Rusty Willoughby shares a mixtape with Magnet!

"You can undoubtedly make a lot of musician friends when you play in a successful rock band. Luckily for Seattle-based artist Rusty Willoughby, he’s been in three. So for his most recent album, Cobirds Unite (out now on Local 638 Records), he teamed up with Rachel Flotard (Visqueen), Barret Martin (Screaming Trees), Barb Hunter (Afghan Whigs), Maggie Bjorklund (Mark Lanegan) and Johnny Sangster (Mudhoney), who add vocals and prowess on instruments such as vibraphone, violin, cello, banjo and pedal steel. The result is gorgeous folk rock with the perfect amount of country tinge, featuring tight duet vocals between Willoughby and Flotard. Get inside Willoughby’s head with this mix tape he made for MAGNET." Head over to Magnet to scope the jams!

Solvents featured as KEXP's Song Of The Day

"We Were Guests Here" is the Song of the Day today over at KEXP:

"Listening to Forgive Yr. Blood, the latest album from Port Townsend-based Solvents, is a folk-punk indie rock joy all the way through. The melancholic, urgently melodic vocals get into your memory and leave elegant lived-in ruminations alongside sharply funny lyrical observations about working class love, life, failure, and desire. This is indie-based pop, but not chilly or arch, more like a warm blanket given by an old friend as you sit down by the space heater in his basement to chatter over old times and flames with a little bourbon. The fact this is music is created by an engaged couple who played together in a traditional Irish folk band, with a friend on drums, in an area known as a laid back, inspired artists community is not surprising.

The middle of the eight song CD is the tour-inspired confessions of “We Were Guests Here,” on which singer-songwriter Jarrod Paul Bramson (also guitar, bass, piano, some drums, etc.) captures that smoking-behind-the-club-after-an-exhausting-set, before-hitting-getting-in-the-van-again mood perfectly. We also asked Bramson about his unique relationship to band-members Emily Madden (violin, vocals) and percussionist Sasha Landis." Head on over to KEXP to download the song and read a wonderful interview with Solvents' frontman, Jarrod Bramson!

Laura Stevenson & the Cans check in from the studio...

New album on Don Giovanni in April of 2011!

Peter Holmstrom on Learning Curve shows us how he manipulates his effects pedals!

Wonderful Billygoat interview!

How did you guys meet? What inspired you to work together?

We (David and Nick) met at the Echo nightclub in Los Angeles. We started recording lo-fi 4-track experiments in David’s living room. Putting paper and foil in the upright piano, painting our faces, hitting out of tune guitars, (really coming up with some bizzarre sounds). Now almost five years later, we really have a more structured formula. I think what inspired us (David and Nick) to work together was that our approach and interest in music is very opposite which results in a broader sound. (Think Courtney Love and Kate Bush in a celebrity death-match). Corey, our drummer, is great to work with not only because of his musical abilities but also the fact that he’s a solid and humble guy in general.

Read the rest over at Cinedork!

Catch The Lights in a short documentary about them over at $5 Cover!

You can also see them in two shredding performances in $5 Cover!

Sea Of Bees named to NPR's Robin Hilton's Top 10 of 2010, sign with the Windish Agency

Well, Jules from Sea Of Bees just put the cherry on the sunday that has been 2010! Her debut album, Songs For The Ravens from Crossbill Records, won the hearts of many. She signed on with Heavenly in Europe, toured around the US and the UK and wound up #8 of the top ten records of the year from NPR's Robin Hilton. Then, to top that all off, she's gone and signed with the Windish Agency for US tours. We couldn't be more proud!

Hot Panda... dang!

Hot Panda had every last person in the house shakin' their booty last night in Portland. California, they're headed your way! "Mindlessnesslessness"

Laura Stevenson & the Cans check in on their recording sessions

Solvents have a brand new video for "we were guests here"

Chris Estey gives "Cobirds Unite" a stellar review!

