MP3: The Builders and The Butchers - “When It Rains”

Portland, Oregon’s The Builders and The Butchers, led by songwriter / vocalist Ryan Sollee have been road warriors for the past year or so, and are heading back out on tour later this month for a national tour opening for Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls.

This piece from the Willamette Week serves as a great intro to the band:

[AMERICANA GOTHIC] At the Builders and the Butchers’ CD release party earlier this month, the band walked out of Valentine’s in the middle of its last song-and most of the audience followed. Around the corner at Voodoo Doughnut, the assembled crowd sang, “Find me, oh find me/ In the air, Lord, in the air,” to the late-night doughnut slingers and their patrons. Then it was back to Valentine’s for a couple more rounds of the gospel number’s chorus-a finish that left everyone feeling like they’d played a part in the good time.

Though the band describes itself as a blues and gospel ensemble, its music comes off more like rock ‘n’ roll invented during the Great Depression: The Builders’ shows are more like revivals than concerts, with audience members clapping, stomping, playing band-distributed tambourines, washboards and Little Tikes tom-toms and, of course, singing along. “I like songs that smack you in the face with the chorus [like] a big baseball bat,” says frontman Ryan Sollee. Not surprisingly, Sollee’s also the one running around at shows with an old bullhorn.

And the five-piece’s slew of instruments doesn’t end there: Acoustic bass, mandolin, banjo, organ, trumpet, Sollee’s acoustic guitar and two drummers (each focused on a single drum) are joined by occasional accordion and violin-not to mention the instruments in the hands of the audience. “One of my big weaknesses is going in a thrift shop and, any musical instrument that’s under $5, I just buy it,” Sollee says. “My girlfriend hates it.”

All this hoopla wasn’t necessarily intended, however. Sollee and former Builder Adrienne Hatkin (of local indie-folk outfit Autopilot) were starting a “funeral music” band, and Sollee started writing songs with a call-and-response core about dead relatives, coal mines and the creepiest bodies of water, lakes. When he played the songs for some fellow Anchorage music-scene transplants, they picked up whatever instruments were around and joined in, and a devoutly acoustic band was born.

But the Builders’ initial never-plug-in philosophy has been compromised, as larger crowds have forced the band to amp up and move from the middle of the crowd to the stage. But it’s a transition the band’s happenstance founding seems to facilitate. In fact, the trademarks of the Builders’ stage show-arming the crowd with instruments or taking their last song off down the street-are mostly things the band tried merely as one-time experiments. “I just want to see who we can get to follow us,” explains Sollee. By describing the genesis of the Builders’ off-kilter finales, Sollee has inadvertently summed up his whole band.

-BRANDON SEIFERT, WILLAMETTE WEEK

THE BUILDERS AND THE BUTCHERS
all dates with Amanda Palmer

11/12/08 Nashville, TN Mercy Lounge
11/14/08 Asheville, NC The Orange Peel
11/15/08 Raleigh, NC Lincoln Theatre
11/16/08 Atlanta, GA Variety Playhouse
11/18/08 Washington, DC 9:30 Club
11/19/08 New Haven, CT Toad’s Place
11/21/08 New York, NY Webster Hall
11/22/08 Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
11/24/08 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
11/25/08 Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
11/29/08 Millvale, PA Mr. Smalls Theater
11/30/08 Toronto, ONT Mod Club
12/02/08 Ferndale, MI The Magic Bag
12/03/08 Chicago, IL Metro
12/05/08 Minneapolis, MN First Avenue
12/06/08 Denver, CO Bluebird Theatre
12/07/08 Aspen, CO Belly Up
12/08/08 Murray, UT Murray Theatre
12/10/08 Vancouver BC Richards on Richards
12/11/08 Seatttle, Showbox Theater
12/12/08 Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
12/13/08 Sacramento, CA Harlow’s
12/15/08 San Francisco, CA Bimbo’s 365 Club
12/16/08 Los Angeles, CA Henry Fonda Theatre

THE BUILDERS AND THE BUTCHERS LINKS:

Myspace: www.myspace.com/thebuildersandthebutchers

Label Page: bladencountyrecords.com/

MP3: Crystal Stilts - “Shattered Shine”

MP3: Cause Co-Motion! - Which Way Is Up?”

