Portland, Oregon’s perennially groovy Ten Dollar Recording Company label boasts a swelling roster shot right through with homegrown Cascadian psych, lush neo-soul, organic dub, late-night closet rock, freak-folk, soundscapist collage, and other musical experiments. TDRCo is still plowing full steam ahead after over a decade's worth of kaleidoscopic releases, with not a single damn given about what's currently hot or in season on the charts. And with so much variety and talent on their bench, there's almost definitely something here for anyone with ears enough to hear. An obvious strain of melodic experimentation seems to have gotten the better of many of TDRCo’s artists, and there’s a host of elements here that stem from a bygone era, mined at this present juncture to solidly backward-looking yet forward-leaning pyschedelic effect.
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![]() Cover Art + Design: RYAN MASSAD
STEP INTO THE KITCHEN
DOWNLOAD/STREAM: TDRCO, Bandcamp, Spotify, Apple Music
It's unusual to discover an album wherein all the tracks hold together so well that you find yourself under a kind of spell for its duration. "Sounding Lovely!" by Step Into The Kitchen kicks off with Mariya May's beautiful harmonic Oooh's and then drops the listener into a melodic groove that may have you dancing before making way for a dreamy horn blasting in from another dimension, reminding one of filmmaker/composer Mike Figgis. Trance-inducing, wildly spontaneous, and dusted with cosmic pixie dust, "Sounding Lovely!" is tribal and wild and Joyous and reverb-y - an enormous success in mood exhalation and world-creation. "Sounding Lovely!" provides Maximum engagement for the senses, and in the end you're like "No! Don't go away..." (Robert G. Nelson) MARIYA MAY & MO DOUGLAS TENOR SAX: PETER QB STEREOPHONIC MASTERING: TIMOTHY STOLLENWERK VIDEO: "Just Living is a Kick" from Sounding Lovely! |
PLAYLIST: "TDRCO: My Heart Unraveled" |
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Hazy and unfolding like a slow summer evening, Mariya May's unaccompanied live rendition of recent studio single "Made of Stars" lilts gently towards the darkened sky on an updraft of lightly picked guitar and silky vocals. Stripped of ornamentation and captured at the source, the acoustic version of "Made of Stars" puts a spotlight on May's considerable vocal talent, as well as her ear for melody. Recommended summer listening! (Reed Burnam) |
![]() Good & Cool Release "Old Work Truck" b/w "Under The Palm Fronds"
If the mid-winter dregs are bumming you out, a couple of new tracks from Portland-based Good & Cool should be ample fodder to keep your turntable warm until that Spring sunshine is upon us again. A joint side project of TDRCo stalwarts Mo Douglas and Prince Joely (while not attending to their myriad other musical work), Good & Cool has proven themselves capable of seamlessly hopping genres in favor of laying down a solid groove with self-assured efficiency.
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Portland-based troubadour Tobias Berblinger presents the vinyl reissue of his 2018 album The Luckiest Hippie Alive, released on October 6th, 2022. Berblinger played a release show that same day, at the Laurelthirst Public House in Portland.
