Last Hurrah!!

Hi Everyone,

It has been a while since we last blogged so our apologies. We are in our brand new space and are still in the process of moving in. Still, it is awesome to have skylights in the office and to explore our new surroundings and meet new neighbors.

This is actually my last week with Cravedog as I have decided to leave for a new adventure. I am bummed to be leaving a great team. Alex, Michael, Matt, and Todd are some of the coolest co-workers and boss that I have had the pleasure of working with. I learned many things while here at Cravedog, especially all the work that goes towards making a CD or a DVD and one thing for sure is that I will never look at a CD the same way ever again. I also learned more about the PDX music scene which has many talented and amazing artists including my co-workers. I was definitely introduced to some very cool music by my co-workers and I hope that they continue to do so via this blog.

I would like to thank the Cravedog Team for making me feel welcome and for their kindness. This was my first job here in Portland and I am grateful for the opportunity. Consider yourselves missed!

MC

Gremlins The Sequel

It seems like the gremlins have stopped bothering Matt and messed with Michael's computer and then made their way to my car. 

Our friend Carrie from New York came to visit us for the long weekend and we had an awesome time showing her around Portland. We went to Hood River and on an awesome hike near Multnomah Waterfalls which was breathtaking. If you ever find yourself in this part of Oregon, it is a must see.

However, today all the good cheer from the weekend ceased to exist as I know it and the gremlins found their way to our car. After dropping off Carrie at the airport at the butt crack of dawn, the car would not start and after a long while of trying to use my limited car knowledge to try and solve the problem, I called a tow truck and had the car towed to an auto body shop. As of now, I am still waiting to hear back on what exactly is wrong with the car and how much the damages will be. 

As we are moving this week to our new digs in St Johns, I just hope that the gremlins get lost and quit messing with our technology. They don't want mess around with Cravedog!!

Gremlins

I'm getting the sneaky suspicion that Gremlins are out to get me.  A bunch of machines I frequently use have all broken down within the last month.  As a musician and graphic designer, I have a rather intense relationship with my machines and I get intensely aggravated when my things don't work.  

It started a little over a month ago when my car sounded like it had laryngitis. It turned out to be a fractured catalytic converter.  Just a few weeks after that, we actually had a really warm day (rare in these parts in May) and I noticed that my cars power was drastically reduced when I turn on the AC button whose little green light was curiously flashing (never seen that before...) .  Consulting the user manual for the vehicle, it told me that my AC was out and I need to call the dealer.  So, I called the dudes who just fixed my car and they said they didn't do air conditioning.  They suggested a Napa Auto Care center.  So, I took it to those guys and they discovered that it was not my AC diminishing the power by that my whole timing mechanism was about to fall apart and I was lucky that I had not been stranded yet.  After all that, they tell me that my AC was, in fact, broken too.  The compressor unit that pumps the air is corroding and bits of it are clogging the air tubes.  After the whole timing belt thing, I couldn't afford to fix the AC as I originally intended.  Luckily, it is only really hot here in Portland 3 months a year.  

While all this car crap is going was going on, my amplifier that I use in Drats!!! took a big dump on itself too!  I was going up to rip a big rock guitar solo on this tune and I couldn't hear myself enough.  I turned up the volume from 5 to 7 and that didn't make much of a difference.  To hell with it... I turned to 10.  At that point, nothing was coming out.  I blew it up somehow.  I messed around with it and couldn't get it to squawk.  Luckily I still had my practice amp around and could continue with the rehearsal.  So, where playing the set a second time around and we get to the same song at the point were I go ballistic on the solo.  I step on my brand new Wah Wah pedal.  I notice it isn't going wah so much .  In fact it is cutting out all the high end frequency.  It was stuck!  I opened the thing and discovered that the whole potentiometer was jarred loose.  I returned it to the retailer the next day.  They fixed it on the spot.  That night, I was using it again and basically the same thing happens and it is broke again.  Today, I took it back again and asked for a new one.  Unfortunately, I bought the last one they had.  They took the potentiometer out and replaced it for me.  Tonight I'll find out if the gremlins are still abound...