Slumberland labelmates (and friends) Crystal Stilts and Cause Co-Motion! are heading out on tour together, hitting the West Coast. It’s the first set of West Coast dates for Crystal Stilts, while Cause Co-Motion! have made the trek before. Both bands have brand new releases as of this past Tues, Oct. 28.

Crystal Stilts bio:

It’s no big secret that Brooklyn has been the home for some mighty happening music lately, but there are few bands with as unique a vibe and presence as Crystal Stilts. Formed in 2003 by Brad Hargett and JB Townsend, they quickly recorded their debut single “Shattered Shine” with their mate Sean Mafucci (Gang Gang Dance, Kid Congo Powers). The combination of Brad’s deep and mysterious vocals with JB’s classicist
garagey twang struck an immediate chord with New York’s music lovers, and 2005 and 2006 saw the band play with everyone from Blood On The Wall and Cause Co-Motion! to The Long Blondes and 1990s, culminating in the addition of organ player Kyle Forrester (Ladybug Transistor) and the recording of a 4 song EP.

2007 and 2008 were busy for the band as well, rounding out the line-up with bassist Andy Adler (The Ninjas) and drummer extraordinaire Frankie Rose (ex-Vivian Girls), and playing a string of insane shows with the likes of The Clean and The Vaselines. Recently, Brooklyn’s Woodsist label reissued the band’s single and EP to great acclaim from folks like Pitchfork and Stereogum. Along the way they’ve been working on the tracks for their eagerly-anticipated debut album, taking their time to ensure that each tune contributes just the right amount to the whole, crafting a perfect album with which to realize their distinctive music vision.

And now Slumberland is very proud to bring you Alight of Night, an album that more than delivers on the promise of those early singles. So what’s it like, you ask? There is a definite flavor of The Velvet Underground to be had, but Crystal Stilts’ spectral avant-garage also takes in such far-flung references as: the spooked 60s Texas psych of 13th Floor Elevators and Red Crayola, the gothic blues/punk howl of Gun Club, the dark, experimental DIYism of early Flying Nun/Xpressway groups Pin Group and Plagal Grind, and a post-punk minimalism that brings to mind early Rough Trade and Factory releases. There is definitely a strong pop element as well, with the buzzsaw bubblegum of early Mary Chain b-sides and Meat Whiplash coming to mind.

These are all just rough points of reference, though — Alight of Night is far more than just the sum of the bands influences. From the twang ‘n’ echo of “Crystal Stilts” to the primal pop stomp of “Prismatic Room” and the lovelyjangle of “Shattered Shine,” the band always adds something extra and unique to the mix, whether it’s a fleeting dash of harmonica, a hypnotic organ line or just an amazing guitar sound. There is a unity of purpose at work here, a special mood conjured by the sounds, production and sequence of songs that lifts this album into the realm of the classics, and reveals new
twists and turns on each listen.

Like all great albums, every piece just sits in exactly the right place, each song builds on the last and by the end you couldn’t imagine changing anything about it at all. Eerily familiar but totally now, Alight of Night is a brilliantly haunting slice of rock primitivism.

Cause Co-Motion! bio:

Take A Look
Cause Co-Motion! have spent the last three years releasing a series of increasingly rad singles on What’s Yr Rupture?, Cape Shok, Can’t Cope and finally Slumberland. Their sound is a blazing chaos of jangle, clatter, and thump - busted strings and broken hearts. Hummable tunes to scratch that TVPs/Pastels/Comet Gain itch, with more than a dash of 14 Iced Bears and Desperate Bicycles in there too. Using reverb as a weapon, Cause Co-Motion! have honed their hyperactive sound into a formidable DIY pop lexicon. Dig their new language.

It’s Time!
Slumberland is very happy to bring you It’s Time!, a compilation of all of these fine singles. The fourteen songs race by in barely over twenty minutes, the compressed rush of melody, tunes and crash-bang energy perfectly mirroring the hormonal frenzy of adolescence and young adulthood. The eagerness to COMMUNICATE, if only for two minutes at a time. Classics like “This Time Next Year” and “Take A Look” have become mixtape staples, and are joined by more recent missives like “Say What You Feel” and “Cry For Attention” in the canon of crash-pop.

