in•ces•tu•ous•sa•cra•men•to•sound

I deserve a bone-breaking slap on the wrist. A band, that is less than 200 miles from my home, have been written up ad nauseam by my local alternative weekly and have created a sound so strong it could cause an earth quake have evaded me for three years. Despite all of my missed opportunities to discover Breakfast Mountain, I’m glad I finally stumbled across them sifting through the bowels of Myspace.

The aspect of Breakfast Mountain’s music that I most appreciate is their use of beats. They don’t over complicate them, and deliver their rhythm in a way that allows you to feel the song and soak in the heavy synth. They keep their songs fresh and allow all of their instruments room to air out. Breakfast Mountain has made their entire first LP “HOOOODED *PLUS” available to download for free; that was nice of them.

‘J Hollerday’

‘DUNN (NOT DONE)’

‘Log Jamm 2′

Ben and I met in the Fall of 2009. Ben is one of the few people I know that is more proactive about creating and consuming music than I am. One of my first lasting memories of Ben was the first time he invited me over to his house to “jam”. Having a poor history of “jam sessions”, I really did not know what to expect, but agreed despite my apprehension. Upon arrival at Ben’s place we immediately got to “jamming”. What I didn’t realize prior to the “jam session” is that the goal of “jamming” for Ben was to evoke as many weird noises and sounds from his keyboard as he could, while I pretended to be a drummer; this process went on for over two hours. Ben created sounds that human ears had never heard before that evening. Needless to say Ben has been a steady “jam” partner since that night.

Given Ben’s appreciation for noise and unique sound, it was no surprise that he was the one to turn me onto Dubstep music. Dubstep is an overwhelming mix of sound that is heavily driven by a thick, slow beat. The first artist that Ben played for me is one of the originators of Dubstep, Skream.

Skream is a Dubstep producer from South London and has been progressing this genre since 2003. Below I chose one of my favorite tracks from the artist, that I feel is a great introduction to Dubstep. It’s simple, effective and addictive.

‘What Did He Say?’

Ex•cite

‘Bottom Feeder’

‘Collector’

Re•co•ver•y

‘Aw Rats’

‘Boyfriends’

June is so close. As the rainy Seattle spring continues to flirt with summer I find myself drawn more and more toward bright, sun-washed music. It was the Summer Twins‘ video for their song ‘The Good Things’ that nailed that unobtainable summer feeling that I am seeking.

From what I have gleaned from their Myspace site, sorry if that sounds creepy, Summer Twins are Chelsea and Justine Brown. Live they are supported by Angelo Anderson and Marcio Rivera. What makes this band special to me is their combination of beautiful vocals and rough, yet incredibly tasteful, guitar melodies. It looks like they have a show Memorial Day weekend, so all of you Riverside, CA folks should get out and support them.

My friend Meghan and I shared one of the most traumatic (wedding) experiences, ever. As string players, wedding season does not always translate into receptions, friends and cake. For us it can mean hours of practicing, preparation and nerves that rival the bride’s, or groom’s, cold-feet jitters. The experience that I am referencing above took place in Chicago in the summer of 2005. Meghan and I were hired to perform the music for a wedding. Nearly every cue that we entered in on was wrong, every solo started off flat, and when we weren’t playing the silence was filled by the sound of the groom’s father wrapping his knuckles and staring at us with the intent to kill. To top all of this off, on the way out of the wedding Meghan ended up stepping on a sharp metal object that had her bleeding during the entirety of her long train ride home. This was truly one of those experiences that warranted drinking to the point of forgetting a day ever happened.

To celebrate the upcoming five year anniversary of our worst day ever, and the entry into the 2010 wedding season, Meghan and I met for PHO in Ballard to stuff our faces and talk over the music that she is listening to. In an apologetic tone Meghan informed me that she was not really listening to anything ‘new’ or ‘fresh’. Instead she is listening to a lot of Tim Eriksen, the celtic/folk virtuoso, ethnomusicologist professor and leader of the band Cordelia’s Dad. I assured Meghan that ‘new’ and ‘fresh’ are not necessarily the aim of this blog. We also appreciate ‘beautiful’ and ‘listenable’, which is exactly what she brought to me. Enjoy some of Meghan’s choice selections from Tim Eriksen on this Mother’s Day.

Vernon / Wrestling Jacob, 95

Idumea Sacred Harp Singers at Liberty Church

Am I born to Die?

Bassett Creek

Dark•Stor•ies

‘Hollowed out’

‘Goat’

‘Harlot’

Delicate Steve is the project of Steve Marion. I was immediately drawn towards Delicate Steve through the track ‘Butterfly’. The energy, driving-speed and addictive guitar melody would not exit my head days after a casual listen on Myspace. After returning to their page I listened to more of the tracks online and took a gander at some of their live videos. Hot damn, that looks like a fun show.

Delicate Steve’s album ‘Wondervisions’ came out in December of ‘09 on compact disc and iTunes, but will be reissued on vinyl this summer with some bonus tracks included on the record. Delicate Steve will also be playing an east coast tour in July, and just collaborated on a track with Dustin Wong of Ponytail/Ecstatic Sunshine, which will be out this summer.

‘Butterfly’

‘The Ballad of Speck and Pebble’

‘Attitude/Gratitude’