Local label Hush Records has gone global. No longer just releasing local artists—or every single band Dave Depper plays in—the label’s quest for (quiet) global domination marches on with the singing of Rauelsson, from Castellón, Spain.

Well, sort of.

The artist is an “adopted Oregonian” who spends time here, but admitting that would totally discount my whole Hush-world-takeover intro, so for the sake of this blog post (and an affront to the standards of journalist excellence… hahaha, oh man, sorry, I started laughing while typing that) let’s just say that Rauelsson lives near the fjords of Castellón (I’m terrible at geography) and has never heard of Oregon.

Moving on.

Hush is releasing a pair of Rauelsson EPs this Summer, entitled Tiempo De and Pacífico, both of which showcase the gentle mix of soft melodies (en (español) and gorgeous instrumentation. Of course, since this is a Hush release, you can expect cameos from the likes of Laura Gibson, Loch Lomond’s Ritchie Young, and tons more. And if Dave Depper is not this record, I owe him a tapas dinner.

Here is a video for “Cazadores de Tornados.”

Nice video, it looks just like this totally awesome Portland summer weather we’ve been having.

ALL GIRL SUMMER FUN BAND, CRAYONSMITH, BOAT
(Exit Only, 1121 N Loring) I like bands, and I like summer and fun. Also, I like girls. So All Girl Summer Fun Band is going to work out just fine for me. They haven’t played much since 2005, but they’re back! Ari Douangpanya is absent this time around—she’s a mom now—but the other three (Jen Sbragia from the Softies, Kim Baxter from Cherry Ice Cream Smile, and Kathy Foster from the Thermals) are still making contagious, feel-good candy pop. A new record is on the way, too! Oh, and let me add that I also like boats, or namely, BOAT, the Seattle trio who could just as well easily call themselves All Boy Summer Fun Band—they’re hilarious, they rock, and last time I saw them they had a giant stuffed white tiger onstage with them. I’m sure I don’t need to explain to you how that makes the music better. NL

MP3:
All Girl Summer Fun Band - Dear Mr. & Mrs. Troublemaker

Last week saw the release of Wale’s new mixtape, The Mixtape About Nothing. If you haven’t read it already, the Passion of the Weiss blog has an excellent post up that both summarizes the importance of mixtapes in general (including a brief history lesson) and explains why Wale’s is damn near impeccable and absolutely essential.

I saw Wale at Noise Pop this past year, and, sad to say, I was way under-impressed. I caught about two or three songs but they were so lackluster and boring I found myself looking for the nearest bar real fast. Good thing I didn’t write him off completely, though, because otherwise I wouldn’t have bothered to listen to The Mixtape About Nothing. It’s actually hard to think about that guy I was bored with at Noise Pop being the same guy on this album: that’s how strikingly good it is.

And yes, if you couldn’t tell, that “mixtape about nothing” is a Seinfeld reference. On the first track, “The Opening Title Sequence” (MP3 below), Wale raps over a Seinfeld-theme sampled beat with a whole list of “what’s the deal” scenarios that would make Jerry himself proud:

“What’s the deal with this rap stuff?
Since Napster the sales been crashing and
since Napster the game’s been flooded by has beens and never will be ringtone rappers.
What’s the deal with these ringtones?”

That’s only the first few lines.

From there, Wale sticks his nose in just about everything: race, relationships, pop culture, sports, and Garfield. On standout track “The Kramer”, he samples the racist tirade by Michael Richards and then goes into easily one of the best songs on race relations in recent memory. Don’t let the title mislead you: he may claim the mix is about nothing, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

Front to back, this thing is fantastic, and is absolutely required listening. It’s far and away one of the most exciting things I’ve heard out of hip hop this year, and Wale is definitely on a pretty strong trajectory to being one of the best rappers around. Let’s just hope his new album can live up to the high standard he just set for himself.

Wale - “The Opening Title Sequence”

You can download the entire mixtape from Elitaste.

Alright. I’ve got a few things to say about Ezra’s post re: the nature of Bloggers. First, we do not all pay taxes. I haven’t filed in about the last three years. This haunts me. I will probably not receive a kicker check to spend on imported goods. FUCK! Also, some mothers get the internet. Mine does. Sometimes I picture her reading what I’ve written here and cringe, like I’m sure she did after reading that bit about the taxes.

But that’s neither here nor there, I suppose. So let’s get to the immediate, as there will always be more time for me to put off paying my taxes.

