Tuesday, December 29, 2009

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ALBERT'S BASEMENT (MELBOURNE)
What do I know about the people whose tapes I've been distributing, or even about the labels themselves? Very little. A name and a location usually, and sometimes I can deduce that a band or two on the label is the handiwork of the label-head. So it is my own curiosity behind these interviews as much as any thought about readership, though I hope they are interesting to more than just the die-hards. Discovering Matthew Hopkins' (of Naked On the Vague) Near Tapes label made me very curious about the Australian music scene and the wealth of interesting music it was generating. When Albert's Basement, out of Victoria/Melbourne, got in touch with me about organizing some mutual distribution, I was eager to ask man-in-charge Michael about the tape and underground music going on around him.

Who are you and how long have you been running the label?
I'm a nobody from the inner suburbs of Melbourne. Was a grade A student then did average come exam times. I love shopping at the queen Victoria market and rolling around on my purple sheet bed. Label's been going since latish '08, Albert's Basement's been around doing shows since March '07 before that.

How would you characterize the Australian music scene versus other scenes in other countries?
I’m no judge really, all I can tell is there’s shitloads of amazing stuff happening all over the world. Apart from Australia I’ve mainly been getting into the American scene with bits and pieces from Europe and elsewhere too. There’s less people in Australia, so its harder I guess, but instead of isolating totally it means real nice bonds form. But also great things begin and die quickly without enthusiasm gathering. That’s the first question I didn’t really answer… Australian people are alright, mate.

How would you characterize the Victoria scene versus the Sydney scene?
Well Melbourne is the ‘it’ place for bands in Australia, at least in this decade, but that means there's a lot of boring bands here too, but a lot of good stuff all week long. Near Tapes and Rest In Peace Society are doing wonders in Sydney/NSW, plus Spanish Magic and Break Dance The Dawn (now in Brisbane).

I think you’d characterize it the same way as the Eggy things, our Taco Leg or Constant Mongrel is your Woolen Men, etc.

People are just doing things that are fun, having fun times with people, that’s the aim! Also, there’s lots of opportunities for far out bands here in Melbourne, but its tougher in Sydney, no venues etc..

How would you describe the relationship between the Australian and New Zealand scenes? Is there a lot of fluidity in terms of bands and musicians going back and forth?

No. All the good bands hardly ever tour in Australia. I saw Pumice from NZ play in Melbourne recently which was a real treat. A few great bands have sort of come from NZ to AUS I think (Garbage and the flowers, The School Of Radiant Living).

Pat from Sunshine And Grease (the best record store in Melbourne) stocks a lot of great music from NZ like pseudo arcana label etc. There’s a connectedness between AUS and NZ in all the great music that’s come from each over the last 40 years and the differences in character are beautiful. But yeah I haven’t gotten around much, I’m gonna start soon. I’m releasing something for With Moths from NZ, that dude seems real nicey. BUT the whole relationship is a world thing now I guess, yeah everyone's isolated but connecting with people doing like minded things on other half of globe. Like Garbage And The Flowers who I mentioned having just as much in common with Rosemary Krust from Maryland than any of the bands in Australia. It's a global scene? It prolly feels like that more here 'cuz we're so far apart from other cities and there's not many people.

One of the things I noticed on the Your Colla comp was the prevalence of drum machines and synthesizers, and the absence of guitars and traditional drum kits -- do you think that represents your personal taste in terms of what you curated for the tape, or do you think that's what people are thinking about in Victoria/Australia right now?
Nah I love guitars, and give me drums babeee! The inspiration for this tape came from dancing round my room to Nite Jewel, coming across Jeans Wilder and when those two combined with the songs I'd heard of SUPPER the idea of the tape was born. Skewed moods, I guess. So I guess its more how I curated the tape. I feel its all happening in Australia at the moment. Primo bands in all genres and in between all over Oz mate, every corner they’re at it doing it. We've got awesome bands making magic happen all over Australia right now, its amazing.

Why do you think tapes appeal to people right now?


