Sloan, The Double Cross

By Jemiah Jefferson

Canadian four-piece Sloan is one of the world’s most enduring cult-item bands (for everyone living outside Canada, that is; in the wily north, Sloan has been a ubiquitous source of pride for a large part of their twenty-year history). There’s a reason for this continued affection, slavishly on display at any of their raucous, friendly live shows: Sloan is a known quantity, and all ten of their albums lie on the spectrum between pretty damn good and iconically brilliant.
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Free Chiptunes Music Download: Oxvylu PASSWORD

By Less Lee Moore

If you like Chiptunes, you should check out PASSWORD, the latest release from Oxvylu. It’s the perfect addition to your weekend . . . and beyond! Enjoy!

From the press release:

This is your PASSWORD to a lavish trip . . . just imagine endless lounge rooms decorated with plastic trees, poofy couches, cheap perfume and slot machines overlooking a wonderfully fake beach scenario. Fill your world with easy listening chiptune music featuring bossanova drumbeats, foxtrot basslines and shiney hihat taps any 5-star hotel elevator would envy. Please enjoy PASSWORD by Oxvylu. Yes please thank you.

Download the Oxvylu PASSWORD album at no cost http://oxvylu.com/password/

About Oxvylu:
Oxvylu is a chiptunes artist from the gritty streets of Toronto, Ontario. He has been making videogamesounding music since he realized he could hook his Intellivision up to a stereo system. Seldom seen but often heard, Oxvylu produces some of the brightest yet darkest chiptunes you’ll ever hear. His 4th album PASSWORD is dedicated to rock’n’roller ‘Sam I Am’.

The Definitive Miles Davis on Prestige

By Magda Underdown-DuBois

For the most part, I tend to be attracted to bluesy lyrics that grip my gut and pull me involuntarily into sound and words. Instrumental jazz, like classical music, usually blends into background for me. Yet, I was introduced to the trumpeter/band leader Miles Davis by a dear ex-housemate, whose taste for adventure extends from Frank Zappa to Hot Chip. With that recommendation in mind, I committed to the experience of a two-disc set—The Definitive Miles Davis on Prestige.
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Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs, No Help Coming

By Danny R. Phillips

Country music as a genre, in my self-deluded opinion, has been on a downward, pop-infused shit spiral since the 1990s Garth Brooks era, culminating in the current supremacy of Carrie “Screech” Underwood and Taylor “Let’s Go To The Mall” Swift.

I feared all was lost, that the world would be contented with pop songs passed off as country because they contain one of the following things: a fiddle, a steel guitar, or the word “y’all.” Then I heard Holly Golightly & The Brokeoffs latest release No Help Coming. Rejoice traditionalists; this record is for you.
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The Definitive Bill Evans on Riverside and Fantasy

By Paul Casey

“I believe that all people are in possession, of what might be called a universal musical mind. Any true music speaks with this universal mind, to the universal mind in all people. The understanding that results will vary, only insofar as people have or have not been conditioned to the various styles of music, in which the universal mind speaks. Consequently, often some effort and exposure is necessary in order to understand some of the music coming from a different period or a different culture, than that to which the listener has been conditioned.

I do not agree that the layman’s opinion is less of a valid judgment of music than that of the professional musician. In fact, I would often rely more on the judgment of a sensitive layman than that of a professional, since the professional, because of his constant involvement in the mechanics of music, must fight to preserve the naivety that the layman already possesses.”
—Bill Evans

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Welcome To The Iceage

By Less Lee Moore

Photo © Alberte Karrebæk

This is Iceage. Although there’s a better press photo that proves these four Swedish guys are, in fact, still in high school, I picked this blurry one because it looks more akin to what they sound like. And that’s something I’m not yet fully able to describe.

Based on the song, “White Rune,” I’ve got high hopes for Iceage’s debut album New Brigade, which will be released via What’s Your Rupture? on June 21. It’s got that exciting, on-the-verge-of-collapsing, post-punk sound of which I will never grow tired.

Yet unlike a lot of revisionist-sounding post-punk bands, I can’t immediately name another band Iceage seems to be imitating. And “White Rune” features saxophone. You know the kind. Not sax of the Yacht Rock or Kenny G. flavor, but the bad ass kind.

New Brigade is a mere 24 minutes long but based on “White Rune” it looks to be an exhilarating 24 minutes. I will keep you posted.

In the meantime, check out the band’s website. They’re playing lots of UK dates in May so go see them if you can.

The Choir Indivisible: Scala & Kolacny Brothers Live

By Christian Lipski

Roseland Theater, Portland OR
March 9, 2011

Click for larger image.

Scala & Kolacny Brothers, a Belgian girls’ choir directed by Stijn Kolacny and accompanied on piano by brother Steven, has made its name by performing haunting covers of popular songs including Radiohead’s “Creep” from The Social Network‘s soundtrack. At the Wonder Ballroom last night, they gave Portland a taste of their European direction.

Even if you’ve heard their self-titled CD, which was recently reviewed in Popshifter, you can’t know what it’s like to hear these songs coming from 23 young women in an enclosed space. It gives the modern listener a glimpse into what early devotional music must have been like for medieval worshipers. Hearing so many human voices at once is incredibly moving, especially when paired with the right songs.
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Foo Fighters, Wasting Light

By Danny R. Phillips

I’ll say it right now: In my opinion, the last few Foo Fighters records have not been, shall we say, stellar. And I will add that I stopped buying them after There Is Nothing Left To Lose, my personal belief being it exposed two things that threw a monkey wrench (sorry, corny song reference there) into the works.
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Iggy & The Stooges, Raw Power Live

By Less Lee Moore

Raw Power, the last official Stooges record, was originally released in 1973 and has been the subject of conflict ever since (amongst the band and its fans), due to the various remixed and reissued versions. This live album, recorded in September 2010 at the All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival in New York is a great interpretation of Raw Power and completely free of any polemic politics. There are some minor changes: the track list is slightly rearranged and “I Got A Right” is added on at the end, but nothing could ever change the incredible spirit of these songs. Raw Power is the perfect description of not just The Stooges, but Iggy Pop himself.

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Invisible Hand, S/T

By Less Lee Moore

At first the name Invisible Hand conjured images of some kind of Scooby Doo villain. Discovering that the lead singer and songwriter is named “Adam Smith” (yes, his real name) made me laugh; hearing the band’s music did, too. Invisible Hand isn’t a joke band, though they are clever, both musically and lyrically. They’re also incredibly fun and addictive.

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