Scotch Howard - "Hit the Wall" Music Video

The long awaited, much anticipated debut music video for Scotch Howard's single "Hit the Wall" has hit the airwaves. We discussed the tantalizing elements of Scotch Howard's  psychedelic electro-rock release some time ago here, and even still the album hasn't lost its je ne sais quoi. Shot in Los Angeles and directed by Scotch Howard himself, the video takes you on a psychedelic journey into the depths of a... rambunctious backyard dance party. The video is a winner -- not only capturing the trippy, hand-clappin' drive of the "Hit the Wall" song, but the feel-good tone of the entire album as well. Have a look and listen...

Portugal. The Man - In The Mountain In The Cloud (2011)

In The Mountain In The Clouds opens with the super catchy “So American” -- a blast of falsetto driven psychedelic rock n’ roll announcing that Portugal. The Man is back. They may now be on Atlantic Records, after stints with Equal Vision and Fearless Records, but the major label hasn’t disrupted the quality of their songwriting that made them a QuickCrit favorite. As with all of their recent albums, their sound continues to evolve. In The Mountain is not as sexy or funky as last year’s American Ghetto, ditching its glitchy electronic buzz and replacing the psychedelic soul of the Satanic Satanist, with cosmic glam. It all makes for even greater sonic grandeur on songs like the anthemic “Got It All (This Can't Be Living Now)" or the soaring “Everything You See (Kids Count Hallelujahs).” Guitars swirl and ring while the vocals alter pitch and pace. Lyrically, singer/guitarist John Gourley is still grappling with life in 21st century America. He seems to accept that we may all be fucked, but that’s just fate, and we might as well “be cool with it.” The songs build, crash and flow together nicely, closing with the "Sleep Forever", which escalates slowly into a wonderfully epic ballad -- a perfect closer to a fantastic album.

Portugal. The Man - "Got It All (This Can't Be Living Now)" & "Sleep Forever"

Finally, Portugal. The Man have released a couple of full songs and they are sufficiently awesome. "Got It All (This Can't Be Living Now)" features some sweet and soulful falsetto over a funky shimmy, while "Sleep Forever" builds slowly into a fantastically epic anthem. I can't wait until In The Mountain In The Cloud is released on July 19th. If these songs are any indication, it is going to even better than The Satanic Satanist.

Slabtown Bender 2011 Lineup

Slabtown has just released the line up for their 2011 Bender with Paul Collins, Nobunny, and Holly Golightly headlining. The 2010 Bender was awesome and I expect nothing less than that this year.

I've got a month to familiarize myself with the lineup and plan my weekend. Like last year, it's a mix of old favorites (Pure Country Gold, Pity Fucks, etc.) and bands I've never heard of, so once again I've hunted down most of their homepages and included the band's rough genre based on the few songs I heard. By the 4th I should be ready.

Friday 2/4
The Paul Collins Beat (New York) original power popper
Head (Seattle) pop punk
The Tranzmitors (Vancouver, BC) power pop, garage rock
Apache (San Francisco) punk rock
The Mean Jeans (Portland) Ramones-style punk rock
The Blind Shake (Minneapolis) garage rock
Pure Country Gold (Portland) garage blues
The Wrong Words (San Francisco)
Welcome Home Walker (Portland) pop punk, garage rock
Sons of Bitches (Portland) country punk

Saturday 2/5
Nobunny (Oakland) garage rock
Pat Todd & The Rankoutsiders (Los Angeles) roots rock, garage rock
Liquorball (Bay Area?) psychedelic rock?
Hank IV (San Francisco) punk rock
James Arthur's Manhunt (Texas) psychedelic rock
Unnatural Helpers (Seattle) garage rock, punk rock
Spencey Dude & The Doodles (San Francisco) garage pop, indie pop
Dreamdate (San Francisco) indie pop
Pity Fucks (Portland) garage rock, punk rock
Flash Flood & The Dikes (Portland) off-kilter country

Saturday 2/5 Matinee
Spider Babies (Portland) punk rock
Bad Trips (Ventura) garage rock, psychedelic
Uzi Trash
Knifey Spoony (Oakland) psychedelic rock
Trash TV (Portland)

Sunday 2/6
Holly Golightly (UK) garage rock, country, soul
The Rantouls (San Jose?) garage pop, retro pop
The Royal Baths (San Francisco) garage rock, psychedelic
The Courtney Crusher Band (Portland) garage rock, retro pop
Thee Headliners (Portland) garage blues
Chemicals (Champaign) indie rock
G Green (Sacramento) punk
The Night Beats (Seattle) garage rock
Primitive Hearts (Oakland) garage rock
Therapists (Portland) punk