Cuz they’re fuckin' cute things, real mysterious, you never know what you’re gonna get with a tape, such a strange format and listening experience. Fun. Tape tape tape tape tape. Because it’s the opposite of the way the world is racing up? Some people like tape. Some people don’t want tape!

What have you been listening to lately?
The Supreme Cool Beings (in the kitchen)
Vincent Over The Sink
Them Themselves Or They on Malt Duck!
Anything on Night People
The Polyps
All the good Australian stuff, yeah!
Human Adult Band 1-sider
All the good stuff in the world

What's in store for the future of Albert's Basement?
Quiet down with some tapes - First up is The Heartbeat, Team Red, 6majik9, Terror Bird, and split between Pissypaw and Weirding Module. 3 American bands, 1 North Australian and 2 from my home city. Plus keep the mini distro going getting stuff in I really love and trading/selling it to the enthusiasts. Sell all the old LPs…. Thats what happens in the Basement.. funk it up with all the colour balls…

-And now, the tapes:
V/A - Your Colla the Colour of Mounds - aB12
YOUR COLLA THE COLOUR OF MOUNDS - V/A - ALBERT'S BASEMENT 12
Nice comp of fringe pop from the Australian and North American undergrounds. Some familiar names might be Nite Jewel, Dirty Beaches, Jeans Wilder, Pink Priest. I'm particularly a fan of the Nite Jewel track, a German language cover of some sort with the right pop moves. The Australian acts make up a pretty good snapshot of what people like us who live in Australia are up to, which turns out to be drum machines and a couple laptops. Always fun to have a glimpse into another scene in progress. This tape holds together surprisingly well, definitely a "sound" being documented here. Everything more or less a little hazy, a little poppy. $5
Pink Priest - ab11
PINK PRIEST - INFANT TAPE - ALBERT'S BASEMENT 11
Dark, heavy synthesizer music, delivered in two or three minute shots. Songs rather than 'scapes, though they are quickly buried beyond recognition by the massive synths. There's definitely some doom in there. The man has a vision all his own, it'll be neat to hear where he goes with it. $5
Oscar Vicente Slorach-Thorn - Teeth - aB10
OSCAR VINCENTE SLORACH-THORN - TEETH - ALBERT'S BASEMENT 10
Pleasantly unclassifiable tape, I would maybe call it scuzz-house? One long-form, very rhythmic track stretches across both sides of the tape, and covers a lot of ground, rarely staying in one mode for longer than a few minutes. I think what makes this one stand out is the focus on the voice -- almost every sound on the tape comes from Mr. Slorach-Thorn's mouth. Not that he's a uniquely talented vocalist, but that it puts a very personal touch on the careening mass of sound, something that is too often faceless. $5
Nice little write-up of Eggy and the Majic Eyes tape over at Cassette Gods, you can scope it here. I've still have copies of the Majic Eyes tape, they cost $4, shipping details/info can be found here.

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Ran into Evan Miller, who recently transplanted here from Iowa City, at a Grouper show the other week and he handed me off a copy of the new Plane tape, which is his guitar duo project with Phil Ochs. I've been really digging it. Rare Youth, run by one of my favorite drone/improvers Geoff Mullen out of Providence/New England, put the tape out and I just got in touch with him about stocking the tapes, so I'll have those in a little bit, along with a couple other choice Rare Youth items, including a Keith Fullerton Whitman tape which I couldn't be more excited about. Anyway, getting the Plane tape was a reminder of the huge backlog of tapes I haven't had time to write about, Evan's tape for Gel among them:
Evan Miller - Contracting the Eye - GEL06
EVAN MILLER - CONTRACTING THE EYE - GEL06
Two placid, shimmering drones from Evan, each given it's own side. They are very appealing in their focused simplicity. The theme here is the soft, shifting pulse of two near-frequency tones. The glacial evolution of the work refuses narrative or linear dynamics, yet the pieces never quite slip into the background, moving at just the right pace to appear static but never actually settle. $6

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Of note, the excellent Calgary-based improv group Bent Spoon Duo recorded a special set for the WFMU show the Long Rally the other day and it's posted on Beware of the Blog. The set is really great, very mysterious music those two play. You can listen to it here. The reason I bring this up, other than that it's great music, is that I've still got a copy or two of Bent Spoon Duo's tape for Holy Cheever Church, called Fossils of Slumber. It's really a great tape and it bums me out a little bit that it hasn't flown off the shelf. You can order it at the mail order part of the site, here. Portland folks, if you dig Hammer of Hathor (and who doesn't?), you'll dig this tape.