"But you don't need any deep knowledge of his pedigree to pine for Cobirds Unite. Itsounds like something he's been patiently planning his whole life for, is as timeless as Sweethearts of the Rodeo, and it's all happening right now. There's no reason not to start here, with these dozen gems." Read the rest over at Three Imaginary Girls!

Magnet premiers the second single from Hot Panda's new album!

"Synth-rock quartet Hot Panda recorded its sophomore album, How Come I’m Dead (Mint), in a whirlwind one-week session at JC/DC Studio in Vancouver with the help of New Pornographer John Collins. The first single, “Mindlessnesslessness,” captures this urgency with spiraling keyboards and an ever-persistent drum beat. An unanticipated downtempo finish adds a touch of sweetness to this otherwise fantastically manic track. Download “Mindlessnesslessness” below, and if you are feeling creative, make your own remix here. And as a bonus, MAGNET is proud to premiere album track “Masculinity,” which you can also download below." Click on over to Magnet and download "Masculinity"

Happy Thanksgiving!

Riot Act will be shutting down for the holiday this afternoon... we'll catch up with you bright and early on Monday morning. Until then, please download this 29 song sampler of all the amazing acts we've worked with this year! 29 great songs, free! That's something to make you thankful, right?

Riot Act's Favorite Jams of 2010!!!

Wow & Flutter share "The Puget Sound" off of their new album, Equilibrio!

Lead track, "The Puget Sound", kicks off Wow & Flutter's new album with the proper amount of weirdness, distortion and groove and you should download and share it with your readership!

What the press has to say about Wow & Flutter:
"I think it’s safe to say that fans of Sonic Youth, The Pixies and The Minutemen will find plenty to like in the WAF’s ADD-inspired post-punk." My Old Kentucky Blog

"This Portland band’s latest album is another first-rate set of dark, tension-filled post-punk that combines the arty atmospherics of Sonic Youth with a more scuzzy, visceral rock attack on a variety of memorable songs with strong, distinctive hooks." KEXP

"Equilibrio!—the band's latest, and first on Seattle imprint Mt. Fuji—is easily their best work." Portland Mercury

"Truly a band that's inspiring and wants to make life more enjoyable!" Mixtape Muse

"These guys remind me of recent sounds from Washington DC; their herky-jerky, structurally complex, but still quite melodic music isn't exactly like Black Eyes, Smart Went Crazy, or the Dismemberment Plan, but it would surprise me if fans of those bands didn't enjoy Wow And Flutter as well." RVA Magazine

"There are a few moments here that rival just about any indie-rock record released this year: “Scars” sounds like a lost single from Sonic Youth’s late period (it would fit perfectly at the beginning of Rather Ripped), and “Union Pacific” skirts by with clattering rhythms and some nifty fretwork. “Ivan the Terrible” stomps with an evil sneer that’s new for the band, and closer “The Day Before the World Explodes” uses all of its six minutes to build to an epic, fuzzed-out and hopeful finale." Willamette Week

Hot Panda interviewed in Verbicide Magazine!

"How Come I’m Dead? is manic, full of frenzied guitars, cute melodies, gentle asides that calm things down nicely (piano downpours and gales of horns), and, for the most part, songs that inspire some form of movement or air punching: an undercurrent of anxiety swells with each track, as if menace and danger are just around the corner, stretching their limbs, lying in wait." Read the full feature interview over at Verbicide!

Sea Of Bees featured as Q Magazine's Track of the Day!

"Self-described as freak-folk, the Scaramento native mixes woozy vocals with guitar, that in the case of The Woodspossesses a sound, on-the-surface not too dissimilar to Joanna Newsom with raised-pitch, skewing vocals adding a naive or slightly child-like quality. On other tracks, like Marmaladefrom her forthcoming debut record Song For The Ravens, backed with fuzzed guitar, a hint of feedback, more densely layered vocals and drums the musical backing sounds more akin to what you might expect from a heavier/scuzzier Laura Marling say, or a more folk-Breeders - depending on what direction you're coming at this from musically." Read the rest and hear the track at Q!

