Black Mountain - In The Future

A while back former philistine Nick "the hair" Johnson tipped me towards Canadian apocolyptic rockers Black Mountain--suggesting that they'd appeal to the soft spot of my "jammier" side. Well, it took me forever to finally get around to giving their early 2008 record In The Future a proper listen, but Nick was more than right: this record is awesome.

The band's musical stylings are steeped in canonical prog, metal, and psych influences, incoporating the dark, netherworldy guitar riffs of Black Sabbath, the mysticism and nods to English folk of Zeppelin, and a Pink Floyd-sized ambition for extended, shapeshifting songs that evoke the dramatic weight and movement of an epic poem. Yet somehow they pull it all off, holding things together with inventive, solid songwriting. Two of my favorite tracks are up for listening below. However, if you've got the stomach for it, go check out the whole record. Two songs alone are a poor stand-in for the full attack of the album.

HILOTRONS - Happymatic

My last post ended with a musing on forgotten records, a nod to the unknown classics by bands that nobody's heard of because for whatever fill-in-the-blank reason they never got their aural due. Hence, it's with a bit of hope that time and musical justice will prove otherwise for HILOTRONS and Happymatic, a fucking awesome band and what I think is no question one of the best and most overlooked records of the year.

The second half of that last sentence may seem a little grandiose, but I don't think so. Just give these pop-geniuses a good listen, and then compare it to their media coverage. For instance, try searching the band name on Pitchfork (the veritable big brother of the independent music world) and nothing comes up. Which is a real shame, as the HILOTRONS have got it going on with their catchy, sinuous pop that's as danceable and fun as it is smart and well-crafted. Also, they hail from Ottawa, Canada--which has gotta count for something, right?

There's alot happening within the band's deft interplay of pipeline guitars, punchy rhythms, and touches of synth; stuff that rewards repeat listens. For the sake of posterity go check them out.

A few songs are posted below and/or you can stream the full album: here

Rodriguez - Cold Fact

I love buying vinyl, only it can get pretty expensive, and unlike it's digital counterpart there's more of an all-or-nothing threshold to cross: Should I fork out almost twenty bucks for this whole album, or would it be more prudent to just buy or pirate the mp3s? Usually, I won't buy a record unless it's one I know front to back and never really tire of. But what's musical discovery without a little risk? Insular and no fun---so sometimes exceptions have to be made.

A great example of one of these whims paying off is the Rodriguez's Cold Fact LP I blindly purchased last Sunday. Originally released to meager success in 1973, this overlooked and largely forgotten gem of soulful, sometimes psychedelic, singer/songwriter tunes was just re-issued by Light In The Attic. Rodriguez's voice is magnetic in the same way that Dylan's or Albert Bell's is, and his gritty, poetic songs about the everyday struggles of Detroit street life are just as appealing with their timeless feel. Check out "Inner City Blues" below.

The fact that this record somehow managed to remain neglected for so long makes me wonder about what other potential classics are out there gathering dust in dereliction.

Pretty & Nice - Get Young

Hardly Art has only been around for a year and a half, but the folks over there sure are wise beyond their talent-scouting age: proving once more with their latest release that the lable just can't miss. The record I'm cryptically raving about? Get Young, from Boston dude-trio Pretty & Nice. Part urgent falsetto-pop, part brash post-punk--all jams--these guys pack a ton of jerky, hairpin-ing melodies into an infectious, breakneck sound that their one-sheet aptly describes as "sharp-toothed, heavily-armed, snappish pop." Think Of Montreal with less disco and more garage.

The Pretty & Nice website currently features a link where you can stream the full record (do this!), and you can listen to (and download) the track "Tora Tora Tora" below.



click here to download

Return of the B-Boy Mixtape

Between digging through some of my old CD wallets and bumping Strictly Business (1988) at work, the past week was a reminder of just how deep (and I mean, DEEP) into Hip-Hop I was throughout the glory days of junior high and early high school. Rediscovering classics like Mobb Deep's The Infamous (1995), or Mecca and the Soul Brother (1992), records I once memorized from front to back, has taken me on nostalgic joy rides and inspired a renewed appreciation for the music.

