Johnny Bertram & The Golden Bicycles Neon City Esperanza Plantation Records [2012]   Fire Note Says: An excellent sophomore outing from Johnny Bertram that plugs in and soars! Album Review: On Johnny Bertram & The Golden Bicycles sophomore record Neon City the group makes a slight stylistic shift from their more acoustic/folk debut approach to a much fuller plugged in indie rock sound. This transition starts right away on the slow burning opener "Wave" which begins gently enough as its slow strums and calm vocals lead you right into a strong guitar riff that runs below the surface and makes you take ...

Former Pedro the Lion member TW Walsh has announced his first solo show in several years. The mixing/mastering guru and former Pedro the Lion [...]

Pedro the Lion’s David Bazan is invited to sing over the instrumental for the Deerhoof track “No One Asked to Dance,” reworking it into a slightly different version. The original track comes from Deerhoof vs. Evil.

La Dispute, Balance & Composure, Sainthood Reps, and All Get Out are currently out on the incredible Wildlife Tour. We’ve put three of the bands together for a great new PropertyOfZack Playlist feature. Check out the Playlists and listen to the songs on Spotify while reading everyone’s thoughts! (Click on image to listen in Spotify) For this playlist, I went through some records I really enjoy, and picked out 10 songs. Each of these songs on this playlist are in the same track numbered spot as the original records they appear on. Starting us off is classic record opener….. American Football - Never Meant This is one of my favorite opening tracks to any record, everything about this song makes me feel good, from the fantastic drum beat to the open tuned glassy guitars. Aces. The Police - So Lonely The Police are my favorite band, so they had to make the playlist. Sting and Stewart Copeland lock in like no other rhythm section, well I think maybe some Motown Records session players may have something to say about that, either way “So Lonely” is a classic. Balance And Composure - Quake I have to give some love to some pals on this playlist, its only right. If you haven’t heard B&C;, get out from the rock you are under because they are a special band. “Quake” is track #3 on 2011’s top - of - everyone’s - best - of - list “Separation”. The tune starts off with some dreamy guitars, then swiftly gets gnarly and only continues to tear at Jon’s vocal chords as the song progresses. See them this Spring on The Wildlife tour!! Pavement - Cut Your Hair 90’s icons Pavement put out a great record in 1994 “Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain”. “Cut Your Hair” I believe was the lead single off the record. Malkmus’s vocals ...

A Boise, Idaho transplant, Johnny Bertram sonically channels the influences of the Pacific Northwest’s musical forebears (think Pedro the Lion, The Decemberists, Built to Spill) in his acoustic-based songwriting. His songs are steeped in indie-rock and Americana and filtered through a Deep South lens that generates an interesting perspective and sound. Bertram’s sophomore effort sees [...]

Last time Dave Bazan (formerly of Pedro the Lion) came and played a house show for me, it was a piercing, thoughtful, riveting evening. I compared it to my very first house show I saw with Joe Pug, and how the intimacy was borderline overwhelming. I wrote: “I still feel this way about house shows, [...]

3 acoustic cover videos from Kim Janssen for the Onder Invloed project!

Members of Basement along with Tom Watson have formed a new emo band called The November Group. Check out a message from the band as well as a video from their second show below by clicking “Read More.”[[MORE]] November group is a emo band consisting of members of Basement and one of our best friends Tom Watson. This is a video from their second ever show. They will be recording their first EP later this year. FFO Christie Front Drive, Mineral, Pedro The Lion etc.

Apparently, Bonnaroo wasn’t the only one having trouble with their site this week! Please excuse our tardiness on this weeks Throwback Tuesday …. At any rate, pushing back David Bazan (formerly of Pedro The Lion ) to next weeks installment would be robbing you all of the honesty this man offers through his music, especially on “Hard To Be” off of Curse Your Brances (2009); so better late than never. At 6:24 in length, especially considering that this is his debut as a solo artist, we feel this song is a bold selection to open the album, not only in ...

Looking for something to sweeten up your Tuesday? Look no further than With Love , the new full-length from Rosie Thomas, out as of V-Day on Sing-A-Long Records. Produced by Pedro the Lion’s David Bazan and featuring guest vocals from Iron and Wine’s Sam Beam, it’s a veritable frosted cupcake of indie deliciousness! Prior to recording With Love , Thomas struggled for two years with a thyroid disorder that created the unfortunate side effect of severe anxiety. That sounds… not happy? The album, however, reflects her experience of emerging out of that period in her life, as well as ...

City and Colour have announced a handful of dates starting in March in support of 2011's Little Hell . Pedro the Lion 's David Bazan will be supporting on all dates. Pre sale tickets go on sale February 8 and include the option of purchasing an autographed 18 x 24 metallic screen printed City and Colour poster. Tickets will go on sale for the general public February 10.

A pair of aspiring filmmakers are currently scrambling to raise $25,000 on Kickstarter to fund Cassette: A Documentary , a chronicle of the “quiet comeback” of the boombox staple. Sure, the term “cassette tape” was recently wiped from the Oxford English Dictionary and those fickle little things are pretty clunky when compared to the Zune or whatever (hey, maybe the resurgence will also bring back the pencil!); but, the pair argue in a short video on their site, that the mix of nostalgia, portability, and accessibility has endeared tapes to a new generation. Zach Taylor, a U.K-based cinematographer and ...

Deerhoof released a song from another collaborative split 7” series. This time around, the San Francisco-based trio called upon David Bazan of Pedro the Lion fame for a release called DeerBazan .

Rosie Thomas will release her sixth full-length, With Love , on February 14th through her own Sing-A-Long Records. The album was produced by David Bazan (Pedro The Lion) and Blake Wescott (The Posies). It features performances from Bazan, Wescott, Sam Beam (Iron and Wine) and members of Sufjan Stevens' band. Check out "Where Was I" on Bandcamp . Thomas has also scheduled a March tour in support of the album. [ rosiethomas.com ]

Just about every comment I've read on the passing of 2011 boiled down to "good riddance". Not too shocking, since the internet was built for complaining after all (also - more than a few friends really were struggling), but I'm both surprised and very grateful to state that mine wasn't all that bad. I'd hazard to say it was actually pretty good, all things considered. After the personal hell that was my own 2010, things really had nowhere to go but up, and so up they went. Way up, at times. Mostly having to do with music ...