Brooklyn Based has teamed up for with Microphone Memory Emotion to throw a showcase at Matchless for Northside Fest this year.

Two of the bands playing hail from Ridgewood, NJ but seem to be just as at home in Brooklyn.

Fluffy Lumbers have been capturing hearts with their fuzzy pop.  I mean how can anyone deny “Cruisers” as one of the best pop songs for driving in a car with the windows down (or if you must with the windows up, and the A/C cranked…that was me in Jersey this weekend).  In addition to this pop classic Fluffy Lumbers did it again with “Adoration” washing their delectable pop in a haze of 80′s inspired electronics.  I didn’t think that a band could make another song as catchy as “Cruisers,” but Fluffy Lumbers sure did strike gold with “Adoration.”  Two songs from this young band who only has a single 7″ out, and that has since sold out.

[mp3] Fluffy Lumbers- “Cruisers”

[mp3] Fluffy Lumbers- “Adoration”

• “Adoration” appeared on the Underwater Peoples Winter Review, with a ton of other great bands.
  • Buy it here.

Headlining the showcase will be the big fishes behind the fabulous Underwater Peoples Records ….Family Portrait!  Family Portrait mix a retro pop with a little bit of country twang, doused in the beaches of New Jersey with their use of syths and electronics.  “Killer Statements” is another track where Mimoun, Ari, Sawyer rock out, and create the perfect background for Brody’s vocals.  Family Portrait are great guys that make wonderful music.  I wonder when we are finally going to get a proper release from the men of Family Portrait?

[mp3] Family Portrait- “Killer Statements”

• “Killer Statements”appeared on the Underwater Peoples Winter Review, with a ton of other great bands.
  • Buy it here.

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Brooklyn Based presents a Northside Fest showcase curated by Microphone Memory Emotion:

Friday June25th, 2010
at Bar Matchless
Family Portrait 11:15pm
Coasting 10:30pm
Fluffy Lumbers 9:45pm
Bermuda Bonnie 9pm
Doors at 8:30, $6

Matchless is located at
557 Manhattan Avenue
at McCarren Park
Greenpoint, Brooklyn

This should be a great showcase…I can’t express how much I like Fluffy Lumbers and Family Portrait…it will also be a great opportunity to catch Coasting, one of the most talked about duos in Brooklyn…who recently opened for Jeff Mangum, the Clean, and Portastatic.

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• more on Family Portrait here.
• More on Northside Fest 2010 here.
  • Northside Fest is a music, art, and film Festival happening in Williamsburg and Greenpoint Brooklyn from June 24-27th.  For a complete schedule clickhere, to buy an all access pass click here.
• show poster by Friendship Bracelet

Well it’s not exactly a battle for outer space, but in a sense it is…my hometown of Charleston is going to be faced with the same decision that I have to make tomorrow night.

Tomorrow Saturday March 6th there are two amazing shows happening right here in Brooklyn, and Wednesday March 10th very similar shows are happening in Charleston, SC

First up is everyone’s favorite, Underwater Peeps Proprietors, and all around rad dudes Family Portrait who will be appearing with none other Alex Bleeker and the Freaks…and a too be named Special Guest (supposedly very special).

These New Jersey via DC and back to New Jersey rockers will be playing in full force for the first time in a very long time.  If you have seen Family Portrait over the past 6 months or so you saw various forms with Ari and Brody, but now that Sawyer is back from his journey out East they are back in action in the form we all know and love.  I was looking through my music, and I found a track that I grabbed back in September…. “On The Floor” is a retro pop jam full of fuzzy psychedelica.  Backed up with Brody’s crooning vocals and the type of beach vibe you expect to get from a New Jersey basement or garage party rather than the Jersey shore.

[mp3] Family Portrait- “On The Floor”

• Buy their split 7″ with Andrew Cedermark here.

Rock this one, and then go check out Family Portrait….they are touring down to SXSW!