"Bird on a Wire" - Hurtbird's Mic Checks and Balanc

"In junior high I was introduced to rap through a hidden box of tapes I found buried at the bus stop," he explains. "By my seventh grade year I was verbally escaping my shy self by recording raps on my boombox while mentally escaping by listening to bands like Pink Floyd. I guess that could be why mixing rock elements and hiphop never felt strange to me. It just seemed right." Read the rest of the Hurtbird interview over at the Portland Mercury

RCRD LBL offers up Shellshag's "1984" off of Rumors In Disguise!

Such a great band, such a rad song... RCRD LBL agrees:

"Do you see that picture? That's called love, people—sort of like my feelings for Shellshag minus a wedding ring or two. San Francisco transplants now living in Brooklyn, Johnny Shell and Jen Shag have long been members of the bicoastal DIY scene. "1984" seems to capture this quality of experience with a girl groups gone grunge feel that is sweet without losing its edge. An hour later, when you find yourself humming "ba ba da," you'll realize how disarmingly catchy the track manages to be. The duo is right at home on New Jersey label Don Giovanni, and their live act is just as refreshing as the rest of the material on Rumors in Disguise. In other words, get thee to a show!" Click to nab the single.

Rusty Willoughby's Cobirds Unite gets a wonderful write up over at Last.FM!

"Rusty’s latest, Cobirds Unite, is pretty outstanding. It’s a haunting, largely acoustic, collection of addictively melodic, harmony laden, comtempo-folk crack." Click through to read the rest!

The Switchboard Sessions offers up two newly recorded lo-fi songs from Laura Stevenson and the Cans!

There's a wonderful interview up at Switchboard Sessions with Laura Stevenson and the Cans and, bonus, two newly recorded tracks to preview while we all patiently wait for them to finish recording their sophomore album for Don Giovanni Records! Click to read the interview.

New vinyl!! Shapers and Black Whales 7" out today!

Preview the A Side of two great vinyl releases.

SHAPERS on Whistler Records - "Virgina Reel"

Black Whales on New Canada Records - "Rattle Your Bones"

Rusty Willoughby's Cobirds Unite out today!

Early Raves for Cobirds Unite:
"Rusty Willoughby offers up a dozen superbly written, subtle-emotive lonely journeys on his new album Cobirds Unite. It is probably the best sounding roots-oriented album I have heard in some time, and that means a lot when you have a voice as sweet and true as Willoughby's, backing vocals from Rachel Flotard, cello from Barb Antonio, a bunch of great picking and playing on various instruments by (producer) Johnny Sangster, and Tilman Herb on violin, among others." No Depression

"A haunting hush settles foglike over Cobirds’s beautiful folk-pop with minor canyon rock and alt.country leanings—aided by Martin’s vibraphone, Antonio’s cello, Sutherland’s dobro, Flotard’s dulcet duet vocals, and violin, banjo, and pedal steel. And songs such as the title track and chilling “Where are the Knives” are so gently soothing, you’ll almost miss their brooding base. Covers of “Do Right Woman” and “Streets of Baltimore” (both a la Flying Burrito Brothers versions) complete the scene." Big Takeover

"Everything about Rusty Willoughby’s Cobirds Unite is perfection, from the production to the talented backing musicians to Willoughby himself. This album can easily stand up to any bigger releases of 2010 and knock them on their asses and, frankly, it should be that way. Beautiful record Rusty, just beautiful." Innocent Words

"So yes. Cobirds Unite. Wistful. Country-tinged. Two warm, star-speckled voices playing up against each other, and hamonising. Some delightful Hammond organ. Haunting. Heavenly. Hiccoughing. Heroic, in a mild way. Makes me miss the bars and fast friendships and rancour of the Pacific Northwest something rotten." Everett True

"Cobirds Unite is a beautifully lush record with Willoughby’s acoustic rounded out by slide guitar, organs, violin, banjo and most importantly Flotard’s voice which nearly trades line for line and is a great match. The songs themselves range from a quiet Elliot Smith-ish “Seventeen Express”, the country sounds of the title track and the rock of “Find A Way Home” which does a good job of borrowing the riff from “Suffragette City”. Cobirds Unite is a solid release from front to back which hopefully will gain Rusty Willoughby the recognition he deserves." Reviler

Rusty Willoughby shares a track from his recent live session at KEXP!

