Liner notes to eMusic Selects' "Selected + Collected" compilation. http://www.emusic.com/album/11379/11379153.html

2. I
t began in a kitchen. It was That’s what really mattered. ego, altruism and an unending love internet thing that we had started,
November of 2007, and an And so then came bands, all of for music, for new sounds, for inspira- this almost embarrassingly hopeful
unsigned duo named High whom we hold close to our hearts, tion. And from all of these artists dream that was instantly and vividly
Places were playing Silent Barn, a and always will. High Places and – and all of those who we hope genuine. I still cherish that night.
non-traditional performance space Breathe Owl Breathe and Hands will one day participate – we have We feel the same way about
in Brooklyn, NY. It was an incredible on Heads and Susu and the certainly gotten that. Selected + Collected. From this dis-
show, and I left thinking that there Crystal Stilts and Mingering Mike In September 2008 we put parate and talented group there are
must be something that we at and Deastro and Blackblack and together an eMusic Selects show commonalities: committed hearts,
eMusic could do for a band like this. Sprengjuhöllin and Blue Giant and at a beautiful Greenwich Village abundant passion and a deep need
Someone with a potential following Rural Alberta Advantage. And now venue called Le Poisson Rouge. The for creation. We hope that as you
but who labels had yet to notice. fifteen more. Twenty-six artists that lineup was High Places, Crystal listen to this, or any of the other
From that came eMusic Selects, a feel like family. Stilts, Deastro and Breathe Owl Selects releases, that’s what comes
digital-only label committed to being The only benchmark we’ve held Breathe, and backstage some of through the loudest. Even now, after
as artist-friendly as possible, a place ourselves to is: Was this good for the bands met for the first time, these bands have been downloaded
eager to help bands make the leap the band? In no way, shape or all of them knowing each other’s more than 300,000 times, it does
to established labels and, maybe form does eMusic – or those of music. Initially there was first-date for us.★
if they’re lucky, life without a day us running this program – benefit awkwardness, but eventually
job. Humble goals, sure, but goals financially from Selects. This is a everyone relaxed, and suddenly it XOXOXO
pursued with genuine passion. pursuit driven by a distinct mix of was this real-world reunion of this Yancey Strickler
High Places Breathe Owl Breathe Hands on Heads Susu Crystal Stilts Mingering Mike Deastro Blackblack Sprengjuhöllin Blue Giant Rural Alberta Advantage

3. GIRLS:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Christopher Owens
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
JR White
GIRLS
Hometown: Currently, and for quite
a while now, San Francisco
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Been around since:
One year on Valentine’s Day
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Was almost called: Death Fuck Kill
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Actually make money by:
Pushing, selling, customer service
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Wish you could get paid for:
“H
Bad first impressions
ellhole Ratrace” is the model of fucked-up perfection. It has the washed-out crackle of a bedroom record- −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Best moment:
ing, about four chords and three lines of lyrics. And even once it has spiraled to completion after seven
Post consumption
minutes, you will want to hear it again. Immediately. Such is the blissful effect of San Francisco’s Girls –
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a pure pop band, big, clean and bold. “Hellhole” itself is a bonafide psych epic, full of echo-y sleighbells, a chorus Worst moment:
of cooing background vocals, big ascending washes of distorted electric guitar and an endlessly repeating vocal The next morning
line so effective, the melody acts more like a mantra. It’s a towering achievement, and surely not their last.★ −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Do your parents like your music?
C’mon

