SSG Music Reviews Kaia's Latest "Two Adult Women In Love"!

"With anywhere from two to six years between releases, Kaia’s inspiration has come in sporadic batches. Her music relies on candid reflections of her sensitive affectations to relationships, the music industry and (unsurprisingly) the Portland weather. Her fifth solo effort, Two Adult Women in Love, is an earnest culmination of the Oregon native’s teenage angst, mercurial love life, and overlooked songwriting abilities." Keep reading over on SSG Music.

MY OLD KENTUCKY BLOG LOVES OZARKS' "PYRAMIDS OF LOVE" VIDEO

"Ozarks is the main musical outlet of Robbie Augspurger, a suave and dapper young fellow with a fab cookieduster who, with the help of his buddy Eric Lee, records music that is hopelessly anachronistic, but somehow works. The duo’s self-titled debut drops on July 10th, and disarmingly charming lead single Pyramids of Love might just be the most carefree two minutes of your hump day. Have a listen.

MP3 : Ozarks – Pyramids of Love

Now that you’ve listened, feel free to move onto the video, which on the other hand, is maybe a little creepy. Something about those black leather gloves that makes me think Augspurger has a body he needs to dispose of in the very near future. Like right after rehearsal." READ MORE HERE.

Eliza Rickman's " A Cockeyed Pop Song" Song Of The Day On NPR

"Eliza Rickman's "Pretty Little Head" is simple yet intricate, a contradiction which helps give it the feel of a nursery rhyme that's just starting to teeter off the rails. Except for the bridge, it's built entirely around two chords, a minor/relative-major pair that trade off inexorably in two-bar cycles without regard to differentiating between the verse and the chorus." Listen on NPR here.

OUT TODAY--> KAIA: "TWO ADULT WOMEN IN LOVE" LP, PURE BATHING CULTURE, S/T EP

Both Kaia's "Two Adult Women In Love" LP and Pure Bathing Culture's S/T EP are out TODAY! We couldn't be more excited! Watch Kaia's video for "Canopy" HERE, and check out Pure Bathing Culture's jams HERE.

Brett Nelson Chats With Blurt About Electronic Anthology Project

"Nelson's first Electronic Anthology Project release focused on the work of Built to Spill. So why did he select Dinosaur Jrfor the second? "I kinda felt the music already had a poppy new wave [feel] to it, very melodic, always had a hook - the things that the new wave I liked in the '80s had, just done with guitars and noisier," Nelson says." Read on over at Blurt.

Darling Dork Reviews Johnny Headband's "Who Cooks For You"!

"Listeners will dance from the very first track. “Over There” brings the clapping, bass-raving summer to your room; the jangling percussion of “And Then Again” recalls city street troupes gone mad with cowbell, triangle, and every other musical surface they might put a pair of drumsticks to; “Hot Button Topic” (the one that mentions “cookies for breakfast”) is a cheeky delight with as much pop in its lyrics as in its music. Every track of this nine-piece album surprises and thrills." Read the whole review now over on Darling Dork! 

MAGNET LOVES CONDUITS!

"Take a deep breath and get ready to be amazed. The incredibly electrifying and melodic Conduits perform “The Wonder” live inside Omaha’s The Slowdown in a dark room under incandescent light. Their energy is a force to be reckoned with, and the song is brilliant all its own. It’s full of strong hooks that will leave you in suspense and only wanting more. Ms. Jenna Morrison is spectacular; her sinful vocals will lure you in and capture your soul." Watch now over on Magnet.

Sea Of Bees Performed with The Spinto Band in Brooklyn last night and VICE almost got peed on.

"The reason I went to the Rock Shop was to see the lovely and amazing band, Sea of Bees, who traveled from Sacramento, California to play a couple shows. We met up a few hours before they had to play and busted loose on the face of Park Slope; winking, bobbing, AND weaving all over the double-wide strollers and local lesbians. It was a scene." Read more about Sea of Bees' Adventures with Vice here.

When You Motor Away Reviews Billy & Dolly's Latest!

"They are playing a really engaging take on power-pop and sunny day guitar rock. Their latest album,Dally Bon Idyll, is out this week and available right now. The vocal harmonies and jangly guitars call to mind some old favorites... check out and download the single, "Gold" and let me know if you aren't thinking of Big Star before they're into the first chorus" Read on and listen here.

What Hearts' Julie Vitells Interviewed On Willamette Week!

