From the drummer that accompanies, in my humble opinion, two of the greatest current bands in existence today, Papercuts and Beach House, comes Roman Ruins whose 7″ single Pastor/Al is now out on Gold Robot Records. Like the two greats, Roman Ruins creates surreal pop music with a dreamy edge that is inherently cool. Read More »Roman Ruins: Pastor/Al
Zach Tipton, a.k.a. I Am The Dot, has an irreparable and distinguished eye for inducing visual energy. His latest single, “The Crown†is an experimentally charged pop ballad that could very well be about anything you wish. But, with a very direct and certainly touching display of childhood imagery, his personal vision will become bloody obvious as you watch a young Zach roller-skate his way through a standard impressionable childhood. This song, from his latest EP The Royal Few, is about growth. It is about the spirit that embodies us at times. It is about time, and the entirely too fast pace of which we move through such a precious commodity. Read More »I Am The Dot: The Crown [Video]
So it’s 10:10pm and I’m a bit exhausted. Today was busy, tomorrow will be as well, and that will continue through the weekend and into next week. I wasn’t planning to write more tonight, but in perusing a few of the many emails I receive on a daily basis, I stumbled on Burnt Ones and felt oddly compelled. Backed by a few repeated, fuzzed out chords and fronted by punk-influenced vocals, the music just kind of washes over you – especially after a few good local brews. Read More »Burnt Ones [Feature]
You can make a valid argument that bouncy throwback pop heavily influenced by folk-pop artists from the 60s and 70s are not only a dime a dozen, but they all fit a fairly consistent mold. When it comes down to it, you’d be pretty much right — for the most part. But that doesn’t really matter, because these bands tend to also be great more often than not. Foxymorons aren’t your run-of-the-mill folk-pop group, and thus the mold is broken for them. They make their own mold and you can hear that displayed perfectly on “Skinny Cow Blues”. Read More »Foxymorons [Feature]
Damn the struggles of being inevitably just too late on some things. The Ripple Effect already said it best about Neil Nathan when they said he was a “perfect balance of rock and soul”. In the simplest form, that is exactly what this cool cat and his debut album The Distance Calls really is. A splendid array of old school highway rock mixed with a decent batch of new age love ballads that are smoother than the cooking process of Hamburger Helper. Read More »Neil Nathan: The Distance Calls [Album Review]
French group Viking Dress is new to me, but their sound flirts with the same from a lot of the artists I’ve been listening to of late so it’s a welcome introduction. Band’s new EP, titled Summarize, was produced by Frederic Landini (Get Back Guinozzi) and mixed by David Wrench (Caribou, Bat For Lashes) and it includes “Lalie’s Game”. Read More »Viking Dress: Lalie’s Game [Video]
Last year Candy Claws debuted with In The Dream Of The Sea Life, which was ultimately a very descriptive title for the music they made. It was dreamy and had this static-like liquidy electronic undertone. Hidden Lands is a bit of a departure from that album, which had traces of psychedelic electro-noise. Instead, their follow-up takes it down a notch. Gone is the noise, the psychedelic elements, but they’ve heightened the dreamy, atmospheric nature of their songs infinitely.
Read More »Candy Claws: Hidden Lands [Album Review] 
The stars aligned, and the patio was full. It was another beautiful cigarette burned night in the great city of Portland. And gracing the stage on this weekend’s eve night was none other than one of the finest gaggle of neanderthals to grab a few instruments, as well as a few dozen pints, and put on a display of some of the most exciting world music you could ever hear. The Fenbi International Superstars were out in full force to celebrate Hop & Vine’s 2nd anniversary as an establishment! Mike, Todd, Orion, Riley, and Kris are a group of ill-mannered and well-tempered gentlemen that you’ve probably only read in books about the origin of counter culture. All that estranged and diluted history of the age old Beats, comes back to life through these powerfully talented band of new age merry pranksters. Read More »The Fenbi International Superstars: Live At The Hop & Vine [08.05.10]
Hypnotic is not a term one often associates with punk, but Athens-based trio Bambara fit both molds. At times ethereal and dreamy, at others ferocious and noisy, Bambara mixes elements of the post-punk revival with modern shoegaze and psychedelic noise. Dog Ear Days is a bit of a mystery as its mere existence possesses something strangely magical. Read More »Bambara: Dog Ear Days [Album Review]
Allo Darlin’ is a fairly new band, which is somewhat hard to believe after hearing “The Polaroid Song”. It has the sound of early 90s twee pop artists like, well, Talulah Gosh and Heavenly and Tender Trap. This is no surprise when you learn that they share a member (Elizabeth) with Amelia Fletcher’s Tender Trap. And there are a few other bands in the mix — Hexicon (Mikey and Paul) and Moustache of Insanity (Bill), among others. “The Polaroid Song” is the first single off the band’s recent self-titled LP. In this video, the band pays tribute to and 80s staple: The Breakfast Club. Read More »Allo Darlin’: The Polaroid Song [Video]