Bent Spoon Duo - Fossils of Summer - HCC 020
Mike Khoury/Chris Riggs - My Words Came Out Slow and Odd - HCC 024

Sunday, December 13, 2009

Short notice, the Woolen Men are playing with Bodhi Monday night at Berbatis' Pan. Is free, I've heard Bodhi are pretty sick. 10pm.

Thursday, December 10, 2009

Local tapes!
I'm really happy to be stocking all of these as they represent some of my favorite music going on in Portland right now. I order a lot of tapes based on the reputation of the label or a hunch or nice cover art or whatever, but these are ones I really wanted to make sure I was carrying and tracked down. Pretty eclectic group here but all of it stellar.
Sad Horse - Self-Released
SAD HORSE - SELF-TITLED
Sad Horse come with a Mississippi Records pedigree and their 7" for the label's North Portland Music Series is a prized item in my record collection. Though out-of-print for a little while now, five of that record's six tracks ("Coyote" is absent) are on this tape, along with a dozen or so other tracks of similar vintage. Sad Horse play short, fast songs that are as punky as they are personable, whose frenetic energy plays off their odd structures and meters. I think one of the reasons I like their music so much is that the personalities of the two members come out so well -- that it seems like two people making music together as a way of life. I'm looking forward to their next release, and hopefully it'll have their killer cover of Dead Moon's "Loafer" that they've been playing at their shows recently. Only $3!
Pete Swanson - Denim Life
PETE SWANSON - DENIM LIFE
Pete Swanson - Unlimited Options
PETE SWANSON - UNLIMITED OPTIONS
I'm pretty certain that these are Pete's first releases since the end of Yellow Swans, and it's hard to be bummed about that group's end if it means more releases like these ones. Both of these tapes are really amazing -- it's clear that Pete has been at this game for a long time. The man knows what he's doing and how to make music that is shredded, imploding, brutal and above all beautiful. I was shocked at how emotional this music is and the kind of visceral punch it packs. Unlimited Options is the more monolithic of the two tapes -- each side is a heavy duty drone that builds in intensity at the same time that it feels like it's disintegrating. Denim Life feels more tangible with the rhythmic and melodic undercurrents of the two pieces (similarly side-long drones) showing more clearly through the obliterated sonics. I can't decide which one is my favorite. Each is $6.
Nucular Aminals - Self-Titled - Ick Ick Records
Nucular Aminals - Self-Titled - Ick Ick Records
Very charming bedroom recordings from the Aminals. I particularly like the combination of '90s-isms and '60s-isms. On the one hand, the muffled DIY sound, strum-y songs with weird lyrics, on the other, plenty of vocal harmonies and those great, great organ lines. Some very catchy numbers here, in their own off-kilter way (i.e. the best way), and a Daniel Johnston cover to close things out ("Walking the Cow," one of my favorite songs in the world). I hear there is a 7" on the way. $4

Monday, December 7, 2009

Woolen Men & Total Bros & Total Noise
Show Wednesday -- should be a good one!
Also, new tapes on the way:
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IMG_0325[1]
IMG_0330[1]
IMG_0335[1]

Friday, December 4, 2009

I'm a little bit slow on this one, but Impose Magazine did a feature on Eggy a few weeks ago, you can read it here. At the bottom of the page you can download a compilation of music from the Eggy label proper that I put together. Impose has done similar features on a couple other awesome tape labels:
Night-People
Gnar Tapes and Shit
Not Not Fun

PS. Got my hands on a couple of Pete Swanson's new tapes, the first stuff he's done since the end of Yellow Swans, I believe. They are amazing. I've been stocking them a the Half and Half, proper update about those guys soon. Also, got some copies of Sad Horse's tape. Same material as was on the CDR -- nothing new but still one of my favorites! At the Half and Half for a mere $3.