Besides the cute 1984 movie, Gremlins and the odd-looking cars from the 70's, I wondered about the mythological roots of gremlins.  I was surprised that it is a fairly recent myth.  One of the earliest recorded utterance of these was from 1929.  It stems from British military airmen whose aircraft were plagued by mechanical problems.  Since World War II, the myth has perpetuated in pop-culture and in my own delusional life.

Blue-Eyed Soul

I've noticed a trend as of late: a resurgence of "blue-eyed soul."

Jamie Lidell (pictured left), Duffy (pictured right), Amy Winehouse, and Mark Ronson are the artists I've noticed. If anyone out there has any to add to the list, let me know. I'm into it. I'm into it because these artists take the sexiness, smokiness, and soulfulness of the genre and throw away the superficiality, name-dropping and super lewd lyrics of contemporary American r and b (T pain, anyone?).

At the same time, these artists are appropriating a typically American, heart-wrenching style for their benefit, making it super "fun," even fluffy (rhymes with Duffy...oooh, burn!) at times.  Are they sapping the authenticity out of this blues-based American tradition which has its not-so-distant roots in slave- and work-songs? There's always an argument there--is appropriation okay if you're really down with the meaning? Isn't music the universal language? Can't everyone relate to having the blues? I don't know, it feels weird that these artists should become so popular all at once. They're re-popularizing soul--except now it's mostly white British soul lite. But it's just so damn much better than most American radio r and b, in my humble opinion.

There are some American exceptions: Erykah Badu just dropped an awesome new disc of psychedelic soul entitled "New Amerykah"(best album title ever!), and Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings are finally getting their due. I'm still waiting for D'Angelo to release a follow-up to the ridiculously good "Voodoo." Jill Scott is awesome, in terms of a vocalist, but musically she doesn't bring it the way the British artists are right now. Again, any additions to this list are welcome. I want American socially conscious and musically creative soul--even if it's not political. Just not totally glossed-out to the point where it doesn't even sound like it was made by a human being. And Common doesn't count. Once he did the commercial for Coke, I lost faith.

Check out "Mercy" by Duffy (borrowed from the blogspot blog The Late Greats). Pretty good, eh? But slightly frustrating that it didn't come from my side of the pond.

Listening today:  Duffy, Dystopia, Band of Horses, Woxy Vintage radio station

AR

Hot Summer Shoe Fetish Throwdown!

OK, so it's like 100 degrees here in Portland today. It's even hotter in other parts of the Metro area, so says our Cravedog News Weather Correspondent above. Basically, it's really, really hot...

Speaking of hot; I've gathered a quick photo gallery of what the hot people of Cravedog and BDC wear on their feet around here when it's heatwavin' like this. Have a look below and guess who's feet belong to who. Go into our Comments section and let's see what you got. The first one to guess all 16 feet/people correctly wins an all expensive paid vacation to Hotshoefetishlandia.

Are you ready? Ok then, hit it James...

Is it:

A) Mario
B) Tom
C) Jennifer
D) Alex
E) Tony
F) Amanda
G) Nathan
H) Frank
I) Keith
J) Bill
K) Michael
L) Lauren
M) Mike C.
N) Jill
O) Matt
P) Scott
Q) Todd
R) Susan
S) Marco


SHOE #1

SHOE #2

SHOE #3

SHOE #4

SHOE #5

SHOE #6

SHOE #7

SHOE #8

SHOE #9

SHOE #10

SHOE #11

SHOE #12

SHOE #13

SHOE #14

SHOE #15

SHOE #16




How did you do? Small hint: there are more names than shoes.

What we were listening to in the office while we were wearing all of these shoes: Some "Hot" songs, of course. Like Beck's cover of Nelly's 'It's Getting Hot In Here,' a lot of Hot Chip, 'Hot Love' by T. Rex, Hot Hot Heat, 'Some Like It Hot' by Power Station and 'Hot In The City' by Billy Idol.

Until next time, stay cool out there Portlanders!