To the point: TONIGHT. HUNCHES. EAST END. Here are the basics:

(East End, 203 SE Grand) Tonight I’m putting you all on double awesome excitement (the opposite of double secret probation). Why? Well, first off it’s Eat Skull’s record release party. The noisy, major-scale-whomping, two-chord pounding, fuzz-punk, Technicolor chunk-blowers shall celebrate the release of their first full-length for Siltbreeze records. It’s called Sick to Death and the vinyl is limited, so if that’s your bag, you’d better climb in. Second reason: the Hunches. Since the soon-to-be legendary Portland band performs once every four months, and since the end is in sight, well, that should be all you need to know. But just for the official record, here’s the latest: The Hunches’ upcoming and final album is finished. It should be out in September. A departure in many ways, it’s fucking incredible. There’ll be a release party, a West Coast tour, and that’s it. ANDREW R TONRY

Also, Cary Clarke’s column in the paper this week focuses on Eat Skull’s new album.

I have to say though, it’s the Hunches that are really making the salivary glands gush. They’ve been practicing their butts off lately, and appear to be energized. Re-vitalized, if you will—after all it’s been quite a while since their last show.

I asked the band if I could give a preview of the new album via releasing a song on End Hits and they said ‘no’. So we’ll just have to wait on that one. I’ll keep trying, and maybe as we get closer to the September release date it’ll happen. For now though, you’ll just have to take my word for it—the new album is fucking awesome. New studio, new sound, just phenomenal. It’s going to make them so many new fans who might have been turned off by the scuzzy earlier recordings that when the band finally quits it’s going to seem criminal. But these are the things that must be done—unlike paying your taxes.

CICADA OMEGA, SASSPARILLA, BARK HIDE & HORN
(Dante’s, 1 SW 3rd) If our town was one of juke joints and wooden shacks with stages protected by chicken wire, then Cicada Omega would be the house band of highest demand. The local rapscallions make with the bluesy low-fi country that has all the urgency of a call to battle, but still clutches enough subtlety to make their latest, These Bones, a delightful journey into some junkyard soul. While their rockabilly roots do show, Bones is best during tracks like “I Smell Smoke” and campfire shout-along “This Time,” where the volume is low and vocalist Reverend B.D. Winfield’s voice warbles like a ghostly recording broadcast through a dusty Victrola. EAC

MP3:
Cicada Omega - I Smell Smoke

BLACK ELK, DIESTO, ROANOKE
(Ground Kontrol, 511 NW Couch) It’s fitting that the release party for Diesto’s stellar Isle of Marauder will take place surrounded by a ring of video games. The local quartet’s sprawling metal is ripe for the escapism that Ground Kontrol’s quarter-hungry bounty has to offer, right down to the cover of Marauder, which depicts some sort of winged pterodactyl with feathered wings and skeleton talons primed to fuck some shit up. The music follows suit with an endless array of thick metal guitar riffs that drown everything else out in a hazy sludge of noise, the lone exception being the desperate screech of vocalist Chris Dunn, who sounds as one might when reaching one’s bloody fate in the clutched grasp of a prehistoric bird of prey. EAC

MP3:
Diesto - Marauder

Contrary to popular belief, bloggers are people too. We pay taxes, bleed when stabbed (this is not an invitation to knife me), and have loving mothers who don’t understand how we generate a paycheck from this interweb and its complicated series of tubes.

So, in honor of today being my dear mother’s birthday, here is a favorite song of hers:

She gave me the Stand By Me soundtrack as my first cassette ever, with this song kicking off the record, thus planting the seeds for my longtime love of music. Thanks, mom!

Okay, now back to the snark.

DERBY, CROSSTIDE, CLIMBER
(Wonder Ballroom, 128 NE Russell) Portland power pop trio Derby celebrates the release of its second album, Posters Fade, with an all-local, all-pop, pseudo-all-star bill at the Wonder. It’s a big event, and a big deal for a band that’s been slogging away for some time, developing strong songs and serious chops. And yeah, if ever a band were ready to leap into the mainstream, it’s Derby. A few short years ago, one would say their shiny pop rock is radio-friendly, but with radio having completely disappeared up its own ass, it’s nowadays more accurate to say Derby is ready for soundtrack placement on your favorite ABC hour-long drama. This shouldn’t change the fact that Posters Fade offers genuine pop pleasures, in the manner of Sloan or the Monkees, and that their live show is crisp, powerful, and rockin’. NED LANNAMANN

MP3:
Derby - All Or Nothing

Photo: Alexis Achten

This summer sure is a slow starter. Every time it shyly peeks its head out from behind the clouds, somebody shrieks or claps or farts or laughs, and frightens it away. I’m realizing now why this keeps happening—we haven’t yet found the good summertime album that’ll soundtrack the Summer of ‘08.

