Portlanders are no strangers to music festivals. From Pickathon to PDX PopNow, Portland has begun to establish itself as a city that loves and supports it’s music festivals. Portland, you have another chance to show your festival love to the music gods that be. Saturday, June 30th beginning at Noon and going until the wee hours of the morning, St. Johns will be hosting what has become a perfect representation of Portland culture, Nofest 2013. Celebrating the 6th year of commitment to mixing brilliant musical performers, comedians, and filmmakers Nofest is in no way slowing or narrowing down. Musical greats like Amenta Abioto with her smooth jazz vocals and layered beats (3pm, Signal Station) and The Portland Bike Ensemble who amplify bicycles and coax music from them (1pm, Main Stage) are the perfect example of the variety this festival is proud to offer, and all for free. – Joy Pearson
NYC
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Trashy Rock’n’Roll from NYC: Slow Warm Death
Slow Warm Death, a trash rock’n’roll band with perhaps one or two oddly held religious convictions, have released a self-titled LP in March with all the makings of the hard rock orgy you’ve always wanted to participate in.
Primarily a loud and blazing bar rock quartet, the band’s not afraid to throw some thrash around either in tracks like ‘Kill You,’ or Arctic Monkeys stylebritrock on ‘Blood,’ and in surprisingly moving distorted ballad, ‘Blood 2.’ Check them out on Bandcamp, as it looks like their limited edition cassette (only 100 released) is already sold out. – Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)
This band submitted their music for coverage here.
Portland
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Towering Trees at Kelly’s Olympian 8.8
Towering Trees play steady pop riffs with an edge, akin to The Strokes rocking in a garage… then Morrissey shows up. The brooding vocals dig deeper, songs deal with inconsistencies of self, problems with social expectations, and social norms surrounding sexuality and gender. To deal with those issues, a lot of songs are also concerned with drinking. The band currently has two EP’s under their belt and have mere days left in a Kickstarter campaign to master, press, and print their full length work in progress, Hangover Hearts, which so far, sounds well-rounded and more upbeat. See for yourself; catch them at Kelly’s Olympian tonight with Muscle & Marrow and Pony Village, then pay a visit to their Kickstarter page. – Brandy Crowe
Philadelphia
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This Is Hardcore Fest 2013 at Multiple Locations Aug. 8 – 11
Synonymous with breakdowns and circle pits, the highly anticipated annual lineup for This Is Hardcore Fest 2013 starts today. Scheduled to take place at multiple venues around the city, this year’s lengthy list of acts includes local faves like Blacklisted to prolific legends like Gwar. Curated by Joe Hardcore and his collaborative of hardcore enthusiasts, TIHc continues to prove the obvious: Hardcore will never die. Philly-based acts like Paint It Black (famed for raw emotives, frenetic fretwork, and aggressive melodies like “Invisible” and “Severance”) and Kid Dynamite plan to take the stage and stir things up, making the most of supporters’ cult-like dedication and their anticipation to scream out every line to every song side by side in a spirit of comradery nostalgic of performances played out in suburban basements, local Y’s, and VFW halls. TIHc (as always) stands as a living testament to the impact of local music while adequately showcasing PA’s best within the genre represented by regional faves like Doylestown’s Rock Bottom, Bristol natives Wrong Answer, and Wilkes-Barre five-piece Beware. Definitive of Philly and its surrounding suburbs, This Is Hardcore Fest embodies the genre locally and at large. With one of the best lineups to date, TIHc will melt faces and leave you counting down the days until next year’s showcase. This Is Hardcore Fest, Multiple Locations & Various Times (Please check for more info HERE.), All Ages/21+ – Dianca Potts
NYC
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MINKS releases “Tides End” + unveils video for “Margot”
The summer of 2013 might well be remembered as a very dreamy one in the NYC scene, considering the seemingly unlimited supply of dream pop, dream folk, shoegazer, psych rock and glo-fi records we get handled digitally. Last but not least here comes the sophomore MINKS album "Tides End", out today, and created by the frontman/songwriter Sonny Kilfoyle in some sort of self-confinment in the East End of Long Island. Is reality in NYC really so grim for musicians? At least, music like this makes it less grim for music fans!
