popwreckoning

… And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead The Century of Self

Abe Vigoda Reviver EP

Alela Diane To Be Still :: “White As Diamonds”

Asobi Seksu Hush

Beirut March of the Zapotec EP

Benjy Ferree Come Back to the Five and Dime, Bobby Bee, Bobby Dee (physical)

Canadian Invasion Three Cheers for Invisible Hand :: review

Darla Farm Rewiring The Electric Forest

Drug Rug The Kitchen Tapes EP :: “Sooner The Better”

The Drones Havilah

Eleni Mandell Artificial Fire :: “Artificial Fire”

Emanuel and the Fear Emanuel and the Fear

Gun Outfit Dim Light :: “In The Dark”

Indiana Jones soundtracks :: stream “Keeping Up With The Joneses”

Jim Jones Pray for Reign

Lissy Trullie Self-Taught Learner EP :: review

M. Ward Hold Time

Mi Ami Watersports

Miniature Tigers Tell It To The Volcano

Montag Hibernation

Morrissey Years of Refusal :: review

N.A.S.A. The Spirit of Apollo

Plushgun Pins and Panzers

Realpeople Holland EP

Robbert Bobbert Robert Bobbert & The Bubble Machine

Sholi Sholi

Sleeper Behind Every Mask

Telepathe Dance Mother

Vetiver Tight Knit :: “Everyday”

Weird Owl Ever The Silver Cord Be Loosed :: “Mind Mountain”

This Memorial Day Weekend (May 23-25, 2009) will again see Quincy, Washington’s beloved Sasquatch! Music Festival held at The Gorge. Tickets go on sale on Saturday, February 28th at 10AM (information below).

This year’s Sasquatch! line-up includes:
Jane’s Addiction (feat. all four original members), Kings of Leon, Nine Inch Nails, Ben Harper & Relentless7, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Erykah Badu, The Decemberists, Fleet Foxes, TV On The Radio, Animal Collective, Silversun Pickups, Bon Iver, Santogold, Of Montreal, Explosions In The Sky, DeVotchKa, Peter Bjorn & John, Gogol Bordello, M. Ward, The Avett Brothers, Doves, Calexico, Grizzly Bear, M83, Girl Talk, The Gaslight Anthem, The Walkmen, Chromeo (dj set), Deadmau5, Mugison, Sun Kil Moon, Airborne Toxic Event, Blitzen Trapper, Shearwater, BLK JKS, The Wrens, Tobacco, Monotonix, King Khan & The Shrines, St. Vincent, Passion Pit, John Vanderslice, Bishop Allen, Blind Pilot, AA Bondy, Black Moth Super Rainbow, Ra Ra Riot, The Dodos, Beach House, The Submarines, Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band, The Dutchess & The Duke, Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head, Dent May & His Magnificent Ukelele, Fences, School of Seven Bells, Death Vessel, Horse Feathers, Hockey, The Pica Beats, Loch Lomond & more to come!

The festival’s comedy line-up includes Zach Galifiankas, Demetri Martin, Tim & Eric Awesome Show Great Job, Todd Barry, Jon Benjamin, God’s Pottery, People’s Republic of Komedy & more.

The festival, now in its eighth and most ambitious year yet, has evolved from a unique, homegrown & low key fest into a full blown three day extravaganza. A festival-goer’s dream, it comes complete with camp-outs, canyons, sunsets, three stages and new this year, an expanded comedy and dance music tent. The tent will feature performances from comedians throughout the day, and then come dusk, will spotlight electronic and dance music artists.

For the third year in a row, the Sasquatch! Music Festival teams up with Esurance and Sustainable Energy Partners to bring you a carbon neutral music festival. By increasing sustainable practices at the Gorge, including an expanded recycling program, eco-friendly signage, and energy efficient lighting (to name a few), we are able reduce our overall carbon footprint at the venue. The rest of the calculated carbon emissions – fuel consumption by all those who travel to the event and energy used during the festival – are then offset through investments in carbon reduction programs, such as methane capture projects in the Pacific Northwest.

Beginning February 28th (on sale weekend only):
A discounted 3 DAY FESTIVAL PASS is available for a very limited time / $154.50
Offer ends Sunday, March 1st at midnight.
Single tickets, per day / $56.50

Beginning March 2nd:
3 day pass / $199.50
Single tickets, per day / $66.50

Beginning May 11th:
3 day pass / $229.50
Single tickets, per day / $76.50

V.I.P. package tickets with special amenities also available.

Tickets go on sale Saturday February 28th at 10AM and can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com, sasquatchfestival.com, all Ticketmaster outlets, or charge by phone in Seattle (206) 628-0888, in Oregon (503) 224-4400, and in Eastern Washington (509) 735-0500

Camping is available for May 22, 23, 24, 25 and can be purchased online at Ticketmaster.com. For more details, directions and further information on camping at The Gorge Amphitheatre go to sasquatchfestival.com.

Sasquatch! Music Festival: website

In an indie music city like Omaha, Nebraska, Jenny Lewis is queen. When passing through Omaha, her royal court or backing band has often consisted of the musical stylings of The Watson Twins. However, Omaha had never experienced the Watson Twins without the queen and for their first time in Omaha without Lewis, the Watson Twins proved they are just as ready to rule the scene as anybody else.

For their first Lewis-less endeavor in Omaha, the Watson Twins played not just once, but twice on the same day. They were in town to kick-off Ben Kweller‘s tour in support of his latest release, Changing Horses. That evening, the Watson Twins played a set with a full-band and though they have fairly laid back songs, they played a set that had everybody in the crowd moving. However, the Watson Twins really had a chance to prove themselves to Omaha not during this opening slot at the Slowdown, but at a free in-store acoustic performance at Homer’s Records in the Omaha Old Market.