"Other songs on What Hearts are just as fascinating in riding the line between autobiography and fiction; revealing and teasing—Vitells’ songs are as clean and narrow as nature slides seen through a View-Master. (Her sister is a recurring character—but only sometimes, she explains, is her sister really her sister.) She does credit one strong influence, ex-Portland quartet A Weather, for shaping that songwriting style." Read on at Willamette Week!

32 FT PER SECOND DISCUSSES PURE BATHING CULTURE'S "SILVER SHORE'S LAKE"

"Pure Bathing Culture, a wonderful band who make wonderful music, have little to do with Vernon's choices, other than the fact that their latest song, "Silver's Shore Lake" shares a certain aesthetic sensibility with "Beth/Rest". Its echoes are glossy and the style is from more than two decades in the past. But, like "Beth/Rest", "Silver's Shore Lake" possesses song-writing of a quality to render some of these questions of derivation completely irrelevant. When the singer pleads, "I wish my heart was deep enough, so deep that I could keep you, love" the debate of acceptable use of the 1980s becomes asinine and you'll wish your heart was a little deeper too." Read on and listen at 32 FT Per Second.

NPR Music Premieres Spinto Band's "The Living Things" Video

"Can a song that's about the fragility of life and the struggle to survive make you want to bounce around merrily? Somehow the Spinto Band's new song, "The Living Things," does just that. The song's lyrics that on their own could seem depressing — "true to life and in the flesh / though hanging on by just a thread" for example — are pushed aside by the jangly afrobeat-like melody. It's a song that, even though lead singer Nick Krill's voice wails about how he'll "be no good," leaves you with your toes tapping and a smile on your face." Read on and watch the video on NPR.

BILLY & DOLLY'S "DALLY BON IDYLL" OUT TODAY WITH A NEW VIDEO FOR THEIR SINGLE "OH YEAH"!

The San Francisco duo Billy & Dolly return with their latest LP, Dally Bon Idyll, recorded with producer/musician Jason Quever (Papercuts). Honing their straightforward, yet pitch-perfect pop melodies, Billy & Dolly are singing with a new stride on Dally Bon Idyll. More relaxed, confident, even playful, the duo soar above their earlier material with catchy riffs and harmonious vocals as much as with their intimate and immediate songwriting. Please feel free to share their latest video for their single "Oh Yeah" directed by Andres Ramirez right here.  

NO FEAR OF POP FEATURES PURE BATHING CULTURE'S "SILVER SHORE'S LAKE": FEEL IT!

"From the fine tastemakers at Father/Daughter Records, Portland’s redolent 80′s pop duoPure Bathing Culture will release their S/T EP next Tuesday, and we think you have all reason to be excited." Listen to “Silver Shore’s Lake” on No Fear Of Pop here.

SF Gate Reviews Billy & Dolly's Latest LP "Dally Bon Idyll"

"With his musical partner Dahlia Gallin Ramirez - both former members of the band the Monolith - Rousseau lends his surprisingly high-pitched voice and bubblegum melodies to tangible heartache throughout the record. There's an air of latter-period Teenage Fanclub in the mournful breeziness of songs such as "Oh Yeah" and "Old Ghost," while "Young and on the Way Up" quivers and shakes like something you might hear a thousand times at Johnny Rockets. The bittersweet pleasures these two create are solitary." Read on here.

Listen To Billy & Dolly's Single "Gold" On The Vinyl District Now!

"The San Franciscan pair have produced an album of well crafted tunes that manages to combine some really beautiful pop melodies with delightful hooks and catchy riffs. On first listen to the album it’s impressive, on further plays it reveals itself as great." Read on and listen to "Gold" on The Vinyl District.

Vice Premieres Solvents' New Track "Unslaved And Unrenowned"

"Solvents are a hubby and wifey duo out of Port Townsend, Washington. They filmed parts of Twilight there, right? That's pretty cool. Think of Jacob Black leaping over logs, shirtless, and straight into your heart/pants while listening to the premiere of thisdreamy track right here. Or just think of the sound of a babbling brook, and some apples falling from a tree." Listen here on Vice!

The Oregonian On Jackpot Records & Recordings 15 Year Anniversary!

"On the 18th, both Jackpots will come together for a celebration of their shared anniversary at the Bagdad Theater that will feature performances by local acts Quasi, the Minus 5 and Dave Depper, among others.
Now, if you've never heard of Jackpot Recording Studios, don't feel bad. All that means is that you're not a person who pores over album liner notes to see where the music you're enjoying was recorded. But for musicians around the world, and serious music geeks, the studio -- operated by Larry Crane -- is hallowed ground." Keep reading on Oregon Live!