4. Was almost called:
OBITS: Crap Taco, Vats O’ Phat, Stop Right
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- There, Locals Only, Pushed Too Far -taken,
Rick Froberg The Indigo Guys, Cease N’ Desist, The
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Boogers -taken, The Inductees, Da Pool
Sohrab Habibion Boyz, Cameo -taken, Lick N’ Run, Wasatch
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cracks, Firing Squad, Bloomberg’s
Greg Simpson
Millions, Human Bouillon, USED CARS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Scott Gursky -taken, Coconut Coolouts -taken, Squafugee-
barge, Monocle, Pinochle, Carbuncle,
Virtue, Steaming Mad, Blanket Statement,
W
NORAD, Mount Givenchy, The Grinch
e’ve been anticipating this Who Bombed My Town And Killed My
album, this song, this moment Entire Family, No Heart, Twice Your Age,
for a bit over two years. Rustler, Set My People Free, Precious
That’s when we first got word that Rick Gift, The Distributors, Odds Bodkins,
Truce Or Consequences...
Froberg, formerly of Drive Like Jehu and
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the Hot Snakes, had a new project in Wish you could get paid for:
the works, a band that was endlessly Dog whispering; spreading STDs.
OBITS
rehearsing but never playing out. That −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Best moment: Carnal awakening.
changed with an internet-legendary
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debut at the Cake Shop, and Worst moment: Eating at McDonalds?
quickly after that signing to Leaving half of our equipment at the
the actually legendary Sub Ottobar? Playing in Allston, MA?
Pop Records, who will release −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Do your parents really like your
I Blame You, their debut and
music, or are they just being nice?
the origin of “Light Sweet They aren’t nice.
Crude,” on March 24th of
this year. PS: It’s amazing.★ “Light Sweet Crude” courtesy
Sub Pop Records. (Thanks Sub Pop!)

5. Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
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Been around since:
GL ASSER: 2004, but only started playing
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- in the end of 2007
Cameron Mesirow −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Was almost called:
Matt Popieluch (most of the time)
GLASSER. It is our name. It is our destiny.
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Actually make money by:
Cameron makes money by working on
sculptures for the artist Mike Kelley.
I
Matt is a groundskeeper at Coldwater
t’s the mood more than anything else: Canyon Park.
dank, haunting and almost spiritual, −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
dead-eyed hymns for the new dark Wish you could get paid for:
I wish I could get paid for listening to
age. Glasser write songs that are more
music. I kind of already do but I guess
about texture than shape, each one a I’m also doing other stuff too.
blissed-out siren song, a soundtrack to −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
a long night of Ouija boards and hyp- Best moment:
nosis. “Apply” is stark, tribal trance, all Each moment is better than the last.
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steady, skipping backbeat and strange,
Worst moment:
shrieking ululations. It’s the sound of It’s all in the past. So says the cookie.
mystery set to rhythm, the greatest ghost −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
story never told.★ Do your parents like your music?
My parents like my music. Maybe my
mom likes it more than my dad though.
They’re proud of me.

6. MY TEENAGE
Hometown: Colrain, MA, Reading, PA
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Been around since: 1901
MY TEENAGE STRIDE: −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STRIDE
Was almost called:
Jedediah Joseph Smith JJS: Symptomius Annaeus Maximo
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Manuel Batshit O’Malley VII, BW: Bret
Brett Whitmoyer −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Actually make money by:
JJS: Whatever it takes, BW: Editing stuff
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Wish you could get paid for:
J
JJS: Imitating the writing styles of H.P.
ed Smith doesn’t sleep. It’s not Lovecraft, James Joyce, and William
possible. It seems like the man gen- Faulkner perfectly.
erates a new My Teenage Stride BW: Not believing stuff.
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song every hour of every day, each
Best moment:
one of them just as warm and winning JJS: A half-asleep revelation to my bed
as the last. Other artists affect a hoity- partner that Yul Brenner and Yul Brenner
toity attitude, waiting half-decades have the same initials.
BW: Rising from the primordial mound.
between albums and then submitting
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slabs of hard-to-handle art-rock. Jed Worst moment:
has no time for that. It’s all hooks, JJS: Seattle, WA, Summer 2007, 2AM. BW:
hooks, hooks: loud, fast and made out Getting hit in the eye with a frisbee.
of silver. In an age where concept is −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Do your parents like your music?
king, Jed is as close as we’ve got to
JJS: My mother is a jazz musician, so who
our own personal Brill Building.★ knows, but my dad genuinely loves it.
BW: Not sure. They’re pretty cagey.

