When I’m not teaching guitar, I’m busy playing music. Below are some albums I’ve been a part of recently.
Young Vienna by Young Vienna (unreleased)
Young Vienna was formed with the primary purpose of bringing over 5 years of odds & ends home recordings of noted Portland singer-songwriter Lael Alderman (The Bella Fayes) to light. Early production work by distinguished recording engineer/sideman and close friend Rian Lewis (Crosstide, Derby) quickly turned this project into something more grand. Songs written primarily on the acoustic guitar and piano were transformed into driving, tuneful rock songs, a sound calling to mind a musical marriage of the Rolling Stones and the Strokes.
Not satisfied with simply having a batch of recordings to share, a fully realized rock and roll band was born with the addition of Jonathan Barker (Ravishers) on guitar, Erick Alley (Crosstide, King Black Acid) on bass, and Josh Northcutt (The Clarity Process, Prize Country) on drums. The five members began crafting sharper songs together over the remainder of the year, and work has begun on completing Young Vienna’s first EP of concise, adrenalized guitar rock topped off with Alderman's classic pop sensibility.
Ravishers by Ravishers (2011)
“…More often than not, Ravishers’ creative tandem of Dominic Castillo and Jonathan Barker favor craft over chaos on the Portland, Ore., indie-pop outfit’s self-titled debut. And if the devil truly is in the details, then the Ravishers’ version of hell is a pretty cool place, filled with insidiously tuneful left turns, clever piano/guitar interplay and hooks that seduce without selling the subtly complex arrangements short. “Keep You Around” and “Nobody Falls In Love Anymore” demonstrate chief songwriter Castillo’s glowing Macca admiration, not to mention his wry spin on affairs of the heart.”
– Magnet Magazine
Singles For Singles by Ravishers (2009)
“In this 6-song release, clear production and enviable guitar tone roll themselves out over pointed songwriting, where all elements land in a downy bed of nostalgia chords and swooning This act has an irresistible sincerity that leaks out through Castillo's genuinely charming vocals and the band's laid-back-but-rollicking guitar pop. As exuberant and unassuming as the songs can seem, their steady grip pulls ribbons of melody tight around a listener's ticker, fashioning a flurry of paths for the kind of sentiment the record possesses; it can't be called plaintive, but it certainly lends itself to the softheartedness many of us crave in new songs. It's not so much a collection of sad bastard songs as it is one that's enlisted a clever sleight of hand when matching the clear-coated instrumentation and congenial songs with witty jabs at lost emotion. This release is available for download only, and if this reviewer's experience is any indication, there is no possible way to remove these songs from your head once you've heard them.”
– CD Baby
New Milesian Kings by Spy Island
“IIt’s an LP to grab ears by the lobes, to tug away at them with the brattish opportunism of a child yanking a parent down to its lowly eye level. Spasmodically sounding akin to haywire New Porno, Spy Island are at their most provocative when channeling the unsettling schizophrenia of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain-era Pavement, and never is this more so than on restrainedly scatty opener The Punchline. Barring a shuffled, scuffed bridge, it’s a track that scuttles erratically like a mischief of rats squirming beneath your skin, and contains more condensed energy in three minutes, twelve than the duration of yesteryear’s imprudent reunion of Malkmus et al. For similarly momentous moments, may we recommend the Knopfler-like harmonic dueling guitar solo that kills off The Arctic Council and Spy Island’s finest ‘homemade soft song’ Queen Zombie? Course we can.”
– Dots&Dashes UK
At The Vegan Witch Trials by Spy Island
“IIt’s an LP to grab ears by the lobes, to tug away at them with the brattish opportunism of a child yanking a parent down to its lowly eye level. Spasmodically sounding akin to haywire New Porno, Spy Island are at their most provocative when channeling the unsettling schizophrenia of Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain-era Pavement, and never is this more so than on restrainedly scatty opener The Punchline. Barring a shuffled, scuffed bridge, it’s a track that scuttles erratically like a mischief of rats squirming beneath your skin, and contains more condensed energy in three minutes, twelve than the duration of yesteryear’s imprudent reunion of Malkmus et al. For similarly momentous moments, may we recommend the Knopfler-like harmonic dueling guitar solo that kills off The Arctic Council and Spy Island’s finest ‘homemade soft song’ Queen Zombie? Course we can.”
– Dots&Dashes UK