Daytrotter Sessions are always intimate affairs that showcase bands and their songs in an intriguingly new context. Portland-favorite indie-folk rockers Blitzen Trapper recently dropped by Daytrotter for their second recording stint with the studio. The boys recorded three tracks from their wonderful LP Furr released last year on Sub Pop.

Blitzen Trapper – “echo” (daytrotter sessions)

Listen to more HERE.

Also, speaking of Blitzen Trapper, have you gotten tickets to Pickathon yet? In its 11th year, the festival may have its best lineup yet with such acts slated to play as Blitzen Trapper, Vetiver, Dr. Dog, Alela Diane, Laura Gibson and many more. Check out more information on this green-conscious music festival running from July 31st to August 2nd at their website.

Alela Diane – The Pirates Gospel

Team Marmoset | Saxon Baird

Laura Veirs live!

Having consistently put out solid records over the last decade, Laura Veirs has established herself as a popular staple musician in the Northwest and beyond. In addition to her own work, Veirs has worked and toured with such acts as The Decemberists and Sufjan Stevens. After a short break from touring, Veirs has returned to the road for a brief west coast tour with an entirely new backing band consisting of members from Cataldo (from Seattle) and Portland’s The Old Believers. The two bands will also be opening up for her. Veirs plays Mississippi Studios Friday, July 17th and will be playing a few tunes off her yet-to-be released album July Flame.

Here is track of Veirs’ last LP Saltbreakers

Laura Veirs – to the country

Wampire

Think Beach House meets a heavy dose of synth on 80’s night. Or don’t think of that at all and just take a few minutes and listen to the hypnotic Portland-based band Wampire. The duo recently released their first record (on cassette) last Saturday at Work/Sound Studios and are quickly making an imprint upon the Rose City. Their dreamy tracks fall out of your speakers like molasses and prove to be a perfect soundtrack for any languid, sunny day or preparation for another gloomy Northwest winter. Hopefully these guys will get over their nostalgia and put some music out in a form that doesn’t send me searching for some triple-A batteries and my Walkman.

Check out their myspace for music, especially the track “Orchards.”

Team Marmoset | Saxon Baird

Summer means mainly one thing to music lovers: festivals! Lucky for us in the Northwest, the lineups have been released for two of the biggest yearly music festivals in the Portland area –Music Fest Northwest and PDX Pop Now! Both look to provide another great mix of local and national acts exhibiting a wide-range of different music.

Some of the main acts for Music Fest Northwest (September 16 to 19th) include Girl Talk, Bad Brains, local acts Viva Voce, Red Fang, Norfolk & Western and a reunited Sunny Day Real Estate (1997 all over again?). Also featured with be Scottish bands Frightened Rabbit and The Twilight Sad that are two of my favorite bands right now from across the pond. For a full-list of bands playing along with ticket information check out the MFNW website.

The always free, fun and all-aged PDX Pop Now! will run from July 24-26th this year and include local favorites Au, Grouper, Menomena, Nurses, Pierced Arrows, The Shaky Hands and whole bunch more.

For more info on check out pdxpopnow.com.

Frightened Rabbit – The Modern Leper LIVE @ The Mill from Craig Rooney on Vimeo.

Post by Saxon Baird | Team Marmoset

This essay began as an attempt at a simple blog entry, and within only a couple of hours, it quickly developed into something much bigger in size. In an effort to practice what I preach about not over thinking things too much and the value of just getting good content out the door and into public domain, I’m forcing this essay out the door and into this crude pseudo-published form for the sake of “just doing it.” Please forgive any grammar and spelling deficiencies it contains, as I promise to clean it up and re-issue it later on, most likely in the form of an eBook. The later edition will also contain proper citations and references, which I hope to not misquote or harm anyone in the meantime. Thank you for reading and sharing this.

Below is the opening couple of paragraphs, followed by a link where you can download the whole thing in PDF format.

Talking ‘bout a Revolution:
A Manifesto on better understanding the collapse of the music industry and identifying some ideas and strategies for building success, amidst so many unknowns in the music business.

Why is everyone so worried about the current state of the music industry? What is so bad about the current state of things? And moreover, given the ginormous ocean of new technology, Web 2.0 capabilities and the unprecedented access to one’s audience, why are so many people so reluctant to understand and embrace change?

Never before in the history of human kind have artists had the opportunity to be so connected with an audience and have so many unique and inexpensive mediums to deliver their work. This, in fact, may be the most exciting time ever in world of music. Yes, more exciting than when the first caveman beat two rocks together to make a beat. And yes, even more exciting than when The Beatles played the Ed Sullivan show. What too many artists today are failing to realize is that we are in the midst of a revolution. Let me emphasize this better… WE ARE IN THE MIDST OF A REVOLUTION!! Therefore, seize the moment!

