A Soldier A Saint An Ocean Explorer
$ 9.00
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Listen to the song "Hraka"
The debut full length from one of America's hardest working bands. Finn Riggins continues to keep listeners guessing with A Soldier, A Saint, An Ocean Explorer, melding synthy, stoney, crunchy and poppy palettes with inventive progressions, uncommon time signatures and downright weird sounds (bugs, toys, binary chanting etc.) From the opening growl of "Glove Compartment" to the final ghostly strains of "A President, A Pacifist, An Auto Restorer", Finn Riggins is burning down the U.S. two ears at a time. Recorded by Bill Forbes, Produced by Jared Mees.
TLE-009 (2007) - 1. Glove Comprtmnt
2. Blackrock.
3. Hraka
4. Carbonate
5. Box Elder
6. Geology
7. Flying
8. Pannin' For Gold
9. Pankakes
10. The Plumest
11. Detamble Wings
12. A President, A Pacifist, An Auto Restorer -
Finn Riggins Few bands know the United States as well as Finn Riggins. Since the release of the group’s TLE debut in 2007, the Idaho indie rock outfit’s members have spent most of their time in a van together, at one point averaging over 200 shows a year. Which is not to say there’s any love lost between Finn Riggins and its home town of Boise. On the contrary, the band is heavily invested in and beloved by the local music scene. Keyboardist/vocalist Eric Gilbert is a founder of Boise’s high-profile Treefort Music Festival. The collaborative brainchild of three music school graduates from the University of Idaho—Eric Gilbert, Cameron Bouiss, and Lisa Simpson--Finn Riggins’ sound is defined more by their raw energy and adventurous musical chops than by any sound that a concise description could quantify. In recent years, the trio morphed from trio to quartet with Travis Ward (Hillfolk Noir, Doug Martsch Trio) on bass.
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Pre-order the mystic (releases 4/19)
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Listen to the song "Belly"
Bells Atlas’ latest offering the mystic digs further into their soulful buoyancy to explore both sound and storytelling. Sandra Lawson-Ndu, Douglas Stuart, Geneva Harrison, and Derek Barber stumbled upon a new, more production-oriented process for songwriting-- which included sampling grainy phone recordings-- that elevates Bells Atlas’ already unique approach to psychedelic R&B. The spontaneity of the mystic’s creative process results in a raw, cosmic sound that is mirrored in its lyrics. The record can be seen as sci-fi fantasy of two first-generation Nigerian American women coming to terms with a mental health diagnosis, and at the same time, a very universal exploration of how we make sense of reality. “It’s about a truth seer and a skeptic trying to make sense of what’s mystical and what’s clinical,” frontwoman Sandra Lawson-Ndu says. The listener is made to consider the possibility of magic. Is it possible, for instance, that someone who navigates the world differently may have a deeper understanding of the universe? The mystic is a spectrum of deep emotionality, impulse, and even humour; a tool to explore the full dimension of our reality.
TLE-082 (2019) - 1. Hazelwood
2. Rogue Dream
3. The Khamsa
4. We've Been Here Before
5. Belly
6. Downpour
7. The Mystic
8. First Gen Pisces
9. Na Change / See Clear
10. Final Ceiling -
Bells Atlas’ latest offering the mystic digs further into their soulful buoyancy to explore both sound and storytelling. Sandra Lawson-Ndu, Douglas Stuart, Geneva Harrison, and Derek Barber stumbled upon a new, more production-oriented process for songwriting-- which included sampling grainy phone recordings-- that elevates Bells Atlas’ already unique approach to psychedelic R&B. The spontaneity of the mystic’s creative process results in a raw, cosmic sound that is mirrored in its lyrics. The record can be seen as sci-fi fantasy of two first-generation Nigerian American women coming to terms with a mental health diagnosis, and at the same time, a very universal exploration of how we make sense of reality. “It’s about a truth seer and a skeptic trying to make sense of what’s mystical and what’s clinical,” frontwoman Sandra Lawson-Ndu says. The listener is made to consider the possibility of magic. Is it possible, for instance, that someone who navigates the world differently may have a deeper understanding of the universe? The mystic is a spectrum of deep emotionality, impulse, and even humour; a tool to explore the full dimension of our reality.
Mujeres
$ 20.00
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Listen to the song "Cuatro Crazy"
Y La Bamba has been many things, but at the heart of it is singer-songwriter Luz Elena Mendoza’s inquisitive sense of self. Their fifth record, Mujeres, carries on the Portland-based band’s affinity for spiritual contemplation, but goes a step further in telling a story with a full emotional spectrum. Coming off Ojos Del Sol, one of NPR’s Top 50 Albums of 2016, Mujeres exhibits the scope of Mendoza’s artistic voice like never before. “Soy como soy,” Mendoza says, and that declaration is the bold— even political— statement that positions Mujeres to be Y La Bamba’s most unbridled offering yet.
The record exists in the post-2016 landscape of a national identity crisis, and Mendoza explores what it means to be a Mexican American woman by leading us through places we are afraid to go. Mujeres ventures in to the discomfort of the stories we tell ourselves. Those of our past, our futures. We all have these stories somewhere inside of us, but with Y La Bamba, Mendoza forges new narratives from old stories of heritage and family, tracing history while forging modern chicana feminism.
