Download: End Hits, Portland Mercury

New Camera Obscura!

Courtney Ferguson — Thu, 16 May 2013 15:27:47 -0700

It's kinda like the ever-so-lovely Camera Obscura is giving me an early birthday present this year with the release of their new album, Desire Lines, on June 4. I don't think there's a more gorgeous-sounding band on this whole wide earth—Tracyanne Campbell's bruised peach voice just kills me. Then they go and drop their new song "Fifth in Line to the Throne" and I'm sorta feeling guilty... I didn't get them anything. The Glasgow quintet recorded their newest with Portland's Tucker Martine here in ol' Sogtown.

LISTEN: Camera Obscura, "Fifth in Line to the Crown"

From the press release, Campbell explaining a bit about "Fifth in Line to the Throne":

[It's] a song about someone in a seemingly perfect relationship but there is a dark underside to it. We wanted to sound menacing and give folk the creeps. I believe Princess Beatrice is fifth in line by the way.

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Unknown Mortal Orchestra Mix It Up On Modcast

Charlie Swanson — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 11:52:02 -0700

Over at Modular, Portland's Unknown Mortal Orchestra recently stopped in for a remix heavy Modcast session. The enigmatic musician took his mysterious sonic skewer to mostly hip hop acts like Bone Thugs N Harmony and Brandy, delivering what Modular best described as "Bobby Brown in a spacesuit." You can listen to the 26 minute mix below, or download it here, and blissfully space out the rest of the afternoon, then be sure to check out UMO's self-titled debut album, which dropped just a few weeks ago.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra - Modcast Mix

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Listen To Bill Callahan On Daytrotter

Charlie Swanson — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:30:03 -0700

Just in time for the rain, the uniquely somber Bill Callahan, one of the most striking voices and strangely melodic live performers I can think of, has finally found his way to the famed Daytrotter sessions. In lieu of his new album, the appropriately gloomy Apocalypse, the ever so serious troubadour stopped by the Daytrotter studio for an all-too-brief three song set, including one of my all time favorites, "River Guard," which you can also hear below. But try not get too down, these clouds can't hang around forever.

LISTEN:

Bill Callahan - "River Guard" (Live at Daytrotter)

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Point Juncture, WA Wants to Give You Some of Their Music For Free

Raquel Nasser — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:11:36 -0700

In the true gentle nature of the most excellent Point Juncture, WA—never before has a band insisted we share anything besides awkward pauses during an interview, while PJWA suggests... corn dogs!—they want to give you some free music. You like that sort of thing, right?

It's true; the band has taken advantage of Wantstogiveyou.com, a local site which hosts complimentary downloads of new/old/rare music from Portland bands, and on their page, you'll find .zip files of 2005's Mama Auto Boss and 2006's Juxtapony EP... for free!

Also, this is probably a good time to mention that their forthcoming album, Handsome Orders—due out nationally on May 17th—is absolutely chocked full of hits. You'd be generally silly not to pre-order it here, but especially after the band has been kind enough to bestow upon you these lovely gifts.

LISTEN:

Point Juncture, WA- "Duodecimo" from 2005's Mama Auto Boss

Point Juncture, WA- "Violin Case" from 2011's Handsome Orders

In Portland, you can join PJWA at The Woods on May 13th, to celebrate the release of Handsome Orders just a few days early.

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Woh! Download Free Music Through the Library

Courtney Ferguson — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 15:59:44 -0800

You've gotsta love the Multnomah County Library, where they do everything in their nerdy, lovely power to get you the books, DVDs, and music you want. Now in association with Freegal (which has some association with Sony's catalog) you can use your library card to get three free songs a week (156 a year). This is great news for scaredy cats like myself who go through guilt-laden hives sessions about "borrowing" music. I have a few gripes about the system (it's very difficult to search through their database), but with some new Adele, Beyonce, and a Cheap Trick Beatles cover in my hot lil' hands I'm not being too gripe-y.

