ACTION: Yellow Bird Project

Yellow Bird Project
bands designing t-shirts for charity
read the action feature // visit their web site

When I was thinking about moving from the "Causes" boxes to the full-length features we now call Action, I knew YBP was one I'd want to feature. When I was conceiving what kinds of organizations I wanted to feature in Causes in the first place, I would not have been capable of conceiving of Yellow Bird Project.

YBP fuses independent music, visual art and charity into a product that's so uniquely appealing it might actually work. Another such organization is Glass Casters Union, which basically does the same thing as Yellow Bird only with glass ornaments instead of t-shirts. Yeah, really. Almost ironically, Glass Casters Union is the beneficiary of Wolfmother's t-shirt on YBP.

I want The Overcast to be a celebration of people's gifts and passions, and Action features are meant to capture people using those gifts for the greater good.

REVIEW: Spectrum by Cloverleaf

Spectrum EP by Cloverleaf
piano rock...basically...
read the review // buy the album on Interpunk

I'm wiped out.

This review was exhausting, because I wanted to be as meticulous with my words as Cloverleaf appears to have been with these five songs.

That's over 250 words or something about five songs, although it should be about quality, not quantity.

You can just read the [much-delayed] review. I meant every last word about it and didn't want to leave a thing out.

EDIT: I just realized that I interviewed T.J. of Cloverleaf almost two years ago.

REVIEW: Jean Parlette

Much Smaller EP by Jean Parlette
"folktronica" from Holland
read the review // download the album for free!

I literally wrote this entire review today. The only reason it took me more than one sitting was because I had to leave for an event in the middle of writing it. In case you didn't figure it out, that's not what usually happens. Usually, I agonize, I take notes for way too many days (weeks?), I have, like, a page in one notebook and a page in another notebook and a sticky note and a Google document and a draft of a text message on my cell phone all bearing scraps of my thought process. This time, none of that. I opened up one new Google Document and basically free-wrote most of it.

Hopefully you don't read that as some sort of irreverence to this EP, because it's a good one. It's also only four tracks long, which helps. But I can attest that it's four tracks, twelvish minutes that you'll enjoy. Unfortunately, I am currently on the broke side (woooo about-to-be-a-college-student!), hence not reviewing the full-length release, but I will probably get there eventually. You'll notice that the last review was a free download, too. The next album I'll be reviewing was sent to me.

Anyways, I found out about Jean Parlette listening to last.fm radio, which, to be honest, is something I don't do often. I love last.fm, I just don't use the radio much. But anyways, my obligatory sub-plug: If you're not on last.fm, you're going to have to be. It's just about the coolest thing on the Internet (besides episodes of Japanese Human Tetris...and The Overcast). What it does is it tracks what you listen to on your computer and creates charts, recommendations, "musical neighbours" out of those records. Creepy at first, but only like a best friend.

I have another review in the works and possibly some other features. The Overcast is basically going to hibernate all through June (woooo summer weddings and travel!), but hopefully I should be able to make up for it over the next couple weeks, or at least when July rolls back into my control.

Until then, take care. And naturally, feel free to comment or e-mail.

--Pauline D.