You know what I’m talking about. Every summer needs that one album, to get played constantly throughout, serving to identify and tag the season forever in the history books and memory banks. This can be an intensely personal thing; it can also be an entirely arbitrary decision. Most times, the summertime album just happens. No one plans it, there’s no premeditation; the summer just rolls along and voila—there’s the album to go along with it, played over and over.

However, I don’t think this will work for ‘08. Maybe it’s due to the desperately long presidential primary cycle, or all the catastrophe happening around the globe. Maybe it’s just a slow year. But this summer needs every bit of encouragement it can get. So we need to come up with some ideas and start crankin’ the tunes. The ideal summertime album will be a record with at least one foot in the melodic pop kiddie pool—tunes matter—and I think, one that almost everyone can agree on, no matter what kind of taste they have in music. It can’t be too morose or gloomy, nor too angry and confrontational, and definitely not too mellow—although moments of mellowness are certainly needed. It’s got to be something for hot weather, so it either needs to be hot itself, and boil right along with the sunny heat and match it, or it needs to be cool and refreshing, like a cool breeze or a dip in the pool.

It’s a tough job, and frankly most albums—despite being worthy on all other counts—aren’t up to the task. Know of one that is? Put your nomination in the comments, and let’s start spinning those summertime tunes.

Hey, it’s almost Summer, right? And it’s almost Cat Friday too, right? In honor of both those occasions, I present you with the dance-tastic video for “Lonely Planet”, the new single from Australia-based Summer Cats.

This is easily one of the best indiepop singles of 2008, period. And while Fred Meyer might not quite be stocking Summer Cats seven inches yet, the always amazing Cloudberry Records is! Go buy a copy!

New kids on the local music block (also know as NKOTLMB to savvy tweens), Sabertooth have announced that they have signed to the local Arena Rock label (Talkdemonic, Swords Project) .

Clearly influenced by those trendsetters at Fred Meyer, the September release of their debut recording, Old Days and the Island, will be absolutely loaded with vinyl. In one package there will be a 12” LP, plus a bonus 10” (that’s 22” if you are keeping track at home), and—since they dedicated to giving you as much media as possible—a CD as well. Wow, that is a lot of music. Why not just cram a cassingle in there as well? Anyway, here is an exclusive song from the record, or the 10”, or the CD:

MP3:
Sabertooth - Another Chance

The band just might be debuting tracks from that upcoming release tonight as they perform at the “Amigos” benefit at Holocene. Funds from the show are headed to The Affected and La Isla Foundation, two great organizations dedicated to stopping mean ‘ole agrichemical companies from poisoning indigent farm workers in Central America.

Sabertooth perform at Holocene tonight, alongside Reporter, Point Juncture, WA, Tractor Operator, and Hutch & Kathy. $5-10 sliding scale.

Photo: Tom Oliver

This just in in: Trumans Water will be making a surprise stop in Portland—their first PDX show in over two years—tonight at Slabtown. Best of all their performance is the recession-proof price of FREE! The band is fresh from a European tour, so they can gather us all around and regale us with tales about how weak the American dollar is when compared to the Euro. The horror!

No, seriously, 10pm at Slabtown. Be there.

Yesterday the O ran a very interesting piece on the “comeback” of LPs. Turns out that everyone’s favorite mega-store, Fred Meyer, accidentally ordered R.E.M.’s Accelerate on LP instead of CD, and before they could catch the mistake the records were shipped to stores and then quickly sold.

Wait, you can buy vinyl at Freddies? Well, you can now.

Now Fred Meyer is “doing a test” in 60 stores, stocking 20 albums, ranging from a reissue of The Beatles’ “Abbey Road” to the new Raconteurs album on premium 180-gram vinyl.

With the wide range of quality indie record stores already in town I doubt this will really make a huge impact, but it’s nice to see a story where people are buying music again, even if it is within a few feet of a produce section.

Another Mercury music section to read while you crack open a sixer of Drank, the world’s greatest (“popular in Houston”) anti-energy drink. I prefer my sizzurp in a Dixie cup, thank you very much.

