Portland OR is the current mecca for 21 year-old hipsters. Cheap rent, relatively flat so they can ride their fixies, and lots of great thrift shops. But all that fun can be obnoxious. Enter The Punk Group. The raise their middle fingers in the air to the official drink of hipsters all across the land with, “Hekenein.”

The Punk Group
“Heineken” (mp3)
from “The Best Of The Punk Group”
(Smog Veil Records)

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I swear if Paul Westerberg were born in the Appalachians instead of Minneapolis, he would have started a hillbilly band and recorded this song. Or I could say, if Bill Monroe were a young New Yorker, he might have done. These are compliments to all parties, if there’s any wondering. Curtis Harvey, at the time of this writing, has a whopping 47 myspace friends for his brand new solo outing, in which he emerges from a respectable run as a multi-instrumentalist with Rex, Pullman and others, to take the leading role. Listen to the beautiful guitar and banjo arrangement, and picture perfect lyrics of the single “Oldertoo,” and I’m sure you’ll agree this was an idea whose time had come. A gr8 new music find, folks, from a brilliant under-discovered artist, on the visionary Fat Cat Records label. Enjoy.

Curtis Harvey
“Oldertoo” (mp3)
from “Box Of Stones”
(Fat Cat Records)

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Beginning with a sweet and ponderous bell intro that hints of Balinese Gamelan music, Sleep Whale‘s “Cotton Curls” evolves into a weaving, waving, softly delicious dream. Rather extreme filters and other effects on the vocals add to the originality of the piece, rather than distract from it. Intriguing and foreign, while strangely accessible and distinctly human. Also, I have to say arbitrarily, really perfect early autumn Sunday afternoon music. So it goes up today! Enjoy.

Sleep Whale
“Cotton Curls” (mp3)
from “Houseboat”
(Western Vinyl)

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