Wooden Wand's James Jackson Toth Talks With Tiny Mix Tapes.

"At this point in his musically inclined career, you could probably build a small brick and mortar building devoted entirely to the catalog of James Jackson Toth. With nearly 100 releases to his name (and varied pseudonyms), Toth is one of the more prolific musicians of the last two decades. He’s recorded and released hours of solo material under his own name (as well as WAND and Wooden Wand), but he’s also played with countless bands and groups over the years and recorded and released nearly all of it." Read the full interview at Tiny Mix Tapes.

Palo Verde's "Zero Hour" Reviewed On Willamette Week!

"It’s best for everyone that Palo Verde limits itself to four songs here: Even in its truncated form, Zero Hour clocks in at 44 minutes and is likely to test the patience of all but the most committed guitar-tone enthusiast. But in that 44 minutes, the joy of anticipating Palo Verde’s next move, only to often be proven dead wrong, should hold as much appeal for bebop lovers as it does for metalheads. To great artists, strict creative parameters present opportunities. Palo Verde is going to ride this horse as far as it will take the band." Read the full review here.

CONGRATS TO PURE BATHING CULTURE ON BEING WILLAMETTE WEEK'S #2 BEST NEW BAND!!!

"There’s lots of space on Pure Bathing Culture’s self-titled debut EP, a record with obvious parallels to dream-poppy Baltimore duo Beach House. “Lucky One” has Versprille’s ephemeral vocals floating through subtly hypnotic, bloopy drums. Layers of guitar and vocals give “Ivory Coast,” a song the band says is about being obsessed with your muse, uncanny depth. “Silver Shore’s Lake” has a touch of Simply Red-style ’80s blue-eyed soul under layered electro haze. So far, Pure Bathing Culture has played only eight shows, the first in January at Doug Fir Lounge, and yet it has enough buzz to land on this list." Keep reading over on Willamette Week.

The Electronic Anthology Project Reviewed On Pitchfork!

"A number of the tracks on Electronic Anthology Project come from the loud/quiet back-and-forth convention that helped Dinosaur draw the map for 1990s alt rock: calm, percolating verses that offer a foil for soaring, melodic choruses. "Pond Song" off 1988's Bug reinterprets that dynamic for one of the collection's most entertaining tracks, as Mascis sings, with sunny, wide-eyed optimism, "Pain is a wave, come on let's ride it."" Read on at Pitchfork.

Stream What Hearts' Debut LP On OPB Now!

"After drawing comparisons to Simon & Garfunkel, and for good reason, on the 2010 debut EP Songs for Marjorie, Portland's What Hearts have tweaked their formula a bit on their self-titled full-length debut for a sound that is more akin to a female-voiced collaboration between Bonnie Prince Billy and Belle & Sebastian." Head on over to OPB to listen.

Watch The Majestic Show's Interview With Conduits!

"One of our favorite new bands, Conduits, rolled through Dallas a few weeks ago to play a show at Trees. We interviewed them before their set supporting Cursive and Cymbals Eat Guitars. The band talked to us about their self-titled debut album, plans for the future, and their thoughts on Dallas." Watch the video on The Majestic Show here!

Listen To Sea Of Bees' "Gone" On Filter!

"The singer-songwriter's tune, "Gone," combines an upbeat groove to layered vocals, creating a floaty tune that would be the perfrect soundtrack on a summer day." Listen for yourself here on Filter.

The Spinto Band Comments On Each New Track As You Listen To It On Self-Titled Mag

"This is about an imagined town called Cookie Falls, which resembles the pastoral beauty of its inspiration: those stages in Super Mario World. However, its inhabitants are full of bored teens who take muscle relaxers recreationally and occasionally get themselves into trouble. To counter this lyrical malaise we combined the sound of omnichords and strummed piano strings. —Thomas Hughes"  Listen and read on here.

The Wild Honey Pie Reviews The Spinto Band's "Shy Pursuit"!

"On their newest release, The Spinto Band have toned down the cutesy/kitsch factor and mellowed out with a more musically focused approach to their sound. Not to say their music isn’t adorable, because it is — album opener “Cookie Falls” is proof enough. Instead of simply working this one angle, though, they’re now incorporating new elements into the fold." Read on and listen here.

