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November 21, 2006
Music for everyone ... even mom
For years "mainstream" has been considered a four-letter word in certain circles. Take the Pacific Northwest. By the time grunge was co-opted by the masses in the early '90s, plenty of foundation had been laid for a more insulated DIY subculture that promised to remain fiercely independent.
Ultimately, Khaela Maricich and Jona Bechtolt, The Blow's co-conspirators, each simultaneously fell into the folk-oriented scene revolving around K Records (best known for releasing Beck's "One Foot in the Grave"). Moving to Olympia, Wash. in the '90s, Maricich settled deep into the community known for its convivial potlucks, impromptu campfire sing-a-longs and tour stops at rec centers and other non-traditional venues. Likewise, Bechtolt did more than simply attend these intimate shows. Before he was even in high school, he began hosting them in the small loft above the gas station his folks owned in Astoria, Ore.
While a lot of the musicians in this bourgeoning camp weren't necessarily anti-pop, their raison d'etre certainly wasn't writing the kind of songs you'd imagine hearing on anything but college radio (maybe). When she started touring about five years ago, Maricich would beatbox or freestyle rap-sing a brand of abstract performance art. Meanwhile, Bechtolt was playing in a project that specialized in "complicated songs" that were decidedly "anti-chorus." Soon after, he started releasing highly-textured electronic laptop jams under the curious moniker "YACHT" (he also drummed for psych folk figurehead Devendra Banhart).
Not exactly the backstory you'd expect for "Paper Television" (K Records), an irresistibly catchy mix of contemporary R&B, hip-hop and classic '60s doo-wop that's the backdrop for tales of heartbreak and true love.
"A lot of our friends shared our same perverted love of mainstream party station music, but they weren't necessarily making it," recalls Maricich, "We had dance parties in Olympia where we listened to Prince. Everyone loves Prince, I think. He was just absolute pop music mainstream perfection. And that started to seem like a real strength to me -- to be super focused and have a vision and make a song that normal ladies want to dance to at their weddings, because it makes them feel sexy and powerful. So I thought, ‘Why am I hiding out on the fringe?'"
When discussing their intentions for their first full-length album, The Blow decided to make the music as universal and as sincere as possible without alienating either the "cool kids and weirdos" or, most importantly, their moms.
"I wanted [my mom] to feel like it was music that she was a part of, that she was invited into. And it really worked! My mom calls me all the time wanting to talk about it or tell me about the comments she posted on my MySpace page," laughs Maricich, "She even posted a picture of my dad and her!"
These days, with online social networking having exploded into the cultural consciousness, the world has seemingly become an infinitely smaller, more inclusive place. Everyone is friends with everyone -- or, at the very least, your friend's friend is probably a friend of a friend's friend. Thus, a greater number of people are able to engage in an ongoing conversation that's less concerned with who you are or where you are, as long as you have something interesting to say.
In the case of "Paper Television," The Blow have expanded the notion of art for art's sake, and invested deeply in art for everyone's sake.
"This music is for you. It doesn't care about what you look like, where you go to party, what other albums are on your iPod or in the sidebar of your blog. We're two people that made all of this, down to its packaging. But we're not here to judge or make you feel bad or excluded or scared or even bored," says Bechtolt, "We just want to make you happy, and have you later think about what makes you happy, and even later pass that on to someone less happy."
Channeling that optimism, they managed to create arguably the most relevant, unjaded crossover record of the year. And they did so without abandoning the DIY spirit that started it all. Surely that's something everyone can be happy about.
For more information on The Blow, visit: http://www.theblow.us/.
Posted by kmikeym at 10:49 AM
November 15, 2006
Matthew Stadler Finds A Genius
by Regina Hackett of the Seattle P.I.
"Take the Cake: Celebrating the Stranger Genius Awards" was the Henry Gallery's idea, and credit goes to it and the curators it hired for pulling it off: Sara Krajewski in visual art, Lane Czaplinski for theater, Matthew Stadler for literature, Peter Lucas for film and Eric Fredericksen for organizations.
Four years ago, when the Stranger debuted its Genius Awards in visual art, theater, literature and film, with a fifth award thrown in for creative arts organizations, editor Dan Savage said the awards would steer a middle course between the MacArthurs and Publishers Clearinghouse.
Genius is a big word. To keep people from laughing at the overkill of it all, winners get $5,000. And to keep the award from being too serious, those certified with the G-word are notified by means of cheap chocolate, with the message in frosting.
Read whole article: Gathering Genius Award winners under one roof is a smart -- and fun -- idea.
Posted by kmikeym at 1:17 PM | Comments (2)
France Hearts YACHT; YACHT Hearts France
It's true. How much do they love him? Well, they gave him his own French National Radio show.