Rusty Willoughby's album of duets with Rachel Flotard (Visqueen) hits stores next Tuesday and to celebrate, they're sending out a live version of the title track they recently performed in-studio at Seattle's KEXP. Download and share "Cobirds Unite" Live at KEXP!

Hurtbird on tour all over the Pacific Northwest!

SHAPERS share the new video for "Happy Birthday Polywog"

SHAPERS TOUR DATES:
11.09.10 - Ann Arbor, MI @ the Blind Pig
11.10.10 - Toledo, OH @ Mickey Finn's
11.11.10 - Philadelphia, PA @ Mill Creek Tavern
11.12.10 - Brooklyn, NY @ the Rock Shop
11.13.10 - Manhattan, NY @ Piano's
11.15.10 - Chicago, IL @ the Empty Bottle

Everett True on Cobirds Unite!

"So yes. Cobirds Unite. Wistful. Country-tinged. Two warm, star-speckled voices playing up against each other, and hamonising. Some delightful Hammond organ. Haunting. Heavenly. Hiccoughing. Heroic, in a mild way. Makes me miss the bars and fast friendships and rancour of the Pacific Northwest something rotten. Music for suburban romantics and homeless dreamers, music for folk who never fell out of love with music in the first place." Everett True

Black Whales "Rattle Your Bones" to be KEXP's Song of the Day tomorrow!

Please be sure to sign up for KEXP's Song Of The Day Podcast today and the brand new single from Black Whales will be sitting nicely in your iTunes tomorrow!

Seattle! Don't miss Cobirds Unite at Reykjavik Calling tomorrow night...

After impressive sets at CMJ and Pop Montreal, Hot Panda are happy to announce a West Coast tour in December!

Tour Dates:
12.03.10 - Vancouver, BC @ Biltmore Cabaret
12.04.10 - Victoria, BC @ Logan's Pub
12.05.10 - Seattle, WA @ Comet Tavern
12.06.10 - Olympia, WA @ Le Voyeur
12.07.10 - Portland, OR @ the Woods
12.08.10 - San Francisco, CA @ the Hemlock
12.09.10 - Los Angeles, CA @ the Echo
12.11.10 - San Diego, CA @ Soda Bar
12.15.10 - Lethbridge, AB @ the Slice
12.16.10 - Calgary, AB @ the Marquee
12.17.10 - Edmonton, AB @ the Pawn Shop

What folks are saying:
"Edmonton, Canada's Hot Panda recorded its new album, How Come I’m Dead?, during the Winter 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. The chaos of the time is reflected in the music, as Hot Panda weaves an anarchic medley of sounds and styles into its sophomore album." CMJ

"The album may be call How Come I'm Dead?, but Hot Panda aren't lifeless, not even close!" Exclaim

"They sound like the kind of band you’d like to have in your backyard, tearing it up while you bite into the most delicious pancakes you’ve ever tasted. They sound like the start of a weird, sunny day. Get into it." 'Sup Magazine

"More impressively, Hot Panda naturally flow in and out of all styles of high-intensity rock without overreaching. “Evil Nature” moves from blasts of noisy shredding to blissful pop without skipping a beat. “Pools” is a giddy shot of swaggering bravado. “Mindlessnesslessness” is spastic electro-pop in the vein of Brainiac. This is rock music with an abundance of attitude to match the plentiful hooks, the sort of thing we used to expect from guitar-driven bands as a requisite." Stereo Subversion

The AV Club shares the new SHAPERS single, "Virginia Reel" and the band preps for tour!

Check out the AV Club's interview with SHAPERS discussing their new single and download the a side for free! Hot on the heels of their debut album, Little, Big, the band has their next release cued up from Whistler Records. The single, Virginia Reel is out November 16th!