Cheers,
MF

Entertainment Junkie

It looks like Spring decided to take a vacation because Summer is expected to arrive in full force in Portland this week. Very exciting!

As I mentioned in my last blog, there are many things that I am looking forward to this summer, mainly movies, music and television. Yes, I am a slave to the media. Thank you for noticing.

Some of the movies I am excited about: Sex and the City, The Dark Knight, The Strangers, Indiana Jones. I was able to catch "Harold and Kumar: Escape from Guantanamo Bay" this week and although it was not as funny as the first movie, it still has some good one liners and the return of Neil Patrick Harris (funny as always). 

Also as a television junkie, I get to catch up on all the shows I missed out on because of the writer's strike.  I have caught a few episodes of "Gossip Girl" and I can say that I am honestly intrigued. Having lived in New York, I am a sucker for any show that is set in New York with fabulous clothes and bitchy dialogue. Plus, they have a cool music soundtrack as I heard LCD Soundsystem and The Ting Tings playing in the background. This is the 90210 for this generation. Give it a chance!

Which leads me to the next topic.  90210 is making a comeback sans Shannen Doherty ( a personal favorite, I have a fondness for bitchy women) in the form of a spin-off. Yes, it is true!!  This show will also take place at West Beverly but will feature new kids. Jennie Garth who played Kelly Taylor is now a guidance counselor at the school and Tori Spelling (a bit of a gay icon now) is expected to drop by. Color me excited!!

As for music, I heard the new Portished is a must have. We are currently listening to some classic INXS, Tegan and Sara, M.I.A, Lily Allen, and I made bf Robert download Ice Cube's classic "It Was a Good Day" because for me it is a perfect summer anthem.

Also I finally got my mac and cheese. Robert used a recipe from Martha Stewart's book and it was like a little piece of heaven.  BTW, I am sure you recognize the image. If you don't know, it is by an artist named Anne Taintor. Check out her work,

Take care and enjoy the warm weather!

MC

PDX Film Fest and Shana Moulton

Hi there.

So Cravedog was a sponsor of last weekend's PDX Film Fest, presented by Peripheral Produce. Peripheral Produce is an experimental film and video distribution label. How cool is that? 

I attended the Fest last Friday and saw some awesome things. I started at the Hollywood Theater (awesome, old movie theater in the historic Hollywood District, which is also home to one of the coolest places in Portland--42nd St. Station. 42nd St. Station has a rad basement-level sprawling antique shop where everything is sold by private collectors on consignment. Also in the Station is a postal center and a cafe where, I believe, smoking is still permitted, sandwiches are still mostly made on smooshy white bread, and there is a full bar--pretty cool). 

 I attended "An Evening With Shana Moulton." Shana is an experimental filmmaker and sometimes-performance artist. It turns out she and my older sis went to grad school together at Carnegie Mellon, funnily. Shana's films star Cynthia, her alter ego, who desperately tries to transcend the banalities of her life with New Age ritual and paraphernalia. One of the things she contends with is the limitations of living in an often stressed or pained physical body. Even when relief is to be had, there is always the disappointment that inevitably follows brief moments of illumination and exhilaration. 

Her work is poignant, though at first glance, it doesn't seem even authentic. Her style is a visual pastiche of super-trippy and colorful ephemera, and it's intense, like eating  an entire box of Lucky Charms cereal. The images and items she uses in both the live-action and animated scenes are many, and are totally kitsch. It seems like she's making fun of it all at first. But in viewing several of her pieces one after another, a sweetness and sadness emerges that is very relatable, especially if you grew up in the last 80's and witnessed the New Age craze and know all the references. The New Age movement was and is no different than any other avenue tried by people who just want to find something to connect with, and it was so successful because it was so approachable. New Age stuff also happens to be super entertaining and fun, and sometimes funny. Shana's work certainly does not forget this aspect: her stuff is also fun and has a sense of humor.

I borrowed the image from Bellwether Gallery, a New York Gallery that exhibited Shana's work April of 07. Check out their website at www.bellwethergallery.com. 

Happy Mother's Day, Mom, and all moms everywhere. And happy birthday today to my very good friend Sabra Choi.

