MTV Hive is running a premiere of "Beast In The Sky" (stream link below)
BRAINSTORM is an experimental-pop group from Portland, Oregon, whose sound is big and hard to define, yet strikingly elegant in its variety.
Pulling heavily on cumbia rhythms, western African guitar, and nostalgic soul, the band weaves their influences into a coherent fabric of art-pop, executed masterfully and endlessly compelling.
BRAINSTORM is set to release Heat Waves on October 2, 2012 via Tender Loving Empire. Produced by the legendary Robby Moncrieff (engineer of the Dirty Projectors' Bitte Orca, Youth Lagoon's 7", and Ganglians' Still Living), Heat Waves shines with inescapable pop melodies, polyrhythmic singing, thunderous drumming, and shimmering guitar lines.
With influences ranging from ecstatic African-highlife, to soulful AM-radio nostalgia, the result is a unique brand of art-pop that is energetic, eclectic, and undeniably engaging. There is something for everyone in this music, and something of everyone in it as well. BRAINSTORM was once described as "an eight-dollar smoothie of ecstatic art-rock, Sam Cooke, and African highlife." That's an expensive smoothie, but worth every sip.
BRAINSTORM has been touring the country for three years, attracting attention from such tastemakers as NYLON Magazine, local publications Willamette Week, The Portland Mercury and online sites like Get Off the Coast. The band delivers a truly impressive live performance: guitar, drums, tuba, keyboard, and three-part harmonies are sewn masterfully together into a compelling brand of art-pop that BRAINSTORM can truly call its own.
Voted a Best New Band of 2011 by the Willamette Week, BRAINSTORM headlines some of Portland's most raucous shows and tours nationally, sharing the stage with acts like Portugal The Man, Best Coast, Akron/Family, Tame Impala, The Thermals, Surfer Blood, Thee Oh Sees, and more. This past April, BRAINSTORM toured in France, and played in Paris along with fellow PDX accolades YACHT, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Nurses, AU, Miracles Club and Lovers.
BRAINSTORM formed as a duo in the summer of 2008, when Adam Baz and Patrick Phillips met while playing with Ohioan & the Native Kin. Upon exchanging a series of mix tapes containing an array of their favorite music, the musical chemistry between the two became obvious, and the band was born. They have been sculpting and refining their sound as a duo for four years, and just recently added Tamara Barnes to the band, playing bass and singing. Now a trio, the band's sound is full, fleshed-out, and ripe for the picking.
Praise For BRAINSTORM:
BRAINSTORM "builds drums, guitar, keys, handclaps... and tuba into a deafening wall of joyous jams. A band with unbelievable potential!" - NYLON Magazine
"...The ambitious, wide-reaching sounds of Brainstorm, who manage to sound like the entirety of Portland's music scene whirled up in a blender, in a very good way." - Portland Mercury
"One of Portland's best-kept secrets."- Willamette Week
Heat Waves Track List:
1. Flat Earth
2. Beast In The Sky
3. Forms Without A Frame
4. Maybe A Memory
5. Death Bells
6. Word Up
7. Upward
8. The Crown Caves
9. Lonely Ghost
10. Split The Lark
BRAINSTORM summer 2012 tour dates:
(Dates and information subject to change.)
08.25 - Rochester, WA - K Records Sleepover Music Festival @ Helsing Junction Farm - w/ Calvin Johnson, LAKE, Tender Forever, Malaikat Dan Singa, & more
09.06: Portland, OR - MusicFest Northwest Show @ Holocene - with TANLINES
09.08: Portland, OR - Oregon Public Broadcasting Showcase @ Mississippi Studios
09.10: Portland, OR - Time Based Arts Festival - event curated by BRAINSTORM - w/ Iftin, Jason Urick, and live Skpe performances by western African music
MTV Hive is running a premiere of "Beast In The Sky". Stream Link: "Beast In The Sky" on mtvhive
Photo credit: Jaclyn Campanaro
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