Sorry to the handful of people I know who look at this blog occasionally.  It was a fun year of discovery and experimentation, but I’m going to start focusing more on making my own music instead of blogging about the music of others.  

To all the artists I have ever posted about:  You are the reason I love life.  I posted your songs and/or wrote about your band because I listened to your music and it moved to the point where I felt the need to share.  That is a beautiful thing.  I cherish your artwork and hope that I have been able to pass it on in at least a small way.

Now go check out the blog Cactus-Mouth and bookmark it.  It has become my go-to music blog over the past 2 years.  

Peace out.

No secret here: I am a HUGE Wise Blood fan.  Ever since seeing him perform live almost a year ago I have been following Chris Laufman’s every move.  One of the greatest things about Laufman is that he is committed to making great music videos.  Many artist these days seem to default to whipping something together with found footage and after effects, but Laufman does it right…. every. single. time.  

Follow the link above or click here to head over to SPIN where the video for “Loud Mouths” premiered today (NSFW).

Grandparents - “Arrows”

Oregon Public Radio has a weekend music program called “In House” that I absolutely love.  They introduced me to Portland psych-gaze band Grandparents this past weekend.  The song “Arrows” from their most recent release, Fumes, is incredibly catchy.

New Terrors - “Night Of The Creeps”

Burke Sullivan, aka New Terrors, has been taking it slow.  Really slow.  He released a couple of tracks last summer, but since then has been fairly dormant save for the rare live appearances.  Well now he’s back with a proper EP entitled Mother that is set to drop 4/10/2012 via Flannelgraph Records.  

The track “Night Of The Creeps” is the last song on the EP (save for the bonus track).  ”Creeps” breaks straight out of the gate with a hard-hitting beat that persists throughout most of the track.  The auto-tuned, octave-layered vocals bounce catchy melodies on top of washing synths to bring a delightfully poppy texture to an industrial soundscape.  The lead synth line acts as the chorus and almost seems like something to sing along to even with the absence of words.  

Electronic music assaults our ears on a daily basis, but there is something delightfully unique about New Terrors.  The hard work and patience of Sullivan is blatantly apparent.  There is maturity embedded in these tracks giving them a soul… a life of their own.  Nothing will aptly prepare you for Mother, because nothing I write can adequately explain what it is.  One thing is for certain; it’s nothing you have heard before.

You can pre-order Mother on CD or cassette here or pre-order a digital copy here.

**UPDATE**  You can stream the EP in its entirety here.

(Sullivan also plays drums in the Bloomington, Indiana rock outfit Husband&Wife)

Canadian electro-pop outfits Born Gold and Grimes stopped by Portland last night to play a show at Holocene, the scuzzy-hip venue disguised as an IKEA catalogue.  There was a lot of glitchy synth-pop and a lot left to be desired.

The show opened with some extdo-jams from the airy synth-wash Portland group Swahili.  They are obviously a talented group of musicians, but they aren’t much of a live show.  The bald keyboard player had face paint and a long skirt on…. that was interesting I guess.

Next up was Born Gold.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am a HUGE Born Gold fan and that I constantly rave about the show they played at the Echo in LA last fall.  I was in ecstasy at that show.  Amazingly good.  As I saw Cecil Frena and company setting up for this show it looked as if it was going to be another wild one.  Unfortunately, that was not the case.

(Read the rest of the review, complete with video, after the jump.)

Read More

New Terrors has announced the release date for his debut EP, Mother, will be 4/10/2012.  The official album art is above.  The EP will be released through Flannelgraph Records.  

Grimes killin it with Born Gold. (Taken with instagram)

Siberian Summer turned 1 today.  Take a browse through the archive to re-live all the great tracks of the past 12 months.

Thanks for all the love.  Let’s keep truckin’.

Uhhh… wut?  Ok.

Tiny Victories - “Gravitron”

Tiny Victories are set to release their Those Of Us Still Alive EP on February 28th.  This is the 2nd track they have put up for streaming on their bandcamp.  Really excited about this.