IVE: Featuring an exclusive cd (based on chosen visual art) with contributions from The Mountain Goats, Britta Phillips, Grasshopper, Jim White + more - ESOPUS 5 is prepared for owning. We tried to sound professional with ESOPUS founder Tod Lippy a while back - you decide.

If anyone wants to let go of issue 3 - I kindly await your offer.

{10.18.05 :: PM}

here's yet a(nother) digital mixtape awaiting you over at pissyeller - "to all the girls I've loved before". Explore the entire page and be sure to find the "bonus" track buried in the text.

{10.06.05 :: AM}

:!: Eerie : Orange : Blood :!:

{09.30.05 :: AM / revisited 10.18.05 :: PM }

[ 3 for Rita ] -or- [ the weekend forecast ] -or- [ shortages ]

{09.23.05 :: AM}

here's a digital mixtape awaiting you over at pissyeller - hear Phil Elvrum scratching, remember the Verve and learn about animals & insects all the while. Part 1 of 6 archived mixes themed in all things creature (from 2003/2004) - look for the others at some unspecified point in time.

{09.10.05 :: AM}

n an attempt to keep our 18 and under readers alert to major happenings in the press, we bring you Britt Daniel and his Sunday thoughts on 1999. This scan from the October 2005 issue of Penthouse (page 17, directly under the Dandy Warhols Top 5). Bless you.

{09.06.05 :: AM}

[ click above ONLY if you are A} serious about the MENOMENA, B} have a stable connection that can handle a 34tb file and C} can stomach 'recycle monsters ' made entirely of Betamax tape handing out gifts not fit for the local Goodwills of Portland. ]

{ 08.28.05 :: AM }

n this age of live TV lip-synching mini-scandals and electromagnetic toys like “pitch-shifters” – a gee-gaw that “adjusts” a singer’s pitch for a studio recording – it’s sometime difficult to know if what you’re hearing is the real goods or the producer’s (or record company’s) window-dressing. Not so with vocalist Kelly Hogan. Once a guitarist with Georgia’s garage-gloom Rock*A*Teens, this woman – no naïf/waif intonations here, she sings like a grown-up, by gum! – has both range and depth, influenced by (though not imitative of) country singers Patsy Cline and Charlie Rich and blue-eyed soul icon Dusty Springfield. Refusing to be pigeonholed as a “retro act,” the Georgia-bred, Chicago-based Hogan is comfortable singing Dionne Warwick and Will Oldham/Palace songs (often accompanied by Mekons’ spin-off Pine Valley Cosmonauts) as she is guesting with the thorny post-punk ensemble Silkworm. Her latest project is Love Hall Tryst, a collaborative CD (on the Appleseed label) with fellow Chicago thrush Nora O’Connor (a very fine singer, as well), actor/singer Brian Lohman, and laconic, “Elvish” alt-folkie John Wesley Harding. It’s performed mostly a capella – vocals w/out instruments, for the Latin-challenged – and it ought to be something to see them pull it off live. SEE! An itinerary punctuated by thrills, chills, and a madman’s lust for the perfect vocal group!

West coast dates :
Sat Aug 27: Acoustic Music San Diego, San Diego CA
Sun Aug 28: McCabes, Santa Monica CA
Mon Aug 29: Cafe Du Nord, San Francisco CA
Tue Aug 30: Palms Playhouse, Winters CA
Thu Sept 1: Cosmic Pizza, Eugene OR
Fri Sept 2: Mississippi Studios, Portland OR
Sun Sept 4: "JWH - Songs of Misfortune" at Bumbershoot, Seattle WA

{ 08.27.05 :: PM, Mark K }

AVES DAYS and MOMENTS:

{08.10.05 :: PM}

ind a recent interview and studio preformance from Craig Minowa and his Cloud Cult {see Joy's sctas review} at Seattle's prized KEXP online archive. 5 songs + chat time! "She showed me Jesus® at the bottom of a Colt .45!"

Yes, this year will close and - yes - Advice From The Happy Hippopotamus will be on the good list.

{08.09.05 :: AM}

or those who require and expect stark beauty in song, Mister J. Tillman has posted 2 new tracks from his upcoming fall release, long may you run, j. tillman, on his very own site. A quick glance at the review we posted of Josh's debut ( I Will Return ) prior to Keep Recordings giving it the (breathtaking) limited makeover will fill you in on the greatness.

Long may you record, J. Tillman.

{07.29.05 :: AM}

enerally, I don't go all zippyfuckingboobah over the mail, but today the new dreamend album arrived (graveface records)- with the most beautiful artwork I have seen in a shockingly long while (maybe since Slipknot's IOWA.. .?). Stumptown calls it the Arigato Pak!, but when you lay design on it as fantastic as what we see here - it's a whole new land of Oz. Two guys are to point at for the beauty - supreme mail-artist & then some William Schaff (main art and album title, "Maybe we're making god sad and lonely") and Dylan McConnell (inside of the Pak!). I unfolded mine to get the whole picture, it's worth it. Hold the phone .. . there's a damn audio disc in here too! dreamend rocks the circuit with samples of withered grandmothers preaching the gospel ("In her little bed we lay her") over a warm saucer of intense instrumentation.

dreamend is the new loud. they've been the new loud. $8 gets you all this. Need I say, it was a good day.

{07.26.05 :: PM}

ndiana-based and all-around fantastic label Tract Records is seeking submissions for a future "experimental / noise / ambient" release. Thomas Heath, head Tract, says "keep 'em weird and previously unreleased...". Email T Heath here or visit his site then email him.

