Tuesday, July 29, 2008

“If love had a sound, this would be it.” – Willamette Week on Super XX Man.Scott Garred’s latest issued by Tender Loving Empire label in October

After 13 years writing, recording, and producing, Scott Garred aka Super XX Man, has cultivated a mildly edgy modern rock sound in the new release Volume XII: There’ll Be Diamonds. Previous releases have garnered acclaim from the likes of Bob Boilen, host of All Songs Considered (“If we’re going to choose ten songs every week, let it be Super XX Man”) and Amy McCullough, music editor of Willamette Week (“If love had a sound, this would be it”).

Although there’s plenty of the familiar Super XX Man-style of music on his latest album, what will no doubt surprise many long time fans are the moody, foreboding tracks that lie at the heart of the album. Songs like “Medication” (MP3), “Little Leaf” and “Crazy People” help to comprise, as Garred says, “my most sonically ambitious album to date.”

Songs are marked by washes of feedback, dark atmospherics and pointillist lyrics that chronicle the lives of the people Garred works with at the Oregon State Hospital, the oldest psychiatric institution in his home state.

It’s a pronounced shift in focus for Garred who has used the other volumes in his ever-growing discography to sing about friends and family, love and loss. Garred is as much a storyteller on this album as he is an empathizer reiterating how people cope with life at the State Hospital. On Volume XII, Garred sings about a woman who plays guitar until her fingers bleed, a man so lonely he only wants to go to parties and meet girls, and the ‘guilty except for insanity’ person strolling down a corridor wearing his new state-issued sweats. The album’s closer, “Cautious Like A Panther,” has this same person strutting his stuff down any trendy thoroughfare in Portland.

Scott Garred started off his career as Super XX Man (pronounced “super double ex man”) in the mid-’90s while still a member of the Austin, TX indie pop trio Silver Scooter, putting out a pair of self-released cassettes. Garred has since relocated to Portland, OR, continuing a steady stream of releases that have moved from home recorded four-track material to full fledged studio productions. Along the way, he has also turned Super XX Man into a bona fide band, that these days features his wife Michelle Garred on accordion, singer Ali Wesley, Kelly Dachtler and Josh Woods (who trade off guitar and bass duties) and drummer Bob Ham. The band will be on tour this Fall in support of the new album.

Super XX Man has been through many changes since the beginning but none as dramatic and exciting as what can be heard on Volume XII: There’ll Be Diamonds. It is a difference that both long-time fans and new listeners will surely welcome with open arms, sharing a long embrace with Garred’s musical vision.

Super XX Man Discography
Volume I CASS (Self-Released, 1995)
Volume II CASS (Self-Released, 1996)
Volume III 7-inch EP (Peek-A-Boo Records, 1997)
Volume I & II CD (Self-Released, 1999)
Volume IV CD (Peek-A-Boo Records, 2000)
Home CD (Post Parlo, 2000)
Volume V CD (Post Parlo, 2001)
Volume VI: Collecting Rocks CD (Lelp Recordings, 2003)
Volume VII: My Usual Way CD (Lelp Recordings, 2004)
Volume IX CD EP (Self-Released, 2005)
Volume VIII: It’s a Super XX Man Pizza CD (Self-Released, 2005)
Volume X CD (Hush Records, 2006)
Volume XI: A Better Place CD (Hush Records, 2006)
Volume XII: There’ll Be Diamonds CD (Tender Loving Empire, 2006)

Volume XII: There’ll Be Diamonds Tracklisting:
Release Date: October 21st, 2008

01. Medication (MP3)
02. Psychotic Break
03. Crazy People
04. You Say
05. There’ll be Diamonds
06. Big Balloon
07. House/Home
08. Little Leaf
09. What Lies Beneath
10. 5A Problem
11. It’s Now
12. Downtown Chapel
13. Cautious Like a Panther

Tools & Hi–Res Photos:
www.fanaticpromotion.com/rosterdetails.php?indexkey=1374

On The Web:
http://www.superxxman.com/
www.myspace.com/superxxman
http://www.tenderlovingempire.com/
www.myspace.com/tenderlovingempire

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Monday, July 28, 2008

The Octopus Project prepares to launch West Coast tour kicking off at Lollapalooza, video for “Truck” racks up nearly 400,000 YouTube plays

“From gentle vibes and heavenly Theremin choirs to jaunty basslines and electro-static glitch-grooves to a wailing din of dying guitars and break-neck percussion, Hello, Avalanche is indeed a welcome disaster, an enchanting sonic cataclysm.” – Rolling Stone

“The lovely Theremin lead... suggests that technology just might save us after all.” – Pitchfork

“The result is a combination of electronic and analog acoustic elements that, on paper, should go together as well as a Daft Punk/Godspeed You! Black Emperor cocktail. Sequenced beats stutter alongside pounding drums.” – Magnet

“...surprisingly irresistible.” – Nylon

The seemingly never ending tour in support of the 2007 release of Austin-based The Octopus Project’s third album Hello, Avalanche is about to kick into gear again. Starting this coming weekend with an appearance at Lollapalooza in Chicago, the band will embark on a month-long west coast tour before returning home for a date at the Austin City Limits festival. See below for complete dates.