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Jeff's car drawing
Two Eggy-related events to report -- Wet Hair, fronted by Night-People main man Shawn Reed, are playing in Portland again tonight (Tuesday) with Pete Swanson, Eternal Tapestry and Chrome Wings. It's a house show, I think, 5245 NE 15th Ave, which is between Alberta and Killingsworth, I've been told.
And Mattress concludes their month-long residency at Berbati's Restaurant on Wednesday, playing with Magic Johnson this last time out. Should be really killer. Music starts a little after 10PM, free.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Night-People Tapes
I've been deluged with tapes! Really great stuff from Digitalis LTD, Gel Tapes, Goaty Tapes and Night-People. I haven't had a chance to listen to everything yet, but this is a start. The Gel and Digitalis tapes are already down at the Half and Half, hope to start stocking the Goaty stuff tomorrow, Night-People by next week.

***

Digitalis is an industry unto itself. The Tulsa-based web magazine and label has been around seemingly forever, and has released music by, or helped establish, countless stellar fringe, folk and avant-garde musicians. The cassette tape branch of the label, Digitalis Limited, started up around two years ago, I think, and has released about 100 tapes since. It boggles the mind.
Brother Raven - Nellie - LTD104
Brother Raven - Nellie - Digitalis LTD. 103
It seems like more and more folks on the cassette tape underground are dusting off their old synthesizers and letting themselves go in the drift of mellow electronic tones. Not sure why that is exactly, but it makes me happy so I'm not too concerned. "Nellie" is really a treat because of the focus and restraint evident across its five tracks. The whole tape maintains a cohesive mood without feeling inert, and the compositions are all carefully put together in terms of tone and melody. There's something about the feel of the tape that reminds me of German synth stuff from the 1970s, but on the whole considerably less romantic and melodramatic, and definitely pre-New Age. Brother Raven are taking heavy cues from that era but their stuff has it's own place. $6
Lakes - Monument of Nests - LTD103
Lakes - Monument of Nests - Digitalis LTD. 103
Nice little chunk of dark, homemade pop music very much in the vein of Tall Dwarfs or Pumice. I like the energy on this tape a lot, it feels sideways somehow. The energy of being stuck in. "It's a day for staying inside," the Great Unwashed song goes. Lots ramshackle percussion and squiggles of weird noise adorn what at heart are oddly catchy pop songs. $6
Plankton Wat - Our Solar Beings - LTD95
On this tape, Plankton Wat create the traditional music of an undiscovered culture. The instrumentation is acoustic, with some nice, subtle electronic effects that quietly underlie a couple tracks. The songs are uncluttered, and understated, and the tape holds really nicely together as a whole. I also particularly like the art for this tape because it reflects the music well -- simple, balanced, quietly mysterious. $6