Sunday 2/6 Matinee
Pataha Hiss
The Bugs (Portland) garage rock
Orca Team (Portland) retro pop, indie rock, surf
The English Singles (Sacramento) retro pop, indie rock
The Summer Twins (Riverside) dreamy indie pop

The Dandy Warhols - "This Is The Tide"

I've been a fan of The Dandy Warhols for a long time. Although I definitely loved and listened to Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia the most, every album has a couple songs I latch onto. Although I've seen them a couple times, I've actually never seen them in Portland. Lucky for me, they are playing the Crystal Ballroom on Sunday with Blue Giant. It should be a great show, especially since they are out on tour promoting their recently released greatest hits album, which actually does actually contain many of my favorite songs. Of course, being the Dandies you can expect them find plenty of room to jam and bliss out on hypnotic rhythms.

"This Is The Tide" is the only new song off The Capitol Years 1995-2007.

Portugal. The Man - American Ghetto (2010)

Less than a year after The Satanic Satanist was released and became one of my favorite albums, Portugal. The Man is back with American Ghetto and as a fan, I couldn't be happier. American Ghetto is moodier album than the Satanist, more likely to ride a groove than build up to a soaring chorus. While the album still feels retro and soulful, the songs rely more a pulsing beat and backing harmonies. They've toned down the pop hooks, added atmosphere and electronic blips, and it works; the album is consistently good and cohesive. "The Dead Dog" is still my favorite, but "60 Years" and "All My People" aren't far behind. And that's just the first half. As the songs progress they settle into sound somewhere between chill soul and fluid psychedelic funk. "When The War Ends" closes the album out by picking up pace and almost heading back to the dancefloor. Very cool.

Slabtown Bender 2010 Lineup

Since I didn't know most of the lineup for this year's Bender, I had to hit up MySpace to help plan my weekend. I've included the band's rough genre, based on the few songs I heard, and their hometown, which was necessary for some of the most Google-unfriendly bands. After listening my way through the list I'm pretty amped and I know I'm going to have to bring plenty of extra cash for albums.

Friday 2/5 (Doors at 5, show at 6)
Howie and the Hotknives (Portland) garage rock
Idle Times (Seattle) psychedelic rock/garage rock
Blank-its (Seattle) punk rock
The Bugs (Portland) punk rock
Bipolaroid (New Orleans) psychedelic rock
The Girls (Seattle) post punk/synth rock
Ty Segall (San Francisco) garage rock/lo-fi
Coconut Coolouts (Seattle) garage rock
Bare Wires (Oakland) 70's punk rock/power pop
Head (Seattle) pop punk

Saturday 2/6 Matinee (Doors at Noon, show at 2)
East Wenatchee Iowa/Cougar? (Portland) indie punk/lo-fi
Foxgloves (Portland) boy-girl indie pop/power pop
Junior’s Gang (Portland)
Old Growth (Portland) punk rock/hard rock

Saturday 2/6 (Doors at 5, show at 6)
Thee Headliners (Portland) garage blues
Sons of Bitches (Portland) country punk
The Sandwitches (San Francisco) female-fronted garage pop/indie
Shannon and the Clams - (Oakland) female-fronted punk
Lord Von Raven (Oakland) glam/garage rock
Greg Ashley (Oakland) psychedelic folk
King Louie and the Missing Monuments (New Orleans) garage rock
Cheap Flight (Portland) Steve Turner of Mudhoney's brand new band
The Teutonics (Germany) retro garage rock

Sunday 2/7 Matinee (Doors at Noon, show at 2)
Denizenz (Portland) punk rock
Timecopz (Vancouver, BC) punk rock
Burning Yellows (Portland) indie pop/lo-fi
Nectarine Pie (Oakland) psychedelic rock/garage rock

Sunday 2/7 (Doors at 5, show at 6)
TherapistS (Portland) punk
Indian Wars (Vancouver, BC) garage rock
Manic Attracts (Vancouver, BC) punk rock/lo-fi
Dirty Cupcakes (San Francisco) female-fronted punk rock
Pity Fucks (Portland) garage rock/punk rock
Dead Ghosts (Vancouver, BC) garage rock
The Leaders (Portland) psychedelic rock
Pure Country Gold (Portland) garage blues
The Mean Jeans (Portland) Ramones-style punk rock
Spider Babies (Portland) punk rock
Pierced Arrows (Portland) hard rock/garage rock

The Flaming Lips - "Watching The Planets" Video

Naked biking, naked dancing, Mt. Tabor, a giant furry vagina – the new Flaming Lips video has it all. And it should not surprise anyone that it was filmed in Portland.