{07.26.05 :: AM}

get the strangest feeling I've heard alot of these songs on The BELIEVER's June/July 2005 Music Issue [< click for full tracklist] somewhere before.. . oh - they're all fantastic cover creations! The Decemberists take on Joanna Newsom ("Bridges & Balloons"), CocoRosie runs Damien Jurado's "OHIO" through a mesmerizing vintage radio and Mount Eerie cover TLC's Thanksgiving's "Waterfalls".. . that's just three of seventeen total on this months cover cd. Worth much more than the $8 asking price to see Dan Akroyd breakdancin' on the last page (created by the Brandon Bird ).

{07.19.05 :: AM}

ll aboard the Pirate ship that's heading to Astoria, Oregon (GOONIES!) for the 2nd festival of Catch that Beat! A two-day affair that will see Thanksgiving, the Blow, Mt. Eerie, YACHT and many more of that kind face the place - it's bound to be a true "scene"! August 27th - mark it with an 'x'.

{07.18.05 :: PM}

ind nice "sound-grub" from brother Testface's latest album Doctor Wont You Get Us To Dawn over at Sleepsound Records (home to my lead album of the year, Weasel on a Weathervane by Armored Frog). Thank us later, listen now. Now. Git!

{07.14.05 :: AM}

t one time, you either had to have a tight connection to Japan & Europe (where this band is bigger than Jesus®) or a smarter way of getting Portland's 31 Knots' The Curse of the Longest Day 4-song to your American home. Well, the gents at Polyvinyl (new home to of Montreal as well) have snagged 31k and - as offering to get you prepared for an upcoming LP (Talk Like Blood, October) - brought it home.

If opener "Welcome to Stop" gives you a swell Domestica-era Cursive vibe, you do not walk the path of greatness alone.

ursive & Saddle-Creek also have that rarities 7" collectionn (remastered) The Difference Between Houses and Homes (Lost Songs and Looses Ends 1995 - 2001) ready to go August 23rd. Hell, if you desire these songs on vinyl (again) - there's the 180g option for the same price.

{07.09.05 :: AM}

here is a superb compilation out in the terrored world - patiently waiting for you to obtain it. Ball of Wax, #1 for Summer 2005, will have you checking the tracklist at the beginning of every song - and you've got 16 in all. Compiled by the legendary Levi Fuller, this "audio quarterly" is a fucking steal for $4 (its $3 in some stores). Screened cover booklet and extensive liner notes - this is 'best of 2005' material in an instant. Those fond of pleasant music - jam on it. $4 shipped!

{07.08.05 :: AM}

ho knew that come August Nine, Polyvinyl will release a shining 7" with the MENOMENA's Tung Track b/w Posh Isolation! (wait a minute.. . strike that - reverse it.. )Well boy howdy - now we all know. MENOMENA offer plenty of tax-free listenables on a page called here. I highly recommend the Rose demo. Like a barren ghost stuck in a trunk of ivory brilliance, her name is Rose.

{07.06.05 :: PM}

ountdown chimes to less than one week until Turn Records (officially) unleashes one of the albums of 2005 with Thee More Shallows More Deep Cuts. Jeff's practically giving it to you for only $10, and the pre-orders are shipping now kittens.

Need some firepower to get that shopping cart rollin'? I lead you now to the mini-piano thump by way of huge drum love of > 2AM <.

{07.05.05 :: PM}

or a label that has been trying to "go out of business" for years , SubPop sure can hook the real freakin' deals.

I have a cd-r of about 11 band of Horses demos that have A]driven me down and back from a great beach trip, B] driven me all around my town & to work, and C] become fixtures in my head for a while now.

Fresh off a small set of dates with Iron & Wine, and headed into a Seattle studio soon to prepare for one of 2006's most anticipated records - there's one track in particular ( Funeral ) that has me all antsy to see how this demo version could get any better.

To catch those not keeping score up, band of Horses is led by the Ben Bridwell (post-Carissa's Wierd.. . superb as well) who basically handed SubPop the tapes (being longtime friends with the Sam Beam) that nations now refer to as Iron & Wine's The Creek Drank the Cradle.

{07.04.05 :: PM}

n an attempt to complete the collection (with many, many more to go), I've been on the hunt for past (and rare) Raygun issues. My latest postal arrival being issue 49, a Bjork cover from back in 1997. Why no music / style magazine has attempted to redirect their prefab layout to the David Carson / Raygun / SUBSTANCE-style is far beyond me.. . the blueprint is right here in front of you.

On that ramble, ESOPUS #4 is calling you. Advert-free, hands-on design elements and one original music disc above the rest - at $10, there is no better investment I can lead you to.

I purchased a set.

{07.03.05 :: PM}

his weekend has found us peeking through hefty crates of older albums - some still new to us. Among the many, there are a few that pre-date sctas or were just sadly overlooked a year ago, listed below are 2 worth the seek:

INOUK - Search For The Bees [say hey records]: 4 songs covering spastic "rawk" ("sailor song") to the hushed ("cherry orchard"). Worth the hunt for all four jams, positively. Get it new for $5 here.
The bands own site is "gone", so if anyone has clues to the current status - let us know.

Lincoln - Mettle [Narwhal] : since 2001 (see: Barcelona), I've adored this .co.uk crew. 2002's Mettle saw a more vocal, somewhat less aggressive side to Lincoln - and kids who adore the Smiths or grand music in general will scream with delight.

{07.03.05 :: PM}

eaningless. {07.03.05 :: AM}

mazing where Iron & Wine's Sam Beam can turn up - this month in PENTHOUSE (August 2005 issue), page 67. I kid you not - the article is labeled "Festival Virgin" - in relation to Iron & Wine playing Bonnaroo. {07.03.05 :: AM}

loud Cult, Advice From The Happy Hippopotamus . I'm going to have to give this 25-track (!!) album a solid "yes". Think Eels electro-shock-era crossed with Floatation Toy Warning.. . you're closer. {07.03.05 :: AM}