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A Gift From Grand Hallway

Raquel Nasser — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 11:52:53 -0800

Today, we have been granted a whole album's worth of bedroom demos and covers, both released and unreleased, from Seattle's esteemed chamber pop outfit, Grand Hallway (who are another one of those bands that are difficult to find in a Google image search; though I did see a lot of nice chandeliers and marble work in the process).

It's only frontman Tomo Nakayama here on these recordings, and it's truly lovely to hear some familiar songs in their simplest form, before the elaborate and often dramatic workings of the whole band come into play. The extent of Nakayama's stunning songwriting abilities had not been so apparent to me until now.

Here's the demo for "Raindrops," which is on Grand Hallway's latest, Promenade. I like the alarm clock beforehand: no mistaking where this was recorded.

Grand Hallway- "Raindrops (demo)"

And as for the covers, well...

Grand Hallway- "Golden Girls"

To redeem your digital gift—an e-mail address wraps it—head to their Bandcamp site. And don't forget to say "thank you," ingrate.

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The Spits Are Gonna Scare The Children!

Travis Ritter — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:52:22 -0700

Seattle robo-punks The Spits are demented freaks. Who else would shave chunks of hair out of their heads before a show, throw firecrackers into the crowd, chew blood capsules for fun, or carelessly soak their gear in lighter fluid before striking a match? No one. The Spits are merciless. For a decade, they've wreaked havoc on show-goers. Now they're aiming their sights at scaring the world's children with their conceptual EP, Haunted Fang Castle.

Haunted Fang Castle is an audio/visual monsterpiece, complete with strange psychedelic synth-punk abstracts, and a narrated storyline that can be followed through the JJ Rudisill-illustrated read-along book which comes bundled with the physical 10" record (available in stores Nov. 23). In the meantime, you can download the whole damn thing HERE. Consider it an early Halloween treat. Watch the trailer below so you know what you're getting yourself into.

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Whoa, man: Arthur Magazine's New Compilation Blackout

Travis Ritter — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 08:00:14 -0700

We've been there: getting drunk on a handle of cheap whiskey or high on nature's candy, listening to music out in the woods with some friends. You're surrounded by the rustle of the trees, the crackle of the fire, and the snaps of twigs caused by some creature hunting prey. Just beyond where light turns to darkness, someone who drank too much whiskey (or just took too many drugs) is passed out on the ground, and will later wake up covered in spiders and other insects that have mistaken the human body for a log. Oh lord, have we been there. But wasn't it great?

Well, those heady, peaceniks over at Arthur Magazine think so, and have made an excellent new compilation, Blackout, featuring the likes of San Francisco's Moon Duo, Thrill Jockey psych barons White Hills, and Psychic Ills related-project Messages. Blackout will either touch your deepest spiritual core if listened to while meditating in the forest, or wrestle with your brain after eating few wild Psilocybin mushrooms. The eight-track compilation, compiled by Arthur editor Jay Babcock (a key instigator of New Weird America's progressive, cult-ish "under-the-counter" culture), is available to download for as little as $4.20. It's a small price to pay for some of today's most psychedelic, folky, experimentalists. Plus it helps a great magazine/webzine that continues to further and alter our ears and minds. (I would love to see you in print again, Arthur!)

DOWNLOAD Blackout HERE

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FREE TURD! Download Tic Tac Totally's Swallow This Turd Compilation

Travis Ritter — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 12:18:18 -0700

"Highly pretentious" Chicago-based garage label Tic Tac Totally is giving the world a, um, taste of the crap they've been putting out lately with a free download of Swallow This Turd, a 33-track compilation that includes some previously released cuts from the TTT roster, as well as some brand new exclusives. It includes everyone, from Ireland's So Cow (who play Mississippi Studios on October 7) and Portland's own Meercaz, to San Francisco's Charlie and the Moonhearts and the ever-so-adorable Dreamdate. All you have to do is enter your email address and voila, the compilation is yours. Best of all, "If you don't enjoy this free download, just ship it back and we'll refund the purchase price!" Those smart-asses.

