Nick Jaina in SPIN
“A gem from the known nomad’s forthcoming full-length, Primary Perception“
“Portland, Oregon-based popsmith Nick Jaina has quite a CV. He’s written for the ballet in Brooklyn, composed scores for both the theater in New Orleans and the silver screen in L.A. He’s worked on archaeological digs in Northern California, been rescued by a minister in Indiana, and contributed to the mid-’00s folk revival in Portland. But Jaina’s also completed work on Primary Perception, a generous new full-length due April 16 on Fluff and Gravy that includes the head-spinning, harmony-soaked hooks of “Don’t Come to Me.”” – David Bevan – SPIN Magazine
Nick Jaina in The Portland Mercury
“It shouldn’t be a surprise that Nick Jaina‘s new album is worth listening to; he’s been one of Portland’s most reliable songwriters for years, over the course of five albums and works for other mediums including ballet and stage. But Jaina’s sixth full-length, Primary Perception, is absolutely masterful, perhaps his best work yet and one of the strongest records of the year. Here’s the naughty-word-laden lead single, which premiered on Spin last week. Primary Perception comes out April 16 on Fluff & Gravy Records” – Ned Lannamann – Portland Mercury
Nick Jaina in The Oregonian
”
Nick Jaina is smart. So smart Portland should probably give him tenure to make sure he doesn’t get away.
He’s already spent enough time in New York composing ballets, and in New Orleans writing and performing music for a play.
“Primary Perception” is a little wicked, a little weary, and bemused by the absurdity of the world; absurdities highlighted in dozens of little moments throughout the record.
“I’ve been walking circles over our expensive lawn,” Jaina sings on “Expense Reports,” which closes in the listener like a million grown-up responsibilities. “I pull out weeds but I’m not sure why they’re not supposed to live.”
“All the real architects fly the bomber jets,” he sings in “All the Best Fakers.”
After five albums on Portland’s Hush Records, “Primary Perception” will be released April 16 on Portland’s Fluff & Gravy Records. And it’ll be available at the Doug Fir. Pony Village and Paper Bird open.
Mike Coykendall interview in Dirty Impound
“Coykendall sings and plays with freed up bravado, particularly on Chasing, that takes one back to when rock was less uniform, to when it opened its arms wide to get turned on by, well, whatever. Simply put, these albums are palpably labors of love that are exceedingly worthy of listener love. And DI, for one, hopes he never stops giving us these occasional missives from his heart and soul.”
Jack Wilson at SxSW 2013 write up.
Mike Coykendall’s “Chasing Away The Dots” makes #5 in the Oregonians top Portland Albums of 2012
Technically, Mike Coykendall failed. He was trying to record a track-for-track companion to the Beatles’ “White Album.” Sitting outside a coffee shop near his home and recording studio this fall, he joked that he never could get a good “Martha My Dear.”
What he did get is 14 songs pulled from dozens of notebooks piled up over the years and worked on in the dead of the night on breaks from touring the world with M. Ward (and working on other people’s records).
If he didn’t get the sounds, he got the free-roaming spirit of the “White Album” down cold. He pulled in friends like Ward, Zooey Deschanel, Ben Gibbard, and Eric Earley, but the vision is all Coykendall’s, from sweetly strummed singalongs and hazy folk tunes to stomping rockers and the simple psychedelic dirge of “Mumbo Jumbo.”
“It was a fun game,” Coykendall said of his Beatles idea. “And I really did try.”
http://www.oregonlive.com/music/index.ssf/2012/12/the_oregonians_top_10_portland_6.html
Drunken Prayer is #76 on WNCW’s top 100 of 2012
http://www.wncw.org/post/wncws-2012-top-100-results
Current review for Drunken Prayer’s “Into the Missionfield”
Singer/songwriter Morgan Christopher Geer has one of the more unique stories I’ve recently heard. Originally, from the San Francisco area, Geer is the son of a California mushroom farmer and a New Orleans folk singer. Formerly a member of Asheville, NC-based Americana band the Unholy Trio and a few other bands, Geer ran into Tom Waits while at a fish market in Sebastopol, CAand had a conversation about life and art with the legendary singer/songwriter that was so revelatory that Geer not just to finally do it on his own, but may have helped inspire what may arguably be his most unabashed honest, funniest and sincere effort to date, Into the Missionfield early last year.
Just as 2012 came to a close, I had an opportunity to speak to Geer about one of my favorite albums of last year, Into the Missionfield, his influences and several other topics. If you were to listen to Missionfield and checked out the Q&A below, I think you’ll find Geer to be a charming rogue.