Tour Dates:
11.09.10 - Ann Arbor, MI @ the Blind Pig
11.10.10 - Toledo, OH @ Mickey Finn's
11.11.10 - Philadelphia, PA @ Mill Creek Tavern
11.12.10 - Brooklyn, NY @ the Rock Shop
11.13.10 - Manhattan, NY @ Piano's
11.15.10 - Chicago, IL @ the Empty Bottle

Mother Jones' new article on Basia Bulat!

"Heart of My Own centers in on an individual's relationship to place. The title track, Bulat says, reflects her need for consistency amid transience. "I was really looking for something steady," she says. "I was really insistent to my brother [her drummer]: just the kick drum, just the beat, only play the kick drum." But the touring seems to have paid off. At San Francisco's Hardly Strictly Bluegrass fest, she wooed the crowd with a Polish song about zoo animals, enchanted them with her soulful voice and her rotation of adorable, oddball instruments, and left the stage to a standing ovation." Maddie Oatman

Read the rest at Mother Jones!

Shellshag heads out on tour with Street Eaters!

Amazing Archeology footage from Strange Fruit Music!

Black Whales' Alex Robert plays two songs for Sound On The Sound!

Wow, just wow. LOVE IT!

Big Takeover interview Peter Holmstrom!

"The Dandy Warhols’ music has increasingly possessed a nuanced, well-crafted pop sheen, but the songs on Pete International Airport, such as the free-association sounding “Beatle Boots and Battle Scars” and the Jesus and Mary Chain like “Idioms for Dummies,” feel spontaneous and raw—as if someone simply pressed the record button during a rather heavy jam session." Read the rest of the article at Big Takeover!

Willamette Week raves about the new LP from Wow & Flutter!

"Equilibrio! (Italian for “balance”) is the band’s first release for Seattle upstart Mount Fuji Records, and it’s a darker, more eclectic record than the group’s last full-length, 2008’s punk-infused Golden Touch. There are a few moments here that rival just about any indie-rock record released this year: “Scars” sounds like a lost single from Sonic Youth’s late period (it would fit perfectly at the beginning of Rather Ripped), and “Union Pacific” skirts by with clattering rhythms and some nifty fretwork. “Ivan the Terrible” stomps with an evil sneer that’s new for the band, and closer “The Day Before the World Explodes” uses all of its six minutes to build to an epic, fuzzed-out and hopeful finale." Michael Mannheimer read the rest over at Willamette Week!

Shapers to Drop New Single, Kick Off Tour, get Chicagoist excited.

Chicagoist is pretty stoked on SHAPERS... so are we!

"The song shares its name with a folk dance that originated in seventeenth century Scotland, but with its heavy bass, zesty percussion, and psychedelic aesthetic, the fast and loose track is better suited for some uninhibited, acid-induced flailing than a line dance. The 7-inch is available for pre-order right now through Whistler Records." Read the rest at Chicagoist!

Pete International Airport's newest video for "Sweetheart Tattoo" premiers over the Mog Music Network

The folks over at MOG fell in love with the new Pete International Airport video and wanted to premier it today!

"Pete International Airposrt is the most recent project of Dandy Warhols guitarst Pete Holmstrom, which carries more of a shoegazy sound than that of the Warhols, but still packs a punch nonetheless. Their latest video, “Sweetheart Tatoo,” finds Holmstrom and company playing around with folk influences, complete with montage imagery of hearts and tattoos." Mog Music Network

“Sweetheart Tattoo” is the latest single off Pete International Airport’s eponymous album, released by Custom Made Music last month.

Finn Riggins on Daytrotter!

Wow, just wow! One of the most beautiful pieces we've ever read on the lovely trio from Idaho.

"They are crunchy and raw and they interact with you as they go in. They are the greatest signs that more living is required, that nothing in the people who make them is anywhere close to being deceased or finished. Bouiss, Simpson and Gilbert all give us their uninterrupted misgivings, their concerns and celebrations - sometimes in the form of an instrumental - and they give them to us in flammable form." Read the rest and download the live set at Daytrotter!

SHAPERS play Fireside Bowl in Chicago next Tuesday!