Update: For some reason the embedding code is not working, but here's the link to watch it on NME.

Nurses - Apples Acres (2009)

Portland's Nurses make weird, shambling indie rock that falls somewhere between Animal Collective and Dr. Dog. The songs sound like the band pieced together catchy fragments – vocal harmonies, rhythms, and tinkling piano – to create a casually psychedelic album that feels both imaginative and intimate. Perhaps the greatest trick is how they keep an awesome, whistle-happy aural mosaic like "Caterpillar Playground" from sounding overly cluttered. "Manatarms" lurches forward with the layered vocals and a percussive piano, while "Technicolor" shimmers and builds over almost ambient taps and gurgles. Every song sound playful and deceptively loose and off the cuff. While Aaron Chapman's nasal vocals and the lack of classic song structure might push some people away, repeat listens continue to be rewarding.

Magic & Fur - "Do Not Toll The Bell"

I you're like me, you can't wait until Magic & Fur finally follow up the fantastic Christine single with a full length album. Well, apparently the band feels your pain and is giving away "Do Not Toll The Bell" (mp3) to tide you over. And it's not a throw away track either. It's just as catchy as the first two songs, with a slinky beat and shimmery chorus. Now they just need to tour the states.

Jeff The Brotherhood - Heavy Days (2009)

Just as rumors about an October garage festival here in Portland, featuring just about every band I love, have kicked me off on a serious fuzzbox bender, along come Jeff The Brotherhood, pumping out catchy lo-fi rock n' roll. Like the Japandroids, this two man band includes plenty of psychedelic-tinged and fuzzed-out jamming, "Heavy Krishna" being a stellar example. The real standouts, however, are the title track, with its clipped punk vocals and sweet classic rock riffs, and "Bone Jam" with it's bashing drums and surf oooh-uh-oooh's. Overall, the songs are simple, the lyrics indiscernible, and the guitar distorted and awesome.

Check out the video – they spent a ton on special affects. I like to think that the third man is playing the leaf blower.

Portugal. The Man - The Satanic Satanist (2009)

After wallowing in a music rut, it feels good love an album again. In this case, it's The Satanic Satanist by Portland transplant Portugal. The Man. While last year's Censored Colors had its moments, nothing was as good as the killer lead single and future rock anthem "People Say", which meditates on war and loss over a couple sweet guitar lines and a great sing along chorus. It kicks off a solid set of songs that merge classic rock and psychedelic soul. However, like other standout modern revivalists The Features and The Jessica Fletchers, it isn't just about a retro sound or mood — the songs are loaded with pop hooks. Although I dig pretty much every song, my other two favorites are "Work All Day", which rides a great rhythmic and repetitive chorus, and "Do You", featuring imploring lyrics and huge fuzzed-out riffs.

Nachtmystium - Assassins: Black Meddle Pt. 1 (2008)

I started listening to Chicago based Nachtmystium with the release of their album Demise in 2004. Black metal in the US has been lacking to say the least, but in the last 5 years, it truly has developed its own style, and is starting to really kick ass. Assassins is a new invention of what can be called black metal, and I love it. Nachtmystium has (without subtlety) created an album that mimes Pink Floyd's, Meddle. The opening track, "One of these nights" is a grim take on the classic Meddle opener, "One of these days". With the start of the album, I get galloping guitars that lead into the 8 minute 2nd track, "Assassins" which is a thrashy black metal song that strays away from the norm with sparse riffs. The track ends with marching boots and sound effects that belong on Sabbath's Vol.4. From there, the album brings me up and down with solid black metal songs, but so many experimental full blown psychedelic jams that leave me wanting more. The first half of the album really has a good deal of black metal in it, hidden in tracks that pulse with a fluid forward motion. The second half of the album gets really psychedelic, with only one 'true' black metal track, "Omnivore" that is by far and wide the most brutal track on the album. The album ends with an epic three part opus, "Seasick". The entire three part track feels like I am floating in water, and defiantly gives my neighbors something to laugh at, as i play air guitar and headbang in front of my window for a solid 11 minutes. Throughout the entire album the same lyrics are sung over and over again that give me a very complete/fluid feel to the album. The songwriting of the band, the drums of Tony Laureano, and the brutal vocals of Blake Judd get me so stoked on listening to upcoming releases. If you take nothing else from this review take these 3 things:

In a genre of music founded upon satanism, suicide, murder, cannibalism, corpse paint, and church burning; we have this album..... which has a fucking saxophone solo, and I'm into it.

