featured artists:

Summary spans five tumultuous months of triumphs, failures, loss and growth and evokes a spectrum of raw emotion, as would a novel, a movie, a sonnet, or a classical concerto.
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In a political and social climate of fear and denial with regard to mortality, The Decemberists' spirited recordings contribute to the majesty of this existence. Their approach to popular music celebrates the gifts couched in the tenuous nature of life. It is a glorious process that transcends organized religion and politics.
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An improbable group with nothing apparently in common starts a band, makes some of the most difficult and unclassifiable noise of the mid-nineties, and unexpectedly rises to international prominence as one of indie rock's most renowned and influential groups. How could this have happened?
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Erase Errata's new album, their third, Night Life, is a look at American life with the fluorescents on. Singer/guitarist Jenny Hoyston serves up narratives that examine realities no one wants to look at: war and poverty.
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The first thing that strikes you is the rhythm. The Gossip have been making punks dance since they debuted 5 years ago, long before dance punk existed. The next thing that smacks you is Beth's voice, all the guttural blues of the South is in that inimitable instrument. It resonates with the confidence that is in her lyrics asking people to hold on just a little bit longer, re-assuring the youth that there are others out there, and spitting in the face of all who say otherwise!
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Following in the tradition of great songwriters from John Lennon to Nick Drake, and great vocalists from the Everly Brothers to Simon & Garfunkel, Hanson's sweet falsetto and ear for melody distinguish each of the ten tracks on his new, self-titled album from any other artist.
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Justin Ringle moved to Portland, Oregon in 2004, and began to play open mics regularly under the moniker Horse Feathers. In 2005 Peter Broderick heard two songs that Justin had recorded in a friend's basement, and proceeded to track Justin down via the internet. Shortly after that, the two started playing music together. For the most part, Justin writes the songs initially, and then Peter helps to arrange them with varying instrumentation. The resulting sound is music.
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Colin Meloy was heralded by Rolling Stone as “a master of improbable juxtaposition: arcane, detailed fictions of star-crossed passion and avenging bloodshed dressed up in indie-rock jangle, la-de-da choruses and vintage prog-rock bombast” in a review of The Decemberists’ show in New York’s Central Park last spring. By contrast, the live solo album presents him in a stripped-down, acoustic setting leading his audience on a spellbinding walk through his oeuvre thus far and providing a glimpse of some new material.
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Imagine a high school dance where Red Cross, Black Flag, X-Ray Spex, The Slits and The Germs are all playing at with an updated flare of excitement and anxiousness.
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Since their first band practice in March 2006, the three ladies who make up the New Bloods have dropped jaws and touched off unruly, spontaneous dance moves across the dark and drizzly basement/house party landscape of Portland, Oregon. Now with The Secret Life, they’ve shone a new light that won’t be put out.
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Where once, Numbers were the premier party-rock dance outfit with whom we found our salvation from the curse that was the coming of a new century, now comes Numbers of a new dawning era of self realization and societal enlightenment.
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Keeping the torch lit on the vibe and sound coming from the scene that they are so deeply a part of, the Old Haunts add their own personal touch to the garagey punk they forcefully spit out. They layer wirey guitars over a pounding backbeat and the quirky vocals are delivered with urgency. Comparisons to Television and the Gun Club are not far from the mark although their spooky and razor sharp riffs are all their own.
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Think Ian Curtis' convulsive intensity and James Browns spastic swagger and you still won't have PANTHER, but a sense of what-the-fuckness that all of them seem to call up. view artist page

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The NME declares, "Shy Child are to Kraftwerk what The White Stripes are to Led Zeppelin!"
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On May 8, 2007, Kill Rock Stars will release a double CD of music by Elliott Smith entitled New Moon. The album contains 24 songs recorded 1994-1997, a prolific time in Smith's career, when he recorded his self-titled album and Either/Or (both also released by Kill Rock Stars). Arguably the most gifted song-writer of his generation, Elliott Smith produced a large body of work that includes five solo albums, as well as From a Basement on the Hill (2004), a collection of songs completed before his death in 2003.
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Ok. Let's get this out of the way. Marnie Stern can shred. She's a better guitar player than you, or me, or probably 99% of the people who have ever looked at a guitar.
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According to Thao Nguyen, she has two talents: her first is she has a knack for beat-boxing and humming at the same time (Rahzel needn’t worry about any competition just yet though…) and her second, and in her opinion finest, is that she had a capacity to watch so much TV as a kid, she’s convinced her personality is made up of several different sitcom characters. Of course Thao, the 23 year Virginia-bred songwriter, is forgetting her unique voice, natural sense for a good melody, and striking lyrics, skillful guitar plucking and her deadly dry sense of humour. Thao’s debut for Kill Rock Stars, showcases all these talents and more, proving she’s a star in the making.
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The songs drape themselves across their subjects in deformed electro tapestries. They play out like symphonies, but feel compressed into the internal microcosm of an American bedroom... bedroom symphonies, bedroom confessions over chimes and gonging bells and industrial beats and buttery guitar leads that slide through the songs like a straight razor opening up skin.
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