“Music is an extension of everything I have inside. It’s how I emote,” Mendoza says. The raw honesty of Mujeres is in fact the raw honesty of Mendoza. Armed with the emotionality of traditional música mexicana and the storytelling of American folk, Y La Bamba’s artistry is not just their musical ability but Mendoza’s search for unadulterated truth. It is in an ancestral, spiritual journey in which Mendoza comes to terms with the influence and limitations of her upbringing. Mendoza’s experience of childhood summers in the San Joaquin Valley listening to mariachi, of being raised strict Catholic by immigrant parents, of being a woman having to prove herself to the boys, paints strokes of both melancholy and healing on the tracks. “From the way that my family struggles, to the way they shoot the shit… it’s so different from whiteness,” Mendoza says. “It’s a different dimension.”
Y La Bamba exists in the dimension of the Mexican American imagination: somewhere cynical and optimistic at the same time. While there is a celebration of the Mexican creativity that has informed Mendoza’s life, there is a darker side to reconcile with. Where do mujeres fit in to the American story? What are the sins for which we are all guilty? How do different generations interact with the world? How can a culture become visible without tokenization? It is no surprise that in Mujeres, Y La Bamba’s first record with Mendoza at the helm of production, Mendoza contemplates these questions to tell her story. But it is not just Mendoza’s story. Challenging a narrative and dealing with the emotionality of that effort— that is everyone’s story.
Mujeres was recorded by Luz Elena Mendoza and Ryan Oxford at Color Therapy Studios and Besitos Fritos Studios in Portland, Oregon. Mixed by Jeff Bond, with Grace Bugbee on bass, John Niekrasz on drums, Margaret Wher Gibson on keys, and Ed Rodriguez and Ryan Oxford on electric guitar.
Bio written by Eliza Cossio
TLE-081 (2019) - 1. My Death
2. Real Talk
3. Cuatro Crazy
4. Conocidos
5. Lightning Storms
6. Dieciséis
7. Boca Llena
8. Perder
9. Mujeres
10. Una Letra
11. Santa Sal
12. Bruja de Brujas
13. Follow Your Feet
14. De Lejos (Digital only bonus track)
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Y La Bamba has been many things, but at the heart of it is singer-songwriter Luz Elena Mendoza’s inquisitive sense of self. Their fifth record, Mujeres, carries on the Portland-based band’s affinity for spiritual contemplation, but goes a step further in telling a story with a full emotional spectrum. Coming off Ojos Del Sol, one of NPR’s Top 50 Albums of 2016, Mujeres exhibits the scope of Mendoza’s artistic voice like never before. “Soy como soy,” Mendoza says, and that declaration is the bold— even political— statement that positions Mujeres to be Y La Bamba’s most unbridled offering yet. Mendoza forges new narratives from old stories of heritage and family, tracing history while forging modern chicana feminism. The raw honesty of Mujeres is in fact the raw honesty of Mendoza. Armed with the emotionality of traditional música mexicana and the storytelling of American folk, Y La Bamba’s artistry is not just their musical ability but Mendoza’s search for unadulterated truth. It is in an ancestral journey in which Mendoza comes to terms with the influence and limitations of her upbringing. While there is a celebration of the Mexican creativity that has informed Mendoza’s life, there is a darker side to reconcile with. Where do mujeres fit in to the American story? What are the sins for which we are all guilty? How do different generations interact with the world? How can a culture become visible without being tokenized? It is no surprise that in Mujeres, Y La Bamba’s first record with Mendoza at the helm of production, Mendoza contemplates these questions to tell her story. But it is not just Mendoza’s story. Challenging a narrative and dealing with the emotionality of that effort— that is everyone’s story. Mujeres was recorded by Luz Elena Mendoza and Ryan Oxford at Color Therapy Studios and Besitos Fritos Studios in Portland, Oregon. Mixed by Jeff Bond, with Grace Bugbee on bass, John Niekrasz on drums, Margaret Wher Gibson on keys, and Ed Rodriguez and Ryan Oxford on electric guitar.
Bio written by Eliza Cossio
Salt and Soap
$ 3.99
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Listen to the song "Downpour"
Soulful noise pop, inspired, propellent psych pop… Trying to nail down the sound of Bells Atlas is a bit like narrating the inner workings of a kaleidoscope – where it's more about tripping out than nailing it down.
TLE-080 (2018) - 1. Overshare
2. Downpour
3. I Do Remain
4. The Mystic -
A surreal blend of r&b, psychedelia, jazz, and pop, rooted in the cultural bellwether of Oakland, CA, Bells Atlas has supported a number of international artists and shared the stage with acts such as Hiatus Kaiyote, Badbadnotgood, Bilal, Meshell Ndegeocello, W. Kamau Bell, Angélique Kidjo and more. They have also been making a name for themselves nationally as the touring band for NPR’s Snap Judgment since 2016, and recently wrapped up a sold-out tour supporting Bermuda Triangle, side-project of Alabama Shakes lead singer Brittany Howard. Channeling at once the ramshackle lo-fi beats of Tune-Yards and the sighing lullabies of Sade, Bells is like the passing bubbles of an unknown aquatic life-form, music percolates from depths untaken, playing in a deep blue pool of life, death and the fluid in-between.