***

Goaty Tapes, currently based in Connecticut, has been quietly releasing amazingly packaged tapes for a couple years now. Each tape is a little event, involving multiple colors, textures and weights of paper, letter-press seriousness and cut-and-paste whimsy, and brightly colored tapes. This latest batch of tapes is very much in the outsider-pop mode -- two of the three have a whiff of Shadow Ring about them.
Banana Head - In the Tubs - Goaty Tapes
Banana Head - In the Tubs - Goaty Tapes (inserts)
Banana Head - In the Tubs - Goaty Tapes
Blankets of reverb, tremelo and tape skuzz hide what is secretly a collection of pop songs, albeit off-kilter ones. Reminds me a lot of those early OCS records -- strange and far away, but at the same time familiar and vulnerable. By the second time through, the pop-song logic behind the tracks begins to reveal itself, and that's when they really start to work their way into your brain. Codine sadness. A tape for winter. $7
Bird - Hoy En Dia - Goaty Tapes
Bird - Hoy En Dia - Goaty Tapes (inserts)
BIRD - HOY EN DIA - GOATY TAPES
Short, strange tape that's a peek into a girl's very unique looking glass. Home-made drumming and cheap keyboards back-up vocals that've been run though thrift store autotune, giving the whole tape an uneasy haze about it. Some tracks remain abstract, while a couple lock into a nice propulsive, sing-songy energy. Katie Leming is half of the strange, powerful Cro Magnon, who record for the venerable De Stijl label. $7
Vincent Over the Sink - Bible Bashers - Goaty Tapes
Vincent Over the Sink - Bible Bashers - Goaty Tapes (inserts)
VINCENT OVER THE SINK - BIBLE BASHERS - GOATY TAPES
I've been a big fan of Vincent Over the Sink since picking up 22 Coloured Bull-Terriers, which came out on Near Tapes the other year(which I've still got a few copies of, by the way). They seemed very at ease in both the skewed pop realm and also doing the noisier stuff, which is still the case on the new tape, although the two poles seems much closer together this time out. The tape opens in a mode very much indebted to the Shadow Ring, including some nice background electronics, before moving on through some varied ground. Other highlights are the woozy, trumpet-lead, song-y passages. Side B veers into strange territory. Half of the duo that makes up Vincent Over the Sink is Matthew from Naked On the Vague. $7

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Dim Holys - Paranoid Awareness
A couple of Eggy-related items:
Brian Mumford's Dim Holys project has a new CDR, called Paranoid Awareness, available at the Half and Half. Let's be honest, shit is brutal, really, really brutal, but also pretty amazing. Feverish, headachey, it's one half-hour long track that makes you feel weird. The textures are harsh but the whole piece is constantly shifting and folding back in on itself. Totally unlike any noise or drone music I've ever heard. Brian self-released this CDR in an edition of 10 which is mostly gone, but this is definitely a very good and very strange release, so I can't imagine it will never be available again after they're gone. The next CDR is already done, or so I hear. Also, I've still got a copy or two of the first Dim Holys tape, Is There Heat Rising In Your Neck, which came out on OMS-B, and which is 180 degrees from this CDR, being peaceful, glacial sleep-drones.

Also, Mattress is two weeks into their month long residency at Berbati's Restaurant. The show last night was killer, with Don Hellions opening. Two more Wednesdays to go, free, music starts a little after 10. The last show is on the 25th with Magic Johnson, and maybe I will have the new Mattress tape on Eggy done by then.

Last, I am buried in tapes, will hopefully get that stuff organized this weekend. Quickly, all three tapes from Digitalis -- Brother Raven, Lakes, Plankton Wat -- are really solid, some of my favorite tapes to come out recently. Not sure why, but I only ordered a couple of each, so they're gonna go quick. Dunebuggy tape from Gel is great, looks great. Huge box of stuff arrived from Night-People today, and a box from Goaty as well.

Friday, October 30, 2009

Eggy Records table
Thanks to everyone who stopped by the Eggy Records table the other night! The Labelmates event was really fun and pleasant. Nice to see people and chat. I was next to Eric and the Audiodregs table -- it's been a while since I've paid close attention to what they've been doing (Audiodregs was definitely a favorite label of mine growing up in Portland) and it was great to be reminded that they are still such a solid, positive force in the Portland scene. Also, cool to meet some of the Gnar Tapes dudes -- picked up their tapes by Lucky Dragons and Starving Weirdos. Picked up the new Lucky Dragons 12" on Teenage Teardrops from the Marriage booth, too, which is really, really great. It's made up of a handful of longer, hypnotic tracks, much less frayed and playful than the last LP. More like the Widows stuff.
A bunch of tapes arrived from Gel yesterday, they look awesome, I hope to have them down at the Half and Half in the next couple days. Digitalis stuff should be arriving soon. And the next batch of Eggy stuff is coming together really quickly. The next three will be:
Mattress
The Honeys
Lame Drivers