When Will It Finally End?
Why should it? Cause Co-Motion! have built up a rabid following playing way too many shows to count the last six years, with bands like Love Is All, Vivian Girls, Tyvek, Japanther, The Apples In Stereo, Crystal Stilts and many others. They’ve been championed in places like Brooklyn Vegan, Dusted, Pitchfork and pretty much every place that savvy music fans trade notes about the newest singles.

It’s Time! is a neat summation of the history of Cause Co-Motion! so far, a blast of pure pop energy and DIY sincerity for these all-too knowing and ironic times. We challenge you to listen to tunes like “Baby Don’t Do It” and “Who’s Gonna Care?” and not get up and dance, clap your hands and sing along at the top of your lungs. Go ahead, nobody is watching. We won’t tell.

CRYSTAL STILTS & CAUSE CO-MOTION!

Nov. 01 San Diego, CA Che Cafe
Nov. 02 Los Angeles, CA The Echo / Part Time Punks
Nov. 03 Oakland, CA House of Nostromo
Nov. 04 San Francisco, CA Bottom of the Hill
Nov. 05 Sacramento, CA Luigi’s Fun Garden
Nov. 06 Eugene, OR Samurai Duck
Nov. 07 Portland, OR Holocene
Nov. 08 Olympia, WA The Big Room
Nov. 09 Seattle, WA Chop Suey

Crystal Stilts
Alight of Night
(Slumberland)
Street date: Oct. 28, 2008

1. The Dazzled
2. Crystal Stilts
3. Graveyard Orbit
4. Prismatic Room
5. The SinKing
6. Departure
7. Shattered Shine
8. Verdant Gaze
9. Bright Night
10. Spiral Transit
11. The City In The Sea

Cause Co-Motion!
It’s Time! : Singles and eps 2005-08
(Slumberland)
Street date: Oct. 28, 2008

1. Only Fades Away
2. Baby Don’t Do It
3. This Just Won’t Last
4. This Time Next Year
5. Take A Look
6. Which Way Is Up?
7. Falling Again
8. Don’t You Know?
9. Say What You Feel
10. When Will It Finally End?
11. Who’s Gonna Care?
12. I Lie Awake
13. You Don’t Say
14. Cry For Attention

CRYSTAL STILTS:

MySpace: www.myspace.com/crystalstilts

CAUSE CO-MOTION!:

MySpace: www.myspace.com/causeco

Slumberland Records: www.slumberlandrecords.com

MP3: FREDRIK - “Black Fur”

“11 Years” is the second music video from Fredrik’s Na Na Ni album, made by Dutch filmmaker Iris Piers. The film was shot frame by frame with a photocamera at an abandoned trainstation in rural Sweden. The band will launch its first ever US tour on Nov. 5 in Washington DC.

Fredrik is a new remarkable music sensation, casually capturing the spirit of classic storybook drama through a unique brand of experimental pop. What started out as a side project to The LK by the two pop visionaries Fredrik and Lindefelt, pretty soon grew to become a six piece featuring members of some of the very finest of the Swedish pop and experimental underground.

Drawing on traditional european folk influences like The Fairport Convention or Bo Hansson, crooning songwriters as well as a host of eclectic references like Moondog, Steve Reich, Jim O’Rourke, Maja Ratke or Barbara Morgenstern, Fredrik forges a sound that is as daring and eclectic as it is homecomingly soothing.

Some of the peaks of the debut album Na Na Ni evoke a very primal feeling of being ten years old again, lost in a dark, threatening forest with only a faint, humming voice leading you to safety. But apart from the sheer escapism the music carries a considerable emotional heft. Themes of light versus darkness, good versus evil as well as daylight and seasonal changes are painted in rough but colourful strokes, leaving just enough room for us to fill in the blanks. The lyrics and vocal expression, although sketchy and subdued, also manage to punctuate the episodes of the record with remarkable clarity. This is apparent in the low key narration of “Evil and I”: “We could analyze what has caused me so much pain, I didn’t mean it” or the slammer “Noble blood will nobly die” from the album opener “Black Fur“.