If you are into black metal, this album will open your eyes to the endless possibilities of the genre, and expand your perception of metal.

If you aren't into black metal, buy this album. Sit down. Listen to it in its entirety, uninterrupted, and be prepared to have a serious black metal problem in the future. If hardcore black metal is heroin, this is your weed that'll inevitably make you a drug addict.

Amazing Baby - Rewild (2009)

Amazing Baby's Rewild has all the elements that I love in an indie psych album: space rock guitars, chugga-chugga drums, abstract chants, dance beats, and layered vocals. The songs perfectly balance the shimmering experimental jams of the Secrete Machines with the all-but-the-kitchen-sink glam pop of MGMT. Best of all, the songs remain tight and catchy. Of course, my immediate favorites were the ones I loved off their free Infinite Fucking Cross EP — "Headdress", "The Narwhal" and "Pump Your Breaks" — but the new additions are just as good. I especially like the astral and glittery "Bayonets", the tambourine bashing and echo laden "Kankra", and the propulsive and slinking guitar riddled "Deerripper". "Roverfrenz" even features clattering beats that recall recent Animal Collective. Somehow they pull it all together and live up the high expectations set by the EP.

Hopewell - Good Good Desperation (2009)

I absolutely loved Hopewells last two albums, so I'm a bit bummed that Good Good Desperation doesn't consistently reach the same heights as Beautiful Targets. However, they seem to be going in a slightly different direction, opening up the songs, slowing some of them down, and incorporating more found sounds. Although the album is a bit of a mixed bag, the standouts still kick ass. The title track builds and crashes behind a chaotic mix of shouted lyrics, random yelps and ticking clocks, making for a epic and awesome psychedelic jam. Throughout the album tom heavy drum beats propel songs, sometimes into beautiful vocal choruses, like on "Islands", and other times into a massive guitar freakouts, like on the "Stranger". "Realms Of Gold" and "Over The Mountain" are also pretty sweet.

Animal Collective - Merriweather Post Pavillion (2009)

Ok, so I admit I'm a big Animal Collective Fan. BUT, I've always found their albums hard to listen to all the way through. I'm a skipper of songs. One of the first things I heard about this album was that pitchfork gave it a 9.7 or something ridiculously pretentious like that. Normally, I'm one of those assholes who just loves to disagree with the common sentiment, especially if it comes from Pitchfork. BUT, the new Animal Collective album is nothing short of amazing. I've heard from around the way girls that their single "My Girls" is blowing up. I'm conflicted about this. Because by the way "My Girls", is one of the best songs I've ever heard. But a band like this - I want to keep them too close for comfort. I feel about them the same way I feel about Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia (my absolute favorite television program0. I'm happy it's getting popular because it means it will march on - BUT I also have the urge to hold it close. This is definitely the most listenable Animal Collective album. BUT, the combination on Strawberry Jam of "For Reverend Green" and "Fireworks" is def one of my fave one-two punches ever. Check those out as well. BUT, I have to give Aminal Collective a high five for this album. I mean, have you listened to "My Girls"?!?!?! Nothing short of amazing. Some other faves from this album include "Blusish", and "Brothersport". In the middle of "Brothersport" I feel like I'm about to lose my mind - in a good way. I really don't know what else to say about this album aside from Animal Collective is one of the most creatively innovative jam bands today. I'm conflicted about this album because I'm an elitist asshole and its so good I know it will recruit a multitude of new fans. And I want them to keep it real, keep it weird. But with this album they really do! And for what its worth, from a hard-core fan of theirs before this, I'm continuously impressed and would recommend this to anyone. Give it a try, you've kindof got to be trying to be an asshole not to like this album.

Best songs: My Girls, Bluish, Brothersport.

Howlin Rain - Magnificent Fiend (2008)

This is classic psychedelic garage rock at its best, full of squiggly guitars and fuzzed up solos. The strained vocals backed by B3 pay homage to laid-back rambling man southern rock. However, it's the overall quality of the songs make this album stand out in an otherwise well-worn genre. "Calling Lightning Pt. 2" and "Lord Have Mercy" are just awesome. I bet they're even better live.