Listening in the office: The Epochs, Fleet Foxes, Polly Scattergood, Cloud Cult, Final Fantasy.

Where's the Pancake?!?

OK, so someone named Matthew stopped by the office the other day and asked for me while I was at lunch. He left this note without a phone number. I racked my brain, I racked my office mates’ brains. I even racked the brain of my patient wife, Colleen. Who in the world is “Matthew??? Please forgive me Matthew, whoever you are. I’ve drawn a complete blank and I probably know you really well and I’m just spacin’. If you’re reading this, please get in touch and I’ll remember, figure it all out, and I can apologize.

Now, I know this Matthew fella must know me. Probably knows me pretty well too. He’s obviously well aware of my absolute devotion and love for the almighty pancake. I loooooove pancakes. If I wasn’t already married, I’d marry a pancake. Lots of butter with any of the following: maple syrup, blueberry syrup, honey, pecan syrup, marionberry syrup, fruit & yogurt, just fruit (pretty much any fruit), powdered sugar and lemon (better with crepes or on a German Pancake), chocolate and ice cream or just about anything else you can think of. I love pancakes so much that one of my roommates when I was at The University of Arizona used to make fun of me and hide pancakes everywhere to remind me of my over-the-top obsession. They’d hide them in my bed, my coat pockets or in my shoes. Kinda strange putting your foot in a shoe, only to get stuck halfway by a squishy pancake. That still didn’t deter my love for the cakes though.


Aaaaannnyway, apologies again Mr. Matthew. Drop me a line or give us a call here and I’ll gladly take you up on your pancake offer. Any day, any time. Just say the word.

What we listened to in the office today: Aphex Twin’s “Pancake Lizard” and Tori Amos’s “Pancake. We also listened to a cool demo from Sleep Today and a recent “hot off of the presses” Cravedog manufactured Shane Holt CD. A good day for the ears all around.

Until next time!
MF

conjunctivitis uninvitus

I missed last week because I had pink eye (also called conjunctivitis). I woke up last monday morning with an extremely soar right eye. Light was unkind to me in ways only Vampires could comprehend. Ok, I'm being dramatic... but it sucked. I had to take a cab ride to the hospital because my better judgement told me not to get behind the wheel. Once there, I was quickly admitted. The medical technicians ran a series of tests and diagnosed me with pink eye. Being extremely contagious, I had to quarantine myself at home for a few days.

I played a show Saturday night at the World Famous Kenton club over here in North Portland. It was a good night for us. We opened for Howie and the Hot Knives and our friends, Paintywaist. All nice dudes and great musicians. It is a fun spot to play at. Here is an action shot taken by our Burnside Distribution office-mate, Marco Pugatchenko.

Gotta get back to work... All this time off has put me really behind.

May Day!!!

Although May Day was yesterday, I could not resist posting this picture from "The Wicker Man", which is also about Pagan Rituals, although the movie is on the extreme side of things. For those of you who have not seen this film and if you are a scary movie buff, this is a must see. Really creepy and bizarre!! Put it on your netflix queue

Well the nice weather seems to be more constant lately which is really nice because I am not sure about you, but the rain was starting to get to me. Either way, summer is approaching and there will be lots of cool things happening, beginning with our move. I am really excited about the new neighborhood and exploring the surrounding St Johns Neighborhood, especially since we will be so close to the river. It will be a lot easier to get some sun as Alex has suggested

Other things that excite me about summer are: drinking in the afternoon, BBQs, summer movies (umm hello Sex and the City), lemonade, getting a nice tan, and the beach.

Still, we want to hear some feedback: What are your favorite things about summer? If you don't like the summer, what do you not like about it? Give us your thoughts!!

What we are listening to in the office: Keegan Smith's new CD which we just pressed, Spandau Ballet, The Cars, Depeche Mode, Erasure, Duran Duran, Cut/Copy, new Madonna, The Roots

Have a Great Weekend!!

MC

Movin' On Up!

Yo, we're moving on up in the world. By June 1, 2008 we should be successfully settled in our cool new homestead in St. John's in North Portland.




