JUSTIN VERNON AND MEMBERS OF POST-ROCK BAND COLLECTION OF COLONIES OF BEES 2nd album. Huge, powerful rock with electronic and acoustic/amplified instruments and mellow tracks. PLAY: 1, 2, 4, 5 FCC: 3, 6 RIYL: BON IVER, COLLECTION OF COLONIES OF BEES
SURF CITY- ” we knew it was not going to be like this”
New Zealand band Surf City’s forthcoming album We Knew It Was Not Going To Be Like This continues their love affair with psychedelic, reverb-swathed guitar pop, drawing from their Flying Nun forefathers The Clean and The Chills, as well as the fuzzed-up dream pop of The Jesus and Mary Chain and the loopy noise of […]
The Milk Carton Kids – The Ash And Clay
Third album from this acoustic guitar and vocal male duo. Very soft vocals with gentle harmonies. Smooth, flowing guitar work. An all around treat for the mellow soul. RIYL: Simon and Garfunkel PLAY: All FCC: Clean
Mix Master Mike- Eye of the Cyclops (Asphodel Records)
More music from the Serial Wax Killer. Broken down into 4 suites, Mix Master Mike tells the story of intergalactic warfare with 2 turntables. Every song is choc full of samples that have been cut up in every possible way, then laid down into mesmerizing beats. Fun fact: Mike believes he has contacted aliens with […]
Vibesquad- Bass Love (Vibesquad Recordings)
More of that experimental Vibesquad for your ears to enjoy. In this album, Vibesquad utilizes space and bass to create simple, laid back, and enjoyable grooves and rhythms. He opened some shows for Bassnectar in 2012, so this album is more than just the same thing every other electronic artist with a Macbook is doing. […]
Reuben Wilson- Boogaloo to the Beastie Boys (Scufflin’ Records)
Reuben Wilson, along with many other jazz musicians, explore the possibilities of jazz remixes of Beastie Boys songs in this album. Album is a very cool concept since many early Hip Hop groups were influenced by Jazz, so it’s nice to see a hip-hop influenced jazz album. Try out: 1, 2, 4, 5
Destroid- The Invastion (Destroid Records)
The Invasion is a collaboration between Excision, Downlink, and Space Laces. Album kind of has a storyline of “an unknown force conquering the universe”. Songs are all pretty hardcore and Dubsteppy. All the various featured artists add their own taste to the album. FCC: 4 Try out: 2, 5, 6, 7 Track 1 is good, […]
DJ Muggs- Bass in Your Face (Ultra Recordings)
As Colonel Ackbar would say, “It’s a trap!” Songs are generally on the more hardcore and darker side of Dubstep/EDM. Lots of reverb, thick beats, and loud synths. DJ Muggs has been around since the early 90’s (Soul Assassins, beats for Cypress Hill), so he knows his way around a digital recording studio FCC: 1, […]
WRUV Reviews 