Another damn article about local singers and WWII battle tanks. What, no room to cram in a mention of the mighty M4 Sherman? I swear, when will this madness end? No, seriously, Matt Sheehy’s new album, Tigerphobia, is absolutely stunning and more powerful than a Panzer II rolling into Czechoslovakia. Damn, did it again.
MP3:
Matt Sheehy - About Piano

Despite what you might think about Eugene hiphop—put your didgeridoo in the air and wave it like you got dreaded hair—Animal Farm are here to take you to school. What school? I dunno, probably some sort of school that has to do with hiphop.
VIDEO:
Animal Farm - Ragtime Gal

Sure, Times New Viking’s sugary dose of rapid-fire garage punk is all the rage right now, but what about my font-themed band, Times New Roman? We wrote a record about kerning. Come on people, it’s kerning! You try designing without a well-kerned typeface. Amateurs.
MP3:
Times New Viking - Come Together

All hail the instrumental glory of Russian Circles, and never mind what Maynard James has to say about the band. I’ve had boxed wine better than the swill he makes. Oh, and his bands suck too.
MP3:
Russian Circles - Youngblood

Matt Sheehy photo: Alicia J. Rose

Yep, that’s right: the interwebs exist solely for nerds and their nerd-jokes. And on the nerd scale, it doesn’t get much higher, or much better, than this animated Star Trek mash-up featuring William Shatner covering Pulp’s “Common People.”

I don’t even know what to say after watching that, other than I think this very well could be the internet’s greatest triumph.

(HT: Boing Boing)

Who the frig is Podington Bear? I don’t know the answer to that question. As far as what Podington Bear is, it’s the name (pseudonym?) of an anonymous electronic musician who has posted three songs a week on his blog for the past year. Podington Bear is based here in Portland and is apparently very savvy with new web media and technology. The site is an excellent example of how best to use the tools of the internet to distribute music.

As for the music itself, it’s cuddly, friendly, innocuous, nearly-ambient music constructed entirely with synthesizers. It’s kind of like library music, or museum music, if that makes any sense. It’s sort of beige. But pleasant. You can check out an MP3 below. A ten-disc box set collection of tracks posted on the blog has just been issued, as well as a stand-alone album called The End. There are a couple theories floating around as to whether Podington Bear is an alter-ego of a known Portland musician. I’m not sure if I buy that; three songs a week, and maintaining a blog, is a lot of work without a simultaneous above-ground career. Anyway, check out the blog. It’s got lots of pictures of cats.

MP3:
Podington Bear - Ebullience

Blame last week’s press night wine-cooler binge, but we totally spaced on coverage for Wicked Wednesdays’ 10th Anniversary party. It’s tonight, at the Greek, and features DJ Wicked behind the decks (as always), plus live performances from Sleep, Mic Crenshaw, Onry Ozzborn, and tons more. The full flier and lineup is after the jump, and we promise in the future that we will lay off the Bartles & Jaymes. Maybe.

What happens with Dizzee Rascal and Calvin “I Created Disco” Harris team up? Only a kick ass summer jam that is more than likely going to be inescapable in the oncoming months.

“Dance Wiv Me” is probably, after two listens, one of my favorite Dizzee tracks. The thing is just smooth, nonchalant, and that beat creates the perfect counterbalance to his affected vocals. Maths + English is a pretty tough record, and this just feels breezy and real fun in comparison. It’s nice to see Dizzee letting his hair out, as it were, especially after seeing how charming the guy is in person.

Kanye West is in trouble. Marooned on a strange planet that resembles the set of this movie, a futuristic miniature golf course, and the cover of Dianetics, Mr. West is alone in space (like The Little Prince with a Rocafella Chain) and spends his time spitting rhymes and conversing with his sensual computer pal, Jane.

No, seriously, I did not just make that up.

This ambitious, if not fucking bizarre, setup is at the heart of West’s “Glow in the Dark Tour” which rolled through town with openers Rihanna, N.E.R.D., and Lupe Fiasco last night at the Rose Garden. Surprisingly not sold out, the event was all about Kanye and he wasn’t about to let you forget it. The openers had a stage to perform upon, Kanye had his very own planet.

West’s sci-fi cosmic odyssey is grand in scale, but the spotlight never strays far from the man of the hour—his 7-piece live band (it could have been more, they went out of their way not to be seen) was absolutely stellar, operating in the shadows in front of the stage, like a percussion-heavy hiphop orchestra—who roams the planet/stage while running through his seemingly endless array of hit songs. The entire performance was like a swirling black hole of pure narcissism, but what else would you expect from a man who takes the time to pen a mid-show script about him being “the biggest star in the universe?”

“Through the Wire” seemed naked without the Chaka Khan sample, while “Get Em High” didn’t benefit from the demonic vocal effects, but with the exception of those two songs—and an unfortunate incident where Kanye laid on the stage while his band went into Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing,” thus violating the longtime no-Steve-Perry-in-hiphop rule—the setlist was fluid, if not perfect. The stark “Flashing Lights” was glorious in the live setting, as was the extended version of “Good Life,” although it failed to reach the 10 minute mark as he claimed it did in his late-show rant against critics (my ears are burning!) and haters alike.

