Camp Revival

This is the second video in the Beat Connection series. Check out part one here.

This summer Camp Revival has had Beat Connection’s flawless E.P., Surf Noir, on loop. On August 10th Camp Revival met up with Beat Connection at the band’s practice space in the U-District. Climbing up to the attic space where Beat Connection’s equipment was set up, the band’s sound made more and more sense to me. They are basically practicing in the clouds, overlooking the entire U-District; it was incredible. After a quick sound check, grilled meats and a healthy amount of beer we started the camera and caught part one of the Beat Connection series.

hun•gry

‘orchards’

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‘Magic Light’

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I first became wise to the Wise Blood two nights ago while I was trolling Myspace. The visuals on their page, paired with their grainy-soulful beats had my head bobbing the moment I pressed pay on ‘STRT SRNS’. As with most of the music I love, I was not able to find any history or background on Wise Blood through their site. To gather my intel I turned to the blogosphere. I found some great reviews and interviews (Bohemian Cuddle Box, I Guess I’m Floating, Delicious Scopitone, We All Want Someone To Shout For) on Christopher Laufman, who I came to discover is the creator behind Wise Blood.

Wise Blood’s EP is free to download. The music carries with it a powerful-tribal energy where the easiest way to describe it to someone is to press play.

‘B.I.G. E.G.O.’

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‘STRT SRNS’

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‘2 ALL THE GIRLS THAT HAVE TRUSTED ME’

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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’

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‘DUNN (NOT DONE)’

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‘Log Jamm 2′

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Photo by Michael Shriver

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?’

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