Jon Ragel recorded the first Boy Eats Drum Machine record,

, in his basement, and packaged it by hand in his kitchen. Then, he recruited friends Benjy Rickard and Peter Swenson to fill out the stage for live performances. The music scene has never been the same in Portland, OR:

"Just one listen to let's get lost sometime (

) off Boy Eats Drum Machine's latest album, , and not only will you have it permanently stuck in your head — you'll be happy about it. Bouncy, bubbly electro-pop, it actually does make you wonder if this is what it would sound like if DJ Shadow produced Neil Diamond. Other tracks call to mind Portishead and the Postal Service -- sometimes at the same time." [Barbara Mitchell, for The Portland Tribune]

Unlike BEDM's debut, the band's second effort represents the full collaborative contributions of Benjy, Peter, and Jon, and the resulting whole is bigger, stranger, and more inspired than the sum of the individual parts. With the release of

, Boy Eats Drum Machine seem poised to leap from the comforts of hometown hero status into the harsh climes of the national stage. They're ready. Are you?

Boy Eats Drum Machine is all but a sure bet if you're a fan of Beck, TV on the Radio, Sublime, and Cursive. The and is important there, since elements of all those bands will take turns jumping out at you. This is really interesting, exciting, different stuff. Please do give it a shot.

Read More...

Malian guitarist, singer, and composer Vieux Farka Toure is carrying on the great musical tradition of his father Ali Farka Toure. It didn't always seem inevitable, however, Ali wanted to shelter his son from the foreseeable suffering he might encounter as a musician and advised him to become a soldier instead. Vieux, against his father's wishes, began secretly playing along to his father's records and eventually went on to pursue his dream by enrolling in the National Arts Institute in Bamako. He soon became a guitar virtuoso and was creating a buzz big enough that the world's premiere kora player, Toumani Diabate, discovered his music and convinced his father to give his blessing to his son. The rest is history!

Read More...

We know you've been enjoying Funnel Cloud for a little while now and we've got some more Hem for your collection.

and are filled with that "countrypolitan" sound that Hem fans know and love.

p.s. did you know that Hem met through an ad in the Village Voice? Pretty cool, eh?

Read More...

If you frequent the same kind of used-to-be-smoky clubs that I do, you're surely familiar with the very specific elation one feels when an unknown performer quietly takes the stage, acoustic guitar in hand, and his first notes cut clean and true through the din of conversation and clinking glasses. Your ears perk right up. This kid can play, you think to yourself, and he can SING. I wonder what his name is...

Matthew Gair's record

is the closest approximation to that feeling you can get without actually being in a tiny club. It sounds so live that I found myself straining to hear the audience in the background. It's as if you could reach out and touch the guy. It was only when, a few songs in, an echo effect is applied to a vocal line in Assisi (), that I was convinced that I wasn't just hearing a live recording.

You really get a little bit of everything with this one. From the man-do-I-wanna-compare-this-to-Raffi album opener Friday (

), to Blue Side Down (), which sounds like it's a not-quite-joking tribute to Tenacious D's "Tribute," Matther Gair covers a lot of ground and still manages to maintain a consistent, inviting sound.

Read More...

Brooklyn, NY based indie-folksters Mia Riddle and Her Band recently made their Amie Street debut with

as well as an exclusive track from their yet to be released album, . In the short time that they've been on the site, their music has been buzzing like crazy! One reason could be that they worked with Au Revoir Simone's producer, Rod Sherwood. Another reason could be that they are a talented group with songs that will charm even the toughest of critics. LVHRD Magazine called Mia Riddle and Her Band "a standout act with a bright future... stars in the making" and The Owl Mag raved that the band is "...both charming and remarkably intellectual...as good as it gets."

Stay tuned for some very special videos and key tracks after the break!

Read More...

[Editors Note: The Following is from the review "Lucid Dream tells of love experiences that won't put you to sleep" written by Nicole Keiper of Tennessean.com]

What'll they say, years from now, about the rock music of the mid-'00s?

Were we in the middle of a glam renaissance, My Chemical Romance and Fall Out Boy jolting eyeliner and skinny jeans back into prominence? Or were we in the era of the song's resurgence, regular-dude acts like The Fray and Daniel Powter parlaying big, meaty chorus hooks into big hits, despite their cubicle-farmer-chic fashion sense?

Either seems likely enough. But if Nashville guy Carey Ott's new release,

, earns as broad an audience as its wide-net pop hooks seem to call to, regular-guy rock might get a pretty significant edge.

What Ott doesn't have is a shtick -- he's not reinventing styles on Lucid Dream or doing anything overtly marketable, nor is he working the kind of haircut that earns lots of magazine features. (He's a good-looking, regular bald dude, bearing something akin to Powter's cute-carpenter pout.)

What he does have, however, is songs.

Read the rest of the review after the break

Read More...

Founded by pianist John Lewis, vibraphonist Milt Jackson, bassist Ray Brown, and drummer Kenny Clarke, The Modern Jazz Quartet began as the rhythm section of Dizzy Gillespie and His Orchestra in 1946. By 1951, the quartet had set their own course and recorded as the Milt Jackson Quartet. In 1952, with the substitution of Percy Heath for Ray Brown on bass, the group became established as The Modern Jazz Quartet (MJQ). The group combined forms and instrumentation common to classical music with jazz improvisation, paving a way for a new genre known as "third stream." They would go on to perform at prestigious concert halls often joined by an orchestra as well as many famous soloists.

Amie Street is very excited to bring you

. This live concert recording features the quartet in it's third reincarnation (Connie Kay eventually replaced Kenny Clarke on drums). We can assure you that they can swing with the best of them -- even with their tuxedos on!

Read More...

Hackensaw Boys are bringin' some blazin' bluegrass to Amie Street. Their unique blend of bluegrass, which also incorporates elements of punk and old-time music, has been receiving tons of praise and has led to tours with the likes of Modest Mouse and Cake. We've got three of their albums just waiting to be rec'd right now- so get on it! A must listen for any bluegrass fan!

Read More...

[Editor's Note: Today is the 1st anniversary of the Amie Street Blog! To celebrate we've decided to re-post our very first entry -- a brief and lucid, albeit deft, piece on a band we still love: One Ring Zero. Enjoy a stroll down memory lane.]

One Ring Zero brought its big-top contortionist anthems to Amie Street this week. ORZ is the dynamic-duo of Michael Hearst and Joshua Camp, indie-alt. ringleaders from Brooklyn. They brought us only two tracks (please sirs, more), but we can't argue with the dynamic strangeness of Natty Man Blues (

) and Here Come The Mannequins (). According to band bios, Michael plays the theremin, Joshua plays the accordion, both play the claviola and employ an instrumental compendium including the toy piano, the melodica, the metallophone, the jones-O-phone, the cajon, and so on. Also, they both sing.

"Natty," written by Paul Auster, comes from the 2004 release As Smart As We Are, a literary collaboration/album featuring song lyrics by several other acclaimed contemporary authors. "Mannequins" is the single off their August 2006 release Wake Them Up.

Buy and REC these golden indies y'all.

Read More...