Sex & Food
$ 14.49
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Listen to the song "Not In Love We're Just High"
Where are we headed? What are we consuming, how is it affecting us, and why does everything feel so bad and weird sometimes? These are some of the questions posed on Ruban Nielson’s fourth album as Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Sex & Food—a delightfully shapeshifting album that filters these real-deal serious themes through a vibrant sonic lens.
RIYL: Deerhunter, Tame Impala, MGMT, Blood Orange
Jagjaguwar 2018 - 1. A God Called Hubris
2. Major League Chemicals
3. Ministry of Alienation
4. Hunnybee
5. Chronos Feasts on His Children
6. American Guilt
7. The Internet of Love (That Way)
8. Everyone Acts Crazy Nowadays
9. This Doomsday
10. How Many Zeroes
11. Not in Love We're Just High
12. If You're Going to Break Yourself -
The birth of Unknown Mortal Orchestra was private and mysterious; singer Ruban Nielson posted a song titled "Ffunny Ffriends" in 2010 on Bandcamp under a pseudonym, and within a week of recording it, it was discovered by Nylon magazine and had circulated back to him through his office. Today, Nielson is globally successful, lives with his wife and children outside of Portland, and maintains a casually funny twitter presence.
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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
Ojos Del Sol
$ 9.00
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Listen to the song "Ostrich"
Y La Bamba's fourth offering is a sweeping, playful and vulnerable collection that’s ripe with both musical and personal discovery. From the intimate, contemplative verses of the Spanish-language title track to the revelations delivered over the loping beats of “Ostrich,” this is an album that’s painstakingly produced while remaining emotionally raw.
TLE-064 (2016) - 1. Ojos Del Sol
2. Say Sun
3. Orca
4. Libre
5. Ostrich
6. Cara Cara
7. Atmosphere
8. Nos Veremos
9. Kali
10. Iris
11. Ulysses -
Y La Bamba Formed in 2008, Y La Bamba is the project of songwriter Luz Elena Mendoza. Upon listening to Mendoza’s music it’s clear that she draws from a myriad of influences--from Mexican 30’s tunes to Devendra Banhart. Mendoza’s distinctive voice, poetic and honest lyrics, and melding of disparate genres has earned the project fans across the country and has perked the ears of journalists at the likes of NPR, Vice, and Rolling Stone. Always open to exploration and hungry for further musical development, Y La Bamba is an exciting band to watch grow and consistently keeps fans wondering and anxious to see what they will put out next.
Forest Park Print
$ 18.00
- Portland's Forest Park is truly magical, and this 8"x10" print does it justice. At over eight miles long and 5,157 acres, it's one of the largest urban forests in the United States. It's also filled with mystical energy, which this print so clearly illustrates.
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Tender Loving Empire is a hybrid handmade marketplace and record label based in beautiful (and sometimes rainy) Portland, Oregon. We have years of experience designing and creating high-quality handmade items, including cards, prints, t-shirts, and more.