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 Brown Bird and friends outside SPACE Gallery - photo by Bryan Bruchman Brown Bird – “Fingers To The Bone” Though they call Rhode Island home, we sure do love Brown Bird around here. From their Maine roots to their work with Peapod Recordings and occasional involvement of Maine musicians Jeremy and Jerusha Robinson (South China), the duo of David Lamb and MorganEve Swain seem right at home every time they come through Portland (or Biddeford). This summer the band continues their march along the east coast, including a prime slot at the Newport Folk Festival, all in preparation for the release of their new LP, Salt For Salt, October 18 on Supply & Demand Music (where they’ll be in good company with bands like Dark Dark Dark – who they’ll be sharing some dates with – and Vandaveer). We love the cover art by Will Schaff.
Stream the first single, “Fingers to the Bone,” below and read on for tour dates (including a stop in Portland) and the Salt For Salt tracklist.
The fine folks (namely, Travis Cyr) behind the Arootsakoostik Music Festival happening July 9 in New Sweden, ME, have just released a free, downloadable sampler of 17 bands playing the event. Check out the sampler below and make your plans for the festival now! You’ll notice some familiar names if you checked out the samplers we put together for the recent Free Range Festival and last year’s CMJ Festival in NYC – for example: Jesse Pilgrim, The Milkman’s Union, The Class Machine, Good Kids Sprouting Horns (who have a dual CD release show this week at SPACE and The Oak + The Ax – watch the promo video here), etc. It’s great to see some Maine bands getting involved in the local, regional, and national festival action! What a way to put out a new single: Portland’s post-punk prodigees, Huak, just released a brand new song, “Ex Ghost,” but aren’t content to leave it at just one track with a b-side or two. Instead, they threw in 8 different remixes of the track by local artists, all peppered with more new (improvised) jams from the band.
Stream/buy the maxi-single below or at Bandcamp and come out to see the band tomorrow, Tuesday, May 10 at SPACE Gallery with Goes Cube and Waranimal. Proudly presented by your friends right here at HillyTown.com.
It’s been difficult keeping this one quiet in the weeks I’ve been putting it together, so I’m excited to finally share the Free Range Festival 2011 Sampler, compiled by HillyTown with the help of the Free Range Fest organizers and participating artists. This 15-track album represents many of the artists playing the April 30 festival in Belfast, Maine (go here for the full list of performers and bios). In addition to exclusive new tracks from local artists Brenda, Sunset Hearts, and Marie Stella, you’ll also hear from Michael Hurley, The Milkman’s Union (who are playing our show in Portland this Saturday and we just made a video for), Mango Floss, Vistas, Jacob Augustine, Broken Water, Big Blood, Grass Widow, Jonny Corndawg, Dead Man’s Clothes, and In Houses In Trees. Enjoy the songs and share them with your friends, then do yourself a favor and purchases these artists’ albums if you hear something you like (we think you will)! We’ll see you in Belfast on April 30 at the festival and our afterparty at Three Tides!
I momentarily blew the lid on this one yesterday, before I realized that the band was trying to keep it secret (but like I told front man Tyler Jackson – “If it’s on the internet, people can find it”), but now you can officially stream, download, and generally get down with a brand new Foam Castles EP (with cover art by drummer D.J. Moore). Read on… When the opener for tonight’s Low Anthem show at SPACE was announced, there was a bit of a collective “Who?” Bobby – “Sore Spores” We have little to go on in terms of musical output beyond this single, though there is a Facebook page, an official site, and a Twitter account. The band is signed to Partisan Records (home to Deer Tick, Mountain Man, Doloreon, Warm Ghost) and touring with The Low Anthem (including tonight’s show at SPACE Gallery – buy tickets) and appearing at SXSW in a couple weeks. Their debut self-titled album comes out June 21. The Montague, MA-based psych/folk 5-piece (including Molly Sarle of labelmates Mountain Man contributing vocals) apparently worships/follows/lives in fear of someone named Bobby, who serves as the inspiration behind their music. We’ll all learn more tonight at the show.
Seemingly out of nowhere, Computer At Sea‘s Galen Richmond just wrote to let us know that his brand new album, Palace of the Lightbulbs, is now available online for name-your-own-price via Bandcamp. It’s great to finally hear these songs that have been live staples for so long in finished, recorded form. The vinyl edition of the album will be available in late April. Computer At Sea currently has two Portland shows coming up: Friday, March 11 opening for Dan Deacon at SPACE Gallery, and Tuesday, March 15 at The Apohadion with The Shortsleeves and The Gloaming.  I know it’s just a coincidence, but I can’t help but feel just a bit like this is a pretty sweet birthday present: local band Dead Man’s Clothes just released a brand new 2-song digital single. “From The Water” is a bit of a deceptive tune, starting slow with a hint of country and weaving through epic rock landscapes (with some fine Fleet Foxes/MMJ vocal hints) before launching into a steadier groove near the 4-minute mark. This is where it gets really interesting: dueling guitarists Don Dumont and TJ Metcalfe bring it back to indie rock territory as the pace picks up through the end of the track with a chorus of looping guitar riffs. Lyrically, Dumont keeps it simple but true: “I want to feel it, not just know it.” The second song, “Post-Future,” wastes little time getting to the poppier punk tempos and keeps it short and sweet at under 3 minutes. Check out the single below – highly recommended for fans of Dismemberment Plan, Tapes ‘n Tapes, Fountains of Wayne, Menomena, My Morning Jacket, Arcade Fire, and Sunny Day Real Estate.
3/2 – Apohadion [Portland, ME] w/Marie Stella, The Dirty Dishes (BOS), Grass Is Green Video from DMC’s release show for Ice Is War back in August, 2010. Become a fan of Dead Man’s Clothes on Facebook.
Milkman’s Union just released a new 3-song sampler to get fans excited for their upcoming string of shows. We recently announced a HillyTown Presents show in April that they’ll be a part of (speaking of which, that show’s headliners – Milagres – just got signed to Kill Rock Stars! More on them later) but they’ve got a lot coming up between now and the big show. Check out the sampler below, download it (pay-what-you-want), and check out their upcoming tour dates. Between the studio track, live recording, and acoustic take, you’ll get a good idea of the breadth of this dynamic Portland band. Act fast, they say the tracks won’t stay online for long. Milkman’s Union dates: |
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