7. Hometown:
EAGLE BOSTON:
Berlin / Limbo
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Yelka Laschnikow
Been around since:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
April 2007
The Undertaker
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Was almost called: Stiletto
The Worst Bird Looking Marionettes ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Skelettular Rumppali
Multiplying In The Desert
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Actually make money by:
Buying and selling stories
“T
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he best band in Berlin,”
Wish you could get paid for:
declared a friend of ours
Random danger
upon recommending Eagle
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Best moment: Boston for inclusion on Selected +
Combing the Kraut
Collected, and we are not about to
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disagree. We don’t have much to
Worst moment:
compare them to, we’ll be the first to
Haircut
admit, but who is willing to go on the
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Do your parents like your music? record as being against spooky and
We love them for pretending, if they
taut no-wave disco-punk from another
are not already dead
planet? From the synth sighs to the
vocals, barked like a premonition of
impending and irreversible doom,
“Satan Highway” is exactly right.★

8. Hometown: Traverse City, MI
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SALEM: Been around since: 1984
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
John Holland Was almost called:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Nothing.
Heather Marlatt −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Actually make money by:
Jack Donoghue
Working in an office.
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Wish you could get paid for:
Riding horses.
“R
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edlights” succeeds with an Best moment:
unlikely but brilliant marriage Meeting John.
of sounds, anchoring an icy −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Worst moment:
synth-pop melody with thundering,
Getting beat up.
crunk-influenced drum programming. −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
The beat is vintage Mannie Fresh, all Do your parents like your music?
fake, skittering high hats and booming They like it.
low-end – it sounds especially revela-
SALEM
tory paired with the dark, shrouded
female vocals and ultra-distorted bass
lead. The result of this inspired A + B
is a swaggering party anthem.★

9. Hometown: Queens, Milky Way
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Been around since: 1980
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Was almost called: ‘Cious (Shus) Benson,
Teddy English, Maximo Bird, Feverish Otis,
Skinny Terry, Lenny the Brown Thumb, Willis
Crescendo (4 of those I actually used to be
called. Two I just made up, and one was the
name of a bird that I once bought a chick for
her birthday.)
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Actually make money by: Rapping
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HOMEBOY SANDMAN
Wish you could get paid for:
Never getting full. They say that I should enter
those hot dog eating contests that go down on
July 4th but I can’t keep up with them cats’
speed. I’m not a speed eater. More of a
distance eater.
H
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omeboy Sandman first came to our attention in 2007 on the
Best moment:
New York subway. He had papered over every car of the The moment right after I wrote my first very dope
train with little flyers, in which his head was superimposed on sober rhyme, in Dec. ‘06, and realized my life
a Street Fighter II character (Ryu), complete with thought balloons would never be the same, was as good as any.
about challenging Christopher Columbus to a duel. We checked −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Worst moment:
him on MySpace, and, to our delight, found it full of playfully
None of them have really been that bad.
verbose raps that refused to either wallow in gangsta cliches or −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
to hector us sternly about Big Issues. On “Buttermilk,” he dances Do your parents like your music?
for three minutes on the edge of a classic soul beat, where sense They love it. They’re hip.
dissolves into sound. ★

10. Hometown: San Jose, CA
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Been around since: 2004
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ALTAIR NOUVEAU: Was almost called:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Chinavision (misheard “Joy Division”)
Brandon Mitchell −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Actually make money by:
Office temping
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Wish you could get paid for:
Aside from making music? It would be
A
amazing to be paid for taking
ltair Nouveau has something photographs. I can’t believe that
that all too many new cosmic people earn a living doing so and I’d
disco producers lack: thump. be one of them in an instant if I could.
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“Cosmos” isn’t just a heady trip,
Best moment:
lazer-packed and drippy, it’s a dense, When I was a kid and Star Wars
bumping ride. Warm analog synth crazy, my parents took me to a pops
sounds are layered and tweaked, pro-
ALTAIR
concert of science fiction music (film
pelling the song with an almost manic scores, The Planets, that kind of thing).
Halfway through the conductor turned
energy. The six-and-a-half minute track
around and said something like “I hear
never once drags, dialing in and out we have a really big Star Wars fan
new melodies and sounds. Altair’s here tonight. Brandon are you in the
NOUVEAU
inventive, almost playful style makes crowd?” I was then invited on stage
and R2D2 came out to give me a
“Cosmos” a thrill in headphones or on
Skywalker Ranch t-shirt that I still have.
the dancefloor.★ −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Do your parents like your music?
Hmm. I think they at least listen with a
critical ear. They’re both musicians.