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![]() Various Artists / TDRCO-200TDRCO-200 is a new Various Artists compilation, the 200th release on the Portland-based Ten Dollar Recording Company label. Thirteen tracks are included, offering a blend of sleek psych-soul elegance and audacious folk and pop whimsy. All the selections, appearing here for the first time on an album, are previously issued singles written by Mo Douglas and Mariya May. | ||
![]() Prince Joely Delivers New Single:
July 2, 2022A new track from Prince Joely, "The Empathizer (sha na na)" unveils hypnotic mystique throughout its steady evolution. Initial guitar whimpers build steadily with a twangy allure. Swooning vocals -- "but now we know how it feels," -- offer further enticement, converging amidst the playful organs and guitar-laden pulses. A lingering, ghostly guitar line closes the track with a satiating glow, reminiscent of Wire's atmospheric art-rock. "The Empathizer (sha na na)" intoxicates with its debonair progressions and anesthetic vocal refrains. (Mike Mineo, Obscure Sound) |
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![]() ![]() ![]() Mo Douglas Releases Trio of New Singles"The Most Expensive Restaurant in Portland" (April 8, 2022)"Ample Room For Grooving" (May 13, 2022) "Surrounded By Grapefruit" (June 20, 2022)
"The Most Expensive Restaurant in Portland" conjures a hypnotic rock nostalgia. Rollicking guitar twangs and a pulsing rhythmic fervor waste no time in constructing an entrancing opening, quickly indicative of Douglas' master blend of garage rock, psychedelia, funk, and beyond. The suave aesthetic offers a cinematic allure with its flashing guitars and sense of steady momentum, echoing a Tarantino film or one of his '60s/'70s inspirations. | ||
Step Into The Kitchen to trip out on a spaghetti space western, thru a sepia-toned kaleidoscope world of the in-between. Sure, you can meditate on your way to a funky party, but we're blasting all the way to the outer realms today. Words escape but still voices ring out and envelope you - don't worry, it's cozy in here. We're going all the way to the edge, and oh yeah, we'll be rewarded for our efforts. Talk about a vibe shift, this latest jam from the otherworldly collective is a true perception-altering adventure, not to be taken lightly. Check your measurements and sift accordingly, this is "A Fruitful Tenure". (Bryan Bruchman) | ||
![]() What in Your Heart Can Put You in a Trance Release New Single"A Midnight So Sweet"Release Date: March 20, 2022
Out on March 20, 2022, the newest single from Portland's own What in Your Heart Can Put You in a Trance is shaking off the saturnalia blues and getting busy tilling up some equinox groove sure to raise the mercury. Plowing through the late winter miasma, "A Midnight So Sweet" is shot through with the silky feel of a warm, late night summer slow grind, deftly winding layers of nocturnal dancehall-infused haze and midnight psy-guitar slink around the ankles of vocalist Mariya May's forever sultry musings.
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![]() Ten Dollar Recording Co. Presents
SPLIT EP by Thomas Mudrick & Mariya May | ||
![]() Portland Band "STEP INTO THE KITCHEN" release debut EP Soups and Starters
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![]() Mo Douglas Releases 8th Solo AlbumMo Douglas - the master chef multi-instrumentalist of Portland’s Ten Dollar Recording Co. - does it again, cooking up the groovy instrumental jams and bestowing upon our ears the best recipes for love, all on dog-eared pages fresh from your mama’s favorite magazines. Mo’s perfectly imperfect concoctions are hand-crafted to bring a smile to your face and open up your mind - psych, funk, soul, dub, jazz, garage rock, but most important of all a perpetual groove - swirling throughout the record as the flavors mingle. ![]() Mariya May Releases Third Solo AlbumPortland-based singer/songwriter Mariya May's third solo full-length Kiki & Mel's Drive-Time Circus arrived on cassette and on your streams January 7th, 2021. A prolific singer, songwriter, and collaborator, May's presence can be found all over numerous other projects from labelmates across the TDRCo back catalogue, in addition to her own predilections towards penning intimate, sprawling, and dramatic indie-folk. With the playful, hummable, and at times wistfully melancholic Kiki & Mel's Drive-Time Circus, May adds yet another feather to her cap and another album to her steadily growing canon that's sure to be a shaft of sunlight through your winter window. Throughout, May's inner muse shines bright, and you'll be finding yourself wanting to give this one a second listen before heading out to dive further into her extended catalogue of quality releases. (Reed Burnam) Reed Burnam ReleasesA hummable take on modern malaise, Reed Burnam's new single "Funeral Selfie" is party mix of acapella vocal, neo-Motown groove, West African guitar, and tongue-in-cheek lyrics. Definitely a must for your post-lockdown grooves. Keep an ear open for Reed's new single, out on Portland's ever-tuned in Ten Dollar Recording Company. ![]() TEN DOLLAR RECORDING CO. PresentsCD & DIGITAL |