Wow & Flutter "Equilibrio!" is out today!

Wow & Flutter's newest album, Equilibrio!, is out today from Mt. Fuji Records. This is the first release on Mt. Fuji Records for the Portland based art-rock trio and it stands to make quite an impression. The album's eight songs veer from Omnichord-based fairytale spookiness, Spacemen 3 gospel-drone and a touch of Krautrock. Beyond that, the band steadily maintain their fuzzed-out caveman pummeling drenched in taut hums and wreaking of burnt wires and blown speakers.

Please download and share the lead single "Scars" with your readership all the rad people you know!

Early Press:
"Scars is the first release from the band’s upcoming album Equilibrio!, and if it’s representative of what the rest of Equilibrio! is like, strap yourself in for a wild ride. I’m not even going to bother trying to inventory the sonic menagerie that is Scars, but I think it’s safe to say that fans of Sonic Youth, The Pixies and The Minutemen will find plenty to like in the WAF’s ADD-inspired post-punk." My Old Kentucky Blog

"This Portland band’s latest album is another first-rate set of dark, tension-filled post-punk that combines the arty atmospherics of Sonic Youth with a more scuzzy, visceral rock attack on a variety of memorable songs with strong, distinctive hooks." KEXP

"Pleasantly crunchy and semi-dissonant, “Scars” opens with a yin-yang-y guitar riff—three parts ringing and harmonic-laced, one part fuzzy and purposeful, as if the band were still deciding what kind of song this was going to be even after they already started recording. What they ended up with is a deft blend of the opening riff’s two attributes, as a drony, unresolved sensibility courses through a brisk guitar rocker otherwise mixing the offhanded brio of an Exile On Main Streetouttake with the squonky quirkiness of the Pixies. Translation: it’s curiously engaging, and it rocks." Fingertips Music

SHAPERS share a new video and get ready for East Coast tour!

Tour Dates:
10.26.10 - Chicago, IL @ the Fireside Bowl
11.09.10 - Ann Arbor, MI @ the Blind Pig
11.10.10 - Toledo, OH @ Mickey Finn's
11.11.10 - Philadelphia, PA @ Mill Creek Tavern
11.12.10 - Brooklyn, NY @ the Rock Shop
11.13.10 - Manhattan, NY @ Piano's
11.15.10 - Chicago, IL @ the Empty Bottle

Black Whales - on a boat. New single "Rattle Your Bones" out November 16th!

Hot Panda streams their brand new album in its entirety at Spinner.com!

Hot Panda's brand new album, How Come I'm Dead?, is out today via Mint Records!! You can preview the whole album at Spinner.com for one week only!

Early Raves:

"A quirky indie act well on their way up—having played all the requisite festivals and won opening spots for appropriately big names Hot Panda could be on the verge of a major explosion, thanks to the raucous and creative energy of their sophomore LP, How Come I’m Dead?" - Phrequency

"They sound like the kind of band you’d like to have in your backyard, tearing it up while you bite into the most delicious pancakes you’ve ever tasted. They sound like the start of a weird, sunny day. Get into it." - 'Sup Magazine

"Hot Panda’s “Mindlessnesslessness” strikes a mainline on a mother lode of inner freak. Bombastic vocals courtesy of Chris Connelly splay out over Heath Parsons’s kitschy synths and Maghan Campbell’s stomping beats." - One Track Mind

"Whether it's the engaging back-and-forth vocals on "Pools" or the gritty groove of "Fuck Shit Up/Hell Hey Hex" or the infectious keyboard line of "Mindlessnesslessness", the band can hit your indie pop funny bone..." - Snob's Music

Hot Panda want you (to remix a song from their new record)!

Mint Records' Hot Panda is just a few short days from the release of their sophomore album! How Come I'm Dead? comes out next Tuesday and you'll find dreamy noise, circus freak dance numbers, heartbreaking country ballads with screeching metal guitar solos, lovely pop harmonies, psychedelic drones, and straight up pop/rock numbers. Recently added to this year's CMJ Music Marathon, the band is inviting fans, friends and musicians to try their hand at remixing the album's lead single, "Mindlessnesslessness".