11. Hometown: Somewhere between LA
R ADEMAC HER: and SF. Fresno, maybe.
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Malcolm Sosa Been around since: 2005.
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Greer McGettrick Actually make money by:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- We don’t. Mostly we just play.
Eden Davis −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best moment:
Matt Orme
Getting to record with our friend Aaron,
from Earlimart.
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T
Worst moment:
hat piano. It comes charging out 1. Getting heckled in Knoxville. 2. Smelling
of the gate, a bold and pounding Kirby’s Beer Store in Wichita, KS. 3. The
statement of intent. Fresno, CA’s way we played at the Hemlock Tavern in
San Francisco last summer 4. Our equipment
Rademacher are not one for the small
getting stolen out of a club in Fresno.
gesture, and “If U Got Some Magic” −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
is proud and purposeful. It pushes with- Do your parents like your music?
out detonating, getting grander with My parents (this is Malcolm) probably
don’t really care for it, Greer’s mom is
each go-round. “Some questions are
super hip and grew up in Austin with
tough/ Some don’t got answers at all,” kids like Roky Erickson (Thirteenth Floor
Malcolm Sosa sings halfway through Elevators), so she seems into it but we’re
the song. Maybe so, but that doesn’t probably a little tame for her tastes. I
haven’t met our drummer’s parents, but
mean they’re not going to look.★
when Eden joined the band she said
“my mom would love this song” when we
played “If U Got Some Magic” for her.
ADEMACHER

12. HE KEEPS
Hometown:
Wheaton, MD & Green Bay, WI
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SHE KEEPS BEES: Been around since:
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ April 2006
Jessica Larrabee
BEES W
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Was almost called:
Andy LaPlant
Beekeeper
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Actually make money by:
Waitress/Bartender & Audio Engineer
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Wish you could get paid for:
e’ve never been the fan Petting pets/making jambalaya/
club type, but we’ll gladly not showering
start one for Brooklyn’s She −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Best moment:
Keeps Bees. Jess Larrabee (vocals,
Finding out we could practice and
guitar) and Andy LaPlant (drums) record in our apartment.
coalesce into a rock & roll machine, −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
their instruments economical and their Worst moment:
passion unending. Over the course Right before work starts or when the
pigeon man on our roof starts the
of a handful of records – all with
morning “poop scrape”
handmade, collaged covers, which is −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
why we asked Jess to make the cover Do your parents like your music?
for this album – Jess and Andy have They are super supportive. Jessica’s
mom coined the phrase “She Keeps
drilled down hard into their own vulner-
Bees got SOUL!”
abilities, emerging with garage-rock
that manages to be both fierce and
self-aware. Just incredible.★

13. BOW RIBBONS Hometown: Los Angeles, CA
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Been around since: Fall 2006
BOW RIBBONS: −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wish you could get paid for:
Willow Gibbons W: Performing, drawing, or knitting hats.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- P: Making people laugh
Pete Vogl
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Best moment:
Our performances in Japan. It was
sooo cool when people were able to
express how your music has affected
“P
them, even when we weren’t speaking
eace Sundress” feels like a the same language. Music opens
trance, an indoctrination, a doors to making friendships there’s
way out of this tired life and no way you could make otherwise.
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into a new one without possession or
Worst moment:
worry where we stand and sing, stand W: Performing songs before I knew how
and sing. The quiet and contemplative to sing in front of people, my voice
beauty of “Sundress” extends to all of would go too high & my throat would
Bow Ribbons’ recordings, the duo of get dry from nerves, you can only get
better by doing it & the process feels
Willow and Pete possessing an incred-
humiliating.
ible talent for spacing, the chasms −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
between her hushed words and his Do your parents like your music?
deep accompaniment pregnant and W: Not totally sure, I think my mom
thinks our music is too sad. You can’t
alluring.★
really care, as long as they’re willing to
be there for you. P: My parents like the
music enough. We covered a John Lee
Hooker song that moves and grooves
and they got scared.