We're definitely a little sad to be leavin' our great ol' hood in NoPo though - no more Fat Cobra, no more New Seasons and yo, hasta la vista to the Taco Cart. Sad. We've had many a good party on Ainsworth & Interstate too. As the folk at Fat Cobra might say: Fondling memories... sigh...

So, the good news is that this new pad we're moving into is pretty dang amazing. It's the old Columbia Sportswear warehouse that has been turned into some office spaces. Looks like there are some pretty interesting companies out there and of course our mates Burnside Distribution are coming along too. Our new address will be:


Cravedog, Inc.
Cathedral Park Place
Suite #284
6635 N. Baltimore St.
Portland, OR 97203



It's right by the Willamette River, so come by and bring your kayak.


On another note, the absolutely amazing PDX FILM FEST starts tonight. Gonna go check out the opening party and a documentary on avant-garde composer, singer-songwriter, cellist and disco producer Arthur Russell. Gonna be good. Check out the full schedule and read more about it here: www.peripheralproduce.com/pdx_fest/2008/

Here's what we listened to in the office today: Not WOXY!, Indie 103 in LA, some seriously crazy oldies from Radio Orenovscotia, David Holmes and some good ol' Primal Scream. Speaking of which, we leave you with the appropriately titled 'Movin' On Up" from the Scream right here courtesy of the Selective Service blog.

Until next time!
MF

Happy Monday

I saw MGMT at Doug Fir on Tuesday, Earth Day, actually. I was a little wary, due to a negative show review I read in the Portland Mercury (last week's "Once More With Feeling" column, if you care to check it out at www.portlandmercury.com). I must admit, it took me a little while to get into the set, perhaps because I was hoping a delirious and slightly freaked-out stage persona would reveal itself in the form of the frontperson, Andrew Vanwyngarden (pictured). 

There was no banter between songs, disappointingly, but the songs themselves were tight. They were also a bit without spontaneity, kind of canned (which is surprising, given their lush and freaky sound)...until the last song before the encore. I didn't catch the name of it (anyone who did, leave a comment!), but it was an at least 15-minute opus that called to mind Led Zeppelin, the Doors...and I don't remember what else, because my mind was pretty blown. It didn't seem like crappy noodling, either, it seemed like the first time during the set the band actually enjoyed themselves. At the end of the song, a dude up front in the audience handed Mr. Vanwyngarden a crystal, which was pretty cool. Mr. Vanwyngarden seemed truly appreciative. It was a very nice exchange to witness.

The next best part was during the encore, during their final song, "Kids."  The band passed out what seemed to be Doritos (I wasn't lucky enough to get any...but then again, I didn't trust that they weren't coated in Liquid Sunshine) to the audience, whilst singing the lovely and fitting lyrics, "enjoy yourself, take only what you need from them." There was a point at which the guitarist was strumming his guitar with the Doritos. Here's the song. It's so sweet. I borrowed it from musicunderfire.blogspot.com, which has a really cute Arbor Day 2008 mix. 

What we're listening to at officetoday: Patrick Wolf, Jamie Lidell, Andrew Bird, new Portishead, Sufjan Stevens, Panda Riot

Til we meet again~

AR

Crushing on Hot Chip

Hi Everyone!

Forgive me if I am gushing, but I am still on a high from the Hot Chip show that I caught on Wednesday night at the Crystal Ballroom here in Portland. I was totally blown away! I attended the show with bf Robert and our friend Lucas. From beginning to end, it was an amazing performance. The whole crowd was into it and I was able to feed my urge to dance. Literally, you don't understand, I am still sore from dancing.

If you have not heard of Hot Chip, go check them out. They hail from England and their most recent album "Made in the Dark" is amazing. Very cool to dance to and the beats are just super cool. 

All in all, it was a really cool week. Aside from the brown bottle flu (as Matt Gannon calls it), I feel great. "Lost" is back with new episodes and my first official concert experience in PDX was a thrilling success. Here is the video for Hot Chip's "Ready for the Floor". Have a great weekend!!

MC

Three pronged blog attack!