Current reviews for Sassparilla’s “Magpie”
They are pungent, not subtle. The people who are experiencing them are well aware that they’re doing something wrong, but the self-medication takes, more times than not, and they’re able to withstand it all. They fall into problems and rarely, if ever, claw their way out of them. It’s just one black hole of issues swirling around them, stinking up the place. Kevin Blackwell, the lead singer for the dirty bluegrass band out of Portland, Oregon, encapsulates the general character who calls these songs home, on “Mary Celeste…All this misery keeps great company. It’s the liquor cabinet that takes a hurt.
Daytrotter, Nov. 19
Portland, OR’s Sassparilla returns with nine new songs of liquor drenched roots-pop/rock in Magpie. The songs on Magpie range from southern twinged rock to boot stomping folk, all with a strong pop sensibility. Often hailed as a band that harkens back to the “glory days of the AM dial,” Sassparilla has tapped into the vein of American roots music and given their own voice to a classic sound.
Oklahoma Lefty, Nov. 2012
“When it comes to bringing the sound of Americana to life, it’s hard to top Portland, Oregon-based outfit Sassparilla…”
This is book, Nov 22“…Magpie is a trailblazer…The songwriting piquant, the mood brutal, and the energy undeniable, this record masterfully embraces dynamic contrasts and displays wide arrays of both style and substance. This is a chaw-spitting southern-rock outlaw sidling up to a bar for a shot of whisky and an eager ear to tell his story to. Do yourself a favor and lend him a listen.
Ampkicker, Oct 2012
“…terse vintage soul and blues arrangements. It’s a cool, original touch, managing to be retro and in the moment at the same time.”
“Each of the nine songs on the album offer an opportunity to become mesmerized by their separate and unique nuance, stylistic sound, and reachable characters that are found on every track.”
Music News Nashville. Oct. 13
“…Magpie lives up to its promise of delivering authentic Beatlesque Americana…gorgeous spine tingling territory…refreshingly honest with songs that are targeted straight for the heart and soul…
Power of Pop, Nov. 23
“…Throughout Magpie, and in Sassparilla’s previous musical outings, is emotional strain. It’s a sense of the beleaguered, the downtrodden, and the heartbroken. Every twanging fiber, every jagged note, effuses that quiet ache every one of us has felt.
Musically, Sassparilla is a sonic delight. Though deeply influenced by Blackwell’s punk roots, Sassparilla runs the gamut from blues to pop, and everywhere in between.”
Nortwest Alternative, Sept.
“My introduction to roots-rock band Sassparilla came with the band’s album The Darndest Thing. So when I heard that the band has a new album coming out, I was very interested to hear it. That interest paid off. It is an interesting mix of sounds. You get some serious fuzz in the guitar, some bluegrass banjo, and some harmonica that brings a young Mick Jagger to mind. And that’s all in the song “Star.” From there, the album takes a turn toward rock and soul (just listen to those horns) with “The Mary Celeste” before going back to fuzzy blues rock in “Two Black Hearts.” From there, the album goes a little more mellow, but there isn’t a bad song on this album.
Sassparilla shows a good amount of range in this album, but regardless of the style, one thing is clear: these guys write good songs and tell good stories. If you like bands like Whiskeytown or The Jayhawks, you’ll enjoy this album.”
Igcognito Music Magazine, Nov. 17
“Roots-pop group Sassparilla is reminiscent of the heyday of radio broadcasting. “Threadbare” paints a landscape of unexpected and untimely love that changes life as a whole. Magpie (Fluff & Gravy) is a genre cluster of a record, latent with dark overtones that chill the warmth of the heart.”
GPop, Oct, 2012
“The album is called Magpie, and evokes such emotion that it does something that not a lot of music does these days. It reminds us about humanity. It’s utterly brilliant simplicity, its complex harmonies, the echoes in the vocals and the way it simply flows through vocals that make you want to drink shots of whiskey while crying of a forlornness that only comes from lost love and past mistakes.
It howls like a wind through a valley and like a Steinbeck novel makes you feel the pain of a man that is at his wits end. This is an album that is part of a group that is bringing roots back to the forefront, a revolutionary sign of wonderful things to come. There is a distinct Irish immigrant flare about it as well, especially in “All the Way In” which has a sound reminiscent of the Pogues and Charlie Daniels. Perhaps, Old Crow Medicine Show was the spark that was needed to bring roots back to the mainstream, but when all is said and done it may be Sassparilla that creates the explosion to make the fire burn out of control.”