Oh, and “Gold Digger” featured a pair of hologram lesbians. Yup.

The details have been announced for everyones favorite grocery store sponsored salute to the blues that is presented by a bank, the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival presented by First Tech Credit Union!

Phew, that is one snappy name.

The festival will take place on July 3-6 at Tom McCall Waterfront Park and feature sultry Scientologist Isaac Hayes in a tribute to Memphis Soul, plus performances by Canned Heat, The Legendary Shack Shakers, Charlie Musselwhite and tons more. The full press release, and lineup, is after the jump.

Join blues fans from throughout the world at the 21st Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, July 3-6 Isaac Hayes, Charlie Musselwhite, Phoebe Snow, Canned Heat, The Mannish Boys, Joe Bonamassa, James Hunter, Elvin Bishop ... and more PORTLAND, Ore. (May 30, 2008) – World-class music. Gorgeous setting. Great cause. What could be better? Join blues fans from throughout the world at the 21st annual Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, presented by First Tech Credit Union, July 3 to 6, 2008. This renowned festival takes place annually on the grassy banks of the beautiful Willamette River at Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, Ore. The Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is an anomaly in the festival world. There is no other festival like it anywhere. Now in its 21st year, the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is the largest blues festival west of the Mississippi and the second-largest blues festival in the nation. The festival annually attracts more than 120,000 blues fans from throughout the world. Touted as one of the best-run festivals anywhere, it remains a grassroots festival, operated by Oregon Food Bank – a nonprofit, charitable organization – with the help of more than a thousand volunteers. The festival raises food and funds to help people who are hungry throughout Oregon and southwest Washington. Admission is a suggested donation of only $10 plus two cans of food per person, per day. Gate donations benefit Oregon Food Bank’s mission: to eliminate hunger and its root causes ... because no one should be hungry. This is all the more important this year as food, fuel and healthcare costs climb, foreclosures and layoffs increase and world food supply dwindles. A Four-day Festival Grounds Pass, a special Blues Buddy Pass and an exclusive Blues Benefactor Pass are available online at www.waterfrontbluesfest.com through a new ticket service created by Patrick Lamb. The four-day festival will feature more than 120 performances on four stages. Some highlights: Thursday, July 3 The festival kicks off with a Tribute to Memphis Soul, featuring soul icon Isaac Hayes, presented by Chinook Winds Casino Resort. The tribute will get a local treatment with Portland Soul All-Stars, featuring Linda Hornbuckle, LaRhonda Steele and Sean Holmes backed by an all-star band. They will put their spin on classics by Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Booker T and the MGs, Albert King and other legends of the Stax/Volt record label. Portland’s young soul diva Liv Warfield and “Boogie Cat” Norman Sylvester will open the tribute on the Miller Stage. The Credit Union Blues Stage will feature searing riffs from up-and-coming blues guitar slingers: virtuoso Joe Bonamassa, Houston’s Carolyn Wonderland and Salem's Ty Curtis.

The stellar line-up includes a Battle of the ‘Bones on the A&E Front Porch Stage with the two funkiest trombonists on the planet: the legendary Fred Wesley & Groovesect and the young virtuoso Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews & New Orleans Avenue. The Front Porch will open with Blues from the Edge, featuring semi-acoustic acts that push the genre’s envelope: Joe McMurrian Quartet, Memphis’ rootsy Moreland & Arbuckle, and Salem’s Mark Lemhouse.

Friday, July 4
Boogie-blues-rock pioneers Canned Heat and the Los Angeles-based all-star group The Mannish Boys – with special guests Kid Ramos, Kirk Fletcher and Finis Tasby will headline July 4th. The stellar line-up includes a Tribute to Freddie King, featuring Phillip Walker, Sherman Robertson and Andrew “Jr. Boy” Jones; the punkified blues of The Legendary Shack Shakers; Pianorama Northwest and more.

The Waterfront Blues Festival will team up with the Blues Foundation to present Trampled Under Foot, the winner of this year’s International Blues Challenge, on the A&E Front Porch Stage. Bill Rhoades’ annual Harmonica Blow-off will close the stage.

The night ends with spectacular fireworks.

Saturday, July 5
Chicago harmonica ace Charlie Musselwhite, guitarist Elvin Bishop and New Orleans guitarist Eric Lindell will headline the slate. Performances include the amazing, young British blues-rockers Back Door Slam, Louisiana Creole blues-rocker Classie Ballou, Mississippi roots-rocker Paul Thorn, Gulf Coast Guitar Summit with Phillip Walker, Sherman Robertson and Andrew “Jr. Boy” Jones and more.

