COMING SOON: Audio Explorations 'ActionReaction' - 20th Anniversary Vinyl Edition

Audio Explorations was a indie rock duet from Jacksonville, Florida, who existed between the years of 1996 and 2002.  Their critically acclaimed sophomore album ActionReaction was originally released by Eskimo Kiss Records on February 12, 2002... Fort Lowell Records is excited to share with you that we will be releasing the 20th Anniversary Vinyl Edition of Audio Explorations ActionReaction this year.  Stay tuned for more information to come! 

Audio Explorations - blogging a tour journal from the road via dial-up internet access over a flip-phone cell phone; February 12, 2002

The Must-Hear Songs by Phoenix Musicians of July 2022

[Repost from Phoenix New Times; by Chris Coplan, July 26, 2022]

JPW, "Halfway to Eloy"

Jason P. Woodbury is a Renaissance man here in the Valley. He’s been a writer and editor (including for New Times); hosted several podcasts (including for Wastoids); and he even performs in two bands, Kitimoto and the solo project JPW. It’s the latter outfit that’s been Woodbury’s focus as of late, as he’ll release Something Happening / Always Happening on September 9. So, what sort of musical wonders has Woodbury crafted over his multifaceted career? Why new singles like "Halfway to Eloy," a sleek, earnest rock ballad celebrating the wonders of our wonderful desert home.

JPW Takes a Cosmic Rock Roadtrip With "Halfway to Eloy" (Premiere)

[Repost from PopMatters; by Jonathan Frahm, July 18, 2022]

Jason P. Woodbury (JPW) finds the avenue between cosmic country and psychedelic rock on his offbeat new single, “Halfway to Eloy”.

Jason P. Woodbury is the voice behind JPW, the self-titled acronym representing the Arizona songwriter’s latest output. The nine-track LP slides in just shy of a 40-minute runtime, featuring a penchant for the psychedelic and mystical that scratches a different itch than the crunching guitars of his rock outfit, KITIMOTO. Both are evocative of the desert Woodbury has come up in, but where KITIMOTO rides a blazing, guitar-driven wave, JPW wanders on a more incongruous, mystified string. “Halfway to Eloy” saunters between influences like Bruce Springsteen and Todd Rundgren, the artist notes.

“In a lot of weird ways, I don’t quite know what ‘Halfway to Eloy’ is about myself,” says Woodbury. “I want to evoke this out-there ‘State Trooper’ vibe where you don’t get a full view of what you’re digesting, but you get it from a certain point of view. There’s mystery. I like the idea of this song being viewed from this weird lens.”

The single came to be with the help of an ace crew, including producer Michael Krassner (Boxhead Ensemble) and longtime collaborators Zach Toporek and Zane Gillum. Where “Halfway to Eloy” veers into a breakbeat-esque, funky aesthetic in its second half, JPW credits Gillum for helping to shift its pace. “Zach brings so much new to me. It was a pivotal point in the making of the record, realizing that this thing could be mystical and a little funny.”

Regarding his collaboration with Krassner, Woodbury states, “Krass is one of those dudes who quietly and unassumingly elevates everything he partakes in. He took these recordings that were scattered and done in all of these various places and wove it into this gorgeous, cohesive thing. Having someone of his caliber on this record is still mind-blowing to me. It freaks me out.”

JPW’s debut album, Something Happening / Always Happening, is set to release on Fort Lowell on 9 September. “Halfway to Eloy” drops on 22 July, finding itself somewhere between cosmic country and psychedelic soft rock. The project nods to the natural Arizona vistas that Woodbury grew up with.

Recognizing this connection, JPW says, “It’s hard for me to put a finger on it, but I’m from Arizona and grew up in Arizona. This is where I’m from. A lot of these songs were inspired by time outside and time spent in the Arizona wilderness. I grew up in Coolidge. There’s an evocation of the desert that I’m drawn to; long before my family was in Coolidge, Lee Hazelwood, Duane Eddy, and Waylon Jennings were on a radio station over there. “

“I love where I live. I didn’t mean for the JPW music for it to be evocative of that, but it sort of tumbled out of my brain and became that way. It also tumbled out of the brains of my collaborators, like Michael Krassner, who told me that it reminded him of the Verde River in the 1970s.”

Jason P. Woodbury · Halfway To Eloy

What's New In Our Inbox!

[Repost from Blood Makes Noise; July 21, 2022]

BAND: Desario

BloodMakesNoise Rating: 8.3/10

Genre: Dream Pop, Jangly Indie Rock, Post Punk

What the band says they sound like: Somberly meditative and immersive shoegazing, tight set of indie rock tunes that mines a darker-tinged shoegaze rooted in British post-punk and new wave.

What we think they sound like: I like this a lot, it has this classic feel somewhere in between Mission of Burma and New Order, maybe throw in a little Stone Roses. It's pretty mellow for something labeled post punk, the second track "Things We Left Behind" feels gothy at moments before it breaks into full song and then it almost feels like a Sundays track. I think fans of 80's brit rock like The Smiths or The Cure will like this as much as maybe a fan of Sunny Day Real Estate. It carefully skates the line between pop and post punk all while sounding contemporary. 

