New Music, Emerging from your Local Scene
With his latest mixtape, Can I Borrow A Feeling?, Mic Terror is finally getting his due. Released this week and mixed by Mic Terror and DJ RTC, the mixtape is drawing attention from local radio stations and a radio friendly version of “My B**** Tonight” called “My Chick Tonight" is getting play on stations WGCI and Kiss FM. We have a bonus track to the free mixtape called “Get Down” for you.
After raising $5,454 at its Make It Pop! fundraiser, PDX Pop Now! is keeping the benefits coming. With the unveiling of this year’s two-disc compilation, the organization also announced its corresponding CD release benefit show, which will be held June 3rd at Holocene. Cover for the show is $10 and includes a copy of the 2010 compilation, and the venue made special arrangements with the OLCC to make this event ALL AGES!
We’ll keep you posted with the lineup for the show, but for now, check out the track listing for the 2010 PDX Pop Now! compilation:
Disc 1
1) The Basics – Tope & Epp ft. Illmaculate
2) No Nostalgia – AgesandAges**
3) Oooh Kill Ooooh – Nucular Aminals
4) Tange Rine – Deelay Ceelay**
5) City Morgue – Kelli Schaefer
6) Five Little Rooms – Menomena**
7) El Ranchero Tejano – paper/upper/cuts**
8) The Letters – Light for Fire**
9) The Upheaval on Titan – JonnyX & the Groadies
10) Never Again – Fruition
11) My Hip Hop Is Breathing – Beyoung, Empire, Lost Poet, Mr. Flea
12) Starting Over (Bad Habits) – Typhoon 1
3) bodyblood – the angry orts**
14) Bombast – Trio Subtonic
15) Let This Body Go – Death Songs
16) Steve Don’t Party No More – Mean Jeans
17) Flatlands – Mike Coykendall
18) Bad Buzz – The Mint Chicks
19) Wet & Dripping – Aan
20) Patient Heart – Sean Flinn & the Royal We
Disc 2
1) Mercenary Days – Hockey
2) Boxcar Children – ioa
3) Dalvik Tide – Ocean Age
4) Hoop & Wire – Boy Eats Drum Machine
5) Tramm – Breakfast Mountain**
6) Sleep, Child – Nick Jaina
7) Marianne – Strength**
8) Only A Quality Lime for Eric Gruber – Andrew Oliver Sextet
9) Look My Way – Blitzen Trapper**
10) Don’t Look Down on Me – MY-G
11) Pythia Misunderstood – Transient
12) Battling Giants – Brainstorm
13) Too Many Days Gone – Dharma Bums**
14) Wide-Eyed, Legless – Laura Veirs
15) Midcentury Motion – Talkdemonic**
16) Pulling Weeds – The Great Mundane**
17) Juniper – Y La Bamba**
18) Peacock Dreams – Peacock Dreams
19) See Waves – Nice Nice
20) Giant Stairs – A Weather
**Previously Unreleased Tracks
-Katrina Nattress
Ella Street Social Club tested its luck with a residency not too long ago, and it looks like it went well, because it is hosting its second residency Tuesday, May 11, featuring the lo-fi pop sounds of And And And, accompanied by the tribal face-painted, psych-folkers Gratitillium.
And And And’s repertoire encompasses the lo-fi sweetness of The Kinks combined with the bouncy indie pop Pavement made oh so popular. Founded upon basement 4-track recordings, the now sextet has damn near perfected the static-saturated, crunchy vocal, DIY recording template of 1960’s lo-fi, while still producing large instrument arrangements and vocal choruses in the same vein as the Arcade Fire.
With music featuring primal chanting and fluid instrumentation, Gratitillium’s sound is just as organic as the band’s appearance on stage. Large projections of Planet Earth accompany the quartet’s live performances, and rumor has it, the band is working on incorporating costumed dancers to perform interpretive dance and skits during their shows to awaken the spirit animals in all of us.