(cassette tape cookies I made for the Holocene event)
happy tape cookies
distressed tape cookies

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Event tomorrow!
The good people at Holocene have organized an event to spotlight the small labels of Portland and nearby Portland. It's a free event with DJs, a screening of new music videos, a couple bands and a bunch of label booths. States Rights, Marriage, Audiodregs, K, and a handful of other labels will be in attendance. Stop by the Eggy table for tapes and cookies. Early-type event, starts around 7 I think.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Last minute notice, the Woolen Men return to the World Famous Kenton Club tonight (on Kilpatrick, right off Denver). Fan club to meet after at either Heavenly Doughnuts or Javier's.

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Visitation Rites is a good place to go for an intelligent take on contemporary fringe and psychedelic musics. They recently kicked off a series of music videos made by "video-artist-in-residence" Samantha Cornwell (who I've actually known for years!) with a track from the upcoming Lame Drivers II tape for Eggy, called "Demondzblood." I've embedded the video below but the original post is here and includes an explanation of the project and the thinking behind the video. I recommend you check it out, as well as the rest of Visitation Rites, a site I read on a semi-regular basis.

Lame Drivers- "Demondzblood" from Samantha Cornwell on Vimeo.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Every once in a while I come across a label that somehow wasn't on my radar and that just blows me away. Goaty Tapes is a prime example. Goaty are making some amazingly beautiful tapes, even for a subculture where labor-intensive, obsessively designed objects are the norm. Color, texture, shape and size are all utilized to incredible effect. And the music represented on the label is nice cross section of the fringe scene right now, ranging from song-leaning to fairly abstract, artists both domestic and international.

CAETHUA/ANCESTRAL DIET SPLIT - GOATY TAPES
I've been a Caethua fan for a while now (here's an interview I did for Foxy Digitalis) and was excited to hear what she was up to. Her past stuff played the murky folk game -- stacked-up vocals, dirt reverb, vignetted grime-scapes -- this tape is a new leaf. Sun or ice, the tone is bright and pure, an electric pattern backed by flowing organ and bird calls. Then a wisp of golden folk song before sudden dusk and menacing collage sounds. One long track, makes me think of Linda Perhacs. Ancestral Diet on the flip play it much simpler -- a hovering drone opens onto voice and piano mantra, tape speeds become vague and then back to drone. Nice. The Caethua side is one of the best things I've heard all year, and the packaging is pretty stunning. $7
Caethua/Ancestral Diet Split - Goaty Tapes
Caethua/Ancestral Diet Split - Goaty Tapes
Caethua/Ancestral Diet Split - Goaty Tapes
Caethua/Ancestral Diet Split - Goaty Tapes

MUDBOY - GOATY TAPES
Three tracks, first a synthesizer meditation. Subtle shifts in texture and dynamics work to great effect. Simple and confident, free of junk. Two starts with Eno sounds, then pulls them into dissonance. Dips, warbles, becomes the third track, a throbbing, sea-sick, heavily manipulated organ-grinder's song. $7
Mudboy - Eno Trouble/Midiwards/Happy Birthday Song - Goaty Tapes
Mudboy - Eno Trouble/Midiwards/Happy Birthday Song - Goaty Tapes
Mudboy - Eno Trouble/Midiwards/Happy Birthday Song - Goaty Tapes

Wednesday, September 23, 2009


The latest tape from the Polyps is out now on Night-People Records. You can order it at their website, along with about ten other tapes that just came out (I've got my eye on the Twerps one and the Taterbug one). This is what they have to say:
"An eclectic collage sensibility prevails on this recording, track to track there is an interesting variety, synth goop and guitar drone mix with burnt to hell upbeat folky pop tunes vaguely reminiscent of a 90's Expressway vibe, totally its own deal though, another almost unclassifiable tape from Night-People."