On the A&E Front Porch Stage, enjoy a full-day, lively Zydeco Swamp Romp, showcasing Rosie Ledet, the “Zydeco Sweetheart”; Chris Ardoin and Nu Step Zydeco; Cedryl Ballou & the Zydeco Trendsetters; Diki Du and the Zydeco Krewe; and dance demonstrations with Roland and Janine Jemerson.

Sunday, July 6
Soulful songstress Phoebe Snow will headline an afternoon of Women in Blues. Don’t miss Texas soul and folk singer Ruthie Foster; multiple W. C. Handy Award-winning guitarist, songwriter and vocalist Rory Block; an old-time Gospel Hour with Linda Hornbuckle & Janice Scroggins; the all-star line-up of Northwest Women in Rhythm & Blues; The Soul of John Black; and a special Swinging to the Blues dance on the A&E Front Porch Stage, featuring San Francisco’s Lavay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet Lickers.

Later, the focus will shift to neo-soul with British soul crooner James Hunter, searing soul-blues guitarist Arthur Adams and a triumphant return of Portland’s blue-eyed soul man Curtis Salgado, celebrating the release of his new record.

Other highlights include an early afternoon of delta blues on the A&E Front Porch Stage, featuring North Mississippi bluesman Robert “Wolfman” Belfour and Portland’s Hillstomp, and an evening main stage set by Portland’s brass spectacle March Fourth Marching Band.

The festival will again offer its popular delta music experience Blues Cruises on the Willamette River. Tickets for all five blues cruises as well as four-day festival passes are available at www.waterfrontbluesfest.com via a new ticketing venue, created by Patrick Lamb.

But that’s not all. The festival also will offer a Louisiana Pavilion, workshops, interviews, after-hours blues jams, activities for kids and more.

Heavy Metal in Baghdad screens tonight at the Someday Lounge. It’s a documentary about Iraqi band Acrassicauda and their struggle to play heavy metal music in the clusterfuck that is Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. Check out Marjorie Skinner’s review here. The film is followed by a screening of a film about noise band Tunnel Canary from Vancouver, BC, whose long-awaited 2-LP debut is available from Rundownsun Records.

Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th, 8 pm, FREE

Matador Records’ newest playthings, Jaguar Love, consist of Johnny Whitney and Cody Votolato formerly of Blood Brothers, and J Clark of Pretty Girls Make Graves. It’s the Northwest version of Crosby, Stills & Nash! Except that instead of acoustic ballads about free love, they play frenzied shrieking indie rock songs about hurt feelings and trouble.

There were things I liked about both Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves, as well as a few things I didn’t like about either band. Fortunately, it seems those elements didn’t make it into the Jaguar Love mix, and I find their songs to be adventurous, catchy, listenable and unique. Dig it. There’s a tune down below, and if that whets your palate, go on over to their MySpace page to check out some more tunes. They’re all good.

MP3:
Jaguar Love - Bats Over the Pacific Ocean

And why am I telling you all this? Because! For those of you who ain’t throwin’ down for Kanye, Jaguar Love is playing this very night in Portland. Fans of Blood Brothers and Pretty Girls Make Graves will definitely want to check it out, and fans of neither may very well want to check it out too.

w/Nazca Lines; Hawthorne Theatre, 1507 SE 39th, 9 pm, $12, all ages

CASIOTONE FOR THE PAINFULLY ALONE, FOOT FOOT, CONCERN
(The Artistery, 4315 SE Division) At first glance, tourmates Casiotone for the Painfully Alone and Foot Foot might seem oddly matched; the former leans towards pop songwriting laced with programmed beats and moody synthesizer tones, while the latter seem descended from a long Californian line of offbeat rock bands tapping into a strong and sprawling country influence. What unites them is less sonic than presentational: the hushed intimacy heard in the delivery of both Casiotone’s Owen Ashworth and Foot Foot’s Robin Brown. While their preferred methods of musical execution may differ, the songs of each play out like quiet, minutely observed sketches of a series of disparate lives. TC

I believe every single word that leaves Owen Ashworth’s mouth, yet the camera lies. There is no way that is his car. I refuse to believe it.

MP3:
Casiotone for the Painfully Alone - Bobby Malone Moves Home

One of the original pillars of emo’s second wave—back before the genre wasn’t shameful or riddled with “suicide cults”—Chicago’s Joan of Arc have always been a tough act to pin down. It’s hard to ignore their bulletproof pedigree (namely the wildly influential Cap’n Jazz), and the fact that the lone true member of the band (the enigmatic Tim Kinsella) has a voice that will either draw you in, or send you running to the hills.