Consider this: There is more music being listened to today than ever before in the history of the universe. Do you understand what that means? Can you truly comprehend the impact of that statement? Give it a minute. Let it really sink in…

While disillusioned music industry traditionalists keep complaining and expressing fear about the implosion and nearly complete devastation of everything that once was in the music business… I think we should celebrate. Yes, celebrate!

To read the rest of this, you need to download the PDF here. Enjoy.

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It was probably like last June, when bassist/guitarist Dave Hernandez announced that The Shins, for various reasons, would be taking a year or so off before the band would tour again. Well, it doesn’t look like they quite lasted that long.

The Shins just announced that they’ll be hitting the road in May for a few select dates, playing mid-sized venues on both the East and West Coast. It’s about time! We were just talking about how we’ve been missing them.

Here’s the dates they’ve announced so far… More soon to come:

+Saturday, May 2, 2009
Western Washington University, Bellingham WA
All Ages

+Monday, May 4, 2009
Showbox (Seattle), Seattle WA
All Ages

+Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Showbox, Seattle WA
All Ages

+Wednesday, May 6, 2009
Crystal Ballroom, Portland OR
All Ages

+Thursday, May 7, 2009
Crystal Ballroom, Portland OR
All Ages

+Saturday, May 9, 2009
Fox Theater, Oakland CA
All Ages

+Sunday, May 10, 2009
Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles CA
All Ages

+Monday, May 11, 2009
SOMA, San Diego CA
All Ages

+Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The National, Richmond VA
All Ages

+Thursday, May 14, 2009
930 Club, Washington DC
All Ages

+Friday, May 15, 2009
Ram’s Head Live, Baltimore MD
All Ages

+Saturday, May 16, 2009
Electric Factory, Philadelphia PA
All Ages

+Sunday, May 17, 2009
Wellmont Theater, Montclair NJ
All Ages

+Monday, May 18, 2009
Terminal Five, New York, NY
All Ages

Post by Joe Solis | Team Marmoset

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Parks & Recreation – Elysian Fields (We’re Dead We’re Dead) from grammar school on Vimeo.

Our good friends at Grammar School Pictures just released a new video for Parks & Recreation who are on Hush Records.  When you have a second, check out Grammar School out and see what they’ve got going on. They’re making films, music videos, and even provide a little insight into the process of their craft.

Pet Marmoset has teamed up with them on many occasions, mainly capturing live video footage for The Dimes. They are super great guys to work with. And they smell nice too.

Joe Solis | Team Marmoset

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Okay folks, here it is – fresh of the press news that Death Cab for Cutie &  The Decemberists will be rocking out in good ol’ Gresham this Summer at McMenamins Edgefield.

Go get your presale tickets this Friday for the July, 17th performance of Death Cab for Cutie at the following link. You can find the presale tickest for the The Decemberists’ July 18th performance here and for their July 19th performance here.

Oh yeah – here’s the password: SUMMERTIME

Hope to see you there!

Post By: Joe Solis | Team Marmoset

Keywords: Death Cab for Cutie,The Decemberists, July, McMenamins,Edgefiel, presale, tickets,Friday,July 17th,performance,July 18th,Sunday July 19th,Joe Solis, Team Marmoset

I was just checking my E-Mail inbox, like I do every 5 minutes and I just received my daily CMJ email and found this little blurb about The Decemberist.  Looks like they just release some dates for a little North American jaunt. However, just like Modest Mouse and so many other bands these days – they’re skipping P-town. What’s the dilly, yo?!

News courtesy of CMJ:

The Decemberists are taking their new, interestingly conceived record, The Hazards of Love, on the road. The band has announced the first leg of dates on it’s North American jaunt in support of the upcoming concept album.

The Hazards of Love, out March 24 on Capitol Records, is a 17-track suite which chronicles the tales of, among other things, a woman who is ravaged by a shape-shifting animal. On this tour with the band, and voicing the female characters, are Lavender Diamond’s Becky Stark and My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden. The group will perform Hazards in it’s entirety, with the debut live performance occurring at NPR Music’s South By Southwest showcase at Stubbs in Austin on March 18.

A limited number of pre-sale tickets go on sale today at http://www.decemberists.tickets.musictoday.com, on a first come first serve basis. The rest of the tickets go on sale Friday.