• Tomorrow, March 6th @ 59 Jefferson St, #402 (21+ $8)
  • Family Portrait, Alex Bleeker, and very Special Guests!
    • This show is presented by Pixelhorse, Microphone Memory Emotion, and Visitation Rites.
      • Proceeds from this show go toward playing the bands playing their awesome SXSW showcase in Austin.  Get all the info on the Austin Show here.
• Wednesday, March 10th @ Outer Space! in Charleston, SC
  • Family Portrait, and fucking Castles Underground!!!
• Check out all of Family Portraits’ tour dates here (lots in between and after these two dates).

The Sandwitches are three ladies from San Fransisco making awesome 50′s/60′s throwback rock and roll.  Their album How to Make an Ambient Sad Cake has been getting tons of play at my house, and on my headphones.  It started with their single “Fire,” and it has slowly infected my head.  And now “The Revisionist” has had me singing “God ain’t no friend of mine” all morning.  I was curious about the lyrics of this song, and I thought I would check out what a revisionist actually was: “a movement in revolutionary Marxian socialism favoring an evolutionary rather than a revolutionary spirit”  and in a sense I guess I fall under this category.  Not a bad thing at all…and a really wonderful song.

[mp3] The Sandwitches- “The Revisionist”

• From How to Make an Ambient Sadcake, buy it here.
• The Sandwitches are part of the Endless Nest Collective.

As much as I love Family Portrait, both as musicians and people, I’m going to have to hit this Sandwitches show.  These ladies are coming from a long way, and who knows when they will be back.

• Tomorrow, Saturday March 6th @ Monster Island Basement
  • Golden Triangle, The Sandwitches, Coasting, and Girls at Dawn
    • All Ages, $8
      • They are also playing tonight, but very little info is available.
• Wednesday March 10th @ The Tin Roof in Charleston, SC
  • The Sandwitches, and Teenage Owl.
• See all of the Sandwitches’ tour dates here (lots in between and after these two dates).

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If none of these things work for you…. go see Twin Sister at CoCo66 tomorrow night (March 6th).  More info about Twin Sister can be found here.

And this weekend pregame for everything at Mugs Ale House’s  Split thy Skull Festival!

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The photo of Family Portrait was taken on January 29th, 2010 at Bruar Falls, and is from the White Lodge. If you would like to use this photo please link back to the flickr page, and credit the White Lodge.

• more posts featuring photos from the White Lodge can be found here.

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• More on Family Portrait here.
• More on Underwater Peoples Records here.
• More on the Sandwitches here.
• More on the Endless Nest Collective here.

Monday night Julian Lynch played, as far as I know, his only New York City show during his short stay in the north east.  The night would have been special if Julian took the stage by himself, but he came with a full band…consisting of 3/4 of Real Estate and Brody of Family Portrait/Underwater Peoples.  It was a magical performance, and was the perfect way for me to start off my year with live music.

Orange You Glad has been in my head for months, and I was really happy when Julian said that he would contribute a list of his favorite things from 2009 to the Great Pumpkin.  Since his album is one of my favorites I was really excited to see what he loved last year:

Julian Lynch’s Favorites of 2009

Favorite movie:

• Up (more info)

Favorite filmmakers:

• Amy Ruhl (more info)
• Richard Law (more info)

Favorite recorded music:

• Pill Wonder (website/ keep an eye out for an LP on Underwater Peoples!)

Favorite live music:

• Peaking Lights (website)
• Mountain Man (website)

Favorite record labels:

• Underwater Peoples (website)
• Olde English Spelling Bee (myspace/ blog)

Favorite home-cooked pastry:

• Yugoslavian Christmas cookies from my girlfriend, Eileen

Favorite TV series:

• Curb Your Enthusiasm (Season 7) (more info)

Favorite new blog writer on the internet:

• Emilie Friedlander (visitation  rites)

Favorite online social networking:

• Twitter (tweet)

Favorite Youtube series:

• rickytic3′s Wizard Alibrataries (watch)
• Vantabill Bertaba Saga (watch)

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Chocolate Bobka was able to capture some of the magic from Monday night at Bruar Falls.  Chocolate Bobka has been doing amazing videos, and if you haven’t checked out their Vimeo channel you most definitely should.