Most likely the second one.

But Joan of Arc’s memorable legacy is not solely based on the fact that Kinsella can’t sing worth a damn. The band was one of the first smalltime indie bands to utilize lush recording methods alongside a solid base of math-rock leanings (Minus the Bear thanks you for this), which worked perfectly alongside the approachable nature of Kinsella behind the mic. They were the know-it-all art-rock kids slumming it in the punk rock landscape, and because of this Kinsella’s wake is littered with as many enemies as it is friends.

Their earliest records (by my rough estimate, there are about 24 releases) showcased a more polite band that wasn’t a grand departure from the adorable Midwestern charm of their pals, and then labelmates, the Promise Ring.

MP3:
Joan of Arc - Post Coitus Rock
(from 1997’s A Portable Model Of. Buy it!)

And while the band hasn’t quite mellowed over the past decade-plus, their latest Boo Human possess a clarity not seen on their past few recordings. But things aren’t all that clear, since the song I am posting is called “A Tell-Tale Penis.” Um, yeah. Have fun shouting that request out at tonight’s show.

MP3:
Joan of Arc - A Tell-Tale Penis
(from 2008’s Boo Human. Buy it!)

Kinsella, never one to avoid controversary—he once named a record In Rape Fantasy and Terror Sex We Trust and has a new song titled “9/11 2”—has staked his reputation on being one of the most painfully honest, and often hilarious, figures in the indie music scene. His 2006 guest essay for Alternative Press is downright genius (you can read it here), as he makes a pretty compelling case for every single band in the magazine to break up for the greater good of our country.

So my point - I do have one - is that in our world, the most basic requirement we share is kept in balance only if it’s shaken in many directions at the same time. And what can any of us do to help rectify the situation? We must integrate our politics into our lifestyle, acknowledge that every bridge, hook, melody and sales strategy has political dimensions.

In short, I am asking that every band that appeared in the August 2006 issue of Alternative Press break up.

Sorry.

Joan of Arc perform tonight at Holocene. You can read our interview with Kinsella right here.

It’s not fair to say that the new album from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is going to be terrible just because this photo, right? Right?? What about a press release that mentions something called “kitten factor.” Ugh.

Full, bizarre, press release after the jump. Good luck with that.

COOKING IN THE KITCHEN

Yeah Yeah Yeahs have been hopscotching down the road less traveled- from a barn in the Northeast to a ranch in the Southwest on our journey for the next sound. Why go RURAL? We're not yet sure ourselves, but one thing the city don't have that the country got is SPACE and there has been plenty of spacing out in the studio as of late.

KITTEN FACTOR

Fuzzy soft muses aka kittens have played a major role in the writing process of YYYs current and past records. Show Your Bones was written in Sam Spiegel's home studio amidst the birth of a litter of kittens, little gold lions scrambling around. Amazingly therapeutic, nothing turns a frown upside down (there are many frowns in the record writing process) as a purring kitten in your lap. Alas our favorite kitten of all beloved SQUEAKER arrived just in time for record three! Abandoned by his mother, we've watched him grow before our very eyes from a blind and helpless little thing into a frisky and fierce little beauty- much like the tunes we're writing. Go figure.

Welcome back to Your Radio Sucks. Your host Ned Lannamann sadly picks up the pieces after DJ Drew* blew the show apart with last week’s episode. So much destruction! Oh, the humanity. So, give generously, and console yourself with songs by Jaguar Love (pictured), the Gang, the Accidental, Fabulous Diamonds, Shearwater, Oppenheimer, Stars Like Fleas, Centro-matic, and Harvey Milk. It’s moments like these that we need to pull together and stand strong for our fellow man. Listen here!

*and Intern to the Stars!

It’s hard to keep track of all the musical endeavors of former Mercury music editors; there’s Adam Gnade’s solo project, Julianne Shepherd’s funk-metal band (Funkopotamus Rex), and most importantly, there is Zac Pennington’s Parenthetical Girls.

In addition to no longer working for this glorified escort trade publication, the good news keeps coming for Pennington and company, as the Parenthetical Girls just signed a deal with hotshit German label Tomlab. Look for their new album, Entanglements, to be out on the 9th of September.

But not only that, but the band just released this great Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark cover (OMG! OMD!) for your downloading pleasure. The band (PG, not OMD) will be playing with Los Campesinos! tonight at the Doug Fir, as if we didn’t write about that show enough as it is.