Tour Dates For The Decemberists:
05/19 – Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
05/20 – Oakland, CA – Fox Theatre
05/21 – Eugene, OR – McDonald Theater
05/24 – Missoula, MT – Wilma Theatre
05/26 – Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
05/27 – Kansas City, MO – Uptown Theater
05/29 – Milwaukee, WI – Riverside Theater
05/31 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant
06/01 – Columbus, OH – Lifestyle Communities Pavilion
06/03 – Atlanta, GA – Tabernacle
06/04 – Raleigh, NC – Memorial Auditorium
06/05 – Richmond, VA – The National
06/06 – Upper Darby, PA – Tower Theatre
06/09 – Boston, MA – Bank of America Pavillion
06/10 – New York, NY – Radio City Music Hall
06/11 – Manchester, TN – Bonnaroo Music And Arts Festival

http://www.decemberists.com

PS -   It was great to meet you at Holocene Jenny Conlee. (Joe)

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For those of you who chase the Mouse here are a few dates that were just released.

Modest Mouse – 2009 Tour Dates
Feb 22 Oakland, CA Fox Theater
Feb 23 Visalia, CA The Fox Theatre
Feb 24 Los Angeles, CA Hollywood Palladium
Feb 25 Tempe, AZ The Marquee
Feb 26 Albuquerque, NM Albuquerque Convention Center
Feb 28 Boulder, CO Balch Fieldhouse
Mar 2 Kansas City, MO Uptown Theater
Mar 3 Oklahoma City, OK Diamond Ballroom
Mar 4 Austin, TX Stubb’s
Mar 5 Oxford, MS The Lyric Oxford
Mar 7 Atlanta, GA The Tabernacle
Mar 8 Miami, FL Langerado Festival

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I had coffee last week with someone who is doing something very cool in the DIY music community. His name is Kevin Breuner and he leads the CD Baby DIY Musician Podcast - one of the most valuable strategy and knowledge resources available for independent artists. He also enjoys Stumptown coffee just as much as I do, so he’s obviously a very smart guy.

I think it goes without saying that CD Baby has always been a leading tool and resources for indie artists. Derek Sivers founded and ran the company as a virtual hippie commune, always trying to do what is right for artists and maintain a sense of loyalty and integrity for hard working musicians. And while Sivers has moved on and CD Baby is now under ownership of big, national CD replication/duplication giant, Discmakers – the DIY Musician Podcast lives on as a testament – the epitome of what CD Baby was founded on and has long stood for.

Exploring some of the most important areas and needs of DIY artists, I cannot applaud the efforts of Kevin enough for what he’s done with this podcast. Along with his trusty co-hosts, Chris Robley and Chris “Robert” Bolton, these guys have developed something really special. Possibly the most valuable component of the weekly podcast is how they seek out some of the foremost experts in the industry and bring them onto the show for enlightening and rewarding interviews.

We at Team Marmoset have some favorite episodes that we highly recommend you take the time to listen to. We’ve listed these below, each with a little description. Moreover, every smart and responsible independent artist needs to subscribe to the podcast and take time every week or two to catch-up on some critically important insider and industry knowledge. You can subscribe here:

Team Marmoset Recommended Listens/Downloads:

Episode #42 – Microblogging Your Music Career – Insights on blogs, Twitter and why artists should embrace these tools.

Episode #40 – Alex Steininger – PR Veteran, Alex Steininger, gives some tips on how to get press and tell your story.

Episode #29 – Ariel Hyatt – Online PR gal, Ariel Hyatt makes sense of social networking, Myspace and more.

Episode #26 – Amy McCollough – Former Willie Week music editor, Amy McCollough explains what and what not to do.

Episode #14 – Jeff Stuart Saltzman – Arguably the best engineer in town – Jeff Saltzman sheds some lights on mixing.

Episode #16 – Dylan Magierek – Dylan Magierek of Badman Recording talks the ins and outs of small indie labels.

Episode #3 – Alicia Rose – One of the most influential people in the NW music scene – Miss. Rose gets brutally honest.

Episode #2 – Lisa Lepine – Veteran Promotions Expert, Lisa Lepine, gives you exactly what you need.

Happy listening…

PS – Minor sidenote and moment of shameless promotion – which is what I do best….

Aside from running the CD Baby DIY Musician Podcast, Kevin Breuner is also a very talented musician himself, with a DNA that includes some impressive musical accomplishments in his career. Most interesting is his latest project, Hello Morning. They are only in the infant stages, but undoubtedly have great potential, purely based on the band lineup. In addition to Kevin, who was a founding member of national act Smalltown Poets, they’ve got Henry Curl of Jonah belting out the vocals, along with Benjy Rickard and Peter Swenson, both formerly of Jonny Ragel’s project, Boy Eats Drum Machine. Nice pedigree, huh? You can listen to the early iterations of Hello Morning here: www.myspace.com/hellomorningband

And I should probably pimp my friend, Chris Robley, too.  His band, Chris Robley and the Fear of Heights, is damned good and will be co-headlining the new and improved Mississippi Studios on March 27th with The Dimes.  You might notice that the intro music for the DIY podcast is one of Chris’ latest singles, User Friendly Guide to Change.

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