The De Mello Theory, Sept. 6 2012
“Magpie is a fabulous sounding album of songs. If you like Tom Waits, Blind Pilot and the Beatles you will love Sassparilla.”
Portland Examiner
“…In a way, it is a tribute album to fans, because almost all of the songs are based on stories that audiences have shared with him at shows. Some of them are quite personal, and although he doesn’t reveal telling details, the emotional charge behind the stories is evident.”
“…Really, from one moment to the next I was never sure whether Magpie was going to take me soaring into the sky or tumbling back to Earth. Either way I came to realize it was going to be a great ride and is what made this compilation so much fun. The group has a way of slipping its images and music past the thinking mind and into the emotional centre of the brain. The best thing to do is strap in, close your eyes and enjoy the ride.”
The Dadada, North Carolina 9/11/12
Reviews for Drunken Prayer “Into The Missionfield”
December 13, 2011
ALT. COUNTRY/DARK-FOLK-ROCK BAND, DRUNKEN PRAYER CELEBRATES RELEASE OF SOPHOMORE FULL-LENGTH, INTO THE MISSIONFIELD, FEBRUARY 7, 2012 VIA FLUFF AND GRAVY RECORDS
On February 7, 2012, Portland, Oregon-based indie, Fluff & Gravy Records will release Drunken Prayer’s sophomore full-length, Into the Missionfield, an eleven track collection of dark tales and darker melodies. A journey down a path less traveled, but always more rewarding.
Some may categorize it as alt. country, Americana, folk-rock, or a number of other genres, but, to Drunken Prayer mastermind Morgan Christopher Geer, the songs aren’t trying to be anything; they’re just his way of letting out a howl formed by life and the history of music. Not representing any one style of music – not representing at all, just being. Making music out of the reservoirs left by living and listening to humanity. Drunken Prayer makes an honest tune, an un-ironic narrative of the harsh and beautiful harmonies and discords every human faces: a kind of holy blues. There is a unique genuineness here born of pure inspiration.
Described by music journalist Fred Mills as “…one part the Band, one part Tonight’s The Night and several parts sinner’s remorse… Bad Seeds-in-New Or-leans noir,” Drunken Prayer pulls no punches.
A tall man with a menacing presence, a towering stage persona, and a raspy voice that commands attention with stories where sin and redemption bleed into each other, Geer’s entertaining wit and charismatic delivery a la Warren Zevon come easy, in a swagger of whispers, shouts and sneers. Drunken Prayer’s songs find the honest place where pool hall gloom and tent revival glory keep one another bona fide.
He’s a showman, “a barking ringleader with chops between Tom Waits and the Butthole Surfers’ Gibby Haynes,” says Portland’s Willamette Week.
All of this comes to life on Into the Missionfield, an anything-but-ordinary “singer-songwriter” record. The album is heavy on percussion, some songs featuring two drummers. The gut-bucket guitars and keys are dense, blues-y and psychedelic; the horn arrangements are as loose and buoyant as a New Orleans Jazz funeral. Best of all, the lyrics are as sweet as they are damning.
When Geer sings “don’t say never, when you really mean not yet. Don’t say for forever, forever tends to forget” on the album closer, “Never Tends To Forget,” the urgency in his voice is coupled with such sorrow and vinegar that you can’t help but be pulled in.
Album opener “Brazil” instantly smacks of melancholy and remorse, both in Geer’s words and voice, offering up a haunting folk number which contrasts sharply with the roots-rock meets pop “Always Sad,” a jangle-y number you can’t help but dance and sing along with.
The garage rock comes alive on Geer’s “Ain’t No Grave,” a soul-rocker that will set your speakers on fire.
Then there is the title track, “The Missionfield,” a song that exemplifies Geer’s ability to write an accessible roots-influenced song, incorporate liberal doses of soul, and top it all off with lyrics that will haunt the listener for days.
Including guest appearances by players from The Breeders, Beck, Bright Eyes, Elliott Smith, Supersuckers, Kristen Hersh, and I Can Lick Any Sonofabitch In The House, Geer’s friends help flesh out the songs on Into the Missionfield, picking up where Drunken Prayer’s acclaimed self-titled debut left off, and moving the band toward uncharted territory.
And, to think, Drunken Prayer was born out of a strange turn of events, sometime in 2006 at a fish market in tiny Sebastopol, California. Geer found himself in a conversation with one of his heroes, Tom Waits, about life and art. The talk moved Geer to unleash his trademark sound. Thus it came to pass that in a fish market between Tom Waits and a bin of dead salmon, Drunken Prayer came to life. Not bad for a melancholy boy born to a New Orleans folk singer and a California mushroom farmer.