Now, what are you waiting for? Grab and share the song stems for the remix and start your creation. Send your completed remix to info@mintrecs.com by November 12th. The winner shall receive a prize pack of Hot Panda goodness including a t-shirt, vinyl, the band's signature hot sauce and, here's the big one, their remix will be included on the upcoming Mint Records compilation. Runners up will be posted on the Mint Records and Hot Panda websites.

Great SHAPERS interview at Veoba!

Your music has a lot of percussion and warm, balmy synthesizers. In terms of music and surroundings, what influences you personally? Or the band for that matter?

I don’t even know sometimes where the influences come from. We all listen to a lot of different kinds of music. We spent an entire year just jamming and getting drunk. And we recorded everything, then disciplined ourselves to sit down and listen to it all. Trying to piece together what we thought would be cool. See what we came up with. We really just inspire each other.

Click to read the rest of the interview!

Pete International Airport "Starlight"

Finn Riggins on Weird Al and more...

Billy Bragg and Darren Hanlon perform "New Spell" live together!

Magnet shares a new track from Brothers Young

Sometimes siblings just make the best bandmates, as we’ve seen with countless groups since the dawn of rock ‘n’ roll. This time, the theory is proved by the Brothers Young, a Portland, Ore., trio of brothers joined by three close friends. With shared vocals accompanying its hazy, lilting folk melodies, we’re hoping there won’t be any Oasis-level rivalries to ruin this band’s magic. Premiering today exclusively on magnetmagazine.com is “The Roman Sun,” which is off the the Brothers’ just-released EP, Good People (Emeritus).

“The Roman Sun” (download)

Stereo Subversion gives us a sneak preview at the upcoming Hot Panda album

"The Canadian foursome misleadingly open their latest with some heavy organ and off-key chanting on “Membership Fees (Intro)”, but once that track comes to a close, Hot Panda go great guns until they reach the ethereal outro. More impressively, Hot Panda naturally flow in and out of all styles of high-intensity rock without overreaching. “Evil Nature” moves from blasts of noisy shredding to blissful pop without skipping a beat. “Pools” is a giddy shot of swaggering bravado. “Mindlessnesslessness” is spastic electro-pop in the vein of Brainiac. This is rock music with an abundance of attitude to match the plentiful hooks, the sort of thing we used to expect from guitar-driven bands as a requisite." Daniel Kirschenbaum, Stereo Subversion

Village Voice heaps praise on Basia Bulat - On tour all over the US now!

"After a ton of touring that earned her recognition the old-fashioned way, Toronto-based singer/songwriter Basia Bulat followed Oh, My Darling, her enjoyably willowy 2008 debut, with the equally steady Heart of My Own, which was even more old-fashioned. Bulat, guiding her music at all times with a verdant and proudly unchecked voice, also betrays a soft spot for analog, wood-and-string things such as the autoharp. It gives herthe more gauzy and suggestive feel of a parlor music scene in an old dime-store novella. This tactile sense of place, of feeling, came through loud and clear on Darlingand flits through the varied arrangements and folk entreaties of Heart, too. Even better, Bulat knows a thing or two about keeping a show moving; all that touring pays even more dividends." Johnny Loftus, Village Voice

Pete International Airport's s/t debut in stores today!!

Please share the lead single with the world: "21 Days"

 Early buzz on Pete International Airport: "It’s got melody, it’s got class, it’s got individuality, and it’s got a Dandy Warhol. What more could a modern-day rock fan ask for? Just take it for what it is, strange. But hey, everything get’s a little weird now and then." Consequence Of Sound  "Though the Dandy Warhols have gone through countless phases over the years, my favorite strain was always the dreamy, atmospheric, and droney rock displayed on songs like "Nietzsche" and "Pete International Airport." So it's not too much of a stretch for guitarist Peter Holmstrom's Pete International Airport project—named, obviously, after the song he helped pen in 1997—to engage in blissful guitar feedback. " Willamette Week

It's a Zip-Pak Party!!