OK, trying to cover a lot of ground here today, so read onwards...

1. LONG LIVE THE JIM
Went to the Portland Timbers’ home season opener this last Thursday. We’re talking Soccer here – or if you’re anywhere else in the world, “Football.” Pretty kickin’ game with Portland beating Puerto Rico 1-O. It was Timber Jim Appreciation & Retirement night. Ol’ Jim is the crazy Timbers’ Lumberjack team mascot. I used to watch this fella back in the old NASL days when my family had season tix (Timbers 1975 to 1982). They used to play against legends like Pele, Georgio Chinaglia and Franz Beckenbauer, among others.

Jim wielded a chainsaw, marched around, scaled a massive telephone pole and led some awesome English like chants. Strangely entertaining.




Anyway, it was a semi-nostalgic night with him retiring and all and I thought I’d throw down an MP3 of the Timbers theme song ‘Green is the Color’ from back in the day courtesy of some of the Timbers Army. Long live Jim and “Go Timbers!”

2. DOIN' CRIME, DOIN' TIME!
Our charitably adventurous employee Alex Richardson went to jail last week. We were pretty bummed, but when we found out it wasn’t really jail we were relieved. She was raising funds for Muscular Dystrophy and she did an awesome job. Raised over $300 on very short notice! They took her to “jail”, where she needed to raise some $$ for “bail,” so to speak, so that’s what she did. Way to go Alex!


3. RECORD STORE DAY, YO!
Lastly, it was Record Store Day last weekend. I hope you all went out and bought some records and CDs. Who says CDs are fading in popularity anyway? Total baloney. Cravedog is making thousands of CDs every day for an absolute ton of artists. Have a look at what a couple of shoegazer mates had to say about record stores courtesy of recordstoreday.com...

Mark Gardener (Ride)
“God only knows what I would be doing now had it not been for the records that l have discovered and loved as a result of buying records and being turned on to new music from independent record stores. If we lose the independents then we lose a total culture of people who are aware that all the interesting bands and music start at this place and are fed by music lovers directly on a personal level rather than a sea of corporate mediocrity.”

Adam Franklin (Swervedriver)
"For me and a lot of people music itself is a visual thing, and browsing in a record store can be a multi-sensual experience; not only are you half listening to what's playing over the store's speakers and half earwigging on people's conversations or trying to make out what the girl with the headphones on at the listening post is listening to, but also album and CD sleeves are catching your eye along with the posters on the walls and the books on display. In other words it's a rather more gratifying experience than sitting at home on your computer clicking on the screen. Hey, you might even strike up a conversation with the girl with the headphones on! Support your local Indie Record Store!"

What we listened to today in the office: Far out psychedelic pop folk music from the B-Music record label. Check out this track from one of their artists, The Flower Traveling Band. The track is courtesy of the cool Scottish based blog Plain or Pan?
That’s all for today.

Thanks for reading/listening.
MF

Am I Nuts?

I think I'm sick today... I just got through all my emails and proofs. Graphics are relentless. I think I'm going nuts.

If you haven't seen this, you really should.

It looks like I'll be MCing an event down at the Ash Street Saloon on wednesday evening.  It is tagged "THE GREATEST SHOW OF THE NIGHT ON EARTH!!!" I was in a band once called Bohemian Onslaught. We broke up in March of last year.  This band has spawned three other groups: Don't and Triplet, Party Country, and The Golden Greats. They will all be playing wednesday night.  Cravedog just manufactured the Golden Greats release, "Great Moments in New Directions" a few months back.  So... Dance baby, and party all night!

Matt

Hi, how are you?

I am Alex. Here is today's Friday Celebration Picture. It is from the video game The Sims. 

Tonight Daniel Johnston will be playing at the Wonder Ballroom at 8 pm here in Portland. I will be in attendance, as well as Matt (Gannon, our graphic designer). I am so excited to see Mr. Johnston. I'm sure many of our fair readers have seen the film "The Devil and Daniel Johnston." I would highly recommend you take a trip to your local video store or Netflix account if you have not. Check out this song--it's he and Yo La Tengo (recorded via telephone!) doing Daniel's song "Speeding Motorcycle." I pulled this from www.boogiewoogieflu.blogspot.com, which is a cool record collector blog.

