Soft Bullets |
• PUBLIC TRANSPORT, the one-man shoegaze show of Downeast musician Duncan Bailey, is one of our latest bandcamp finds. Bailey's full-length May effort, titled Seawall, is an eight-track romp of upbeat, guileless electronic pop, complete with droning, psychedelic rhythms, and a requisite number of dreamy synthwash nods to My Bloody Valentine. The just-released track "Dark Days" suggests some evem more interesting stops might be down the line, as Public Transport channels the triphop vibes of Bowery Electric and the skittering electronica of Ulrich Schauss. Pretty sure live shows don't happen — too bad, we could see him opening for Sunset Hearts — but hit publictransport.bandcamp.com for a listen.
• The DIRIGIMUS venue might have come and gone, but its central operations are working just fine. The outsider music cooperative has shuffled its deck and appears to be surging ahead as a record label, promotional company, and online host for local experimental sounds. This group had some of the best ideas about music experience and production in all of 2012 — bookmark dirigimuscooperative.com to follow their lead.
• Don't wanna seem like a FOGCUTTERS highlight reel, but those folks sure make a lot of news. The hardworking 18-piece big band just played a central role draw at the State's "Beatles Night," but more of interest, just launched a web series titled Big Band Syndrome. The first episode's got interviews with soul singer LADY ZEN, janglefolk songwriter ANDI FAWCETT, and Seacoast rapper EYENINE, who each speak candidly about their collaborations with the band. The Fogcutters get plenty of ink about their music (including right here), but we appreciate them especially for shining a light on the labors of how local musicians make it all happen. YouTube it.
• The shimmering alt-rock group SOFT BULLETS, a transcontinental collaboration between Portland musician Dan Capaldi and the English songwriter Christopher Wall, released a new EP this month. Titled Hyperreality and immaculately produced, its four songs sound like what Radiohead might craft if they truly managed to escape expectations. The record's available in CD and download format, while the seven-inch contains artwork by Portland printmaker Kyle Bryant.