14. VICTOIRE
Hometown: Brooklyn, NY
VICTOIRE: −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Been around since: 2007
Missy Mazzoli −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Was almost called:
Olivia De Prato Victrola, The Cannolis, The Telegraphs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Eileen Mack Actually make money by:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Masquerading as non-profit arts adminis-
Lorna Krier
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- trators, playing in other (more famous)
Eleonore Oppenheim people's bands
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Wish you could get paid for:
V
Is there such a thing as a professional
ictoire work the nebulous area mustard taster? Also, knowing the names
where “indie” edges into “modern of strange and funny animals. Like the
classical” – an increasingly binturong or the blue-footed booby.
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
well-populated field these days. What
Worst moment:
sets Victoire far, far apart from their Kneeling by the side of the Gowanus
peers, however, are their compositional Canal, wrestling an umbrella out of the
chops: the young composer Missy wheel shaft of a U-Haul. They should
change the name to U-Drag, for many
Mazzoli, a fixture on the New York
reasons.
new-music scene, writes the music, and −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
it has a sturdy under-girding that gives Do your parents like your music?
its dreamlike reveries a weight often Yes, but they also really like Captain
missing from other indie-classical hybrid Beefheart. So you be the judge of that.
types. The evocatively titled “A Door
into the Dark,” like all their music, feels
like a too-vivid dream from which you
may never awake.★

15. Hometown: Oakland, CA
MAN/MIR ACLE: −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Been around since: 2007
Ian Benedetti −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Was almost called:
Dylan Travis quot;Bear on Bear.quot; Actually, we were
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- called that. Seriously.
Brian Kennedy −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Actually make money by:
Tyler Corelitz Selling coffee, writing grants for animal
shelters in Korea, and retrieving coffee
for high-powered Bay Area lawyers.
M
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
an/Miracle have boundless Wish you could get paid for:
Writing excellent songs! That, and the
energy. “Pushing and
ability to have meaningful interactions
Shoving” starts with some with other human beings.
fevered chanting, proceeds with gal- −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
loping drums and caterwauling vocals Worst moment:
Buying pre-packaged jello shots from
and ends with a bit of a noise fest, all the Oakland Grocery Outlet (aka the
cymbal bashing and gang handclaps. quot;Gross Out,quot; Dylan's favorite supermar-
Somehow, amidst the ruckus, there is a ket) and eating them all was a new
low. 2 cartons for $3! Also, Tyler's
charming and insistent pop song. As it
unhealthy obsession with all things
all crashes down, you can hear it – the Creed (particularly Scott Stapp's solo
swaggering, slurred vocal melody, the excretions) might qualify as a quot;worst
super simple, very catchy two chord moment.quot; Or best moment, depending.
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
guitar part and, yup, those handclaps
MAN/MIRACLE
Do your parents like your music?
ringing out on the off-beat. Just short They'd be nuts not to actually like it.
of three minutes, “Pushing” barrels
along, finishing almost before you can
recognize its charms.★

16. R
andolph Chabot is a genius and a superstar, and
the faster we all realize that for ourselves, the
better off everyone will be. A musical wunderkind,
Chabot has taken Deastro from a parent’s-basement
musical project to eMusic Selects (he is the sole
repeat offender on the compilation) to a deal with
the beloved Ghostly International to an upcoming
electro-rock album entitled Moondagger that is going
to blow everyone away.★
“Kurgan Wave Number One” courtesy Ghostly International.
Hometown: Best moment:
Detroit, MI Sitting next to a guy on a greyhound bus who
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−− did acid at a bluegrass festival when I was
Been around since: fourteen going to visit my best friend who
DEASTRO
Born 1986 lived in Arkansas
DEASTRO
Started Deastro Summer of 2007 −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Worst moment:
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Was almost called: When his eyes started spinning a different
Shield Wolf or direction in each eye and he told me he could
Detroit Automotive Power kill me and no one would know
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−− −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Actually make money by: Do your parents like your music?
A Miracle My mom gets my songs stuck in her head all
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−− the time and my dad has been to some pretty
Wish you could get paid for: hairy shows to see me play. So they either
Crab Walking really like it or they really like me, haha.