YACHT, a.k.a. Jona Bechtolt's been in France for the past couple of weeks, lingering with GF/Team YACHT member Claire Evans at her family's flat following a "crazy" show at the Pompidou Center. He got cozy and is sticking around 'till the end of the month to finish a new YACHT record (yay!)
Anyhow, his Euro label Tomlab put the radio thing together. It's about an hour long and includes a couple new Blow remixes, a new YACHT cut, unreleased Panther, and assorted other deliciousness. It's all wrapped up in an adorable mp3 package.
Click for it. (It takes a minute to download, but is plenty worth it.)
Posted by kmikeym at 11:39 AM
November 13, 2006
Mansion and a YACHT
via Fader Blog:
It was great to see how much people were digging the Blow's perfomance at our place during CMJ - because, lets face it, they really deserve you digging them. Producer Jona Bechtolt - aka YACHT, aka the half of the Blow who couldn't make it to perform at CMJ because he was busy hanging out with Europeans - just posted up a new mix he made for French National Radio that jams real heavy with unreleased songs by the Blow and their pals. There's a Girl Talk song in there but we won't hold it against dude - not only is the mix a bounty of free new music, but Jona even went and coded links to check all the artists' respective MySpaces. Take notes, Drama King!
Posted by kmikeym at 5:09 PM | Comments (1)
November 10, 2006
The Blow featured on ELLEgirl.com
Nice image right on the front! And an interview inside.
Posted by kmikeym at 5:19 PM | Comments (3)
November 7, 2006
Josh Berezin: Data Geek
From the Oregonian article What counts now: the count:
Josh Berezin, whose title at Our Oregon is "data geek," analyzed turnout by political party in the last comparable election, in 2002. He says Republicans voted at a somewhat higher rate on Election Day, making this election's final turnout by party hard to predict.
Posted by kmikeym at 4:44 PM | Comments (2)
The Blow (Fader Blog)
Fader's blog has posted the entire The Blow article online.
They also call out the NYTimes for calling Jona a girl. :)
Posted by kmikeym at 12:53 PM
Sarah Meadows in Group Show
Sarah Meadows is featured in the latest Group Show!
Posted by kmikeym at 9:57 AM
November 6, 2006
More The Blow!
Chord Magazine says "Bechtolt's catchy, intelligent electro beds bring Maricich's sweetly voiced, bare-bones tales to life."
Flavorpill SF adds, "... what might be lyricist and singer Khaela Maricich's diary are delivered over the glitched-up, tripped-out beats of cohort Jona Bechtolt. It's this dichotomy of syncopated production and modern, pressing poetry that so endears the Blow's Paper Television."
And Cokemachineglow's Mark Abraham says, "Khaela Maricich and new bandmate and electronics wizard Jona Bechtolt won't receive any plaudits for "ornate" orchestration, but the tracks here are still busier than Beyonce's bedroom hysterics and do something individually and collectively that I haven't heard pop dance tracks do with conviction in a while..." and later says, "Bechtolt is pulling off complex interpolations of off-time pulse snarks, flitting percussion, and slow, languid chords that suck through the chorus."
Posted by kmikeym at 2:27 PM
Party Time Excellent
by Adam Gnade
In an interview with the band Wet Confetti they say, "We talked to Matt Wright about doing PR for us and gave him the album to listen to. That's where it gets funny. Matt thought the album was a mess and at some point showed it to Dave [Allen], who saw a lot of potential in the album, but also agreed it needed a lot of work. So Dave approached us and asked if we would want to work with him, which of course we immediately said yes, because how could we turn down working with someone we all admired so much. So we have Matt Wright to thank for thinking our album was a mess, which was true."
Posted by kmikeym at 7:30 AM
The Blow (Spacelab)
Written by Alex Hegazy
The kitchen is in the bedroom and indie is not what it once was. After the amalgamation that was electroclash, the indie kids got confused. A few years down the line we have indie glitch pop, with Khaela Maricich in her Portland bedroom, singing sensible and thoughtful lyrics over Jona Bechtolt’s mostly minimalist electronic flutterings.
From the sound of The Blow's Paper Television are obviously innovators not formula makers. Out of the 10 tracks offered, a couple particularly stand out from the others in style. They're not as catchy and endearing as tracks like Pile of Gold or Parentheses, but they challenge the listener more. First there are the anglo-french vocals and xylophone plinkings on Bonjour Jeune Fille that develop into a mechanically driven stomp. Then there is the slow choppiness that is 'Babay (Eat A Critter, Feel It's Wrath)' accompanied by what could be a junior school band.
(read the rest at Spacelab.com)
Posted by kmikeym at 7:18 AM