Gratitillium – Barn Owl Hearts:
The show starts at 9 pm and is FREE!
-Katrina Nattress
There is no better remedy to a natural disaster than a lil’ Space Capone, and judging by the line for the flood benefit at the Mercy Lounge Friday night, I think the rest of Nashville would agree.
"This is going to be the biggest Space Capone show ever," sax player Jody Douglas informed me as we walked in, and sure enough a packed house of eager dancers greeted us behind a cloud of fog and LED lights for the group’s CD release, entitled Volume II: Arrival, Arousal.
While waiting for the Space to take off, we were fortunate enough to be seduced by special guest Mikky Ekko. With his face painted similar to that of Beck’s on his Sea Change album cover, Ekko stood gracefully on stage caressing us all with his beautifully flawless voice.
With a tone as pure and haunting as Jonsi from Sigur Ros, and musical breakdowns that could rival Radiohead, seeing Mikky Ekko is nothing short of a transcendental experience. To get a better understanding of his alternative music listen to the track "Sedated" from his latest album Strange Fruit.
In case you’ve never had the privilege of hearing Space Capone, allow me to throw some adjectives at you: super tasty funkadelic tickle music, or how about, flamboyant golden soul tunes. At least, this is what bass player Drew Wilson and his rhythm partner, D.D. Holt will tell you.
Space Capone plays some of the funkiest tunes in town, and if your motto is "I just wanna dance," then I suggest you allow the group to take you in with their ’70s grooves and stage presence to match. The Mercy Lounge was hardly recognizable on Friday night, with a light show and accompanying fog machine that succeeded in creating the pefect atmosphere for their dance-induced songs.
While front man Aaron Winters (aka Space Capone) never goes without his retro garb and tinted shades, the entire group rocked a custom made Space Capone outfit, complete with wings and space-inspired Boy Scout patches. They’ve really got it all: smooth R&B vocals, a vibrant horn section, tasteful guitar playing and a tight rhythm section to seal the deal. Needless to say, their energy is unbeatable.
"I’m ready for two more hours," said trumpet player Mikie Martel after the show, and after a double encoure I think it’s safe to assume that the crowd would have stuck around until morning. If you didn’t get a chance to catch their album release, then pick up a copy and be sure to listen to "Booty" and "Major Kat." Don’t worry, there is plenty of funk to go around; these cats just keep getting better. – Mackenzie Grosser
Text REDCROSS to 90999 for a $10 donation to Nashville’s flood victims, and keep up the support by going to Flood Benefit shows. Keep your head up, Nashville.
Who doesn’t love a Pizza! Party? The band that captivated your hearts and souls this month is scheduled to perform at The Echo on May 18th. It’s sure to be a good time.
Judson Claiborne’s Time and Temperature was released late last month and now we a video directed by Japeth Mennes for the track “Moonraker”.
We continue our "Best of NYC Countdown", covering every day one of the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC list (a chart compiled by a jury comprised of local bloggers, music writers, promoters, record sotre personnel and DJs). Many of the bands in this list will play The Deli’s Best of NYC Fest in Williamsburg in May (6 shows in 3 different venues between the 13 and the 15).
“We’re both rock guys at heart,” say StreetLab. Perhaps this is why they will perform with a new "rock" line-up at The Deli’s Best of NYC Fest on 05.15 at Glasslands (the band will be opening our electronic late party with Glass Ghost and Gordon Voidwell at 11.30 and then DJ later). The DJ-ing duo of Mark ‘Coz’ Lamorg and Ryan Leary have become dab hands at taking rock songs and giving them dance-ability. But with their debut full length CD they are pushing the envelope by stepping outside the creative limits of the remixing format: ‘Auto SPKR’ features 14 original songs of their aggressive electronic signature, including the single NYSound, that’s been available for streaming for awhile. Similarly to other projects with a background in the remixing field, Streetlab employs guest singers in most of their songs – you can preview a bunch of them on their myspace page here.