RIOT ACT MEDIA FOUNDER DAVID LEWIS INTERVIEWED ON WFPK

We love Dave Lewis! Now in higher education at the prestigious McNally Smith College of Music, Riot Act's founder drops the KNOWLEDGE. Enjoy! http://afterdark.wfpk.org/

American Songwriter Premieres Brass Bed's Harry Nilsson Cover

As a songwriter, Nilsson’s gift for harmony and melody haunts my dreams,” says Brass Bed’s Christiaan Mader. “‘Don’t Forget Me’ is one of those deceptively simple yet emotionally evocative songs that I’d give my eye to have written. Nilsson was master and combining pain and humor in his ballads, and this is no exception. The lyrics are at once tragic and wry, and delivered perfectly on Pussy Cats with his broken, but powerful voice.” Read on and watch the video here.

The Vinyl District Chicago Lioness "The Golden Killer" Giveaway!

"The Golden Killer does a fantastic job encapsulating Lioness’ dark dance floor vibe. Their engaging stage visuals and theatrics translate incredibly well into the 12 track LP as they marry dance beats and heavy rock overtones. If you don’t win big here, $15 will get you a copy of your very own over at New Romantic Music." Read on and enter to win a copy of "The Golden Killer" here.

Download The Spinto Band's The Key Studio Session Up Now.

"This week, The Spinto Band released its first full-length record in three-and-a-half years. The wait might have been long since 2008′s Moonwink, but truly it was time well spent, since The Shy Pursuit might just be the Wilmington indiepop five-piece’s strongest and most mature showing. The songwriting is sharp, clever and sophisticated; frontman Nick Krill hits melodic highs reminiscent of David Byrne, while bassist Thomas Hughes and guitarist Joe Hobson contribute songs that explore jazzy meters and classic crooner melodies with a psychedelic twist." Listen and continue reading here.

Zap Town Reviews Johnny Headband's "Who Cooks For You"!

"This is too good to be true. Detroit’s Johnny Headband is one of the greatest hidden secrets of the year. Who Cooks For You will blow your mind with songs that run the gamut of generations. If someone threw in the kitchen sink, they would make it sound like it fit all along. Even though they suit up to bring you some amazing tunes, they do so with a sense of grit. What else can you expect from the Motor City?" Read more at Zap Town Mag here!

Sea of Bees "Orangefarben" Out Today!

"It's hard to imagine packing more heartache into a single record than Julie Ann Bee does on Orangefarben." NPR's All Songs Considered

"It’s the perfect heartbreak album, it’s the perfect falling in love album. In a word, it’s perfect." The Deli

"'I'll be fine,' she sings on the opener, Broke. If you initially doubt Baenziger's chances of that, deeper exposure to this remarkable album leaves you feeling that she may just be right." The London Times

"Orangefarben harbours a great deal of warmth and assurance in amongst its heartbreak." Line Of Best Fit

""With sunny-sounding guitars and a sweet, ethereal voice that belies the agony of which she sings, Bee makes Orangefarben a meditation on mind over matter, the importance of gasping “I’ll be fine” again and again, even when it’s clear you’re not." eMusic Editor's Pick

"Her spritely crooning is uplifting, heartbreaking, and sunny all at once." The Owl Magazine

"Orangefarben is so personal and yet so incredibly relateable, it's almost as though she has seen all of us in our most painful moments of heartbreak and decided to write an album about it." After Ellen

Out Today: The Spinto Band "Shy Pursuit"

"...there’s much to savor in this new batch of pop treats cooked up by the Spintos." - Consequence Of Sound

"The Spinto Band is bringing a good name back to pop music." - Paste 

"...the Spinto Band are still churning out albums of danceable melodies with quirky hooks." - MTV Hive

 "The record is an excitable, energetic collection of eclectic pop songcraft that is more than worth the wait since the band’s last release, 2008′s Moonwink." - The Key

Spinner Gets Dark With Lioness!

"The release of dance-rock trio Lioness' debut LP the Golden Killer last week has been four years in the making, but it seems the timing is perfect, as their hometown of Toronto becomes known for shelling out dark, moody artists (think the Weeknd, Austra, Trust). But Lioness have been on the drama-dance kick since releasing their debut EP in 2008, springing out of the same mid-2000s rush of dance punk from the likes of Death from Above 1979, Crystal Castles and You Say Party." Read on for the complete interview here.