The Underwater Peoples Winter Review was released on Christmas, and there is a new Julian Lynch song on it… as well as wonderful tracks by Pill Wonder, Fluffy Lumbers, Big Troubles, Family Portrait, Mountain Man, Alex Bleeker, Real Estate , and many more.  Get it free for a limited time here:

[Limited Time Free Download] VA- Underwater Peoples Winter Review (via Chocolate Bobka)

Oh if ya’ll didn’t already know…Julian Lynch is PopJew‘s pick for the Cutest Boy in Rock n’ Roll!

I took some pictures of Julian and Big Troubles at the show on Monday, and believe it or not…I used a camera with actual film!  When I get those back I hope to post them.  Fingers crossed.

Thanks again to Julian for contributing his favorites list to the Great Pumpkin.  I’m truly looking forward to whatever he releases in twenty ten.

Links:

• Julian Lynch’s myspace / blog / tumblr / twitter
• buy Julian Lynch’s music here.
• more on Julian Lynch here.
• more on Real Estate here.
• more on Underwater Peoples Records here.
• more best of 2009 guest contributions can be found here.

Today, January 7th 2010,  also marks the birthday of the Great Pumpkin!  We are One year old as of today, and I can’t wait to see where I am in 2011!

When I started writing the Great Pumpkin at the beginning of this year I could have never predicted how many good things would be revolving around a little record label that I had never even heard of…and all of the magic started with Real Estate‘s first 7″…then a wonderful compilation CD,  followed by Julian Lynch and Ducktails split 7″/DVD combo, and now it is all culminating in a showcase of wonderful bands that Underwater Peoples Records are pushing into the spotlight (all in under a year)!

For those of you unfamiliar with Underwater Peoples it is a record label based in Washington DC, but has strong ties in New Jersey and Brooklyn.  The boys that run the label are super nice, and give off positive vibes all around.  In addition to running a record label and playing in bands they are now responsible for a study of people who create homemade flame throwers (more on this below).

Tomorrow night marks a very special event in the early life of this record label…August 22nd will be Underwater Peoples Records Late Summer Showcase at the Market Hotel!

SET LIST!!!!! (rumor has it these might have been pushed back by 30minutes)

• 5 – Big Troubles
• 5:30 – Dana Jewell
• 6 – Ducktails
• 6:30 – Frat Dad
• 7 – Liam The Younger
• 7:30 – Beach Fossils
• ***Second half***
• 8:15 – Fluffy Lumbers
• 8:50 – Andrew Cedermark
• 9:25 – Alex Bleeker & The Freaks
• 10 – Family Portrait
• 10:35 – Pill Wonder
• 11:10 – Air Waves
• 11:45 – Real Estate
• click through on any of the bands to hear their music.

The showcase only costs $5, and tickets can be purchased in advance here. If you can make it out for any part of this event it is sure to be special.  I’m personally hoping to catch Liam the Younger, but overall you can’t go wrong…so many good bands and so cheap.

If you are interested in buying Underwater Peoples releases you can do it directly from them.  The Real Estate 7″ is now out of print, but the compilation and Julian Lynch/Ducktails 7″/DVD combo are still available here!  Keep an eye out…there will be more good things to come from Underwater Peoples in the future.

If you are interested in supporting Underwater Peoples study of homemade flamethrowers please check out their  first video documenting it which is also the first “music video” by Family Portrait titled “Mega Secrets.”  For more info on the study read their full blog post about it and vote for them to present their findings at SXSW.

I’ve written about a handful of these bands in the past too (click through for videos, mp3s, pictures, and more):

• More on Ducktails here.
• More on Real Estate here.
• More on Liam the Younger here (including free albums!)
• More on Underwater Peoples in general here.

Saturday should be a blast!  And congrats to Underwater Peoples for coming so far in such a short period of time!