Being named one of David Fricke’s picks in Rolling Stone, gracing the covers of others such as Resonance along with the band’s hit tune “Music Is Happiness” appearing over the climactic plot wrap-up scene in the Sony Pictures blackjack flick 21, it’s no wonder that The Octopus Project has amassed a loyal following of devoted fans. SPIN.com and YouTube both recently featured the band’s video for the Hello, Avalanche track “Truck” which has now amassed close to 400,000 YouTube plays (LINK). The group’s loyal fans have responded with nearly a dozen fan-created videos that have begun to populate the site. See some favorites via the links below:

The Octopus Project Fan Videos:
“I Saw The Bright Shinies” (LINK)
“Moon Boil” (LINK)
“Queen” (LINK)
“Malaria Codes” (LINK)
“Wet Gold” (LINK)
“Truck” (LINK)
“Helium Tea (with Black Moth Super Rainbow) (LINK)
“Copying Soup Onto Sexy Birdy” (with Black Moth Super Rainbow) (LINK)
“Black Blizzard Red Umbrella” (LINK)

More official videos for tracks from Hello, Avalanche are set to premiere during the band’s upcoming tour including one for fan favorite “An Evening with Rthrtha.” The music video will be the second collaboration between Brooklyn artist Phillip Niemeyer (Double Triple) and San Francisco-based media artist Ryan Junell following their hand-animated stop-motion video for Spoon’s “You Got Yr Cherry Bomb” (LINK).

Catching on to the ever growing Octopus Project phenomena is UK-based label Too Pure (Stereolab, Electrelane, Seefeel, Scout Niblett). The label recently released an Octopus Project 7-inch as part of the label’s new “Singles Club” featuring two new songs “Wet Gold” and “Moon Boil,” recorded by the band and mastered at Abbey Road in London. The band describes the A-side as “a lovely jaunt through an arpeggiated land of goodness,” and the B-side as “the most ‘total rock’ song we’ve ever done.” 500 copies were released via subscription to the “Too Pure Singles Club.” Non-subscribers, fret not. The songs will soon be available for download on iTunes.

With ragged, furious distorted guitars at one end of the spectrum and the pure, luminescent tones of the Theremin at the other, the members of The Octopus Project mine a staggering variety of sounds in between (via strings, synthesizers, drums, glockenspiel, trombones, etc.), filling their songs with brilliant contrasting colors and cascading waves of sonic bliss. Although Josh Lambert, Yvonne Lambert, Ryan Figg and Toto Miranda each have their instrumental specialties, they spread ideas out on as many instruments as possible, each writing for and performing on any sound-maker they can find.

Recent press for The Octopus Project includes coverage in: Black Book, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Brooklyn Vegan, Chicago Sun Times, CMJ, Down Beat, Entertainment Weekly, Flagpole, Flavorpill, Fuel TV, Harp, Magnet, Mass Appeal, Modern Drummer, Music for Robots, New York Magazine, New York Times, Nylon, The Onion, Pitchfork, Pollstar, ReadyMade, Resonance, Rolling Stone, Skyscraper, Soundcheck, Spin, Stereogum, The Stranger, Under The Radar, URB, Venus, Village Voice, Wired, XLR8R and many more.

Hello, Avalanche Tracklisting:
Stream The Album HERE
Release Date: October 16th, 2007


01. Snow Tip Cap Mountain
02. Truck (MP3)
03. Bees Bein’ Strugglin’ (MP3)
04. An Evening With Rthrtha (MP3)
05. Black Blizzard/Red Umbrella
06. Upmann
07. Mmaj
08. I Saw The Bright Shinies (MP3)
09. Ghost Moves
10. Vanishing Lessons
11. Exploding Snowhorse
12. Loud Murmuring
13. Queen

The Octopus Project Live:
* w/ Diagonals
08/02 Chicago, IL @ Schuba’s
08/03 Chicago, IL @ Lollapalooza
08/04 Kansas City, MO @ Record Bar
08/05 Norman, OK @ Opolis
08/06 Lubbock, TX @ Tequila Station
08/11 Phoenix, AZ @ Rhythm Room*
08/12 Tucson, AZ @ Congress Theater*
08/13 San Diego, CA @ The Cashbash*
08/14 Los Angeles, CA @ Knitting Factory*
08/15 Visalia, CA @ Cellar Door*
08/16 San Francisco, CA @ Bottom Of The Hill*
08/18 Portland, OR @ Satyricon*
08/19 Seattle, WA @ Nectar Lounge*
08/20 Vancouver, BC @ Richard’s
08/22 Edmonton, AL @ Velvet Lounge
08/23 Calgary, AL @ Hi Fi
08/25 Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge
08/26 Denver, CO @ Hi Dive
08/28 Dallas, TX @ Lola’s*
08/29 Houston, TX @ Warehouse Live*
09/28 Austin, TX @ Austin City Limits Festival

Tools & Hi–Res Photos:
http://www.fanaticpromotion.com/rosterdetails.php?indexkey=53

On The Web:
http://www.octopusproject.com/
www.myspace.com/theoctopusproject
http://www.peekaboorecords.com/
www.myspace.com/peekaboorecords

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Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Tracy Shedd to release hot new disc Cigarettes & Smoke Machines via Teenbeat Records this fall

“It’s never too late to fight for what you want” -- Tracy Shedd.