Speaking of Matt Gannon, he had a show of his own last night. His two bands Drats!!! (myspace.com/drats) and Lord Master (myspace.com/lordmasterpdx) played at Rotture. Some of our buddies over at Burnside Distribution went and had a great time. I was playing pool, and losing, unfortunately, so I did not make it. But Drats!!! always puts on a great show.

In other music news, we've been listening to the dopest new band from Brooklyn. They're called Chairlift, and here is their song "Evident Utencil (MGMT remix)". It's from the rad (and pink) blog www.schitzpopinov.blogspot.com.

Finally, MGMT is playing a sold-out show at Doug Fir in Portland on Tuesday, the 22nd. I have tickets and I am stoked.  MGMT's album "Oracular Spectacular" is unreal.  In fact, I'll save my poetic waxing for my next post, after I've seen them live and my mind has, presumably, been completely blown.

What are we listening to in the office: Natalie Portman's Shaved Head, Kylie Minogue, and The Go! Team.

Adios for now, and Happy Friday!

AR

Cheesetastic!!

Sooooo....

I was a little unsure and uninspired of what to write about for the blog. This was mostly due to the fact that one of my contact lenses fell out and my eyesight has been shot all day. Anyways, as we were passing a Taco Bell, Alex suggested that I write about the cheesy potatoes  aka " The Fiesta Potatoes" that I am currently obsessed with. Honestly, if you have not tried these, go now!! They will change your life. Im serious. This blog will still be here when you get back and I promise you that you will find it even more enjoyable than usual as you are scooping potatoes topped off with sour cream, cheese, and  3 packets of hot sauce ( my own addition) into your mouth while reading about Cravedog. You will thank me later.

So staying on the subject of cheese, My bf Robert offered to make me Macaroni and Cheese. No, not the type from the box, the home made kind. Please, I have my standards. 

Anyway, occasionally when bf Robert has a day off, he will offer to make me this heavenly dish. This has been happening for almost 2 years. When I got home, it was just as I expected. No carb fest in sight. Still after much pouting and multiple rolling of the eyes, word on the street is that it might happen sometime soon. Still, when it comes to homemade macaroni and cheese, do not toy with a man's emotions. You are asking for it!

Now for the bad cheese. I don't know if it is the fact that I am getting old but as I was working out last week, a really annoying teenybopper techno song came on the radio. I jokingly said to bf Robert, " Ugh who is this? Hannah Montana?" Lo and behold while checking out the top singles on Itunes a day later, there it was. It really was a song by Miley Cyrus. Don't get me wrong,  I have nothing against the girl. I imagine my nieces going crazy when the song comes on the radio, begging their mother to turn it up real loud.  As for their old cheese loving uncle, all he wants is to never hear that song again and for a big fat bowl of mac and cheese with a side of cheesy potatoes.

 

Now onto something that is not cheesy but very exciting.

Earlier this week, we got a chance to listen Ferron's new album "Boulder", which Cravedog helped press. This album is produced by the awesome team of Bitch of Bitch and Animal and JD Samson of Le Tigre. Here is a clip of Ferron and Bitch performing together. The song is called "Girl on a Road".

Till then, take heed of my words and rush over to Taco Bell. Chat with y'all later.

MC

A BELATED HELLO FROM TX!

So, Cravedog went to SXSW in Austin, Texas last month and had a blast. So much fun and so many adventures that it took this long to actually put some thoughts to paper - or should I say, to keyboard. Not gonna try and tell you about EVERYTHING, but just a few highlights.

First off, bands we saw and loved: DeVotchka, The Black Angels, The Helio Sequence, The Raveonettes, The Nightmarchers (ex Rocket From the Crypt), The Upsidedown, She & Him, Elf Power, Longwave, Akron/Family, Jenny Wolfe, Shout Out Louds, Scotland Barr, Supersuckers, The Bleedin' Bleedin's, My Brightest Diamond, Blitzen Trapper, Freddie Steady 5, The Radar Bros. - there were definitely a few more, but I can’t actually remember them right now.