  

All of this Hip Hop reminiscing meant I had to throw together a quick mixtape of some of my favorite cuts: 16 tracks that together do a pretty good job of non-chronologically spanning the gamut of Hip Hop's trajectory, from classic old school to some of the genre's more contemporary directions.  You gotta turn the volume up on this one.

Tracklisting:

1. EPMD - Let The Funk Flow, from Strictly Business (1988)

2. Madvillain - Money Folder (Four Tet remix), from Remixes (2006)

3. Ugly Duckling - I Did It Like This, from Journey To Anywhere (2000)

4. A Tribe Called Quest - Vibes and Stuff, from The Low End Theory (1991)

5. Gang Starr - You Know My Steez, from Moment of Truth (1998)

6. Pete Rock - Hip 2 Hip, from Soul Survivor II Sessions (2005)

7. Mos Def - Hip Hop, from Black On Both Sides (1999)

8. People Under The Stairs - The Breakdown, from Question in the Form of an Answer (2000)

9. Common - The People, from Finding Forever (2007)

10. Digable Planets - Black Ego, from Blowout Comb (1994)

11. Handsome Boy Modeling School - The Projects (P Jays), from So . . . How's Your Girl? (1999)

12. Blackalicious - My Pad and My Pen, from The Craft (2005)

13. Atmosphere - Modern Man's Hustle, from God Loves Ugly (2002)

14. Flying Lotus - 1983, from 1983 (2006)

15. Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - I Get Physical, from The Main Ingredient (1994)

16. The Nonce - Mix Tapes, from World Ultimate (1995)

Click here to download the entire mixtape in a single folder.

Death to Blogging, A Renewal, and Some Sort of Manifesto

As you surely have apprehended by now, this experiment in music-and-other-"things"-blogging has slowed to a molasses-drip of output that is, at best, pretty pathetic, and at worst, begging the question of what's the point. Nick's hiatus (read: his sugarcoated resignation) and my own dearth of posts both point to a logical conclusion: that hella philistine as it currently stands must die (if it hasn't already, which it pretty much has).  It's been fun, it's been real.  Thanks for the memories.

Which I can't say I'm sad about.  There's been some sense of relief in not worrying about trying to post something just to post something this past month.  I mean, this stuff takes a surprising amount of work.  And keeping up with the increasingly tabloid-like nature of music news and culture is exhausting, self-consuming, and, as I've been starting to find lately--an unnecessary drag.  In all of this, for me, the raw joy I get from music has somehow gotten lost, gone fishing, A.W.O.L.

I'm still gonna keep this blog going, but on some different terms.  The original blueprints have been redrawn, thrown out, incinerated, along with all the bull.  What's left will be non-comprehensive and out of step with the scene; the music shared because I have fun doing it and hope you find something you dig.  

There's so much great music going on out there, and the internet is a phenomenal vehicle for its spread.  But all too often the racing machinery of the blogosphere and its byproducts of hype and status lose sight of a basic truth: Music is not meant to be exclusive. 

So, here we go again,

Truitt

  

The End Of An Era?

I forgot to post a few days ago after first reading this Seattle Times article.  Apparently the artist/label royalty fee for broadcasting a song over satellite radio is considerably higher than it is for conventional AM/FM radio, and even higher for playing a song over the web.  This fee was just recently increased, much to the griping of web radio sites (which are businesses) like Pandora.  

Things wouldn't be so bad, except that where satellite radio and conventional radio stations only broadcast one song at any given time, Pandora's "personalized radio" stations collectively play untold thousands of songs at any given time.  Multiply that number of songs by that incremental fee increase and you can see that the total impact on these sites' ability to make a profit is critically large.

According to the article, Pandora has yet to post year-end marks out of the red, and before the fee hike, 2009 was projected to be the site's first profitable year.  Now they may have to preemptively pull their own plug.  

Pandora is one of the most successful of the free web radio sites out there, and if they can't withstand such a blow, it seems even more unlikely that less popular, similar sites such as Imeem, LastFM, and others, will be able to do so either.

What a colossal tragedy of copyright laws and greed.  I hope this isn't the end of a great invention for discovering and sharing music.

