Br'er Finally Gets A Release

Of Shemales and Kissaboos is the debut Br'er album which never had an official US release until now. Originally released only in Europe through Beat is Murder Records, Edible Onion is now distributing a self-released edition of the album.

Primary songwriter Benjamin Schurr describes the album as "an audio coping mechanism" that was necessary to emerge and recover from seven years of prescription medication, sporadic homelessness, and abusive relationships.

Recorded in various houses across Philadelphia between December 2006 and June of 2007, Of Shemales and Kissaboos loosely lays the groundwork for what would become Br'er's defining voice, combining elements of noise, pop, and classical music into tight musical narratives that transmute the base metals of emotional crisis and paralysis into something tangibly cathartic.

Download: Are We Still Married (HNIA Cover)
Download: Emily The Bear
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John Craig & The Weekend Pick Numbers

With deep roots throughout Oregon, John Craig grew up in Eugene playing alongside Blind Pilot’s Ryan Dobrowski in their college band named Tympanic. Exploring state highways, back roads and small venues along the West Coast, Tympanic flourished until graduation eventually brought things to an end.

In 2009, Craig released his solo debut EP, Umlaut, making waves and receiving hometown love from Portland’s Willamette Week, Portland Mercury, Portland Tribune and Eugene Weekly, to name a few. Then he released a couple of singles in 2010, “Ghosts” and “Broken Branches,” and began writing for his sophomore LP - Numbers - with influences spanning Bowie and Prince to Cut Copy and Ra Ra Riot. With a new band called The Weekend - comprised of Nicole Berke, Tommy Illk, Josh Lava, and Craig, the group is out to heat up the dance floor, with ambitious touring plans for 2011 and beyond.

Numbers was recorded in Craig’s basement studio and at a small lake house on the Oregon Coast. Final tracking was done at Cloud City in Portland, Oregon and was engineered by Justin Phelps (Mars Volta, Bob Weir and Ratdog, Dead Kennedys, Chris Isaak, Cake). Numbers will be released nationally on August 30th, 2011 on Loophole Records with a national tour to follow. Also notable, "Ticking" from Craig’s 2009 EP Umlaut will appear in the forthcoming feature film, Tucker & Dale vs Evil slated for a Sept 30th release.

Numbers is available soon exclusively at johncraigmusic.com during the pre-release period... and hits iTunes, Amazon, and record stores worldwide on August 30th.

Download: The Only Way (Neck) ft. Gold
Download: Dont Think Make Mistakes pt 2
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Starlight Girls Shine

Starlight Girls are the latest of a long line of Brooklyn bands that actually don't sound like they're from Brooklyn. Sounding more like they're from heaven the band makes angelic like pop that's completely addictive.

Borrowing equally from every past decade of the 20th century, these girls are truly on to something here and are described by some as Rainbow Brite on acid. If that doesn't tempt you...what will?

Starlight Girls’ self-titled debut EP will be released early September and supported by a nationwide tour with The Digits in October and November.

Download: Flutterby
Download: All Around and Away We Go (Beachwick Remix)
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Punks Jump Up Chime In

Punks Jump Up are a bit legendary. Quickly rising to the cream of the proverbial remix and production crop, everything they've released since their humble beginnings have been fantastic. Rarely making a mis-step this is one group you can rely on for top notch work.

This is true, yet again, with their new single, Chimes pt 1. The follow up to the monstrous, "Blockhead," released earlier this year the tune is a driving & melodic electro/disco/insert genre here track with anthemic possibilities. It will be the first release on the prolific Klein Records' new off shoot alternative dance label kleinTanz (www.kleintanz.com).

Remixes come from the legendary dance maestro REMUTE from Hamburg, cryptic YOUNGER THAN ME a fresh name taking the London scene by surprise, golden boy of disco GOLDEN BUG from Barcelona and last but not least, SAY YES TO ANOTHER EXCESS (Danny from The C90s & Stopmakingme). This enigmatic but high scoring duo from London released their first Single on the Australian Bang Gang imprint in May.

Should you find this, download this, buy it?  Uh, yeah.

Download: Chimes (Younger Than Me Remix)
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All The Apparatus Can Handle

Portland, Oregon's avant-garde/indie-folk 11-piece outfit, All the Apparatus are celebrating the release of their sophomore, self-titled full-length (Faultvo Records).

The new, self-titled album from All the Apparatus is like the best pirate radio station you've ever heard, skipping around the musical spectrum, offering original gems to lovers of all genres with each song sounding almost as if a different band is playing. Forged during countless hours of street corner performances, this eleven piece band's raucous energy was captured by producer David Eaton, who formerly worked with the likes of Polyphonic Spree and Dynamite Hack. Eaton followed his ears down the city streets and found All the Apparatus playing their hearts out to Portland's pedestrians and the rest was history.

Part circus sideshow, part bourbon-soaked blues, and part enchanting musical ruckus, All the Apparatus' new album delivers a banquet of intriguing eclectic music.

Download: Lets Go Ride Bikes
Download: Portland Rose
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Jacuzzi Boys Are Glazin

The Jacuzzi Boys’ practice space is like most any other -- crammed with gear along with one of the guys’ record collections. But their band room happens to be located in a trailer tucked just inside Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park on gorgeous Key Biscayne, FL. Just a few feet from their amps: tropical paradise. This is an area home to weird animals and buttonwood trees, located on an island just outside of Miami. “Miami is not known for producing many good bands,” bassist Danny Gonzalez concedes. “So, quite frequently we get asked, ‘would you ever consider moving?’ Our answer is always, ‘No!’ This is where our friends and family are from. Miami is such a part of the Jacuzzi Boys, as important as any musical influence.”

The Jacuzzi Boys are guitarist/vocalist Gabriel Alcala, drummer Diego Monasterios, and bassist Danny Gonzalez, three dudes from South Florida, bright as neon and fun as hell. After forming the band in 2007 and accruing a handful of 45s, the group released the LP No Seasons on Florida’s Dying (located in nearby Orlando, FL) in 2009. Now, in 2011, we have Glazin’ – their second full-length, and the first for Hardly Art.

For Glazin’, the group traveled to Key Club Studios in Benton Harbor, MI where they spent twelve full days recording and mixing. The Jacuzzi Boys used this as an opportunity to dig deeper into the production of each song. “If the first record was the Everglades, the follow-up is Dadeland Mall,” says Alcala. This is also true sonically – while No Seasons was a primal wallop, Glazin’ has the slight sheen of a studio environment. Moving beyond the beauty and harshness inherent in a life spent within a single climate, Glazin’ instead offers a take on the culture that surrounds that environment: girls, cruising, air conditioning, and “raspberry feelings"....

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