Check out the video for single "Margot" below, which kind of screams: "Not really interested in going back to Brooklyn."
New England
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MMOSS Schedule Dates in Europe for Fall
To say that MMOSS is a collective of extremely talented New Hampshire weirdos is simultaneously saying too much and not enough. With bits and pieces borrowed from the garage, psych, and drone, the threesome hasn’t lacked in attention since their release i back in 2011, followed up by 2012’s Only children. The latter brought their music to South by Southwest, Spin, and beyond, and they’ve upped the ante by scheduling a series of dates in the Netherlands, UK, and Belgium for September. Though we only have two full releases from them so far, MMOSS tends to release tracks when they feel like it– in recent months we’ve heard a killer Everly Brothers cover, new original "Nothing Left", and whatever they feel like sampling while playing live. For an independent band, they certainly seem to have found that sweet spot that gives them a lot of buzz while still being free to do whatever they want and produce music in a barn, and we don’t know where else you could find a sound quite like it.
–Jamie Loftus (@hamburgerphone)
Chicago
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Into It. Over It “Spinning Thread”
Evan Weiss (aka Into It. Over It.) has released a new track from the forthcoming album Intersections due out Sept. 24th via Triple Crown Records.
You can catch Into It. Over It. at Schuba’s on October 25th.
Chicago
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On an On “Unison”
On an On will be touring the country through out the month of September and to kick the tour off they are releasing a cassette (available digitally on Aug. 20th) featuring covers of Bjork’s "Unison" and Hot Chip’s "Boy From School".
The tour kicks off at Lincoln Hall on August 30th with Supreme Cuts.
Philadelphia
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New Music Video: “Velvet” – Cough Cool
Fuzz-popster Cough Cool (a.k.a. Dan Svizeny) recently posted a new music video for the track "Velvet," off his latest LP 29 (Bathetic). In the footage, you’ll find Svizeny hanging around his apartment lip-syncing while playing the sensitive, lonely brah. Enjoy!
L.A.
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Lost Midas announces debut EP Memory Flux
The Memory Flux EP is the debut release from LA based producer Lost Midas, who recently scored a deal with British electronic label Tru Thoughts.To promote the EP, Midas has just released a video of the song "Love Undone", a dreamlike cut that steadily unfurls its downtempo, nu-future jazz sample through a variable shuffle of sonic textures and the lounge-inspired vocals of Taylor O’ Donnell. Memory Flux EP won’t be released until September 2nd, but in the meantime, wander with delight over this quite inventive promo.
Nashville
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MODOC CD Release Show 8.9 at the Mercy Lounge
Hailing from the depths of Nashville rock, MODOC have hit the ground running at full speed. Determined to make their way, these fearless leaders have proven themselves time and again throughout their live ventures. Passion and desire pulse through their lyrics, creating a surge of energy that blankets their audience. After seeing them live at the I AM Festival at Bicentennial Park Saturday, August 3rd, MODOC has transformed my vision of the Nashville local music scene. MODOC brings a rare and unforgiving talent to the game. These guys are here to stay. Powerful guitar riffs against an unfaltering rock rhythm bring MODOC’s music to life. Catch a glimpse of this rare talent and see for yourselves at their upcoming CD release party this Friday, August 9 at Mercy Lounge. – Maria Hartfield
New England
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Happy Jawbone Family Band Bringing Good Vibes to Massachusetts
Tastes the Broom, one of the latest offerings from Brattleboro, VT’s Happy Jawbone Family band brings me back…and I mean way back. The record sounds like it came straight out of the 1960s and has an overall sound that most definitely must have come from a reel-to-reel recording. The main single, "Fistful of Butter," is full of dreamy reverb and laid-back harmonies that give it a unique Stones-meets-The Byrds feel. The band are coming through Massachusetts and New York this week and will be making a stop in Becket, MA on August 8 at Dreamaway Lodge. Check their Facebook page for updates about shows and other band news.
-Dan McMahon (@dmcmhn)