MP3:
Parenthetical Girls - Joan of Arc (Maid of Orleans)

It happened again. I was half-asleep, bleary-eyed, shifting through the channels around 4AM last night and I saw another one of CMT’s brilliant travesties. This one featured some Boring, Bumbling, Barbie Blonde singing on the boardwalk. What made the video a possible Best of the Worst contender was the break-dancing. That’s right. There were a bunch of dudes — yes, some black — kicking their shit on the cardboard behind her. It’s insane. First time for everything, I guess. What’s next? Line-dancing in a Lil’ Wayne video?

Although the for-mentioned crossover is totally ridiculous, the poor execution of the rest of the video and the song’s un-funny and bland spin didn’t quite make the cut. Not even on a slow-news Monday would it be fair to show this video.

But I was reminded! I’ve been holding on to the mother of all fuck-ups, the king shit, bottom feeding toad, most unintentionally hilarious video of ALL TIMES. Finally, it’s time to crown this bastard, once and for all. Here it is, ladies and gentlemen, the Best of the Best of the Worst:

Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy

Faux sixties freakout style, country rapping, terrible sex innuendoes, midgets, Cowboy Troy, “my old stud Leroy,” and did I mention liberal freakout style ON CMT? Oh God, it’s just so precious. “Save a Horse” is proof that the best parodies can’t be written — they are are the ones which are somehow true. The only thing that could possibly make this better would be Carmen Electra sluttin’ up the joint, hard. And maybe a Dave Navarro shirtless pedal-steel solo… Man, that’d be the fucking trifecta right there —the very worst of country (new), rap (Cowboy Troy) and rock (shirtless Dave) . On the other hand, the thought that they’d be making more money in those three minutes than I do all year would sure cause my head to implode, sucking all of North East Portland in with it.

So please, behold, Big and Rich:

And if you like, there’s another video here if you’d like to learn the lyrics.

I don’t know a whole lot about Girls—both the gender and the San Francisco band of the same name. But since I can fill many a diary entry on the topic of girls (see everything I ever wrote from the age of 15-21), lets talk about Girls, the band, instead.

The above video for “Morning Light” is a glorious hiss of ’90s guitar rock (sans the nostalgic pandering) that brings to mind A Catholic Education-era of Teenage Fanclub (which, as I might have previously admitted on this site, is a band I own about 17 bootlegs of) with a bit of M83 thrown in the mix as well.

The band is not playing Portland anytime soon (jerks!), but is prepping a limited-edition (only 500 will be pressed) 7” entitled Lust for Life that you can pre-order here. Let’s hear it for bands that are impossible to search on Google!

Oh! My! Goodness! Los Campesinos! are in Portland tonight!

In honor of their appearance, I present you with a smattering of my favorite lyrics from these kids who really shouldn’t be able to write lyrics this well:

-“You said ‘send me stationary to make me horny’/so I always write you letters in multicolors/decorating envelopes for foreplay”
-“The trails on your skin spoke more to me than the reams and reams of half finished novels you’d leave lying all over the place/and every quotation that’d dribble from your mouth like a final, fatal livejournal entry”
-“The music was okay, but the fresh air was better/and I couldn’t tell if the singer’s keyboard was a crutch or a synthesizer/But it sounded like he’d broken a limb/each and every time he pushed a key down or in”
-“You said you looked less like the Venus de Milo/and more like your mother in a straight-jacket”
-“I’ll be Control-Alt-Deleting your face with no reservations”
-“I’m stitching up each one of your pockets/so when we are together maybe you’ll look a little less bored”
-“Not sure if you mind if I dance with you/but I don’t think right now that you care about anything at all/And oh, if only there were clothes on the floor/I’d feel for certain I was bedroom dancing”

Exclamation points for everyone!!!!!

Gosh, my vacation sure was great. In addition to all the previous adventures there was some family stuff (not important), amazing food (somewhat important), and a Posh Spice sighting (very important).

In my travels many a CD was purchased, but so far the best of the pile are the pair of Nigerian compilations—Nigeria Rock Special and Nigeria 70: Lagos Jump—that have soundtracked the trip. The Nigerian sound is a loose and classic style that balances the influence of Western rock alongside vivid local rhythms and a whole lot of homespun funk. These two compilations, which focus on music from the freewheeling 1970s, are just a few of many that chronicle this vibrant sound.

And, no, there is no such thing as Dear Sir or Madam: A Salute to the Nigerian Email Scam. But if there was, I’d totally send them my bank account information and social security number. I’m going to be rich!

MP3:
The Action 13 - More Bread To The People (from Nigeria Rock Special)