Tracy Shedd’s helpful reminder on the opening track “Never Too Late” from Cigarettes & Smoke Machines, her latest album of smart, pointed pop is a direct and economic assertion backed by sharp musicianship and just the right amount of reverb. Cigarettes & Smoke Machines is Shedd’s most accomplished record in a career that has now spanned four full-lengths.

Raised in a music-friendly home -- growing up with piano lessons and a public address system in the living room to practice Patsy Cline on -- Shedd found punk rock as a teen and morphed into a singer-songwriter wrestling with a love of distortion. Also a fan of artists that drape their vocals in various shrouds (My Bloody Valentine, Cocteau Twins, The Jesus & Mary Chain), Shedd decided that she never really wanted her vocals up front, an edict that permeated her previous recordings. Now, with Cigarettes & Smoke Machines, Shedd lets go and we benefit from vocal performances that establish the arresting emotional core of her latest record.

The album comes at just the right time, too. Now that declarative female songwriters like Liz Phair and unheralded classics such as Bettie Serveert’s Palomine are finally being celebrated, Cigarettes & Smoke Machines appears just when its audience is ready to identify with it. “What ever it takes, don’t let them break you down,” Shedd sings on “Whatever It Takes” (MP3). What’s the hardest part of goodbye? Shedd makes you wait for the answer on that track. When we find out that it’s “why,” we nod our heads. “Remember The Time We Set The Highway On Fire” takes the record in a different direction where the guitars take over and Shedd’s connection to The Cure’s nine-minute moments are more evident. Shedd’s co-existing vulnerability and strength make for convincing, winning and relatable songs that you’ll need to hear again and again.

It’s been a long road to this level of compositional confidence for Shedd. Letting go of a lifetime of music theory made it easy to write a batch of songs within weeks of first picking up the guitar and Shedd’s first album Blue was quickly produced in her then-home of Boston. Counting the infamous DC band Unrest as an influence (the Sarah Records oeuvre and The Softies come to mind as well), Shedd had aspirations to be signed to Unrest leader Mark Robinson’s label Teenbeat Records though she knew that he only signed DC-based groups. She decided to give it a shot anyway.

Robinson was convinced and Shedd was signed to Teenbeat which released her debut in 2002. In 2003, Robinson went on to produce Shedd’s second album, Red and a third LP, Louder Than You Can Hear appeared on the Devil In The Woods label the next year. Shedd then “got domesticated,” and moved to Tucson where the heat “slowed her down” and provided the time needed to craft her most inspired album.

Cigarettes & Smoke Machines brings Shedd back home and is now her third album for Teenbeat. Shedd’s place on the Teenbeat roster has obviously grown stronger throughout the years and it’s an immense pleasure to see that at a time when the record industry is in a state of “huh?” a record as worthwhile as Cigarettes & Smoke Machines can appear on a label as true to itself as Teenbeat.

Teenbeat’s beautifully packaged releases are often as of note as the musician’s work that they house and Cigarettes & Smoke Machines’ jacket is yet another in the long line of meticulously crafted Teenbeat sleeves. The photo of a blindfolded girl in profile that graces the cover is that of one of Shedd’s best friends during her upbringing in Jacksonville. Shedd has had the photo since 1996 and held on to it thinking she would one day use it in relation to her music. It spoke to her twelve years later and is now the stark and stunning image that represents her latest and greatest.

This time around, it’s not about being the next best thing to Shedd. Cigarettes & Smoke Machines is her most definitive and easy to climb into statement to date. It truly isn’t too late to fight for what you want and this time Shedd really got it.

****
Cigarettes & Smoke Machines featuring guest appearances by John Girgus, Brian Espinosa, Richard Dudley, James Tritten, Craig Schumacher and Joey Burns and produced by Craig Schumacher will be released by Teenbeat Records on September, 23rd, 2008. Shedd is also available to chat about her involvement in organizing the Pot Luck Conference (http://www.potluckcon.com/), a yearly gathering of engineers, producers and musicians passionate about signals, sounds, music, and recordings.

Cigarettes & Smoke Machines Tracklisting:
Release Date: Sept. 23rd, 2008

01. Never Too Late
02. Whatever It Takes (MP3)
03. Hardest Part of Good-Bye
04. Won Past Ten
05. Plastic World
06. Not Giving Up
07. Remember the Time We Set the Highway On Fire
08. Go On
09. Paris
10. Valentine
11. So Sick
12. Home

Tools & Hi–Res Photos:
www.fanaticpromotion.com/rosterdetails.php?indexkey=1348

On The Web:
http://www.tracyshedd.com/
www.myspace.com/tracyshedd
http://www.teenbeat.net/
www.myspace.com/teenbeat413

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