The Watson Twins stripped down may not sound too different from The Watson Twins normal, but the difference was there, nonetheless. This was good because it made it so the repeat songs from the early acoustic performance still were fresh for the evening.

Wedged between shelves of vinyl records, the twins began playing to the motley crew gathered in the store with an old EP song, “Southern Manners”. Whether the crowd actually recognized this it was hard to tell, they welcomed it just as warmly as the four following songs off the twins’ more recent Fire Songs release.

They couldn’t have been in a better venue than a record store to recommend to their younger fans to check out The Cure as they began their slowed-down folk rendition of “Just Like Heaven” complete with harmonica.

“You look like you have a balloon head,” Leigh Watson teased her sister, Chandra Watson, who was fighting a cold. Even with the teasing, it was clear from the banter that the sisters aren’t just harmonious as singers, but in their familial relationship, too. Their exchange just made the crowd feel even cozier in the small venue.

Leigh gave her sick sister’s voice a rest by taking over the mic and singing “How Am I to Be” complete with snaps. Chandra hadn’t seemed like she was fighting a cold, but it was a bit more obvious once her sister’s more dominant and healthy voice took front and center.

The set was finished out with “Old Ways”, which they described as the “secret title track” for Fire Songs.

This was a pleasantly entertaining set and the girls showed that their ethereal vocals work just as well in the spotlight as they do as backups. I hope the Watson Twins return to Omaha…with or without Jenny Lewis.

Set List:
01. Southern Manners
02. Only You
03. Just Like Heaven
04. How Am I to Be
05. Old Ways

The Watson Twins: website | myspace | @ manhattan center grand ballroom | interview with pt. I | interview with pt. II

Self-Taught Learner by Lissy Trullie is a wonderful collection of some of today’s finest punk (mixed with some of the finest pop) music. This album will definitely make a stir. Lissy Trullie (lead vocals and guitar) is joined by Ian Fenger on bass, Eben D’Amico on guitar, and Josh Elrod on the drums. Trullie has some of the greatest edgy vocals that I have heard in a female singer in a long while.

Self-Taught Learner may be only six tracks long, but the album gets the job done. The songs “Boy Boy” and “She Said” are two songs that have a very punk attitude set to a pop-dance beat that is pretty wicked. With Trullie’s punk vocals, and a sort of California surfer beat, the song “Money” is a relaxingly edgy song.

The way this band mixes punk with so many different musical mediums is quite entertaining and very unique. The record itself is a good listen. Lissy Trullie will be joining the hundreds of bands this spring break in Austin for the South By Southwest music festival and I recommend that you come and see them.

“Just A Friend” with Adam Green

Self-Taught Learner is available today, February 17th on American Myth.

Tracklisting:
01. Boy Boy
02. She Said
03. Self-Taught Learner
04. Money
05. Forget About It
06. Ready for the Floor

Lissy Trullie: myspace
American Myth: website

I’ve never really been a Groove Armada fan, mainly because I’ve never given them a fair listen. However, the other day I listened to these two remixes of Groove Armada’s new track “Drop The Tough” and I loved them and just had to share them — which is why this post is slightly shorter than usual, since there are only two remixes of this song. The funny thing is, I haven’t even heard the original track. It’s impossible to find. Groove Armada paired up with Bacardi on their B-Live project to share/distribute their new EP, Drop The Tough. You sign up, one track is unlocked and to unlock the others you have to share tracks. That’s too much of an effort, so who knows what the original sounds like, but the remixes by The Twelves and Van She Tech (both currently two of the best remix groups around) are spreading across the blogosphere like wildfire.

website | myspace

Groove Armada – Drop The Tough (The Twelves Remix)

I think what makes this track (in both remixes) is the vocals, which are sung by Sister Saviour of The RGBs. Her voice sounds young but full of edge and attitude. And she has a wide range in vocal skill, from a light rapping, to punked up singing to a smooth and silky melody. Musically, this is a pure disco track. The beats are heavy and the guitar riff is full of funk. A very enjoyable aspect is the stuttering of the vocals that come in towards the end of the song that matches nicely with the understated percussion.

Groove Armada – Drop The Tough (The Twelves Remix)

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Groove Armada – Drop The Tough (Van She Tech)

This mix takes a little while to get into the core, over a minute actually, but when it does it becomes a proper Van She Tech effort. And it hits hard. Again, the vocals are the same, but when compared to the Twelves’ mix, the music is faster, choppier and more techy. Towards the end it’s a pretty amazing mix with heavy, I say heavy, club beats and a sound that just speeds through with splashes of all sorts thrown in for a very Euro sounding dance track.

Groove Armada – Drop The Tough (Van She Tech)

Photo: Ray Kilpatrick

Tonic, a site that makes it easy for people to do good things everyday, is launching a Celebrity iPod Auction Series to benefit Music Rising, an organization that replaces lost or destroyed instruments in the hurricane-affected Gulf Coast region.

Every week now through August, Tonic will launch between 1 and 5 autographed iPods loaded with a celebrity’s personal playlist and signature on the back of the iPod. Tonic has over 70 A-List celebrities participating from ex-Presidents to rock stars to models. The best part: ONE HUNDRED percent of the revenue will go directly to rescue the musical culture of the Central Gulf.

Current Tonic Music Rising auctions include Mariah Carey, Gwen Stefani, Pete Wentz and Britney Spears’ iPods. Check out the Tonic Music Rising calendar to see when auctions begin and end!

Tonic: website | music rising | music rising calendar
Music Rising: website