I saw Mount Eerie for the first time in (i think) late 2003 or early 2004. It was in Olympia at a venue called the Yes Yes (RIP!). The project hadn't been announced, as far as I knew. The flyers just said 'Mount Eerie' and, since that was the last Microphones album, I guessed it was the new name for The Microphones and went. There were only a handful of people there and I assume we all just kind of had gone hoping we were right. We were basically right, I guess (the project ended up having a different feel), [...]
Today, the new single from Olympia's own Broken Water came my way, getting me all excited for their upcoming album. The album's called Tempest and will be their first release with Seattle's very fine Hardly Art label. It's been pretty amazing seeing Broken Water evolve over the last few years and I always love seeing their combination of sublime noise and odd pop beauty. And, while their sound is easily comparable to a bygone era of Seattle music and various buzz clip era bands, they've taken it to a place where few of those [...]
The first few bars of 'Cuckoo' will confuse your senses with a familiar warmth if you are a fan of Zola Jesus and/or Broadcast, but when Tessa Murray's soft and hypnotizing voice begins to coo in a tone that implies the transmission of delicate secrets, you will realize that you are making a fresh connection to an important new band producing dream pop with their own finely tuned twist. The London-based Still Corners , who recently put out their first full length record with Sub Pop, Creatures of an Hour , blend pitch perfect electronic pop with a [...]
In short: Diane Cluck (amazing). Song-a-week subscription project (new!). Needs funding (soon). You should (you will not regret it, i am sure). Diane Cluck- My Teacher Died (Live in Olympia)
We stumbled across this wonderful songstress late at night when the lights were dim and the shadows could have been interpreted as either cordial or dismaying, dependent upon the tilt of our head or the squint of our eyes. Luckily, a push of the play button allowed Emilie Lund 's childish yet refined voice to fill up the entire room with a familiar sentiment brought back from the realm of nuanced comfort. The contrast of her simple layered vocals and subtle yet perfect instrumentation carried us away to another realm and helped us to forget that we had ever [...]
The first video from our dearest Poppet . Awesomely weird. Lovebot: 3000 from LLAMAMAMA on Vimeo . Poppet- Lovebot 3000
The first video from our dearest Poppet . Awesomely weird. Lovebot: 3000 from LLAMAMAMA on Vimeo . Poppet- Lovebot 3000
Best of 2011? I can't totally say. In 2011, I didn't hear a lot of albums that I thought were great. I heard a lot of interesting albums and a lot of pretty good albums, but it wasn't the flood of 2010 (for me). I also wasn't up on it. I was on tour for big chunks, listening to mixtapes and audio books , hearing interesting local music around the country . I was obsessing over's Prince's catalog and collecting soul songs from bygone eras . I was working on albums , arranging [...]
Mega Bog has that magic. I can't describe what's so good about them. They just have that something special that happens sometimes. And maybe that's the best reason you should listen to them- not that many groups have that. I picked up their new-ish Freaky Dawn (quite randomly) last weekend in Seattle and it's been on repeat in my tape player. The below track is my favorite from last year's Okay Human . To me, it's one of those times that a recording captures a moment of people in a room and it feels like people in [...]
On my bike today, in this miserable Northwest weather, I liked thinking of the fans on at full blast and the babies chatting it up through this J.P. Haynie performance in Salt Lake City this summer. Straining to hear every note, sweating profusely. J.P. Haynie- Someday You'll (Live in SLC) J.P. Haynie- Family River (off the upcoming album, The Sand )
In brief: free compilation . In detail: a few years ago (three and half, to be exact), there was nothing better to me than the music that people were making out of the Pacific Northwest. While that hasn't really changed, the degree to which it was being generally ignored by a wider audience was heart-wrenching and endlessly baffling to me. So, I got ahold of my favorite folks making music at the time and asked they be part of this compilation. I called it Well, I Don't See Why Not: A Compilation of Unsigned/Barley Signed NW Artists , [...]
Barren Nieces is coming to the Northwest for a few shows and...why don't people know about him? A grave injustice, indeed. Sunday, November 13th Portland @ Bahh House (w/ Emp Moe, Zena Bat, Desiree' Ale'ne Rousseau) Monday, November 14th Olympia @ The Alamingo (w/ Poppet, Letters, and Josh Kane) Tuesday, November 15th Seattle @ The Mystery Machine (w/ Daycare and Nod & the Hobgoblins) Barren Nieces- I Thought This Would be Louder
Digging through our household pile of music yesterday, I came across the three volumes of the Baron Mixtape Adventures Series, a free dj mixtape project I used to do a few years back. I'm guessing they came out in in the 2006-2008 period of time, but I'm not totally sure on release dates. I listened to them and rather liked them and thought posting them might motivate me to do another. The first leans more toward IDM-ish trip hop, hip hop, and smatterings of weirdness; the second volume is an all ambient mix; and the third is all mash-ups, with [...]
Something hazy and good from the folks at Sub Pop. Today bringing the release of Still Corners' Creatures of an Hour album. Attention-grabbing pop music, for sure. Curious to hear more from this group. Speaking of amazing pop music, also just picked up the new French Quarter album, Desert Wasn't Welcome and can't stop listening to it. Glad to finally have it, maybe now I can stop listening to "Checks & Balances" on their Bandcamp 10 times a day, like I have been doing for the [...]
Derek M. Johnson - go-to Olympia cellist, postal worker, lovable curmudgeon, experimental composer. While his work with other artists is perhaps more well-known, his own compositions should not go unnoticed. Especially when he has finally released a new album that does his talents justice. A split personality affair of digital string hardcore and modern chamber layering, I got the pleasure of seeing his album release party last week and it was one of the best ambient/experimental shows Olympia has seen in a good long time. This is a live recording on Hollow Earth Radio from the [...]
I've been a big fan of the huayno genre for years now, but haven't found an artist to fully embrace. Los Errantes de Chuquibamba seem great to me, but I can see how, if I was part of the culture, I might write them off as overly accessible pop. Mostly, I listen to the intense and varied compilations out there. But DJ Rupture's recent post on Luzmila Carpio (and tons of subsequent listening to her albums) has made me see the expanse of what huayno can be. While I couldn't find links [...]
My recent love of Algebra Suicide has lead me to wonder how many people know about this band. After doing some Googling, I might guess that the answer is 'not many'. And I kind of think that's a shame. The 20 songs on 1987's The Secret Like Crazy is collected from their various EP's and reminds me a wonderful lo-fi, post-punk version of Laurie Anderson. These are two of my favorites so far. I hate linking to the media giant of Amazon, especially at a time when people are abuzz about them taking over so much- [...]
I must hand it to the Inner Islands record label. If it wasn't for their kind sending of new dreamy ambient releases, I would have probably let this blog fall to the wayside. So, thanks. Got a list of words on their way, waiting to be said, songs waiting to be heard. And what could be better as a soundtrack to waiting than this? Stag Hare- Holy Wind (off Sandpaintings )
As part of the Karl Blau 24-hour song relay (where a Karl Blau song is being covered/played every minute of the day, the world over), we recorded this. It's 2:15pm here in Olympia, Wa. Letters- An Emptiness (Karl Blau cover)
Letters With Mixtapes
iamamiwhoami: kin - Teaser
Album Review: alt-J – An Awesome Wave
Azealia Banks – ’1991′ & ‘Van Vouge’
Big Boi & Theophilus London (feat. TRE LUCE) - 'She Said OK'