17. Hometown:
THE PAINS: New York, NY
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Alex Naidus Been around since:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- March, 2007
Peggy Wang −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Best moment:
Kip Berman Rainbow Road
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Kurt Feldman
Actually make money by:
Unemployment checks
+ internet jobs + music lessons
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
F
Wish you could get paid for:
ew bands right now leave their Coming up with names for
fans quite as unreasonably giddy adult movies.
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
as the Pains of Being Pure at
Best moment:
Heart. Maybe part of it is that extrava- Seeing people mosh to our music
T HE PAI NS OF
gant name; a statement of intent if ever in London! It was just like, “wow.”
there was one, maybe even a line −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Worst moment:
drawn in the sand with a bashful toe.
The second flat tire on the way to
BEING PURE
“Kurt Cobain’s Cardigan,” like the songs
Athens Popfest when it was 105
on their near-perfect debut, is a happy degrees. But, it happened close to a
alchemy of a hundred beloved but Dairy Queen, so it was almost like fate
little-known bands, a song that is alive to wanted us to have ice cream.
AT HEART
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
the possibilities of great pop songs that
Do your parents like your music?
makes your life feel like a coming-of-age They like it! But they are also nice...
movie and coming-of-age movies feel
like your life.★

18. T
Hometown: St. Louis, MO
hough the epic “The Kanetown
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
City Rips” does not prominently
Been around since: August of 2005
feature it, it was an organ that −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
first brought us to Jumbling Towers. On Was almost called:
the group’s incredible self-titled debut Thaddeus White
−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
and digital EP, a big hawking organ
Best moment:
leads the way, its whirs and hums a Drinking too much after a show last year
perfect match for singer Joe Deboer’s in Manhatten and not realizing until 4:30
frenzied, Dracula-like vocals that got am that we did not figure out a place to
an astute comparison to Vincent Price stay, then attempting to drive out of the
city, and ultimately ending up in a
in an eMusic member review. But on
Marriot parking lot in New Jersey where
“Kanetown” the Towers are thinking we slept until 8:00 am.
big. Really big. Like a concept album −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
about post-apocalyptic 1981 Detroit Worst moment:
Any battle of the bands that we ever
big. “Kanetown” is part of that cycle,
attempt to play and win.
and we can’t wait to hear the rest.★ −−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−−
Do your parents like your music?
They generally are not too talkative
about our music. Our old drummer’s mom
liked us a lot, but only would say it when
JUMBLING TOWERS: we would cover other bands (Weezer,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- System of a Down, etc.) Then she’d come
Joe Deboer down and say, “that new one is
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AWESOME!” As for the rest of us, they
Nate Drexler remain protectively encouraging about
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kyle McConaghy other elements of our “being in a band.”
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Demetrius Sledge

19. Front and back cover art by Jessica Larrabee. Liner notes design by Dave Scott
Artist blurbs by Alex Naidus, Jayson Greene, Joe Keyes and Yancey Strickler
Special thanks to everyone at eMusic who has And finally, thanks to WJPurdy
pitched in on Selects, and to our top-notch talent and everyone else on 17 Dots
scouts, including Todd Burns, Capt Whiffle, for naming this album. And
Anna Fielding, John Fitzgerald, Kali Holloway, thanks to the entire eMusic
Patrick Lelli, Jeff Owens, Mary Pearson, Jess community for supporting this
Phelps, Simon Russell and tlmcola. To nominate entire endeavor. Love to all of
a band, email us at selects@emusic.com. you forever and ever.★