FREDRIK

11.05 - DC9 / Washington, DC
11.06 - Metro Gallery / Baltimore, MD
11.07 - Cake Shop / New York, NY
11.08 - Union Hall / Brooklyn, NY
11.09 - Brillobox / Pittsburgh, PA
11.10 - Bug Jar / Rochester, NY
11.11 - Lost Dog Cafe / Ithaca
11.12 - TT the Bears / Boston, MA
11.13 - Space 538 / Portland, ME
11.15 - Pianos / New York, NY
11.16 - Khyber / Philadelphia, PA

Fredrik
Na Na Ni
(The Kora Records)
Street date: Oct. 28, 2008

1. Black Fur
2. Alina’s Place
3. Hei Hei
4. 1986
5. Evil and I
6. Ninkon Loops
7. Angora Sleepwalking
8. Na Na Ni
9. 11 Years
10. Morr

FREDRIK LINKS:

MySpace: www.myspace.com/fredriktheband

Artist Page: www.sagomusik.com

Press Materials: www.thekorarecords.com/fredrik

MP3: WHITE FANG - “Tall Shadow”

Hailing from the supposedly nonexistent Portland suburbs, White Fang are gnaring up the underground teenage rock scene. Their debut, Pure Evil, out now on Portland’s Marriage Records, encapsulates the fierce energy portrayed in their live show. Self-proclaimed “gnar-shredders”, White Fang is an untamed beast, a herd of ravageous rockers with childlike spirits and souls swooned by 90s punkrock. Pure Evil was recorded in Portland, OR by Aaron Shepherd at local arts commune The Artistery and mastered by friend and mentor Adam Forkner (of White Rainbow). With a headlining set at the PDX Pop Now! Fest and a feature on MTVnews.com under their belt, White Fang recently completed their first major tour with Rob Walmart and White Rainbow and are heading back out on the road starting with a Halloween show tonight in Sacramento.

“the smiling faced, Kool-Aid-addled, and youthful cartoon-warrior heart of Portland punk”
-The Portland Mercury

“…sounds like the Who meeting the Melvins for a West Side Story knife fight.”
-Willamette Week

“All those drummers don’t even play in synch or keep regular time.”
-The Oregonian

WHITE FANG

Oct 31 Java Lounge w/The Hospitals, The Ganglians Sacramento, California
Nov 1 Million Fishes w/Thanksgiving, Mount Eerie San Francisco, California
Nov 2 Echo Curio w/Thanksgiving Los Angeles, California
Nov 3 Che Cafe w/Thanksgiving San Diego, California
Nov 4 UC Irvine w/Thanksgiving and Parts & Labor Irvine, California
Nov 5 327 E. Adams w/French Quarter Tucson, Arizona
Nov 6 Cartel Coffee Lab w/French Quarter, and Foot Ox Tempe, Arizona
Nov 9 The Church/Mad Rad Kansas City, Missouri
Nov 11 AV-AERIE w/Mad Rad Chicago, Illinois
Nov 12 Rock Lobster w/Mad Rad Indianapolis, Indiana
Nov 13 The Vocal House w/Mad Rad Mansfield, Ohio
Nov 17 The Knitting Factory w/Mad Rad New York City, New York
Nov 19 Grand Banks Cafe w/Mad Rad Jersey City, New Jersey
Nov 20 Mars G.A.S. w/Mad Rad and Rainbro Providence, Rhode Island
Nov 22 Broadway Joe’s w/Mad Rad Buffalo, New York
Nov 25 Project Lodge w/Mad Rad Madison, Wisconsin
Nov 28 Rhinoceropolis w/Mad Rad Denver, Colorado
Dec 1 The Fun House w/Mad Rad Seattle, Washington
Dec 5 The Artistery w/Mad Rad Portland, Oregon

WHITE FANG
Pure Evil
(Marriage)
Street date: Oct. 21, 2008

01 Breakfast
02 Tall Shadow
03 My Invisible Handz
04 Flashlight
05 All’s Cool
06 Green Beanz
07 We’re Reborn
08 Feeling Infinite
09 Space Gemz
10 Gnar Shred
11 New Loudness

WHITE FANG LINKS:

MySpace - www.myspace.com/whtfng

Label Page - www.marriagerecs.com