Have to say that She & Him (pictured) were pretty unbelievable at the Merge Records showcase at The Parish. Our good mate Mike Coykendall plays guitar and keyboards in this band that features M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel (She & Him – get it?). I felt like I was spending an hour back in the 60’s listening to Ronnie Spector fronting The Zombies, The Beatles or even Ronnie’s band The Ronettes - nice countrified/psychedelic/poppy edge. She & Him’s debut album, of which Mike C engineered/mixed/played on, sounds like a total throwback to this era. Amazing production with two amazing voices. 100% Wonderful.

Another live show that stood out was The Upsidedown at the Dream Machine party at Jaime’s. (the margaritas at jaime’s = very yummy, very sexy). A little biased with The Upsidedown because my record label released their debut album, but they truly blew Jaime’s outdoor roof off with their psychedelic and dark-hearted brand of musical trickery. The Upsidedown play a cover of Spaceman 3’s ‘Losing Touch’ and they honestly own it. Seriously, it sounds better than Spaceman 3 could have ever played it. My opinion. The Upsidedown played more shows down at SXSW than probably any other band this year. I think it was like 8 or 9 shows or something. Crazy.

The other live show that stood out for yours truly was The Helio Sequence at the Under The Radar party (pictured). A Portland band with the loudest and most surreal sounds ever to come from only two people. They’ve got the melody to go with it too. I sat next to a fella named Ray Weikel on my connecting flight from PDX to San Jose on the way down to TX. Ray just happens to be the father of Benjamin from Helio. Great guy – had a pretty interesting conversation about the future of music/downloads/etc. with him. Ray wasn’t even going to SXSW – he was on his way to his co’s Silicone Valley HQ in San Jose. Small world – Ray also knows more about the music industry than probably anyone I met during SXSW. Go get the new Helio album. It’s really good. T’was also one of the albums Todd just got with his Jackpot gift cert we gave him for his b-day last week. Happy B-day month Todd!

Speaking of airplane adventures – I coincidentally sat next to Lou from Chores and A Weather fame on the way back to Portland. Another top notch gent that I was hoping to catch up with down in Texas, but completely missed. Funny how these things work out. I mean, out of the 100 or so people on the plane, he was seated right next to me. Cravedog manufactured Chores' album a few months back. Chores also played our summer warehouse party last year. Very good! Not to mention that the other band he’s in, A Weather, is being romantically stalked by the press and radio right now.

OK, that’s all from Texas. Until next year! In the meantime, this is what we’re listening to in the office today: KEXP, songs from the new Black Angels album, Doves, Yeasayer. The Portland Cello Project - fresh off the presses; we just manufactured their CDs. Amazing - a who's who of Portland musicians incl. Adam from Weinland, Gideon Freudmann, Laura Gibson, Loch Lomand, Nick Jania, among others. Go buy this CD. We all love it. They do a cover of Britney's song Toxic that blows Ms. Spears away. We also listened to The Dry County Crooks - another CD we just pressed. Produced by Jeremy Wilson. Pretty kick a rock n' roll, ala The Clash and Social D.

MF


The Upsidedown: Airplane Eyes

Spring is Here!!

Spring has finally arrived here in Portland, yet that pesky rain still lingers. Still, there are lots of new things happening here at Cravedog that we are all really excited about. 

First things first, this is our first blog. Yes, it's true! We have decided to join the blogging world and in doing so are hoping to keep everyone updated on what is going on in our world. We hope to keep you posted on our current projects, music news, and anything else we find interesting.

 At the same time, we want to know what is going on with you. What would you like to see? What bands do you think are hot? What is your favorite movie?  We want feedback!!

One thing we want you to check out is our specials page on our website. Lots of cool deals and promotions going on!! You can even link onto our website from here.

Well that is all for now. We will be updating our blog posts quite frequently so please come and check it out. Lots of big news coming!! Thank you and catch y'all later!!!

-MC