Learn more about K Records' Zip-Pak

Visqueen "Ward" - New video!!!

Directed by Mark Price & Heath Ward

Seattle Weekly: "People Eating People Delivers A Fearless Performance, With Nouela Johnston's Emotions Laid Bare"

Amazing review of People Eating People's performance at Bumbershoot last monday! From Paige Richmond at Seattle Weekly:

Who: People Eating People
When: 12:30 p.m.
Where: EMP Sky Church

When People Eating People performs live, Nouela Johnston (the woman behind the band) pounds the shit out of her keyboard. Banging away at the lowest keys--creating these deep, heavy rhythms on songs like "All the Hospitals" and "I Hate All My Friends"-- and singing in her sweet but angry voice, Johnston seems completely confident. She's clearly talented and artistically smart: her live band doesn't even have a guitar player, relying instead on bass and drums to compliment her keys, which are always front and center. Throw in those semi-growling vocals, and Nouela Johnston seems like she's totally sure of herself in every way.

But there was one song during her Sky Church performance that truly demonstrated how raw and deep Johnston's emotions run, and it spoke to the insecurity she might feel. She sent her band off stage when she performed "For Now," playing the ragtime-influenced song alone on her keyboard (the same way it appears on her self-titled album. The first few lyrics--"None ever is gonna know that/ everything that I do/ is solely to impress you"--hinted insecurity and self doubt. It's a theme in many of People Eating People's songs, but it was laid bare when Johnston belted out "One day/ I'll make/ I'll make you love me" to a crowded room of fans. For Johnston to let those insecurities be seen, especially as a young female musician, well, that's beyond confident; it's fucking fearless. And it's why her songs are so powerful.

Wow & Flutter share the lead single from Equilibrio, our 10/19!

Please download and share "Scars" from the upcoming Wow & Flutter album. Equilibrio! hits stores via the stellar Mt. Fuji Records on October 19!

Archeology share their muse: Neil Young

WHAT'S YOUR MUSE? Archeology from Mixtape Muse on Vimeo.

ALEXIS GIDEON PREMIERES VIDEO MUSICS II: SUN WU-KONG TOMORROW

We couldn't be more honored to work with the amazing Alexis Gideon, whose video opera premieres tomorrow at Disjecta in Portland, OR. The Portland Mercury's Ned Lannamann put it wonderfully this morning:

"THERE ISN'T ANYONE doing anything remotely like Alexis Gideon. The songwriter/guitarist has just completed his second multimedia-animated-hiphop-film-opera, Video Musics II: Sun Wu-Kong, and it's an absolutely mind-boggling piece of work. A retelling of the 16th century Chinese epic novel Journey to the West by Wu Cheng'en, Gideon has crammed 1,500 pages of narrative into 65 minutes of brilliant animation and music..." Check out the rest of the article HERE!

Jared Mees & the Grown Children hit the road & share a new song!

Jared Mees & the Grown Children hit the road later this month for a tour of the Western states... Give us a sneak preview of their next record with "Cockleburrs & Hay"

Tour Dates:

09.23.10 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir
09.24.10 - Ashland, OR @ Alex's
09.25.10 - Mendocino, CA @ Caspar Inn
09.26.10 - San Francisco, CA @ Hemlock Tavern
09.27.10 - Oakland, CA @ TBA
09.28.10 - Santa Barbara, CA @ Muddy Waters
09.29.10 - Fullerton, CA @ UC Fullerton (noon show)
09.29.10 - Palm Springs, CA @ Ace Hotel
09.30.10 - San Diego, CA @ Fluxx

10.01.10 - Long Beach, CA @ El Dorado
10.02.10 - Pasadena, CA @ Old Town Pub
10.03.10 - Chico, CA @ Cafe Flo
10.04.10 - Eugene, CA @ TBA
10.07.10 - Moscow, ID @ John's Alley
10.08.10 - Kennewick, WA @ Red Room
10.09.10 - Boise, ID @ Neurolux