Obamanomics, explained

Yesterday's NY Times Sunday magazine featured an article on Barack Obama's core economic philosophies entitled "A Free-Market-Loving, Big-Spending, Fiscally-Conservative Wealth Redistributionalist."  Written by a economist dude named David Lednhart, this is far and away one of the best pieces of journalism I've read in a long while.  Not only does Lednhart make clear the nuances and complexities of Obama's economic beliefs as distinct from the over-generalized mantras of tax trigger-happy "liberals," he presents them in a way that's highly-intelligent without ever presuming a requisite intimacy with economic and political theory.  

It's a pretty long article, but well-worth the time--particularly in how what lies within may surprise you.  Yet having read it I'm more convinced than ever of Obama's post-partisan abilities.  

Happy reading,

Truitt

Panda Riot Covering MIA

M.I.A.'s  2007 banger "Paper Planes" may have been a little played out even before Pineapple Express co-opted it's hard-hitting bounce, but there's a version by Chicago band Panda Riot floating around that gives a different and rewarding fuzzed-out take on the song.  Not bad, right?

Whatever Gets You Thru The Night

just a little fly by....



whatever gets you thru the night,
johnson!

This Summer's Car- Bike War, or "My Hurry Is More Important Than Your Hurry"

Recent articles from the NY Times, from the Seattle Times, from the Oregonian, and from Newsweek commonly touch on a issue that's become extremely topical in the wake of the "going green" trend and this summer's cycling-favorable weather.  

With more people converting to bikes as a means of alternative and cheaper transportation (especially in Portland, where a nation-leading 6 percent of the population relies on two-wheels), there's also been an increase in the number of (often-violent) confrontations between cyclists and motorists competing for their share of the road.  Here's a video capturing of one of the recent incidents in Portland.

The three articles linked above cover the issue in ample detail, but what's most significant in this debate is that as long as gas prices keep soaring and "going green" options become more viable, the number of people trading in their keys for some handlebars will only continue to rise, further legitimizing the need for more bike-friendly roads and policies.  Obviously, cars will remain the dominant majority for a long time to come, but it will interesting to witness how cities, states, and perhaps even the federal government respond to and accommodate the biking movement.  

Chalk this one up as another case of acting for change versus practicality.  Maybe Barack knows what to do?  

Until then, see you out there on my 1984 Nishsiki.

A Couple Of Things

The absence of Nick's usual daily barrage is leaving this site pretty, well, worthless, so I'm trying to pick up my long-overdue-slack and actually post something.  Also, those Morgan Freeman voiceover commercials have inspired me to add some new features.  With that said, here we go:

First things first.  In addition to the PDX July Podcast, a bunch more songs are up for streaming on the Gold Soundz player.  We're talking T.I., the Duchess and the Duke, Grizzly Bear, Starfucker, and more--all definitely worth checking out.  There's a new podcast for August on the way, too.

I've also set-up a trial run for a new component of the blog, for now called "On Deck, Out Soon." Here you'll find a brief list of some up-and-coming album releases we're looking forward too.  Not that our tastes will always match yours; they shouldn't.  And just because it's new sure doesn't mean its gonna be good.  The idea is that it's impossibly hard to keep up with all the great music constantly coming out these days, so a feature where you can see some of what's on the horizon in one, localized, spot might be of interest.  

More posts on the way.  No joke.

Hiatus

I am going on hiatus for the month of August.

For a good time
Keep your eyes on these sites
worlds greatest ghosts
shaky hands
starfucker
musicfestnw
portland timbers
wilco

FOREST PARK,
johnson!

July PDX Podcast

We just posted a short podcast titled "PDX July Podcast" of music by Portland artists all of which was released or recorded in 2008.  You can find the podcast in the Gold Soundz player top right.

Track One
The Rainy States
"With Fever"
In Basement Air
2:49

Track Two
Worlds Greatest Ghosts
"Mazes & Monsters"
Exercising Demons
3:04

Track Three
Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks
"Just Out of Reaches"
Real Emotional Trash
4:51

Track Four
The Old Believers
"Betcher Ass"
Eight Golden Greights
3:45

Track Five
Nick Jaina
"One Hand Washing the Other"
Daytrotter Session (off of Seven Stations)
3:48

Track Six
Blitzen Trapper
"Big Black Bird"
EP3
2:48

Track Seven
The Shaky Hands
"Wake the Breathing Light"
Lunglight
4:57

Track Eight
Mattress
"Bring It Round"
Heavy Duty
3:13

Laura Gibson - The Penny Jam

Some might argue that filming artists in non-music venues like stores or in alleyways has already been done (Black Cab Sessions, Takeaway Shows, etc...) and any new versions are just unnecessary imitations. What makes the local versions in Portland interesting is that they are familiar artists in familiar places. Secondly, performances for This is Lost Gospel are free and anyone can attend them if they wish. While The Penny Jam does not include audiences they have recruited an impressive array of artists to film. This film is footage of Laura Gibson performing at OMSI.