Download Swallow This Turd HERE

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Free Music: We Have Band, Common Prayer

Brianne "the intern" Turner — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 14:47:56 -0700

You somehow made it through a rather discouraging Thursday night and are steadily ambling your way toward the weekend; for that you deserve a prize.
For those of you who dig dancing, We Have Band have released "Honeytrap" from their forthcoming album, WHB. The London-based trio combine poppy synths, drum machines and three-part vocal hooks to create a track full of electro-pop that encourages ass shaking.

"Honeytrap" is yours for the price of a right-click/save here:

LISTEN:

We Have Band - "Honeytrap" (DOWNLOAD)

WHB will be released May 11 on Naïve.

If chillin' is more your speed, New York's Common Prayer will be releasing their debut album, There Is A Mountain, through Neil Halstead's Big Potato Records on June 1st. Comprised of Jason Sebastian Russo and a constituency of musicians, Common Prayer integrate pianos, organ riffs and scrap metal sounds into their songs to create a folk-based, sometimes bizarre and cinematic collection of tracks.

"Us vs. Them" is also free for the taking.

LISTEN:

Common Prayer - "Us vs. Them" (DOWNLOAD)

There Is A Mountain will be available June 1 through the Common Prayer website.

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Free Music Friday: Olney Clark

Brianne "the intern" Turner — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:58:07 -0700

"Free Music Friday" is a working title because this isn't a gift that I will be able to bestow upon you each and every Friday. But since you have (almost) made it through the work week, and because tomorrow is Record Store Day, now seems like a good time to introduce you to Olney Clark via some free mp3s.

The Scotland/Texas duo released their self-titled debut album this week, and it creates the perfect soundtrack for taking a blithe and jovial drive through the countryside with the windows down, or for crying alone in the rain. What you do with Olney Clark's music is your choice.

Here is their video for "Tea and Thunderstorms," directed by Hanae Seida:

And here is your free music:

"Josefin the Writer"

(Right-click and save)

"Tea and Thunderstorms"

(Right-click and save)

Olney Clark's debut was released via Friendly Police UK. The rest of the album can be purchased through their official website.

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Hardly Art Gives You Good Music for Free

Ned Lannamann — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:40:34 -0800

Seattle-based label Hardly Art is a spinoff of Sub Pop, and they've amassed an impressive track record, including records by Le Loup, Talbot Tagora, and the spendid Dutchess and the Duke, who warmed the Doug Fir basement Sunday night with cozy, red wine-influenced jams. And now Hardly Art has put out a TOTALLY FREE 15-track sampler of some of their artists' best work. A promotional label sampler usually isn't anything to get excited about, but in this case it's that rare label sampler that's both cohesive and good, with just about every track being a standout. There's a few unreleased tracks, too, including a Dutchess and the Duke demo, an acoustic track from the Pica Beats, and this live track from Arthur and Yu from a live show in Seattle, in which their labelmates the Moondoggies (also on the sampler) served as their backing band.

LISTEN:

Arthur & Yu with the Moondoggies - "Magic Mtn" (live at the Triple Door)

Get the 15 free songs from Amazon here, or you can go here and get it too.

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Viva Voce Makes You a Summer Mixtape

Ned Lannamann — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 15:35:50 -0700

Kevin Robinson of Viva Voce got hot last week. Very hot. It was 107 degrees in Viva Voce's home studio. So to beat the heat, he put together a mixtape for us!

From the VV blog:

You may/may not dig all these songs, it’s just what I’ve been into lately. Some artists you may have heard of, some hopefully not. And if you are one of those artists and want to sue me for putting your songs on a mixtape….go for it! My tunes are all over the torrent/blog download purgatory, so you're preaching to the choir.

Most of these songs are by artists that are long gone/out of print/never saw the light of day, so hopefully I’m just proliferating some good tunes. It’s worth downloading for The Moles track alone.

In addition to having excellent taste in obscure music, Kevin plays the role of DJ to the hilt, complete with radio spots in between songs. It features choice psychedelic tunes by the likes of the Beau Brummels, Sperrmull, early T. Rex, and more. Download it here.

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