Holy crap. The Strange Boys, beloved around this here office, are knocking out a new album, and Gorilla Vs. Bear just premiered the video from the titular single, “Be Brave”. We’re all in a state of sweaty enjoyment over here. Eyes wide, mouths slack, feet running in circles.
Enjoy. And then enjoy them live in Seattle, March 4th, at The Comet Tavern.
UPDATE: Wheedle’s Groove played this weekend to rave reviews from critics and fans alike. Now it’s up to you, the strong supporters and enjoyers of this film to speak up and help it, and us, win the coveted Oxford Film Festival Audience Award.
Here’s what you do:
1. Register right HERE.
2. Vote for Wheedle’s Groove!
4. Celebrate from you home with champagne and gourmet enchiladas come Tuesday the 9th.
5. Take our hearty thanks for even trying to make it happen.
Also, check out this amazing interview with director Jennifer Maas.
The story up to now:
Mississippi, our envious eyes point towards you. This weekend, the fine film folk at the Oxford Film Festival (the seventh annual, but who’s counting?) will get a chance to see the Memphis Film Festival Audience Award winning documentary by none other than the amazing Jennifer Maas, Wheedle’s Groove. The story of a Seattle funk/soul scene sadly forgotten, and the amazing efforts to bring it back in to the light.
The film will be playing not once, but TWICE at the festival so you have two options: 1. See it twice like a true believer would, or 2. see it once and then tell your slack-jawed yokel friends to catch it the next day. Those are your options, now put down your twinkies and go buy tickets.
The Details:
There’s a hope and a dream when it comes to record collecting, or record reissuing that one day you’ll stumble upon a motherlode of records, the boxes from the back of a curt woman’s car, an attic with boxes overflowing, an estate sale at an abandoned record store. Sometimes though you hope you’ll just stumble across a single unmarked acetate that will blow your mind back to the stone age and over the course of three or four years you’ll dedicate most of your life to discovering who this band is and then when you finally do you’ll realize that from all that hard work you now have an amazing album to give back to the public.
Well, you know, we think that’s dreamy.
Thus, Emily Kaiser’s tale of rediscovering Minneapolis’ funk/soul outfit Haze touched us right in the soft spots below our chin.
Sometime last week the amazing Black Angels played to a packed crowd in the Scandinavian climes of Tilburg Netherlands. This is damn fine footage of an incredible live band and this footage features what we know you hungry Black Angels fans love: new songs.
Personally, we prefer the raging guitar solo on the opener “Nowhere to Run”. Show-stopper.
Make up your own mind though:
There’s a slew of quality records trickling in to the public sphere this year, but we’re throwing our hats i the old Caribou ring. Caribou of course added an amazing remix of The Free Design’s “Dorian Benediction” on our Free Design remix compilation, The Free Design: The Now Sound Redesigned and we’ve been ardent fans ever since.
Now, with his new album, Swim percolating in the crock pot, Sir Snaith has deemed as mortals ready for a taste of the goods. Below, the new single “Odessa”, a bit of funk-heavy, Air-sounding electronica that’s been bouncing around our heads all morning.
Head on over to Aquarium Drunkard to snatch it. You’ll be happy that you did.
It’s been a sad week for the literary world as both Howard Zinn and the reclusive genius J.D. Salinger passed away this week.
With the somber losses hanging over our heads, we offer to you the twangy country of the one, the only Waylon Jennings singing about this little of ours. Rest well Mr. Salinger, Mr. Zinn, you’ll certainly be remembered.
Take ‘er away Waylon, take ‘er away.
The man above, he looks creepy right? Right. Bobby Beausoleil might be known to you as a one time associate of convicted cult leader and mass murderer Charles Manson as well as the murderer of Gary Hinman. Creepy.
Not so creepy? Bobby Beausoleil was also a talented musician who for a short lived time lead The Orkustra, a psychedelic blast that swept through the Haight-Ashbury region of SF in the late 1960s. Now, due to the disbandment of the, er, band, and Beausoleil’s enraged killing of a man over a supposed drug deal gone sour, the band never made it past the demo, noodling stage.
Luckily for us the good folk at Mexican Summer (an up and coming label with bands like Washed Out and Real Estate under their belt) have collected the loose smattering of strange and amazing haze that is The Orkustra on to one disc, and hot damn if it isn’t worth a listen.
Check out the music, and the full(er) story at Raven Sings The Blues.
If you don’t know, the word “bonerz” in the world of record collecting has nothing to do with, well, you know. Instead it focuses on the tiny segment of collectors who value their collections not for the music within each release, but instead for the “bonerz” they own.
And what might a “boner” be? The worst album covers you’ve ever seen. Absolutely hilariously terrible bits of artistic mishaps such as the cover of Joyce’s self-titled releases. There’s a whole slew of ‘em out there and oooooh boy, is the internet excited about ‘em.
Thanks to the hard work of the people over at Waxidermy (who have a whole section dedicated to the titular Boner) we’re able to present to you this: Jeff Bridges, The Dude himself people, discussing on Ellen Degeneres’ talk show his collection of Bonerz. It is amazing and hilarious, and our love for all things Bridges only grows and grows and grows.
Check it out below:
Head here for the power point presentation of Bridge’s favorite Bonerz from his website!
It’s Monday morning, a little bit of photography love to help you while away the hours of obnoxious office mates and plastic cupped coffee.
The Selvedge Yard is, well how should we explain it, a trove of amazing photos, curated from the interwebs and beyond and explained, explored and all around broken down to expose an event or a time in great detail. Seriously, the photos and videos featured on this site are absolutely amazing.
A few of the more recent music inspired posts you should peruse:
Bob Dylan’s Newport Jazz Festival Electronic Blow-Out
The word on Jennifer Maas’ Wheedle’s Groove: The Documentary is strong like bull. Audience awards at the Memphis Film Festival, glowing reviews from writers ’round the country - this is a beautiful film, stunning in its sense of discovery. Also, this film has a soundtrack that’ll shake your ass to the break of dawn.
Thus, you the good people of Portland, Oregon are luckier than each and all in the country this weekend, as this gem of a film is sauntering its way in to your little spittoon of a town, pulling up to the bar, and having itself a drink or two. The film will be making its Portland premiere at The Reel Film Festival on Saturday, January 23rd at 7 PM at the Portland Art Museum’s Whitsell Auditorium.
This is an amazing film and it’s only more amazing with a cheering audience in attendance. Residents of Portland, now you don’t have to make plans on Saturday night.
The Details:
What: The Portland Premiere of Wheedle’s Groove: The Documentary
When: Saturday, January 23rd @ 7PM
Where: The Portland Art Museum’s Whitsell Auditorium
Why: Because there’s a whole soul-shaking bit of scene in Seattle you barely know about.
