Eclectic Grooves

Man, what a tumultuous time I've had since last Thanksgiving! It started with a sudden medical problem which I thought would be cured with antibiotics that spiraled into the need for multiple procedures to determine if I had a fatal illness. If that weren't enough, I have been rear-ended twice in the past 8 months, with the most recent accident resulting in my car being totaled.  I found my quality of life reduced to a steady diet of working all day and then watching TV until it was time for bed. Throughout these months, my condition hasn't gotten any better and it has resulted in me not being able to consume a lot of the beverages and food that I love. It was difficult to deal with my girlfriend's Lyme disease prior to all of this happening, but now normal chores that I would do around the house or running errands are things that rarely occur due to my illness. It's a slippery slope once you fall into the icy depths of depression, and the only person that can bri...

On Jan 27th,  I mentioned a potential lucrative opportunity that lay just within my striking distance. While I've posted a couple pieces since, I never shared the outcome of this with my readers.   In a nutshell, I found out a few days after I made that post that I had been selected to keep my position at the higher pay rate that my contracting company negotiated for me. Then, after working with the new contracting company for a little less than 2 months, I was told that my contract was terminated, effective immediately, due to me being the highest paid person on the team. I was shell-shocked, and became deeply depressed, questioning and blaming myself for something that was out of my control. Considering that I wasn't ready to start looking for a new job,  I decided to hold off on collecting unemployment benefits. I spent my days feeling sorry for myself, and wondering how my girlfriend and I were going to pay the bills each month while I looked for a new opportunity. Th...

While the mystery mix didn't yield the type of results I anticipated, there were a couple people who asked for a track list. Besides revealing the track list for the mix, this post will feature an assortment of random curiosities that may peak your interest further. I encourage you to look into some of these artists further, as many of their other songs are equally as great as the ones featured on this mix. Mystery Mix- L'avventura 1) The Invaders- Spacing Out 2) Area- Chilometri Da Smirne 3) El Rego Et Ses Commandos- Petite Rosette 4) Gil Alluminogeni- Cosmo 5) John Cale- Adelaide 6) Karen Dalton- Blues on the Ceiling 7) Dane Sturgeon- Whip of Love 8) Franco Battiato- Energia 9) Dave Lamb & Gye Whiz- Shine On Me 10) Calamity Jane- Olympia 11) Ruth Copeland- Your Love Has Been So Good to Me 12) Back Door- Jive Grind 13) Souls of Mischief- Let 'Em Know 14) Joe Henderson- Vis a Vis 15) Bunzu Sounds- Zinabu 16) Bodo Molitor- Real Real 17) The South...

I had planned on getting this year's summer mix completed before Summer Solstice.  As usual, my perfectionism stepped in, preventing me from completing the mix until a couple hours ago. While the process of gathering tracks began in the middle of May, I didn't get into finalizing my choices until last week. I feel that this years mix is filled with songs that are perfect for summer road trips, backyard barbecues and pool parties.  In keeping with the theme of the blog, it is an eclectic mix spanning genres such as rock, glam, garage, jazz, soul, funk and hip-hop. For those of you who still burn CD's, I have trimmed the length of the mix a little so it will fit on a single CD. Dive in, and let these songs make a splash in your eardrums this summer! Summer Mix2015 1) Witch- Introduction 2) Andres Landero- Perdi Las Abarcas 3) The Hombres- Let It Out (Let It all Hang Out) 4) White Fence- Raven on White Cadillac 5) Gene Harris- Put on Train 6) Shirly El...

Unknown Mortal Orchestra- Multi Love The trajectory of Ruban Nielsen's career has never been predictable. After becoming completely disenchanted with the record industry when he was playing in the punk band The Mint Chicks, Ruban was really close to leaving music in his rearview mirror. While working as an illustrator for Jacob Portrait's brother, he was working on a self-recorded project that would eventually turn into UMO's self-titled debut record, despite his feelings that no one would be interested in hearing a bunch of guitar solos. Then, after a year of touring left him feeling alienated and desperate, he poured these feelings into the band's second record II, and toured the globe for another world tour.   Within the past year, his polyamorous relationship with his wife and another woman has provided the lyrical inspiration for the band's soon to be released third record entitled Multi-Love.  Even though the official street date for Multi...