Dressed in a crumpled white button-down shirt, trousers, and a belt, singer/songwriter Dietrich Strause looked a little like a weary nine-to-fiver when he took the stage at the Lizard Lounge last night, but this unassuming demeanor is exactly what gives the Oberlin graduate his signature modest stage presence. A twinkle in his eye suggests that he sees a kind of humor in the situation, but his shoulders hang heavy with the weight of the observational wisdom that unfurls in his masterfully crafted songs. "As if being an acoustic guitarist/singer/songwriter weren’t obvious enough," Dietrich hesitantly thought out loud into the microphone, "I guess you could say that I’m a pretty sensitive guy. I love puppies, and this is a song about dog-walking." Unsurprisingly, the song was not just about dog-walking.
In a completely non-pejorative way, Dietrich Strause is a geek. "Jean-Louise," a song he wrote about Harper Lee’s classic novel To Kill a Mockingbird, is evidence enough that this is a guy who reads. "Run along, Jean Louise, while you’re still a child," Dietrich urges, echoing the sort of perspective and insight that would sound right at home coming from Atticus Finch himself. Dietrich’s intricate, feathery-light guitar playing and smooth, clear vocals bring him aesthetically closer to folk than lit-rock, strictly speaking, but lyrically, his bibliophilic style is reminiscent of poetry-prose artists like The Weakerthans or The Decemberists. "Smart" music can sometimes run the risk of coming off erudite and snobbish, but Dietrich seems like the boy next door who breathes clean, country air. Comparisons to Paul Simon come to mind, but Dietrich probably already knows that, given his spot-on cover of "American Tune." The highlight of the evening, though, was probably "Nuns with Guns," Dietrich’s answer to Bob Dylan’s "It’s Alright, Ma" with the added bonus of a memorable sing-along chanty-style chorus. Word on the street is that Dietrich is an expert trumpeter, too; the only disappointment of last night’s show, then, is that he didn’t somehow figure out a way to play trumpet and sing at the same time. Maybe someday.
Dietrich Strause will be at No Place Special in Mashpee on May 22nd
The latest session over at Giant System has been posted and it features the band Tirra Lirra.
Tirra Lirra will be performing at Cole’s on June 5th with Black Math and Casual Encounter.
The indie hip hop scene, much like the indie-rock scene, is characterized by a remarkable diversity. Brooklyn rap group Junk Science has put a lot of time and work into distinguishing themselves from the pack. Each record they release is a collection of sonic experiments yielding consistently positive results. The music on their third release, A Miraculous Kind of Machine (ModernShark), truly sounds as if it has been spliced and stitched together in some dusty lab. DJ Snafu’s beats are an immediate draw; his creative sample usage and amazing knack for head-nod rhythm are reminiscent of an East-coast Madlib. Partner-in-Rhyme, Baje One, adds to the chemistry with diverse and playful lyricism, and I swear you can hear him smiling as he raps. With a name like Junk Science, you can tell these guys don’t take themselves too seriously. “Machine” shines in its levity and unassuming funkiness. They’ll be celebrating its release at The Knitting Factory on May 28th. – BrokeMC
On May 15, Shinobi Ninja will invade Mercury Lounge on a hometown mission. Shinobi Ninja’s debut single, "Brooklyn to Babylon," has generated hype with its unique accessory, a video game application, “Brooklyn to Babylon: Shinobi Ninja Attacks,” that is playable on iPods, iPhones, and iPads. The catching and clever format reflects a comparably distinct fusion genre of hip-hop, punk, grunge, and metal. A full length album is due out in July of this year but meanwhile, sneak through the Lower East Side and dance to SN’s festival of sounds. With a colorful mélange of musical roots and array of personalities that match the Brooklyn natives’ eye-catching wardrobe and vibrant onstage chemistry, Shinobi Ninja promises a wild party at the Lounge. Doors at 10:30; 21+; $10 Adv /$12 DOS. –Meijin Bruttomesso