P O T L A T C H - P R E S E N T S

Hey y'all...  I just updated our show calendar and August is looking pretty snazzy.  Nice Nice, The Shaky Hands, Wavves, Oneida, Au, The Miracles Club, The Growlers and Shannon & the Clams are but a few of the highlights in this upcoming month of awesomeness!  See ya out there peoples

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Potlatch Presents is very proud to be announcing the launch of our newest endeavor, our postcard label.  What is a postcard label you may be asking, well, that’s what this blurb is here to clear-up. 

Anyone who’s worked in music, bought a CD form a record store or even downloaded some tunes off the Internet knows that the state of the music industry is changing and has been for several years.  I think it’s safe to say that most people consider the CD a dead format (not to mention terribly eco-unfriendly), vinyl is cool but holy cow is it expensive to have pressed.  Personally, as someone who receives and sends press kits, I think the waste that’s created by these elaborate packages (that are more often than not even looked at or listened to) is environmentally irresponsible and a major financial risk for bands, especially those operating in the world of true indie music.

So how can indie bands get their music out to as many people as possible, without spending a fortune on press kits and without creating tremendous environmental waste?  Voila, the Potlatch Presents postcard label was born.  No strangers to publicity we here at Potlatch Presents know there needs to be a connect between the tactile and the digital.  While it’s easy to host MP3 downloads on a website, it is incredibly difficult to drive traffic to the places where digital music is hosted.

With our post card label we hope to meld two distinctly separate arenas; the record company with the publicity company all the while diminishing the environmental waste created by more conventional approaches to music distribution and publicity.  The concept of the postcard label is simple:  a tactile form of communication that is produced well and also provides the recipient with great indie rock – FOR FREE!

So…  That’s the seed we’ve planted, we know we’ve a long ways to go and a lot of growth to see before we truly achieve our goal, but we hope that you’ll join us along the way and help support new ideas and endeavors that not only introduce the world to great new music, but also act responsibly with the environment in mind.

We’re launching the label July 8^th with releases from Housefire and Wishyunu, two of Portland’s most promising new bands.  Housefire’s blend of electronic and ambient textures mixed with the propulsive percussion only two drummers can create has garnered the band a local buzz that is seldom seen in bands as fresh and young as this.  Wishyunu has taken a more sedate, outsider approach to their music, though that doesn’t make them any less exciting.  The space jazz duo has been piquing the ears of some of Portland’s most refined musical minds for some time.

We hope to see all of you on July 8^th at Berbati’s Pan for the dual release of Housefire’s “EP” and Wishyunu’s “A Day No How.”  Joining these wonderful groups will be the excellent Secret Cities from Fargo North Dakota, a band who has been tearing up the blogosphere with overwhelmingly positive reviews all of 2010.

7/8/10 @ Berabti’s Pan (SW 3^rd + Ankeny - PDX)

Housefire // Secret Cities // Wishyunu

8PM // All Ages // $6 (advance) $8 (day of show)

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Try to remember 4/20 if you can (I know, I know--it can be difficult).  But if you were at the Guidance Counselor record release party, there is no way you could have forgotten that night.  It was sweaty, dancey, and perfect.  We have some pictures up from the show in the photo section in case you missed out or if your brain is just a little fuzzy.  And if you haven't already picked up their self-titled 12", do it now!  It is available at highscoresandrecords.com, OldWaveRecords.com, Jackpot Records, Everyday Music, Anthem Records, Tender Loving Empire, and Exiled Records.

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Friday April the 16th @ Berbatis Pan

Wow. If you didn't make it out to this show, you really should have. I know a lot of people say that about their show reviews, so let me ponder how to explain this to you precisely... should I use a bullet-point list? A pros/cons of what else you could have been doing, and why this show was so vital? A venn diagram?

Let me just say three phrases:

1) BERBATI'S PAN,

2) FREE,

3) ALL AGES.

I just hope that the over-agers drank enough to make this kind of event profitable for the venue, because THIS is the kind of stuff I want to go to this summer. Maybe I'm getting old, maybe I'm just crabby, but the house show scene has lost its glimmer, and this brought me back to why I love Portland's music scene.

PRESCRIPTION PILLS

First time I ever saw this guy play, he was by himself, wearing a poncho, playing entirely un-mic'ed, but with a small amp playing drum samples from his iPod. It was most easily defined as folk music, speaking, from what I could decipher, about loss and wasting time. Now-a-days, Prescription Pills has a real drummer, way better sounding iPod-ized electronic backing, and a knack for yelling a-la Spencer Moody (too bold of a comment? I don't think so). These songs are huge, and its amazing the large amount of energy and music that can be made by just this. The songs are no longer folk induced, and speak now of the city and of urban nowhereness. They broke their drum kit, the lead singer spazzed out on and off the floor. He wore a leather hooded jacket, and I was inspired by the overarching abilities of performers to pull off a number of genres at the same time. This is electronic punk at its best, and when I heard that Guidance Counselor and Fake Drugs' record label "Old Wave" had set their eyes on Prescription Pills to release their upcoming album, it made me very, very, happy.

Photo from PRSCRPTN PILLS myspace

PARDEE SHORTS

You know what? Lets talk about mixing genre's. RIGHT NOW. I've never seen a 100% live band (no samples, no iPod stuff, just keyboards and drums) make my brain think so many things in a long time. Since, maybe. . . talkdemonic? Within an instant, this band can go from lounge/classical drumming and keyboard, to precise, mathy spasms, to epic build ups with desperate screams. A number of keyboardists could pull off the same effect here-- because the music can become so fast and so spastic that it is difficult to track. But after seeing this band live for the third time, I've decided that the precision, the energy, and the pin-balling of emotions that this band puts into their songs is something highly notable. Keep an eye out for Pardee Shorts, for I believe this is their summer to shine.

Photo from Pardee Shorts Myspace

BRAINSTORM

Another two piece wrapped this show up nicely. With amazingly talented drumming, keyboards, tuba, and guitar (that's two instruments per band member, mind you), these guys are captivating, energetic, and formidable. Plus, the drummer has a wireless/headset mic, so that you are dealt a double-whammy by two waves of vocals. There was chanting, there was low-pitched tuba drown-outs. Magic wizard carpets riding, was all I dreamt of after seeing this band.

Photo from Brainstorm's Myspace

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AND I WANT TO HEAR YOUR MUSIC.

so if you e-mail me

darren [AT] potlatch presents.com

I will write about your music while on the plane.

Or when I wake up in the morning.

And while on the flight,

                                     or the airport,

                                                      or in the hotel before I go to bed,

                                                                                      I will post my reviews.

I'm leaving Friday, the 23rd of April. I'm going to need the music in CD form to listen to, since I don't have an iPod (I know). Please e-mail me with the details on how I can either pick up, or how you can drop-off your music.

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