Today, while sifting through my Twitter feed, I noticed a Pitchfork news item that was retweeted by UMO.  I couldn't believe it when the headline of this article read something along the lines of New UMO album and tour dates .  As I am not familiar enough with the lead single "Multi-Love" yet, I can only say that the sound of this track is light years away from their last two albums.  The production is practically sumptuous, with crisp drums and synthesizers replacing the requisite psychedelic guitars and reverb.  It's too early to say what my take is on their new direction, but the melodies of this song are already circling through my brain waves. Have a listen for yourself on their soundcloud page.

With the Halloween season creeping up on me once again, I will be presenting a more concise overview of my last three nights of Music Fest NW 201 to focus my energy on compiling a new Halloween mix over the next week. My hope is to have this year's mix posted within a week of Halloween so that everyone will have a sufficient amount of time to enjoy it. Friday :  La Luz- 9:00 Since I had already seen Mt. Eerie with Bonnie Prince Billy on Thursday, La Luz was definitely the best choice for the 9:00 time slot. I heard a few songs from their Damp Face ep that was released last year, and I was completely sold on their twisted surf noir sound that seemed to draw from influences as diverse as  Brenda Lee, David Lynch and The Ventures. After arriving at Dante's, the band started promptly at 9:00, and proceeded to deliver a fantastic set filled with seductive ballads, surf instrumentals and garage rock rave-ups. Their set was concise at 35 minutes, but filled with enough memorabl...

Every year around the first week of September, thousands of fanatic music lovers hit the streets of Portland, anxiously scanning their Music Fest schedules to determine how to see the best cross-section of bands in a finite period of time. While Music Fest NW started out as a relatively small event featuring mostly local bands and a few assorted venues, it has radically expanded into a six day extravaganza showcased at practically every venue in Portland covering musicians from all over the country. This year, I was fortunate enough to win a free pass to Music Fest NW, thus allowing me the ability to cover the event in full on Eclectic Grooves. Considering the abundant scope of this event, I figured that I would provide a schedule of my picks for Music Fest NW to the readers who plan on attending it this year. The following is my suggested itinerary to get the most out of this year's festival. Those of you who dig the music regularly posted on Eclectic Grooves wil...

The latest edition of I Hear a New World is available to listen to here, and to listen\download at http://ihearanewworld.podomatic.com/ . On this edition of I Hear a New World , I have deviated from the usual Stacks of Wax format to make way for some of the newer records that I have been listening to lately. My girlfriend and I have been operating with a single income for a couple years now since she was diagnosed with a systemic digestive disorder that has rendered her unable to work at all.  Since times have been hard, I haven't been able to purchase enough new vinyl to keep the podcasts interesting. Until there is a shift in my financial situation, I will be doing podcasts from albums that I have on my hard drive. For those of you who would like to help, please consider making a small donation to my Paypal page from http://www.podomatic.com/podcast/.  Every dollar earned from this will go straight into buying records that will be played on future p...

This episode of I Hear a New World was recorded before Christmas, but due to working tirelessly to complete the "Favorite Albums of 2012" list, it was shelved until now. It features a hodgepodge of psychedelic, garage and jazz with a little soul and blues to round out the mix nicely. Artists featured on this edition include Unknown Mortal Orchestra, David Bowie, Albert Collins and Eddie Harris. I Hear a New World- Stacks of Wax Vol.18 1) Abdeslam Cherkami- L-Awsaf 2) Cymande- The Message 3) Albert Collins- Kool Aide 4) Public Nuisance- Ecstasy 5) David Bowie- All the Mad Men 6) Tame Impala- Mind Mischief 7) Unknown Mortal Orchestra- Waves of Confidence 8) Sic Alps- God Bless Her, I Miss Her 9) Eddie Harris- Is It In 10) Fontanelle- Reflex Vs. Parallax 11) Eternal Tapestry- Sand Into Rain I hope you enjoy this podcast, and your thoughts and comments are encouraged and greatly appreciated!

Well, its that time of year again where vinyl and out-of print rarities are pushed to the bottom of the listening stack to make way for albums released in 2011.  Initially, I set out to start this project in the first part of December so I wasn't rushing frantically to beat the clock on New Year's Eve. However, those of you who have a predilection for collecting and listening to music know that this is quite an unrealistic expectation to set for myself. This quest for creating the perfect list of albums that caters to every taste out there is practically impossible since list-making is completely subjective. Albums from artists like Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver, PJ Harvey, Kurt Vile, Wilco, Adele, St Vincent, Lykke Li, Feist and The War On Drugs were featured on virtually every top 10 list. Whether or not these albums are deserving of this seems to be irrelevant to the fact that most people found these records to be t...