Laura Gibson at OMSI from The Penny Jam on Vimeo.

Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson on Daytrotter

Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Miles Benjamin Anthony Robinson is the latest artist to pass through Daytrotter studios, where he and his bandmates recorded four unreleased songs, including a worthy Dylan cover.

You can listen and freely download all four tracks over here.

Enjoy the PDX Pop Now and Block Party Weekends, everybody.

Black Kids - Partie Traumatic

After giving Black Kids 2007 EP release an 8.4/10 Pitchforkmedia has chosen to defend their 3.3/10 rating of their recent full length release Partie Traumatic with this photograph above. I haven't listed to Black Kids enough to argue one way or the other based on the music but this is ridiculous. The caption on the homepage doesn't even warn the reader of the ensuing madness:

"After a well-received EP, Jacksonville's Black Kids release a Bernard Butler-produced debut that surprisingly hit the top 5 in the UK."

When one is this eager to generate buzz about new bands one should take the time to think about what they're doing. Do we think this really is Best New Music? Should we even bother doing this? What happens if we don't like their music in six months after we've generated all of this buzz about them?

Most importantly, they're just a bunch of "kids" playing music. They probably appreciated the praise, but they most likely didn't ask for it. It's kind of sick to think about people doing something like this. The picture isn't even that funny. When Pitchfork slammed Weezer or Nine Inch Nails they at least explained why. You think that it would be important to explain why you liked the ep of a band you generated a bunch of buzz about so much and why you're now so critical of the album. This could also be a big joke. ("Haha! JK! We don't take ourselves too seriously. It's just music! Now for the real review")

They've also asked all writers to lower their ratings because they've been "too high" recently.

Integrity,
johnson!

The PB&J Campaign

Speaks for itself:

"How does this work? It's actually not ONLY about the PB&J. Any plant-based meal you eat instead of something based on meat, fish, eggs, or dairy products can have a big impact.

Find out more about how this works.

How much can you accomplish?

You might not end global warming in one lunch break, but each time you choose the plant-based meal you make a difference, just like taking out the recycling or taking public transportation to work instead of driving.
Ready to take the PB&J Pledge?"

More information about the PB&J Campaign.

Was, Is, Be...PDX

Here are some interesting things that are worth checking out.

On Saturday, Starfucker played a free show in an alleyway as part of a series of performances put on by This is Lost Gospel. Some other previous shows included local bands White Fang, Almost Nearly, and Glass Teeth. Stay tuned for some more shows featuring Southern Belle, Glass Candy, and yet-to-be-announced surprise guests. Check out the site for videos and photographs of the performances.

Tonight, Jack Lewis & The Woodgrain will be playing live on my radio show "The Half & Half Hour" at kpsu.org at 9:00. And at 10:00 another band, Patterns, will be playing on "Arya Imig's Sound Judgement."

Tuesday Night at the Dekum Manor will feature some other great local bands: The Shaky Hands, Here Comes a Big Black Cloud, Worlds Greatest Ghosts, and the Vonneguts. Should be crazy.

Thursday, head on over to the Hotel Deluxe for the first Top Down Film Festival Series show. The even will include a performance by Love Menu followed by a showing of the movie Big Time on top of the parking garage.

And........

Friday-Sunday = PDX Pop Now. Local Cut has a great compilation of songs by bands that will be performing at the festival.

happy summertime,
johnson!

TV on the Radio - Dear Science.

TV on the Radio will be releasing the follow up to their 2006 release, Return to Cookie Mountain, on September 23rd. It's title is Dear Science,. You can see them performing these new tracks at a few venues coming up including a stop at Portland's Roseland Theater for this year's Musicfest NW on September 5th.