When I first discovered The Builders And The Butchers, I described them thusly: “Let’s say Bob Dylan and Grace Slick had a child. Who was then raised by Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn. Who then picked a band off a street corner in Mexico. In 1929. Well, they would probably sound something like The Builders And The Butchers.” Full Article »

Portugal. The Man have released an album a year since their 2006 debut Waiter: You Vultures!, touring relentlessly with each release and building a reputation for loud, powerful, jam-laden shows. Their sound has rapidly evolved from generated beats and bizarre experimentation to a tapestry of 60’s-folk-rock riffage, space-jam abstracts and vocal arrangements that have absolutely no preconceived structural loyalties.

Frontman John Gourley gave us a call recently to share his feelings on the newest celebrity from the band’s hometown of Wasilla, Alaska, and shed some more light on Portugal. The Man’s spontaneous approach to the writing and recording of their newest album, Censored Colors. Full Article »

Ramshackle Southern-roots gospel stomp rock is the most fitting way to encapsulate the sound of The Builders And The Butchers, but let’s not forget about the elemental fucking soul of it all; the timeless essence of authenticity that lifts them clear from the bottomless pit of folky acoustic jam bands.

Their live show is raucous and magnetic, an uptempo affair of sonic hypnotics and unconventional instrumentation ranging from megaphones to styrofoam swim tubes and oil funnels. They’ve been known to distribute assorted toy instruments to their audience, inviting them to play along, but this aint no gimmick band. The rawness calls back to their punk roots, but the atmosphere is much more Tom Waits than Fugazi.

“It used to be that you’d tour to promote a record, and now you’re putting out songs to promote your tour. It’s an interesting shift. It’s a great time to be in a band, but it’s a horrible time to be a record label. ” Full Article »

A couple of weeks ago, I responded to an interview request from London-based Record Of The Day. They publish a digest of music industry news, in PDF format. These weekly newsletters go out to paid subscribers only- not casual jerkoffs, but industry insiders who have a tangible interest in the content. It was an email interview, so I considered it a perfect opportunity to voice my opinions on (and concern for) the music industry in a greater depth than I’ve done so far here, and be sure that it would make it into the ears of the people who might actually be able to do something constructive with the insight.

What I’m posting here today is the uncut version, as I delivered it. I find it interesting that a particularly damning paragraph- on how a certain major record distribution company dropped the ball- was cut from the published version. I put a little red box around it. There was a large amount of dead, blank space after my interview, so I can’t imagine it was to save paper. Full Article »