We were fortunate enough to have the honor of putting together a lineup of musicians for Mix & Mash, a two-day arts event in downtown Salem this last weekend. Our showcase was at the Mission Mill Museum, and featured Easterly, Calvin Johnson, Boy Eats Drum Machine, Andy Combs and the Moth, Pacific UV, and some more bands from Salem.
Before the music started, there was a Q&A session with Calvin Johnson, who owns K Records, and Devin Gallagher, owner of Boy Gorilla Records.

 
Later, Calvin gathered the faithful unto his feet and played a set, really and truly unplugged.

MP3: Calvin Johnson - I'm Down
Portland/Salem power-pop five-piece Easterly started out the evening's music lineup.

LISTEN: Easterly on myspace
Boy Eats Drum Machine is Jon Ragel on microphone, turntable, sax and drum. He, by himself, injects more energy into a room than many full bands do.

MP3: Boy Eats Drum Machine - Demonic with Horns
STREAM: In-studio session on opbmusic
Andy Combs and the Moth plays some of the most fun music in existence.

MP3: Andy Combs and the Moth - The Bloodship
LISTEN: Two albums available for free download here
Pacific UV closed out the night with their lush and dreamy pop soundscapes.

LISTEN: Stream Pacific UV from their website
View the full set of photos here or here.

Doubledutch Full Moon Dance Party: Eskimo & Sons, What Can Skulls Tell Us?, Temple Vibe, Love Menu, T.K.Y.K., Puff Puff Give, 40 Hundy Thundy, Pleasureboaters, Flaspar, Guidance Counselor, Breakfast Mountain, Doubledutch, Paper Brain Exit Only is throwing another "Full Moon Lunar Eclipse Dance Party," and this time it's a monster. Starting at 3 pm, the "party" is [...]

[BEDROOM SOUL] Scrolling through the liner notes for Doubledutch's long-gestating debut record, Gungle Dungn, you notice a few familiar names—shout-outs to members of parent bands Eskimo & Sons and Typhoon, Boy Gorilla Records, family and friends—before reaching one odd inclusion: contemporary neo-soul singer Alicia Keys. Though beguiling at first, a few listens in the band's [...]

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I've posted the entire LocalCut holiday compilation, Another Grey Christmas (yeah, it's really spelled that way. I'm half British and got mixed up) over on Virb, which is prettier than MySpace and had less hoops to jump through for signing up. I even got to make the page look festive with relative ease. I can see why YACHT and Dragging an Ox and arty folks like that prefer it over Rupert Murdoch's new toy. So, point is, if you want to hear the whole compilation before its official release date on Wednesday (when you'll be able to buy it through Boy Gorilla Records, at Tender Loving Empire or at the Willamette Week office), you can listen here. The following bands and artists are on the comp: Starfucker Alan Singley Tractor Operator Ben Barnett (ex-Kind of Like Spitting) Lackthereof (Danny Seim of Menomena) Jonathan Drews (Dolorean, Loch Lommond) Eleventeen (Emilie Strange of Tranquilazer/ Jr. Private Detective) Dragging an Ox through Water Adam Gnade Nick Jaina Kaitlyn Ni Donovan Jeff Saltzman Eskimo and Sons Typhoon and Jared Mees The comp is going to be extremely limited edition (100 copies plus promos for the artists involved, etc.), and it's recommended that, if you really want a copy, you pick it up on Wednesday. The proceeds are going to benefit p:ear. I'm sure I'll be saying this a lot in the next week or so, but special thanks to all the artists involved for making this possible on short notice and coming through like champs, Boy Gorillla Records for burning/releasing the comp and being nice, Adam Grano for the fantasti...

This fourth episode of These Are The Days guest stars Tyler "Allan" Ferrin and Dhani "Pool Shark Sandwich" Rosa (Eskimo & Sons, Doubledutch), and a cameo appearance by Jordan "Cat Lady" Bagnall (Typhoon, Doubledutch). Ferrin (also in Typhoon) is a principal organizer of Boy Gorilla Records. Inspired by Brown Interiour Music, a label out [...]