Sunday, September 20, 2009

Non-Portland residents, Eggy Mail Order is now up and running.
Portland residents, the mail order site is a pretty good list of everything in the vaults that won't fit on the shelves at the Half and Half. If you want any of those releases, shoot me an email and I will bring it down to the Half and Half.

Friday, September 18, 2009

BIG EVENT THIS WEEKEND! TWO-DAY FESTIVAL! JEFF KRIKSCIUN FEST 2009!
DAY ONE!
GOODBYE, POODLES!
THE LAST POODLES SHOW EVER IS TOMORROW AT THE HALF AND HALF! 6:30! THE WOOLEN MEN ARE ALSO PLAYING!
DAY TWO!
GOODBYE, JEFF/HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BRIAN MUMFORD!
WITH EXCLAMATION MARK AND THE HYSTERIANS FEATURING MANY OF YOUR FAVORITE PORTLAND PERSONALITIES! THIS SATURDAY! I WILL BE DJING A LITTLE BIT! AT VALENTINE'S!
http://bit.ly/mumkrik30bye

Monday, September 7, 2009

I did an interview with Shayla Hason and Aaron Rose of ANP Quarterly a little while back for a Wieden & Kennedy internet program about Portland music and culture. Here's the trailer, and the full episode should run sometime in the next couple months:

Saturday, September 5, 2009

These are the three latest releases from Eggy Records proper:
Majic Eyes - S/T
MAJIC EYES - S/T
Danny is a friend of mine from Providence, now living in San Francisco. This tape is the debut of his bedroom psych-pop project Majic Eyes. The territory here is the hazy pop of prime Elephant 6 -- weird, blown out sounds, solid pop songs, strange, sometimes disturbing, lyrics. What really stands out is the simplicity of these songs, and the stripped-down arrangements make the sturdiness of the song-writing apparent. Adorned with restraint, the simple, home-made percussion, odd synthesizer noise and doubled-up vocals buttress the songs in the right places without weighing them down. Eggy Records is very proud to be introducing this music to a larger audience. $4







Selda Bagcan - '71
SELDA BAGCAN - '71
I picked up a Selda Bagcan(pronounced "bah-jan") CD when I was in Istanbul a few years ago after hearing her music on both the Love, Peace and Poetry: Turkey compilation and the first self-titled CD that Finders Keepers released. The CD turned out to be a collection of early singles, circa 1971, that were much more melodic and rooted in folk music than the heavy-hitting psych grooves of the other releases. In this stripped down setting her incredible voice and guitar playing really shine. The CD quickly became a personal favorite and one I've listened to on a regular basis ever since that trip to Turkey. Despite many reissues of her early catalog, most of the tracks are still effectively unavailable to anyone living outside of Turkey, hence this Eggy release. Ten songs altogether, this selection represents the peak of Selda's early career. It should be noted that five of these tracks are available on the World Psych LTD Selda release of material largely from the mid 70s, but A) I do not care for the rest of the music on that CD and B) my two favorite Selda songs -- the Yalan Dunya/Kalenin Dibinde Tas Ben Olaydim single, which features the incredible garage/psych/traditional Turkish group Mogollar (pronounced "moh-oh-lar") as her backing band -- were left off. $4







Illustrated Selda discography here.
Unofficial Selda myspace.
The Woolen Men - Pavilion
This is the debut EP of the scrappy, bright-eyed Woolen Men. The six songs here highlight the basic principles guiding this Portland trio: energy, melody, simplicity. Comparisons have run the gamut from first generation Flying Nun and 1970s Talking Heads to Tom Petty and early Police, but the through line is well-written songs hammered out by a steady schedule of dates around town. Much more from these guys on the way. $4






Wednesday, September 2, 2009

TONIGHT:
Woolen Men
Sad Horse
Mangled Bohemians
at Slabtown, 1033 NW 16th ave. Portland, FREE

TOMORROW:
The Polyps
Brian Mumford/Dana Dart-McLean
at the Half and Half, 6pm, for Reading Frenzy's 15th anniversary