Songs to add to your playlist: Strange Shapes, Things We Left Behind

OUT NOW: JPW "Halfway to Eloy" [Digital Single]

JPW is the moniker for Jason P. Woodbury, host of Aquarium Drunkard's weekly Transmissions podcast and Range and Basin on Radio Free Aquarium Drunkard with dublab.  Today, JPW's second single -- "Halfway to Eloy" -- from their debut album -- Something Happening / Always Happening -- is out as a digital single on all platforms.  For fans of Bill Callahan, Jim James, Cass McCombs, Jeff Tweedy, and Kurt Vile.

"A cosmic rock roadtrip." ~ PopMatters

CLICK HERE TO PRE-ORDER VINYL RECORD NOW!

Album Review – Signal and Noise by Desario (2022) (Sunday Records / Fort Lowell Records)

[Repost from Janglepophub; by Darrin Lee, July 16, 2022]

Although Sacrameto based foursome, Desario, have been releasing music  since 2009, they somehow remain that ‘brilliant band’ that drift under the radars of the majority of the more glossy blogs and zines and seem to thrive upon the essence of being the enigmatic secret of all us micro-blogs that a) really matter and b) do not care about hit stats.

This fourth, Signal and Noise album, could (…and should!) be about to raise their star further into the heavens, as it is undoubtedly their most accomplished release yet and one that seems to reduce the various musical layers, that has always been their trademark, by just enough to enable identification of definitive genres and influences  in an album that is decidedly eclectic.

At it’s most beautiful, Strange Shapes and Eraser juxtapose a very slight fuzz-laden inclination, with a hazy, dreamy jangle that is so reminiscent of Sunday Records labelmates, The Suncharms.

The beauty becomes more muscular and guitar driven in Throw It Back, Wake Up and Wired Wrong. Here the jangly sounds of the early 90s, possibly best compared to current acts like The Shop Window and Lost Ships, are mixed with the sheer guitar lucidity of a yesteryear favourites such as The Milltown Brothers and The Bluetones.

Although this album sees Desario offer more ‘pretty’ than ever before, they are still capable and willing to infuse this with their traditionally more gnarled sound, with Lonely Nights and Evergreen being everything Jetstream Pony and The Wedding Present respectively, whereas lead single Things We Left Behind is heavily reverb soaked, melodic gaze, in the Ride tradition.

Riveting from start to finish, this release could well be the surprise on all the year-end ‘Best Ofs…”. Grab yourself a CD or Vinyl LP.

OUR FAVOURITES

OUT NOW: Desario 'Signal and Noise' [LP]

For fans of Arctic Monkeys, Asobi Seksu, Catherine Wheel, Citified, Day Wave, The Depreciation Guild, Doves, Echo & The Bunnymen, Film School, Interpol, Jesus & Mary Chain, Lauds, Lush, New Order, The Ocean Blue, Pale Saints, Ride, Tracy Shedd, The Smiths, Summer Set

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR COPY TODAY

Lauds + Mark Burgess Concert Photographs

Thanks again to HeyDay Guitars + Monstercade Bar for hosting Lauds as the opening act for Mark Burgess of The Chameleons UK this past Tuesday! 🖤

[L-R]: Boyce Evans, Holt Evans II, Mark Burgess, Holt Evans III

[L-R]: Holt Evans III, Mark Burgess, Boyce Evans, McKay Glasgow

Lauds live at Monstercade Bar, Winston-Salem NC - Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Mark Burgess live at Monstercade Bar, Winston-Salem NC - Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Mark Burgess live at Monstercade Bar, Winston-Salem NC - Tuesday, July 12, 2022

Desario is back with fourth LP

[Repost from Scene Point Blank; by Loren Green, July 9, 2022]

Desario, a shoegaze band from Sacramento, Ca, will release their fourth album next week, Signal and Noise, courtesy of Fort Lowell Records.

The album officially comes out on Jul 15, 2022 and features dark-tinged indie rock with post-punk influence.

Check out a single here:

New album: KITIMOTO || Vintage Smell

[Repost from Add to Wantlist; by Dennis, July 1, 2022]

I’ve been enjoying myself all week with Vintage Smell, the full-length debut album by Phoenix-based indie rock quartet KITIMOTO, but I still can’t quite grasp it. As if you’ve seen a movie that won’t let go, you’re convinced it’s very good and something special, but you’re aware that you did’t understand all the metaphors and references.

Jonathan Marion Douglas (guitars, vocals, keys), Zane Gillum (bass), Cavan Noone (drums, percussion) and Jason Woodbury (guitars, vocals) have known each other for over 15 years, and reportedly the 10 tracks here came slowly but surely into being, took long shaping and refining. It was worth the time and effort. All the songs – there are no weak moments – are bewitching and addictive, color outside the lines of genres and expectations, with intense guitar duels, poetic lyrics and convincing vocals. This is an ultimate example of a record that has to grow, that continues to fascinate, one with a past but for sure also with a future.

Vintage Smell out now digitally and on vinyl LP through Fort Lowell Records.

Add to wantlist: Bandcamp

Tracy Shedd + Lauds live concert photographs from Ocean Grill & Tiki Bar, Carolina Beach NC

Tracy Shedd

Lauds